Beef Magazine

Home Sweet Home

Amanda Nolz May 11th, 2009

Over the weekend, my family and friends celebrated my graduation from South Dakota State University at my house in Brookings, S.D. Thanks to all of my agriculture friends for the nice messages of support and congratulations. While it’s often hard to say goodbye to a chapter closing in one’s life, it’s definitely time for a change of pace, and I’m ready for a new beginning in the next chapter of life.



I moved all of my belongings home yesterday afternoon, just in time to help move a load of cow/calf pairs to pasture. Upon my return home, Dad said, “Mandy, you are always writing on that blog about coming home to your agriculture roots; well, it starts now. Let’s get to work.”

Home sweet home, right? However, this kind of work is welcome. With my camera in tow, these were the images I viewed yesterday evening at home. It’s hard to fathom that people can think beef cattle production is bad for the environment when you’re surrounded by tranquility and beauty like this. It’s hard to believe that there are animal rights activists out there that want to see all of this go away. Yet, we must look at the world with optimism, and I’m feeling pretty positive about the future of agriculture.

Despite my optimism, there are always things we can discuss to improve and ideas to expand upon. And, this blog is all about you. Today I want to know the topic areas you would like to discuss in the upcoming weeks. How can this blog help you? Let me know.

Quick BEEF Daily Fact: There are more than a billion cattle in the world, about 200 million in India.

 Email This Post

Related Topics: News

9 Comments to “Home Sweet Home”

1. Charles Sheetz Says:
   

   May 11th, 2009 at 11:21 am

   I have a 6 day old calf that is nursing on only one teat. It is doing fine, but the cow has a huge udder and bulbous unnursed teats that I miked out yesterday. It didn’t seem to help much. The teats are not any larger than previous years and the her calves have always done well. Any suggestions?

2. Peter Franzky Says:
   

   May 11th, 2009 at 1:08 pm

   CONGRATULATION AND THE VERY BEST FOR YOUR FUTURE ALWAYS!

3. David Royal Says:
   

   May 11th, 2009 at 1:10 pm

   Amanda:

   First Congratulations. You will succeed in what ever you choose to do in life. I want to thank you for a person of your age that is so mature with a very good head on her shoulders, but most of all for willing to take a stand for Agriculture the way you do. Here in Florida the new slogan for FFA ” I Farm You Eat” pretty much says it all.

   Thanks again and I always enjoy reading your stories and I hope you will continue to write and promote our industry.

4. Deb Sagvold Says:
   

   May 12th, 2009 at 8:12 am

   With your attitude, Amanda, you will you will go far in whatever field you choose. I enjoy your writing and hope you continue that - whichever road you take. I will continue to look for your input~

5. Maxine Jones Says:
   

   May 12th, 2009 at 11:57 am

   Amanda, it’s great you started right off appreciating and enjoying the life ‘back on the ranch’. Thanks for the photo’s. Good looking family, cattle, and that grass. Wow!. We are a bit later in western SD….green, but not like yours.

   Getting right to work, here is a subject it seems some have a mistaken notion about: small packing plants.

   What is the status of them….in SD, and across the nation.

   Some say smaller producers need them so they can market their beef direct. I agree. Many cattle producers also like to eat their own beef, needing a local locker plant to process it due to lack of time, facilities, and expertise to do it ourselves, and prefering it be professionally inspected. It would also be great to be able to sell our own beef when we so choose.

   Some say “big packers” are actively working to force small ones out of business. I do not agree, believing other factors are more likely to cause such a business to close.

   What are the facts about inspection at small plants? My belief is that state inspections must be, and in SD at least, are equal to federal inspections. Correct?

   Maxine J.

6. John R. Harbison Says:
   

   May 13th, 2009 at 9:02 am

   Comment to Mr. Charles Sheetz. I think your calf is off to a slow start.
   With in a week it should catch up and be able to handle the milk flow your cow is producing. It is a good idea to keep her milked out till then.
   John R. Harbison

   P.S. I would like to see a site where you could have comment’s on cattle problems

7. Amanda Nolz Says:
   

   May 13th, 2009 at 5:47 pm

   John,

   Thanks for answering Charles’ question about the six-day old calf. I agree that this site could be improved if there was a question and answer type scenario with a veterinarian. Would that be something that would interest you? Perhaps a weekly ask the vet blog entry on BEEF Daily might suffice to start things off. Thanks for the suggestion.

   Amanda

8. Amanda Nolz Says:
   

   May 13th, 2009 at 5:49 pm

   Peter, David and Deb,

   Thanks for the congratulations wishes. It really means a lot to me. I appreciate all of your support and continued readership. I hope to continue to entertain and inform on BEEF Daily in the future. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance in the future!

   Thanks again!

   Amanda

9. Amanda Nolz Says:
   

   May 13th, 2009 at 5:55 pm

   Maxine,

   Thanks for your comments on many of my blog entries. You always seem to introduce a good mix of thoughts and ideas, and I really appreciate it! And, our grass is a little slow this year with all of this cold weather, but it’s green enough to kick the cows out, so there they are. I hope your grass catches on soon for a good grazing season this summer.

   As far as your questions about small packing plants, I don’t really think they do enough business for the larger ones to worry about. We like to eat our own beef, and we often take ours to the local locker for processing. Inspection is similar; however, in our local locker, the meat isn’t for resale, it’s just for personal use. The small locker at SDSU is federally inspected, and I imagine many of the smaller ones are. However, I think all plants follow the same HACCP guidelines, and take great care towards best animal handling, safety and sanitation in their plants. Hope that answers your question. If you have any more thoughts, send them my way.

   Enjoy spring!

   Amanda

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment:
Register Here or Log in Here.