Farm & Ranch
Troy West: The Art of Saddle Making
By Dani Blackburn, [email protected]
Saddle maker Troy West has made a career of crafting leather into works of art. He has seen four decades of success, from becoming a member of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association to creating custom works for his clientele, but the most important aspect for him has been fulfilling his passion for creativity.
“This is my life, and it has been exciting. I think when you have a job that is a repetitive thing over and over, you don’t get to be creative. It becomes monotonous. Those people are looking for break time, lunch time, and quitting time. When you get to do something creative, it is hard to stop your brain from thinking about it,” West explained.
His love for what he does is apparent as stories of his career tumble out, beginning as a young boy growing up in East Texas.
The cowboy way of life was part of his daily routine as a child. He was one of four boys, third in line, and the family lived in the country from the earliest of times. There was a rodeo just five miles up the road every Saturday night, and another in a different town 10 miles away. Troy began riding bulls and bareback horses, along with roping calves. Eventually he purchased his own calf roping horse. Calf roping became his first love, and he roped all the way through high school. It was then his brother, Danny, just one year older, graduated high school.
To read more, pick up a copy of the July issue of NTFR Magazine. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM
At the writing of this article, High Path Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 has been detected in more than 83 million domestic poultry in the United States. The outbreak includes commercial and backyard flocks.
Most people are aware that poultry may succumb to Avian Influenza but may not know that other animals can be infected with the virus. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a variety of mammals have been infected with Avian Influenza H5N1 in the U.S.
The list of more than 200 mammals includes bears, foxes, skunks, coyotes, etc. Even marine animals such as dolphins and seals have been found with the virus. Current Avian Influenza H5N1 infections in poultry, mammals, and livestock in the U.S. can be found at the Detections of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza website at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections.
Recently, ruminants have been diagnosed with Avian Influenza H5N1 in the U.S. The World Organization for Animal Health reported that neonatal goats displaying neurological clinical signs and death were positive for Avian Influenza.
To read more, pick up a copy of the May issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Rayford Pullen | [email protected]
When May arrives, we start thinking about weed control. With two years of drought under our belts, grass grazed short and hay stocks depleted, what we do now will influence our forage conditions for the entire year. With 75 percent of our annual warm season forages made by July 15 in North Texas, we need to get the grass growing while the sun shines.
Speaking of the sun shining, the biggest deterrent to growing lots of grass is restricted sunlight, and the biggest sun blockers we have are weeds.
Have you noticed weeds are normally just slightly taller than your grass and are probably blocking 90 percent of the sunlight from reaching the grass itself? So obviously, we need to improve conditions, so sunlight reaches the plants we want to grow.
With grass extremely short, more sunlight is hitting the soil surface now, which in turn results in more weed seed germinating. With the moisture we have received, we expect an abundance of weeds this year.
To read more, pick up a copy of the May issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Jared Groce
Rural land sales are continuing on a steady pace for early spring, with prices holding very strong with the sell-to-list price ratios remaining very high, even on properties that have been on the market for a longer than usual time period. The total number of transactions are picking up once again as the spring selling season kicks off, and the average acreage continues to decrease.
Larger acreage properties seem to be in higher demand than smaller properties currently, with many buyers simply parking cash in real estate to hedge against inflation. Interest rates seem to have settled down and most experts agree that rates will be reduced by the fed this year. Some lenders have programs in place that allow the buyer to reduce their rates without having to go through a full refinance ordeal.
To read more, pick up a copy of the May issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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