There are those who say farming and ranching is a “way of life” more
than it is a business. Which helps explain why young people who grow up
in agriculture return to work on the farm. Working the land holds a
strong lure.
‘Course, it also explains why young people who grow
up in agriculture become architects and sailors! They remember the
return-on-investment and want to be as far away from a tractor and a cow
as they can be!
Ray said he first became a rancher. He loved it
but he found that he had to work all the bad days. They waited until it
started snowing on the mountain before they gathered the cows. They
spent frigid days ridin’ the high country chasin’ cows outta crevices
and thickets, suffering stiff fingers, frozen toes and icicles in his
moustache!
He was often preg checking and shippin’ calves in a
bone damp fall drizzle. He was calvin’ in snowdrifts, chainin’ up to
feed the cows and choppin’ ice on Christmas morning. It was followed by
brandin’ in the blowin’ dirt. Then, about the time they were ready to
turn the cows and calves out, the weather got beautiful.
So, he
became a farmer. He enjoyed farming as much as ranching. But he found
that in farming he had to work on all the good days! As soon as the
birds started chirping, he was out in the field breakin’ ground.
Planting as the springtime flowers bloomed. Spraying and cultivating in
the heat of the summer when he should have been drinkin’ iced tea in the
shade. Harvesting cut into his fishing. Then, he laid around the house
all winter because it was too miserable to go outside!
Finally,
Ray had a stroke of genius. He decided to become a rancher/farmer
combination! His brilliant solution to be a rancher on the good days and
farmer on the bad days!
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
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