You know about it – the view from 60,000 feet that non-rural folks refer to as “flyover” country. But how many people really see the big picture from far enough away to take in its immensity and yet take that view and build a legacy on it?

The art of growing and baling high-quality hay is a skill some possess, while some managers lack detail or timing.

Equipment maintenance is a logical part of baling high-quality hay for most operations. Off-season care is just as important as regular-season maintenance.

Over the past decade, the ethanol industry has created quite a stir in both the corn and livestock industries.

I’ve never been very superstitious. I’ve never used the services of a fortune teller, shaman or palm reader and I think the predictions offered up by a stargazer are as reliable as the defroster in my old 1964 Chevy pickup was. And Chinese food advice is as hollow as the inside of the fortune cookie it comes in. I don’t eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day or any other day for that matter. And other than having a fear of heights, I’d have no trouble staying on the 13th floor of a hotel, if they had them. I even wore jersey number 13 when my basketball coach in high school assigned it to me. I don’t carry on my person a lucky penny, four-leaf clover or rabbit’s foot, and black cats and ladders don’t scare me.

I was visiting with Bill in Alabama. He’s a cattleman, a bit of a philosopher and a constant worrier. I mentioned that one of my friends had sold a set of 520-pound feeder cattle for $1.99 a pound! That’s more than $1,000 a head! “I know,” said Bill, “I’ve sold some myself but … ” then he paused and added, “I’m wondering if the price is getting too high?” I cast a skeptical eye but he was serious. “Whattaya mean?” I asked.

Debbie Lyons-Blythe, White City, Kansas, is Monsanto’s America’s Farmers Mom of the Year 2012. Lyons-Blythe was nominated by her children (Meghan, Allie, Trenton, Tyler and Eric), and also by her aunt, Mary Ferguson, who she describes as “more of a friend than an aunt.” Both nominations summarized in 300 words what makes Lyons-Blythe so special to her family, farm, community and the agricultural industry.

Hypertherm, a U.S.-based manufacturer of advanced cutting systems, announced the availability of Duramax retrofit torches for five more plasma cutting systems: the Powermax600, Powermax800, Powermax900, MAX42 and MAX43.Patented technology, such as a conical flow nozzle and spring electrode, in the Duramax series of torches, provide more reliable arc starting and enable consumables to last up to six times longer than in the original plasma cutting system torches.