A couple months ago, Farm Bureau held a writing competition for the 6th graders in Ringgold County. The topic they got to write about was ‘Why is Agriculture Important to You?’. Ty decided to participate and ended up placing in the top 3!
Here’s his article he wrote. Enjoy!
Why is Agriculture Important to Me?
By Ty Werner
Agriculture is important to me because my family has been doing it for many years. My great-grampa Wayne Lacock purchased his first set of Angus cattle. He had a registered herd, which is different from a commercial herd because it is a purebred herd. He had the record-selling bull in the state of Iowa in 1969, with the bull going for $50,000.
My grandparents Jim and Ann Werner got married in 1976, and brought 15 head of Angus cows with her. With a lot of hard family work, they have increased the herd in number.
Aunt Bon says we run about 600 females with about 300 calves in the spring and 300 calves in the fall. It is important to me to keep the family ranch going like all the others before me.
My dad Joe Werner and Uncle Clint have started doing more row cropping to produce feed for our cattle. I really enjoy this part of it because now that I am older, I get to help out more driving the tractors. The older I get, the more responsibilities I get. I like moving hay to make it easier for my dad to get the hay to feed the cows. I am hoping this year I will get my own tractor to haul silage by myself.
I have always liked the summer months most of all because every week we either get together to work cattle or chop silage. It takes a whole crew which is mainly family, to get the job done. Most days, everything goes exactly as planned; other days, it doesn’t go as smoothly, and it’s always interesting to see how the family handles the situation. When we work cattle, we have multiple groups of people; some move cattle to the barn, some work cattle through the chute, and some haul or drive the cattle to the pasture, We mostly ride horses to keep the cattle drive as calm and smooth as possible. My brother Jake, cousin Matt, and Papa Jim usually have this job, while the rest of us are in the barn. Agriculture is important to my family and me because it has always been a family business, and we work really hard to keep it going. When my brother and sisters get older, I hope we can keep it going like the generations before us.
Hope you have a great week!