JWsPOV

  The idea that some people are not smart enough to understand certain ideas and concepts is not a new phenomenon. For centuries people have been naturally sorted into classes. This is not saying people are doomed to failure or a life of mediocrity. This is saying that it is okay to not keep up with the Joneses. There are people in Agriculture who will never have a super successful farm or operation. Partly because they don’t think big enough or outside the box. That is okay. Agriculture needs everyone that wants to participate and be involved. Successful farmers and ranchers are not lucky. Just like an Olympic gold medalist is not lucky. There is a lot of hard work and determination behind those achievements.  Some people in this world are outstanding researchers. They spend their days in labs or test fields gathering data. They analyze samples from livestock, fields, grains, all in the hopes of the next big breakthrough. That breakthrough could be discovering a more disease ...

Even in agriculture, fear is a money making scheme. It is one that is used by the government, big companies, and associations. Markets can be and have been manipulated to benefit large organizations and the conglomerate companies. The amount of jobs and revenue generated in agriculture is mind boggling. The number of people employed in agriculture is still one of the largest of any industry in the country. Breed associations set up EPD’s to be informational and used as a tool to sell more animals. EPD's have ended up being a tool of associations to control its members. This doesn’t have to be the case. Members can and do show how phenotypical and geographical impacts are greater at being a profitable ranch than any computer generated statistic. Most people should stop asking what a bulls birth weight EPD is and start asking, out of a 100 mature cows, how many had to have calves pulled by that bull. Some don't want to publish that statistic.  Markets are a whole diff...

  With graduations happening, new chapters in many people’s lives are starting. There will be new adventures and exciting times. There will be people out there who choose to not attend a college or university.  Some will choose a certificate that will lead them to a manual job with high pay,  or continue to work at their jobs.  We tend to celebrate those that achieve the most by the rules set forth by others. We sometimes neglect those that survive and achieve goals by overcoming some of the greatest hardships in life.  When my nephews graduated from high school everyone wanted to know where they would go to school and what they were going to do. They went a semester or two to community college. Then, they got jobs and started working. They earned their own money, got out on their own, and are happy successful individuals. Now some college education and instruction came later to help career paths and knowledge. Neither one is a graduate of a 4-year program. Both...

It has always fascinated me how people speak about famous people, politicians, leaders in organizations, livestock judges, and even their neighbors. Many people speak of other people as they know them personally, when they do not know them at all. People speak of others as they have spent their lives together. We sit in judgment of people and their actions online or social media as who they really are in life. That is only who they want you to believe they are in life. I do not know a lot of people.  In my local town, like many others, it has been local election time. With numerous people running for City Council having their signs out with all the smiling faces, they are working to portray that they are the best choice for representing me and my neighbors in our town. With the onset of local elections that means flyers start showing up in the mail and candidates promote what they will do and how they are the best choice. Many take to social media for promotion. Unless you are from...

  Apologizing is one of the hardest things to do in life. Our egos make it difficult to admit fault. There is nothing wrong with admitting you made a mistake or said something that wasn’t true. It has happened to all of us and we are better off when we can admit it. Then move on with life. Pride is a stubborn attribute and one of the biggest blockers to apologies. It should not be in the way. Your pride should tell you, admit you were wrong and move on. It doesn’t. It wants to protect what your mind thinks is your image to others. This is one reason we should not care what others think.  After 9/11 our government voted to invaded Afghanistan to go after the jihadist. A couple of years later they went after Iraq leader Saddam Hussein and the weapons of mass destruction. This had huge support from many people, both republicans and democrats. We are still in Afghanistan fighting and there were no weapons of mass destruction. What there was in Saddam's house was torture rooms wher...