Western Ag and The Livestock Show

After a week at Western Ag Credit, I put together a little basket of some of Burke's favorite things to congratulate him on one week down at his new job.

Burke is loving his new job at Western Ag!  At the branch here in Cedar, it is just Darren, Vickie (the secretary) and Burke in the office, which has been a huge change from the 100+ employees at Kokopelli.  Thus far Burke has been to two trainings at headquarters in South Jordan and has a series of 3 trainings in Spokane Washington coming up over the next couple of months.

His first week of work coincided with an annual steak dinner Western Ag puts on at each of their branches across the state to thank all of their clients for their business.  After the first dinner up in Richfield, Burke came home late that night with a huge grin plastered to his face.  He told me being around all those farmers felt like "coming home."  Time and time again he comes home from work and talks about these people being the absolute "salt of the earth."  It is a dream come true to see Burke so happy in his work combining his business and finance education with the agricultural world that he loves so dearly.  He is a bit stressed right now as he works hard to overcome the learning curve, but even with the weight of new information and skills to master, he comes home so happy each day.  He loves to go out to visit the farmers and see if there is any way he can help them succeed.  He loves seeing their operations, hearing about their lives and assisting them financially so they can stay afloat.

Sadie's first year of 4H

Not only does he get to go out and visit with the farmers on their property, but a few weeks ago he even got to spend a few days at the Iron County Livestock Show for the kids involved in 4H.  It's something that he would love to attend anyway, but he got to be out there 2 days in a row - for work!  As it happens, the arena where they hold this event is just up the road from our house and our darling niece Sadie had entered a pig for the first time.  I was able to go out with Daphne and join Burke, Mike and Sadie on the first day to see the process.  I had never been to something like this before and it was a good reminder that I still know very little about the agricultural world.  I was dressed completely wrong in skinny jeans and ballet flats and soon my shoes and pants were covered in dust, mud and manure.  It was the first time I realized how practical cowgirl boots really are!  That first two days the animals (sheep, pigs and steers) were judged and on Saturday they were auctioned off.

We returned on Saturday to support Sadie and to see my very first livestock auction.  And let me tell you folks, I was completely inspired and touched by the event.  You see, Sadie (or rather her parents) had already put about $600 bucks into this hog between the initial purchase and feeding it for several months, not to mention the time invested to train the animal to parade around the pen, hold still for the judge, etc.  Because of the expense already put into the animals, the bidding for the pigs started at about $600 and went up from there in $25 increments.  Now, if you were to go to the butcher and pick out an entire pig to buy, it would cost you around $250-$300, however these pigs were going for upwards of $700 and Miss Sadie's hog sold for $950!  On top of that, people in the audience could hold up their bidding numbers after the sale and put "boost money" on top of that price.  This way, if they didn't want to buy the whole animal, but still wanted to support the kid, they could add extra money on top.  You could also add boost money privately before or after the sale as well.  Sadie hasn't found out the exact amount she made on her pig yet, but there were a few people who added "boosts", so it will be well over $1,000.

As I looked around the stands, I noticed most everyone wore blue jeans, hats and belt buckles - the vast majority local farmers, plus friends and family members of the kids involved in the program with a smattering of representatives from local businesses.  What I'm trying to accentuate is that the majority of the people who buy these animals are not "rolling in it".  They struggle to get by themselves, but come to the auction paying 2 and 3 times the price for these animals to be charitable and to support the kids.  I was, quite frankly, amazed at the amount of money they were dishing out and so impressed by the generosity being displayed on all sides.

However, the moment that touched me most was when Owen Barton, Jeremy Barton's little brother, entered the pen to show his steer. (Story about the Barton family tragedy in May found HERE).  Owen's steer had won the prize as the grand champion and sold for about $4,500.  However, as soon as it was sold, hands shot up all over the stands - $300 from the Stowells, $300 from Roy Adams Farms, $100 from this farmer, $200 from that dairyman and on and on.  By the time all the boost money had been tallied, Owen's cow had sold for well over $6,000, a tribute more to his dead brother and mourning family than to the cow.  There were many wet eyes in the stands.

I never anticipated I would marry a farm boy.  How very grateful I am that I did so I could have the privilege of associating with these salt of the earth farmers.