The Desert's Premise of Spring

The Sun brightens the new life's sheen,
All is refreshed, reborn, and bright green,

Baby birds are chirping from the nest,
Little lambs are bouncing their best,

But soon, nature will turn with spite.
Those birds will do damage with powers of flight.
A few of the lambs were claimed- as sacrifice?
The green becomes weeds.

Nature is not nice!

Crazy-Eyed Crox!

When I left home to attend college 500 miles away, it was a difficult transition. I can remember the feeling of the weight of the world upon me.

I was an academic slacker. Other than my passion for auto mechanics and the refreshing challenge of advanced placement classes, I was not motivated. I didn't have to work to earn C's. College was a shock!

I'd enrolled in a program with a 70% drop out rate. Almost every higher learning institution puts extraordinary pressure on their students at some point. Most of them do that  towards the end of the program to ensure the school gets its money before weeding out the weak players that might give the school a bad reputation. But the program that I enrolled in put the pressure on you in the beginning.

That drop out rate was an oversight for me. The number that I was fixated on was the hiring rate. I wanted assurance that my expensive education was a worthy investment. The program boasted a high rate of employment upon completion with some very coveted companies. I believe that was the reason for the weeding to happen early.

The very first term, I felt the pressure to quit. I would have been in good company. Students were dropping out left and right, quite literally. For every student that stayed the course, one student to their left and another to their right would drop out during that first term.

It was during that time that it hit me. I felt sorry for myself. Overworked, alone, isolated, and hopeless. I hadn't enough time in the new location to make new friends. I was not used to spending most of the day in school and coming home to piles of homework. I was not used to the faster pace of learning that required me to apply myself. My usual effort would have resulted in failing grades! And I didn't have any physical outlet for my frustrations.

Enter the gym! It was a paradox that I was a slacker at school, but a hard worker in other aspects. I was accustomed to the physical demands of ranch life. Now I had zero physical activity and all mental demands. I was out of balance! It was with some desperation that I joined the closest gym to my apartment.

It was just the distraction and physical outlet that I needed. I made friends quickly there, not the least of which was the owner. He was a great guy.

After we got to know eachother, he offered me employment. In exchange for watching the gym for a few hours every evening, I would get free membership and supplements. I learned a lot about fitness, diet, health, and people in general.

Of all the people there, the most unique was "Crazy-eyed Crox". He was a high-fiving socializer and a natural mesomorph. I have since observed most mesomorphs to be of that personality type. It must be due to all the people drawn to them that they become people and ego-centric?

When he talked to you, his eyes would widen as far as possible. I think he did it so often that his eyes grew further open than normal. He would use a lot of words and gestures to say very little. But he had an infectious style of abundant energy and enthusiasm. He was not only "crazy-eyed" but a little crazy in the head too.

He was half of identical twins. His brother was in the big house. He was always bragging on his twin brother with his outlandish style, telling how "Huge!" his brother was getting by working out in the joint.

"That's just great. Now a menace to society will be a bigger and stronger menace to society!" Of course, I kept my thoughts to myself.

Half of his madness was hereditary, but the other half was self inflicted. No doubt the motorcycle crash that he endured was a contributor.

"Yeah! Man!" he told the story in his usual theatrical style: eyes wide open, overyly large gestures, and sometimes he got too close.

"The doctor said I should have died! I hit a stop sign head first! Dude! I wasn't wearing a effing helmet!" he tries to part his unruly mop to show the scar.

"If I wasn't in such good effing shape, I might have died!" He used the f-word sparingly for maximum effect.

It would come as no big surprise to learn he'd also had trouble with the law. I often got his stories mixed up with stories about his brother. The prison fight story was one that I didn't get clear who was the subject, but the theme was fighting like a crazy man. I pictured the description of a Berserker during the Viking era.

"Yeah Man! The very first day, you gotta make a statement! You gotta go crrazzzy man! Bite his effing ear off! Get the blood everywhere! After that, nobody's gonna mess with you, Dude!"

He was a memorable character, but what I remember most about him was his work out. It made no sense. He had no routine or stucture what so ever. Of course, he was the body type that could look into a gym and gain muscle mass.

He would work hard at his non-sensical exercising. Most of the time, he'd randomly pick somebody out and start working out with them. He'd do what ever they were doing and then move on to something else unrelated. But he was always enthused and Intense. You must use a capital "I" to describe his Intensity.

I have incorporated the "Crazy-eyed Crox" routine? into my weekly routine. It is a day quite different from my usual regimented routine. It is fun, different, and something that I have come to look forward to. I just do what ever crazy thing comes to mind. I have no regard to yesterday, tomorrow, no goal or succession in mind. Simply intensity and exercise like a half-brained maniac.

"It's effing refreshing Dude! Give it a try!"

Avoiding the cost cutter's folly

It seems to come down to two prominant business philosophies: Either you are a cost cutter or you are a margin measurer. Never the two shall meet!

I can not profess to know much about margin measuring. Their strategies seem overly complex and rite with pitfalls. They are quite proud of their sophistication though, and proclaim cost cutting is overly simplistic. "Any jackass can be a cheap skate!", is often overheard.

There might be a little bit of truth to that stereotype. It's not that difficult to be a tight wad, but applying the idea successfully is a whole lot tougher than it sounds.

"Penny wise and Dollar stupid" pretty well sums up the typical folly of the cost cutter. Saving a penny today that ends up costing a dollar tomorrow is all too common of an occurance.

"Honey! I saved a lot of money on my last oil change. I just didn't do it!" Preventive maintenance is such an easy target. Why should you waste any money on something that is not broken?

Experience will prove the folly with that kind of short sightedness. Saving money on preventive action usually ends up to cost a lot of money later. But saving money on an oil change is an excellent demonstration of how complex cost cutting can be.

The first and biggest opportunity is with the labor to do an oil change. If you invest in learning how to do that, you will reap the rewards very quickly. Roughly half of the cost of an oil change is for labor. If you supply the labor, you will automatically save half of the cost.

If you take on the next cost, it will be the supplies. You pay for new oil and a new filter. Those are usually marked up by service providers, so you will save a little by buying your own. You can look to save there by shopping around. Be careful not to step on that slippery slope of compromising quality though. Educate yourself on what constitutes acceptable quality before you compare on price.

Just doing those two things will save you a lot of money. Most people are satistfied with reaching that plateau. Is it enough to save on parts and labor? Not for a dedicated cost cutter.

We can apply creativity to develop savings in placed that margin measurers fear to tread. Let's question the timing of that oil change. Who says it has to be done every three months or three thousand miles? That is a general recommendation espoused by the industry that benefits from it. What is the data and reasoning behind those assumptions?

You can go as far as having your own oil analyzed. Laboratory tests have gotten more common and lower in cost. They can tell you detailed chemical properties that you can use to modify your schedule. You will probably discover that it is not necessary to change your oil by the industry standard.  You might discover that the acid neutralizing properties of the additives  are the first to deplete. You can use that kind of information to change the oil, but extend the life of your filter. That is applying data to save money.

These cost-cutting concepts are starting to look more sophisticated than any jackass can do? How about sharpening your pencil and comparing synthetic oil to conventional? Or how could you save by buying supplies in bulk?

You can start coming up with methods rarely thought of. How about using software to plan your routes the way Fed Ex does? Or attending to details like tire pressure, alignment, or weight minimizing to minimize the engine load?

You can continue to go to extremes and discover new paradigms. The only limit to cost-cutting is your own imagination.

Slogans

What is the meaning behind a slogan? What is the implied promise to the consumer? How much thought was put into it?

You can always tell when a slogan is created without a lot of thought put into it. They are shallow words without much meaning. The sole purpose is to catch your attention. But some slogans are much better than that.

What are some of your favorites? I have several.

One of my tops is "The relentless pursuit of perfection." What a lofty goal! But that company delivers more often than not. It conjures feelings of excellence and pride in production.

"Just do it!" is another exciting one. The time for action! Planning and calculating are boring, at some point you have to go for it. This slogan captures the excitement of that moment and it fits the product.

"Don't bonk!" You might be surprised that I think that was a great slogan? It was simple, rememberable, and meaningful. Unfortunately, it wasn't presented accurately and that led to its demise.

"Just win, baby!" Another shockingly simple slogan. Simple, pointed, and short, but it still says a lot. It's an unapologetic statement of a single minded goal.

"Affordable excellence." What a great slogan? It hits the peak of the market share no matter what you are selling. It implies that you get a lot for your money and that is always a popular concept.

Unfortunately, all of those slogans were taken when I started working on my own ideas. I wanted something short, simple, and meaningful with a promise that I could deliver - usually.

"Smaller bales, bigger value" was the result. It's simple and appeals to the middle of the market.  And it possesses meaning with an implied promise.

What does "bigger value" mean? It is something a little more for your money. It's a simple claim to make, but it is complex to deliver on. How do I begin to deliver on that promise?

Measuring and marketing to start with. I go to great efforts to objectify what is produced. The determination of the level of quality takes scientific testing, as well as sensory scoring of sight, smell, texture, and performance. All of those things can be scaled objectively so you can compare the market.

Comparing the market is somewhat difficult. I like to check multiple sources the same as my customers do. What is the USDA report? What is the market in the neighboring State? What is the forecasted demand? How are dairy prices? Beef? Sheeps and goats? What is the demand at the horse stables? What prices are advertised on classifieds and especially Craig's list?

It's always a difficult analysis. You don't really know what quality is actually being advertise without going to see for yourself. I make a significant effort to gather as much data as possible before I "Just do it!" and decide upon an initial pricing.

After I have a pretty good understanding of my quality and what the market is selling it for, I price. I price lower. In short, I sell the same quality of hay at a lower price. That is "Bigger Value".

The Unlikely Millionaire

Why did the boss man pick him to go to the town's meeting? There wasn't anything special about him. Maybe the boss man thought he was better than the other shepherds at understanding English? Maybe he was - if he wasn't half drunk?

It was the mid sixties in Idaho. The group of sheep herders rarely got opportunity to go to town. When they did, the liked to let loose and party a little bit.

Our hero was a little tipsy when he was told the boss wanted him to attend a town's meeting. He didn't understand exactly why, but he'd hoped that maybe he'd figure it out while he was there?

The proceedings of the meeting went too fast for him to follow. Things were appearing to be wrapping up and he caught a word that got his attention. It was familiar. Maybe it was what the boss man sent him there for? Quickly, he raised his hand.

It was a day or two after that before somebody explained things to him. He'd inadvertantly volunteered to provide solid waste service for the town. Hauling garbage? What?!

The thought must have occured to him to get out of that commitment. He was drunk, he didn't understand English, he didn't even know why he was at the town meeting to begin with. But he came from a very rigid and demanding culture.

Suffering was to be endured without complaint. Hard work - no matter how demeaning was revered! Every man aspired to be a noble man. Giving your word was a big deal. It had to be honored. So he proceeded with a little bit of reluctance.

The first thing he did was to go to every sheep herder in camp to ask for a loan. He had to get enough money to buy an old pickup truck to haul garbage. Every shepherd contributed to his plight and that was the beginnings of his business.

That smallish Idaho town would thrive in the coming years. Hollywood movie stars would discover the area and buy properties. Tourism took hold and the area flourished. Our hero became a multi-millionaire providing a service that nobody elso wanted anything to do with. He was the right person in the right place at the right time.

Our Democrat Cat

It's not at all uncommon for people to abandon cats in the country side. I wasn't surprised to find three kittens abandoned about half a mile from the farm house. As they grew and displayed their personalities, it was uncanny how well they represented our three main political parties.

I couldn't know for sure if the momma cat was dumped with the kittens. I observed them for awhile from a distance, but it wasn't very long before they found their way to the farm house. I could tell from their condition that they had not been fed; I took pity on them with milk and food.

Often times, cats dumped in the country go wild. These were obviously domestic and very friendly, well - except for Scratchy. There were two females and one male. They appeared to be siblings. The male was all grey, one female was white with grey stripes and the other female was orange and white tabby.

We named the grey male "Lost Juevos" after he was neutered. The white female with grey spots would be Nina, and the orange tabby got a name that didn't stick. She quickly earned her real name - Scratchy. We had them all fixed.

Scratchy was very independent, cautious, and unforgiving. She earned her name by refusing anybody trying to pick her up in dedicated violent fashion. It tooks years for me to gain her trust to be the only exception to the holding rule. But still, I had better not press my luck by holding her longer than her alotted time. She would cover vast distances just to accompany me working alone in the field. And sometime, she got in the way of progress.

I once had an order to deliver four tons of hay for twenty miles in the cold beginning of winter. When I began unloading the hay, I discovered that Scratchy had made the journey on the trailer. She was covered in frost, cold, and scared. I cuddled her up and put her in the cab of the pickup.

When we returned, the other farm animals could not believe her tales of the journey to the far away land. No doubt her adventurous spirit contributed to her demise. She was the first to disappear. We suspect she was kidnapped by a bold coyote judging the recent signs in the region of her regular domain.

Nina was not as independent as Scratchy; she was balanced. She was rarely late for feeding time, but there were times that she was too busy off hunting. She was lovable to a certain point. She would never lash out or scratch. She would merely keep a safe distance from suspect or overly affectionate humans. She was the smartest cat and the best hunter during her time. She paid the most taxes since she often brought her catch to the yard; it was often stolen. She disappeared a couple of years after Scratchy under similar circumstances.

Lost Juevos has been through a lot. He took the incidince of neutering like water off of a duck's back. He was always the most affectionate. Our daughter used to carry him upside down and he loved every second. He wasn't choosy who or where he got affection from, it was all good. He never met his cuddle quota. He would take it all in, purring loudly with drool running out of the corners of his mouth.

For the earlier years of his life, he was a card carrying democrat. He never did any more work than he had to. He was a fixture on the back porch, waiting for a handout, feeding time, or the chance to be pet.

He didn't go hunting very often, but one fateful day, on a rare hunting trip, he suffered a severe injury. Somehow, he'd broken a bone in his right front leg. I felt the break and considered trying to splint it, but it was straight and he was a good patient. He layed around a lot anyway and he would just lay around more than usual as he was healing.

He eventually made a full recovery. The experience had surpising lasting effect on him. He started going off hunting more! I would have expected the opposite, but his hunting career really took off after his injury. His specialty has become catching gophers. I have seen him consuming the better parts of gophers three days in a row.

We can still count on him at regular feeding time. And he still spends a lot of time on the back porch, mostly looking for affection. But he has progressed to pulling more than his own weight on the farm. Go figure?

Some ABC's for U and I

A is for Ability.
"Ability is a poor man's wealth." Matthew Wren
B is for Business.
"Always tell yourself: The difference between running a business and ruining a business is i." Frank Tyger
C is for Chance.
"There are no chances so unlucky from which clever people are not able to reap some advantage; and none so lucky that the foolish are not able to turn them to their own disadvantage." Francois De La Rochefoucauld
D is for Desire.
"We should aim rather at leveling down our desires than leveling up our means." Aristotle
E is for Effort.
"Whatever your work is, dignify it with your best thought and effort." Esther Baldwin York
F is for Freedom.
"The basic test of freedom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than in what we are free not to do." Eric Hoffer
G is for Giving.
"No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions; he had money too." Margaret Thatcher
H is for Health.
"Health is the vital principle of bliss." James Thomson
I is for Industry.
"The way to wealth is as plain as the way to market. It depends chiefly on two words: industry and frugality; that is, waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both." Benjamin Franklin
J is for Joy.
"Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit." Hosea Ballou
K is for Kindness.
"In nature there's no blemish but the mind; none can be called deformed but the unkind." William Shakespeare
L is for Living.
"To live is not to learn, but to apply." Legouve'
M is for Money.
"The safest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it in your pocket." Kin Hubbard
N is for Nature.
"In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences." Robert G. Ingersoll
O is for Opportunity.
"An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity." Winston Churchill
P is for Prosperity.
"That some should be rich shows that others may become rich and, hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise." Abraham Lincoln
Q is for Quality.
"People forget how fast you did a job - but they remember how well you did it." Howard W. Newton
R is for Respect.
"Reverence for life demands for all that they should sacrifice a portion of their own lives for others." Albert Schweitzer
S is for Spirit.
"I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do." Helen Keller
T is for Talent.
"Shun no toil to make yourself remarkable by some one talent." Seneca
U is for Usefulness.
"The function of man is not to attain an object, but to fulfill a purpose; not to accomplish, but to be accomplished." S.E. Stanton
V is for Virtue.
"Sincerity and truth are the basis of every virtue." Confucius
W is for Wealth.
"Wealth, like happiness, is never attained when sought after directly. It comes as a by-product of providing a useful service." Henry Ford
X is for eXample.
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." Mark Twain
Y is for Yahoos.
"It is the peculiar quality of a fool to percieve the faults of others and to forget his own." Cicero
Z is for Zingers.
"In laughter there is always a kind of joyousness that is incompatible with contempt or indignation." Voltaire

A Competitive Edge

Boy, does it take a lot of effort to best the competition? Talent and hard work get pushed to extremes, just to get a small step up.  The typical difference between the best and the runner up is only ten percent.

How do you capitalize on a ten percent advantage? That takes salemanship. It's a difficult balancing act. If you overstate your ten percent advantage, there can be misunderstanding. Your honesty can come into question and you could be branded a bragger. Understating your edge will not get you noticed. You will fall into the crowd of the also ran, despite all your extra effort to achieve a higher position.

The more competitive the enviroment, the more things can get stretched to capture attention.  Authors have to be edgy, speakers have to say something controversial, entertainers must display pizazz! The audience has a short attention span.  People are busy and don't like to waste time with the trivial ordinary.  It takes something abnormal to catch their attention.

It's got to be a red hot spark to ignite the fuel in a high compression environment. If you can get their engine started, they will spend another five seconds looking closer.  You have to risk being edgy in order to publicize your edge.

There are few experts in the world. Most of us have a broad knowledge of several subjects. Not many run very deep on any particular thing. Generalists are going to have trouble differentiating ten percent in most subject matter. To the casual observer, there is no apparent difference. What incentive do they have to choose the better option, if they can't tell the difference?

I love Amazon for this reason. They have found a way to make it so easy to compare products. I feel like an informed consumer for nearly every purchase I make. They have a quick visual rating system for the busy bodies, and you can read reviews for more detailed information. I am mostly ignorant of the variety of goods that I want to purchase. They found ways to make learning easy and quick.

When learning is not so easy and quick, it takes a commitment of time to the subject. Sometimes salesmanship is best directed at that objective: getting the customer interested in learning more. If you have the superior product and your customer arrives at that conclusion on their own, it is far more impactful than giving them the raw data up front.

Salesmanship is educational. How can you help your subjects to learn? Many people are resistant to learning. They are too busy and have higher priorities. When I detect that situation, I suggest that they make the simple comparison on price.

Price is a relatively easy comparison to make. Establish an even quantifiable measure and compare how much you get for the same dollar. It could be mass, weight, or pieces that you get in return. All other factors deemed equal, why not try to stretch your dollar? We all want the most for the money.

In the case of matching prices, we have a dilemna. We have to compare the next value contributing factor: Quality. This is often a little more difficult. Sometimes it takes a little expert knowledge to discern a ten percent difference in quality.

Most people don't have the capacity to become experts in every subject that they shop. Educational salesmanship takes a lot of added effort. Is it worth it?

It took extraordinary effort, sometimes extreme effort to achieve a competitive edge. Why not make the extra effort it takes to commmunicate that?

How much Hay to feed?

"The more, the better!" My enthusiastic, capitalist spirit immediately responds. "I'll make more of it!"

But, seriously, in the small bales business, you meet a lot of new people. A few of those people are green and learning.  How much hay to feed is a very common concern.

The first consideration is the quality of hay.  It stands to reason that the better the Relative Feed Value and the higher the percentage of Total Digestive Nutrients, the lesser the quantity is needed.  Hay quality can vary widely from farmers to farmers, field to field, and cutting to cutting. There are scientific methods for measuring quality, but most people are just looking for general guidelines.  I have over a decade worth of experience feeding cattle, horses, and sheeps.

Horse nutrition is the most complex and intimidating.  There are volumes of books on the subject. Mistakes are expensive. I will only share the most basic observations of horse feeding and recommend further study on the subject.

I have more confidence with sharing tips on feeding cows, sheeps, and goats.  The starting point that I recommend is 5% of bodyweight.  It's easy math and gets you in the ballpark.  Take a 100# ewe for example. 10% is 10#, just move the decimal then split it in half.  So, 5# would be my daily ration to start with.

I recommend feeding twice a day, so you would feed half of the daily ration in the morning and the other half in the evening. The reduction of waste over feeding once a day is significant enough to warrant the extra effort.

When herbivores are fed a large quantity, they pick through it to get their full of the sweetest stuff.  When they come back later to eat again, a lot of the good feed left is soiled and they will not eat it.  In those instances, their fiber intake suffers and you have to feed more to make up for the waste.

I stress 5% as a good start, because of all the other variables.  The weather, the animal health, alternative food stuff, supplements, and hay quality are all factors.  The good news is that you can observe your animals' behaviors as indicators to offer more hay or taper back.

What is the interest at feeding time?  Are they overly enthusiastic?  Are their feeders empty?  Do they stay in one feeding spot or hunt around?  All of those observations can tell you about how much you are feeding. Horses, however, are unique in this aspect.

A horse's favorite pastime is eating.  They will eat all day, every day out of boredom.  Left alone in a sufficient pasture, they will eventually turn it into a nuclear waste land.  1) Don't mistake a horse's enthusiasm as hunger. 2) Don't judge their clean feeder as insufficient. 3) Volume by body weight and body conditioning are probably your best indicators.

Cows, sheeps, and goats won't eat all day long.  They stop when they are satiated and will lay down, chew cud, and meditate. It typically takes about four hours out of the day for them to get their full.  If you are feeding twice a day, you should see them losing interest after a couple of hours each time. If they are taking longer, that should be considered with other indicators that you may not be feeding enough.

How Debt creates a Bubble

There are plenty of big spenders out there that are dependent on creditors to live beyond their means.  Non-discetionary spending leads to enormous amounts of debt.  That behavior and all the hot air used to justify it creates abnormal financial bubbles.  Bubbles burst, eventually.  What have we learned from our past?

Remember the big real estate bubble only ten years ago?  When the big spenders were flying high there was a lot of hot air justifying the irresponsible spending and touting a "new" normal.  For a lot of political reasons, money was being lent at greater amounts and to more people than ever before.  The political correctness called them  "sub-prime" loans.  The lenders found out that they could make money off of loans that they didn't expect paid back.  They could profitably lend money to folks without the will or the ability to pay it back, so long as it didn't get out of control.

The typical bubble formation starts innocent enough.  A responsible buyer finds an interesting property and performs diligence in preparing a reasonable offer.  They weigh all the negatives against the positives and come up with a number.  But even before they can submit their offer, another buyer quickly appears without concern for the value.  With a pocket full of loaned money, they don't hesitate to make a full price offer.

The neighbors across the street take notice of how fast and how much the property sold for.  They decide to list their property with comparable amenities for ten percent higher.  It sells immediately.  The escalation continues and the bubble is formed.  Extra money in loose hands perverts the natural worth of everything.

Eventually, the loose money runs out.  The early careless buyers use all of their available credit and get to the point where they need to sell their house to continue their lavish lifestyle or avoid bankruptcy.  They are shocked and dismayed when they realize that nobody wants to buy it for what they paid for it.  Nevertheless, it becomes increasingly important to sell, so they drop the price.  When their neighbors get in the same boat, they lower their price too.  Almost as quickly as the bubble was formed, it begins to break.

Before everybody realizes what is happening, their property values have dropped significantly.  They don't want to continue paying on a property worth so much less than what they are paying!  Daunted, they just stop making payments and the foreclosure process begins.  The foreclosure system is designed so that the lenders still come out ahead, but only for a normal amount of defaults.  When the rate of defaults exceeds the designed system, the lenders find themselves in financial trouble! 

The business investors are among the first to see the significance.  They don't want their money invested in firms that will not be able to earn a profit in the fore-seeable future.  The mass hysteria from the total collapse of one sector, bleeds off into another sector.  The whole "house of cards" comes crashing down.

That was all ten years ago; so what?  History doesn't repeat itself, exactly.  We have a lot of smart people whom instituted changes and laws so that can't happen again.  Perhaps the most significant of those are contained in the Dodd-Frank bill?  Aren't they currently in the process of dismantling that bill?

What is a bubble anyway?  How can we recognize it?  A bubble occurs whenever loose money and the hot-air accompanying it increase the value of property.

So what are some property values at today?  In many of our prospering cities, the median property value is at 16 times the average local wage.  If the average wage earner had the ability to pay half of their income on a mortgage, it would take about 32 years to pay it off.  The average wage earner can not do that due to interest, taxes, cost of living and OTHER debts!  The top three OTHER debts are classified as student loans, consumer debt and automobile debt.

Student loan debt can not be defaulted under current law.  However, legislation can be created by swaying public opinion and that has been in motion for over a decade.  I expect we will see some form of "foregiveness" at tax payers' expense in the next four years.

Consumer debt and credit card spending is volatile.  It is currently very high and that is never a good thing.  Often times, the higher levels of credit are anchored by home ownership.  That indirect relationship creates a covert property value bubble.

Automobile debt has grown to second place in the typical American household.  Not only is it high, but it has exceeded record levels.  This is alarming in itself, but the hot air from the "experts" are quelling concern because "things are different".

Loose money for auto loans has created an obvious bubble in vehicle valuations.  Consumers are borrowing more than ever for the vehicle they commute in to their underpaid jobs from their overpriced homes! 

Things are different.  How are these things related to the crash of ten years ago?  The warning signs are more covert.  The loose money is from other sources than the government subsidized sub-prime mortgages, yet the real estate bubble is still forming.  The loose money is perverting valuation and that is very similar to the circumstances that led to the last financial collapse.

Thinking like an Immigrant

What makes America so appealing that would encourage an individual to pull up roots, leave their home country, friends, and most of their family?  They are putting so much at risk: their livelihood, their relationships, and ultimately their lives.

Free Enterprise.

For most of the immigrants that I know the best personally, the chances offered by free enterprise are the highest motivation.  Most of us home grown Americans take free enterprise for granted.  There's a whole lot of other places in the world that inhibit opportunity with laws, culture, and corruption.

Just being born in the USA is like winning the lottery of life.  You are born into millions of opportunities for a better life.  Many immigrants arrive looking for employment, but are destined for self employment.  Free enterprise offers the best chance of success towards that goal.

Why do so many immigrants realize so much success in the USA?  Despite so many barriers - not the least of which being the language, they are able to surpass many homegrown Americans toward economic prosperity.  My observation is cliche', but it is because they work harder and smarter.

Work ethic is a requisite.  Nothing moves without being pushed or pulled.  I don't know of a single successful immigrant that is not a hard worker. 

Duty is held in high regards.  Duty of 365 days a year.  Duty doesn't take a holiday off, it doesn't call in sick, it doesn't offer excuses.  It is a complete dedicated effort.  No sandbagging allowed!

So many homegrown Americans are lacking that motivation.  Many are complacent underachievers.  Some are self defeating pessimists and others are malcontents.  A few spoiled children that never grow up and a few are overly ego-tistical.

A had a friend who was a talented bike racer.  He would train very hard for a race only to go out the night before and get drunk?  Some people have such big egos that they sabotage their own efforts so they have a ready excuse for failure.  They never have to look close and serious at themselves because of the obvious reason for failure that they provide.

There is no sandbagging among successful immigrants.  They don't play that way.  They were held back in their homelands.  Remove the reasons of failure that were beyond their control and LOOK OUT!

Although, hard work is essential, we all know that it is not the only ingredient.  You can work very hard on a treadmill without getting anywhere.  Successful immigrants don't confuse action with progress.  They are adept at working smarter.

They see hidden opportunities, they establish a goal, and then they go after it.  They are inherintly risk takers and don't fear failure.  But they do not expect immediate gratification.  They are measured optimistic and certainly not self defeating.

Many of them suffered defeat in their homeland.  Usually the fault was none of their own.  They were working hard and smart, but somebody changed the rules!  That kind of thing can happen in America too, but it is far less common.

Americans hate corruption.  We also hate anything less than fair play.  But we LOVE a figher and a winner!  Just ask General Patton.  A fighter, a winner, a smart, hard worker thrives in the free enterprise of the USA.

Shopping Locally - for Sagacity

Financial success is aplenty if you look for it.  From an early age, I have been cognizant of learning from seemingly unlikely sources.  Business philoshophies and strategies have always peaked my interest.  So with my parabolic reciever aimed in that direction,  I have gotten a lot of repeat strong signals leading me to believe there is some truth to the matters.

"First, we find a way to make money, and then we just do that over and over again."  It is a local rancher's recipe for good business.  Seemingly simple, the first part can prove a lot more difficult than it sounds.  Especially in agriculture when it can be like hitting a moving target.

You can be profitable one year, do the same thing and lose money in consecutive years.  The lesson in that realization is to expand the definition by finding something that works more often than not. 

The second part of that strategy is just as challenging.  Controlling all of the variables to ensure a repeat performance can be very difficult if not impossible.  I think the key is in stocking away a surplus to help you make it through times when forces out of your control are against you. 

It might be stated in other more modern words: "Follow the money."  If you have found a profitable business, say in selling beef, don't modify your whole operation to start selling hay.  It sounds like simple common sense, but this mistake is made in all levels.

Remeber when Coke changed their original recipe?  They had an established winner, but thought they could do better with "New Coke".  The resulting fiasco caused a significant loss in market share and a prompt retreat back to what was working.

"First we ask how can we make it better.  Second, is how can we make it cheaper."  This was the simple guiding principle of a NW food manufacturing equipment manufacturer.  I fell in love with it's simplicity, but it is very difficult in application.  Especially in the high tech business they compete in.  Nevertheless, it focusses on two important business goals: quality and cost.

The competitive nature of business requires improvement.  How can you do it or make it better?  Creative thinking and engineering really pays off here.  But do not forget about the second part!

Anything in the world can be improved if money was no object.  In business, money is the objective - so making it better economically is what's important.  Making it better for less than the competition is a fundamental advantage.

"Now you boys always remember this:  It's not how hard you tamp a post, it's how many times."  That old cowboy at my very first paying job was referring to more than building fence.  Henry Ford implementing mass production as we know it comes to mind.  Quality gets so much press, but quantity is just as economically important. 

Many higher profits can be attributed to mass production.  High yields and big numbers can cover up a lot of little problems.  The bigger your production numbers the lower the cost per unit. Don't try to do things in one big effort.  It's the sustained effort that is going to add up.

"The more junk you've got, the more headaches you've got!"  I heard this repeated from the same local rancher many times.  It illustrates the importance of simplicity of design.  The fewer moving parts in your operation, the more robust it becomes. 

Accountants value this as return on assets (ROA).  The more efficient you are with utilization, the easier it is to be profitable.  It's not what you've got that counts as much as what you do with what you've got.  Make the most of what you have before you go out to upgrade your "assets".

"Grease is still cheaper than metal, last time I checked."  I saved this bit of wisdom spoken by another local rancher as my favorite for last.  My whole professional career was based on this premise.

The more sophisticated and better that I became at preventing problems, the greater my worth was realized.  "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."  is another way of saying it.  It's about working pro-actively to attend to small details before they multiply or grow into major events.

Grease is cheaper than metal and so is paint.  Wax is cheaper than paint.  Armor-all is cheaper than vinyl and molded plastic.  Do you feel like you are vainly wasting your time  by waxing paint or armor-alling seats and dashboards?

Why not change a hydraulic hose before it blows?  Waiting for failure is going to still cost the hose plus the oil spewed at $12/ gallon and worse it could cost you a new hydraulic pump if it runs dry long enough!

To summarize all these tidbits: Attend to details so you can fully utilize a few assets to mass produce a better product or service at a competitive price that you can usually make money at.  That's all you need to know to make a living in the intermountain northwest!

Mined Over Matter

There are numerous studies about the reduction of food value in our modern fruits and vegetables.  It seems that the carrot you eat today is not as packed full of our bodys' essentials as it was years ago.

Modern ag practices have shouldered much of the blame.  The trend has been bigger and bigger and quanity over quality.  Yield is the primary concern and minute compromises of quality are ignored.  If the customer can not see the difference then it is not a significant difference?

Ever increasing yields by means of genetic manipulation, high rates of synthetic fertilizers, and high rates of herbicides and pesticides are all commonplace.  But the often overlooked result of those practices can be the root cause of substance depletion in our food supply - the resulting depletion of soil organic matter (SOM).

SOM has been mined out of our soils for decades.  That practice has necessitated replacing those nutrients with high levels of fertilizer to maintain economical yields.  The trend for big ag and everything getting larger and more expensive creates the demand for evolving crops with higher yields.

Yield is king!  To make margins profitable in the modern ag economy, you must continually improve yield.  There is zero tolerance for imperfections that would compromise yields.  High rates of herbicides and pesticides to the rescue!

All of those practices destroy the biology at work in the soil.  Improving the soil has not been a concern of big ag.  Could that be the reason for the decline in nutrition of our food supply?

I have been taking steps and making decisions to improve the soil on my farm for five years now.  I started out with an average SOM of less than one percent.  This is typical for my area of farm ground that is continuously tilled.  Ironically, our farms was certified organic for six years and that contributed to the destruction of organic matter.  Organic farmers have few options for controlling pesky weeds, so they often resort to additional tillage.

Pulling iron through your top soil kills the micro organisms at work trying to reproduce and increase your SOM.  It's analogous to raking scars on your skin.  The health of your skin and body would seriously be compromised from that continual practice.

For five years I have been instituting conservation ideas and the SOM appears to be responding to those efforts.  This laboratory data that I am basing this assumption on was the source of some controversy last year.

My field man has a lot of years of experience in this valley.  He has not witnessed such improvements in SOM and immediately concluded that the laboratory erred.  I suspect that I am his first "no-till" client.  I base this assumption on looking at farmers' fields whenever I have to drive somewhere (without running off the road!).  This areas farmers are prominently traditionalist, so it wasn't a surprise when he told me that he has not seen much change from one percent in SOM.  "The ground here is not capable of that much improvement."

He went on to educate me of the massive amounts of dump truck loads of importing material that it would mathematically require just to raise a single acre by a single percentage point.  I didn't offer any argument to the contrary because you cannot be too sure about these things initially.  Time will ultimately tell the truth, but a related university study came to mind that illustrates the great mass that life can accumulate out of "nothing-ness".

This particular agricultural university study was to identify the source of the mass required to grow a massive tree.  Measures were regularly recorded of the contained soil, the water added, and the mass of any added fertilizer.  They concluded that the mass supplied to grow the massive tree came out of the air!  The masses recorded from the soil, water, and fertilizer were negligible.

This leads me to believe that the magic in nature can create tons or living matter from the air that we breathe.  Providing of course that we do our part to keep conditions favorable for life.  So that has been my fundamental guiding principle: provide favorable conditions to support life in the soil.

Food, shelter, and clothing?  Life in the soil is not all that different.  It needs food, water, and sunlight.  What it doesn't need is harmful disturbances: tilling, poisons, or pH imbalances.  It's taken a lot of patience and tolerance for less than perfection to improve conditions for the soil life.  The explosion of earth worm populations are a good indicator.

My most recent laboratory tests, along with other observations, lead me to believe that I am on the right track.  My SOM has improved from less than one percent to average about three percent.  Another macro-indicator, the Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) has also improved from single digits to average in the middle teens.  These improved numbers along with field observations of the soil composition and our increasing yields with lower additional fertilizer inputs all point to improving conditions for the matter that really matters on our farm.

A Tough Act to Follow

In every workplace, in every work group, there occasionally exists a prototypical employee.  They are born leaders by example.  Their efforts and history earn respect from all of their peers.  They become tough acts to follow.

Rich Cilantro was my first tought act to follow.  He had a great rapport with all the workers all the way up through management.  He was able to fix problems quickly and efficiently.  He made equipment operators' jobs easy and performed his task with a flair that left everybody in a great mood.

Suffice it to say, when I was the new guy on that job, my immediate expectations were unachievable.  There was one person in particular who was especially critical of my early failures.  She expected me to walk on water the same way that Rich did, and would accept nothing less.  Even as my experience grew and I gained respect from her peers, she was still holding out.

The catalyst that won her over was extreme.  She saw something noble in my efforts to help a co-worker who nearly lost her life getting tangled up in a machine.  From that moment forward, she became one of my strongest supporters.  We became friends, allies, and teammates.  I pity the fool who tried to fill my shoes after that!

My next workplace had a hero named Larry.  On top of all the qualities that Rich had, Larry had a very long tenure - 19 years!  He had gained mastery of his position and kept everything running as smooth as a Swiss watch.  Luckily, I was not to immediately follow his act, that was Tony.  Tony turned out to be the polar opposite of Larry.

Tony could not endeavor to meet the expectations that Larry established and nor would he even try.  His purpose was purely self-serving.  He didn't make any effort that would not benefit himself in short order. 

All the other workers were quick to catch on and would not do much to further his selfish goals.  The machines that he was responsible for performed very poorly, the operators didn't care, and for a long two years it was a dreadful work environment.  He'd finally made things bad enough that the union would stop covering him and worked with management to expel him.  I was hired shortly after that.

What a mess that I inherited!  The machines and operators were all down trodden and looking for hope.  A few of the managers who were only told highlights of my resume had hoped that I was Larry "re-incarnate"!   One of them introduced me to a group as the "next" Larry.

Being the new guy, looking for direction, and trying to make quick friends - I accepted the idea.  I vowed to do things the way Larry did.  Little did I know all that entailed!

It was like a campaign promise.  I was sold to the spirit of Larry's contribution, but not the letter of the law!  Whenever I started to do something a little different than Larry, I was quickly set straight.  In almost every circumstance, I would humbly listen and learn Larry's way.  Until one day it became preposterous.

"Paper towels are used around here to clean lenses -lenses for cameras.  Cameras are electrical, so that is an electrical expense."

"Okay?"  I responded to the manager's directive.

"I want you to go to supply, charge paper towels to the electrical department, and I want you to keep those dispensers full."

"I don't think paper towels can be classified as electrical?"

"That is the way Larry did it.  Didn't you agree to do things the way Larry did?"

"Yes.  But this seems to be ridiculous.  Or at least it seems that way to me, but I can check with my boss?"

"I am your boss and I am telling you to maintain those paper towels!"

"No.  I won't do it.  Not without checking with my boss."

"What?  Did you say 'No'?  That is insubordination!"

"Maybe so?  I will go and discuss this with my boss right now."

My boss was more than a little perturbed to discover that his department was financing paper towels.

"and furthermore, what is your pay grade?"

I wasn't familiar with the union's stratification of laborers, but I knew where he was going.

"You are a twelve.  We don't pay grade twelve to change paper towels!"

My campaign among the managers and operators took a step sideways.  They were not sure if I was more like Larry or (heaven forbid) just another Tony.  Un-deterred, I proceeded to to my best and follow the ways of Larry, for the most part.

A few months later, I would get the opportunity to meet Larry.  He had kept in touch with friends at the plant and agreed to spend a day with me to help me with some idiosyncrasies.  He was greeted with many smiles and hand shakes.  I knew that I was in special presence.  I absorbed everthing he shared with me like a sponge.

I was not there long enough to ever achieve Larry status.  Nevertheless, I made quite a significant impact during my short time there.  A new opportunity more aligned with my long term goals had come up and the next "Tough Act to Follow" was waiting there for me.

Terry was a living legend.  The more that I got to know him, the more I learned to admire him.  He was not only the prototypical technical employee, he was a great role model.  In the short five years that I worked with him, I learned so much.  Not just the tangible technical items of which he was an authority,  but many intangibles like work ethic, honor, and character.

Unfortunately, there were managers at that place that were disheveled by the respect bestowed upon Terry.  Amongst working men, there are two modes of respect: respect from title and the greater respect that is earned and proven.  Those managers wanted greater respect for their titles.  When Terry would inform them of follies in their directives, they percieved it as a threat to their status.

Depsite that caustic environment, Terry always kept his chin up and his nose to the grindstone.  He personified the indomitable spirit.  Everything he did was to the best of his ability.  His ability was substantial!  And above all of that, no matter what the situation, he was always kind.  He left a very tough act to follow!

Lucky for me, I ended up leaving before he did!

Planning and Scheduling

One good thing about a long career is exposure to a few world class mentors.  One such person, was a long term professional consultant.  He made a good living selling world class benchmarks.  His expertise was equipment maintenance and his silver bullet was planning and scheduling.

Any business that employs equipment suffers breakdowns and the associated high costs.  If you can not produce, you can't make money.  Lower quality and lower returns on investment are typical from surprising events.

There is significant cost savings to be had from fixing problems pro-actively.  If you grease a bearing, it doesn't sieze, the shaft doesn't get undercut, the sprocket doesn't jam and cause the chain to buckle and the motor doesn't burn up.  It's a lot like the fable of the horshoe nail.  The kingdom is lost for want of a horse shoe nail.

Without being clairvoyant or having a crystal ball, how can you predict such failures?  There are a lot of easy things to begin with.  Most manufacturers give recommended maintenance periodicals based on data.  All that typically requires is tracking the number of hours of useage.

Going beyond the basic scheduled maintenance requires a bit more effort.  There are very many modern and sometimes expensive techniques for predictive maintenance.  Infra-red cameras, vibration monitors, lubricant analysis, mega-ohmeters, ultra-sonic detection, and analytical computer programs just to name a few.  Maybe everybody can not cost justify such equipment, but you can examine the purpose of these tools to reveal some basic indicators.

Heat, vibration, and sound coupled with a general familiarity with a machine can go a long way.  Frequent inspections with your eyes, ears, nose, and touch are often times sufficient.  The goal is to identify and quantify a problem so it can be managed before it becomes more significant.  The more you can manage pro-actively, the greater your cost advantage is going to be.

I had the good fortune of spending an entire week in training with an expert.  "Planning and Scheduling" was the topic of the classes.  The purpose of this lofty venture was to gain a competitive advantage by continually improving at fixing problems efficiently and timely.  This would result is lower cost of production and increased profits over competitors that simply run to failure.

One very important theme was measuring.  You can not objectively manage what isn't measured.  To measure our progression, we kept records on how well the actual results matched our plans.  The main metric ended up being scheduled time.  We planned and scheduled events breaking them down into ever smaller actions and each action had an allotted time to perform.  After a scheduled maintenance event, we'd compare actual numbers to the plan.

We had regular Planner/Scheduler meetings to share and discuss our results and upcoming events.  In the beginning, I was head of the class with actual time predictions in the 90 percentile.  The remaining half dozen planners all came in around 70-80%.

At first, the others belittled my achievements:

"Yeah, he's got great numbers but he has the smallest crew."

"He's cheating by doing a lot of his own scheduled work!"

Some of my extra efforts started to catch on.  I tried to implement every concievable idea that would prevent a task from taking longer.  I personally checked inventory of parts. I used penetrating oil on parts that were to be taken apart later.  I would secure specialty tools in advance to guarantee availability. I had face to face discussions with individuals of my crew fishing for ideas to streamline our work.

The more effort that went into stomping out and refining details, the smoother everything went.  Workers were happier knowing more of what to expect. The jobs didn't go into overtime. Costs were lowered and production schedules were more reliable.

The Power Factor Factor

"How much are we paying for electrical penalties?"

"What?"  the plant manager was caught off guard.

"Can I show you something?""

In the interest of finding meaningful significant opportunities to benefit my employer, I was always on the look out.  I was constantly evaluating systems and machines.  A great advantage of an ever expanding education is the expansion of your opportunities. 

During my college days, we learned a little bit about this concept of Power Factor.  It is one of the most significant metrics of efficient electrical power.  When the current lags the voltage, it takes more power to do the same amount of work.  It's like driving your car uphill, you still get where you are going, but you use more gas.

This effect is very significant at factories that use a lot of power.  They can afford to go to great expenses to "level" the power factor.  Not only do they reduce their usage, but they avoid penalties levied by the power company tacked on to cover higher transmission costs.

I was a newby when I first recognized the systems at the plant were sorely in disrepair.  My first inquiry went to the senior electricians there.  They were all too familiar with what I was talking about.  They had made it known to the chiefs, the chiefs had little interest in what the scouts found.  The problem persisted for years.

Undeterred, I thought that maybe I could deliver a novel approach?  Maybe I could explain it in better layman terms?  It was obviously a big contribuition to be made to our cost of production.  Surely, the chiefs would take interest if they fully understook the impact?

As a newby, I was optimistic about developing a progressively improving working relationship with my new boss.  Surely, this was the sort of thing that he hired me for?

I gave the problem a lot of thought.  Knowing that the electricians had already brought it up, but failed to sell an idea - I dug out old textbooks and researched the internet.  I wanted to  be well prepared for challenges.  I wanted to sell the idea, but careful not to go too far being the FNG.

The next day, I asked my boss if we could talk.  He invited me to his office.  I didn't beat around the bush about what I had found.  Knowing that he didn't have an electrical background, I thought I had dumbed it down enough to plainly understand.

He thanked me for bringing it to his attention and indicated that he had no prior knowledge of the situation.  He promptly dismissed me to go perform some menial task.

After my departure, he called in his confidante.  The two went far back as friends and workmates.  It was rumored that he held some kind of electrical license in a far away strange state. 

My discussions with the boss's right hand man usually left me walking away shaking my head.  He delighted in telling stories about how stupid the electricians that worked for him were.  I couldn't relate to him, but felt very sorry for the poor guys under his direction.

It didn't come as a surprise that the issue died in his office.  I would have been surprised if his buddy had even heard of power factor.  It would be a long time before I had another opportunity to bring the subject up again.

It was during a scheduled down day and I found myself alone in the MCC room with the plant manager.  He was looking straight up at overhead conduit runs and I startled him with my question:

"How much are we paying for power factor penalties?"

"What?"

He followed me to the non-functioning apparatus.  I explained to him the purpose of this big machine with the large footprint.  Why it was occupying its space in our limited spacial room.  He seemed to take some interest.

The next thing I saw was my boss and his right hand hustling on their new top priority.  They never said a word to me or asked any of the payroll electricians a single question.  They hired outside constractors and consultants over the matter.  We were all curious, but the whole affair was cloaked in secrecy. 

Eventually, we got some new major hardware.  Although, it was never fully activated!?  It was about a year later when I petitioned my direct supervisor for a chance to bring it on line.  I found that the system was automatically shutting down because of detected harmonics being out of spec.  My boss instructed me to over-ride it, which I reluctantly did - and we were finally out of penalty!

I bumped into the plant manager in the same place some couple of years later.  I thought it safe to ask him for some closure to my curiosity.

"How much was that problem costing us?"

His vague and indirect response was still cloaked in secrecy...

Power Harmonics

"This is awesome Dude!  We only read about problems as bad as this in textbooks!"

Nerds like me.  We find interest and excitement in topics that most people find boring and trivial.

The Power Quality Engineers were from out local utility.  They were sent to help identify and quantify our newly discovered problem with power quality - harmonics.

We first became aware of the mysterious problem after changing out a massive 300hp motor for the third time in a short duration.  Our leader was a bit of a simpleton and relied on shaky resources with topics that he did not understand.

He had burned bridges with one of our motor vendors and was setting fire to our latest vendor.  He was accusing them of poor quality workmanship on the motor rebuild.

Both vendors were long established and reputable shops.  His accusations were based on insufficient knowledge from limited people.  His bull headed approach to our valued vendors caused many related business hardships.  This was one very conspicuous example.

Both vendors had re-examined their entire processes and concluded no wrong doing on their end.  They had recommended that we do the same diligence on our end.  Our leader either didn't understand or acted in malice, until now.

We had data logging equipment recording over the past week and now the engineers were evaluating that data.  The level of harmonics were a magnitude that they had never seen before.  "So cool!"

In layman terms, harmonics are like driving a car on a road full of potholes.  It beats the crap out of your equipment until the insulation fails and you suffer a meltdown. 

No doubt that this was also the reason for our power factor compensation equipment failures.  Both harmonics and power factor were out of whack, but the PF is a whole other story...

Long story short, filters were ordered for our biggest frequency drives.

Art vs. Science - perfect hay bale

In the simplest quality test for hay, the perfect bale would have a Relative Feed Value over 185, Crude Protein over 22%, and Total Digestive Nutrients over 56%.

Hay for those kind of numbers would pretty much have to be pure alfalfa. There are plenty of good arguments for having grass in your forage, but quantitively speaking would dilute your quality numbers (of this subject).

Assuming that you have grown a top quality stand (which is a subject all its own), you have to first decide on the timing of the cut.  The plant reaches maturity at bloom. Cutting before bloom maximizes nutrition. The trade off is reduced yeild and stand longevity.

The best accepted compromise for quality, yeild, and longevity is when the stand is at 10% bloom.  This is our first subjective, artistic opportunity: how do you accurately determine that timing?  It's not practical to count every plant. You have to settle for how you see it.

Having decided that it is time to cut, brings the next decisions.  How are you going to cut? What time of day? How short? What pattern? Are you going to condition the stems?

There are so many different ways to proceed cutting. My preference is to cut with sickle instead of rotary, and leave four inches. I don't condition stems for the belief that stem moisture makes the feed more palatable.  And I cut at the time of day that maximizes carbohydrates.  It's my philosophy to maximize all available nutrients in a package of preserved forages.

If you make it so far that you have layed the field down according to plan, your next round of options is available. The most controversial may be to rake or not to rake.  I am in the school of rakers for two reasons: 1) it halves the number of turns that the pto driven baler has to make 2) it allows for a more uniform dried windrow.

The biggest drawback of raking is leaf loss.  All three of the quality numbers that we started with are highly dependent on leaf retention.  Timing your raking to minimize leaf loss is very important.

Since the leaves start out flexible and well attached and they only fall off after they get dry and brittle, why not rake while it's wet?  The rake doesn't work until it's dried a bit. It tight ropes wet windrows trapping excess moisture inside. 

I prefer to wait until the windrow needs another full day before baling.   That's hard to put a number on because it is dependent on so many things: the ground moisture, the temperature, humidity, bulk, wind speed and direction. I usually rake a little later than convention dictates, but I compensate by moving slow.

Other farmers are laughing at me creeping along at a snail's pace trying to conserve leaves.  I only go fast enough to turn the row over one and one half turns. That's it. I try to leave the rows as wide as will still fit in the baler, and I like a little air space between the two into one formation.

Now comes the next step. When to bale?  It's universally agreed that avoiding the hottest time of day is best for leaf retention.  But your target moisture can be a source of discussion.  I like to try for 15%. When it gets close, I monitor conditions every few hours.  I'd rather be early than late because you can't put the right amount of moisture back.  Many times I have jumped the gun.  I have learned to make a couple of bales, stop, evaluate, and if need be - shutdown.

Once again, the big time operators will be laughing at me.  They trust in their on board analyzers and hay preservatives injectors.

My ways are slow, methodical, and sometimes painstaking. They are necessary for creating the best possible product with what I have.

The art of haymaking is a step dependent, challenging process. You can only stack as good as you bale. You can only bale as good as you have raked. You can only rake as good as you have cut. And you can only cut as good as you have grown.

Business Projects

Expensive and significant projects are commonplace. It is especially true in competitive marketplaces, "If you are not progressing, you can find yourself at a disadvantage." I can relate to every position in a project's process.  For the longest time, I was at the bottom or the middle, but I have been at the top a few times now.

The budget for the project is key!  The birth of a project is a fiscal purpose.  There is a calculated investment to be made and that cost is in comparison to the status quo.  Often times, there is a number of years paying for the investment before a profit is realized. A very significant part of that cost is the project implementation budget.

Why do projects often go over budget?  Even when I was at the bottom, that was a major irritant of mine.  Somebody somewhere was lacking the discipline required to stay under budget.  It could be the engineers overlooked a detail, or a contract labor mishap, an overlooked market fact, or just flat out bad management.

When expensive things go wrong, who is going to take the blame?  The answer to that is the main reason that business likes to hire credentials.  It's the ultimate CYA response to a failure situation, "the people who failed have the credentials to succeed, so it's not my fault!" Sometimes the finger pointing and dodging grows to take precedence over solving the problem.

There will always be side tracks and challenges to overcome.  Expensive projects are inherently complicated.  The best planning and diligence of one person can not uncover every circumstance. Every reasonable effort should be made to that goal.  Unfortunately, that lack of effort is usually the reason for going over budget. The successful effort required is too much for a single person.

To get enough players involved to put forth a successful effort takes "world class" communication.  I saw a lot of problems from the bottom and the middle. When there was a system to communicate those problems, they were overcome with little extra cost. In other circumstances when I was left alone to my grumblings, those little problems became budget busters!

I never forgot the significance of every player's contribution.  When I was at the top, I listened to everyone. Although, I did weigh input differently based upon level of understanding. I did not confuse the level of understanding with their rank, pay, nor credentials. If you are at the top because you are "in the know", you can utilize great ideas from unlikely sources. That cooperation stems from "world class" communication.

It really helped me to pay my dues at the bottom and the middle.  I was irritated so many times by doing the wrong thing and witnessing folly management. I knew that I could do better!  I so badly wanted a chance to prove it!  For people lacking credentials, there is another road. Albeit, a more difficult, time consuming, and subjective road.

If you string together success long enough and often enough? And if somebody is watching that knows what is going on? And if the wind is blowing in the right direction? You might get a chance to orchestrate a project!

I have had a few of those opportunities while working for the "man".  I have added a few more on my own private farm. I am very proud of the fact that EVERY project that I have directed has been completed UNDER budget.  The single most important reason why is "world class" communication.

People and their input must be valued. Opinions and ideas should be heard early and often.  This requires first hand observations, trusting relationships, face to face interactions, and formal meetings.  The more eyes, ears, and hands on the project, the better.  Concerns must be acknowledged and addressed all the way from the bottom to the top.

That type of cohesive, open and honest teamwork is how I define "world class" communication. Problems are better resolved when they are anticipated or addressed early in the process. With a broader source of input, there are far fewer opportunities for things that "go bump in the night" to bust your budget.

The Smart Breaker Story

After a couple of days of planned downtime, the plant was ready to produce again.  Except for one particular breaker that would not reset.

It was not a normal run of the mill breaker, it was a ten thousand dollar smart breaker.  Those were used to control whole MCC sections.  They are sophisticated units, part mechanical with a spring loading mechanism and part electronic with an on board processor and memory.

Not wanting the plant to suffer un-planned downtime, I sprang into action like GI Joe with the Kung-fu grip!  I called the manufacturer.  They connected me to a very knowledgable fellow in tech support.  He instructed me step by step on a 30 minute procedure using a pencil to reactivate the mechanism.

Unknown to me, the plant's engineer (in title only) had already called our local distributor.  They sent three contractors to the plant.  When I looked in, they were trying to remove the breaker.  Only they discovered that the breaker was welded to the bus bars due to our power quality problem.  No problem for the gorillas, they just get bigger tools and use more force!

I tried to stop their madness, but this just caused the engineer to put me in my place:

"They have got to remove that breaker."

"Okay, but then what?"

"We're going to replace it with a new one."

"But, we don't have a new one?"

"Yes we do.  It's only two days out."

"Two days?  Do you know what that downtime is going to cost?  And what about the risk of destroying the bus bars?"

"You guys never mind him.  Just keep doing what you need to..."

If I was to save the plant, I had to get the big cheese involved.  We had to stop the irreversible damage from being done!  I don't know how I did it, but the gorillas were stopped.

The big boss agreed with me on one thing: let's wait until we have a replacement available.  The gorillas were grumpy about packing up their extended pry bars and the engineer was disheveled.  But I got myself a little time and perhaps a chance to do my thing.

I explained what I had learned to my immediate supervisor.  I pleaded for a half hour opportunity to fix that smart breaker.  In that politically charged environment, he reluctantly granted my wish.

I felt like I had to sneak into the MCC room to do my job.  Once inside, I retrieved my notes prescribed by the service tech and thirty minutes later, reset the breaker.

I called my boss with the triumphant news.  He in turn notified the production leads and there was a lot of unhappy workers putting their lunch boxes back down.  They were on their way out the door for an impromptu two day vacation and some hot-shot ruined it!

Everybody at the plant was mad at me for doing my job.  Not the least of which was that engineer that thought he knew better than I did, again.  What's worse?  The plant manager didn't even offer a thanks...