In Pictures - 2019 Volume II

2/4/2019

This weekend we took a little road trip.

We have family in West Virginia that own a full-sized Hereford operation. We haven't been down to the farm in several years and happened to have a free weekend, so we decided late Thursday night to make an impromptu trip. We got up early Saturday morning and drove a few hours south.

We have been to one of the farms before, but it has been several years.

In fact, Isaac has bought two of his 4-H steers from this farm.

Since we last visited, they have added more farms, more buildings and an amazing 1865 house that they plan to eventually restore.

We always love to visit farms just to see how others do things.

Yes, it looks like the cows are out, but they aren't. The boys got to see their first cattle guard and see if it really works.

Walker thought it was pretty cool and wants to put one out by our barn so you don't have to open and close the gate to put round bales in.

Every farm we visit has something unique.

We store all these ideas for "someday, when we build a new barn".

You can tell every detail was thought out as these facilities were designed.

It is always nice to visit with family, but the in depth farm tour really gave us a chance to get to know the owner a lot better.

You see...he is much like us.

He didn't grow up on the farm, but he loves cows and farming. He hasn't been in the business all that long, so he has had to learn from the ground up...just like us.

The boys just listened...and soaked it all up.

They heard a wealth of knowledge and wisdom as we walked around the barns.

They learned about the dollars and cents.

They learned about how hard it is to make it in the cattle industry.

They learned that you can work hard and do amazing things in life.

They learned about working hard, working your way to the top, and making wise choices, so that at some point in life...you get to make the decisions.

They learned why this farm runs mostly commercial cattle and why they only go to a few shows.

They learned that what everyone else does...may not be right for you...and that you need to do what you want to do with your farm.

They learned about family, and cattle, and barn designs, and driveway layouts, and the costs of having a cattle sale, and Civil War history, and West Virginia history, and eminent domain...

And then they got to eat lunch with their Great Great Uncle Will.

This is Us - our life, our story, our farm