It’s been ages since I’ve updated my little blog!
At the time of my last post, I was working at the newspaper
in Idaho Falls and loving it.
Then in June of 2012, I was wooed back to the wireless
Internet industry, seduced by an attractive salary and the idea of rebuilding
Teton Wireless.
But I found that the Internet industry had changed a lot
since my last experience. And I missed
the newspaper business terribly!
So after a year, when I had a chance to return to the newspaper,
I jumped at it.
My new gig is actually with a weekly agricultural
publication. I sell advertising. I love it! 
But there are some challenges.
While I grew up on 10 acres with chickens and horses, where
I gathered eggs and helped "put up" hay, I don't know that much about modern farming and ranching. It shows.
My very first day, I visited accounts with the sales representative
who was training me. We called
on a company that sells tractors – the company is called “Tractor Sales” in
fact- and they bought an ad. They wanted
to include some photos of used tractors and combines which were parked by their
showroom. Luckily, the experienced rep
knew what a combine was and explained to me as we snapped the pictures. She’d held the job for about 14 years, and
she knew everything.
Not long after that, a rancher called to place an ad for a
production sale.
I asked him, "What is that?"
He paused for a moment and then explained: "A production sale is where I sell the horses I’ve been breeding." He then reviewed, rather slowly so I would understand, all of the details: date, time, location and descriptions of the horses. “These horses are athletes,” he said. “They know how to look at a cow.”
“Look AT a cow?” I
asked. “Do you mean look like a cow?”I asked him, "What is that?"
He paused for a moment and then explained: "A production sale is where I sell the horses I’ve been breeding." He then reviewed, rather slowly so I would understand, all of the details: date, time, location and descriptions of the horses. “These horses are athletes,” he said. “They know how to look at a cow.”
The rancher paused again, this time for a long time. “You’re not a farmer, are you?” he chuckled.
“Well. No.” I replied. “But
I want to learn.”
“Just keep asking questions,” he advised.
And I have!
I’m fortunate to be able to call upon the previous rep and my friends Katy, a Montana horse
woman and Eddee, an Idaho Rodeo Queen, for explanations.
When a client says something I don’t understand, I’m not
embarrassed to ask about it. A few folks have seemed exasperated but in most cases, people are happy to explain all about their business. And they can enjoy a laugh at my expense.
I now know that a horse “who knows how to look at a cow” is
suited to working with a herd of cattle, separating individual animals out when
needed and all of the other tasks that a cowboy needs his equine partner to
perform.
I know that a steer "in his working clothes" is a lean, mean
machine. He has very little fat, so no
imperfections can be hidden from view.
I know the local cattle market is strong, that Idaho fields
planted with potatoes increased by 25,000 acres in 2013 and that this year, Idaho
moved into the #1 spot among states producing barley.
I’ve got a lot to learn still. But I think I’m making progress.
Yesterday, one of the new graphic artists working with us at
the paper asked me about an ad I needed to build for a local implement company.
“So what kinds of equipment are in the ad?” she asked. “And
what do they do?”
“Well, combines for harvesting grain,” I rattled
off. “There may be three different kinds
of tractors: track drive, four wheel drive and two wheel drive. Hay and forage equipment includes tedders to
fluff up the rows of hay after it’s cut, and then balers to, well, bale the
hay. Sprayers are just what they sound
like and a windrower…”
“Slow down a little please,” the artist said as she
scribbled notes. “I don’t know all this the way you do.”
