Editorial / Opinions

It was one of those evenings when you really want to just sit down in front of the computer or the TV and let the evening slip quickly away. Instead, I let Ryan coax me out of his house to go for a walk. On a place he rents a wet-weather spring had sprung, and I was a little intrigued to see this phenomenon myself.

What makes a cowman?

I come from a long line of “horse traders.” That’s the term my father always used to describe someone who was very astute at making good deals – and he was among the best I’ve ever seen. Shrewdly, he could have more fun out of making a good deal on a truck, or tractor, or a bottle calf purchase than normal people could have on an exotic vacation or a day at the ballpark. For so many years, he was afraid he had not passed on that trait to his only son.

I think you know that we here at Ozarks Farm & Neighbor stand with the farmer when it comes to politics and policies that threaten our shared way of life. The Humane Society of the United States has tried to gain a stronghold in Arkansas and Oklahoma through ballot measures in the past. In Missouri the HSUS is starting its first ballot initiative this year. We want to keep you informed and attuned to these important happenings, because as you know, every success the HSUS gets, the greater the threat is to our way of life as livestock producers. Make no mistake; the HSUS is not just about saving puppies and kittens from abuse. They want to end production agriculture as we know it, crippling the American farmer so we can no longer feed our own countrymen and women. We can’t bury our head in the sand. We as producers must continually be willing to fight back.

When my ex-boss at Tyson's, Jerry Delozier's, boys were teenagers, they discovered a skunk with a litter of kits under the slats in their breeder hen house. The slats were in ten foot by two foot sections. These slats were nailed on 2 by 6 runners and lined up the chicken house for the hens to get up on, with a scratch area in the center.

Sam and Jake work on a large cropping operation down in Central Arkansas. Well, I should say… Sam still works there.

With the HSUS ballot initiative in Missouri, it's important to tell the story of "What the Hidden Camera Missed"

Myron Hartzell, NRCS Grassland Specialist encourages farmers to ask "Where Do I Want To Be In ……?"

I think you, the livestock producers of southwest Missouri, know that we here at Ozarks Farm & Neighbor stand with the farmer when it comes to politics and policies that threaten our shared way of life. As many of you know, there have been rumblings of ballot initiatives in the state of Missouri, and this seems to be the year such an event will be taking place. We want to keep you informed and attuned to these important happenings, because they will affect our way of life. We can’t bury our head in the sand. We’re going to have to fight back.

After he had assembled his empire of land and cattle, he could have afforded any kind of home he wanted. But he was satisfied with this three-room replica of the cabin on his original homestead. Now, his big hat shoved to the back of his head, sweat beading on his face and darkening the armpits of his shirt, he swore at me.