Montana skies, good friends, and..........liberals??

I've been pretty darn busy the past couple weeks-hence the sparse posts! This morning I'm writing from one of my favorite places I've worked and spent 1/4 of my year the last couple years. I am in the middle of nowhere Montana.....well at least the ranch is its own little middle-of-nowhere haven! This is the first summer in the last few that I have not worked out here at this guest ranch. Needless to say I'm missing it quite a bit this summer, I spent all my waking hours working outside, meeting people from all over the country and even the world, and being with some good friends. I'm lucky to have made some life-long friends from my experiences there so I came back for a little visit and a few of us are going to head to Great Falls tonight for a road trip and concert!

It is really interesting when you think about places around the country. Here I am in Montana, in between ranch country and the Bob Marshall, yet I'm surrounded by more Obama stickers, hippies and the such than anywhere I've been lately. It always make me wonder how people get to the point where they go to the extreme left and are able to keep their blinders on, ignoring the world right outside their backdoor. Western Montana is a great example of that, in my mind. It is an area that is rich in diversity from timber, cattle, mining, to its incredible biodiversity and amazing natural resources. How is it possible that people living in the heart of an agriculturally dense, natural area could be so clueless to deciphering truth and hype?

What I have learned from my many summers spent working about an hour east of Missoula, is that no place is too far removed from the leftists' agendas and their voices can be heard from even the deepest canyons. We have a job to do! People EVERYWHERE don't understand about farming and ranching and they aren't going to learn unless we teach them! I work for an ag lending company and there are many people alongside us who don't know anything about the farmers and ranchers that we lend to. Sometimes they believe the same crazy stories being portrayed in the media that those infamous country music stars buy into. Because most people believe the media is their source for "fact-filled" news, they are flying blind-folded. We need to take every opportunity to educate them. Recently, my boss hosted a field-day to take certain employees of our company to show them a farm, harvest, and different types of equipment. Many of the people who went had never even been on a farm or ranch, yet they work for a company that lives and breathes agriculture!!! We all know what happens when we make assumptions.....so don't assume someone knows what goes on at your farm or ranch. Take the opportunity to show them pictures, tell them a story, or take them out their for dinner, on your lunch break or for the whole day! You will not only teach someone about our industry, but possibly gain a new friend in the process!