A few years ago, during an August hot enough to fry pancakes on sidewalks, I was home while my hubby handled 4-H at the fair with the kids. He oversaw some 4-H activities at the time, so he stayed at the fairgrounds while I trucked an hour one way back home to take care of chores on our little ranch.

To me, there is no job more enjoyable than working a pen of cattle with a team of stockmen that I call friends. There are many places across the country where processing day is as much a community event as it is a cattle management task that just needs to be completed.

Is anyone else wondering how it’s May already? Because I am! They say time moves faster as you get older and, at the ripe age of 25, I can attest to that. All jokes aside, May marks my 10th month here at Progressive Cattle. But I’m no stranger to this publication.

I’ve been hanging around for a decade or two. I’ve had some good luck, but I’ll bet I’m like you.

Have you ever noticed in ranching that there’s “flow” and “no flow”? The days things click into place are great. Items on the to-do list get crossed off, and people and animals are happy.

Rural America is the backbone of our nation. It is where family values are based, where respect and responsibility are grown and where future leaders are developed.

Leading any business is extremely challenging. If the business is a family business, the level of difficulty is increased, and if you intend for it to be a multigenerational business, the difficulty is even greater still.

Heim’s Hillcrest Dairy in Wisconsin has created a welcoming team culture with low employee turnover. Since the farm started in 1963, it has grown from less than 100 cows to more than 800. Today, members of the second, third and fourth generations work on the dairy.

I am a firm believer that attending these events are crucial for the success and improvement of the cattle industry, but the loveliest thing to me is the fact that nobody has to do it.