What is normal?

A NEW “NORMAL”

Redefining what we know, what we value and where we want to go from here

By Utah Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Brent Tanner

On average there are over a thousand words added to the dictionary each year and rarely does a word get removed. However, 2021 could be the year we possibly get rid of the word “normal” because I do not think it exists anymore.

If we learned anything from the year 2020 it is that normal no longer exists. This past year we saw a lot of what we thought was normal disappear. We were asked to not hold normal meetings or even normal family gatherings. There was not a place in our state that experienced normal weather. We could not go to the bank or church in our normal ways. Our kids missed out on their normal school classes, graduations and other activities. Even the marketing of our cattle and beef products experienced some serious abnormalities.

So now here we are at the beginning of 2021 when everyone thought we would surely be back to normal. Well, if anything, things keep getting further and further from normal. The actions in the political arena are becoming more ridiculous every day and the prospects of bringing back normal seems more distant.

How do cattlemen and women find the silver lining in this chaotic changing world? We look for and create things that are better than normal. We do things that are continually improving. Just browse through this catalog. The cattle and products presented in this publication are not just normal. They are the result of years of improving above normal. The advertisements likely contain words such as superior, premium, excel, top notch, upper class, powerful, cutting edge, improved and many more descriptive words that show that cattlemen do not want to settle for normal.

I am not suggesting that all things that changed away from normal in 2020 were improvements. I am however saying that cattle ranchers will find a way to take those changes and make them better. The pandemic forced many people to find new and many times improved ways of doing things. We even found a few things we could do without that we once thought were necessary in a normal world.

Looking down the road into 2021 and beyond we see many things that will be different from what we knew as normal the past few years. The elections have dealt our nation new emotions, confusion, and leadership like we have never seen before. Cattle producers will be required to do some things differently than we normally have. I invite every cattle producer browsing this catalog to become engaged in protecting and defending our industry. If you are not a member of the Utah Cattlemen’s Association, I invite you to join now. We have battles ahead that will be unlike battles we have ever seen before. Sitting back and hoping someone else does our work does not get the job done. Become involved and engaged in defending your industry.

“Normally,” I would end an article like this with a kind closing. But following the tone of not being normal, I will be blunt: Join and become involved in your state cattlemen’s association. Support the Beef Checkoff and the efforts to promote and protect your industry. Buy from a local business and help them survive this economic pandemic. Purchase cattle and products from our neighbors advertising in this publication. Salute the flag and pray with more meaning than ever before. Help a kid at the local county fair or 4-H competition. Love your neighbor. Hug your spouse and children more and make this world even better than normal.