Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

Let's look at Montana culture.

Montana leads nation in per-capita bar spending

It's a sobering statistic for New Year's Eve.

OK, "sober" might not have anything to do with it.

But Montana, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's economic census, leads the nation in per-capita spending at drinking establishments.

....

By dividing the revenue for alcohol sales at drinking establishments by the state's population, it works out to a figure of $258. That's what every man, woman and child in the state would have spent in drinking establishments in 2002 if every man, woman and child in the state drank.

Of course, not every man or woman, and hopefully none of the children, spent that amount in bars, which means some of us spent a lot more than $258.

The national average for per-capita spending at drinking establishments, by the way, was just $52. Forty-three states didn't even reach triple digits.

Only Montana, Nevada, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Wisconsin were over $100 in per-capita spending.

Yes, there we have a big part of Montana culture, the drinking culture. Ain't it grand.

Oh, to me not drinking is like being dead, almost. I sit here taking endless journeys down memory lane. It gets boring. Jeffrey Bernard

The calves eating on their ration of hay. None of the cattle are real fond of the hay I am feeding but I tell them "tough, it's better than a snowball." For the record the hay is year old wild hay which is real grassy and dry. It needs fed and then we will be onto good alfalfa. Taken 12/28/2007.

Cows waiting for feed. Sorry, I can't work up any more creativity than that. Taken 12/25/2007.

I find stories like this one so blatantly obvious that I lack the ability to respond to them.

Ethanol, cattle prices linked by corn

As the price of corn rises - largely due to increased ethanol production - the price of feeder cattle falls, said Ron Torell, Cooperative Extension livestock specialist.

Cattlemen who want to learn how to combat this problem should attend the annual Cattlemen's Update program Jan. 7-11 in various Nevada communities and by video conference.

What really blows my mind is the article is aimed at cattlemen. If cattlemen don't know that higher corn prices lead to lower calf prices, they have a bigger problems. Like a non functioning brain. Don't get me wrong, we as cow-calf producers need to figure out how to weather this storm but by putting it the way they did makes us look like idiots.

It pisses me off, people are idiots, but what are you going to do? The world is full of idiots. That's why we'll never have flying cars. People don't know how to drive. Dustin Diamond

I am so sick and tired of this cold I have it isn't even funny. Usually you get a cold and in about a week you get over it. I first come down with symptoms on the 13th of December and I still am not over the damn thing. It's the damnedest thing, I start to feel better than I have a relapse and feel worse again and my throat has been hurting like mad. Today I am on an upward spiral again. I feel better this morning than I did yesterday morning but how long will it last?

At this point I would give about anything to feel better. Working when you feel like this is so hard. It drains all the energy out of you but you need to continue on. Luckily the cows have been easy to take care of. We've been caking them and starting to hay a little bit which isn't too hard. Working on the addition to the house has really been draining though. About the time I got sick I finally got someone hired to build a mud room on my house.

I'm not a carpenter so I was clueless but this guy has really been doing a good job and I have been working alongside of him to try to help get the job done and the cost down. This cold has really made this tough but we are about done. Just some trim and interior work to do and the room will be finished. I have been looking for somebody for over 10 years to do this project. This isn't the first guy to show an interest, but he is the only guy willing to come out here and do the job. I've learned a lot about carpentry watching and helping him. I might have learned more if i wouldn't have been in a daze most of the time but what the hey, the job is getting done.

Cattle are doing great and so is the family. Everybody has had the cold but it has knocked me worse than anybody and they are mostly over it now. I'm the only one still lingering.

A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold. Ogden Nash

Some of the calves eating their cake. Not all of them have learned to eat it yet. now that we have started feeding hay the rest should learn no problem. Taken 12/25/2007.

The Code Of The West

I use the term, "code of the west," a lot to signify all those things that are so great about our industry but are kind of unspoken intangibles. Of course, there never was a formal code truly defined, and I've read that Zane Gray first actually used the term, which has nothing to do with geography but rather a mindset.

Several people have written me to provide my definition of the code. Here's a partial list:

* Don't ask about a person's past. In the West it was even frowned upon to ask a man his name. This guideline had a practical side in those days, as many people who moved West had a past they maybe didn't want to divulge. But it goes deeper than that -- namely, everyone should be judged based on the person they are today, not what they were.

This was quite interesting. I would really have to agree with all the things listed. The ones that struck me most were, Don't ask about a person's past, Your word is your sacred bond, Respect the land and Respect others. The rest are true too. I guess they all kind of fit in and expand on my personal philosophy, don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal. Real simple.

The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next. Henry Ward Beecher

The cows drifting in for their cake on a beautiful Christmas morning. Taken 12/25/2007.

Cowboy Christmas Prayer

I ain't much good at prayin', and You may not know me, Lord--

I ain't much seen in churches where they preach Thy Holy Word,

But You may have observed me out here on the lonely plains,

A-lookin' after cattle, feelin' thankful when it rains,

Admirin' Thy great handiwork, the miracle of grass,

Aware of Thy kind Spirit in the way it comes to pass

That hired men on horseback and the livestock that we tend

Can look up at the stars at night and know we've got a Friend.

So here's ol' Christmas comin' on, remindin' us again

Of Him whose comin' brought goodwill into the hearts of men.

A cowboy ain't no preacher, Lord, but if You'll hear my prayer,

I'll ask as good as we have got for all men everywhere.

Don't let no hearts be bitter, Lord; don't let no child be cold.

Make easy beds for them that's sick, and them that's weak and old.

Let kindness bless the trail we ride, no matter what we're after,

And sorta keep us on Your side, in tears as well as laughter.

I've seen old cows a-starvin', and it ain't no pretty sight:

Please don't leave no one hungry, Lord, On Thy good Christmas night--


No man, no child, no woman, and no critter on four feet--

I'll aim to do my best to help You find 'em chuck to eat.

I'm just a sinful cowpoke, Lord,--ain't got no business prayin'--

But still I hope You'll ketch a word or two of what I'm a-sayin':

We speak of Merry Christmas, Lord--I reckon You'll agree

There ain't no Merry Christmas for nobody that ain't free.

So one thing more I'll ask You, Lord: just help us what You can

To save some seeds of freedom for the future sons of man!

Written by S. Omar Barker


I wish all who visit here a Happy Christmas.

Source: Big Horn County News

Tester sides with state over jail

by Daniel Person
Big Horn County News

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester Tuesday said he has not encouraged federal agencies to contract with the detention center in Hardin because of the state’s stance on using the jail to house out-of-state prisoners.

He made the comments during his regular conference call with Montana reporters. When asked if had worked with any federal agencies to promote the jail, which currently is empty and losing money, he responded, “no.”

“That’s bad news, on the one had,” he continued. “On the other hand, whenever you start shipping people in from out of the state, the state needs to be part of the equation.”

Currently, the Montana Department of Corrections has not contracted with the jail to house its prisoners. David Ewer, the governor’s budget director, said the state considers the jail a private prison and that the Schweitzer administration stands opposed to using private jails in Montana.

Backers of the prison refute the contention that the jail is private, pointing out that the Two Rivers Trade Port Authority, an entity of the city of Hardin, owns the detention center.

Most recently, Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath had decided Montana law does not allow detention centers like to one in Hardin to house out-of-state prisoners. That decision, which carries the weight of law, has prompted a lawsuit from the city of Hardin against the state of Montana.

“Out-of-state prisoners have been a bone of contention” in Montana, Tester said. “We’ve really got to make sure the state is fully supportive of it.”

Well, we find out how one of our Senators feel about the Prison in Hardin. Senator Jon Tester falling in lock step with Gov. Brian Schweitzer, what a surprise (sarcasm intended). This is the first time in print that I have really seen it spelled out that the governor opposes private prisons. That must explain why our local Legislators are keeping silent about it. They don't want to cross the Governor.

Will this prison ever open? Will the Governor allow it to open? I guess economic development near Indian Reservations isn't important to our states Leaders. All questions that will be answered down the road.

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. Albert Einstein

The cows waiting for there ration of cake on a snowy day. Behind them is one of the haystacks of winter feed for them. You can't see it all but there is about 500 tons of hay in this stackyard. i truly don't believe I will have to feed a bit of the hay in this yard this winter. Taken 12/21/2007.

My dad talks about the days of running cattle in this country when he was a kid.

His Granddad was more of a farmer than rancher but he had quite a few cattle. Once a year his granddad would gather up his older steers and trail them to the railroad in Hardin. Dad always laughed about the way his granddad did things. He said they would trail in a bunch of steers that were mostly three year olds but there would also be some four and five year olds that had gotten away in previous years. As an aside here when dad bought the place he said that there was a half dozen huge steers that were over 8 years old that he played hell trying to get rounded up. It would take two days to trail the steers to Hardin and load them on the train. They took them to what was called the Y and load them out. They usually went to Omaha where they were put on grain for a few weeks and then slaughtered. Dad always talks about the trips into Hardin. What he really remembered was the trip back. After the steers were loaded Grandma would have the vehicle there and everybody would load up for the ride home except him. They would stick him on a horse and he got to follow the horse herd home to the ranch. He always enjoyed the trip back. He said it would only take few hours and they would be back.

My dad's dad was a little different story though. When he shipped stuff it was all two year olds. He was always right on the ball doing things right and getting them done in good order. I worked for the man once when i was younger, he was a hard man to please. Dad never talks about these trail drives much. He did say they trailed down Tullock Creek like his granddad did to the Y in Hardin sometimes but they also trailed down Reno creek to Benteen where they loaded cattle too. Same deal, they loaded these older animals up and sent them to the Midwest, Omaha, where they were fed grain for about 30 days before being slaughtered.

How times and things change, when my dad started ranching the thing was not to sell older critters like he described. Calves were what most guys sold. That allowed you to run more mother cows and have more production capability. Why did this happen? Cheap feed in the Midwest allowed them to put the gain on calves cheaper so they would feed them out in feedlots.

I really wonder with the price of corn and other feedstock like they are, are we going to see the cattle industry move back to selling older cattle? Is a cow calf producer like me going to go back to selling yearlings instead of calves? Is the industry going to be able to afford to take calves and put the expensive feed in them or are we going to have to raise them up to yearlings on grass and then put 30 days of corn in them to get them fat like my Grandpa and Great-Granddad did? This would really save on the feeding expense to get cattle fat.

These thoughts have been running around my mind the past couple of weeks. This last year, yearling prices were really strong. Is that the signal that we need to start doing things different? Should I jump now to a different way of operating or wait and see? I think the high feed prices are going to be a new norm for quite a while with the push for ethanol we see so I think it would be smart to adapt early. But is this the right move? I'll have to consider for a while. Step back to the way Granddad did things, quite a paradigm shift to think about.

Damn computers, I had a whole big commentary wrote up and the damn computer ate it. Sorry I can't recreate it.

Cattlemen propose changes in federal beef checkoff law

Cattle producers in Nebraska and other states are pushing for what would be the first significant changes to the national beef checkoff program since it started more than 20 years ago.

It's the program behind the popular "Beef, It's What's for Dinner" ads that feature the distinctive voice of actor Sam Elliott. At a dollar a head, the checkoff fee pools about $80 million annually for beef promotion, research and education, among other things.

But more than two decades of inflation have decreased the buying power of that dollar, checkoff supporters say. Some want to raise the checkoff to $2 and make other changes to the program, which remains much the same since Congress authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to start in the mid-1980s, said Don Ricketts of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Quick and dirty. I oppose any raise in the rate for the checkoff and most guys I know do to. They feel the checkoff takes enough out of our pocket without raising it. I do like the idea of a periodic referendum about whether to keep it. Give the people paying the bills a little power over the situation. The Beef Board/NCBA will surely oppose this though so it will not happen.

Mentioned, but barely is the USCA proposal to use some of the Beef Checkoff funds to promote US beef. I'm thinking this would garner a lot of support from Cattlemen if brought to a vote. Probably why we will never get the chance to vote on it, the Beef Board/NCBA won't want to allow it.

Lot's of talk of change in the Checkoff program. Whether that talk will involve any actual changes we will have to wait and see.

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. Andy Warhol

Some of the two year old heifers crowded around me looking for their cake. I have started caking everything since the tubs I am using are running a little lean and the cake is a lot cheaper source of protein than the tubs. You can see some calves stalking the fence in the background looking for their handout too. Taken 12/18/2007.

State still on safe side of brucellosis

Months of additional tests for brucellosis in Montana cattle have turned up no new cases, Department of Livestock officials said Wednesday.

"Definitely we feel significant relief," said Marty Zaluski, state veterinarian at the Livestock Department.

I'm not real sure I would say it is relief I feel. I am not surprised by the results so I am not relieved by them. This is more of an expected announcement to me. I feel that we will get through this period with no new cases and get its Brucellosis free status back in 2009. It's just a waiting game.

Curiosity is lying in wait for every secret. Ralph Waldo Emerson