Yesterday consisted of starting a generator for a well, unloading feed in this lovely August heat, dealing with my feral children trying to kill one another, the brakes going out on the good pickup (which is also the ranch pickup and if you haven’t figured it out, my sweet husband works out of town during the week because he makes about 3 times more with a skilled trade than I do with a Masters degree, and guess what? I can’t fix the brakes so no big deal, just park the dang thing. No one died, thankfully...yes, I checked the fluid, my Daddy taught me how). But before all of that, there was this moment...

I needed to make sure another well was keeping up since we’re having issues with the other. The kids got out to stretch their legs and wandered over to the tank. “I wonder what they’re saying?” I thought. Then my mind went to a different place, “Will any of this even be here for them, if they want it?”. The beef industry is facing an unpopular opinion with what seems to be a rising number of the public. Cattle are being blamed for climate change, meaning they’re causing it. Combine that with an unsteady market due to a fire in a Tyson plant, the corn supply or possible lack there of, and the losses of cattle suffered this year in certain states from massive winter and spring storms, this is going to be the end for a lot of producers. And I mean the end of years of their life. What they’ve worked for for decades. The genetics they’ve developed and poured their heart and soul into. The dedication to every animal at all hours of the day and night. The tears, blood shed, broken bones, broken spirits, joys, laughs, triumphs, and love. All of it. Gone.

So many variables challenge any Ag industry every day. If you’re living this life, you’re trying to fight what’s thrown at you, one issue at a time. It really may not be here for my children and I have to be ok with that fact. Because truly, anyone’s life can change in an instant and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. And worrying only causes my body and soul trouble, and torment. Last year, around this time, I posted something similar about the brutal heat and lack of rain and the farmer suicide rate. That rate is still high and there are a lot of good people out there, doing their best and yet, they are struggling. Again, when you sit down to that plate of food, whether vegetarian or meat lover, maybe say a little prayer for those who are trying to feed the masses, and feeling they are not wanted anymore.

“Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever; and a crown is not secure to all generations.” Proverbs 27: 23-24