A farm box is a container that one loads up with all the equipment, tools and supplies that will be needed for a farm project. Much like the chuck wagon to the left. We owned and operated a 180 acre farm located along the bank of Valley Creek in Northwestern Runnels county, Texas, USA. In the fall of 2005, we began a move to Central Kansas, USA.

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Editor’s Note: Knowing that I’m a Jayhawker (native Kansan) a lot of people have asked me “Why did Kansas hate Texas so bad that they outlawed Texas Longhorns?” As if I were there when it happened. My thanks to the University of Texas for this article.

TEXAS FEVER. Readers of the Veterinarian, an English journal, were informed in June 1868 that a “very subtle and terribly fatal disease” had broken out among cattle in Illinois. The disease killed quickly and was reported to be “fatal in every instance.” The disease was very nearly as fatal as the Veterinarian claimed. Midwestern farmers soon realized that it was associated with longhorn cattle^qv driven north by South Texas ranchers. Read the rest of this entry »

by Stephanie Smith

Historically, all of our farm was prairie land with little or no trees. Few prairie species remained when we bought the farm in 1995. In keeping with the spirit of renovating the old farmhouse and smokehouse, we decided to restore some of natural history of the farm. This meant reintroducing prairie species on 10 acres. We also are reintroducing wetland species to a marsh that was enlarged from a wet swale that still had wetland plants. Aquatic plants have also been planted in each of our four ponds. Seed sources of the plants have been limited to the northern half of Missouri in most cases. This is an attempt to preserve the local genetics for each type of plant, rather than importing genetics from another region or state. Plants from our region are generally more adapted to local conditions. Each year more remnant prairie and marsh populations are lost, especially along roadsides and along railroad tracks and from the effects of urbanization and intensive agricultural practices.

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Texas Longhorn

Survivor of the Past – Bright Promise for the Future

by Dr. Stewart H. Fowler, PhD

Cattlemen caught in a devastating cost-price squeeze are now taking a serious second look at the old Texas Longhorn. Doubly stunned by the inflation of all cost factors and the recession of cattle prices, cattlemen are actively seeking new “profit genes” for their beef herds. The quest has broadened to an international search for “new” genes that might boost productivity and profits. In this process, many have tended to overlook a promising gene source close to home. I refer to the Texas Longhorn.

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LONGHORN CATTLE. The Texas longhorn is a hybrid breed resulting from a random mixing of Spanish retinto (criollo) stock and English cattle that Anglo-American frontiersmen brought to Texas from southern and midwestern states in the 1820s and 1830s. A few old-timers, J. Frank Dobie^qv wrote, "contend that both the horns and bodies of the Texas cattle were derived from importations from the States out of Longhorn Herefords of England," Read the rest of this entry »

Small operators always have to be prepared for the worst but must also position themselves for movement into viable new areas.

After the producer is comfortable with his/her production method and has proven the cattle sold are of good quality, they may want to branch out into retained ownership.

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Admitting you are a goat farmer in this country is about as taboo as some big steer wrestler showing up at a rodeo on a moped. But as the saying goes, “Pride cometh before the fall.”

It may be the status quo for cowboys to raise cows, drive big trucks and scoff at the idea of herding a few goats around the pasture, but that image may soon change. While I don’t intend to give up my truck, there seems to be benefits to adding some goats to the mix. And as Trent pointed out, “We are already on our way to Old McDonald’s farm, so why not get some goats?”

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This paper offers opportunities and direction for the beginning and small cattle producer. Feeder cattle were targeted. Organic production methods which can lead to improved gains are introduced. Marketing ideas and methods for the producer involve targeting commercial buyers, from which the bulk of the sales will come. This paper also offers contingencies and alternatives that can be pursued in the event of market changes. Original article By Jason Neal, USSNEAL@aol.com Read the rest of this entry »