Sort of watched the eclipse in Billings, Montana. Didn’t have glasses, but stopped at Buckaroo Business and they had some that we saw the first part. It was not as big a deal as everyone was expecting, but it was a nice experience . I flew to Denver and the rental car centers were out of cars and the traffic coming back to Denver as I was going out was incredible. It’s good to to be going against the flow at times! My room in North Platte was three times more costly the night of the eclipse than the following night. I would have slept in my car if I would have known. People came from all over the world to see the 2 minutes of total eclipse.

Traffic jam lined up in the middle of Nebraska.

I visited with some guys from a feed yard in Nebraska that were in the total eclipse area and the cattle all bedded down and the birds went in sheds and the crickets chirped. It only lasted a couple of minutes and they were back to normal life.

I spent two days in Nebraska with Stockmanship and Stewardship. I like the people of Nebraska. Rob Eirich is a great presenter for “Beef quality Assurance” and the people that I visit with understand the importance of good stock handling. The people in attendance at North Platte were a mix of feedlot and cow calf. They were a very diverse group from Hispanic pen riders, cowboys, farmers and one young African American news anchor that was real happy to get a nice steak dinner. Good people one and all. I feel real comfortable when in Nebraska.

Next morning we travelled northwest through the very green sand hills and went out in the middle of nowhere to a very nice ranch. The Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory hosted their annual open house. Most were cow/calf, but a big diversity of type and size of operations. Family operations to organizations that employed folks to manage resources. Lots of questions on moving pairs properly when young.

When done I drove the four hours back to Denver airport and saw hardly any traffic, but lots of evidence of the thousands of people that had been watching the eclipse just two days before.

I got on an airplane and headed to Winnipeg. Late night and an early morning with Dave Keeley that reps for the Zoetis brand in Manitoba. We always have lots to talk about, lots to do and manage to eat sushi. We usually have the Zoetis lead veterinarian and sushi expert Melodie Chan keeping us on the strait and narrow, but this time we were on our own, so we didn’t eat as well and strayed off the track a little.

The first day we went to a feedyard. Lots of people and lots of ideas. We talked and they worked some cattle, then we shared some ideas on a new facility they we putting in. Then we got in a pick-up truck to check on some cows for just a few minutes. We got back about two hours later and I saw some real nice cattle, some real nice country, heard some real nice stories(I believed some of them), laughed a lot, rolled my eyes a few times, and just really enjoyed myself. I think we were in the hillbilly part of Manatoba, and I really had fun and learned a lot.

Next morning we stopped at ArrowQuips new facility. I think they build real nice livestock handling equipment, and they are always trying to improve life for humans and animals. We visited for a short time and had to get to the Dairy/heifer development yard. This was a very interesting operation as they had interns from several country’s, and were real interested in learning how to work and teach working with cattle better. We started out the day sorting bigger calves out of a pen to go with more calves and finished up the day in the milking parlor, and worked on or visited about everything in between. It was one of the best teaching and handling days, as far as satisfying to me and what I want to do, as I can remember having. I really enjoy working with young Dairy type animals.

As you can see, much diversity in the people that I came in contact with to produce the bovine protein we provide to consumers. I think the extremes in our lifestyles
make us very different than most our customers and sometimes people in the same business, and that makes it hard to relate at times.

My animal relationships for the week were quite varied as well. I rode two real nice horses in Nebraska. As I analyze my horsemanship skills I think I used real good pressure that fit both horses for what I was trying to do. I don’t know if they were any better when I tied them up after I was done, but I am pretty sure they were not worse from me riding them. I feel that is the most important thing to remember in any kind of animal handling. Every time you interact, the goal should be to get better results. I feel this needs to become a way of life.

The cattle the first night were very good to work. We had a big arena to work outside. I really like it when you can show handling cattle in a big area. Then we put them in a set of pens used for the roping chute and they worked real well to demonstrate pen work on foot, then loaded them horseback in the trailer to finish. Real good place to demonstrate. The cattle were not effected by the crowd of 50 or so people. I could pressure the cattle, and they could move away from my pressure to get out of it. They learned that by responding to my pressure, the pressure came off.

The next day we had a set of steers that maybe weighed eight hundred pounds. The crowd was real big on three sides of the two pens. This caused a lot of pressure on the cattle from the crowd. I had to apply lots of pressure to get them to move toward the pressure of the crowd. It was taking more pressure than the cattle could handle, so I had to change my demonstration to fit the situation and used the pressure of the crowd to help sort the cattle by me and teach them to stop their feet from my pressure overcoming the crowds pressure. I felt I did pretty good at giving the crowd what they needed in the demo without causing the steers to much stress. When I finished I stepped off my horse, one of the steers wanted to hunt me a little. He was okay with horseback, but when I stepped off, I was to much pressure and he couldn’t take it off so he was going to take it out. I didn’t challenge him but stepped back just a little a couple of times and he went back to the bunch.

So two very good examples of same person working with two different crowd pressures and the difference it makes. These are very important things to understand.
Cattle are way more sensitive than we give them credit for. The different crowd pressures were very easy to see, but I think we need to see the subtle pressures that effect the way animals and humans interact.

The eclipse of the sun last week is a great example. Humans were willing to put lots of pressure on themselves, other humans and the environment to experience it. If they didn’t have to much negative pressure (traffic, delayed flights, expensive travel) it was good. Cattle just accepted it as it was and lay down and enjoyed the moment, if some human wasn’t putting to much pressure on them. Might be a lesson in that somewhere.

While I was finishing up writing yesterday I was listening to pandora and the “Tom Russell Chanel”, which I do a lot.  Really great music that fits what I like to listen to.

The “Front Porch Song” came on and I thought it really fit what I was talking about.

It’s  a long song,  but its really worth the time to listen to.

So the scoop loop was all about the Jack Voyette’s and the people that help them run them skinny old cows, and that Hereford bull who’s work is never done.

I don’t care if people use or don’t use implants, but getting the work that’s never done, done.

Its a great Sunday morning song any way.  Hope you enjoy it and find a little humor in it.

Spent last week in Alberta. Could not have been better. Zoetis-good company and products to work with and for. Shawn Wilson-good Partner to spread the message. Veterinary Animal health, Feedlot Health Management, and Coaldale Veterinary Clinic- great service providers for feedlots. The men and women in charge of caring for the Beef animals we came in contact with-very good and getting better. Ruth’s Chris-great food with great folks.

I rode some nice horses, worked in some nice facilities and shared lots of ideas with some very different cultures in the tradition of making steak. From a large purebred operation to a government research facility, and lots of real good feedlots in between, lots of variety and personalities in cattle, people and facilities.

A few years ago A and W in Canada started a campaign of all antibiotics and hormone free. The decision upset many Canadian producers as they had to source the beef from places other than Canada, and felt they were playing on emotion rather than science in what is healthy eating.I said at the time we should watch and see if the fast food consumers even cared. In one discussion we had, it was said that it did improve sales and profit for the company. Macdonald’s took a different approach and made a real campaign to promote Canadian raised beef. I don’t know what that did for sales, but it was sure good for promoting the western way of producing beef as they had the Ranching theme in commercials on tv. Tim Hortons started as a coffee/donut fast food(Canadians are addicted to “Tims”) and now serve sandwiches. We had one and it was very good. I don’t know if it is all Canadian beef, but I would guess it is, but I did not see any signs or adds.

I have been keeping my eye on the recently opened Chick-Fillet in the Denver Airport. McDonalds used to always have a big line waiting to be served, and now the line is at the Chicken place,(except on Sundays, they are not open even in the airport). That is very interesting to me. We also should watch Chipotle and see if they can dig their way out of the food safety hole they have got themselves in.

I know a young man in the Fort Collins, Colorado area that has a very good grass fed beef business. His Father Steve Bowers got it started and now Nate is taking it forward. He told me that he can explain to his clients the need for antibiotics and treating for animal welfare, and they are all for proper use of vaccines and antibiotics, but they will have nothing to do with implanted beef.

This is all very interesting for me to observe. I believe in science and I do not believe Beef implanted with estrogen to be bad. All the science that I have seen from the beef industry shows no problem. I see no science from those that oppose it ( including my wife) but lots of emotion. The thing we in the beef industry must face the facts to is some people purchase food on emotion more than science.

When I order a steak, Because of my involvement with production from pasture to plate I have a different kind of emotional reaction. When I get done with a series of days working and end up flying out the next morning, I reward myself with a real good steak. As I savor each bite of medium rare prime beef, I not only chew on the steak, but chew on and analyze all the encounters with humans and animals in the last week.

When I think of the owners of the feedlots and the amount of money, and the risk of losing that money feeding the very beef I am eating, and to see how much responsibility they take on not only to take care of the animals, but also the employees and the families they provide a living for, I get a little emotional.

When I chew on the fact that the veterinarians that have dedicated their lives to the care and well being of animals, and how passionate these people are to make life better for animals and the animals owners, I get a little emotional.

The people that are the “meat” of our business are the ones I get really emotional about. The workers are what I’m talking about. The cowboys that will fight for and tell poems about the life they live. The feedlot care givers that will work in any kind of condition taking care of an animal that sometimes does not appreciate what is being done for them, and a job that always requires more. When I think of the sacrifices the workers of our industry, from the person calving heifers to the truckers hauling them to the slaughter plant and everyone in between, I get a little emotional.

When I am enjoying that steak, I’m chewing on the thoughts of if I am doing my part to help the people and the animals have a better quality of life, so that the people that are all around me in this nice restaurant, enjoying a great steak eating experience and have no idea of all the effort, sacrifice and risk that went into the wonderful experience they are having, I get a little emotional.

So, how does an implant fit into any of this? What is does is take some of the risk out and more profit in. When you have a commodity that is priced by supply and demand, the pay that all these hard working people involved is always at risk. If we can have a product that will add pounds that are helping to pay the wages of employees and the debts of owners that buy the tractors and feed trucks from the local business on Main Street, and help fund research to even do our job of raising high quality, environmentally friendly beef even better, I guess I get a little emotional about the science.

From the production side, a implant helps reduce risk and pay wages. That’s a good thing. If the science says it’s bad, then we better change it. If science says it’s okay, then we are doing the right thing.

So we all may be driven by emotion. I just hope we can find a way to convince our consumer that emotion with science is better than emotion without the whole picture. We may need to take a different approach at pressuring our consumer to accept our science.

It’s great that they choose beef no matter how it’s raised. But it’s our job to convince them of why we do what we do, and I think we may have to get emotional about our science.

Animal husbandry and science, plus transparency and honesty and a great tasting, safe product, and using the same amount of emotion to sell our production as we do raising it. That’s what I decided while enjoying my meal.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed chewing on that steak!