The World Needs More Cowboys - By Madeline Holmes, Wyoming Stock Growers Association

The world needs more cowboys, as the University of Wyoming would say.

But what if I told you we needed farmers and ranchers equally for each day?

Agriculture accounts for more things than you know, especially in the state where the wind always blows. One steer can create many things, one of those coming from the horn is film for your next exposé.

But that’s only one small thing you see, there are uses like intestines for tennis racket strings and anti-aging serums made from bovine brains.

Bones create gelatin, which makes some of your favorite gummy things, and blood helps make healing medicine, and much joy does that bring.

Fat is in your deodorant, making sure you don’t stink, and hair helps create insulation, making sure your house stays warm when the sun sinks.

Of course we all enjoy a nice ribeye steak, but have you ever realized that hide is in the flavorings for so many things that you make?

There are plenty more things made from beef but let’s hop the fence and talk about sheep.

Explosives are made from the fatty acids of sheep, which makes a lot of sense considering how high they can leap.

Surgical sutures that stitch you up might come from their intestines, but was motor oil from lanolin another thing I should mention?

Who doesn’t love baseball? That’s all I’ve gotta say. That sheep hide can be pitched a long, long ways.

From the wool we get our favorite Pendleton things and even oil spill pads to clean up greasy spill stains.

These are just a few ways that Ag impacts your everyday, and we didn’t even get into what a profit it occasionally brings.

From food to fuel, cosmetics and sports, agriculture is a complex industry of sorts.

We owe it to the cowboys, the farmers, the ranchers, and all those in between, for the foods on our tables and the denim of our jeans.

Without agriculture we would be hungry and ill clothed, and our tires wouldn’t drive as smoothly down the roads.

Forests would be overgrown if we didn’t actively graze, making for fire hazards, which nobody wants on any given day.

Agriculturists are stewards of the land, doing what they can with what they have to avoid the range all becoming sand.

Next time you're thinking about Ag think of what they do, for the land, creatures, me, and you.

The world needs more cowboys and that is something that rings true.