Glenn Selk: Riding Off Into The Sunset
After writing and sending out nearly 800 Cow Calf Corner Newsletters over the last 17+ years, this article is the toughest to write. This will be my last Cow Calf Corner Newsletter. It is time for younger faces with younger minds and newer ideas to fill this role in the future.
I have no doubt that our readers will gain more knowledge about this very complex industry called “the cattle business”. Dr. Paul Beck, Extension Beef Specialist at Oklahoma State University will coordinate the beef management articles that will be included in future newsletters.
Dr. Derrell Peel will continue to provide his outstanding insight into the beef markets and the many driving forces that influence the cattle markets. He is “one of a kind”! Very few livestock marketing specialists have as much knowledge about the United States livestock markets. Even fewer authors can write about this multi-faceted, constantly changing industry in such a way as to bring clarity to the often confusing events. As I said before: “he is one of a kind”! I certainly have enjoyed working with Dr. Peel for these many years. I know he will continue to keep Cow Calf Corner Newsletter readers up-to-date and informed about the beef markets in the future.
I would be remiss if I did not state my sincere gratitude to the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University. The leaders of this Division have allowed me to write and send out the newsletter for nearly 11 years after my formal retirement in 2010. Also I want to thank the Animal and Food Science Department here at OSU, which (except for 2 years) has been my professional home since July of 1973.
Many OSU Animal and Food Science faculty members have contributed to the newsletter throughout the years and will continue to do so in the future. In addition, I must say thank you to the County and Area Extension Educators across Oklahoma that have given me ideas for newsletter articles and feedback that was helpful in updating and improving the newsletter over time. Extension professionals that are located out in the state are the central nervous system of the Land Grant system.
Most of all I want to say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to the hundreds of cattle producers that farm and ranch in Oklahoma (and elsewhere) and were subscribers to the newsletter. Your encouragement in the early days of the newsletter kept us going. Your ideas for topics to cover were a great source of material to research and to relay on to other producers. Farmers and ranchers truly are “the salt of the earth”. I can never thank you enough and I hope that I taught you a small fraction of what you taught me.
As I “ride off into the sunset”, I am reminded of the philosophy that some old grey-headed educator once told me about how to be a good teacher. I have tried to live up to this philosophy in my extension efforts teaching and educating beef producers about research-based management ideas. His thought went something like this: “They won’t care what you know, until they know that you care.” My friends in the beef industry, I hope you know that I cared.
