Mercy Me!

This past Wednesday I went on a trip with my Beef Production class to eastern Ohio. We visited with Rick and Jane Young on their commercial Angus operation, Brent Porteus' feed lot, Muskingum Livestock Auction, and Way-View Angus, a purebred/seed stock farm. I did learn a lot about production in Ohio. As many of you may know, I am originally from Florida and choose to come to Ohio State University because I have family here, and so I could learn something new and outside of my comfort zone. I did just that on Wednesday.


My dad has constantly been asking me to learn some of the grasses here in Ohio, but I am hopeless when it comes to learning things like that from a book. I am a very visual/hands-on kind of girl. While we were at the Young's, who are award-winning environmental stewards of the land, I was able to see and learn four different types of grass, 3 different types of weeds/shrubs, and see some amazing specimens of cattle.


Tuesday will be a sad day for the history books in my opinion. Mercy for Animals released an "undercover" video of an Ohio dairy farm where employees were physically abusing animals on the farm. This is never a good thing; the abuse to the animals, the fact that people go undercover to get this footage, the affect it has on the agriculture industry and our consumers, or any other ill affect. I feel this particular incident is worse. I know it is wrong of me to feel this way, because it is always a bad situation, however this hit especially close to home. The dairy in question is Conklin Dairy Farm, a good friend of mine is the son of the owners and based on how I know him, his character, and his work ethic (all of which had to have come from how he was raised, i.e. his parents), this horrendous video is almost completely unbelievable.


While we were visiting with Brant Porteus, the Ohio Farm Bureau President, we got onto the subject of the new development with in the animal rights/welfare sector of agriculture. Through the conversation he said something that made me really start thinking. He commented that we all need to take up an active role in advocacy, for the agricultural industry, individual commodity industries, or what ever we feel passionate about. It was at this point that a light went on in my head, I want to be an Industry Advocate. Yes, I know that this is a role we all can and should take up, but I want it to be my profession. I have the passion for this industry, the want to, the drive, and the willingness and desire to learn more. I know my strengths and weaknesses, and know what I need to work on to be able to build my weaknesses and refine my strengths. It is now my goal.


Back to my trip to eastern Ohio, after we left Mr. Porteus' feedlot, we went to the stockyards in Zanesville. This was nothing new to me because I have had tours of the stockyards in Texas and Oklahoma, so while this is a smaller version, it was still something new to a lot of the students in my class.


We ended the day at Way-View Angus farm. Fred Penick is the owner/operator of this purebred Angus herd. He is working to improve the breed through genetics and selling those animals of superior genetics to commercial breeders to create a better end-product.

Overall, it was a good, educational day for me. I do enjoy agriculture, and what it stands for in this great nation. The opportunity to see it in action is a great thing.

Life

I have not blogged in a little while because I have been trying to figure out some things in my life. Life has definitely shown its good and bad sides to me here lately. My plans for graduation have been changed, which changes my plans for an internship next spring. I still do not know what I am going to do once I graduate.

I understand that I am not the only one who feels this way; especially among the college aged population. But sometimes it feels as though no one can help me. I feel bad asking peers to help me with my problems when I know they have their own to deal with.

However, I believe I have found a way to do what I want when I graduate. I have been working on my great-uncle's farm in Newark a lot since Spring Break. Since my uncle has been put into a nursing home, the sad truth is that we might have to sell the farm in order to pay for his bills. My mom and her two brothers have decided that they want to buy it. Seeing as they all live in Florida, someone in Ohio would have to look after it. That is where I come in. The goal, if we do purchase the land, is to turn it into a Living History Farm. Make it educational and open it to the public and bring in school aged kids to see how agriculture has changed and grown in the past century. I see it as a Cracker Country (FL State Fair) meets Ag Ventures meets Agarama (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Tifton, GA). Maybe not as old-school as Agarama, but the concept is still there.

For those of you who do not know what these places are/do, let me elaborate:
- Cracker Country is located on the Florida State Fair Grounds in Tampa, FL (close to my home). It is the new home of a small "Cracker" Village the same as it would be found in the 1800's. There is a school house, church, blacksmith, general store, train station, houses/homes, smoke houses, community center/courtyard, and much more. All of the buildings were relocated from their original locations through out Florida to the Fair Grounds. It is only open to the public during the state fair in February, and to private tours. The term "Cracker" refers to the first settlers of Florida because they "cracked" their whips to herd the cattle across the state. It is still used today to describe families that have a history in the state relating to beef cattle production and still use whips to move their cattle. (It is not always a derogatory term)
- Ag Ventures is a program put on by the Florida Farm Bureau in conjunction with the Florida State Fair Agribusiness Department, and is assisted by local commodity groups and FFA and 4-H. The program is directed to third grade students in the Tampa Bay Area to come and experience some of the Florida Agriculture. Students might learn how to make butter, where honey comes from, how to grow a strawberry (and take a plant home with them), a brief introduction to the forestry department, and a little bit about all the different industries associated with Florida Agriculture.
- Agarama is just south of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, GA. It is very similar to Cracker Country, except it is open year round. Agarama is a working farm/farming community. The employees/volunteers who work there have extensive knowledge of how people lived in the 1700-1900s. When you enter the village, you are stepping back in time.

I do not think that I can pull off the history to that extent because this farm has only been in my family for 80 years. Many of the original buildings and outhouses have been damaged by age and weather, so those buildings will take a lot of work to redo or use at all.

Now, all of this is still in the works, but with life dealing me a poor hand, I think it is fair to say, you may have a shotty hand, but compared to the others at the table, it might be the best one. So I am thankful for the hand I was dealt with. I may not win the jackpot, but I will be happy with the winnings I do receive.