CALF_News_December_2018_January_2019

7 CALF News • December 2018 | January 2019 • www.calfnews.net more comfortable workplace. “It’s tough to find cowboys,” he explains.“An ‘old’ cowboy can spot an animal getting sick before the calf knows it is sick. Now, it’s very had to find some- one like that. “We may need to develop the next cowboy crew, hopefully from people with a rural upbringing. We want cowboys with the attitude that ‘we don’t eat until after our cattle eat.’We can teach them, but it may take two to five years.” Youth groups like FFA and 4-H have been the roots for many leaders on agri- culture. Larios sees them as logical places to find future feedyard employees. “We have always worked with youth groups. My family is deeply involved in showing animals,” Larios says.“These young people are dedicated to what they do. “Our next great set of cowboys and even feedyard management may be at FFA and junior colleges.” More time is devoted to training. “With some new employees, we can’t take their general knowledge for horses or cattle for granted,” he says.“Pharma- ceutical companies have always worked with us to provide training as a reminder of how to use animal health products. Feeding the New Frontier clay deady, ranch manager bridwell ranches  High Protein  High Energy  All Natural diamond nutrition (806) 716-6222 info@cattlecubes.com minimum guaranteed analysis Crude Protein 28.0% Crude Fat 9.5% Crude Fiber 10.0% Phosphorus 0.5% “We are really pleased with the upkeep on the cows with honestly 30-35% less feed than what I’ve fed in the past. We don’t buy horse feed anymore; everything on this ranch eats Diamond Energy Cubes.” www.cattlecubes.com Continued on page 20  Now, we must provide full training for the labor force. It’s a different era for feedyard employees.” $22.50 for minimum wage overtime – seriously? Don’t expect the need for more employees to go away. California remains a major beef state. It has more than 500,000 beef cattle and is the fifth-larg- est cattle feeding state in the nation. Foster Feed Yard was among the first commercial cattle feeding companies. Founder Howard Foster was the toast of the cattle feeding industry. Here, Jesse Larios helps maintain the Foster tradition. Now, a new wrinkle is being thrown at feedyards and other California ag producers. Starting in 2019, the State of California is raising its minimum wage to $15 per hour. Anything more than 40 hours is time and a half for overtime. “Since typical feedyard employees may work a 60-hour week, that puts time and a half at $22.50 per hour,” Jesse says. “That puts us in a very bad spot. It will cost us a lot more to get the work