So in the past 3 weeks I have traveled to St. Louis for 2 days, Orlando for 3 days and Clemson, SC for 3 days. Needless to say the laundry at my house is piling up, my kitchen is a mess and my family might feel slightly neglected over the recent trips since my little man only went to Clemson and the hubby has stayed at home on the farm entirely.

My trip to St. Louis was to attend CommonGround Conference with other farm women from around the country. We all have the desire to talk with others about how food is produced. The conference was great to get us motivated and share ideas from other places. While we were there the SC girls had a chance to visit the Budweiser Brewery which was a wonderful treat as well.

After St. Louis I was home for a while working in the garden and feeding show calves. I have spent a lot of time outside! I of course had to do the 8-5 gig in addition to my normal on farm work. I headed to Orlando the 1st of August to attend the Annual Summer Conference for the Beef Industry. I represent Region II as the Consumer Education Chair for ANCW It was great spending time with other Cattlewomen & men from across the country. Met some great ladies and can't wait to meet up with them again at NBAP

After leaving Orlando fully charged I headed to Clemson for a few days to attend the SC Jr. Beef Round-Up. This is kinda our kickoff of show season here in South Carolina. It's always a great weekend filled wtih lots of fun, friends, family, and cattle. During this show we also hold our state's Beef Ambassador Contest. Congratulations to Will Turner and Caitlyn Poole on winning their division. I am sure both of you will represent us well at Nationals in 2012! This year we also held an interest meeting on forming a South Carolina Cattlewomen's. I was suprised when 15 ladies expressed an interest in joining. I am happy to say we have already started recieving membership applications! I can't wait to get everything kicked off! I am sure that these women will do an amazing job helping promote the beef industry!

As I write this I am preparing for the Stock Show U Clinic which will be held tomorrow, August 20th in McConnells, SC. I am excited that we have between 40-50 people heading to our tiny town to learn about fitting and showing cattle! I can't wait to have all these great kids and their families together. Derrick Jones from NC will be our professor. More pics and tips to come!

I hope you all have a great weekend and I apologize for my blogging vacation but hope to be back in the full swing of things next weeK!

I am sitting at the airport and listening to others as I wait to board my flight. as i sip my starbucks i wonder how many of these people know the true story of agriculture and family farming.

i hear them butcher South Carolina low country names, and giggle about the rural ways. do they know that i just drove 30 minutes from my family farm and they are insulting all rural Americans with their mockery?

at this point in life i still feel like i am 16 even though i havent seen that as an age in over a decade. that feeling prevents me from confronting groups like the above mentioned ones. how would you approach such a group?

i hope at the end of this trip i will possess more confidence and be able to approach groups and enlighten them about the role of agriculture and family farms in America.