Let’s walk back in time to 19th-century England with a milkmaid carrying her bucket and her three-legged milking stool (most likely made of ash wood) across the lea, a rotational grassland (and Lea also happens to be my middle name).
Photo: Hand milking in 1943. Source: “Forgotten Wisconsin” Facebook Group.
Why a three-legged stool? That way the milkmaid could balance herself while leaning into mama cow while she milked her. Interestingly enough, on uneven ground, a three-legged stool is more stable than a four-legged one. (The engineers can explain why).
There’s nothing “even” or completely “equitable” about modern agriculture. Hence the reason I am using a picture of a hard-working woman on a three-legged stool in 1943 (this time in the United States) to explain why the addition of a third leg to our Graze Master business ventures gives us the foundation we need to present a solid vision for the future.
What are the three legs I am referring to? They are the following:
🐂 Graze Master is a registered trademark breed of composite cattle developed by Del Ficke for more than 40 years at Ficke Cattle Company to work efficiently and in tandem with nature. As Del and I discussed the power of raising beasts in tune with the land and natural resources, we thought to ourselves, “Why not seek out people who believe the same way about empowering agriculture to strengthen its prowess by working with, not against, Mother Nature too?” Hence, the Graze Master network was established.
The network is made up of fiercely independent, community partners who want to see rural and urban communities prosper. In each of our areas of expertise and frontline ag experiences, we offer farmers, ranchers and everyone interested in the future of food, the chance to step beyond just making a living, to building the life of their dreams. We go by the tagline, “Our difference is our independence.”
Graze Master, throughout the past more than a decade, has traveled to 40 states and worked with more than 30O farm and ranch families. We helped them find more profitability on their operations, while empowering them to transition to more responsible ag practices that benefit the soil, water, and air.
Learn more at: www.grazemastergroup.com
🌺 The “And Nature Happened” movement is Del’s personal journey and true desire to pursue the art world. Del has worked tirelessly to regenerate his Seward County Nebraska 100 percent dryland farm and ranch (primarily ranch). Tirelessly means financially keeping everything going since he was in his late teens all while daily tending to high-density grazing cattle, managing pastures by constantly removing invasive trees, and allowing nature’s diversity to bloom. Those blooms became his photography book, “And Nature Happened.”
“The collection of photos came together years after I received a calling upon my heart and intellect. I remember where and when the calling happened to change my agricultural practices for the better after falling into an industrialized ag model. It was a Sunday morning when I was out in a pasture where I had spent many moments with my grandfather. He told me, ‘You know better. We all know better. You are not the first. You are not going to be the best. But, you will be uniquely vocal and passionate about the great need to allow nature to be nature again,’” Del Ficke.
Learn more at: andnaturehappened.org and Nebraska’s Son Books.
💛Difference in Action is the non-profit 501(c)(3) we started with the help of an incredible advisory group and an amazing friend in Texas with the following mission and purpose.
We are: “Implementing community impact programs focused on lifelong agricultural education, food security, environmental conservation, entrepreneurship, and global/local humanitarian issues that inspire better understanding and tangible outcomes that make a positive impact for the land, water, and all creatures great and small.”
The non-profit charter was set up to be absolutely non-political. This frees us up to stay away from the fray of all of that so we can be laser-focused on education and most importantly the future: young people, who are our greatest resource and who embody endless potential.
☀️ The three legs of our stool are now firmly situated. We must remain informed about, but undaunted by, the challenges the present agricultural and food system are facing. We confidently look ever-forward into the future surrounded by the talent, wisdom, and drive of a host of people who want to make agriculture better and who want to see fewer people hungry and our natural, finite resources protected and renewed.
We are serious about doing what we can with the skills we have to help. If you are serious too, we would welcome a conversation. Reach out to me at 402-363-8963. Let’s get to work, together.
