BY NANCY JORGENSEN –
If you go to the National Western Stock Show in Denver in January, look for Baxter Black. He’ll be in the barns, at the trade show or at the Blue Ribbon Books booth, visiting with friends just as he’s done for more than 30 years. If you don’t recognize him from his newspaper column, radio shows or RFD TV, look for the guy with the big mustache and cowboy hat.
“Colorado was good to me,” Baxter said of the time he spent at Colorado State University’s veterinary school and his later years in Denver and Brighton. “I developed a modest notoriety in the state. Whatever sort of fame and fortune I’ve made came from here.”
Baxter began his career as a cowboy poet and storyteller in 1980 in Denver, when he worked as a large animal veterinarian for a pharmaceutical company. Within two years, he went out on his own as a professional entertainer.
Today, Baxter makes a good share of his living from speaking at agricultural banquets. As of September, Baxter had addressed 2,428 audiences, 373 of them in Colorado — more there than in any other state. He’s appeared at many rural electric co-op annual meetings. Baxter’s family moved from Colorado to Arizona in 1997 to be near his aging mother, but he returns to Colorado frequently.
Each January, Baxter blocks out his schedule so he can attend the National Western and catch up with old friends. “I feel like they designed the stock show just for me!” he said.
In Colorado and elsewhere, Baxter’s presentations rally around the benefits that family farmers and ranchers bring to all Americans. For example, we Americans spend less than 10 percent of our average annual incomes on food, he explains — less than people in most other countries. “Agriculture’s greatest asset is, people like to eat,” he said. “I’m thankful for the people who produce food.”
Modern technology, from the Internet to smart phones, keeps rural America more up to date than ever these days. But Baxter believes that rural values remain basically the same, from hard work to God and country. These values form the bedrock of his columns, books,
broadcasts and appearances.
“My subject remains steadfast: I focus on the relationship between man and animals and the wrecks they get into,” said Baxter. “My job is to entertain.”
The stereotype of farmers and ranchers as “hicks” refuses to die, but Baxter contends that modern agriculture requires a great deal of knowledge. “Today, less than 2 percent of the U.S. population is involved in production agriculture,” he said. “That 2 percent feeds everybody in the country and offers one of the few export commodities we have left. This is due to the tremendous advances in technology furnished to agriculture by private and public research.”
Overall, the number of farms in the U.S. has declined for the past century, but in recent years, the number of small, part-time farms has begun to rise. Baxter believes small operators make the best ambassadors for agriculture. “Even if they’ve got just two cows, they’ve got some inkling of what it takes to raise 200,” he said.
One thing remains the same: Agriculture is hard work. “Early to bed, early to rise is still the expectation,” Baxter said.
People who work the land still don’t take many vacations. “But I notice that as they get older and the next generation takes some responsibility, they will slip off on a cruise,” Baxter said. “Their best hope is to meet some other farmer on the cruise so they will have somebody to talk to about cows and corn.”
Baxter observes that the role of men on the farm remains largely unchanged. “Dad’s expected to pull the load, to lift the heavy stuff and bear the responsibility of getting the physical work done,” he said.
Women’s roles have evolved. “Women’s part in agriculture has always been strong, but hasn’t always been in the limelight,” Baxter said. “When you look at the high percent of women who dominate veterinary and ag schools and the FFA, it should be obvious that women are deeply interested in more than just cooking for the hayin’ crew, which, of course, is still their responsibility.”
Just as men differ from women, farmers differ from ranchers. “Ranchers use horses and ropes to catch cows. They’re part of the ranching toolbox,” Baxter said. On the other hand, “A farmer uses a rope to tie down bales or to pull a tractor, but never to catch a cow. Farmers will work cows with snowmobiles, with four-wheelers, with ice skates — anything but a horse.”
Baxter’s seen all types on his travels across Colorado and the nation. But, two basic values remain largely unchanged in rural America — faith in God and patriotism. Baxter continues to weave these themes into his material. He notes that people in smaller communities depend on each other. In addition, rural people tend to be churchgoers, and churchgoers give a great deal to their communities.
“I have the pleasure to entertain often in communities with populations of less than 5,000,” Baxter said. “Everywhere I go, 10 percent of the people do 90 percent of the work. They run for office; serve on the school, church and local cattlemen’s boards; help the food bank; buy lambs at the fair; organize the 5K for cancer; and call on the old folks. This 10 percent gives a community vitality.”
Despite rural America’s rough edges, Baxter sees a future where people will seek out country lifestyles, and where small communities will thrive. Although some parts of the nation experienced drought this year and high feed prices are hurting some livestock producers, generally “agriculture is doing better than ever financially,” he said, adding that ag income tends to spread throughout the rural population.
At home in Arizona, Baxter uses his ranch horses to help run 300-plus cows on leased ground. After chasing cows through cactus and thorny brush, he comes home “looking like he’s been in a sword fight.”
It wasn’t easy to leave Colorado, Baxter said. He got his start with a column in the Record Stockman in Denver and appeared frequently on local talk-radio shows with hosts like Peter Boyles and Mike Rosen. He soon moved on to nationwide venues including National Public Radio, “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson and the first annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.
When Baxter announced his plan to move, people were shocked. “It was like leaving my family.” Baxter said. “How can you leave us?” asked his Colorado friends. “We made you what you are today.”
As the stock show winds down and winter wears on, Baxter expects to see a number of his Colorado buddies in Arizona. “Many have retired, and they come down and plug in their RVs at my house.” he said.
Nancy Jorgensen is a freelance writer based in Benson, Arizona. She specializes in rural utility, agriculture, finance and cooperatives. She formerly worked for CoBank in Denver and for the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives.