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.