I have not had time to write any scoop loops in the last couple weeks, but I have thrown a few with my rope.

When I fly I use that time to write and sometimes in motel room in evenings. I like having that time so I enjoy flying and motel rooms.

I share some observations from the last couple weeks.

Judged the Zoetis feedlot challenge for about the fifth time. The skill level is so much better now than it was when I judged the first one. Many of the same people, just improved skills. When the culture changes, the outcome changes.

My judging was the pen riding portion. The skills they used to get two numbered animals out was very precise, but with the correct pressure. The real good ones still had a large percentage of the pen laying down when they got the ones they needed out the gate. I had a hard time judging, ended up with lots of teams tied, so time became the winning factor. If the score was tied it went back to who got the job done fastest. I judged on safety, calmness of pen, calmness of pull, teamwork, and stockmanship skills.

I got home from Lethbridge, and the next day headed to Fort Collins Co, and discussed going to work for a large operation. I would like to be a part of really managing resources and creating a good environment for a livestock operation. We decided not to pursue the job, but it would have been a nice challenge. It is a good outfit that does lots of good for the industry. I’m not so sure I’m not making a mistake.

Next we went over the mountain for my yearly endeavor into the world of western luxury. I’ve been going to the “Home Ranch” for many years and have seen many changes. Each Manager has added to what the ranch has offered in their own style and I have learned from each of them. A big part of a guest ranch is the head wrangler, and they have had many different styles in the years I have been going. Michael Moon is the current head wrangler and I think he is very good at his job. He’s a cowboy that is good with people.

The guests always fascinate me. They are willing to pay a lot of money(a lot of money) to live the life for one week that ranch folks live every day. Food and meals served cookhouse style (five chefs, not cooks) and all the outdoor activities we in the livestock business take for granted.

My job was to present horsemanship and cattlehandling. Most of the folks only do it for pure entertainment, but are fascinated by the relationship humans and animals can have. We worked cattle, I started a colt, and just shared what we in the animal world do every day. Great staff, great guests, great cabin, great food makes for a great week. I’m glad I get to go back next year.

Got home Saturday and left Sunday morning with daughter Mesa and we went to a benefit ranch roping for an old friend Maggie (Magpie)Beck, at the Wallace outfit in Hall, Montana.

I haven’t been to a ranch roping competition in lots of years, and had a blast. Wife Tammy let me borrow her horse, who according to her is the smartest horse in the world, so I nicknamed him Spencer, after my cousin who my grandmother thinks is the smartest kid in the world. I had never ridden him before and he worked real nice. I really enjoyed watching Mesa rope and interact. The first round she was pretty timid and didn’t rope as good as she does. The second time she did much better.

Comparing this competition with the feedlot competition was real interesting. This ranch roping was four team members roping four yearling, laying them down and paint branding them. The fastest time wins. It was real fun, and I understand it, but at the end of the competition the cattle were not as good as when we started. They weighed less and were worse to handle. At the feedlot challenge they were just the opposite.

I’m not criticizing the competition. I would go to more of them if I could, because I enjoy the skills of “extreme” cowboying, and feel they are needed in the real world, and the competition showcases that part of stockmanship. The better you are at roping, setting up a good shot to catch, and working on the ground, the safer and less stressful it is.

What these different competition show is the different pressures we put on with our handling and the outcomes of it. I was also surprised at the skill levels. Ranch roping have been going on for a long time and the skills have not improved near as much as I’ve seen the cattlehandling skills at the Feedlot competition improve.

We loaded up and headed west to Ronan Montana, then went to Victor Montana the next day and finished up in Gold Creek on Wednesday presenting stockmanship and stewardship for NRCS.

Three very different operations, managing resources to improve quality of life for all things. You want hospitality, go to western Montana ranches! The three operations were different, but the common denominator of all is how good the NRCS folks were, and how dedicated to the industry the three hosts were.

Now let’s look at the producers in attendance. Mesa was amazed at how different each crowd was. The towns were not 100 miles apart, but the style of each was very different. That is what is so great about my job is observing how traditions, climate, terrain, and demographics create its own culture in each area.

At Gold Creek, I new a lot of the producers and how their operations worked. I was raised just over the mountain so I was kind of at home. That made me a little nervous.
I knew how good of producers were there and what they did on the ranches they manage.

To be real honest, I like the animal work the best in my job. I had a guy at the Home Ranch tell me he thought I was more comfortable with the horses than I was in the dining room. He was right. I remember when I first came to the Home Ranch I would almost get sick, having to go and have dinner with a bunch of folks that new which fork to use first. I have over come it and actually enjoy it now, even though I still have silverware left over when I’m done.

When I get to do a presentation where I know the people, I am just so proud to be a part of this business. Livestock people are good people. The people at the Home Ranch are good people. The lifestyle brings out the good in people.

The best part of the last week was Mesa. She is a good hand. She has been working with some of the snortiest, most dangerous cattle in the world, but she has so much feel for putting the right pressure on. She really makes nice horses. She also is a good people person. We really had fun and worked well as a team. I hope she wants to do more.

Every where we went someone wanted to buy one of her horses. The Thomas Hereford ranch hosted in Gold Creek. Someone wanted to buy Mesas big bay horse we call “Low Tone”. She said everything was for sale. After some fun discussion Mesa said that he was “for sale, but not on sale”. Everyone got a big kick out of that.

So now I am on a plane to Denver and will be in Fort Collins for the next couple days for the big Stockmanship and Stewardship event with NCBA. I won’t get home for three weeks and will be going to New Mexico, California, Oklahoma, British Columbia and Alberta. I should finds something fun to talk about.

Just finished watching “The Founder” on my flight from Edmonton to Denver, as recommended by Guns and Roses fan (even though she didn’t know any of the songs) and Zoetis team member Megan Clifton.

I enjoyed it very much and it got me to thinking. I remember the first time I went to McDonalds. It was with my Father, and I had helped unload a bunch of oil cases as he was a Exxon distributor, and we went to the new McDonalds and I had my first Big Mac. He and my stepmother Yvonne were very involved in the business world of Helena, Montana and they ate out quite often.

My Mother and stepfather Ralph Wegner were Ranch folks and we ate three big meals a day, mostly from everything grown on the place. We had a custom slaughter business about a hundred yards from the kitchen door so my mother was able to run a business and cook those good meals and do her job. We always had hired help around so it required her to cook for family and crew.

During the week I lived and worked and went to school on the ranch and on the weekends I stayed with the Dad side of the family and Saturdays were spent at the bulk plant or helping with auctions.

One lifestyle was very different from the other, both Mother and Step Mother were very good cooks(Granny Alice was always my favorite of all time) but very different. I guess you could call one a town cook and one a country cook.

My point is differ to lifestyles create different eating and dining habits.

So back 45 or 50 years ago McDonalds was the place I always wanted to eat. It was so good. About 25 years ago our kids always wanted to go to McDonalds, and we couldn’t get them out of “playland”. (Mother Tammy crawled through the door to the plastic balls to drag Rial out more than once). I wanted to go somewhere else by that time and the kids wanted to play, so we usually went to Mickey D’s.

Mesa still had a little country in her. Brad Cameron, Mesa and I were at one of the fast food places and Mesa opened up her burger and pulled the pickles off and told us she didn’t like “town pickles ” and I remember Brad getting quite a kick out of it.

In the first 25 or so years of McDonalds in my memory it was pretty much the model that I just learned about in the movie, and it worked for the fast paced “town” lifestyle
People were living. It was a big treat for our kids when we came to town when we were living on ranches in remote areas.

In the last 10 or 15 years I have seen McDonalds having to try to make changes to fit the customers needs, and it seems they are behind and having a hard time catching up.

Health of nutrition has moved way up on the priority list, and the quality and choices of fast food have improved. People are eating with a conscience and make the eating decisions on more things than convenience.

When I am traveling with animals or am in a hurry I like to stop at McDonalds and I like a double quarter pounder with cheese, fries and a ice tea. When I was younger I loved Big Macs, fries and a coke. Now I still like it, but it’s not what I choose very often.  Things change.

I wonder what kind of impact fast food has had on the beef industry? What if we were all like ranch or farm folks and ate mostly home cooked meals. We seem to have been real fortunate in the past to have lots of desire for our product. We still do, but is it still as strong? The folks that make the decision to buy the end product we produce are not the ones we are selling to. McDonalds, Golden Corral, Applebee’s, all the way to Ruth’s Cris, don’t buy from a single rancher or even feedlot that I know of. We produce a product that we are at the mercy of someone else to sell it for us. We can have all the passion we want about our product, but if it doesn’t fit the needs of our customers, we are in trouble.

I have been listening and watching people not involved in the livestock business and what I see is not always what I here from the research and opinions of those involved in the business.

In the Denver airport I have always seen a very long line at McDonalds and never ate there because of the line. Chic Fil-A has opened now and it has a huge line, (not on Sunday)and McDonalds hardly ever does. I think this is important to see. The customer is changing. I think demographics have a lot to do with it, as well as priorities of perceived quality of food and health fads in food.(low carb and gluten free diets)

So I really am thankful for McDonalds. I liked the movie and I have enjoyed the food they have provided my family and me, as well as increasing the demand of beef so much for our industry. I think you would enjoy watching the movie.