“Lost in the Sauce”
#bfrdpwy #aginternship #RightRisk
This second to last week has been spent doing much of the same as the other weeks of being on the ranch. Water checks, fence checks, forage checks, livestock condition and location checks as well as spraying weeds and finding those other little things that need to be taken care of during the interim of the “busy” seasons. While this time is best served as a time of reflection and possibly planning future endeavors it’s easy to get caught in the rut of just doing the daily tasks and not really thinking about anything too very much.
I cannot lie, I have found myself more so in the attitude of just doing the daily tasks and preparing for my continued adventure at school in Southern Wyoming than I have been reflecting on my time on the ranch and the knowledge and experience I have gained. With this realization it has been imperative to make the conscious effort towards reflection in these last days of my internship.
The breadth of knowledge that I have gained from my time on the ranch and the experiences I have had through the assistance of my hosts as well as that of their immediate and extended families has been extensive to put it mildly. These aspects and ideas imparted by the people I have met through this opportunity encompass a seemingly never ending list of ideas and aspects of ranching and agriculture. This ongoing list includes the physical and mental aspects of livestock handling whether on the range at a branding or docking, or in a feedlot getting ready for processing and slaughter. The selection criteria of livestock not only for breeding purposes but also for culling and slaughter purposes as well as ideas covering farm ground, planting, cover crops and grass hay selection. Not lost on the majority of those in the ranching and agriculture industry are the environmental aspects and the impacts of livestock not only in their direct region but nationally and internationally.
All that being said if there is one thing I have learned during my time here in Northern Wyoming, it is that every single rancher, farmer and anyone else in agriculture has a different approach or different view on each one of these aspects and ideas in the agricultural industry and the most important part of ranching, farming and agriculture is its people and their ability to interact and learn from one another.
The people I have met and the relationships that have been forged along with the importance of building and maintaining those relationships in the national and international agriculture industry will follow me for the rest of my life.
Submitted by: Cody Lancaster
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team
