Ask a dozen farmers, “Who makes the best equipment?” and you might get a dozen different answers (or at least three or four).

As I age, time moves faster and faster. (I think I can get many an “amen” to that.) I also notice that this phenomenon also requires me to:

For years, my dad and I debated back and forth about whether we should replace our aging sickle-bar mower-conditioner (mo-co) with a new disc mo-co. Dad was old-school. He liked a sickle mower and could really make one sing going through a field.

One thing is for sure, agriculture needs as many positive voices telling the story of our industry as possible. It seems that everyone has an opinion on our livelihood, especially those on social media with negative messages.

While generally not considered part of your equipment line, your cattle-handling facilities are one of your most useful and profitable tools if constructed properly. Safety in the handling of cattle translates into not only fewer injuries to the handler but fewer injuries to the animals as well. While high cattle prices drive home the price of mishandling animals, the fact is: Safe and smooth cattle handling always pays dividends.

Leadership – the word conjures all kinds of thoughts and descriptive phrases. Courageous, bold, outspoken, strong, resilient, honest … the list goes on and on. At times it seems that leadership roles in our fields of agriculture have noticeable voids. A major reason is that leadership also requires time and sacrifice.

This has been a really good year for many of our county’s farmers, particularly our beef farmers. One sign that we have had a good year are the number of calls I fielded about ways to avoid or divert potential tax issues prior to Dec. 31, 2014.