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| Why buy a calf for your kid? |
“Remember,
the calves eat breakfast before you do, Andrew.” Those eight words were cemented in my brain as I walked to eat my Cheerios each morning on the family
farm, and still resonate today. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was learning hard work, tenacity, persistence,
and time management as I walked outside in the -10 degree January weather to
feed my heifers and steers, before I ate my Cheerios and boarded the bus for school. Grandma even once said to my mother over a holiday, “You need to
tie a rope around his waist in an effort not to lose him in this snowstorm!” The
lessons I learned during my 10 years at the end of a lead rope are still the
lessons I use today as a working professional. It didn't matter how the day was going, good or bad, morning or night, the livestock depended on me for their meal twice a day, whether I felt like the young girl below, or young boy having a bad day.
In the fast paced world we live in that hardly allows time for a big mac and fries, it seems that dinnertime has
become a “6’o clock scramble” instead of a time to talk about the day and learn
more about each other. It’s a proven fact that having dinner as a family
reduces the chances of kids becoming involved in risky behaviors and ultimately
increases performance academically, while cultivating better relationships with
parents. If your child has a calf, it’s a wonderful family bonding activity for
all siblings and parents involved in its care, in addition to the family time you may already enjoy.
As a
4-H’er and young stockman, children also learn the importance of financial responsibility.
You see, you must be able to profitably raise your calf, or you may not be able to purchase
a calf again next year, which means you'll be out of business. A tough lesson to learn at a young age, but one that can be easily avoided with good management and oversight from a supportive parent. 4-H requires
you to keep records of your cost of feed, transportation, and also equipment
needed to show your calf. This develops fiscal responsibility at an early age that
is a transferrable skill that can be carried throughout life, regardless of occupation.
“Patience
is a virtue”, and it’s something we all wish we had more of at times. However,
when raising a calf, you’re working with an domesticated animal. You care for the calf and work with it daily to ensure they’re it's behaved for it's big day at the exposition. For those of
you that haven’t shown a calf before, envision the Westminster dog show, except
with cattle. Now, it’s not that fancy, but leading the calves around the ring is
what occurs, just like the dog show. Reaching this big day doesn't just happen, it takes days, months and even a year in most cases to get that calf
to the ring. Dedication, and most of all patience, is exhibited at its highest level, again at a young age.
As we all well know, life and death is another crucial component of life for all of us. When
raising male calves (steers), the child is raising a terminal animal.
This means at the end of the year, the child is going to have to say goodbye to
the animal and it will be sold to be processed into meat. As a past 4-H’er I can tell you this wasn't easy as a young child, but something I came to appreciate. The lesson to be learned is that all things come to
an end in life, your contributions are greater than yourself, and you are impacting the world and making it a better place.
How so? Well in the case of raising a beef animal, the calf is going to end up in the global food chain, and even perhaps feeding a family in another country (like this young man below).
Finally, in a world where
production agriculture is pressured constantly by the ever-increasing divide
between rural and urban, the care that’s given by children and their parents to calves on their acreage or farm is quite similar to the care that’s given to a poodle on the 33rd
story of an apartment in Manhattan. Farmers and ranchers care for their animals and their well-being is at top of mind.
So, where can one go to seek such opportunities to enable and develop the minds of youth?
Furthermore, joining a global youth organization such as 4-H is a great step. As stated on the 4-H youth development website www.4-h.org , “4-H grows confident, capable and caring kids with the life skills to thrive in today's world and succeed in their boldest dreams for tomorrow.”
So, why buy a calf for your kid?
Thank you to all of the family members who helped make this blog post happen over the course of 18 years!
Thank you to all of the family members who helped make this blog post happen over the course of 18 years!
