By Gary Joiner

They’re back! The annual Monarch butterfly migration has arrived. “There were literally thousands, coming in big and small bands like snow flurries…” is how one Concho Valley resident described the return.

Monarchs are moving down from northern latitudes. Their destination is overwintering sites in Mexico. Texas is the only state that all Monarchs must cross. And we’re seeing peak migration now. The Monarch is the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration as birds do. Some fly as far as 3,000 miles to reach their winter home.

This blog was originally posted on Dec. 10, 2012. 

By Mike Barnett

Your profitability as a farmer or rancher ranks low on the list of concerns of those who consume your products. I call them customers.

I’ve noted this fact in a survey or two and was reminded of it the other day when a Facebook friend posted some tidbits he had read from an article in the excellent publication Livestock Weekly.

According to the article, consumers believe the priorities for those farmers and ranchers who genuinely try to make a living from agriculture should, from first to last, be:

This Texas Agriculture Talks post was originally published on Jan. 21, 2013.

By Mike Barnett

Cowboys: Real deal or pseudo? How do you tell?

I thought about that over the weekend as I settled on the movie Urban Cowboy while flipping channels on the tube.

“Are you a real cowboy?” Sissy, played by Debra Winger, asked.

“Well, that depends on what you think a real cowboy is,” answered Bud, portrayed by a young John Travolta.

By Mike Barnett

Family farm. Two words Americans love. With good reason.

Family means many things. Loving. Caring. Nurturing.

All apply to the family farmers I know. Too bad there are many misconceptions about what family farms are and aren’t.

Could be many of us are far removed from farm life. Some think of family farms as idyllic—a small place where the sun always shines, with chickens and cows, a patch of corn and a vegetable garden.

By Gene Hall

Safety—for farmers and their city neighbors—is our top concern as spring planting gets underway.

When it stops raining in Texas—and we all know it will—the huge planting machines of agriculture will start rolling. Our ever-expanding urban lifestyle gobbles up countryside, reaching into areas that were once very rural. Now, these roads are heavily traveled. That means we’ll see tractors and planters on the highways with us.