I find it especially annoying when someone tells me to consider myself lucky and then names a far-away country they know little about. (While I hope, growing up, I had sufficient empathy for the children of Mozambique, I was able to realize that whether or not I finished my vegetables was disconnected from their fate).

• Newly elected 2013 officers of the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) Executive Committee are Treasurer Dante Migliazzo of Atwater; Secretary Jeff Wilbur of Tulare; Chairman Richard Michel of Waterford; Vice Chairman Richard Wagner of Escalon; and Members at Large Tony Louters of Merced, Perry Tjaarda of Shafter and James Netto of Hanford.

Silostop Orange now available Bruno Rimini Corp., makers of Silostop oxygen barrier film, have introduced Silostop Orange. According to the company, the new product is strong and stretchy. It is advertised as a total oxygen barrier film that reduces dry matter loss, decreases visible spoilage, maintains feed quality, improves aerobic stability and saves labor.

When I’m asked where I get ideas for this column, I explain that in my travels among the agricultural masses, everyone has a story to tell … and they tell me. Almost always, they include getting bucked off, run over or humiliated in some form by large domestic mammals.

The cattle business today has evolved into several distinct segments. Each draws certain people whose personality, skill and savvy make them best suited to that segment.