I ran errands the other day, partly for the magazine and partly for the farm. I used my newer truck because I had to drop off the van to get an oil change, so my daughter, who usually drives the truck (she thinks it's hers but she needs to look at the title very closely!) picked me up on her way to watch nursery at Bible School. I dropped her off and took off on my errands from there. While waiting to pick her up and go back for the van, I happened to notice the variety of items I…

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Recently my wife and I traveled by car through the fly-over country, from central Indiana through Illinois and Iowa and up the side of South Dakota to Sioux Falls. It may take longer by car, but you get a feel for not only what the country is like, but what people are alike. Our conclusion is that while the small towns may have changed some, the people are still hard-working, down-to-earth Midwesterners, wherever you go. In South Dakota we needed to stop for lunch. We could go on toward…

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More than one farmer in Indiana converted from hogs to goats over the past 10 years. It's no laughing matter. And the Indiana 4-H and FFA livestock judging contests has even added goats as part of the animals to be judged during the competition. None of that makes them popular with everyone. Goats seem to be a hate them or love them animal. It's cute to watch young goats jump and play. It's not so cool to get chased by a billy goat of mature size. My father, now deceased…

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Several years ago a good friend of mine and me both knew a mutual acquaintance who was an ag economics professor. Both of us had interviewed him in his office and written stories with him as the source. One Friday morning he was out jogging before work, like he did quite frequently, and passed away suddenly from a heart attack. Later that day, someone asked my friend how his day was going. "Well, compared to my ag economics friend, I'd say my day is going pretty…

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OK, so you are in a contest and you studied very hard. It was livestock judging and you wanted to place in the top five in the area and go to state so badly you could almost taste it! But you didn't win. You didn't even place in the top 10.The judge in the sheep reasons stared at his text on his cell phone the whole time you were giving reasons. Is that why you lost? You can react one of two ways if you're a high school student – resolve to come back and study…

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As noted in previous columns, I turned 60 years old last week. I usually enjoy when birthdays roll around, but this one made me think. And while I was, in reality, only one day older, I felt years older. It's all is a matter of perspective. Does getting older just mean more aches and pains, or does it mean you can demonstrate the wisdom you've learned from hard lessons along the way? After all, a good friend of mine, who reached 60 before I did, told me last week that when…

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If you're reading this before April 9, I'm almost 60. If you're reading it after April 9, I'm already 60. I'll probably feel more or less the same, no matter when you read this. But there's something about going over that hump that makes one pause and reflect. Last week I interviewed three people whose parents I interviewed 20 or more years ago. That starts to put things in perspective. People I'm talking to now were teenagers or young kids when I started this…

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Do you remember the Windex commercials of a few years ago where the housewife got the patio door glass shiny clean? Two talking birds, imagine that – only in a commercial – are gloating about how the door is finally open and they can swoop into the house. One takes off and barrels toward the window. He hits the glass and bounces off. The point, of course, was that the window was so clean that he thought it wasn't there. This is also the time of year when you're likely…

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Joy McClain writes a column called Joy's Reflections in Indiana Prairie Farmer. If you're a guy, you probably figure it's just for women and don't read it. You don't know what you're missing. Joy is starting to get requests to speak to ag groups, and there's a reason why. The stories she relates, often personal stories, hit home whether you're a man or a woman. Without totally giving away her column, here's an example that will appear in the April…

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If you don't think a three-year old can outwit you once in a while, then you don't know many three-year olds. Even before they're out of diapers, they understand enough about what's going on to say things you only wish you had thought of. Or maybe you thought of it and didn't say it. You've got to be pretty smart to stay ahead of savvy youngsters. Graham is our three-year-old going-on-thirty grandson. He loves tractors, trucks, toy or real, big or small &ndash…

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