I made it into the house just before halftime of the super bowl, which means that I saw most of the highlights.  I saw the blackout, Beyonce, the good part of the game and some of the commercials.  I missed most of the Bud Light commericals, but I probably didn’t need an ad to get me to buy some of that product.  One thing that I DID see was the Dodge commercial.  

     I wasn’t looking at the screen when it started.  I was actually checking the iPhone for some KCCO.  But, I heard the voice.  Yes, the voice of Paul Harvey.  I perked up and began to pay attention.  Excellent production, great delivery, I wasn’t even sure who it was advertising until the end.  The only way it could have been better was if it would have had green tractors in it.  GOD made a farmer and then he made tractors green.  I had read manuscripts of that speech years ago.  But it was infinitely better with Paul Harvey’s voice delivering it.  

     After the commercial was over, I just kind of sat there.  Damn that was good.  Real good.  Another minute passed and my phone started dinging.  People texting, “Did you see that ?”  If you are involved in agriculture and watched it, listened to it, whatever, then you loved it.  That commercial worked.  For the first time in my life, I thought, “I might have to buy a Dodge pickup.”  

     Now, groups are saying that there wasn’t enough latinos or blacks pictured in the video.  WTH?!  If they would have pictured slaves picking cotton, then the reverend (and I use that term loosely) jesse jackson would have said that they were insensitive to blacks.  If they would have put a bunch of Mexicans harvesting vegetables it would have turned into an immigration political pile of hog $h!t.  Some of the critics have stated that most farms are corporate, industrialized farms with no humanity.  What?  They need to drag these mental midgets into middle America during this extended drought and see what actually goes on.  Yeah, it might be a LLC or a company that owns it, but there is an AG family behind it.  Why do people have to twist crap around and make it into something that it’s not?  

     I have no problems with latinos, blacks, asians, etc.  I know a lot of sorry white people.  I don’t understand why people can’t just look at a piece of art and go “Dang, that was good.”  Respect it for what it is.  I understand and respect the value of all types of people that have and will continue to contribute to American agriculture, regardless of race, religion, etc.  

      What I do know is that this country was built by farmers and ranchers along with our military ( which was made up of farmers and ranchers).  Our best politicians were agriculturists.  If you take away the American farmer, then this country WILL fold up.  They can’t survive without agriculture and too many of these crayon eating, mouth breathing retards are to stupid to realize it.  But they vote.  Foreign oil?  Are you kidding me, try going without something to eat and you will forget about oil.  Import the food?  No other country can produce the amount, quality and safe supply of food that the American farmer/rancher has and will continue to produce.  Not my opinion. FACT.

     William Jennings Bryan made his famous Cross of Gold speech in 1896.  This line was true then, and it still rings true, “Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.”    Google it and read the rest of the speech.  You might learn something.

      Agriculture is a way of life.  It can be ruthless and time consuming.  Mother Nature can and will wreak havoc.  No other industry faces the uncontrolled difficulties from weather, politics, nature, drained bank accounts, etc.  

     I wonder all of the time why I have these does.  Then, the miracle of birth happens and I get in a good mood.  A week old kid, a litter of pigs, a calf first standing up and I remember why I do this.  Because I want my kids to see what GOD has made.  I’ve been known to just sit on the ground with little goats crawling on me. And you can’t have little goats without does.  It gets my mind right.  You can build all of the churches you want, but there is nothing more powerful than seeing GOD at work–with livestock, crops and the weather.  And the people that result from dealing with animals, plants & Mother Nature.  Did GOD make a farmer?  YES.

      Now, would I have changed the commerical.  NO.  I would have just made an alternate version.  One with James Earl Jones reading the script.  I kind of like the voice of Mufasa and Darth Vader also.

Pray for rain.

Stay flexible, but not limp.