Before I get started, I had a link from Feedstuffs Foodlink about the addition in a lot of groceries of tags to help better explain important nutrition info. How long ago was it that we last had simplistic nutrition facts listed as "all you needed to know?". Then we decided over the years that we needed more and more details to fully develop exactly what diet was perfect? But here we are again talking about highlighting the important facts to better assist consumers. If we hadn't confused people in the first place with a flood of information, then we wouldn't need to simplify it now. I'm not saying all the details on a label aren't important - they are - but I think that those details became an inaccurate marketing ploy by food processing companies to sell health foods.
I could just link you to this article and end it the meatless Monday conversation at that, but I won't. Read the article; if you aren't satisfied then that this is a stupid idea, then you can read on through my post. Otherwise, don't waste your time because mine is just a rant on an old topic.
When I was at MSU, Gov. Granholm introduced the Meatless Monday for Michigan, encouraged by animal rights activists into believing that this would help the environment and the animals and would balance her appearance to the general public. But supporting the crazies who have no regard for property rights and little tolerance for education and truth about what happens on livestock farms turned out to raise a lot more stink than she expected, especially since she also spent so much time building up the local food produced in Michigan (meat included) and then encouraged people not to eat it for one day a week.
There's nothing actually wrong with eating meat every day of the week. From a health perspective, meat products provide highly digestible and utilizable nutrients that are otherwise hard to access. Meat is also a cheap product, not because of government subsidies, but because of American ingenuity in production of food over the decades. We are spoiled by this highly available, relatively inexpensive protein and vitamin/mineral product, but instead there are people who would rather spend more money on less beneficial foods which even imitate the real thing. Why on earth would you buy a vegan burger unless you actually wanted to consume meat? It's like vegan bacon - really? You want bacon (specifically a meat product) but you don't want to feel guilty about it. So instead you deprive it of its intended nutritive value, shove it full of super-processed vegetables (which most vegans also claim to hate) and then eat it like it's the real thing. Folks, all going meatless does is deprive you of good, wholesome nutrition and a great eating experience. Are there people who need less meat consumption due to severe health concerns, yes, but they often didn't get in that situation because of what they ate but rather how much they ate. Reduced intake would solve nearly everyone's problems if people just finally got honest about how much they're eating.
Of course, the meatless movement starts on just one day a week, but their end goal is meatless 365/24/7 (plus the occasional leap year). What drives this? None other but the same guilt and poor education which drives everything else. If you read it on the internet, then most people are willing to believe it's true. Rational thought no longer takes the time to evaluate facts critically, which is how CNN makes so much money reporting nothing but speculation all day long. You shouldn't let speculation on an animal's care drive your actions.
For example, this woman posted a blog about visiting an animal sanctuary. She loved it and plans to volunteer there, because she especially loved the pigs who have been saved from an unhealthy lifestyle and now laze around at a healthy size of over 1000 lbs.???? If you saw your uncle sitting on the couch, drinking a beer and watching the Packers, with a gut over the belt line and a plate full of food, would he at that point be rescued or need rescued from a healthy lifestyle? And doesn't a healthy animal lifestyle also require the breeding aspect as well? But these animals can't experience mating because the shelter realizes the truth - that without an animal food industry, there is no purpose to the pigs existence at all. And being domesticated, they can be none other than a nuisance until they die. Instead, they are locked up in a useless lifestyle, getting fat and watching birds pass until they finally die out. So much for a free, healthier lifestyle.
Showing posts with label feedstuffs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feedstuffs. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Proper Animal Care
It’s funny that for as long as I’ve been involved in animal agriculture, people have always thought they knew better than me how to take care of my animals. Sometimes they were right, when I was first starting and learning how to care for animals. I took their advice in the form of suggestions from those more experienced than me; this was the entire point of 4-H: learning to be responsible for something and learning the skills to do so successfully. Interaction with adults, public speaking, leadership opportunities, they all came second to the basic concept of learning new things and sharing my learning with those around me.
More often in my later years, they’ve been wrong. As early as middle school on the local junior fair board, I’ve had to deal with accusations of animal neglect when people failed to load their rabbits up on feed all day. Of course, we all know what happens to people who load up on food all day, so it ought to be common sense that it’s not good for a rabbit to stuff itself either, right? And if you think that they self-regulate, you’re absolutely wrong. In most cases, the animal will eat as much as it can because naturally this makes sense for it. But because its energy is not being taxed in survival all day, it needs far less energy as well and overeating can quickly be the end of it. Is it abuse of children when parents tell them to eat broccoli or restrict the amount of chocolate they can eat?
Of course, as time has rolled on, I’ve interacted with stronger personalities and less educated personalities, both categories of which have either embraced an open mind, allowing me to share my knowledge of proper animal care with them, or they have continued to allow ignorance to dominate their intellect and illogically argued that farmers have no idea what’s best for animals and only keep animals to exploit them. I’ve heard recently from people that being defensive of farming makes it look like we’re trying to hide or justify something when most people would’ve never thought to believe the ridiculous stories that circulate anyhow. This may be true, but I think there’s a spark of pride in the role we all play in feeding the planet that makes farmers naturally defensive of the accusations which are backstabbingly snaked about in the underground of the animal rights movement. And I have never shied away from an argument about whether or not we properly care for our animals.
I’ve often wondered what it is that makes animal rights activists so antagonist towards farmers AND their animals. Are they really so ignorant as to believe their own lies about farmers’ exploitative nature? Animals have survived and prospered for centuries in this “exploitative condition”, it’s a shame we can’t just ask them for their official vote of approval. After all, their domesticability is what led us to settle down and take care of them in the first place. It wasn’t us that hunted them down and forced tameness upon them over the years. (Sidebar: have you ever tried to forcefully tame anything? It doesn’t work.) Or maybe the root of this is that the animal rights activists are actually jealous of the good relationship we have with animals based on hard work and mutual respect. If so, all they had to do was ask. We’re more than willing to share our experiences with those who respect our profession, those who don’t spend every waking moment trying to falsify video and abuse animals themselves to get farmers in trouble.
Feedstuffs recently shared an interview with one of the stars of Food, INC., an animal rights leaning “documentary” on the nation’s food system. I’ll try to upload it to my blog for a while if I can, but there were some very striking quotes that came out of it which I wanted to emphasize. When investigated for their dairy cows waiting at the gate to come in for milking, in good weather and right on their internal schedule as always, the investigator told Salatin that he “didn’t have an animal problem; you have a people problem.” The animals were doing just fine, functioning as they’re well adapted to do, but the neighbor down the road thought she knew what was going on and called in abuse when there was nothing further from the truth.
“This notion that we can have life without death is ridiculous.” and “This notion that you can divorce life from death is … a silly, childish, ignorant notion.” More and more people are making money and garnering attention because of such profoundly obvious statements. I touch on this topic often and my favorite organization to bring this up is still the Zac Brown Band in their commentary on the death that comes about from harvesting vegetables. Salatin goes further to say that if you think death is just a one-way street, he suggests laying naked in your garden for three days to see how nature treats you. That’ll be a harsh reminder of the fact that life requires the death of the living. This simple balance is even in Disney’s Lion King, but people still fail to acknowledge it. Death as a part of life doesn't mean that we should cast off efforts to improve that quality of life, but it does mean we should stop looking for ways to bypass what is fact.
But farmers know this, among all the other things they know. And they take it into consideration every day when they are out planting the fields, killing the weeds, treating the animals and feeding them. Life costs life to feed life, but it is our responsibility to help feed the world. And farmers are willing to risk damage to themselves for the sake of the animals, those same animals which will eventually meet their end in the food chain. This is because farmers truly care for their animals, as well as take care of them. They do this even though they know that one day the animal’s life will come to an end to feed them. Animals benefit from this care and protection from disease and predators, and in turn eventually sacrifice their life in exchange. This is the balance that is life.
More often in my later years, they’ve been wrong. As early as middle school on the local junior fair board, I’ve had to deal with accusations of animal neglect when people failed to load their rabbits up on feed all day. Of course, we all know what happens to people who load up on food all day, so it ought to be common sense that it’s not good for a rabbit to stuff itself either, right? And if you think that they self-regulate, you’re absolutely wrong. In most cases, the animal will eat as much as it can because naturally this makes sense for it. But because its energy is not being taxed in survival all day, it needs far less energy as well and overeating can quickly be the end of it. Is it abuse of children when parents tell them to eat broccoli or restrict the amount of chocolate they can eat?
Of course, as time has rolled on, I’ve interacted with stronger personalities and less educated personalities, both categories of which have either embraced an open mind, allowing me to share my knowledge of proper animal care with them, or they have continued to allow ignorance to dominate their intellect and illogically argued that farmers have no idea what’s best for animals and only keep animals to exploit them. I’ve heard recently from people that being defensive of farming makes it look like we’re trying to hide or justify something when most people would’ve never thought to believe the ridiculous stories that circulate anyhow. This may be true, but I think there’s a spark of pride in the role we all play in feeding the planet that makes farmers naturally defensive of the accusations which are backstabbingly snaked about in the underground of the animal rights movement. And I have never shied away from an argument about whether or not we properly care for our animals.
I’ve often wondered what it is that makes animal rights activists so antagonist towards farmers AND their animals. Are they really so ignorant as to believe their own lies about farmers’ exploitative nature? Animals have survived and prospered for centuries in this “exploitative condition”, it’s a shame we can’t just ask them for their official vote of approval. After all, their domesticability is what led us to settle down and take care of them in the first place. It wasn’t us that hunted them down and forced tameness upon them over the years. (Sidebar: have you ever tried to forcefully tame anything? It doesn’t work.) Or maybe the root of this is that the animal rights activists are actually jealous of the good relationship we have with animals based on hard work and mutual respect. If so, all they had to do was ask. We’re more than willing to share our experiences with those who respect our profession, those who don’t spend every waking moment trying to falsify video and abuse animals themselves to get farmers in trouble.
Feedstuffs recently shared an interview with one of the stars of Food, INC., an animal rights leaning “documentary” on the nation’s food system. I’ll try to upload it to my blog for a while if I can, but there were some very striking quotes that came out of it which I wanted to emphasize. When investigated for their dairy cows waiting at the gate to come in for milking, in good weather and right on their internal schedule as always, the investigator told Salatin that he “didn’t have an animal problem; you have a people problem.” The animals were doing just fine, functioning as they’re well adapted to do, but the neighbor down the road thought she knew what was going on and called in abuse when there was nothing further from the truth.
“This notion that we can have life without death is ridiculous.” and “This notion that you can divorce life from death is … a silly, childish, ignorant notion.” More and more people are making money and garnering attention because of such profoundly obvious statements. I touch on this topic often and my favorite organization to bring this up is still the Zac Brown Band in their commentary on the death that comes about from harvesting vegetables. Salatin goes further to say that if you think death is just a one-way street, he suggests laying naked in your garden for three days to see how nature treats you. That’ll be a harsh reminder of the fact that life requires the death of the living. This simple balance is even in Disney’s Lion King, but people still fail to acknowledge it. Death as a part of life doesn't mean that we should cast off efforts to improve that quality of life, but it does mean we should stop looking for ways to bypass what is fact.
But farmers know this, among all the other things they know. And they take it into consideration every day when they are out planting the fields, killing the weeds, treating the animals and feeding them. Life costs life to feed life, but it is our responsibility to help feed the world. And farmers are willing to risk damage to themselves for the sake of the animals, those same animals which will eventually meet their end in the food chain. This is because farmers truly care for their animals, as well as take care of them. They do this even though they know that one day the animal’s life will come to an end to feed them. Animals benefit from this care and protection from disease and predators, and in turn eventually sacrifice their life in exchange. This is the balance that is life.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Waste of Food
As I sort through the leftovers from last weeks low turnout, this article from Feedstuffs was par for the course. I just thought I'd share it along with my own brief thoughts on the issue. The article speaks well for me, but I want to emphasize what a shame I think it is that food goes to waste in this country or in any other country while people, while kids suffer through the pains of hunger. How greedy and uncaring are we that we'd rather claim a loss on wasted food than give it away and deal with adjusting our accounting? What will it take for people to realize that farmers don't need to produce more food to account for and support world population growth. The problem and the fault lies with the bureaucrats and power-hungry dictators who care more about their own ego than solving world starvation.
When the concept of infrastructure was first pitched to me as the reason for world hunger, I was offended. I was frustrated that this problem couldn't be solved by my chosen profession. There is no GMO, no better managed dairy, no higher producing, better cared for sow that can solve world hunger. It was a blow to me, but should really serve as an inspiration to people. This world is a twisted place, but one thing has always been true the world around. When you waste food there is always a starving person in another country that your parents used as an example to make you clean your plate. Here in America, cleaning your plate isn't the problem - it's filling our plate too full in the first place and this is equally as condemning a waste of food.
With US ag exports through the roof, farmers are doing their part to feed the world. Time will tell if politicians will ever really care about feeding their people, but you can do your part to solve world hunger by not wasting food and being generous to others less fortunate when you have the opportunity.
When the concept of infrastructure was first pitched to me as the reason for world hunger, I was offended. I was frustrated that this problem couldn't be solved by my chosen profession. There is no GMO, no better managed dairy, no higher producing, better cared for sow that can solve world hunger. It was a blow to me, but should really serve as an inspiration to people. This world is a twisted place, but one thing has always been true the world around. When you waste food there is always a starving person in another country that your parents used as an example to make you clean your plate. Here in America, cleaning your plate isn't the problem - it's filling our plate too full in the first place and this is equally as condemning a waste of food.
With US ag exports through the roof, farmers are doing their part to feed the world. Time will tell if politicians will ever really care about feeding their people, but you can do your part to solve world hunger by not wasting food and being generous to others less fortunate when you have the opportunity.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Pollan's pros and cons...
... in someone else's words. It's really nice to read someone's writing and know that before reading it you've articulated your own thoughts simhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifilarly and to know that you agree with the bulk of what they're saying. Especially when it's on a controversial subject like the writings and opinions of Michael Pollan. I know that back when I met him and listened to him talk, I discussed how I didn't actually disagree with about half of what he said, and people got riled up about that with me.
But I think Dr. Speer did a good job of really breaking down what Pollan says and highlighting some of the correct thoughts and some of the incorrect ones and I encourage you to read it. While it's important to take what people say with a grain of salt, it's also important to recognize when what someone else says might be right. Something that we had a discussion about in the grad office today, related to tail docking of dairy cattle and whether or not people accept research after it doesn't prove what they wanted to hear.
But I think Dr. Speer did a good job of really breaking down what Pollan says and highlighting some of the correct thoughts and some of the incorrect ones and I encourage you to read it. While it's important to take what people say with a grain of salt, it's also important to recognize when what someone else says might be right. Something that we had a discussion about in the grad office today, related to tail docking of dairy cattle and whether or not people accept research after it doesn't prove what they wanted to hear.
Monday, March 28, 2011
About Freaking Time
I know this post is nothing but timely, seeing as how this news sat in my inbox for the last two weeks, but that's just a sign that I'm finally doing work around the office and at home. But this piece of news was still worth the sharing, so I thought I'd put it up here for those who haven't heard.
Iowa now joins the charge in prosecuting the activists responsible for infiltrating farms under false names or employment intentions and then staging videos of animal abuse in efforts to defame farmers nationwide. This bill is years late, but props to Representative Sweeney for bringing this issue to legislative action. It's a shame that we have to legislate respect and honesty, but animal rights activists have no limit to their moral depravity as they pursue fame and their personal agenda. Hopefully, Iowa is next in a long line of states proposing this type of legislative action against the true animal abusers behind most of the videos. Ohio sure could've used this in the Conklin case with Mercy for Animals.
... As a side note, a day later, it's funny to read Gene Baur's blog on this issue, complaining about being prosecuted for telling the truth. If there was truth to what he told, it wouldn't be in agreement with HSUS and PETA.
Iowa now joins the charge in prosecuting the activists responsible for infiltrating farms under false names or employment intentions and then staging videos of animal abuse in efforts to defame farmers nationwide. This bill is years late, but props to Representative Sweeney for bringing this issue to legislative action. It's a shame that we have to legislate respect and honesty, but animal rights activists have no limit to their moral depravity as they pursue fame and their personal agenda. Hopefully, Iowa is next in a long line of states proposing this type of legislative action against the true animal abusers behind most of the videos. Ohio sure could've used this in the Conklin case with Mercy for Animals.
... As a side note, a day later, it's funny to read Gene Baur's blog on this issue, complaining about being prosecuted for telling the truth. If there was truth to what he told, it wouldn't be in agreement with HSUS and PETA.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Mass Media...
... is the sole difference between agricultural corporations/commodity groups and the HSUS. Of course, many people have realized this already as concerned "agvocacy" groups and individuals scramble to educate people on the appropriate and effective use of social media outlets to spread the truth about animal care on America's farms today. And don't get me wrong, this is very important and will lead to better communication on the part of farmers in the future, but this doesn't solve the problem of now. It doesn't help get out the word to counter the lies which spread like weeds on MiracleGro.
Back in the winter (and yes, it's March and 50F outside so I can say that today), Feedstuffs ran a series of articles written by a reporter who got on farm after the chicken footage was released. His articles served as a powerful expose to the creative artwork that went into fabricating the "footage" used to accuse the farm of animal neglect and abuse. Like so many other videos that HSUS, PETA and Mercy for Animals are using to build up their tsunami of uninformed, but extremely concerned consumers, the release turned out to be framed. And after the media hype about the video release had passed and it was found to be posed, who was left to report the truth?
One reporter, as previously mentioned, did a real good job of covering facts and telling the truth and for that he ought to be commended. The same is true for the Smithfield video release back in December, and if you have any interest in reading facts about what happened, follow the link to read some true reporting. The unfortunate thing is that in the end, how far will this article really get? The media has lost the thread on this story long ago. Heck, look how long Egypt stayed on the news and how quickly they trailed off again, eclipsed by some new and unknown TV airtime and advertisement opportunity. Read this if you care about the truth, and then share it. If you want more people to read and to know, you'll have to share it yourself, face-to-face, or wallpost-to-wallpost, or however word gets passed along these days.
(credit to cartoonstock.com for the picture)
Back in the winter (and yes, it's March and 50F outside so I can say that today), Feedstuffs ran a series of articles written by a reporter who got on farm after the chicken footage was released. His articles served as a powerful expose to the creative artwork that went into fabricating the "footage" used to accuse the farm of animal neglect and abuse. Like so many other videos that HSUS, PETA and Mercy for Animals are using to build up their tsunami of uninformed, but extremely concerned consumers, the release turned out to be framed. And after the media hype about the video release had passed and it was found to be posed, who was left to report the truth?
One reporter, as previously mentioned, did a real good job of covering facts and telling the truth and for that he ought to be commended. The same is true for the Smithfield video release back in December, and if you have any interest in reading facts about what happened, follow the link to read some true reporting. The unfortunate thing is that in the end, how far will this article really get? The media has lost the thread on this story long ago. Heck, look how long Egypt stayed on the news and how quickly they trailed off again, eclipsed by some new and unknown TV airtime and advertisement opportunity. Read this if you care about the truth, and then share it. If you want more people to read and to know, you'll have to share it yourself, face-to-face, or wallpost-to-wallpost, or however word gets passed along these days.
(credit to cartoonstock.com for the picture)
Monday, January 3, 2011
Welfare updates
My gateway email took me to some interesting animal welfare links but I'm going have to wait to share them with you until the website is working correctly again. I understand it's a great project that they are tasking themselves with, to combine and share the world's animal welfare news, but somedays the site is so ineffective and slow that I can't do anything with it. Today it didn't even load.
On December 15th, HSUS released another "undercover" movie for which another "undercover" reporter was not prosecuted despite the fact that he/she witnessed animal abuse and neglected to correct or report it. Smithfield however has been very active in handling the issue and I think all is well in hand there.
This leads directly into the 3rd in a series by a reporter who toured a farm that was victimized by the HSUS and their cronies. He further contends that it is inaccurate portrayal in the videos based on what he saw there. If you haven't read his previous posts, you can find them in my previous blog entries in the last couple of weeks. He does a great job of unbiased reporting - something that many reporters could take a few lessons in.
On December 15th, HSUS released another "undercover" movie for which another "undercover" reporter was not prosecuted despite the fact that he/she witnessed animal abuse and neglected to correct or report it. Smithfield however has been very active in handling the issue and I think all is well in hand there.
This leads directly into the 3rd in a series by a reporter who toured a farm that was victimized by the HSUS and their cronies. He further contends that it is inaccurate portrayal in the videos based on what he saw there. If you haven't read his previous posts, you can find them in my previous blog entries in the last couple of weeks. He does a great job of unbiased reporting - something that many reporters could take a few lessons in.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
No honesty
I could've probably labeled this post "HSUS" since it would've been a synonymous title, but who really would've wanted to read a post with that title? Let's talk for a few minutes about the past couple of weeks worth of reports and commentary stemming from the ADSA e-newsletter I receive. Feedstuffs does a really great job of combining relevant articles and attracting attention to critical issues in their assistance to this e-newsletter and the last couple of weeks have been especially good so I'm just going to have time to share briefly the best of the lot, because I think that these all link together nicely.
It wasn't too long ago that HSUS released yet another video of a bunch of alleged poultry abuse and neglect on a farm in Texas. Well, the UEP invited reporters to visit this same farm on an unguarded tour of the whole facility. They were free to ask any question, take any picture and record any video. Of course, HSUS didn't solicit any of this media for their own benefit, but I think this reporter would argue that's because it all turned out to be a lie. (And in case you think it's possible to clean up a farm's act in that short of time, let me just say it can't happen. It would've been easier to just go out of business and restart than to clean up a bad act that fast).
I recommend you to read both parts of this farm visit, starting with an introduction and then more of the specific critiques in the second one. The reporter's best statement in the entire thing might be near the beginning when he says that he felt betrayed by HSUS for having been giving such faulty media for release and coverage. So it seems that nobody really likes being played, not even the media.
Of course, while we're in the habit of discrediting HSUS and their claims, we probably ought to also examine the new reports about foodborne illness incidence in the US. With new reports just released, indicating significantly lower illness occurrence than previously cited, that takes just one more bite out of the dog.
Finally, let's take a look at HSUS's past work. Prop 2 in California still sits as a relatively useless piece of legislation that is more of a legal excuse to neglect animals than it is a regulation for improved care of animals. And this is why a farm in California has petitioned for a true ruling on what this law means. If they'd have had a Care Standards Board, these things might've been more clearly defined by experts in the industry who care about animal care, rather than self-obsessed activists with little regard for the animals they steal money on behalf of. For a video feed on the chicken farm who petitioned for this clearer legialation, click here.
It wasn't too long ago that HSUS released yet another video of a bunch of alleged poultry abuse and neglect on a farm in Texas. Well, the UEP invited reporters to visit this same farm on an unguarded tour of the whole facility. They were free to ask any question, take any picture and record any video. Of course, HSUS didn't solicit any of this media for their own benefit, but I think this reporter would argue that's because it all turned out to be a lie. (And in case you think it's possible to clean up a farm's act in that short of time, let me just say it can't happen. It would've been easier to just go out of business and restart than to clean up a bad act that fast).
I recommend you to read both parts of this farm visit, starting with an introduction and then more of the specific critiques in the second one. The reporter's best statement in the entire thing might be near the beginning when he says that he felt betrayed by HSUS for having been giving such faulty media for release and coverage. So it seems that nobody really likes being played, not even the media.
Of course, while we're in the habit of discrediting HSUS and their claims, we probably ought to also examine the new reports about foodborne illness incidence in the US. With new reports just released, indicating significantly lower illness occurrence than previously cited, that takes just one more bite out of the dog.
Finally, let's take a look at HSUS's past work. Prop 2 in California still sits as a relatively useless piece of legislation that is more of a legal excuse to neglect animals than it is a regulation for improved care of animals. And this is why a farm in California has petitioned for a true ruling on what this law means. If they'd have had a Care Standards Board, these things might've been more clearly defined by experts in the industry who care about animal care, rather than self-obsessed activists with little regard for the animals they steal money on behalf of. For a video feed on the chicken farm who petitioned for this clearer legialation, click here.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Praise from the Secretary
I think it's really wonderful to be involved in the industry that USDA Secretary Vilsack cited as "leading this country's recovery". Everyone needs and deserves to be able to eat and America's farmers should be proud to have that responsibility. Those numbers don't look too bad either.
Also, for a really great read building on that blatantly erroneous (no wonder they struggle to stay in business) New York Times cheese article, read this...
It's nice to see that HSUS is doing great things with its money. Especially seeing as how they just won that community refresh funding from Pepsi for saving cats and dogs.
And that's all for today. I hope it's a great one for you!
Also, for a really great read building on that blatantly erroneous (no wonder they struggle to stay in business) New York Times cheese article, read this...
It's nice to see that HSUS is doing great things with its money. Especially seeing as how they just won that community refresh funding from Pepsi for saving cats and dogs.
And that's all for today. I hope it's a great one for you!
Antibiotics discussion
The State News never supports healthy discussion that disagrees or might sway readers against their own self-proclaimed liberalism. However, in the interest of freedom of speech and thought, I will post mine here for your benefit in response to the latest antibiotic opinion column. All I did below was compile research published in journals. That's not just going to Google and copying the first article you see. Journals are refereed by research peers who don't usually have the same viewpoints as you, but they check to see if you have researched and concluded in a way in which is scientifically justifiable. Enjoy.
"For a picture of how banning antibiotics will play out, I refer you to the case of Denmark which is now standing out some years from when their bans were put in place in the mid-90's. Their bans were pushed for by the media, the consumers and the politicians, yet the ideological benefits of banning the antibiotics are either not present or non-convincing from a statistical standpoint. This is important when you weigh out the fact that the number of hog farms in Denmark are anticipated to dwindle from 25,000 to 5,000 by the year 2015. Not only have the benefits of banning antibiotics not been seen as they were promised, but now the industry has moved on, leaving people without jobs and without a better prospect in life, which far overshadows the fear of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
"What the contributor in the most recent antibiotic opinion column fails to observe is that there are different types of bacteria. Growth-promoting antibiotics counteract gram-positive bacteria while the bulk of the rising number of antibiotic resistant cases are caused by gram-negative bacteria. Banning growth-promoting antibiotics which are fed on a daily basis will have no impact on the resistance of gram-negative bacteria because of how differently the bacteria function. The faulty reasoning contributing to the bans resulted in outbreak infections increasing instead of the consumer anticipated decrease. Even in the case of those bacteria which could increase in resistance, there has been a rise in their infection rates post-ban as well since the growth promoters also contribute to a cleaner kill floor with less GI ruptures, etc., since they are keeping the GI tract healthier.
"In the end, in an antibiotic free Denmark, there has been in increase in infection and no change in resistance. Just because the consumer always gets what they want, that doesn't mean they are always right or that life will get better for them. They are just ignorantly blissful because they have swallowed sugar-coated lies."
"For a picture of how banning antibiotics will play out, I refer you to the case of Denmark which is now standing out some years from when their bans were put in place in the mid-90's. Their bans were pushed for by the media, the consumers and the politicians, yet the ideological benefits of banning the antibiotics are either not present or non-convincing from a statistical standpoint. This is important when you weigh out the fact that the number of hog farms in Denmark are anticipated to dwindle from 25,000 to 5,000 by the year 2015. Not only have the benefits of banning antibiotics not been seen as they were promised, but now the industry has moved on, leaving people without jobs and without a better prospect in life, which far overshadows the fear of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
"What the contributor in the most recent antibiotic opinion column fails to observe is that there are different types of bacteria. Growth-promoting antibiotics counteract gram-positive bacteria while the bulk of the rising number of antibiotic resistant cases are caused by gram-negative bacteria. Banning growth-promoting antibiotics which are fed on a daily basis will have no impact on the resistance of gram-negative bacteria because of how differently the bacteria function. The faulty reasoning contributing to the bans resulted in outbreak infections increasing instead of the consumer anticipated decrease. Even in the case of those bacteria which could increase in resistance, there has been a rise in their infection rates post-ban as well since the growth promoters also contribute to a cleaner kill floor with less GI ruptures, etc., since they are keeping the GI tract healthier.
"In the end, in an antibiotic free Denmark, there has been in increase in infection and no change in resistance. Just because the consumer always gets what they want, that doesn't mean they are always right or that life will get better for them. They are just ignorantly blissful because they have swallowed sugar-coated lies."
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
New alliance
This past week marked the start of yet another organization to protect and promote the US Farmer/Rancher. The goal of the group to be a consistent and strong message to consumers and other groups, hopefully this will be the start a successful alliance on behalf of farmers and ranchers nationwide. Time will tell.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Updates from my Inbox
Today I'm going start off with a great article about a pig raising family from Seth at Farm Bureau and the Our Ohio magazine. Farm Bureau has been trying to use the magazine to capture more of the stories of Ohio farmers and share them with the people around us. If the magazine sent to more than just Ohio Farm Bureau members I think that the idea would be even more successful, but that's why you can read them online for free.
Along those same lines, check out this California site where they have videos of different farmers in California.
In other dairy news, Idaho is now the 3rd largest in dairy production, and research in Texas is trying to improve summer cow fertility. Heat has been found to damage follicles and thus negatively impact reproduction on dairy farms. While this is something we already knew, these people are researching to remedy this. I
t's nice to see that the government is finally interested in fixing the decline in veterinary assistance in the rural US. Also, DDGS is now getting classified as a non-hazardous shipment.
Finally, after talking with our new bow-hunter for the property yesterday about how he thought that the cattle in the world were the primary reason for global warming and environmental destruction, I thought this article was rather timely. Even though the quantity of GHG's emitted by the livestock industry is in question, there is no doubt that they are working as hard as anyone to reduce it.
Along those same lines, check out this California site where they have videos of different farmers in California.
In other dairy news, Idaho is now the 3rd largest in dairy production, and research in Texas is trying to improve summer cow fertility. Heat has been found to damage follicles and thus negatively impact reproduction on dairy farms. While this is something we already knew, these people are researching to remedy this. I
t's nice to see that the government is finally interested in fixing the decline in veterinary assistance in the rural US. Also, DDGS is now getting classified as a non-hazardous shipment.
Finally, after talking with our new bow-hunter for the property yesterday about how he thought that the cattle in the world were the primary reason for global warming and environmental destruction, I thought this article was rather timely. Even though the quantity of GHG's emitted by the livestock industry is in question, there is no doubt that they are working as hard as anyone to reduce it.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Newsletter Updates and Bad Storms
From my ARS newsletter comes word that they are now using space images to help with Chesapeake Bay cleanup, the National Arboretum is now including edibles in their plant display, there is ongoing research to improve the heat tolerance of corn-based plastics (which is good because they're highly sensitive right now), and finally research is proceeding into the improvement of toxin resistance in corn.
Courtesy of Feedstuffs with the ADSA comes a couple of good conversations about national animal ID programs and the pros/cons of disease tracing in relation to recent Salmonella outbreaks. These are both worth your time to read. National ID programs have seemed like such a great idea to improve livestock biosecurity and disease tracking, but they've been slow to come into being, especially due to the scope of such a project. The disease tracing discussion is a very interesting read with well-represented viewpoints.
I was recently discussing the methods of poultry euthanasia and so this article is pretty interesting to me. It seems like basically the chickens are being taken to "high altitudes" as the air is thinned and they reach "instantaneous death".
Also, the USDA has published the first handbook giving national guidelines for organic products. Hopefully this is just what is needed to provide more consistent control over the hyped organic market.
I like the take Feedstuffs took on the veal video released by Mercy for Animals about tethered calf housing for veal calves in Ohio. Frankly, when I heard about the video, my first response was just "why on earth do I care?". It's not that I don't care about calf housing, but this is something that we've already acted on in Ohio and the US veal industry has acted on it as well. This video is too late and served no purpose at all.
On a different note, fall is coming very quickly and there are so many things I love about fall. My birthday, bonfires, harvest, the landscape colors, the cooler weather, thunderstorms, football and livestock shows. With the Delaware County Fair (not my favorite website in the world) and the Farm Science Review just around the corner, I am busier than ever as I try to prepare for school starting. I apologize in advance if I can't get on here often.
However, before I go I want to comment on a storm yesterday that was pretty fantastic. I was on a farm north of Mt. Vernon when the lights started flickering and the fans kicked off. Almost immediately there was sharp lightning and it got to flashing a lot. This was about 5.30 pm. We sat there in the barn as the rain started to pour, wind blowing the rain all the way through the windows to the center of the building. The power failed permanently and it's no wonder why. When we emerged we found that this farmer had lost 3 of his 4 barns (fortunately we were in the one still standing) and there were trees and powerlines down everywhere. It took 45 minutes just to get out of the area as many people volunteered to clean up the roads. The area was hit very hard, and the corn was absolutely flattened in some places, while the crests of hills were missing most of their treelines where you could see that the wind had topped the hill in powerful fashion. Just another day in my life, but I am thankful to have gotten out as easy as we did. The picture I added shows the lightning strikes that evening and you can see a highlighted red area where I was that day.
Courtesy of Feedstuffs with the ADSA comes a couple of good conversations about national animal ID programs and the pros/cons of disease tracing in relation to recent Salmonella outbreaks. These are both worth your time to read. National ID programs have seemed like such a great idea to improve livestock biosecurity and disease tracking, but they've been slow to come into being, especially due to the scope of such a project. The disease tracing discussion is a very interesting read with well-represented viewpoints.
I was recently discussing the methods of poultry euthanasia and so this article is pretty interesting to me. It seems like basically the chickens are being taken to "high altitudes" as the air is thinned and they reach "instantaneous death".
Also, the USDA has published the first handbook giving national guidelines for organic products. Hopefully this is just what is needed to provide more consistent control over the hyped organic market.
I like the take Feedstuffs took on the veal video released by Mercy for Animals about tethered calf housing for veal calves in Ohio. Frankly, when I heard about the video, my first response was just "why on earth do I care?". It's not that I don't care about calf housing, but this is something that we've already acted on in Ohio and the US veal industry has acted on it as well. This video is too late and served no purpose at all.
On a different note, fall is coming very quickly and there are so many things I love about fall. My birthday, bonfires, harvest, the landscape colors, the cooler weather, thunderstorms, football and livestock shows. With the Delaware County Fair (not my favorite website in the world) and the Farm Science Review just around the corner, I am busier than ever as I try to prepare for school starting. I apologize in advance if I can't get on here often.
However, before I go I want to comment on a storm yesterday that was pretty fantastic. I was on a farm north of Mt. Vernon when the lights started flickering and the fans kicked off. Almost immediately there was sharp lightning and it got to flashing a lot. This was about 5.30 pm. We sat there in the barn as the rain started to pour, wind blowing the rain all the way through the windows to the center of the building. The power failed permanently and it's no wonder why. When we emerged we found that this farmer had lost 3 of his 4 barns (fortunately we were in the one still standing) and there were trees and powerlines down everywhere. It took 45 minutes just to get out of the area as many people volunteered to clean up the roads. The area was hit very hard, and the corn was absolutely flattened in some places, while the crests of hills were missing most of their treelines where you could see that the wind had topped the hill in powerful fashion. Just another day in my life, but I am thankful to have gotten out as easy as we did. The picture I added shows the lightning strikes that evening and you can see a highlighted red area where I was that day.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Eggs again
As the news keeps hitting the egg topic, I just figured I would include a few links to make you a more educated reader.
HSUS is making a loud claim that this Salmonella outbreak in Iowa is because the farm is a caged system, citing their top source (this sometimes takes 2 attempts to load) as a paper which could be more accurately described as a summary of many reasons why Salmonella can be elevated on any farm. As always, it takes only a surface scrape to get attention, but digging deeper always brings out more of the truth. So don't take my word for it, but read the 2 links above as well as Feedstuffs' take on it.
Also, the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board is not expected by Director Boggs to specifically adhere to the deal brokered by Gov. Strickland with HSUS to prevent a ballot initiative this fall. Instead, we can expect more of a balanced approach considering each issue within the deal singly.
HSUS is making a loud claim that this Salmonella outbreak in Iowa is because the farm is a caged system, citing their top source (this sometimes takes 2 attempts to load) as a paper which could be more accurately described as a summary of many reasons why Salmonella can be elevated on any farm. As always, it takes only a surface scrape to get attention, but digging deeper always brings out more of the truth. So don't take my word for it, but read the 2 links above as well as Feedstuffs' take on it.
Also, the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board is not expected by Director Boggs to specifically adhere to the deal brokered by Gov. Strickland with HSUS to prevent a ballot initiative this fall. Instead, we can expect more of a balanced approach considering each issue within the deal singly.
Monday, August 16, 2010
World food reserve
This was actually a new thought to me. I didn't realize that we tracked our carryover food supply. The media keeps harping on the need for increased food production, and cases like Russia's recent sufferings are obviously a key example right now. If you haven't read enough, or if you're curious about the carryover numbers, read on. On the flip side, we're expecting record production here in the US so it looks to be a good year for most farmers. Good luck out there as you start into the harvest this fall.
Reading this, I didn't realize that we hadn't already required HACCPs in food processing. It's getting to be an older concept by now and you would think everyone should have adopted it. I know we talk about it in class the last couple years as if its just another thing from a different decade.
Finally today for my nutrition-minded readers, this is a interesting read summarizing the Four-state Dairy Management and Nutrition Conference.
Reading this, I didn't realize that we hadn't already required HACCPs in food processing. It's getting to be an older concept by now and you would think everyone should have adopted it. I know we talk about it in class the last couple years as if its just another thing from a different decade.
Finally today for my nutrition-minded readers, this is a interesting read summarizing the Four-state Dairy Management and Nutrition Conference.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Ag news update
For those of you who have tagged along with the antibiotic concerns bandwagon, this is just another article in line for you. I'm not saying that I have no concerns about antibiotics being over-administered, mis-administered or fed to livestock species. It's just that I think we've got much bigger things to be worrying about right now. However, this report from Denmark is positive about reducing antibiotic use.
Switchgrass and its counterparts are amazing to me. Their growth is so accelerated and the fact that they are perennials and can also be used for ethanol is kinda a wow for me. Now if we could just get plants to actually use them for ethanol production and also get farmers to produce the grass and store it for year-round supply to the plant, then maybe people might get interested in the concept.
Mom, if you're reading this, there is actually something that mushrooms are probably good for.
Every so often I get the emails from the Ohio Farm Bureau about membership numbers and updates on how each county is doing, etc. I guess what always surprises me is that as an Ohio resident, it was a no-brainer for me to join the Ohio Farm Bureau even if I had no interest in agriculture at all. Sure, the Ohio Farm Bureau is the state voice for agriculture and the face for many agricultural actions that occur in the state, but they offer much more than support for the average farmer. I got a great discount on my health insurance and just a couple weeks ago at a wedding met up with some urban people who used the OFB membership to get a great discount on Nationwide insurance. between that and hotel and rental deals as well, it's just a wonder to me that there aren't more members in the state. If you aren't a member and want to cash in on the benefits, please join the Ohio Farm Bureau at http://ofbf.org/.
My alma mater has finally finished building the new anaerobic digester research building! I'm very excited that they continue in this focus - hopefully something positive will come out of all the work they'll put into the research.
This is exactly why we need to continue to protect our farmers and produce our own food. Without this we suffer a huge potential threat from those countries which supply us and anyone who can influence them.
And props to Blanche Lincoln on this latest success in representing her people.
Finally for today, I'd like to second Trent Loos in congratulating the beef industry on these great new reported numbers. Remember these the next time that someone tells you about how terrible the meat industry and livestock production is for the environment. The future promises to show increased efforts to reduce GHG emissions and the carbon footprint as we also struggle to produce more food with less space. That way we can avoid eating things like insects...
Switchgrass and its counterparts are amazing to me. Their growth is so accelerated and the fact that they are perennials and can also be used for ethanol is kinda a wow for me. Now if we could just get plants to actually use them for ethanol production and also get farmers to produce the grass and store it for year-round supply to the plant, then maybe people might get interested in the concept.
Mom, if you're reading this, there is actually something that mushrooms are probably good for.
Every so often I get the emails from the Ohio Farm Bureau about membership numbers and updates on how each county is doing, etc. I guess what always surprises me is that as an Ohio resident, it was a no-brainer for me to join the Ohio Farm Bureau even if I had no interest in agriculture at all. Sure, the Ohio Farm Bureau is the state voice for agriculture and the face for many agricultural actions that occur in the state, but they offer much more than support for the average farmer. I got a great discount on my health insurance and just a couple weeks ago at a wedding met up with some urban people who used the OFB membership to get a great discount on Nationwide insurance. between that and hotel and rental deals as well, it's just a wonder to me that there aren't more members in the state. If you aren't a member and want to cash in on the benefits, please join the Ohio Farm Bureau at http://ofbf.org/.
My alma mater has finally finished building the new anaerobic digester research building! I'm very excited that they continue in this focus - hopefully something positive will come out of all the work they'll put into the research.
This is exactly why we need to continue to protect our farmers and produce our own food. Without this we suffer a huge potential threat from those countries which supply us and anyone who can influence them.
And props to Blanche Lincoln on this latest success in representing her people.
Finally for today, I'd like to second Trent Loos in congratulating the beef industry on these great new reported numbers. Remember these the next time that someone tells you about how terrible the meat industry and livestock production is for the environment. The future promises to show increased efforts to reduce GHG emissions and the carbon footprint as we also struggle to produce more food with less space. That way we can avoid eating things like insects...
Monday, July 26, 2010
State Fair, here we come
As we move into the Ohio State Fair, my posts will again become sparse. It's not that there's not a bunch going on in the ag world that's worth reading about, it's just that I don't have as much time to tell you about it anymore.
How about that weather today, eh? Being out on pig farms, I'm especially grateful for the break in the weather and I bet many other people are too. Now if only the ants could stop making a rush on our apartment and my desk, my arguments with nature would be complete.
For those of you interested in the dairy industry and their fight against Johne's, which is rumored to be more prevalent than previously estimated, here are two suggestions from the ARS about how to reduce transmission on your farm. Of course, this might be old news or simple suggestions, but if you haven't read it before, then that link is for you. (And besides, this is research proving the methods work.)
Don't be surprised about the source or the findings of the study here, but this study claims that the benefits of organic are far overpraised. Who knew? lol.
Also, Cargill announced a new method of reducing sodium in food. With the new sodium craze isn't this just what the public was looking for?
This Scottish institute was awarded a grant to develop parasite vaccines.
Also important, the American Humane Association has approved practices set forth by the Federation of Animal Science Societies.
How about that weather today, eh? Being out on pig farms, I'm especially grateful for the break in the weather and I bet many other people are too. Now if only the ants could stop making a rush on our apartment and my desk, my arguments with nature would be complete.
For those of you interested in the dairy industry and their fight against Johne's, which is rumored to be more prevalent than previously estimated, here are two suggestions from the ARS about how to reduce transmission on your farm. Of course, this might be old news or simple suggestions, but if you haven't read it before, then that link is for you. (And besides, this is research proving the methods work.)
Don't be surprised about the source or the findings of the study here, but this study claims that the benefits of organic are far overpraised. Who knew? lol.
Also, Cargill announced a new method of reducing sodium in food. With the new sodium craze isn't this just what the public was looking for?
This Scottish institute was awarded a grant to develop parasite vaccines.
Also important, the American Humane Association has approved practices set forth by the Federation of Animal Science Societies.
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