I Am a Westerner

Here's a picture from my days working cattle. My horse's name was Ben. 

I Am A Westerner
By Paul H. Betancourt
copyright May, 2012

   Why is it that cowboys are icons of America? People come from all over the world to stay at dude ranches where people can re-live the Wild West.

I think part of the reason is cowboys represent us at our best. Yeah, I know all the criticisms, but think about it for a moment. In the time of the cowboys, America was young. We had just ended the scourge of slavery. We were free and independent. We were confident and self-reliant.

   I realized a few years ago I am a Westerner. It’s not just that I am a Californian and I used to work cattle. Maybe I have read too many Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour novels, but the men and women in their stories are my kind of heroes. I find them out here all the time. The self-reliant, hard working men and women of Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage are still alive today.

   You don’t need fancy clothes, boots and jeans are fine for most events. Work maybe hard, but it is honest and productive. The food is honest too. Do you remember Cookie in the movie City Slickers? “It’s hot, it’s brown and there’s plenty of it.”

And, there’s just something about those wide, open spaces.

you can find the audio version to this and others at 

http://www.940kyno.com/index.php?c=68

   This is Memorial Day Weekend. Assemblymember Linda Halderman reminds is that over a million men and women have given their lives in service to our country. I can never be thankful enough for their sacrifice. Freedom is not free, and they gave us, As Mr. Lincoln said, "the last full measure of their devotion."

It is the Soldier

by Father Dennis O'Brian-USMC

It is the soldier, not the reporter,

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,

Who has given is the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer,

Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,

Who serves beneath the flag,

And whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protester to burn the flag."

I hope Y'all enjoy Memorial Day Weekend,

and take a moment to remember.

P

Another Busy Spring Week...

There is always something to do on the farm, but Spring days are especially busy. We finished watering the wheat...finally. Make a note- finish earlier next year. The cotton is fertilized. The almonds got another drink of water. This next week we will spray weeds in the cotton and the almonds. We'll also start furrow out the cotton ground. First irrigation is right around the corner.

   Every morning the dogs take me for a walk. It's the one form of exercise that will get done-rain or shine, home or away. I have jogged and ridden my bicycle. There was a clumsy end to my racquet ball playing days. But, walking gets done. On days when I think I'm too busy to walk, Indy has another opinion about the issue. His enthusiasm about his walks is contagious. So, of we go... Actually he runs and I walk. Eventually he comes back hoping for a biscuit.
   This time of year he just can't understand why I won't let him in the house after he has taken his morning swim in the canal. Honestly, would you let a 110 pound sponge in your office? Can you explain it to him? If I am home, he sits outside my office door, dripping wet and giving me big puppy dog eyes. Seriously. One morning this week he wanted to go for a pickup ride-dripping wet. Then he leaned with all his might into my right shoulder for the first few minutes. Now I was soaking wet, and I didn't even go swimming. Good thing I love that boy.
   I would post a picture of him on a walk, but all you would see is a blur as he races across the field nose down and tail up sniffing to smell what has changed since yesterday morning. When he scents a rabbit or coyote it is off to the races. One of the funniest things I ever saw was when he was a puppy running through an alfalfa field. The alfalfa was taller than Indy, so all I would see was him broaching above the sea of green like a floppy eared dolphin.
   Even on the hottest summer days the morning air is fresh and cool. This time of year is gorgeous as the vineyards come to life. The early morning light through the grape leaves is glorious. The leaves just glow. It's a nice way to start he day.

I hope Y'all have a great week.

P

Warming Up

The next ten days is mostly high 80's and low 90's. My little cotton seedlings are happy and growing.

I want to explain lest you think, after last week's post, that all I want to do is spray weeds. Below is a picture of  what we have been doing this past week.

That is a mechanical cultivator that cuts out all the weeds, except in the seed row.
   You can see those disc blades are kicking up some dirt. In the old days we could only run about two miles per hour. With the GPS steering we can run over five miles an hour. That may sound slow for you car drivers, but believe me that is moving when you are on a tractor.
   When GPS steering came out they said we could save 35% of our fuel bill. I was skeptical. How could going straighter save that much fuel? Well, when you can go straighter and faster you can save a lot of fuel. Ruben accomplished in four and a half days what would have normally taken ten or eleven days. Now that is progress!


Here's something you might not have seen before-

That's what young grapes look like.
    The dogs take me for a walk every morning. [They are rather insistent about this.]  Part of our walk is between some vineyards. It has been a joy watching these vineyards wake up in the last month. They bunches are forming now and will start filling up now.

I know that everything isn't about politics, but I thought I would share another radio piece from the last month.

I Wish Every Politician Knew What Every Farmer Already Knows

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright April 2012

                I wish every politician knew what every farmer already knows.

            For starters, it’s easier to get into debt than it is to get out of debt. That why farmers are careful about every expense. We are not just cheap, we just like being out of debt all the time.

            Second, Reality is a hard taskmaster. Farmers don’t succeed through wishful thinking or the latest theory. Farming is hard enough when we work hard, work smart and use all the experience we have earned the hard way. Feel good theories just make you go broke--- faster.

            Thirdly, successful farmers balance self-reliance and community. I can’t do everything on my own- so, I need community. I can’t always wait for the community- so, I learn to take care of myself. We are stronger, as a country, when we are a community of self-reliant producers than what Ayn Rand called “looters and moochers.”

            Finally, sooner or later you have to produce something- other than paperwork. Wealth is created by producing products or providing services. We are getting less and less of either from our government.

I sure wish every politician knew what every farmer already knows.

Here is the audio link-
http://www.940kyno.com/mp3_files/FARM/04-30-12_I%20wish%20every%20politician%20knew%20what%20every%20farmer%20already%20knows.mp3

Hope Y'all have a great week!

P

It's May Already?

These aren't our grapes, but you can see Spring is busting out all over.

Another busy week on the farm. We've been killing weeds, fertilizing and irrigating the almonds and the wheat. The wheat looks beautiful. The heads are filling out. This will be the last water. We'll let the heads fill out, then dry down and we'll harvest in late June or early July.
    The cotton looks good.

   For such little plants the roots are already strong and growing.
This isn't the best picture, but I have a reason for sharing it with you. Can you see the little weed on the right? That's our next problem. We can't cultivate them with a tractor because weeds like that are in the seed line with the cotton. Hand weeding is expensive. This cotton is Roundup Ready we we can spray Roundup over the top. It is pretty amazing technology and helps us keep our fields clean of weeds.
   The irony is even that is controversial . I heard on the news this week that people are trying to get a ballot measure ready for the November California ballot that would require labeling on all GMO food. For my two cents on that issue you can read the script for a future radio bit.

Labels and What is Really Dangerous
by Paul H. Betancourt
copyright May 2012

                Do you remember Prop 65? The Nanny-government folks wanted labels on every building that contained cancer causing chemicals. That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? What was the result? Nearly every commercial building in California  has a Prop 65 label on it. Do all those labels make us safer? I don’t think so.

                Now the folks who want to scare you about your food are at it again. There will probably be a ballot measure in November to put labels on GMO food. GMO’s use the same technology used to create new medicines and splice genes in to seeds to kill bad bugs or make plants herbicide resistant. Now I am very happy people are concerned about the food we eat. That’s a good thing.

                Here’s the irony as I see it- for a generation activists have wanted farmers to use less pesticides. We come up with a technology to that meets their demand they protest that. I don’t know where to go from there. I have seen zero evidence that says GMO’s are any threat to us.

                I suspect the ballot proposition will pass. We will have new labels on our food that we will ignore and nothing will be accomplished except scaring people unnecessarily about their food. This proposition will not do anything about real food issues like getting excess fats and salts out of our diets.

I hope Y'all have a great week.

P