VOLUME XX, NO. 12

December 2011

Renowned Veterinarian Presents Dairy Program On Dec. 15 In Stephenville

Texas/Oklahoma Extension Join In Drought Discussion Jan. 6, Wichita Falls

Grandson Says Loving Goodbye To Mentor And Best Friend Bob Traweek

Farm Dust Regulations Bill Passes House

TSCRA Welcomes New Special Ranger To Northeast Texas

Republicans Cheer Delay On Texas Lizard Being Added To Endangered List

Agriculture Council Of America Calls Students To Enter Essay Contest

Renowned veterinarian presents dairy program on Dec. 15 in Stephenville

Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Erath County Dairy Committee, will host Dr. Tom Fuhrmann at the Southwest Regional Dairy Center on Dec., 15, 2011.  This presentation is geared toward dairy owners and upper management, focusing on “Managing and Leading Your Workforce”. 

The program begins with registration at 9 a.m. Fuhrmann will speak from 9:30 to 4 p.m.  All program costs and a catered meal are courtesy of Boehringer Ingelheim. To RSVP or for more information contact Erath County Extension Agent Whit Weems at 254-965-1460 or w-weems@tamu.edu.

Fuhrmann knows cows and he knows people and through years of experience, understands both. Born and raised on a Wisconsin dairy, he understands “the job” and connects with herdsmen, dairy owners, managers and workers. Early on, he dedicated his veterinary career to the dairy industry and dairy cows. To his many credits, Fuhrmann has worked with some of the largest and highest producing dairy herds throughout the U.S. and the world.

As a seasoned veterinarian for more than 25 years, Fuhrmann’s knowledge and skills and years of hands-on, “cowside” experiences, has taught him about practical application. He can successfully explain principles and facts and demonstrate how to put these into practice for better results.

Over the years, Fuhrmann has seen dairies grow larger, become more efficient, productive and profitable businesses. Just like any growing business, Fuhrmann realizes in order to operate a dairy successfully, owners and managers must be able to communicate with employees effectively, organize the workload and motivate workers to do the best job possible. These are no easy tasks in the industry, but he is confidant dairy owners and managers can benefit from programs to organize and train their employees.

Fuhrmann initiated DairyWorks, where he willingly shares his knowledge, expertise, and “passion for results” to producers to improve management on their dairies. He also provides a series of many valuable programs where he teaches, trains, consults and troubleshoots production management issues for dairy producers and their employees.

Texas/Oklahoma Extension join in drought discussion Jan. 6, Wichita Falls

Drought will be the focus of the Cattle Trails Cow-Calf Conference, a joint effort between Texas AgriLife Extension Service and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, to be held Jan. 6 in Wichita Falls.

This annual conference provides cow-calf producers the most up-to-date information on topics that influence cattle profits, said Stan Bevers, AgriLife Extension economist in Vernon.

The slogan of the annual conference is “driving your cattle to profits,” and Bevers said this year’s drought made it tough to generate any profit.

“However, ranchers have been through droughts before,” he said. “The difference now is the additional rising input costs and market volatility.

Coming out of this drought will require a new level of understanding and pencil pushing.”

The conference, which alternates between Texas and Oklahoma each year, will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Events Center, 1000 5th Street in Wichita Falls.

Registration is $25 per person and includes educational materials, a copy of the conference proceedings, a noon meal and refreshments. Additional information can be obtained at http://agrisk.tamu.edu .

The keynote speaker for the event will be Bryan Rupp, KFDX TV 3 meteorologist from Wichita Falls. Rupp will provide his forecast as well as what to expect from changing weather patterns in this area.

“While nobody knows what the 2012 weather will be, ranchers should start preparing their response to improving weather,” Bevers said.

Additional speakers include Extension faculty from both Oklahoma and Texas.

Topics to be discussed include drought-related effects on the area’s cow herd, reinvesting after the drought, the drought’s impact on natural resources, and how herd dynamics can and should change. Industry sponsors also will have their products on display during the event.

Grandson says loving goodbye to mentor and best friend Bob Traweek

       When Bob Traweek, 76, of Dublin, Texas, passed away in mid-October due to a tragic farming accident, he left family members, dairy industry peers and friends stunned and deeply saddened. He was considered an icon in the industry and had owned his peanut farm and Cow Creek Dairy for nearly 50 years. He was considered a good friend to the Texas Dairy & Ag Review since its inception in 1992 and provided valuable and reliable industry information. Above all, Bob could always be depended upon for his truth and honesty.

       In one of the last conversations for an article, Bob said, “You know, I don’t need the money and I don’t have to do this---keep dairying and all, but I’m doing it so my grandson will have a future. He wants to dairy so I’m providing the opportunity.”

      Here’s the heartfelt story of Bob and his grandson Tommy Watson of Dublin.

Bobby, “The man”

       There sometimes comes along a man who is set apart from others, not because he’s so different, but because he owns who he is and is not afraid to stand up for what he believes. Bob  “Bobby” Traweek was a special kind of human being who people looked up to and relied on for many things. He left a legacy that will forever live on because no matter what was going on around him, he made the choice to do things his own way.

       Bob was known to folks in Texas and throughout the nation, but not many could hold him as close in their hearts as his grandson, Tommy Watson. “I not only lost my grandfather, but lost my best friend,” Tommy said, when speaking of Bob’s recent death.

       Wanted it done right

       “He wanted things done right and sometimes could be tough, but he had his own way of doing things and that’s what you were supposed to do,” Tommy said. “More than anything, I wanted to make him proud. I tried my absolute best.”

       Bob, a quiet and no-nonsense person when it came to important things, such as farming or the dairy business, probably did not consider himself especially noble by staying in the business in order to provide a future for Tommy. But, he was willing to give Tommy the opportunity to fulfill a dream and perhaps he saw a passion in Tommy, much like he once had.

Tommy’s view of PaPa

       Tommy’s view of his grandfather was not elaborate or necessarily seen through rose-colored glasses. What he saw was an honest, hardworking man who expected a lot from people but through his own example had a knack for getting the most from those around him.

       Bob took pride in his dairy farm and had a very high standard for which he believed everyone who worked with him should live up to. “I would try to do it right, but I didn’t always please him,” Tommy said. ”So, I’d go back out and do it again until I either got it right or he would fix it.”

       Tommy had grown up around Bob and his grandmother, Neva, from a very early age and when he was 15 years old, they became his legal guardians.

       “He wasn’t necessarily strict when I was growing up, but I knew I had to get up the next morning to be at the dairy so that sort of kept me from running the streets at night. From junior high on, every Saturday morning, I had to be at the dairy by 5:30 or 6 a.m. to start milking.”

Tommy learned farming

       Tommy learned to love farming and all that went with it from Bob, known to him affectionately as PaPa. By the time he was two years old, he’d ride on the equipment with PaPa and only a few short years later, he was operating tractors and wagons himself. 

       “By about age 9 or 10, I was driving silage wagons. They were really scary to me and especially the way they tilted back and forth. They probably rocked more than they should have by loading them as much as we could. We were just lucky I didn’t turn one of them over,” Tommy chuckled.

       Responsible at early age

       But, Tommy is grateful for the responsibility he learned at such an early age. Through the years, Bob continued to teach Tommy who developed a great respect for his PaPa.

       Before gaining an interest in the dairy business, Tommy was first introduced to peanut farming. Bob had a successful peanut crop and in the early 80s when the peanut industry was going good, Tommy spent much of his time working and thrashing peanuts. Although he worked some on the dairy, his main interest was peanuts.

      “When the government pulled out on the peanut industry, they cut the price they paid to farmers nearly in half. It was a slap in the face to us,” Tommy said.

      Bob was not disheartened for very long. “We planted watermelons and hit a home run the first season!” Tommy said.

      “Best farmer ever”

       Tommy admired his grandfather’s strong will to keep going and his overall desire to be the “best farmer ever.” He said Bob reminded him that farming and dairying went hand in hand and that one without the other could be disastrous.

       Bob was a great influence on Tommy’s life and after graduating from Dublin High School in 2000, Tommy enrolled at Tarleton State University (TSU) in Stephenville where he earned a degree in agronomy, “just like my PaPa,” he said. Bob had earned a degree in agronomy from Texas A&M, College Station, where he took farming very seriously.

Bob’s great influence

       “We had 450 acres to work and we planted some of it in peanuts, Sudan, coastal and alfalfa. In the 80s, PaPa won awards for the best hay,” Tommy said.

        Bob was known as a survivor, even in modern times. “He was true to himself and was his own man. He just pretty well knew who he was and what he wanted to do. And he did it, his own way.”

        Through all the years of first standing toe to toe, and later, shoulder to shoulder with his grandfather, Tommy said he was never forced into making any decisions other than his own.

        “He never forced me to help him or even told me what degree to get in college. I guess I just wanted to be like him, wanted to be there on the farm with him. I worked after school and weekends and was fascinated with the whole thing.”

Ricky’s view of Uncle Bob

       Tommy was not the only family member who admired Bob’s ability to survive the throes of the peanut industry and the roller coaster aspects of the dairy industry. Ricky Traweek, Bob’s nephew and owner of JamDot Dairy in Lingleville, said his Uncle Bob was one of a kind.

      “I loved my Uncle Bob a lot,” Ricky said. “The dairy business was in our whole family. My grandfather (Albert) started way back then and his sons, including my dad, James, and uncles Bob and Bill, were all in the business. Uncle Bob and Neva ended up having two daughters, Brenda and Donna,  (Tommy’s mother), but Bob never had a son. He looked at Tommy as his own son.”

       Ricky said Bob took a smaller approach to dairying than others, even when Erath County dairies were growing much bigger all around him. “He had all registered cows and was more interested in their records. It was more like a Northern (Wisconsin) dairyman’s point of view on his herd and numbers. He was known to have the very top herd in Texas for a long time.”

       Ricky said it was “neat” that Tommy grew up under the guidance of Bob. “He was fortunate to have had him all these years and the opportunity to learn from him.” 

Bob was expert farmer

       “Bob was an expert when it came to farming,” Ricky said. “Farming is the key to dairying and when you get so big you cannot grow enough feed for your herd, that’s when the problems begin because you have to buy feed. Bob never outgrew in numbers what he could feed.”

        In spite of his college professors, Tommy said, “PaPa was my best teacher.” After college, Tommy began a fulltime career working with him. He said Bob tried to be as productive as possible and didn’t push too much for going bigger. “He just wanted to get the most from his cows. He told me he sometimes wished he’d grown the dairy a little more but he kept it to about 60-70 cows until the year 2000. Then he increased it to about 100 cows.  We were still milking in a single-sided Herringbone six, built in 1962.”

PaPa worried about future

       Bob was open to new ideas that would improve his registered herd and adopted the TMR when it came to Erath County from the west. “It was a better way to feed cows and the feed value was greater,” Tommy said.

      “He liked big cows,” Tommy said fondly, adding Bob had some of the highest producing cows around.

       PaPa often talked about the future, Tommy said. “He thought too much milk production in this day and time was the problem. He worried about it and kept saying things had to change. He agreed with a milk limiting system and really believed in a quota as a way to get the dairy business straightened out.”

       Tommy said sometimes while he and his grandfather were working, Bob talked about how he grew up or how things used to be. Bob was born at Hope, New Mexico and his parents were farmers who went where they could to get work, eventually ending up in Texas. “He told me they were very poor when he was a kid. He said it snowed one night on his blanket because there were big holes in the roof.”

James’ view of brother Bob

       James Traweek, owner of JamDot Dairy in Lingleville, was only 14 months apart in age from his brother Bob. He said they started dairying together at Purvis, Texas, in a flat barn, when they were still in high school at Dublin. They both graduated from Texas A&M, and continued to dairy together until 1961 when Bob decided to move to Cow Creek at Dublin and start his own dairy. James said he soon bought the property at Lingleville where Jam Dot is currently located.

        “We were about the same size (in stature) and there’s no way we could have been any closer, especially since we were so close in age,” James said. “We grew up doing everything together.”

        Bob had lots of friends, far too many to name, Tommy said. He also served on numerous boards and in many organizations throughout his lifetime as a farmer and dairy producer.

       “These past few years, he was struggling like everyone else, but he was providing a goal for me. He was staying in the dairy business because he didn’t want me start out in the hole,” Tommy said.

       “Now, it’s just me. But, I know the business pretty well.”

Lots of help from all

       Tommy said between his grandfather, and his own father, former dairyman Gary Watson, he has a very good education in the dairy business. “We all worked together over the years,” Tommy said. Unfortunately, Tommy said he lost his dad’s mother, Willow Dean Watson “or grandma Dean” on the same day that Bob died.

       In 2003, while attending TSU, Tommy met and married Christine Guillory. They have three children, Wyatt, 7, Bailey, 5, and Lexi, 1. They moved a house in on the property just about 100 feet apart from Bob’s house.

       Tommy said Bob had one milk hand since 1977, Demetrio (Jimmy) Olivera, who was a dedicated employee and suffered a tremendous loss when Bob died.

Bob’s accomplishments

         Bob served as a director of both the Texas State Holstein Association and the National Holstein Association. He worked in many capacities for dairy organizations and on civic boards and was active in Young Farmers of Texas for many years, serving as state president in the 1970s.

Farm dust regulations bill passes House

The House Energy and Commerce Committee recently passed HR 1633, the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act of 2011. The bill prevents the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from changing its current standard for coarse particulate matter for one year and exempts “nuisance dust” from federal regulation where such dust is already regulated under state, tribal or local law.

“HR 1633 achieves two important goals: regulatory certainty in the short term, and common sense for rural America in the long-term. The bill maintains the current coarse particulate matter standard for one year–a position Lisa Jackson has embraced with her plans to propose maintaining the standard–and it offers regulatory relief to rural America by recognizing that states and local communities are better equipped to monitor and control farm dust. EPA would no longer be in the business of regulating rural dust except in cases where it is not already being regulated and the benefits of EPA regulation outweigh the costs,” said Committee Chairman Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.).

The Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act was authored by Reps. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) and Leonard Boswell (D-Ia.) and is currently co-sponsored by more than 115 republicans and democrats. The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and more than 185 other organizations support the legislation.

TSCRA welcomes new special Ranger to northeast Texas

          Former North Richland Hills Detective Wayne Goodman has joined the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) as a special ranger for District 12.

               Goodman replaced Special Ranger John Bradshaw who has moved to District 9.

               "Wayne has a strong record of effective law enforcement," said Larry Gray, TSCRA executive director of law enforcement and theft prevention. "His contacts throughout Northeast Texas, and his good working relationships with those in the law enforcement community, as well as livestock and ranching industries, make him a great asset to our organization. I welcome him to TSCRA and look forward to working with him."

                District 12 includes Bowie, Camp, Cass, Delta, Franklin, Hopkins, Lamar, Morris, Rains, Red River and Titus counties.

                Goodman has more than 20 years of law enforcement experience. Most recently he worked as a detective for the North Richland Hills Police Department where he specialized in cyber crimes and crimes against children. During that time, he was named North Richland Hills Police Officer of the Year and the City Employee of the Year.

                Goodman is based in Paris, Texas, and can be reached at 903-669-3516.55

Republicans cheer delay on Texas lizard being added to endangered list

The Dunes Sagebrush Lizard won’t be added to the Endangered Species List for at least another six months, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today, a decision that elicited relief from some Texas lawmakers who fear the economic repercussions of such a move.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-San Antonio, said he was pleased with the decision of Fish and Wildlife Service Director Daniel Ashe’s decision to delay a final ruling on the status of the lizard because developers who would be restricted from using the lizard’s habitat deserve more time to make themselves heard.

“It’s essential that the job creators who will be directly impacted have the opportunity to have their concerns heard before this potentially devastating listing goes forward,” Cornyn said.

The Dunes Sagebrush Lizard lives only in the shinnery oak dunes of southeast New Mexico and neighboring Texas. The Fish and Wildlife Service said oil and gas development threaten the small brown reptile, which has been a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act since 2001. The species is already labeled as endangered by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Midland, said the lizard isn’t as rare as the government is making it out to be.

“After almost a year of effort spent compiling overwhelming evidence to prove the lizard is not endangered,” Conaway said, ”we have just six more short months to convince the Service that listing the lizard is not warranted.”

Conaway said the delay is a good start, but there remains work to be done to prevent a move that would hamstring businesses. Under the Fish and Wildlife Service protection guidelines for the lizard, all roads and pipelines would need to be routed away from known lizard habitats and areas suitable for the lizard to live in.

“I look forward,” Conaway said, “to continuing to work alongside local producers, ranchers, and landowners to make the final case against a needless listing that would devastate oil and gas production and the West Texas economy.”

Agriculture Council of America calls students to enter essay contest

The Agriculture Council of America (ACA) calls on ninth- to 12th-grade students to submit an original, 450-word essay or a two-minute video essay about the importance of agriculture. This year's theme is "American Agriculture: Feeding the Future, Filling the Gaps" and the deadline is Feb. 1, 2012. The ACA asks teachers and parents to encourage student participation.

The theme "American Agriculture: Feeding the Future, Filling the Gaps" presents an opportunity for students to address how the agriculture industry continues to feed a growing population. Entrants may choose to either write an essay and/or create a video focusing on how today's growers are overcoming challenges to provide a safe, stable food supply and sustain the significant role agriculture plays in everyday life.

"CHS is proud to help support students through this year's Ag Day essay and video contest," says Annette Degnan, marketing communications director, CHS Inc. "We want to recognize today's youth and their ability to help communicate the importance of agriculture's role in our society. We look forward to seeing the entries that students develop around the theme, "American Agriculture: Feeding the Future, Filling the Gaps."

The national written essay winner receives a $1,000 prize and round-trip ticket to Washington, D.C., for recognition during the Celebration of Ag Dinner held March 8 at Whitten Patio at the USDA. During dinner, the winner will have the opportunity to read the winning essay as well as join with industry representatives, members of Congress, federal agency representatives, media and other friends in a festive ag celebration. The video essay winner wins a $1,000 prize, and the winning video will play during the Celebration of Ag Dinner.

This is the 39th anniversary of National Ag Day. The goal of the ACA is to provide a spotlight on agriculture and the food and fiber industry. The ACA not only helps consumers understand how food and fiber products are produced, but also brings people together to celebrate accomplishments in providing safe, abundant and affordable products.

The Ag Day Essay Contest is sponsored by CHS Inc., The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal, National Association of Farm Broadcasting, National Agri-Marketing Association, Country Living Association and McCormick Company.

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