I proudly work for the beef industry and up until I was in high school, my dad had a small feedlot. He has since rented the pens out to a neighbor to use for feeding, but the bunks are still there. I remember my dad loading up steers in the late evening hours and making the trip to the Omaha stockyards in the old semi; me in tow in the sleeper bed reading a book or napping while he sold cattle. My in-laws also run a mid-sized cow/calf operation in Kansas, so I guess it’s “all in the family”.

“In 1955, Omaha’s livestock market became the largest in the world. Some market days, the livestock trucks would be lined up from 36th and L Streets all the way west to 72nd Street. Stockmen would have to serve as traffic cops to keep the trucks moving, and still it would take hours to unload.”

Unfortunately, the sale at our local auction market is on Wednesdays, right in the middle of my work day, so our son hasn’t been to a sale in quite some time.

My grandfather worked for a cattle feeder when he was younger and he, too, has some stories to tell.

Can you imagine – a livestock truck tipped up on its back end with all the cattle squished against the gate?

Maybe our son will want a steer when he gets bigger. He will have to make friends with our horses.

Until we walk again …