Not a Blogger
You may be asking yourself, “Why is Alex writing this blog?” Well, I’m wondering the same thing, if I'm being honest. Writing has never been something I’ve thought of myself to be very good at. Blogging is never something that I thought I would want to try. But hey, there was a time when I thought I was going to follow a different path than the one I’m following now...and damn I’m glad I trusted my gut and did what I wanted to do.
So I guess I’ll start with introducing myself. I’m a 28-year-old farmer and rancher living in Northern Missouri. I’ve always loved the life that farming and ranching has provided for me. My earliest and fondest memories are of gathering cattle on horseback with my dad and riding in tractors with him. There’s one common theme with all that I love about this lifestyle: and that’s my parents. They have endlessly supported me in my journey of chasing my dreams, and I love them both so much! My mother is a saint and my dad is the hardest working and funniest person I've ever met.
Everyone has always called me “the son he never had” and that’s been a role I’ve embraced since before I can remember. In 2014, I graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Hospitality Management with an emphasis in Conference and Event Management and a Minor in Business (THAT is a mouthful). Going into college, I knew I wanted to return home and work on the farm alongside my dad, and when I graduated, we decided to give it a shot. If I was going to be successful in this endeavor, I needed to try it now, not when I’m 35 and married with kids. I came back home to my tiny town of 580 people and gave it all that I had. Fast forward a few years, and I’m still here, doing exactly what I’ve always wanted to do. That’s a pretty neat feeling.
Let's get back to the blogging stuff. What is this blog going to be? I’m viewing this as almost a “living diary”, if you will. For a few years now I’ve loved documenting some of the work we do on my Instagram page. The farming and ranching community is so diverse. All across North America you find people with the same overall goals - high yields, healthy cows/calves, etc. - and different strategies to reach them...the old saying goes "there's more than one way to skin a cat." Putting out into the social media world what kind of work we do and how we do it has opened my eyes to how people from hundreds of miles away from me do the same thing… and I love that! For my personal benefit, I want to document what we do. I want to remember the things we did yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It’s also important to me to showcase Agriculture in a positive light. The percentage of farmers/ranchers compared to the size of the world they provide for is astonishing. Some form of agriculture is apart of everyone’s life, whether they recognize it, or not. I want to show people a behind-the-scenes look of what we do, and educate them on how we do it.
It's 2021 now, and in 2020, I made the biggest purchase of my life...my first farm. I’ve been extremely involved with our cattle operation for years, and have a cattle herd of my own, so I’m comfortable with cattle! But Farming? That's new for me. Sure I help move equipment during planting and harvest, go on parts runs, and help however I can with the farming side of things, but it's different now. It's my livelihood on the line and it's...scary, to say the least. Buying a farm has been an extremely stressful task and then throw in doing it during a year with a freakin' global pandemic...but what's easy is rarely worth it. I've gotta give props to my family on this one again. I couldn't be starting this without them and I sincerely hope they're proud of me for trying to continue what they've started. I'm proud of them for creating something that I love so much. So I'm gonna give 'er hell and we'll see how it goes!!
Typically I spend my days wearing the same jeans as the day before (and probably a few days before that), boots with cow shit on them, and a dirty hat. However, fashion and hair/makeup are sort of my guilty pleasures. Religiously, every 6-7 weeks, I drive to Kansas City to get my highlights done and extensions re-tied and I love to dress up and go shopping. Yes, my dad absolutely roasts me for spending my money on fake hair, but at this point he just needs to accept it.
Oh, and I can't forget one more huge part of my life…. hunting. This is just as near and dear to my heart as ranching. I would say 99% of the time, whatever my dad and I are doing, it always turns into doing something hunting related, no matter what time of the year. Spring turkey season was my first love as a child, and that transitioned into being a diehard whitetail hunter.I look forward to sharing gear reviews, what products I use, hunting stories, and hopefully lots of successful hunt photos.
It will be a long time before I refer to myself as a real “blogger”, but throwing it all out there and giving it a shot is all I could think to do!
Thanks for following along with me on this new journey of mine, I don’t know where it’ll take me, but I’m stoked for what’s to come. Cheers!
