The View from My Office

This morning was one of those mornings that reminds me of why I do what I do. Let me share the "view from my desk". The mornings are starting have that twinge of spring. I am not sure if it is the moisture in the air or the slightly warmer temperatures but it is obvious changes are on the way. It just feels like spring in the air.

We are deep in the heart of lambing and calving. There is nothing I love more than to go out early in the morning and watch the lambs and calves. Chores take on the added excitement of finding newborn lambs or calves. It seems as though there are more birds singing and the sounds of spring are in the air.

When the barn doors are opened into the outdoor pens the lambs buck and run and it is one of my favorite things to watch. Ewes are momentarily distracted by the feed being dumped into the feed bunk, but are quickly back to looking for their lambs. Each ewe has a distinctive noise they make to find their lambs. By the end of lambing season, I can almost tell which ewe is looking for her lamb by the sound.

The calves are much the same. During calving, I often unroll bales. When I do this the calves will also run and buck as the bale unrolls. Like the ewes the cows are easily distracted by the hay and soon go looking for their calves.

All of this activity is framed in the heavy, damp, earthy air of spring, soon the hills will start to show tinges of green and the trees will start to bud. I am not sure how to explain it but watching the new calves and the lambs gives one a sense of well-being, you know winter is near its end and spring is coming.

This is all infused with the sunshine coming up over the hills and touching the whole panorama. That is the scene I wish I could share with each of you. It is a scene that makes you feel good about the world we live in and one that makes you feel good about our farmers and and ranchers.

Farmers and ranchers live this scene every morning and that is why we work so hard to preserve it. We work to protect the environment around us and the animals we raise. This scene and experience is one that I never get tired of and one that I want my children and my grandchildren to experience. That, my friends, is why I love what I do.