By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

Biloxi, Mississippi. It’s time to announce the Beef Improvement Federation’s national Seedstock Producer of the Year award. And the winner is…a leading farm family from rural Kansas. This family is using modern technology to constantly improve beef cattle production through the development of improved bulls and heifers.

Last week we learned about Tyson and Emily Mullen in western Kansas. Emily McCurry Mullen grew up in south central Kansas as part of this award-winning farm family at the McCurry Angus Ranch. Her brother John McCurry leads the Angus operation today.

The McCurry family has deep roots in Kansas agriculture. Five McCurry brothers started the Angus operation with two heifers in 1928. The oldest of the brothers was A.J. A.J.’s son Andy met and married Mary who came from an Angus cattle-producing family in Tennessee and was getting a master’s degree in meat science at Kansas State University. Andy and Mary moved to south central Kansas and had Emily and John.

Through the decades, the McCurry family has actively shown cattle and worked to improve the breed. “In the old days, it was their way of marketing,” John McCurry explained. “They would take bulls to the fairs, do well at the shows, sell the bulls and go back for more.”

Emily and John grew up in this tradition and went to lots of cattle shows. “We did it as a family,” Emily said. “It taught us hard work and responsibility.” They were active in 4-H and the Angus youth association. John served on the national junior Angus board.

John joined the livestock judging team at Butler Community College and then K-State. At one contest, he met a young woman on another judging team and ultimately married her. They now have three children of their own.

After graduation, John returned to the family beef business full time. At that point, there were about 70 Angus cows in the herd.

Today, McCurry Angus Ranch runs about 1,000 cows, most of which are home-raised. The family sells purebred seedstock to beef producers across the nation.

Continuous improvement is a theme of the McCurry Angus operation, as demonstrated by their performance at cattle shows through the years. Through the years of 2003 through 2005 at the National Junior Angus Show, Emily had the champion female one year, the reserve champion female the next year, and the champion bull in the year after that.

“Since we started going to the Kansas State Fair again in 2006, we’ve had a grand or reserve champion female every year but one,” John said.

McCurry Angus won at the North American show in Louisville in 2008 and at the American Royal in 2010. In 2016, the National Western Stock Show in Denver started a competition for pens of heifers. “We won in 2016 and took reserve champion in 2017,” John said. Such success in the show ring translated to high quality bulls and heifers which the McCurrys could sell to beef producers.

Beyond that, the McCurrys are using emerging technology to measure and improve the characteristics of their cattle. Today’s cattlemen go far beyond the visual evaluation of yesteryear. Data from expected progeny differences (EPDs) can scientifically project future performance of cattle breeding stock and offspring. Now even more horizons are opening in beef production.

“Every cow and bull on our place has been DNA tested,” John said. “This confirms the genetics of the cattle we’re producing. We also get an accuracy credit (from the breed association) towards our EPDs.”

Such data helps the McCurrys work toward improvement of their cowherd, while retaining the visual quality, sound structure, and high performance. “We want to build the best cattle we can,” John said.

He credits his parents for their drive to improve. “This is truly a family operation,” John said. McCurry Angus Ranch is located near the rural community of Burrton, population 901 people. Now, that’s rural.

For more information, check their Facebook page.

In 2015, the McCurry family was honored as the Beef Improvement Federation’s national Seedstock Producer of the Year. We commend John McCurry and all this family for making a difference with a commitment to excellence and continuous improvement – and that’s no bull.

I became a grandparent for the first time this summer when Brayden James Terry was born in August. What a delightful new addition to our family! It is heartwarming to see my daughter in her new role as a mother.

It is also interesting to experience my new role as a grandmother. It feels a bit strange to defer to my daughter in matters of “motherhood” since that has been MY job for the last 28 years. It’s the beginning of a new learning process as my label changes from Mom to Grandma.

Maybe that’s why this article rang true when I read “The 7 Unbreakable Laws of Grandparenting” by Barbara Graham on Next Avenue, a website devoted to aging issues (see www.nextavenue.org). Graham says, “for many parents used to being in charge, deferring to the rules and wishes of our adult children and their partners is humbling.”

So as the family gathers for the holidays, here are Barbara Graham’s rules for grandparents:

1. Seal your lips. Even if you’re an expert who has written 13 bestsellers on parenthood, your adult sons and daughters will assume you know nothing about childrearing. Your advice and opinions will not be welcome, unless directly solicited. (Even then, it’s iffy as to whether the new parents really want to hear your answer.) Tread lightly.

2. You may love thy grandchild as thine own — but never forget that he or she is not thine own. In the early days I felt as if I were auditioning for the part of grandparent. Did I hold the baby properly? Didn’t I know that you never put a newborn down on her stomach? It took me a few blunders to secure their trust — which must be renewed every so often, like a driver’s license.

3. Abide by the rules of the new parents. The dos and don’ts of childrearing change with every generation. If I had listened to my mother, I would have held my son only while feeding him (every four hours) — and not one second longer, lest he turn into a “mama’s boy.” These days, with the crush of childrearing information available, most new parents are up to speed — and beyond — but we grandparents most definitely are not.

4. Accept your role. If you’re the mother of a new father, you may not have the same access to your grandchild as a maternal grandmother, at least in the beginning. New mothers are often the primary caretakers of babies, and they tend to lean on their mothers for support. This is not a problem — unless you think it is. Your grandchild will love you too. Anyhow, all grandparents — whether on the maternal or paternal side — are at risk of being shut out if they fail to observe any of these commandments. Try to think of yourself as a relief pitcher in a baseball game: You’re on the bench until your adult children call you up and then you must do as they say if you want to stay in the game.

5. Don’t be surprised if old issues get triggered when your child has a child. For many people, feelings of competition with their grandchild’s other grandparents provoke traumatic flashbacks to junior high school. This is especially true now, given the proliferation of divorce and stepfamilies. Some grandparents are able to lavish the kids with expensive gifts, while others live much closer to the children than their counterparts. Still, a little goodwill goes a long way. The heart is a generous muscle capable of loving many people at once, and most of us are able to get past the initial rush of jealousy to find our special place in the new order.

6. Get a life. Sometimes I’ve become overly embroiled in my concern for my son and his family and my desire to be an integral part of their lives has taken precedence over things I needed to do to maintain my own sense of well-being — and I’ve paid the price. Hence, my mantra: “I have my life. They have theirs.” We are close and connected, yet separate. Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries.

7. Let go of all expectations. When Isabelle Eva was born, she was living around the corner from us, but when she was two months old her parents moved her overseas. Not only was I heartbroken, my expectations about my involvement in her life were turned upside down. Yet once I was able to let go of my agenda — which took some doing — I found that I still felt deeply connected. There are bound to be unpredictable plot twists in every family narrative, but unless you are raising your grandchildren, your adult children are writing their own story. (See No. 4: Relief pitcher, on the bench.)

Good advice for the holidays, or anytime.

Barbara Graham, a Grandparents.com columnist, is the editor of the anthology, Eye of My Heart: 27 Writers Reveal the Hidden Pleasures and Perils of Being a Grandmother, which tells “the whole crazy, complicated truth about being a grandmother in today’s world.”

Linda K. Beech is Cottonwood District Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.