American National CattleWomen

Field Day at McGregor Research Center

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Last week, I was able to travel to McGregor, Texas, and be a part of the first Field Day at the McGregor Research Center in 26 years! Having never been there before, I was excited to learn all about it.

Before it became the McGregor Research Center, it was called the Bluebonnet Farm. The Bluebonnet Farm was a 17,000 acre weapons factory in World War II. After the war ended, some of the land was repurposed as an agricultural research farm. The facility today includes a 700-head feedlot, a feed mill, and the capacity to individually feed 168 head of cattle. The center also maintains an 1,100-head herd of cattle. If you are touring the center, you are still able to see some of the old buildings that were built to store bombs.

The field day included presentations in the morning with a research tour in the afternoon. Dr. Goodwin gave an impressive presentation over Understanding Soil Health. I did not realize how imperative it is for your soil to be healthy. I have been learning more and more and rangeland and pasture health lately, and my mind has been blown. Not only do you have to make sure your cattle are taken care of, but making sure your pasture is taken care of is priority. Needless to say, I have been super interested in this topic lately!

The afternoon kicked off with the tour. We stopped at three different areas located around the center. Did you know that having a brush in your pen reduces stress among weaned calves? I have seen brushes like these at Dairy’s but have never seen it in a pen like this before. All the cattle huddled around the brush and used it frequently!

This was one of my first events back out in the Field and I loved every minute of it! From the sun shining down to the click click click of my camera.

When you love your job it never gets old!
As always share some love, we could all use a little more love
XOXOXO
Casey

French Quarter – New Orleans!

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My week in New Orleans was definitely one that I needed. Trips with amazing friends are always good for the soul. On our free day, we hit the streets of the French Quarter. Our first stop was Cafe Du Monde. Even though I have been to NOLA a couple of times, I have never been to this historic place. As always, there was a line to get in when we got there, but the line moved quickly and we got to kick our morning off with some amazing Beignets. As I said, that diet went out the window!

Since not all of us had been through the French Quarter before, we decided to check out the sights. We made our way through looking at the shops and hearing music being played or sung as we made our way to Bourbon street. Nighttime Bourbon street and Daytime Bourbon street are two completely different things. If you are into the party life, check out the nighttime scene. The daytime scene was relaxing as not too many people were out and about.

If you take the time to stop and look at the buildings and the architectural work, you are going to see some incredible features. I think the best part about it, is that most of these buildings are old, from the 1800s. Every once in a while, you would look through the buildings and see a beautiful courtyard.

On our third day there, we all got to attend the New Orleans School of Cooking, Cooking Demonstration. While we did not get to cook, we were able to watch the Chef as he walked us through all the steps to make the recipes we were going to be trying. He was a great teacher and historian. One of my favorite parts of that cooking class was learning all the historical aspects of the food, where the names came from, how Creole and Cajun differ, and how those styles of cooking got to New Orleans in the first place. If you love Seafood, I highly recommend taking a class here. We got to try Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, Crawfish Etoufee, Bananas Foster, and Pralines. My favorite dish was the Bananas Foster dessert. Bananas in a mix that he lit on fire, and topped with ice cream! This girl was loving all these amazing foods.

However, I have to save the best dessert for last! Surprisingly enough, it was from the Hilton Hotel that we stayed at. It was cheesecake on top of Oreo crumbles drizzled in a Raspberry sauce. The cheesecake almost looked like ice cream when it came out. It was so soft and fluffy. Perfection.

I love traveling to conventions with my CattleWomen crew but this trip was one for the books and one of my favorites to date. Seriously, sometimes you just need a week away with good people and a good destination. Put your to-do list aside and enjoy life out there.

As always, share some love, we could all use a little more love.
XOXOXO
Casey

Find Your People

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This weekend, I spent time with some of my favorite ladies. Do you have ladies or people in your corner, that are just as passionate about something as you are? The people who are like minded and have a lot of the same views on things that you do. The people who no matter against what odds keep showing up day in and day out to fight for what they truly believe in. If you don’t have people like that in your life, you need to get some.

I believe whole heartedly in getting to know people outside your circle. Learning about differences between cultures and truly educating yourself. There is so much out there to learn. The way you view the world is through the lens that you saw when you were raised. Every single person sees the world differently. It is important that we understand that, we listen to each other, and we actually try to get to know each other before assuming that we won’t like someone. Now, I know that people and personalities clash and sometimes there is not room for certain people in your life and that is okay.

That being said though, there is something powerful that happens when you get like minded people together. There is something magical in the room when everyone together is working towards the same cause. For me, it fills my cup, it renews my spirit, it likes a fire in my passion. You need your people. There is only so much one person can do alone.

I am super fortunate to have a couple groups of people that are my go to’s. That light a fire inside me. That motivate me to keep doing more, pushing harder to become the best version of myself. This weekend it was all about the Beef Industry. It was discussing events and ideas on how to educate more people about the Industry. It was a day filled with passionate women who inspire me regularly on all the amazing things that they are doing for the Beef Industry.

Is there something that you are passionate about? Find some people who are passionate about the same thing. Grow together. Learn together. Educate others so that they to may have the same passion. This past weekend was just a taste of what is coming in the next few weeks and I am super pumped to get the New Year started this way.

Find your people, I promise you, they are out there.

As always share some love, we could all use a little more love
XOXOXOXO
Casey