Read, Study, Learn

“Those who do not read of the advancements taking place in their own field of endeavor have no advantage over those who cannot read.” Dr. T.L. Senn. This remark was often credited to Theodore Roosevelt before he became President because he used it so often.

How much time do you spend learning about your profession? Ranchers are notoriously poor readers. I visit ranchers whose main source of farm and ranch information is either a breeders magazine or an inexpensive magazine that sells farm supplies. Feed store brochures may round out their total agriculture reading.

People regularly tell me that they went to two or three lectures by the county agent and those with a pesticide applicators permit often go to more than three lectures, but the learning curve is almost flat. They do what the authority figure tells them to do. And even then, they don’t often follow procedures written on the pesticide containers.

Many ranchers have their own procedures. That is where the often repeated phrase “Well we have always done it that way.” likely comes from. Unless there is some revolutionary new type machinery that is semi-affordable, or a pesticide that promises better control, they rarely change a darn thing.

When you try to talk to them about soils, microbiomes or management intensive grazing, they seem lost. They might have heard of soil microbes or various grazing systems, they don’t seen to think those things relate to them or their daily work.

Reading a variety of books and high quality agricultural magazines can reduce cost and improve productivity-and help you live longer. There are many good books on healthy ranching practices, farming and food production. Some books can be found in our local libraries. While these books are written by ranchers from all over the country, many of the practices apply all over the world.

One of my favorite authors is Walt Davis. Davis, an Aggie, wrote How to Not Go Broke Ranching. Its subtitle is “Things Learned the Hard Way in Fifty Years of Ranching.” I read many books on ranching before I read his book and was pleased to see that his ideas and mine run down the same track.

While reading is not the only form of learning, the experience Davis offered up is so valuable. You won’t find this information in a feed store bulletin or in a university sponsored lecture. I learned the same way as Davis, by experience and observation. But I had his book and other books to confirm what I was experiencing. I only wish I had read his book first and I had met him before he died.

There are You Tube videos that contain some really good information. Some are twenty to thirty minutes long while others can go for over an hour. For non-readers, these can be helpful. The advantage to many of these is that they can be fast forwarded or rewound to capture the relevant information needed. They can also be revisited several times to really study the subject. For visual learners, videos are a great help.

However, I have never found You Tube videos to be as useful as books. Books usually contain more information than several hours of videos. And book authors usually spend time thinking about the topic, while many videos seem to happen on the fly. Yes, I have produced videos but not on ranching Short magazine articles help get new ideas to the forefront of the brain. When the written word and videos are used together, the rancher often has anAHAmoment. There is so much to learn, and we have a lifetime to learn it.

The best seminar speakers have often written a book or have published several articles. The way they had to organize their thought into a book seems to make them better speakers. This is not to say that there aren’t good speakers who have not written books and who can motivate the average rancher. But far too many event speakers are sales people with an agenda. Most speakers today do power point presentations with pictures and words to support their lectures and then elaborate on the content of their slides.

“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” Mark Twain Wise folks seek knowledge by reading, observing and doing research. So much of the world’s accumulated knowledge is in books. While I have tossed out books that no longer support the things I am interested in, my library continues to grow. I have books written in the late1800’s to 2024. I own several old books that have proven their value – some are worth hundreds of dollars today.

The future of learning appears to be Artificial Intelligence. But sometimes AI presents false information. Real research will happen when the researcher reads books, newspaper and magazine articles and more books. And combines that research with real life experiences.

“Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.” Socrates An intelligent heart acquires knowledge and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. Proverbs 18:15 You “read” Proverbs because you cannot live long enough to learn by experience. When I make time to learn outside of my comfort zone, I often find something to keep.

If you are interested in learning organic and sustainable ranching methods, have a new ranch or just want to learn, contact me. I would be interested in hosting a gathering of inquisitive minds. Together we could learn something useful.

David E. Will is a local rancher and consultant. He can be reached at 830-629-9876 or by email at dwill207@satx.rr.com.