By Betty Go Gigot, Publisher
Where to start on this windy May day in Colorado? We are looking at the environment in this issue of CALF News, and the spring/summer of 2022 is certainly full of challenges for all of us. Dry and windy and fire danger alerts and devastating fires have everybody on edge as do higher and higher prices and the lack of supplies and parts. Contrast the price you pay for a gallon of diesel and what you can get for an acre of land, and you’ll know something might be a little out of kilter.
A call from our printer yesterday was a shadow box of what we all are facing. The cost of paper is sky high and not available in many cases. Staffing is almost impossible, according to my rep, and parts almost impossible to find if the printing press has a problem. I jokingly told him that our family out in Kansas had found parts for their farm equipment on Amazon after searching every other source, including the manufacturer. The bottom line is that we will pay whatever we have to for paper and be glad to have it, and printing costs will go up 15 percent. Just thankful I don’t need baby formula. Those poor moms.
On another subject, always the optimist, we here at CALF News have done a redesign of the company and of the magazine, as you have already noticed by the cover. Always aware of our place in the cattle industry, we strive to edify and entertain you every other month with a cadre of the best writers and production staff, keeping you up on the REAL place for our product and our people in an ever-evolving world. We also are using the issue to brag on several of our staff. Jim Whitt received a major award from Oklahoma State, Patti Wilson was written up in a national publication, Jess Ebert spent nine days in Dubai, and Larisa Willrett was honored by the Illinois Beef Association.
On the lighter side, my story in Recollections this time is a walk down memory lane with a twist. After a long business relationship with the Schwertner family at Capitol Land and Livestock, my friend Jim Schwertner made national news by offering Elon Musk 100 acres (about half the total floor space of the Pentagon) of free land if he would move Twitter from California to Texas. I guess the number of calls Jim has had are astronomical and he has done interviews as far away as Japan. Since most of Musk’s businesses are in the immediate area and Jim thinks Texas is the best place to do business these days, he was putting his money where his mouth is. Will be fun to see what happens going forward.
If you want to see one of the best advertisements for beef, visit The History Guy on YouTube and watch the video from May 16 titled “Salisbury Steak: The First Fad Diet.” It tells about the health benefits of beef in spades.
As you can see from the picture, it has been graduation party time in Colorado. Celebrating with me were my grandson, Ethan, (left) a junior at Wesleyan University who will attend Oxford in the fall; Ripley, my great niece, who was celebrating her high school graduation at the party and will go to the University of Arizona; and grandson Griff (right) who also just graduated and will be at the University of Colorado, Denver. I also have grandkids just finishing welding degrees, joining the Navy for 10 years as a pilot and one in medical school, to name just a few.
I started out this column looking at the state of the world and finish it knowing we all will be fascinated to see how all these interesting and talented young people move forward in the world we are leaving them. My faith is in mine and in yours.
