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<umbBlogPost id="75536" key="7ea29bfd-3d38-4448-87e4-173ed3c72060" parentID="75527" level="5" creatorID="8" sortOrder="3" createDate="2019-01-25T12:08:02" updateDate="2019-01-28T10:33:59" nodeName="The Gambler" urlName="the-gambler" path="-1,1069,1057,75516,75527,75536" isDoc="" nodeType="1053" creatorName="NS" writerName="NS" writerID="8" template="1046" nodeTypeAlias="umbBlogPost" isPublished="true"><PostDate>2019-01-28T00:00:00</PostDate><blogHeadline>The Gambler </blogHeadline><bodyText><img style="width: 766px; height: 256px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="/media/316183/12519-web2.jpg?width=766&amp;height=256&amp;mode=max" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/574f367b539f49b59f58a0344a04e17f" />
The National Finals Rodeo, which was held in Las Vegas, just finished for the year. My family and I haven’t gone in quite a few years. It always seems like this time of year is hard to get away from the ranch with feeding and cold temperatures. I was thinking about my last work trip there and I had to smile. The last time I was in Vegas my friends asked why I wasn’t playing the machines. I told them that I didn’t need to play those things because I gamble every single day whether I want to or not…I’m a cattle rancher! I smile when I say that to folks because it’s the truth, but not many truly understand the depth of what I’m talking about (unless they themselves are ranchers).<img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="/media/316182/12519-web.jpg?width=0&amp;height=0" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/6b36dcecedc740e5842381effe65e9e9" /><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="/media/316183/12519-web2.jpg?width=0&amp;height=0" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/574f367b539f49b59f58a0344a04e17f" />
            I’m sure you’ve heard or seen the following quote:   “The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.” ~John F. Kennedy
            That quote holds much truth and it hasn’t changed a bit since he said it. As a cattle rancher we are at the mercy of so many things:  the weather, the cattle market, fuel prices, retail pricing on ranch supplies, equipment prices, and the list goes on and on. I know some people don’t understand why we do what we do when we have so many things that play against us. The answer I’ve come up with is pretty simple. It’s because it’s in our blood and we wouldn’t dream of doing anything else. We love this life with all our hearts!
Not everyone loves what they do every day, but I’m happy to say that I’m not one of those people. It’s funny to me to admit this, but when I was younger I didn’t plan to end up where I am. In fact, if you’d have told me that I’d be ranching I would have thought you were crazy. My plans when I was younger didn’t include this life. I honestly think it’s because when I was younger I never slowed down long enough to let my heart and my brain connect. When I finally did, this is the only life that ever made any sense for me. I’m so glad that things happen for a reason and that destiny took over.
            When you grow up in this industry you learn at a young age about hard work and you have a strong work ethic. You understand that your word is your bond. You also learn that many things and lives depend on you and you understand the magnitude of it all. You know it’s all on you and nobody else is going to do things for you. You care deeply about everything you do on the place because it’s a reflection of who you are and it’s also a necessity to ensure ends meet. Every life matters on the ranch also for obvious reasons, but it’s more than just about the almighty dollar. Those critters mean something to you and knowing you are responsible for them instills a lot of pride in a person. The bottom line is there is no “app” that replaces good old-fashioned hard work, heart, sweat, and effort. Yes, there are easier ways now to get work done than in days past, but in order to have success in ranching you have to be a bit of a “gambler”. You also have to have grit, drive, desire, and determination to hang in there for the long haul. Ranching isn’t for the faint of heart by any means.
            As ranchers we can only do so much as we are at the mercy of Mother Nature out here so that’s where the “gambling” thing comes in big time. We “gamble” a lot when making decisions affecting our operation. How much feed to buy, what kind of feed to buy, when to bed cattle down due to an impending blizzard, when to breed your cows so calves aren’t born too early in storm season, where to put in a water line, how much hay to put up, how much hay to buy when we don’t have enough of our own to put up, etc. I think you get the picture of the daily “gambling” we do out here.
            The cycle of life on our place is pretty much the same every year for us. A few things may change here and there, but for the most part things stay the same. Every winter we feed our cattle in their winter pastures. We get our cake delivered in the late fall, so we are ready to go when inclement weather arrives. We also have hay delivered then (if we weren’t able to put up enough). We keep our horses close and get them in every day (we do this 365 days per year). Ensuring everything has water is a big deal around here. Depending on how cold It is determines how much water we chop. Chop? Yep, we use an axe to chop out our dams and water tanks when needed. We don’t have electricity to most on the place, so heaters aren’t a possibility unless it’s for the horses at the corrals. Talk about physical activity! It gets dang cold here in South Dakota. At times the ice has been around 18” thick! Chopping that ice and then getting it out of the hole with a pitchfork or shovel keeps us in shape around here.
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            Every spring we are excited for calving season. After the long months of winter, it breathes new life into our hearts and the countryside. There is nothing like seeing baby calves bouncing around in a green pasture! On the downside there is nothing so heart-wrenching and disappointing as seeing a calf carcass (or many) in a snow bank after we’ve been dealt a vicious blow from an ever-lasting Old Man Winter. Many a time I’ve wiped away a tear or two of frustration and anguish at the harshness of Mother Nature. I’ve been angry about the unfairness of it all, but in the end, I realize that is what makes me hold life so dear. It’s not easy, but it’s absolutely worth it. I cherish every moment and I’m thankful for the many that come through each year. I guess you might say I’ve come to accept the fact that you can’t save every critter. You can try your hardest, but it’s a crap shoot sometimes. All we can do is prepare and plan the best we can…and pray.
            At the tail end of spring we enter into branding season. It truly is one of my favorite times of year. It gives us a shot in the arm after some difficult months weather-wise. To see those healthy babies all gathered up truly warms my heart. Once branding season is over we seem to roll right into haying season. As I type this I’m smiling…we really don’t go by the traditional season names out here. In fact, the more I think about it I think we should be split into more seasons than just four. They would be:  feeding season, calving season, branding season, breeding season, haying season, fire-watch season, bull pulling season, pre-conditioning season, shipping season, preg-checking season, and ranch clean-up season. In between all of that we fit in all kinds of other seasonal things like fixing fence, checking the herd, working on our horses in and out of the arena, roping as time allows, and competing in the occasional ranch rodeo.
            You can see that every single day out here on the ranch is a busy one. As I mentioned above there are a lot of modern conveniences now that the generations before us didn’t have, but where you get right down to it ranching is an all-hands-on-deck sort of life. It’s a great life for sure, but there isn’t much time for lazing around and goofing off. I guess I should say that isn’t how we live our lives out here. Maybe others do, but I wouldn’t want to trade places with them. I know that what I’ve learned in owning and operating our own place is that you don’t win in your business or your life by chance or accident. I am half joking when I talk about “gambling” in ranching. We do in one way, but in a bigger way it all comes down to how we run our operation. We budget as well as we can, we plan ahead, we project our year based on our history, but also with knowledge of how things can change quickly. We put a lot of effort and heart into what we do and leave less up to luck or “gambling” per se.
The life we live isn’t an easy one, but without the trials and tribulations we sometimes face I fear we wouldn’t have the tenacity needed to be a cattle rancher. There are over 178 years of living in our documented history here in this great land (much more on the undocumented Native side) and I’d like to think that all of our ancestors would be proud of us and what we are doing…. I know I am! We look at our lives out here not so much as a daily existence, but as our way of helping to feed America in a way that we are proud of. We are proud supporters of the USA-Raised Beef program and I hope you are aware of how much this means to people like us. Our livelihood and the success of what we do every single year depends greatly on the American consumer. If we lower our standards and allow beef from other countries to take over, we will be no more. I fiercely support what we do and what my family has done for the past five generations. If we are fortunate enough our son will be able to carry on the sixth generation proudly in cattle ranching. As I’ve gotten older I’ve begun to pay more attention to these things. Made in America is becoming something less and less and that truly concerns me. If we, as a people, don’t support each other and stand up for ourselves I fear that the biggest “gamble” of all will be in just continuing to do what we love to do. How can we ensure a royal flush in our hands? We can stand up for ourselves, we can demand the products we desire for ourselves and our families be made in the USA, and we can use our voices and other avenues to ensure that our vote counts for something.
Looking back at the history of our great nation I see something that has never occurred to me before. As folks back East loaded up their wagons and headed west they were “gambling” in one sense, but in their hearts, they were following their dreams. Their example can be followed by all of us. While some threw their hands up in the air and turned back, a lot didn’t. They trudged forward. They did this with a tenacity that was absolutely necessary in order to overcome the harsh conditions, loss, struggle, and other non-savory things they encountered. They persevered, and they are the reason most of us are where we are at today. When we read about this history we don’t read about the folks who gave up. We read about the ones that went all in, held their cards, and played out their hands. They most likely didn’t think about what they were doing like that, but I can see it so plainly. In order to persevere in ranching or in life in general you have to view each day like a hand you were dealt and play it to the best of your ability. Life to me is the game you are playing…you don’t just fold your cards and walk away. You may discard some cards that don’t fit, you may have to bluff a little in times of uncertainty, and in some things, you won’t always be the winner. However, if you quit playing the game you will never come out on top. That to me is how ranching compares to gambling and that’s why I already consider myself a bit of a “gambler” whether I want to be or not. When push comes to shove when defending our way of life, you’d better believe that I’m one to raise whether I’ve got an ace in the hole or not. I know that what I love is worth “gambling” for no matter what!</bodyText><tags>featured</tags><closeComments>0</closeComments><introduction>Not everyone loves what they do every day, but I’m happy to say that I’m not one of those people. Check out Cheyenne's latest blog "The Gambler" below. </introduction><articleImage>75539</articleImage></umbBlogPost><umbBlogPost id="75541" key="66a1ba00-78d4-4b07-93ca-e9aa8515babb" parentID="75527" level="5" creatorID="8" sortOrder="4" createDate="2019-01-29T09:54:22" updateDate="2019-02-01T17:10:02" nodeName="2019 Rejuvenate Survey" urlName="2019-rejuvenate-survey" path="-1,1069,1057,75516,75527,75541" isDoc="" nodeType="1053" creatorName="NS" writerName="NS" writerID="8" template="1046" nodeTypeAlias="umbBlogPost" isPublished="true"><PostDate>2019-01-29T00:00:00</PostDate><blogHeadline>Rejuvenate, Refresh, Reset</blogHeadline><bodyText>We want to hear from you! 
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 </bodyText><tags>fun,featured</tags><closeComments>0</closeComments><introduction>Help us rejuvenate, refresh and reset in 2019 by taking our short survey. </introduction><articleImage>75543</articleImage><pageTitle>Rejuvenate in 2019</pageTitle></umbBlogPost><umbBlogPost id="75553" key="d1a082f1-1382-4149-aadb-31acb1a4da44" parentID="75547" level="5" creatorID="8" sortOrder="0" createDate="2019-02-25T09:33:12" updateDate="2019-02-26T15:24:24" nodeName="Melding interests, experiences to educate farmers" urlName="melding-interests-experiences-to-educate-farmers" path="-1,1069,1057,75516,75547,75553" isDoc="" nodeType="1053" creatorName="NS" writerName="NS" writerID="8" template="1046" nodeTypeAlias="umbBlogPost" isPublished="true"><PostDate>2019-02-25T00:00:00</PostDate><blogHeadline>Melding interests, experiences to educate farmers</blogHeadline><bodyText>By: Brent Adams
Natalie Gupton grew up on a farm but took a different career path—that is until a chance meeting with a dynamic entrepreneur steered her back toward her roots.
Gupton, 33, earned her bachelor’s degree in human resources management with a minor in agriculture from Western Kentucky University. She also has a master’s degree in nonprofit management from the University of Kentucky. She was working for the Norton Children’s Hospital Foundation in Louisville when she met Amy Wolfe, president and CEO of AgSafe, a Modesto, California-based nonprofit organization that provides worker safety, health, human resources and food-safety solutions for the food and farming industries. Its offerings include training in sexual harassment prevention, tractor and forklift operation, heat illness prevention, food safety for harvest crews and supervisors and night work safety. The organization also conducts human resources and safety audits and pesticide compliance services.<img style="width: 236px; height: 327px; float: right;" src="/media/316190/22519-fc-2.jpg?width=236&amp;height=327&amp;mode=max" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/7403cd6a44714cb691ba4d144145e73b" />
Through conversations Wolfe and Gupton had as they served together on the board of directors for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Wolfe saw an opportunity for Gupton to join AgSafe and use her expertise in nonprofit management and her knowledge about farming to have an immediate impact.
“I was drawn to her as a younger member of the notoriously ‘older’ profession, her fastidious attention to detail, willingness to speak her mind, and unabashed enthusiasm for her home state,” Wolfe said.  “When the time came for our organization to consider adding someone to the team who could spearhead our efforts beyond the West Coast, Natalie immediately came to mind.  I had seen her display so many of the characteristics I knew was needed in this position—tenacity, dedication, a willingness to do the work needed to understand complicated issues, motivation, and drive. Plus, she possessed the unique blend of knowledge around how a nonprofit organization works including successful development and the realities of farming today. In all honesty, she was the only person for the job.”
Gupton joined AgSafe in January 2016 and has flourished in her role as director of business services and industry relations. Her duties include business development, grant writing, conference planning and networking through various trade shows. She also travels the country teaching courses on topics such as USDA, U.S. Department of Labor and OSHA compliance and first aid and CPR.
“I love AgSafe’s mission because it’s about helping farmers do their job and providing them the resources to ensure that their workforce is safe,” Gupton said.
Much of her drive comes from work ethic instilled in her on her family’s farm, which is now in its seventh generation in the South-Central Kentucky community of Monticello. She watched as her father—a farmer and entrepreneur—poured his heart and soul into the operation.
“We grew tobacco during its heyday, and the planting and harvesting was such a community and family affair,” said Gupton, who, like many farm families, grew up just down the road from her grandparents, separated by farmland.
“It was very family centered,” Gupton recalled. “I have many memories of playing on the farm, and later helping out. It was hard work, but that work ethic that’s instilled on the farm is so important.”
When she trains farmers on safety issues, she approaches each one like she is teaching her own father, David Denney, a nose-to-the-grindstone, perpetually pressed for time guy who sometimes overlooks safety measures in the spirit of just getting the job done and moving on to the next task.
“If I can break through his habits, then I have achieved my mission,” Gupton said. “He and many others just like him are working with dangerous pieces of equipment and often taking safety for granted. One slip of the hand in one split second and everything can go awry.”<img style="width: 258px; height: 244px; float: left;" src="/media/316193/22519-fc.jpg?width=258&amp;height=244&amp;mode=max" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/1cfa4004fbf245ecb8c689d3b055bcb8" />
Although Gupton gravitated toward nonprofit management in school, she said she opted for a minor in agriculture because she “loved the ag content” and loved learning about what makes the ag industry go.
At AgSafe, Gupton is a part of a team of 11 in an entirely female-operated business that has offices in Modesto, Louisville and Cary, North Carolina. It’s a position that suits her well.
“We are women driven toward our mission, and in the process creating an empowering environment in which women can work autonomously, creating opportunities for themselves along the way,” Gupton said. “Amy invests in us and helps us grow professionally. I am lucky to be in such a supportive environment.”
Wolfe gets excited when she talks about what Gupton has been able to accomplish during her tenure with AgSafe.
“Since joining the organization, she has undertaken the herculean task of building name recognition and buy-in to our mission where none existed before,” Wolfe said. “She has been tenacious in sharing our message, leveraging relationships and building trust, and that hard work is paying off.”
Wolfe noted that Gupton has been a guest lecturer on human resources in agriculture at the University of Kentucky and North Carolina State University and has presented at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention. She also has shared farm family safety tips across the Midwest and Great Lakes regions, including Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. For the past two years, she has been a guest commentator on RFD-TV during National Farm Safety Week, sharing her expertise with viewers across the country.
“Most importantly, Natalie has brought thoughtful and much-needed perspective on the challenges impacting farmers in ways our California team wouldn't readily understand,” Wolfe said. “She is an invaluable member of our team and I'm looking forward to many more years of helping keep farmers and farm workers safe together.”
Though the road isn’t always easy for women in agriculture, she said she believes she is respected by the people she deals with on a daily basis. And she is proud to carry on a family tradition established by her mother, Sharon Denney, whom she considers a trailblazer in the ag industry. She retired in 2017 after 36 years with the USDA Farm Service Agency.
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“I am proud to carry on a family tradition,” Gupton said. “In addition to my parents, my aunts and uncles farm and it’s just very much a part of my heritage. Farmers are resilient, and that’s one of the reasons I love working in this industry.”
Gupton said she is encouraged by the opportunities available to women in the ag industry and encourages young women who have an interest in farming or other ag careers to pursue their passion.
“Do lots of research,” she said. “There is more info out there now than ever before, and there are many opportunities in the private, public, nonprofit, academic and research areas of agriculture. Talk to other women who have done those jobs and get involved early on. The more experiences you have the more you’ll set yourself up for success later in life.”
It is a path that Gupton followed, and it has served her well.<img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="/media/316192/22519-fc-4.jpg?width=0&amp;height=0" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/a416257b9aa943d98120591959236693" /><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="/media/316192/22519-fc-4.jpg?width=0&amp;height=0" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/a416257b9aa943d98120591959236693" /> 
“I was an impressionable young person, and I was just drawn to the info,” Gupton said of learning about the agriculture industry. “And it serendipitously has all worked out.”</bodyText><tags>Women in Agriculture,featured</tags><closeComments>0</closeComments><introduction>Natalie Gupton grew up on a farm but took a different career path—until a chance steered her back toward her roots. </introduction><articleImage>75552</articleImage></umbBlogPost><umbBlogPost id="75554" key="8f14c427-5a35-454d-ba1d-9c1e97570639" parentID="75547" level="5" creatorID="8" sortOrder="1" createDate="2019-02-25T09:41:42" updateDate="2019-02-25T11:51:19" nodeName="In the Crook of her Neck..." urlName="in-the-crook-of-her-neck" path="-1,1069,1057,75516,75547,75554" isDoc="" nodeType="1053" creatorName="NS" writerName="NS" writerID="8" template="1046" nodeTypeAlias="umbBlogPost" isPublished="true"><PostDate>2019-02-25T00:00:00</PostDate><blogHeadline>In the Crook of her Neck</blogHeadline><bodyText>In the crook of her neck I can be…
The sky was gray and heavy with snow; brimming over in the last hour the flakes had begun to fall.  Darkness filled the sky early these days as we neared the Winter Solstice.
I slipped out of the house and headed for my favorite place, the barn.
Out of the corner of my eye I caught the twinkle of the Christmas lights that were strung on the big evergreen tree.  Standing tall and strong next to the farmhouse it was lit up every year for the holidays, a tradition.
I had watched the day unfold, and from my desk at school, I had anticipated this moment, waiting anxiously to get free from the tight quarters of a high school crowded with students, crowded with the laws of fitting in.
Clad in my favorite “out of school” attire, I didn’t worry about such things like matching, or the style of shoes on my feet. It didn’t matter if there was ‘Benetton’ scrolled across the front of my shirt or ‘Esprit’ hanging from my shoulder. 
What mattered was warmth, comfort, and practicality.
As I walked across the dirt driveway my black rubber Tingley’s danced with the cuff of my flannel lined jeans. Clomp, clomp, clomp, I headed to my place.
I could already see the steam rising from the center bunk, a mass of black and white lined up along its length. The creatures were methodically eating their way through the piles. Sorting, nosing… always the big boss cow swinging her head from side to side, pushing any other lowly sister cow away.
I lifted the latch and swung the big, heavy iron gate open into the alley of the freestall, letting it clank shut behind me.  I was immediately greeted by warmth and steam laced with the smells of fresh manure and silage… smells of home. 
 
Okay, where is she? 
 
Meandering my way slowly through the sea of black and white, I was careful and stepped quietly; I didn’t want to startle anyone and scare them away… but they were used to me, they knew me, they knew how I moved. 
And how is it, in the midst of this 200 cow freestall the nosy one could always pick me out quickly, as soon as I stepped in. Like my escort, she followed me… knowing where I was headed and who I was looking for: always the same girl, my girl.
On this day I had made it to the barn first. No workers, no other family yet, I was by myself with the cows, in the bigness of the barn.  It felt a little surreal, and made me feel a little tingly that rose up from within… I could finally shed the cloak of being 16 and all the ties that bound with it.  I was so happy here.
 <img style="width: 500px; height: 364.603px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="/media/316197/22519-in-the-crook-of-her-neck-kate2.jpg?width=500&amp;height=364.6034816247582" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/e0ca95aa015a4a098daeaf6f740c1698" />
Okay, where are you?
 
Weaving my way further and further into the barn my senses came alive, heightened with awareness. I felt all the animals around me and their energy… all was peaceful, all was quiet an hour ahead of milking… nothing to be alarmed of today.   
Cuds were chewing, the girls were resting in their deep beds of sawdust. Soon Stanley would come through with his hoe, raking his way down to the end of the barn and around the feed bunk, heading them all to the holding area for the night milking.
I don’t see her yet… she must be laying in her favorite stall just before the alley to the maternity barn. I hope, I could use a sit with her.
Escort cow nudged me from behind and I turned. She stopped and looked behind herself and to the side; as if I didn’t know it was her flanking so close, reminding me she was there.
I heard the random plops, and the steady thrum of breaths being taken, in and out, in and out–it was its own rhythm, on this day, so close to Christmas.  These beings didn’t know all of the excitement and bustling that was taking place all around them, beyond these solid barn walls.
And then, a curtain of black and white parted, and there was my gray… chewing her cud peacefully, head up and alert.
The crook of her neck called me, like arms opening up for a big hug. She welcomed me and all of my teenage victories and troubles.
 
“There you are,” I say…
 
My heart swelled as I nestled myself, deep into the crook of her neck, moving ever so slightly to the steady up and down of her long, deep breaths, bringing me back to the place where I felt home.
And as the snow fell faster, and the day grew fainter, Toby and I had a sit.  I whispered to her all of my secrets from the day and all of my wishes for the future.  And that is where they stayed, safe, in the crook of her neck.
 
Kate Ziehm, President of <a href="https://www.morningagclips.com/category/just-me-kate/" title="Morning Ag Clips - Kate">Morning Ag Clips</a>, is originally from New Hampshire. She is a 1997 Cornell University graduate with a degree in Animal Science and a concentration in Business Management and Marketing. Kate's love of agriculture began with her 4-H dairy cow project and has grown and diversified ever since. Wtih the birth of her children she turned her efforts to motherhood while she took the opportunity to broaden her knowledge and understanding of the agricultural industry. Since 2013 Kate has owned and operated the Morning Ag Clips, a daily e-Blast that gives the latest breaking local and national agricultural news to farmers and ag industry leaders across the United States. In addition she dabbles in writing to connect with her audience on the Just Me Kate page of the website. Currently Kate resides and works in Greenwich, NY with her 3 sons, Tyler, Jacob and Samuel. </bodyText><closeComments>0</closeComments><introduction>"As I walked across the dirt driveway my black rubber Tingley’s danced with the cuff of my flannel lined jeans. Clomp, clomp, clomp, I headed to my place..." </introduction><articleImage>75555</articleImage></umbBlogPost><umbBlogPost id="75560" key="55f217ab-2c76-47fa-bc7e-b844a20c046b" parentID="75559" level="5" creatorID="8" sortOrder="0" createDate="2019-03-18T15:10:29" updateDate="2019-03-18T15:34:49" nodeName="Greetings and Spring Fever" urlName="greetings-and-spring-fever" path="-1,1069,1057,75516,75559,75560" isDoc="" nodeType="1053" creatorName="NS" writerName="NS" writerID="8" template="1046" nodeTypeAlias="umbBlogPost" isPublished="true"><PostDate>2019-03-18T00:00:00</PostDate><blogHeadline>Greetings and Spring Fever </blogHeadline><bodyText>Hello! 
Greetings from rural Missouri and my farm kitchen. 
Although I have had the honor of being a contributor in the past, I wanted to reintroduce myself and express how excited I am to be a part of the Pink Tractor family and connect with fellow women in agriculture. I have a passion for all things farming, food, farmhouse decor and design. I prefer to channel my creative side and embody an entrepreneurial spirit. I enjoy sharing words that hopefully bring others positivity and inspiration. As well all travel our individual journeys, we can find comfort and support in the things that bring us together. 
For me, that has always been food and conversation. Growing up on a farm, I found a passion for agriculture early on. I loved the colorful ways agriculture allows us to connect to consumers and to one another, whether it was sitting down to a meal or sharing recipes and telling stories of how ingredients came to be. I also love connecting through words. As a little girl in a third-grade classroom, I was called "weird" because I enjoyed writing assignments and looked forward to book reports. As I got older, I began combining my passion for writing, agriculture and cooking in hopes to create a special experience. 
Creating experiences extends over to my day job where I lead a hands-on elementary agriculture education program where youth plant seeds, make bread and more while learning about food's journey. My husband, small son and I raise cattle, crops and hay in Northeast Missouri. My son is the sixth generation to farm on Missouri soil and farm life is very much a part of who we are and what we do each day. I believe that by helping light another's candle, yours only shines brighter. 
As we look ahead, I know many of us are longing for spring after a challenging winter. It is a time of rebirth and new life. For many of us, we are also hoping for sunshine and warmer weather. One of the things I look most forward to is the 100-year old lilac bush that blooms across from my parent's house and near our old farmhouse, a memory I share with my grandfather who passed in 2012. When they bloomed, my Mom would always take fresh-cut lilacs to him to enjoy. He was my time machine to simpler times, and he shared so many wonderful stories over the course of his life. The scent reminds me of those memories I cherish and hold near. It's those little things we cannot buy that take root in our hearts and the foundation of who we are. In our neck of the woods, spring also means green grass, tractors working the fields and my favorite tulip bed coming to life. 
The sights and sounds of spring extend to my kitchen and happy place, where I love to create seasonal dishes, open the windows and welcome in sunlight and fresh air. If we are blessed with mild days, we enjoy a picnic outdoors. 
 
Luella is also author of a cookbook, "Luella's Farm Kitchen" and children's book series Honest Emmett, highlighting modern agriculture and character traits. </bodyText><tags>featured</tags><closeComments>0</closeComments><introduction>For Luella, there has always been food and conversation. Growing up on a farm, she found a passion for agriculture early on.</introduction><articleImage>75561</articleImage></umbBlogPost>

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Greetings and Spring Fever

For Luella, there has always been food and conversation. Growing up on a farm, she found a passion for agriculture early on.

Melding interests, experiences to educate farmers

Natalie Gupton grew up on a farm but took a different career path—until a chance steered her back toward her roots.

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