Sept. 5 was Labor Day and for a farmer or rancher it is just another day to work. And planting wheat this year might make you need a second banker.
With fuel a lot higher and price of seed it makes you wonder whether you can afford to fertilize. But if you don’t fertilize then you are sure not to raise much. And then we have to hope and pray for rain or else we don’t have a chance to break even let alone try to make money.
A rancher brought his calves in last week and he said they are long weaned. He said they are as hard as my ex-wife’s heart.
In church Sunday the preacher said, “I am not jealous of Bill Gates and all his money at all cause I have something that money can’t buy and that is eternal life.” I go to church in Oklahoma City on Interstate 40 and Portland called Faith. One thing I really like there are lots of nationalities and never once have I seen any division. That’s the way it should be in life. We are all the same. In Sunday school, the assistant preacher who teaches it is Black and like every other Sunday I walked in with my black hat. The preacher said, “I thought you normally have a white hat?” And I replied, “Nope, once you go black you never go back.” They all laughed.
Our cow killing and bull market was a little cheaper but still very good particularly for this time of year. We are $30 per hundredweight higher than most years. The calf and feeder market is very good with quite a lot of calves selling off the cow and not being weaned.
In everyday life I just can’t help but get a little ornery. It’s more fun. I was standing behind a friend line to pay at the convenience store. He was wearing overalls and was leaning on the counter waiting to pay. So I reached in my ice tea and found several ice cubes that just happened to fall in his pocket. And yes, I soon got a call and he said, “You ornery son of a buck” or at least words that were close to that.
I saw a sign that that said, we use to be taught how to think but now we are taught what to think.
The sale barn today had calf fries for special in the cafe. I texted one of my boys and said, “You better come eat some it might give you a deeper voice.” His response was—“You think so?”
Editor’s note: The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not represent the view of High Plains Journal. Jerry Nine, Woodward, Oklahoma, is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family’s ranch near Slapout, Oklahoma.
