Agriculture has been a learning experience

This week the nation celebrates the industry that feeds the world—the agricultural industry.

Being a city girl who has lived in Wyoming for 25 years, I have lived in this rural state longer than I lived in Iowa. While Iowa is considered a rural state, I was not a rural girl.

Since living in Wyoming, I have learned to cut and wrap beef, feed chickens, pluck chickens, feed pigs, buck bales of hay and ride a horse.

My education in Wyoming agriculture grows every year. My husband grew up in the country and his family has a small acreage in Riverton where they have had all kinds of animals that roam around the property.

My husband laughs at me when I learn something new about agriculture.

KayCee Alameda, who was the Saratoga Sun editor for more than three years, also taught me a lot.

I received quite an education during fair this year and now we have completed our first “Hats Off to Ag” without the guidance and wisdom of KayCee.

This year, we decided to interview the future of agriculture. We have some pretty amazing young people who live in the Platte Valley and they have taught us about their lives in agriculture these past few weeks.

We also turned to Derek Grant, with the University of Wyoming, who collected articles from around the state.

Last Thursday, I went to the final class of Annie’s Project to see what it was about and was surprised to see so many people in the class. People I consider experts in the ag industry. As I listened to the women talk about what they had learned, I wished I had been able to attend more of the classes.

I attended the Winter Workshop for a session, only to find out I was lost. I also attended the Upper Platte River Water Users Association and learned about stream restoration, irrigation and what the call on Pathfinder means to local ranchers. Thanks to the patience of Joe Glode who had to explain it to me several times, I was able to eke out an article about the call on Pathfinder.

As I continue to learn about the agriculture world in the Platte Valley, I gain more respect for the people who work in the ag industry.

The people who feed the world are truly an amazing group. I hope we have served you well this year with our “Hats Off to Ag” edition.

Thanks for your dedication to the ag world!