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Celebrating moms on the farm

May 08, 2015

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Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 10th

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

In every language, there’s one word that has numerous meanings.

Love, compassion, dedication, honesty, respect and discipline, just to name a few.

In English, that word is mom.

Sunday, May 10^th is Mother’s Day and worldwide, people will be celebrating all that their mothers do for them.

Just as mothers show all the previously mentioned characteristics, they’re also capable of doing anything.

Nurse, teacher, astronaut, doctor, lawyer and of course, farmer.

Since at least 2010, America’s Farmers and Monsanto have awarded one mother each year with the National Farm Mom of the Year.

The 2015 National Farm Mom of the Year is Shelly Boshart Davis from Albany, Oregon.

“Shelly is a silent giant who walks amongst us all and never brings attention to herself,” wrote Greg Roe of United Way of Linn County. “She always has a hand out to help, give, do or listen. Her days are 16 hours on a normal basis, but she will take on more.”

Davis calls her three daughters her “most important crop.”

Among her many other endeavours, she also authors a blog called “Daughter of a Trucker” where she writes about a rural/urban divide in Oregon.

People can follow her on Twitter @BoshartDavisAg.

Still haven’t gone out to get your mother something? Here are some quick gift ideas:

A Card
It sounds simple enough but a nice card with a heartfelt, handwritten message inside can go a long way.

Hand Cream
A company called Glosters out of England makes a hand cream called Farmers’ Hand Cream. It won’t be here for Mother’s Day but it’s something to help keep her hands strong enough to handle equipment and soft enough to wipe away tears.

Join the conversation and tell us about your farm mom and what makes her so special. If you haven’t gone out to get her something yet, get on it!

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.