Congrats to the winners and thanks to everyone who braved the cold to attend.
Ghost category: Greyson Kerschner
Pumpkin Category: Brylie Warden
Spiders Category: Ethan Mulligan
And the Best Overall costume of the night belonged to Elayia Rau!
cover photo – Pedro Ferreira
The much-dreaded morning arrived and I was in a funk. Even though I’m prone to being that way, this day was especially depressing for it was the day of the last sale ever to be held at the Templeton Livestock Market. The owners, friends of mine, had sold the property and the land will soon be planted in houses. I don’t blame them, I’d have probably taken the cash too.
We had been expecting this day for a long time but the sale of the property was held up by a lawsuit. It seems the neighbors went to court to stop the sale of the land because they’d grown to love “their” sale yard. These were the same people who years ago moved into the new neighborhood and then complained about the noise and the dust of the auction barn which had been there for 70 years. Now they were especially upset because it was being torn down to make way for houses. It seems they preferred cows to people after all.
In the past, whenever you said, “I’m going to Templeton,” everyone knew you were referring to the auction market, not the town of the same name. Although the town always has been a very agreeable place where people are real people, if you know what I mean. And while it’s true that I’ve only been to two of the seven continents, I’d have to say that Templeton is truly one of the greatest places on earth.
Templeton was the unofficial cow capital of my county, home to three cows per person, and the only sale yard left within 200 miles. At one end of town was the sale yard and at the other was the feed and grain mill. Templeton has one way of entering and one way of leaving and I’ve never altered that routine in 41 years of going there.
I think I’ve worked every bull sale they ever had and bought cattle, been a consignor and fed cattle out back in a small grow yard they had. Next to the sale yard was a roping arena where I worked horse sales and went to “play days”. Hoover’s restaurant was also on the grounds, a staple of simple food and a popular destination for the town folk. They used to sell 100,000 head of cattle a year at TLM and it was the home of the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship in its heyday. Dean Schow of Paxton, Nebraska, was named the winner that year and I’m so glad he became a good friend of mine. Like TLM, he was real easy to like. I’m sad to say Dean died a few months ago… there seems to be a lot of that going around. And now the auction market has breathed its last breath too.
At the last auction ever held at TLM I worked ring for the bull sale and when I looked up into the crowd it hit me that this was the last time I’d ever see many of these fine folks who had become my friends. It felt like a funeral. Old timers greeted me with a lump in their throats and Randy Baxley, who grew up at TLM and ran the sale yard, but did not own it, almost broke down as he fine-tuned his going away speech. He and his wife Beth lease another yard at Visalia and are wonderful people.
It was such a large crowd there wasn’t room for everyone inside the sale barn. We had all come to say our final goodbyes and to make the day a special one. No one wanted to leave, or for the day to ever end. The top three bulls that day were the three highest selling bulls ever sold at TLM. We all did her proud on her final day.
I suppose it had to come to this. The sale yard was standing in the path of an onslaught of people. Now Templeton town is growing up and I suppose before long it will either have a prison or a casino. Signs of what passes for progress these days.
The last animal ever sold at the Templeton sale barn brought more than seven dollars per pound, as if it was for a county fair junior livestock exhibitor battling cancer. On the morning after the last day I couldn’t help thinking that the consignor who owned that last animal sure was lucky. As were we all to have known this wonderful grand dame who took her town’s personality and identity with her when she left.
wwwLeePittsbooks.com
Summertime always brings a procession of small boys to the farm. Here often in two or three weeks they must try to make up for a lifetime of denial of the natural pursuits of child-hood.
The combination slippery slide, trapeze and ladder gleaming in its coat of red and silver in a town back yard may be the envy of country cousins. But where is the ten-year-old in town who would not eagerly exchange it for a haymow, a windmill and a pony?
The boy who may be a sleepy-head at home rises at six o’clock on the farm without being called and accompanies the hired man to the milking. The infor-mation he has gleaned at the end of the third day is astounding even to himself. “I never did know I could learn so much in three days,” he comments. And then he reviews his new found knowledge. A voluntary review is the key to retention of learning as any school ma’am will tell you.
This lad can tell you how many pigeons are setting in the barn, how many eggs the barn swallow has in her nest and where the turtle dove is nesting. He knows the milk cows and the horses by name and what their daily diet is. He has made a friend of the saddle horse and scarcely bounces any more as he rides. The saddle horse always seems to welcome visiting admirers. A boy and a dog and a horse are a natural combination.
The only thing about the farm routine that bothers at all is that one cannot go to sleep at night. The tree frogs get tuned up about the time the lights go out and they make so much noise it disturbs this child accustomed to the noises of the city. Not a word is said but probably this bedtime hour may also bring thoughts of mother and father and the familiar things at home. However with the call of the mocking bird and the meadow lark he is up to find what the new day has in store.
Always boys come for four or five summers. Then the time comes when the farm no longer has the same allure. The pigeons and the tree house suddenly belong to an age of the past. More likely there is the urge to get a job and the job at the soda fountain or the grocery store keeps him in town.
Or it may be that some sweet young thing has entered the picture. The sixteen year olds seldom come to the farm.
However there is a procession of small boys who come and keep us entertained with their discoveries and observations.
SSN: 1949-0402
Released October 31, 2014, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service
(NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA).
Shell Eggs Broken Up 9 Percent from Last Year
Shell eggs broken totaled 197 million dozen during September 2014, up
9 percent from September a year ago, but 1 percent below the 198 million
broken last month.
During calendar year 2014 through September, shell eggs broken totaled
1,689 million dozen, up 6 percent from the comparable period in 2013. To
date, cumulative total edible product from eggs broken in 2014 was
2,187 million pounds, up 6 percent from 2013.
Data presented in this report were compiled from Food Safety and Inspection
Service (FSIS) inspection reports. The best available data at the time of
publication were used.
September 2013 contained 21 weekdays (including 1 holiday) and 4 Saturdays.
September 2014 contained 22 weekdays (including 1 holiday) and 4 Saturdays.
Federally Inspected Shell Eggs Broken – United States: September 2014 with
Comparisons
——————————
Shell eggs broken ………………. : 181,210 197,877 196,829
109 99
:
: ———- 1,000 pounds ———
— percent —
:
Edible product from shell eggs broken :
Whole …………………………
106 100
White …………………………
117 102
Yolk …………………………
118 100
:
Total …………………………
110 101
:
Inedible product from shell eggs broken : 18,537 20,386 20,788
112 102
——————————
—————————
Federally Inspected Shell Eggs Broken, Cumulative – United States:
January-September 2013 and 2014
——————————
—————————
: Cumulative
:2014 as percent
Inspected item
:—————————–
:January-September
2013:January-September 2014:
——————————
—————————
: ———- 1,000 dozen
——— percent
:
Shell eggs broken ………………. : 1,600,922
1,689,065 106
:
: ——— 1,000 pounds
——— percent
:
Edible product from shell eggs broken :
Whole …………………………
1,252,526 100
White …………………………
624,587 115
Yolk …………………………
309,418 113
:
Total …………………………
2,186,531 106
:
Inedible product from shell eggs broken : 165,933
172,458 104
——————————
—————————
Statistical Methodology
Data Sources: Data for the Egg Products report are obtained from Egg
Products Volume Reports (FSIS Form 5200-11) completed by inspectors of FSIS,
USDA.
FSIS is responsible for administering a mandatory inspection program for egg
products under the authority of the Egg Products Inspection Act of 1970. The
act and its associated regulations require that all commercial egg breaking
and processing plants operate under continuous USDA supervision. Reports are
currently received from approximately 60 plants in the United States. Plant
management provides monthly volume data to the resident USDA inspector at
the applicable plant.
Revision Policy: Revisions are generally the result of late reports received
by FSIS from plants. Revisions for the previous month and year-to-date
totals are published in each monthly release.
Procedures and Reliability: FSIS reviews plant data for accuracy and
completeness and provides NASS a data file. NASS reviews the data for
unusual values. The egg products estimates are based on a census of all
commercial egg breaking and processing plants; therefore, there are no
statistical estimation and sampling errors.
Information Contacts
Listed below are the commodity specialists in the Livestock Branch of the
National Agricultural Statistics Service to contact for additional
information. E-mail inquiries may be sent to [email protected]
Dan Kerestes, Chief, Livestock Branch …………………………
(202) 720-3570
Bruce Boess, Head, Poultry and Specialty Commodities Section ………..
(202) 720-4447
Alissa Cowell-Mytar – Cold Storage …………………………
(202) 720-4751
Heidi Gleich – Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery ……………….
(202) 720-0585
Michael Klamm – Poultry Slaughter, Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised ..
(202) 690-3237
Tom Kruchten – Census of Aquaculture …………………………
(202) 690-4870
Kim Linonis – Layers, Eggs …………………………
(202) 690-8632
Joshua O’Rear – Honey …………………………
(202) 690-3676
Vacant – Catfish Production, Egg Products, Mink, Trout Production …
(202) 720-3570
Access to NASS Reports
For your convenience, you may access NASS reports and products the following
ways:
All reports are available electronically, at no cost, on the NASS
web
site: http://www.nass.usda.gov
Two years ago at a spring conference in Topeka, Lea Ann Seiler, Economic Develop Director for Hodgeman County heard a presentation about a very successful zombie paintball hunting endeavor in Oregon and she came home hooked on the idea as a fund raiser to help with projects at Horse Thief Reservoir. Now I’ve never understood the whole “zombie” craze myself, but it’s a craze nonetheless, and all things zombie are hot right now. A book about zombies from Hastings Book Store gave Seiler some basic background in “zombieology” and Horsethief Wild West Zombie Paintball was born.
A grant available at the time provided only half of what was needed to purchase the two “zombie eliminator” trailers complete with air-powered paintball guns and light & sound systems, but the Horse Thief Reservoir board believed in her vision enough to give her the additional funds needed to order the trailers. By then it was already July and all attempts she made to order the amount of paintballs and other equipment needed by fall “zombie season” were met with dead ends. She was about to give up on the whole idea when she heard about Anderson Farms that runs a very successful zombie paintball hunt just a few hours away in Colorado. The folks at Anderson Farms invited her to spend a day with them, and she came home brimming with useful advice and information, plus they used a little of their clout to get her the glow-in-the-dark bio-degradable paintballs she needed on such short notice.
They advised Seiler not to buy new equipment for her zombies to wear, so she spent the next two months prowling goodwill stores and garages sales for baseball helmets, hockey masks and welding hoods, and asking farmers for their old greasy, grimy, worn-out overalls and coveralls.
They also told her to incorporate into the hunt as many things as possible that made noise when hit by paintballs. Several empty fifty-five gallon steel drums were labeled TNT and placed around on the course. Fifty metal baking sheets purchased at a Dollar Tree store are worn under zombie outfits and emit a loud clang when paintballs hit them.
Another suggestion was to ask cosmetology schools for their old practice heads to be used in building spooky mannequins for the hunting course. The cosmetology school at Dodge City Community College has donated “used heads” both years. The first year, Seiler returned home from the college with her Ford Focus full of used heads. She said “All the while I was hoping I was not in an accident that would force me to explain my passengers!”
Finding zombies to be “hunted” turned out to be the next challenge. That first year a few kids volunteered but they struggled to find enough. But as “hunters” went through the course the first year and found out what a hoot it was, many expressed an interest in being a zombie the following year. Seiler followed up on that and this year the zombie crop was large. Among them are a local veterinarian, a member of her economic development board and a couple local fire fighters. It was assumed from the start that the target audience for zombie hunting would be teens, but Seiler told me “We’ve also hosted 50th and 60th birthday parties and Bible study groups.”
The course is set up in a field near Horse Thief Reservoir west of Jetmore. Each “zombie eliminator” trailer is equipped with ten paintball guns powered by air from onboard air tanks, a row of strobe lights around the bottom of the trailer and a rockin’ sound system that belts out coyotes howls and other ghoulish noises. The whole thing happens after dark and the rules are simple; shoot the zombies! Each hunter gets two hundred glow-in-the-dark bio-degradable paintballs, that’s two thousand per trailer, and on hunting nights twelve to fifteen trailers “hunt” the course. A tractor pulls each trailer load of “hunters” to the first stop on the course where a guide on the trailer gives instructions to the hunters and helps them test their guns, then the strobe lights and sound system are turned on and the hunt begins. Each station has at least one live zombie that appears out of the darkness and several other demonic-looking mannequins and other potential targets like the TNT drums and an old wrecked car that suddenly starts blinking its lights.
This year alone nearly six hundred fifty hunters have chosen to hunt zombies with Horsethief Wild West Zombie Paintball. And why not; there is no closed season on Kansas zombies, there are no bag limits and no possession limits, you can hunt them with anything, anytime and anywhere, (and Wild West Zombie Paintball even furnishes the paintball guns) What Kansas hunter can refuse an opportunity like that…Yet another way to Explore Kansas Outdoors!
Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected]
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