Life of an Ag Teacher- San Antonio Edition

by Jayson Hill

Thursday, February 3^rd

I arrived at the San Antonio show at 10:30am on Thursday because we had a student showing a turkey hen.  We had to check the hen in today. This was going to be the last time that this student would be showing turkeys at San Antonio because he graduates this year. Many turkey raisers are excited because he has done extremely well over the last 5 years. He has “scholarshiped out” at San Antonio by winning Reserve Grand Champion Turkey Tom and Turkey Hen on more than one occasion and finally last year he won Grand Champion Turkey Tom, giving him the maximum amount of scholarship money available to an exhibitor. It was very cold and windy today.

Friday, February 4^th

I stayed with my grandparents on the west side of San Antonio Thursday night. The roads iced over and shut down the city’s highways. San Antonio delayed the shows by 2 hours so I was able to wait until the ice thawed a little before heading to the fairgrounds. A drive that normally takes 30 minutes took me an hour.  We ended up 7^th place turkey hen out of 208 birds. Not exactly where we wanted to be, but we will take it. We had two students showing cattle at the open show, so my wife hauled all 8 their Simbrah to San Antonio braving the iced roads. She left Wallis around 12:30pm and arrived in San Antonio safely around 3pm. After the turkey show I helped unload and set up the stalls for the open show.

Saturday, February 5^th

Today was a day to finish getting setup and allow the cattle to rest.  I got to visit with many Simbrah people and meet some new ones.

Sunday, February 6^th

Once again we got to rest. We noticed that a heifer and a bull of ours developed a cough. We put them in the tie outs for some fresh air, hoping that would help.

Monday, February 7^th

Today is show day! Today is always fun but also stressful.  I arrived at the barn around 5:30am to find out that some of our students and their families had been at the barn since 3:15am. We got everything washed, dried, and began feeding. We were showing everything from a 6 month old heifer to a 16 month old bull. We had 3 calves in class 1 with one of them placing 3^rd in the class. Our next calf was in class 9 and placed 3^rd in her class. We then had a heifer place 6^th and another place 2^nd in her class. The bull placed 4^th in his class. All in all, I count it as a successful day. We did not bring home any banners, but we had fun, the kids got experience in the show ring, and hopefully they learned something along the way. We tore down the stalls and I got to leave for the house around 3:30pm. I had to take 4 head back to Wallis and pick up two more. I arrived in Wallis around 7 pm. I picked up two Shorthorn calves around 9pm and headed back for San Antonio to wait in line at Gembler Road. I arrived in line around 1:30am. Today was a very long day!

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Due to the lack of sleep the day before, the sleep I got in the truck overnight at Gembler Road was actually really good. It is amazing where you can sleep and in what various positions you can sleep in if you are tired enough. We left Gembler Road at 1pm or so and got everything unloaded. We got the stalls set up and settled in for the 3 day junior show. We checked in for the Superbowl show and Junior Show. I had 3 students showing heifers and they each brought 2 head. 4 of those 6 heifers are Simbrah. All four were entered into the Superbowl. Thank you to all of the 30 plus sponsors of the Superbowl for putting on another great event for our students. Cody Witzkoski, one of my students, was sick today. I’m hoping he gets better for the shows on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as the Beef Skill-a-thon on Wednesday. One of my students left the barn early without cleaning up stalls or putting out hay for their calves. I guess we will have to have a meeting with the parent and the student tomorrow about taking care of your cattle as well as the importance of working together as a team on cleaning stalls and tie outs. I have a feeling that the parent is enabling the behavior of the student. I guess tomorrow I will get to find out what the deal is. Not really looking forward to the conversation but it needs to happen.

Wednesday, February 9^th

Today was interesting. I caught the parent of the student that I needed to talk to. The conversation was not pleasant but there were some things that needed to be said. As a teacher I take my job seriously. I am very competitive and like any normal person, I like to win. I love livestock shows, Leadership Contests, and judging contests, but I do not get paid any more money to put up with DRAMA. That is the Drama Teachers area of expertise. I conveyed to that parent that if the drama was going to continue then I would not be hauling heifers to the Houston or Austin shows and that everyone would be doing it on their own. I also told the parent that we would not be hauling cattle to shows next year if the drama did not stop. Time will tell. I stayed away from our stall as much as possible today and watched the whole Simbrah- Simmental Superbowl marathon from the bleachers. I did not help much with the cattle today. With all of the drama at my stalls I stayed away to avoid confrontation. Cody Witzkoski made me proud today. He was very sick on Tuesday and then came into the show ring on Wednesday morning and placed 3^rd for the second year in a row in a very tough 17-18 year old showmanship division. He then came back with his Smith Bella Bella x Sargeant daughter and placed 2^nd in class and then placed 5^th in his class with a Nu Approach daughter. He also participated in the brand new Beef Skill-a-thon today. Even though this event is in its infancy, I believe that it will only get tougher as time goes on. I have heard rumor that there might be a scholarship given to the winner next year. This contest should be won by a Simbrah or Simmental kid as it seems to be a combination of Cattleman’s Quiz and Skill-a-thon at the TJSSA Futurity Show and Simbrah Roundup. Lauren Grigar placed 10^th in her class with her Nueman Farms heifer, and 10^th in her class with her Reavis Farms heifer. She also won one of the 35 $250 scholarships. I was proud of both of my students that competed in the Superbowl today. I would like to thank all of the 30 plus sponsors for putting in the time and money to make the Superbowl possible. I have seen what Simbrah cattle can do positively for a student. You are changing lives without even being aware of it. THANK YOU!!!! I encourage all the Superbowl participants to write a thank you letter to their sponsor to let them know how you did and to thank them for the opportunity.

Thursday, February 10th

Today started early. I arrived at the barns at 7am, to find my students were already there and proceeding with our normal show day routine. I was glad to see that.  We had one of the 43 calves in Class 1 of the Simbrah Show. Unfortunately we did not make the cut and were excused from the ring. I figured that was going to happen so I was not shocked. Our next Simbrah calf was in Class 9 and we placed 4^th. Our next two Simbrah’s were both in class 13 and one was 11^th and the other was 19^th in a class of 23. Neither one of these were big shockers to me either. I was glad to hear that Simbrah was the largest breed at the San Antonio Jr. Heifer Show. Finally, everyone else is figuring out what a select few of us already knew… Simbrah cattle are great and the Junior Programs are even better!!! With the larger numbers and the stakes getting higher, I hope that the breeders as well as the exhibitors remain honest and ethical in the breeding and raising of Simbrah Cattle. Do our breed a favor is you are unwilling to remain honest and ethical, GET OUT! Now that I am home, it is time to finish our Ag Mechanics projects and get our Commercial Steer Exhibitor ready for contests next week.

The Life of an Ag Teacher

By: Jayson Hill, Brazos High School Ag Science Teacher

Most of the people in the cattle industry know an Ag Teacher. They more than likely met one when their children were in FFA.  I have often pondered the thought, how many people actually know what an Ag Teacher does on a daily basis. Here is my story.

My wife and I have been married for four years, this past December. We have no kids of our own, but we have approximately 150 kids that we see each day in the classroom. I have been teaching for 7 years, while my wife has been teaching for 3 years. We have taught together for the last three years.

Winter time in Texas means somewhat colder weather, unless you are at a livestock show, then the weather is usually wet and or cold. Major Livestock Show Season, for us at least, starts with the Fort Worth Stock Show in late January and ends with the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo in March. In between those two shows, we stop at the San Antonio Livestock Show and the Houston Livestock Show. This time of year, for me and my wife, is very busy and we are often like to ships passing in the night, spending more time away from each other than we do together. Yes, that is right; we spend more time with our students this time of year than we do with each other.

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

Thursday, January 20, 2011

We had planned to leave town by 9:30am, but as always, we were running late. We left town at 9:45am. I was hauling two heifers to Fort Worth for my students. One family was coming up later that afternoon, as soon as they got their vehicle out of the repair shop, the other family, Gary, Deanna, and Cody Witzkoski, were going to be following me to Fort Worth.  We drove to Waco and had lunch at a Whataburger. The temperature was steadily dropping and by the time we reached Waco the temperature was already at 36 degrees. It was 60 degrees when we left the house that morning. We arrived at the staging line around 2:45 and waited for 1 ½ hours in the now 34 degree weather. Needless to say, we left the truck running to stay warm. Cody thought it would be a good idea to climb in the back of the truck and “take a nap”. Not sure how much napping he got done, I figured if he was crazy enough to try and sleep in the back of the truck that he was crazy enough to take care of himself. While waiting in line, I took the time to visit with Gary. I enjoy the down times that allow me to visit with the parents. It took us nearly an hour to get everything unloaded and set up. As soon as we got to the cattle barn, I had Cody wash both heifers so we could get the stalls set up. I sent Deanna to get bedding straw and shavings from the feed store.  We finally got the heifers fed and in the tie outs around 7:45pm. As we walked out the truck, I was thankful that we were no longer waiting in the staging line.  It was not too long of a day, but the traveling wore me out.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Today started off very cold, 20 degrees to be exact.  Like normal, I was the first one to arrive at our stalls. I went to check on our heifers at the tie-outs. Why Fort Worth Stock Show officials feel the need to stall you in Cattle Barn 4 and then put you in tie outs at Barn 1, I will never know.  Heifers were still laid up in the three foot of straw my kids laid down for the night before.  We finished hanging up our stall decorations, not my number one priority but our kids like it and so do their moms, so we do it. I will continue to do stall decorations as long as someone else decides how to decorate.  At 12 noon they began the Heifer Sift. We got both of ours through no problem. It never fails though, that I have that last minute thought of “are the tattoos correct?” even after I have checked them a hundred times. One of my students failed to get their heifer clipped before heading to Fort Worth, even though I asked them if I needed to clip the heifer at the beginning of January. They told me someone else was going to do it, and of course they did not. Had I known earlier, I would have planned on having it done before we left. The kid let me know he needed me to clip his heifer on Tuesday before we were to leave on Thursday. I guess they forgot that I had to get work together for my classes while I was gone, gather tools for the Area Tractor Tech Contest that was happening on Friday, get clothes from the cleaners, practice with my tractor tech team, and then go home and pack for the trip. So needless to say, we clipped her today.  The student wants to learn how to clip a heifer so badly, that he wants to try and clip his heifer the day before the show. Being the “teacher” that I am, I handed the student the clippers. Let’s just say that I am not very hopeful of his ability to clip heifers.  He butchered the face of his heifer; luckily it was the left side. While clipping his heifer, I heard numerous announcements from the show officials about not having trim chutes on the concrete or asphalt, about not building pens in the cattle barns, about not using the sheep and goat barn wash racks, and numerous other things. It seems that they must have recorded those announcements one time, and then played them back over the PA over and over again. Throughout the day, my students, their parents, and I spent the day catching up with old friends and making new ones. I truly believe that the people I have met and gotten to know in the cattle barns are some of the best people on earth. 

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Today is show day number one.  I am fortunate to have students that know the show day routine. They arrive early, wash, blow, and then feed. This allows me to arrive early, but does not require me to arrive at the crack of dawn. I really cannot do anything while they are doing all of that anyways. We had a Shorthorn that showed today. Unfortunately, the heifer has not been taken care of like she should. As an Ag Teacher, I check on the projects at home, I give suggestions, but at the end of the day it is not my project, it is not my time that the heifer requires, and it is not my money that needs to be spent for feed, hay, and medications. This has to be the most frustrating part of teaching. I try my best to put the kids on the best animals that they can afford, but I can do very little when the animal reaches the house. Our Shorthorn today was obviously 300 lbs or more underweight when comparing it to the others in the class. The student was upset when he was placed last in the class. This gave me the opportunity to drive home the point of consistency of feeding. I feel like this is the biggest mistake when feeding show animals. People are either switching feeds, do not feed the same amount daily, or do not feed at the same times each day. Consistency is very important, no matter the livestock project. After the Shorthorn show, I began working with a student of mine that was participating in the Superintendents Heifer Challenge. I quizzed him on the study material that was provided him, and then we worked on a sales talk for him.  Unfortunately, my student did not score high enough to make it to the finals. I would highly suggest all seniors who qualify for the Superintendents Heifer Challenge to do so and I would like to thank the Fort Worth Heifer Show Superintendents, Devon Energy and the other sponsors for giving the students this wonderful opportunity.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Today was an easy day. We did not have any cattle to show, so I did what I love to do and that is catch up with old friends and to make new ones. The cattle barn is the best place in the world to meet new friends because you already have something in common… cattle. I walked around the cattle barns, looked at cattle, and talked with some great Simbrah folks. I finally got the chance to wait in line for a Cowboy Burrito for lunch. It was worth it and I did not share. For dinner I ate at the Macaroni Grill with the Onstot and Witzkoski families. I am sure that my wife was jealous of me because I was in great company while she was at home by herself.  Tomorrow will be a busy day of getting our Simbrah cattle ready for show and then loading up and driving home.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Today is Simbrah show day. I love it. Cody was in class 9. When we got to the exercise arena, one of the superintendents informed us that he was a single entry. Cody did not believe us, until he went into the ring. He thought we were pulling his leg, and most of the time he would be correct. We gladly took our blue ribbon and headed back in for the division drive. Unfortunately the division was packed with several good cattle. Cody was not selected for champion or reserve division champion. While my students were tearing down the stalls and getting ready to load, I stayed and watched the rest of the show. As soon as the show was over, I headed to the truck to go get our trailer. I arrived at the trailer lot at 3:45pm and sat in line until 6:45 pm. I think that this part of the Fort Worth Stock Show definitely needs improvement. Hog, Lamb, and Cattle trailers were all in the same line and were heading to different barns, why they could not separate them like San Antonio I will never know.  My kids were back at the barn and told me that our barn had all kinds of open spots to park and load. When I arrived at the barn around 6:45pm, my two head were the last ones in Barn 4. We pulled out of the Stock Show grounds at 7pm, and settled in the for the 5 hour ride home. I dropped the calves off at the kid’s houses and told them to pick up their show boxes and tack at school on Tuesday. I got home at 12:45am. I had livestock judging practice at 7:30am the next morning. When I laid down my mind transferred out of livestock show mode and into Ag Mechanics mode. I began thinking of everything that we have to do to have them ready for the Ag Mechanics show in San Antonio on Feb 18-20. Hopefully we finish, as the students building the projects are both seniors and will not have a chance to show these projects again. The stress level is rising- Livestock Shows, Ag Mechanics projects, judging teams, and I cannot forget about the wife! Thank goodness she understands me and my crazy life.

Why Advertising Is Important For Your Business

by Martha Hollida Garrett

Businesses exist to sell products and services to the public for a profit. If the public does not know that your program exists, finding customers to make enough purchases for your ranch to survive will be a failure without some additional help. Advertising is an important factor in business because it gets the word out about your Simbrah program and establishes a presence and a brand about what you are offering.

One of the best ways to advertise is by word of mouth, also known as referral marketing or referral advertising. When other people hear good things about your business or they have a positive experience shopping with your business, they become walking billboards for your business without you having to spend additional money on advertising to create it.

Advertising in your breed publication is also important-- so that you can be recognized as an effective source of genetics. You can extend your advertising approach out to websites, local papers, other publications, as well, in order to reach wider audiences, but the revenue from your business should be able to pay for advertising costs for these methods to bring you the value you are looking for.

Making sure that enough people know that you exist, who are naturally interested in your cattle is a great way to bring in customers and increase the profit of your business.

Simbrah World is only published twice a year, so you only have two opportunities in 12 months to get your message out to that mailing list, which represents all Simbrah breeders, junior exhibitors and of course commercial cattlemen. You also have an advertising avenue available on www.simbrahworld.com, plus the once a year Simbrah special section in Southern Livestock Standard.

A mere $1,500 spent on promotion, can get you in all four of the only true Simbrah advertising outlets you have.  This represents enough dollars to have a web box ad, two half pages in the magazine and a half page in Southern Livestock--WHAT A BARGAIN. Compare the value of your cattle against that--isn't it worth spending $1,500 or even more to let people know you have Simbrahs?

The spring Simbrah World deadline is January 30th. Call Martha today 903/316-8465 or email her at marthag@southernlivestock.com. Simbrah World website ads can be added at any time and the feature section in Southern Livestock is in August.






LET THE WORLD KNOW YOU HAVE SIMBRAHS AND WHO YOU ARE!

Big Win, Bigger Smile

by Victor Guerra

At the recent Synergy III Showcase there were lots of good kids who worked hard with their Simbrah cattle in order to show them to the best of their ability.  For those of you who have paid particular attention to Jane Hunt and her heifer Miley, you know that in her first year she had her work cut out for her showing this heifer.  I believe it is a combination of Miley being a tough heifer to show and Jane being a young girl.  I have seen Jane work hard at every show, giving 100 percent to get Miley shown.  As a calf, Miley and Jane were named Grand Champion at the Synergy Showcase II and captured the coveted $3,000 check.  Although Jane had won the show with Miley, nothing had changed Jane is still a young girl trying to show a heifer with a mind of her own. 

Over the course of the next year Jane continued to work hard at home however Miley still gave her all she could handle when trying to get her to stop and set up for the judge.  In order to get it done, she used a nose bud to show her at certain shows, however one judge commented unfavorably about its use.  Her stepfather, Mr. Steve Atzenhoffer often consulted with others and did everything he could to try and make things easier for Jane.  The morning of Showcase III Mr. Atzenhoffer and Jane had decided not to use the nose bud.  It is natural that you always want to win, however I was unaware of just how bad Jane wanted to repeat with Miley at the Showcase.

As the course of the morning went on, Jane told me that she was nervous about showing Miley but eager to get in the ring and win.  After winning a big class and the Senior Division, Jane came out of the ring for a second and I could sense that she was nervous about getting Miley stuck just right in order to give herself the best shot to repeat.  Finally, the moment came and Miley was selected Grand Champion Female for the second year in a roll at the Synergy Showcase, once again attaining Jane that coveted $3,000 check.  When she came out of the ring, I don’t believe I have ever seen a young person so full of life.  With a smile that words can’t describe, Jane received congratulatory hugs from friends and family. 

In this moment, I couldn’t help but appreciate what was really going on.  Yes, Jane and Miley became the first to repeat in MAS Showdown and Simbrah Synergy history, but this feat could not compare to the special moment that Jane and her family were experiencing.  Jane’s smile and fullness of life was a culmination of her hard work and all the hard times she went through in trying to stop Miley and get her shown.  Being part of a company who breeds Simbrah cattle made me proud and the happiness the Atzenhoffer family was experiencing in my eyes was the utmost gratification.  Since this big day, I have often thought about the joy that Jane and her entire family expressed after their big win. 

For me, it wasn’t about cattle during this moment it was all about the happiness and fullness of life that the Atzenhoffer Family was experiencing, especially Jane.  It is my hope that you have had an experience like this as well, where you have worked hard at something, overcame set backs and obstacles and wanted to achieve something so badly, to the point to where when you accomplished it you had that “full of life” feeling.  No words can describe it, but I saw it in Jane that day and I was proud that we as Simbrah breeders were partly responsible for making this moment possible for this hard working young lady and her family.

No Such Thing As Vegetarian

Are you starting to hear the terms vegetarian, vegan, or even vegetable fajitas? Yes there are meatless fajitas on the menu at Uncle Julio restaurants, as well as vegetable hamburgers in many places. Well study the diagram I've attached here and you will have interesting points to make in your next vegan discussion.  I found this to be very informative and again makes the point that the cow is just pretty hard to live without!

We Have An Image Problem!

Last week I visited an elementary school on the southwest side of Fort Worth, Texas--the same Fort Worth that is recognized as Cowtown. I was asked by my friend, Suzanne, who is the counselor there to speak at their career day on my work as an agricultural journalist. Suzanne also figured out real quick, when she learned about my work that I had connections to get her a pickup truck and cattle/horse trailer at her school's vehicle day last week, too.
     So on Thursday, Lesli Groves (some of you old Simbrah breeders will remember her and her photography work) and I loaded up in her truck and pulled her trailer into the school parking lot. The kids were so interested in where the horses rode, why they were hauled, how you feed them in the trailer and etc. None of these kids owned a horse, a few said they had ridden one and some had grandparents who had horses. It amazed Lesli and I how many really had no personal experience of riding a horse.
    Then the next day, I returned and visited with 3rd and 5th graders about my career. I also used this platform to mention how beef producers raise the safest, healthiest and most economical beef in the world and that they are truly people who care about their animals. Everything went well through the first three classes and then I was blindsided.
     A fifth grade girl in the last class I visited with, immediately pointed out to me after I mentioned the above that she had heard that beef was not safe because of the large amount of antibiotics in them. Thankfully, I knew how to address her misinformation because of a speech my daughter did last year on being an advocate for agriculture and because of the Master Of Beef Advocacy program.
    As cattlemen, you know you do not use antibiotics in your cattle, but only when necessary because they are costly and it takes time to administer. I was able to relate this information by comparing it to when this young lady is sick and what steps her parents might use.
     If you have not taken the Master of Beef Advocacy (MBA) class, then I strongly urge you to do so. It's 6 one hour sessions that you can do online!  I recently wrote about this training in Southern Livestock's October 1st and 29th issues.  You can go to www.southernlivestock.com and search their site with the keywords mba to read. 
    We are feeding a world that is now three generations removed from the farm and that is being bombarded with misinformation about our industry daily. This was a wake up call to me that our opponents are doing a much better job of spreading their mistruths than we are our truths. And they are reaching the youngest group of consumers, who will soon be the ones making the buying decisions.

     As Simbrah breeders and cattlemen, you have a responsibility to learn how to address these mistruths and the MBA program can help you do that just it. We all need to put a face on production agriculture and tell our story.

Nolan Ryan Beef

As many of you know Nolan Ryan Beef was largely started to promote and find a marketing outlet for American Breeds sired carcasses, which of course includes Simbrah!

The product is also completely fed, harvested, packaged and shipped from South Texas. Markets for the beef are growing and I suggest you go to their website and view where Nolan Ryan Beef is sold. Of course Super S and Kroger Food Stores, along with Sun Harvest and Super Target have it. Black-eyed Pea Restaurants are also carrying the line of high quality, guaranteed tender cuts of beef.

The website provides a lot of information on the line, the standards required, how it is raised and the markets it fits.


I would suggest every Simbrah breeder become familiar with these specifics and see how your steer calves could be part of this great chain.

And of course Nolan Ryan Beef is served in the Ballpark at Arlington, home of the American League Champion Texas Rangers.