Colorado in November

After the TCFA convention my travels took me north to Colorado Springs for the BEEF Summit.

Pikes Peak is always beautiful.



On the way home I took a slight deviation from the normal path. At Trinidad I turned east on highway 160 and went to Branson and then to Folsom. As I turned south off of 160 to go to Branson the view back to the west was fantastic. Here you can see, from left to right, Raton Mesa & Fishers Peak, the Rocky Mountains, and Spanish Peaks. (CLICK ON THE PICTURES FOR A BETTER VIEW)

Kristen & Miss Texas

Kristen and I attended the TCFA Convention which was held at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine this week.

Kristen received recognition for winning the TCFA Team Challenge competition this past August. In addition to the nice award there is a scholarship that goes with it. Yea!

Miss Texas is always on hand at the TCFA convention to hand out awards.

Also Kristen used the opportunity to interview Miss Texas for the Canyon News and for her journalism class. Its great getting to do your job and homework at the same time. Wish I was that smart.

Zachary Gets A Six Point

Zachary harvested a really nice 6 point buck.

His hunting buddy Jack was there too.

The buck had a lot of age to him.

I am really proud that my kids are great hunters.

Cattlemen's Field Day - Warsaw MO

This week my travels took me to Warsaw Missouri where we hosted a cattlemen’s field day. The event was held at Henderson Ranch. Everyone enjoyed the wonderful weather. It was absolutely a beautiful day and the attendance was great.

My associate, Ron Kramer, gave a presentation on BVDV-PI testing.



Dale Dunlap (in the hat) was my travel buddy on this trip. Dale is with the Texas Agrilife Extension Service in Collingsworth County. Here he is visiting with Gary Fike (red vest) with Certified Angus Beef.

Jeff Windett, Executive Vice President of the Missouri Cattlemen's Association, gave an industry update and talked about the upcoming challenges after the election

Steve Bartholomew, with MFA, talked about the MFA Health Track Program and the importance of BVDV-PI testing.

Leslie Grace, with Henderson Ranch, talked about their experience with BVDV-PI testing. She said they have seen their death loss drop by 1%, treatment cost drop by $10.00 per head, and it reduced their retreatments to only 2%.

Thad Henderson also talked about the advantages to BVDV-PI testing. Henderson Ranch even put in their own testing lab and now offers testing services to all cattle producers.

Joe Young, with Micro Beef Technologies, talked about COOL and how their CattleLog services can help not only provide compliance with COOL but also allows your cattle to qualify for age and source verification and provide a great evaluation tool for your cattle production records.

Gary Fike, feedlot specialist with Certified Angus Beef, gave a presentation on the benefits of branded beef programs.

Dan Dorn, with Decatur County Feedyard, discussed some of the challenges and opportunities in the cattle business these days.

Dr. Jerry Woodruff, with Fort Dodge Animal Health, gave a great injection site BQA presentation.

Can you guess which calf is a PI? See answer below.

ANSWER - Its a trick question, all 3 calves are Persistently Infected with BVDV.

Kristens Kool Job

Kristen has the best job. While at WTAMU she is working part time for the Canyon News. In addition to her regular duties they give her special events to cover for the paper.


The Helicopter Ride
In September she covered the opening of the Corn Maze. Of course to really see it well and get the best picture for the newspaper she got to go up in a helicopter. I think her brother Nicholas was pretty jealous of the flight time.



















The Balloon Ride
This last week Kristen covered the third annual Pirates of the Canyon. This Amarillo Invitational Balloon Rally, which highlights the hot-air balloon community, is a fundraiser for the Amarillo College Foundation.
























































































She said the landing was a little rough. "We hit the ground going 27 miles per hour and then slid about 30 yards"

Maine In October

My travels this week took me to Maine. I had a few extra hours to tour some of the country side before my flight home Saturday. They tell me I missed the peak colors by a couple of weeks, but it was still beautiful.

To fully enjoy the pictures you need to click on them for a larger view.