I absolutely love this time of year; it’s a great feeling taking cows to grass, especially when the grass is green and growing!

My wife has been urging me to get the cows to grass for weeks now. That’s partly because we’ve had great spring moisture and a lot of grass, but probably mostly because it would free up time to work on a lot of unfinished projects.

Personally, I like to wait to turn out bulls because I want to give every cow every chance to get AI-bred. Still, as the kids get older, I get more inclined to go to grass earlier, too, because they are growing up so fast.

We received a slew of graduation announcements this spring. With about half of them, I found myself saying, “He or she can't be graduating. I remember when they were just waist-high.” It all just goes by so very fast.

It’s now June and the kids are home and there are pigs to rinse, horses to ride, heifers to blow, camps to attend and shows to participate in. Yes, I'm a full blown 4-H dad, not necessarily living vicariously through my kids, but rather clinging passionately to every moment I can spend with them.

Before I had a family of my own, I envisioned myself becoming a John Wayne version of Donald Trump (try to picture that for a moment). Now, I'm a Hallmark TV channel junky, who loves listening to a kid talk about his dream of winning a new buckle, and wanting to do everything in my power to help him earn it.

Cows, horses and the almighty dollar are pretty darn cool, but going to grass is always a reminder to me that priorities are so very important. Maybe that high-dollar herd bull will sire that next donor female. But, if not, those “smores” cooked over the bonfire will still be pretty darned good.