Our first-ever Branding School will be held in Valentine on April 27, and we are thrilled to be able to offer a great lineup with a ton of potential to learn something new.
If I've heard it once, I've heard it a million times, "I've been branding since I was a kid, and I don't need to learn how to brand." I'm going to counter that thought with a quote from Albert Einstein. He famously once said, " The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know."
Stop and consider how much we used to consider facts compared to what we now know. I'll give you an example. I was taught in science class that we have five primary, basic senses. Which, indeed, isn't false. However, we also have a sense of space called proprioception. This is how we can touch our noses with our eyes closed and walk up stairs without looking at them. People who have poor proprioception are clumsy and uncoordinated, just as people who have poor sight don't see well. We also have a sense of balance, temperature, pain, thirst, and hunger. It turns out we have many senses beyond the five I learned about in school. I'd argue that the senses I didn't know about might be just as important, if not more important, than our other five senses. Yet here I was, not knowing that they exist because they were not facts when I was taught when learning about senses in science class.
Imagine for a second the facts that have changed in the beef industry in the last decade or two; the procedures and protocols that have evolved. Imagine that you could take at least one bit of new information home to your operation that lowers the stress on calves during branding, which reduces sickness and treatment, lowers your costs, and increases your bottom line. What a difference one slight improvement could make in the overall care of your livestock and your ranch.
I end with a favorite quote of mine from the legendary Zig Ziglar, "If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you!"
Upcoming Events
April 14: Executive Committee Meeting, SCA Office
April 14: Convention Committee Meeting, SCA Office
April 19: Regular Board Meeting, SCA Office
April 27: Branding School, Valentine
May: BEEF MONTH!
May 6: ALL VENDORS, SPONSORSHIPS, & SILENT AUCTION ITEMS DUE FOR CONVENTION
May 17: Convention Committee Meeting, SCA Office
May 26: Sandhills Golf Classic, Atkinson
May 26: Cookoff Contest, Atkinson
May 27: Convention & Trade Show, Atkinson
May 27: EP&C Feedlot Tour, Cottonwood Feeders
May 27: Pen of Three Contest, Atkinson
May 28: National Beef Day
May 30: SCA Office Closed
June 9-10: Nebraska Cattlemen's Midyear Meetings, Valentine
June 15-16: Sandhills Ranch Expo & Lick Tub Challenge, Bassett
June 29: Steers for Students at Husker Meats, Ainsworth