Agriculture is my way of life! It's not only my lifestyle but my passion as well. Years ago when I first started 4-H I couldn't have told you that agriculture would change my life. But it has and I couldn't imagine my life any other way.
Agriculture has also saved my life. I was born with a rare autoimmune disease that was found my senior year of high school when I had a stroke at basketball practice. I was airlifted to Salt Lake City and put on blood thinner. The main blood thinner can't be started out of the blue so they put you on Lovenox. It is used to prevent strokes from happening and use to thin blood. Ironically its derived from the intestine of hogs, so without agriculture I wouldn't be here today.
Agriculture is my livelihood. My father is a cattle buyer and I grew up in a house where almost 100% of the income was derived from agriculture. Today, much of my income comes from selling my bull calves in the spring and working on the ranch.
To be honest, I have no idea where I would be without agriculture! Almost all of my friends have a ranch or farming background and my heart will always be in ag.
The beauty about agriculture is it's a community within itself. If you ranch or farm you do it because you love it! We are all fighting the same battle and can easily relate to one another. I also think that kids raised in an agriculture lifestyle are hard workers, honest and driven. Nothing raises kids better than livestock.
From Zach-
ReplyDeleteLIke you too I had no the impact that agriculture would have on me. I did not grow up on a farm, but I got involved through showing calves in 4-H. You talked about AG being a community and something you love. Do you consider it work or more of a hobby, why?
I consider it both a hobby and work. My Angus cows are my hobby but the feedlot is work. I love the fact that my hobby is also my job!