by Julie Carter
The era has arrived where only a few aging cowboys haven’t
figured out how to hunt and peck around on a computer keyboard. A bunch of them
have even tackled the “smart phone” which is not the name they give it.
As a whole, these untechnical geniuses have fought the trend
valiantly but in spite of those efforts, their rural isolated world became
boxed up on the internet. Feed programs, breeding programs, market watch and
cattle sales are just a few on a long list of things in the cow business that
have gone computerized. Communication with just about anybody now requires some
sort of technical skills ranging from answering a cell phone to finding forms
to fill out on a company website.
It is and always will be a fact that there are just some
things about ranching and cowboying that a computer can’t do, will never do. A
cowboy who knows nothing about a computer will quickly tell you exactly what
those things are.
However, technology has persevered even in the pasture.
Implanted computer chips with the animal’s complete historical data imbedded in
them are in use and making themselves handy in controlled situations. As a need
to track cattle origins from the pasture to the meat counter tops a priority
list, “data-based cowboying” is on the rise.
In all this, what happens to the everyday run-of-the mill,
denim-garbed leather-shod, felt hat-wearing, colt-riding cowboy?
Years ago Dan Roberts, a Texas cowboy, singer and song
writer wrote and released an album and song called Cowhand.Com. The title cut takes a humorous look at the adventures
of a cowboy who hires onto an outfit that is basically run by computers, not
seasoned cowboys.
The misadventures of this technologically challenged cowboy
who longs for the old days tell a story that was perhaps more prophetic than
Roberts ever dreamed it would be. His intention was a witty take on the concept
but the result was an outline of the real dilemma of crossing a cowboy with a
computer.
The lyrics point out that no machine ever shod a horse,
pulled a calf or broke a bronc to ride. The laptop in his saddle bags got dusty
riding drag and all that talk about menus, a mouse and booting up had the
cowboy telling his boss to stick that Pentium right in his AOL and pointing out
that the megabyte-ram-thing sounded inbred.
Book learnin’, as they would call it, isn’t foreign to
cowboys, it just comes from books and takes place after dark when the work is done.
My cowboy dad was a fiend for learning and was an easy mark for the
encyclopedia salesman that somehow found us at the head of Muddy Creek where
not many strangers trod.
We had not one, but several sets of encyclopedias just in
case we four children needed to look something up. He also bought every update published
for years after and several sets of assorted “how to” encyclopedias.
He learned taxidermy, beer making, electronics, mechanics,
veterinary skills and many other useful things from his “how to” books. I often
wonder what he would have done today with Siri and Google to guide him.
Computerizing the cowboy way will only go so far. Technology
has extended to providing data for the genetic, nutritional and medicinal
history of a cow as well as her history of residence for her lifetime. The good
news for the cowboy is it still takes man to bring the cows to the corral.
The statistical information can be downloaded from computer
to computer, from hard drive to cd or even sent to the printer. But the paper
trail through the office will never completely replace the cow trail through
the pasture.
And that cow? She is going to download her own nutritional
history into the same green pile she always did. What does Siri have to say
about that?
Julie can be reached
for comment at jcarternm@gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment