Perspective

Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?

By Michael Kelsey

Remember that ol’ country song crooned by George Jones entitled, “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?”

“Who’s gonna fill their shoes? Who’s gonna stand that tall?... Who’s gonna give their heart and soul to get to me and you? Lord, I wonder. Who’s gonna fill their shoes?”

The context of the song is ol’ George wondering aloud who would be the next generation of country singers. Quite honestly, I wonder what his thoughts are today since most “country” radio stations seem to be something other than country … That’s just my opinion of course.

For a moment though, let’s ask the same question that Mr. Jones does, except about our own industry. To put some perspective into the mix, my family and I had the great opportunity to attend the Sellman family reunion in the Chadron/Crawford area in late July. I am proud to be a Sellman and quite honored that they claim me … most of the time anyway! What gives me a great sense of pride is seeing my cousins and their children filling the shoes of their parents as agriculture producers. Oh, the “expertise” may vary a touch to include farming, running stockers, haying, cow-calf and seedstock ranchers and even a few show-steer cows in the bunch (not to mention a cattlemen’s association staff member), but the point is my family sees a future in agriculture! 

Nothing frustrates me more than to hear an agriculture leader remark that they see no future for their children in agriculture and that they are encouraging them to seek a livelihood off the farm or ranch. If a reporter or politician or anyone else questions us about the rise in the average age of the American food producer, the last thing we should tell them is that we see no future for those producers!

Now, I understand completely the complexities of making the transition from one family member to the next. It appears to be more difficult to make a living in agriculture today than it did 20 or 30 (or more) years ago. None of my ancestors ever mentioned that the beef industry was going to be an easy life. In fact, most of the stories I remember Granddad Sellman sharing were about the difficulties and how the family and industry stuck together to overcome them. (I should also mention that I have only admiration for those young folks who followed an interest or talent that led them to a great career away from the family operation. My first choice for a doctor, attorney, politician, mechanic, preacher, chef or any other profession is the person who was raised on an agriculture operation.) 

Enough justifying. I’ll get to the point. There is a future in the beef industry. Just think of the increasing human population alone; there are a lot of mouths to feed! Global beef consumption is rising by 1.7 percent annually. History proves that as people move up in class, they choose beef as a protein more often. Simply put, demand for beef will continue to increase as countries grow their economies.

Certainly the future of our industry doesn’t look like the past, meaning that changes will need to be made. Some of those are brought on by advances in technology, some by our better understanding of the cow itself and some by the need to add value to meet a new demand. The beef industry is a business, and families must be provided for. The Good Lord commands that a man provide for his family. But the beef industry is more than a business, it’s a livelihood and if there is no future in our business, then there is no future in our livelihood.