Article contributed by Alexandria Dobson (Graham County Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Chair)
“… and please bless that our cows won’t get sick, and will be able to have healthy babies… amen…”
I was completely caught off guard, did my 4-year-old just pray for our cattle? I was taken back. My husband and I frequently pray for that, but I just imagined my son wasn’t listening at family prayer time. As a wife of a 5th generation rancher, Dalton Dobson, Ag has become a very big influence on our family, I have often wondered the application and influence it has with my family. Our cattle meant something to my son, and he recognized the importance of their health during calving season for not only us, but the hungry people across the world.
My husband and I have had a front row seat in witnessing the true work it takes to be in Ag. The stress, long hours, late night worries and constant anticipation of the next step in the grand work of farming and ranching. Agriculture brings a sense of humility and service. Not only does Agriculture support its families monetarily, but it provides an irreplaceable service to the world.
The Dobson Agriculture line is strong and influential to many aspects of the agriculture community. Many will remember a herd of sheep traveling down main roads in Chandler as they embarked on the sheep trail. Many of their other farms in the surrounding areas supported communities with alfalfa. My father-in-law works tirelessly in the Vernon area on the Timberline Ranch providing quality beef to Arizona. The dedication and love my husband has for the Agriculture industry always impresses me. But as I have watched his family, Carey and Kara Dobson, Dwayne and Carol Dobson and many more I know just where he got it and am incredibly grateful that they passed that love and dedication on to my husband.
I have vivid memories as a young girl riding in the cab of a tractor working on the cotton fields with my dad, Preston Alder or “Grandpa B” (Jim Alder) taking us out early in the summer mornings to shovel rocks out of his cotton fields and as soon as he was out of sight, we jumped right into the canal to swim and to cool off. These memories make me appreciate Agriculture, but what has helped even more, is learning about the 7 generations of farmers and ranchersI am a part of. Starting with Christopher Layton, to Heber Layton and then on to my son Roy’s namesake, Roy A. Layton. A tender story I have learned of him was after a long hard working cotton season, Roy had his cotton bales lined up against his fence line at his house on Reay Lane. One night in 1919 tragedy struck when a fire engulfed their house. Then the fire engulfed their hard-earned crop that was awaiting purchase. They stood in the still black night watching flames take all their physical possessions when his wife Rebecca said, “All our belongings are gone, but we’ll be alright… we’ll be alright.”
Today, March 22nd is National Agriculture Day. Every day when we open our fridge or pull on that cotton T-shirt, we should be celebrating the grit that farmers and ranchers lend to our society. They are resilient people; they care for the welfare of the world. Our relationship to Ag, can make a difference in the next generation’s lives. Let us take a moment to teach them where their food comes from, what the white fluffy stuff is in the surrounding farm fields and why it is important to us.
Today I am grateful for my heritage, for the cousins, uncles, and friends that keep the agriculture tradition alive. I am grateful for the generations of farmers and ranchers that did not give up, that kept pressing on and saw the worth in producing product not only for themselves, but for the world around them. Happy National Agriculture Day!
