april blog

Sorry its been so long. I really have been pretty busy.

Last week we have been doing our spring calf working.

I've been buying some bulls and replacement cows for the

ranch and been doing a bit of travelling in the process.

This is one part of the business I particularly enjoy.

The connections in the industry are more like old friends.

most of the breeders and cattle buyers we deal with have

been family friends for years. It's good to catch up with

them, see what's been going on since the last time we did

business.

It's estimated that only 1% of the population makes their

living solely from the land. A large number have cattle or

farm with one spouse working a town job. One of my

mentors was lamenting the fact that the auction runs were

down from the lack of cattle left in the country. I read

today that the 2007 U.S. calf crop was the smallest it's

been in 56 years. Corn is upwards of $5 a bushel. I don't

need to tell you about fuel and fertilizer.

With the price of real estate rising, after grandpa dies,

many of the kids sell the old home place and move on. To

me that is sad. To many, its just the smartest financial

decision. Some say if what you do doesn't consistently

turn a good profit, it's a hobby. To me, yes you have to

make a dollar, but there is a thing called tradition and

legacy and way of life. These things will get us ranchers

through the hard times. And a little help from Above

couldn't hurt.

Also, who's been eating my sandwich?

It was BEEF, America, BEEF!!!

Boozin' B class of '93

I went to a outfit reunion this weekend in College Station.
For the uninformed, an 'outfit' is a Corps of Cadets unit at
Texas A&M University, roughly organized into a company
like an Army company of soldiers.
My class (1993) started with 25 freshmen or 'fish,' and
graduated 17, which for the Corps is a pretty high
percentage. My outfit has a long history of name changes,
with guys representing classes from the 60's and forward.
The longest slogan for company B-2 was Boozin' B, the
company that made Milwuakee famous. We were the
Boozers until 1994, when the name changed to the
Buzzards, then disbanded and now is back as the more PC,
B-2 Patriots. Gone is the Confederate flag emblazoned on
a wooden beer keg, replaced with a cavalry soldier with a
flag on a horse. I guess the powers that be decided the

image of a bunch of beer-swilling rebel hooligans was not
in line with the 'world class' University that A&M stides to
be.
But you know, looking over these guys at the reunion,
even the young cadets presently in B-2, all have that same
audacity that makes them successful. I think we need a
little of that to overcome the obstacles in life. Yes , they
may raise a little hell, maybe drink a beer, maybe pull
some outlandish pranks, torture and haze underclassmen,
but these are guys that have fought in the jungles of
Vietnam, rolled through Bagdad in tanks and gone after
the Taliban. They have risen up the corporate ladders,
started their own companies, taken risks, and become
leaders in industry, government and agriculture.
I am proud to say I am one of these. We are Aggies. We
don't always do the culturally acceptable thing. We
wouldn't have it any other way.
GIG 'Em!!
p.s, My buddy Dr. David Webb, DVM brought his 1977 Lincoln Continental convertible so guess what we cruised aroud all weekend in?