I grew up on cattle ranch in Northern Califonia, that is 20 minutes outside of the town of Yreka. It is a small town just off I-5 that has much of its industry deep rooted in agriculture. My parents own a seed and fertilizer business. There is a lot of cattle ranches in the area and many of the ranchers grow different types of hay for the livestock. The key element in all of these things is water. Every year there is a continuous battle over water. Farmers and ranchers want the water for their livestock and crops. At the same time different conservation groups want that same water for the fich that live in the river. A news group from the LA area came up to Siskiyou Country (that's where I'm from) to interview different farmers and ranchers about the struggle over water. Some of the farmers and ranchers have been in the area for over 6 gernerations. My family has 3 geberations of family who help on the ranch. Just over Christmas break my family branded close to 600 calves. We had three generations helping out with the branding. My job was to give the calves a vacination.
Here is a link of the news clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpuPMqxvA9A
(My dad was the guy in the red shirt who got interviewed in the second part. Part of the interview was in our barnyard just outside our house.)
