YPC? Is that some sort of rap music group?

BY WALKER MILHOAN, YPC Leadership Board

THE INTERNET AGE

Hadoop, Mustache, Java? Exabyte, Zettabyte, and Yottabyte! Excuse me, but did you just say, “Crazy Horse and a creature from Star Wars, were drinking from a Hadoop, and Crazy Horse got coffee on his mustache?” You’ve gotta be kidding me, right?

Have you ever pondered the thought of “what exactly, is the internet?” It’s location, it’s infrastructure, how much it weighs? This “Twilight Zone” phenomena can strike fear into the imagination. To others, a simple blue and black, Linksys router with dual antennas, nestled dust-covered and blinking behind a couch comes to mind. All physicalities aside, what the internet really is, is life. Without it CattleFax and risk management would cease to coexist, Safeway and Cargill couldn’t produce Rancher’s Reserve branded beef, and the screens of Superior Livestock would look like millions of diminutive marching ants. Yet we as a nation, as individuals, know so little about the single most intrusive and important aspect of our lives.

INTERDISCIPLINARY DEGREES

I recently read an article by Tom Friedman in the New York Times aptly named: Need a Job? Invent it. From within the neatly formatted web page, Friedman notes “My generation had it easy. We got to ‘find’ a job. But, more than ever, our kids will have to ‘invent’ a job.” Sound like an accurate prediction? I’d bet the farm on it! With modern technology controlling the show at every corner of the ranch, simply “finding” a job will become harder and harder to do as we compete against more and more technology. Smart tractors will replace the need for an operator, precise data accounting systems will eliminate office receptionists, and advanced algorithms will lock in profit margins at a predetermined price point, eliminating both the cell phone call to your broker, and eventually the broker himself.

In 2011, after graduating from TCU Ranch Management I yearned for more education, which lead me to The University of Montana. It was at Montana that I was introduced to Management Information Systems, a degree I’m certain will change my life forever. Over the last three semesters I have learned how to program computers, talk to databases, create amazing videos for YouTube (the second largest search engine behind Google), optimize websites with Search Engine Optimization, and precisely target Facebook users with Analytics.

But by far the most interesting project that I have had the opportunity to work on while studying at the U of M is creating a disruptive innovation with a team of four other classmates. Our current technology project couples cloud-based data systems and search engine algorithms into a ranch management software suite that will help producers manage their resources more efficiently. We are very hopeful that this new product will be given a trial run this summer on ranches in Ghana, Panama, Brazil and France. Talk about inventing a really sweet job for yourself!

THE FUTURE

What’s in store for the youth of agriculture in America? Personally, I would argue an extreme amount of opportunity, especially if those youth are open-minded enough to learn about computer technology, world travel, and getting involved with groups like Collegiate Stockgrowers and the YPC. Tomorrow’s leaders in agriculture will be required to harness a very broad and deep set of skills, and having a solid understanding of how to manage massive amounts of information with computer science technology coupled with a knowledge of how to make things grow, will dovetail nicely into feeding 9 billion people.

 

Choosing Beef: Meet YPC Member Zeke McCarty

BY ZEKE McCARTY, YPC Leadership Board

I’m just your typical small town, country boy from NE Texas that found his way to colorful Colorado through beef.

My background may not be your typical cattleman’s or cattlewoman’s story. I didn’t grow up on a family farming or ranching operation. I always thought of my background as more along the lines of “Old MacDonald had a farm.” My parents were either extreme animal enthusiasts or just allowed me and my siblings to be. We had pigs, chickens, dogs, cats, cattle, goats, rabbits, a turkey, and many more odds and ends critters. I believe my interest in cattle, specifically, began at an early age mostly due to hanging around my best friend’s family cow-calf operation. That, in turn, led to joining FFA which turned into signing up for the Animal Science degree at Texas Tech University. Within the four years I spent in Lubbock, TX, I found my passion for agriculture and my desire to be involved in the beef industry.

My reasoning for getting involved in YPC was two-fold. First, it is my belief that what sets our industry apart from others is the people. I can’t imagine surrounding myself with anyone other than the down to earth, genuinely good-hearted people with great values and ethics that are involved in NCBA and YPC. Although I only have a year and a half of experience in YPC, I’ve developed great relationships with great people and look forward to many more in the future. Secondly, I wanted to understand more of the policy side of NCBA. What actually happens in the organization and how do things get done? How is the neighboring stocker operator linked to the lobbyist in Washington D.C? Those were the type of questions I wanted to learn the answers to and the best way I’ve discovered to learning is jump right in and start asking.

All in all, I’ve enjoyed the beginning stages of education and involvement in NCBA and YPC. I look forward to learning more about our great industry all the time and hopefully can contribute to the success of something that’s bigger than me.

 

Young Producer Spotlight: Spencer & Carly Guinn

Via the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association’s Young Producers’ Council

This generation of farmers have some big boots to fill. Cattle producers like Carly and Spencer Guinn are up to the challenge. The couple met while attending the University of Kentucky where Carly majored in Animal Science and Spencer majored in Agriculture Engineering. They were married in May of 2008, one week after graduation and three weeks later, they were living in Kansas where Spencer worked for Ag Co as a field test engineer. They moved back to Kentucky in 2010 and have since moved to their beautiful new farm in Danville Kentucky.

Spencer & Carly Guinn, both graduates of the University of Kentucky, operate a grain and cattle farm in Danville, KY.

They both grew up in an agricultural environment, Carly on an apple orchard in Ohio and Spencer on a beef cattle farm and both knew this was the lifestyle they wanted to continue. “I think it’s just nature,” says Carly, “When you’re raised on a farm you don’t think of wanting to do anything else. I love the lifestyle and growing things for other people”.

Spencer agreed noting, “I’ve always wanted to farm. Growing up in Pulaski and Wayne Counties, my father always raised cattle and tobacco. My interest in cattle and helping on the farm turned into a degree in Agriculture and I haven’t looked back since.”

The Guinns are now running their own 350 acre farm where they have row crops – corn, soybeans and wheat. They also have a 30 head cow-calf operation and background their own calves. Their goals include increasing their back grounding herd, finishing their cattle working facilities and building their cow-calf herd to 100 head. Both of them also work full time jobs, both in agriculture. Carly is employed at Hallway Feeds in Lexington and Spencer works as an engineer at Tarter farm and ranch. One thing is certain- the Guinn family is successful in the agriculture industry!

Both of them credit taking advantage of resources to keep them on the right track. It’s not easy to get started on your own. Access to capital, operating capital, and finding property to buy or rent in order to expand are all challenges. Both are involved with YPC and both use this as a resource for education and new ideas. They also advise taking advantage of young farmer loans, NRCS and the FSA. It’s helped them to form a business plan which is something they learned how to do at UK. “It’s an amazing financial planning tool,” says Carly “It’s always our go-to when we want to see if something we want to do is realistic.”

When you see Carly and Spencer out on their farm, there’s an apparent togetherness that they share as they talk about where he’s at with drilling corn or if she needs to go ahead and put fly tags on the cattle this early. As we walked out into the field to shoot a picture, a little red heifer followed us. It was an orphan calf, Annie, which they’d bottle fed together and it was obviously very attached to both of them. It was so neat to see the two of them working together on something that they were both so passionate about that I couldn’t help but ask if they planned on raising their children to love farming just as much as them. After a short pause, Carly smiled and said, “Well I guess we can go ahead and announce to the readers of ‘Cow Country News’ that we will be expecting in October.”

“And yes,” added Spencer, “They will be growing up on a farm and with a farm lifestyle.” Of course, this next generation of farmers will have some big boots to fill as well. Carly and Spencer Guinn are up for that challenge too.

Feature written by Sara Neumeister