Education: July, 2003 July, 2003 Table of Contents

by Shan Ingram

As I grew up, I learned many valuable things from my parents and those around me. I didn't realize how much I had learned from them until I became older and could see others make some of the same mistakes that I had made. Many things my dad told me come back to me frequently. One of those little sayings that I felt was trite when he said it seems like great wisdom now. He said, "Son, I don't know why it is that everything worth learning we have to learn the hard way."

That sounded pretty ridiculous the first time he said it. I don't know how many times he repeated it during my life, but it was several. It has multiple meanings, but what it means most to me is that one doesn't learn from the mistakes of others. We must experience something, make our own mistakes, and hopefully learn from the experience and become wiser so we don't make the same mistakes over and over.

OK, with all that said, what's the point? Well, I guess I would like to pass along a few other bits of wisdom that I have learned from some of the good people I have had an opportunity to work with over the past several years. By the way, I did learn some of these "lessons" without having to experience all of them firsthand, but most of them I experienced either directly or as a second party involved in the decision.

"When it's plantin' time, it's time to plant."
Another somewhat trite quote, but with significant meaning to many situations. Here was the situation: It was very hot and very dry in late August or early September. We were discussing with this sage producer the wisdom of planting small grain under adverse conditions. He was determined to plant his crop despite the poor conditions and outlook. He summed up the discussion with this closing remark, "Boys, I found out a long time ago that the seed won't come up in the bin!" The bottom line is, you can always find an excuse not to do something when it is time, but if you don't ever take any risk, you will never have a crop.

"A good bull will cover up a multitude of sins."
What does this mean? Bull selection is very important. You can have mediocre cows and make other minor management errors, but still produce good calves if you have a superior bull. Bull selection is much more important than individual cow selection, because bulls contribute 50 percent of the genetics to numerous calves every year. When you retain heifers, this compounds to 75 percent in the first generation of heifers and 87.5 percent in the second generation. You cannot afford to use inferior bulls, boars, rams, seed, sprigs or whatever you are selecting as seedstock.

"The stocker/feeder cattle business is like dealing in used cars."
The wisdom in this statement is that just like in the used car business, if you pay too much for them, spend too much on them and keep them too long, you'll never get your money back — much less make a profit.

"Studebaker cows."
An old but very wise east Texas cow trader enlightened me about "Studebaker cows." We were on our way to look at some cows that were for sale. He said that these were "Studebaker cows." I told him I didn't understand. He explained, "Owning them would be like owning a Studebaker car. You'll never be very proud of their looks, but you'll really enjoy their performance." For those of you who are too short in the tooth to know, Studebakers were cars that were very tough, economical and low maintenance, but certainly not very attractive or luxurious. So, the lesson was that cows could perform well and raise good calves even though they aren't very attractive. Another lesson in this saying is that pretty cows are many times a luxury and not the most economical. The old man was correct about "Studebaker cows."

I hope some of this will make sense to you. It is my sincere desire that you can gain a little of the knowledge that others have "learned the hard way."