January 18, 2019 — As everybody knows, on every single day in every single month in every single year, there's a designated "National Day" celebrating whatever. Such as: the National Bird Day or the National Hat Day or — you get the idea. I have, thereby, been inspired to
January 18, 2019 — It's a bit ironic Sears is teetering on verge of liquidation and the American Farm Bureau Federation is still going strong after 100 years. In the early days of the Farm Bureau movement, Julius Rosenwald, president and later chairman of Sears, made financial grants to
January 18, 2019 — Well gentle readers, it seems at times as if we have come a long, long way since our country was founded. Or have we? Our forefathers, the men that set up our present style of government were considered to be men of courage and determination.
January 18, 2019 — As I write this column, the good ol' USA is suffering the indignity of a four-week partial government shutdown because congress and the president can not hammer out a workable national immigration policy. That's serious business, but I had to chuckle out loud when the
January 18, 2019 — As a child I was ALWAYS taught to respect my elders but now days it's getting harder and harder to find one. One of those I respected immensely was Chuck Irwin who just passed away at the age of 94. If his name sounds familiar
January 18, 2019 — "How ya doin' Skip?" I asked. "Okay, I guess," he said. "Remember my good rope horse?" I remembered. Skip, like me is left-handed and therefore requires a left-handed heelin' horse. Whenever I'm in southern New Mexico he lets me borrow ol' Roanie. Last time I
January 11, 2019 — Do you have wind in your county? If you don't, you'll find all that moving air concentrated here in this Montana county. You're welcome to come and harvest all the zephyrs, breezes, gales, drafts, wafts, gentle wind, light wind or puff of air. Take your
January 11, 2019 — U.S. Congressman Ken Buck, R-Colo., wrote "Drain the Swamp," a book that takes potshots at both parties and tells what really goes on with Washington. It is believable and disconcerting, to put it mildly. He uses terms like bipartisan bankruptcy as he takes readers into
January 11, 2019 — The Flint Hills of Kansas are sort of a conundrum. To many, mostly travelers, but also some residents, it's just a vast, seemingly empty, boring piece of geography. The travelers tell you they love to get through the Flint Hills. To many of the residents,
January 11, 2019 — It may be new year, but we at the Animal Agriculture Alliance are expecting business as usual from animal rights activists. They are likely to protest at any venue where they can garner attention and anywhere animals are present — farms, ranches, processing plants, fairs,
January 11, 2019 — I enjoyed a recent column by Lee Pitts where he wrote about some of the more interesting gifts he had received from his fan base. Now gentle readers, I am not about to sit here and try to tell you that I have a fan
January 11, 2019 — Prejudice is a funny thing. When a city slicker or a dude comes meanderin' into the Montana bar in Glasgow he's liable to get a lot of hard stares. But, I'm here to tell ya, when the shoe's on the other foot, it can be
January 11, 2019 — People the world over use their fingers to communicate; mostly in rude ways. Hip teenagers and Italians couldn't communicate if they had to wear mittens or a catcher's glove. The problem is this "finger talk" is not universal the world over. In America the "okay"
January 4, 2019 — Property tax relief promises to be front and center in the upcoming legislative session. And although the level of intensity on this issue varies from one senator to another, I am confident that each of my colleagues is genuinely interested in delivering the property tax
January 3, 2019 — Who is ready to hit the ground running in 2019? We are going to need all hands on deck to appropriately and effectively communicate our agricultural stories in the New Year. One of my resolutions is to improve the way I present the messages I
January 3, 2019 — As we start a new year, here are a few more good deeds that have been brought to my attention. Years ago there was a childless couple who had gotten all arrangements made to adopt a baby boy. The final hitch in their plan was
January 3, 2019 — Be careful what gifts you bestow on old cowboys, especially if they're not used to modern privies equipped with state-of-the-art electronic aides. Well, this incident sorta, really happened read on. THE PRESENT Those two old punchers, Shorty and Clyde, Ain't got no use for life's
January 3, 2019 — I love cattle. Always have, but it's not the same love I have for the dog or the horse. Cows are not cuddly, if you know what I mean? What caused me to think deeply about this most important relationship of all, love, was the
January 3, 2019 — Well, here I sit on this Thursday in late December wondering what column material I have to write about. NONE! I have none, gentle readers, so I will take this time to tell ya what I could write about if I thought it would pass
January 3, 2019 — The television paralyzed watchers as the horrendous flames burned California to ashes. The governor in command puffed and pounded, claiming that he and his ENVIRO-DENY-ERS took NO BLAME, NO BLAME, NO BLAME! Hans Christian Anderson couldn't say it better. I was watching "The Emperor with
