This week started off relatively steady with the usual Monday morning classes, but soon picked up intensity! Monday night was spent taking advantage of the food and drink deals in Aggieville, but we soon worked all that off with a few games of sand volleyball with a group of students.
Wednesday morning I was up early to be picked up by Dan Moser, the President of Angus Genetics Inc., who I'd met several weeks ago, for the drive to Saint Joseph, Missouri. Our destination was the American Angus Association office. On arrival, Dan gave me a tour of the building and an insight into the history of the organization, as well as the Angus breed. From there, I undertook a sort of speed dating type arrangement where I spent half an hour with the various department heads, including member services, communications, media, genetics and feedlot programs. This was broken up by lunch with a few of the employees at a Louisiana style diner (lots of fish!). I then spent the rest of the afternoon with Kelli Retallick, the Director of Member Services in Genetics, who was kind enough to offer me a place to stay. We then headed to downtown Saint Joesph's for pizza with some of the Angus team for dinner.
The following morning was just as busy, with a breakfast meeting with the owners and founders of Method Genetics, Bill and Sally. Over a yummy breakfast at a local diner, we discussed the foundations of their company, the growth and changes in the genetic space, as well as the future goals of their company. After breakfast I was back at the American Angus Association office to film a segment for Angus TV, the association's own TV segment. The communications team interviewed me on various topics such as why I was in the US and my future aspirations. Stay tuned - the segment appears on the Angus TV Youtube channel! After a quick lunch with one of the team and saying goodbye, I made my way from Saint Joseph to Kansas City, Missouri, to meet my partner at the airport. We hired a car from the airport and drove the 2 hours back to Manhattan. After a quick break, it was time to do a little exploring of Aggieville for the 50c basic drinks night.
Thursday was a beautiful day with the weather being sunny and in the high 20s. My partner and I walked around for the morning, seeing the football, basketball, athletics and baseballs fields. We then packed up for a quick look around Weber Hall and the arena, before boarding a bus to the Tiffany Cattle Co feedyard at Herington, Kansas. We were lucky enough to tag along to the K-State Feedlot Bootcamp class to spend the afternoon at the feedyard learning all about animal health. On arrival, we met with Shane and Shawn Tiffany, the two brothers who own and operate the feedyard. I had visited this feedyard earlier on in my trip and learnt a lot from the brothers, so I was keen to learn more. We started with an overview of the yard and the feeding regime, before moving on to more hands on demonstrations. We examined a carcase that had been vaccinated in incorrect locations over the body and each vaccination site was pointed out. The damage to the carcase was evidenced and we talked through the alternatives to certain vaccination locations. Moving on, we watched on as the feedyard vet conducted an autopsy on a dead heifer. The vet talked us through what to look for, the order of the autopsy and how to identify abnormal tissue. He concluded that the heifer had died of BVD as there was evidence of inflammation, scarring and abnormal tissue in the trachea and lungs. Following the autopsy demonstration, we spent some time with another of the feedyards' vets looking through the sick pens of cattle, discussing what to look for when checking pens. After we'd got a handle on that, we went into the processing barn to vaccinate, tag and implant some newly arrived steers - I got the opportunity to implant for the first time! The day eventually came to an end and we boarded the bus to make our way back to Manhattan.
Saturday was another beautiful day as my partner and I set off towards Strong City, Kansas. I had organised a tour of Mushrush Red Angus, owned and operated by the Mushrush family. We arrived mid morning and were greeted by Daniel Mushrush, who was to show us the operation. We hopped aboard his side-by-side and over the next few hours made our way through the feed pens, feed mill area, and beautiful flint hills pastures and creeks. We saw our first coyote! We also spent a little time feeding some pairs and replacement heifers on our way through. The cattle looked amazing and the quality of the animals was something to admire. All the while, we discussed how the herd functioned, how rotations of crops and grass worked, land management and breeding and genetics. The chatter continued over lunch with Daniel's brother and parents (who also work on the ranch), where we enjoyed a real American taco lunch finished with icecream. My partner and I both had a great day, and after our goodbyes, spent the trip back to Manhattan discussing what we'd learnt.
Sunday arrived and after a lazy morning, we headed into Aggieville for a coffee followed by a quick stroll around campus. It was then time to get ready to hit the road again. This time, we made our way to White City, Kansas, to the Lyons-Blythe ranch. Debbie had been kind enough to offer an afternoon of fishing and relaxing by one of their pasture ponds and we jumped at the chance. Once we'd done the hello's and made our way to the pond, we cast a line and lure. Unfortunately it was one of the windiest days yet (40 km/hr winds plus) so we didn't last too long with the fishing. Instead, we walked around the pond to a natural waterfall created by limestone (spring fed) and chatted with the family. It was a shame we couldn't stay longer as we had another commitment to get to. We arrived back in Manhattan and after a quick turnaround, were back on the road to Wamego, Kansas. We were joining my friends at their workplace for an Easter dinner. My friends work for Fink Farms, a show pig operation, and on arrival we were greeted by the friendly owners, Robert and Carol Fink. We enjoyed a delicious dinner spread including a ham, before we wandered down to the barns to look at the pigs. It was a great setup, with pens all around the outside of the barn with a photo area in the middle of one side. A pretty cool business that is very successful! With dinner and a tour wrapped up, we made our way back to Manhattan for a quiet night.
