In 18 years of writing this column, I have written of journeys all over the world, some as short as a month and then a recent one as long as 16 months in Iraq. They tell the story of an agricultural scientist at work. I have answered the call to service and gone into the world to seek and effect change. You have read of stories in Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Caucuses and the Middle East.

I used to have a chainsaw that ran really well. I still have it, but it has not functioned for some time now. I took it in for an estimate and they told me it was an odd brand (Sachs-Dolmar), and they did not have any idea where to get the parts. They also told me that the piston and cylinder were scored. Then they wanted me to pay them for the time they spent deciding that the guys who made my chainsaw were smarter than they were.

Progressive Cattleman's interviews and excerpts from the Texas A&M University Beef Cattle Short Course, held Aug. 2-4, 2010.

The following is a summary report of the August cattle supply marketings as reported by USDA Livestock & Grain Market News. August feeder cattle movement was seasonally light as usual, but marketing calves and yearlings late this summer was especially difficult with extremely high heat and humidity plaguing most of the central portion of the U.S. Dangerously high heat indexes caused tremendous shrink on cattle being moved to market with heat stress sapping flesh and fill conditions and even deathloss in several cases before purchases made their new destinations. Calf demand was only moderate early in August during the hottest portion of the summer, but yearling feeder cattle interest never wavered as feedyard inventories are extremely “green” and buyers continue aggressively for feedlot replacements as the finished cattle market remains brisk.

Kaleena Westaby Sun Prairie, Wisconsin Research Technician ABS Global