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Agriculture helps measure true wealth

By Shanna Jordan
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By Shanna Jordan

As we begin to prepare for cows and their calves to head off to pasture, we are slowly but surely separating cow/calf pairs from their winter calving groups into summer breeding groups.

Last week we sorted purebred heifers out of the mixed group of heifers, and sent them to a separate pen where they await their summer suitor.

Though I’m usually thrilled to help with this sort of thing, this time I was happy to sit on a hardened pile of mud and watch everyone else work while I took pictures of the sunset. It was quite easy going really. My father-in-law walked each pair up one by one, my brother-in-law, mother-in-law and husband stood as guards along the hill to ensure the pairs would go through the proper gate, and I sat perched, looking at the incredible view through the lense of my camera, (which seems to be a regular occurance lately).

So regular, in fact, that it won’t be long before my own family won’t recognize me without a camera in my face. Strapping that black beauty around my neck has become a part of my daily routine. After I get home from work I change into my farm clothes, throw that camera on, rubber boots on my feet, and I’m out the door looking for the first sign of work that I can jump into.

Over these last two years I’ve become increasingly aware that perhaps the view of my camera has taught me to look at things a little differently than I did before. The greatest change has been how I see the world around me. Constantly capturing action around the farm has taught me to truly pay attention to the details.

A deep furrowed brow hidden, just slightly, by the brim of a cowboy hat; the intent stare of a dog looking for the approval of his master; or the loving gaze of a wife to her rancher, as the beads of sweat on his face prove to her that he will provide.

Who knew a camera could capture so much? Though I’ll admit that in time, it has become more than the moments that are captured forever in a photo.

I’ve come to realize the importance of the moments that are captured forever in my mind.

One particular image that comes to mind is the time I watched my in-laws from a distance, as they walked to their home after a hard day’s work, with their arms wrapped around one another. That very moment, though I didn’t have my camera, is a picture more valuable than any that can be held.

To me, it was a picture of true love. I’ve come to learn that in agriculture, wealth is a lifestyle, not a number in the bank account. True wealth is measured by love. That very love, shared in small moments, such as the one I observed, is what farming is all about.

Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said, “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will, in the end, contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.”