There is a tombstone that lies just off the edge of a small hayfield on the creek bottom of my parents’ ranch. It doesn’t mark the grave of the man whose name is engraved on its face, and grass and weeds show it little mercy.

“And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:25)

Every producer meeting I attend and every time I go to the local sale barn, I can’t help but notice the gray hair everywhere. It speaks to the wisdom accumulating in the cattle industry, but it also poses some scary questions: “Where are the kids?” and “Who will lead this industry into the future?”

Four generations. As I sit here writing this, it dawns on me that I represent the fourth generation in my family to raise my own cattle and participate in agriculture. It is more than a lifestyle – being a rancher is who we are, not what we do.

How many times has your spouse said something like “Honey, it will only take a couple of minutes, but I sure could use your help”?

The power of our thoughts is an amazing weapon that can work for or against us. When I was 19 years old, I used to work for a cow outfit in East Tennessee for one of the finest stockmen you’ll find anywhere.

Due to my husband's new occupation as a full-time rancher and truck driver, we have been debating whether to add to our family. Not with children, mind you, because that ship has already sailed – but with a four-legged, hairy kind of addition.

I was told as a kid never to pray for patience, because if you get it, you will surely have opportunity to use it.

Extreme environmental activists often reference eliminating meat consumption as a “silver bullet” of sorts, one that will make a sizeable impact in mitigating climate change.

Have you ever thought about when it happened? Not many of us really know an exact date or even an exact year, but those of us who are starting to get a little gray or a little thin on top know that at one point we made the rite of passage from cow-boy to cow-man.