By Joseph Guild
Unsung Heroes There are unsung heroes in every walk of life. Every profession, every job, every family, and every place has its heroes no one knows about, but who do a little extra with all that they touch and endeavor; never asking for any reward or need of any recognition. They just do the job and fill every day with their productivity and grit.
and the manager hasn’t had a day off in a month. The young lawyer works to prepare a case for a senior partner on a Saturday and Sunday. There is the truck driver who works on her day off because the boss needs some help and there was no one else. There are those who do these things without complaint and those who don’t. I call the ones who do the unsung heroes.
This is being written on September 11th. We can all remember the images of the Twin Towers and the first responders who ran into the infernos to try and rescue as many victims as they could sacrificing You know them, you might be one. You themselves in the process. Most of these know young folks raised on farms and heroes’ names are known and we sing ranches, no longer working in agriculture, their praises. I do not mean to diminish who put in the extra hours, who go the the heroism of these people, but it is the extra mile until the job is done, and not unknown others I am writing about today. when the clock says five. It is no secret to longtime readers of this I can see the ranch wives I have known. publication of my involvement in and They raise kids, pull calves, fix fence, support of the National Cattlemen’s Beef feed surprise numbers of guests, wipe Association (NCBA), and as the current noses, start colts and never complain or Treasurer of NCBA, I am involved at stop when they are tired. I see a cowboy the highest level of decision making and bringing the last pair into the ranch yard knowledge of the way NCBA conducts long after dark just because that chore its business and is responsive to the needs needed to get done that day. and desires of its grass roots membership. I have seen many unsung heroes working The ranch owner and his visiting friend, on your behalf. after being horseback at dawn, are in the kitchen having a quick lunch when Livestock industry organizations such the there is a fire call in the valley. They as the Public Lands Council (PLC) and head to the truck, load shovels, pulaskis NCBA have dedicated employees working and jugs of water and drive to the fire in everyday to make sure livestock producers the hills across the valley. They still wear can stay in business. Using producer dues their riding boots and spurs. The spurs dollars to support their advocacy, these come off and they start walking the fire employees watch the U.S. Congress and line until way past dark when along with the agencies across the country to make their neighbors and a cool evening the fire sure the industry point of view is heard settles down enough for the relief crew to and supported in many respects. take over. Back at the ranch they climb into their beds and a few hours later, the Here are two recent examples of this fire under control, they saddle horses and engagement on behalf of the livestock move cattle well into the early afternoon. industry that follow which may not have received much publicity. I do not mean to imply these extra efforts don’t occur outside of agriculture because There are some 800,000 cattle producers we all know they do. There is the fast in the United States. Very few of them can food restaurant manager who covers for pay much attention to the issues affecting the employee with a sick child at home this industry being discussed in our Obviously, the readers of this magazine know such people because agriculture has its many uncounted numbers of people who fit this description.
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nation’s capital. An example is the dietary guidelines which are required by law to be updated every five years. We all know lean beef is an important source of a versatile, affordable, nutrient-dense, and delicious protein for a balanced and healthy diet. However, most people do not know the technical details of this and there are groups of people who want to eliminate animal protein from our diets altogether. These guidelines are important to ranchers because they are used to base federal health and nutrition policy for congress and the relevant agencies. These federal dietary policies are used by the military, school lunch programs, dietary welfare assistance and nutrition and health care professionals. A statement in these guidelines suggesting beef is not a good part of a balanced diet could have a negative impact on the demand for beef by the public. Fortunately, there is a dietary expert on NCBA’s staff in Washington who is a part of the discussion about the guidelines and has had a positive influence on the decision for the guidelines keeping criticism of beef in the diet out of the final product.
hours that truck drivers can be on the road by promulgating regulations governing those limitations. This is fine for hauling bulk goods such as lumber or perishables in refrigerated trucks with days of cooling capability, but for hauling livestock or other animals a little extra time on the road means less stress for live animals who would have to be unloaded, fed, watered and reloaded to comply with the hours of service applicable to non- animal hauling. The economic and health impacts of requiring livestock transporters to follow these limitations in hours of service would be profound to the livestock industry. NCBA has successfully lobbied for extensions on the implementation of these rules until a time when a permanent solution can be instituted for these past four years since discussions of this issue first emerged. This is but another example of the work NCBA is doing for the industry whether a member or not. The quiet unsung heroes are doing their job day in and day out. We should all thank them. As an added note the NCBA Washington D.C. office has been the only agricultural organization still operating full time in the Capital since the beginning of the pandemic.
Another example is NCBA’s work on the hours of service livestock trucking issue. Going back to 2017 the U.S. Department Be safe out there, Happy Thanksgiving, of Transportation has tried to limit the and I’ll see you soon.
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