National Ag Day!!!

Happy National Ag Day everyone! today is not only a day to celebrate agriculture but also take time to thank our farmers and ranchers. Without them we don't eat, have clothing, or the other things that we have become acustomed to. Almost everything starts on a farm.

With that in mind, here are some fun facts that I ran across that I want to share with you!

97% of farms and ranches are family owned

There are more than 1 million US cattle ranches and farmers

Farmlands include more than crops and animals, it also includes open space, wildlife habitat, and wetlands. So not only does it benefit our wildlife friends, it also benefits the environment as well.

There are half as many farms and ranches in the USA as there were in 1960, the population has doubled since then.


If you have any facts you'd like to add, just let me know! :)

No FFA, No future?

I have been following via social media that California wants to cut off funding for agriculture education programs in their schools. Even though I don't live in California, I live about 10 miles from the Northern California border and am familiar with the small town FFA chapters around through my travels and fairs that I have attended in Siskiyou and and Modoc counties which include the Siskiyou Golden Fair in Yreka CA and Tulelake/Butte Valley fair in Tulelake CA which is about 2 hrs from where I currently live.

So why is this sticking in my craw because I don't live in California and therefore shouldn't be concerned about it??

Very simple, I was an FFA member at Phoenix High School in Phoenix, Oregon (yes there is such a place) before I switched schools and joined, I was on the verge of dropping out of my old high school because I was bullied and really school at the time didn't interest me. Hard to believe now, but it is true.

I switched schools and joined FFA after finding out what it was all about and since I had been riding horses and interested in livestock for years, I joined up and never looked back!

During my years as an FFA member, I saw many places that I'd thought I'd never see (I mean i would have never saw Kentucky or the South any other way if I hadn't gone to National Convention in 2003) I learned how to work as a team with my fellow members, and a lot more about agriculture. Needless to say, the urge to drop out of school went away!

Most important, it helped me discover that agriculture was the career path that I wanted to follow after I got out of high school. After graduation in 2004, I headed to the East Side of Oregon a spitting distance away from the Idaho border to attend college at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario Oregon which among other things, is a big agricultural community and also the alma mater of both of my parents!

I spent about 4 yrs attending college and despite a few minor set backs, graduated in 2010 with a degree in Ranch Management.

The point I am trying to make here is that Agriculture Education programs are important for our future of agriculture, if we are going to feed the world then we need a lot more hands to help. It also bridges the gap between rural and urban, educating kids who think milk comes from Walmart. Among these things, it also teaches public speaking which is vital if you are going to go out into the world of work.

Yes, drama club, chess club, and sports programs are important too, I too was in choir and on the dance team. But how are we going to build more hands to help feed the world without Agriculture Education? without 4-H and FFA programs it will be next to impossible in my opinion. It also gives farm kids a place to gather where they feel safe from judgement and misunderstanding from the more 'urban' groups at school.


So, please California and other states, keep these programs in our schools. Our future depends on it.

Me in the Blue Jacket, 2004!

Why a new blog?

If you are reading this then you're in the right place, you probably are familiar with my other blog "Tales from The Sagebrush" which is where I write and share cowboy poetry and stories. Since that one is sort of related to poetry and poetry related things, I decided to start another blog for other things that are of interest to me and probably to the agriculture community as well. There will also be snippets about non ag related things such as make up, yes people ranch girls DO wear make up!

Why agriculture issues, aren't there enough blogs out there dedicated to that?

Well yes, but I think there need to be more out there. As ranchers and farmers, we have a duty to educate the public aka town and city folks about what we do to keep them fed and clothed. there is so much misinformation in the media and I feel that if it comes straight from the horse's mouth, then people may take a second look. People really are interested in ranching and farming even though it doesn't seem like it sometimes.


So, no more cowboy poetry?

Of course not, I will still keep up 'Tales From The Sagebrush'



Do you even know what you're talking about?

Yes, I do. If I don't know the answer to something, I usually know someone or can find something that does.


My background?

I have an Associates degree in Agriculture emphasising on Ranch Management, I have lived in Eastern Oregon which produces the Spanish Sweet onion, as well as potatoes and sugar beets. My father actually worked in the fields back before I was even heard of or even thought of, I always remember him telling me stories about it. When we'd go visit my grandparents in Nyssa Oregon, my dad and I usually brought home a sugar beet for me to take to class and tell my classmates all about it!

I also worked on a ranch in high school, and again in 2009 near Emmett Idaho only that ranch produced organic beef so I learned about the whole 'organic' deal but that is another story for another day!

I am a huge supporter of FFA and was also a member in high school, recently I have begun helping the new crop of kids in my old FFA chapter as an FFA Alumni member. I started this in 2012 at another high school in the town I was living in at the time and loved it!

And of course, I am a cowboy poet, musician, lover of vintage things, and well make up!!




Hopefully I will be getting this blog up and running with some interesting tidbits and information and I hope people read, learn, and enjoy!