Friday, April 19, 2024

It's show time, a sure sign that winter is on the slide, daylight is returning, and a new year of outdoor sports will emerge from its snow covered den eventually.

Why do bad things happen to good people? And what are the rest of us supposed to do now?

This year's Sports Illustrated's Sportswoman of the Year developed her ball skills in the hayloft of her family's barn. And the farm work ethic helped build Pat Summitt's eight NCAA championships with the Lady Vols of the University of Tennessee.

I had no idea people harbored such hate for Christmas music. Show me someone who thrills to Silent Night and I'll show you six more who swear they will poke out their own eardrums with a drum stick if they have to hear The Little Drummer Boy one more time.

Last December I saved a column from the Boston Globe titled "Merry Retro Christmas" and saved it because I thought it said everything about nostalgia and memories.

The Farm Service Agency has come up with a service called TIP Net. This is a tool to connect retired or retiring land owners or operators with beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers who are interested in the Transition Incentives program (TIP).

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the world has never produced more food, fed more people and, simultaneously, never had so many hungry people.

For the grazier, winter means dealing with cold temperatures, wind chill, freezing rain and mud. These weather conditions can negatively impact livestock performance and increase the energy requirement of the animal.

As the howling winds of winter approach, it is a good time for farmers to grab a cup of coffee and start to gather their income and expenses records to determine their cost of production and profitability from 2011.

I was talking with a lady not long ago who told me she remembered her very first trip to the dentist. It was 1936, and she had a terrible toothache, which was made worse each morning and evening when she had to milk by hand the family's three cows.