Farmville

I have to admit- I am a virtual farmer. There is just something mind numbing about clicking your mouse repeatedly "harvesting crops, plowing, and seeding". Though, I was struck by a thought the other day. If you don't harvest your crops on time, they wither. However, if you don't collect milk, none of your cows dry up, there is no going to the vet and getting treatment for mastitis. A wandering stallion is a good thing!? The chickens don't lay eggs in places you can't find them and then hatch out to cause you to have more chickens. You don't butcher the laying hens once they quit laying. Every egg is a hen. Wow! How much further from reality do we get? Is this game actually furthering our disconnect from food?

Think about farming or ranching where nothing dies. You wouldn't get paid for a calf crop. No pullets to butcher. You only collect wool from sheep and milk from the goats. AND, the hogs hunt for truffles? There would be no meat. Is this a vegetarian utopia at its worst? Especially considering literally, millions of people virtual farm.

But on the flip side of facebook, there is a mafia wars game where you can steal, murder, and extort. You can kill people but not animals. Makes you think.

Undercover Video of a Dairy Farm in Ohio

I am disturbed by the undercover video that was debuted by Mercy for Animals. It was a disgusting, heart wrenching display of stupidity at its worst. This is not how animals are supposed to be treated. This is not how 99% of dairies treat their animals but this is the video that is going to watched and used to decide on regulations on all forms of the food producing industry.

The abuse is bad enough but the undercover video technician allowed this abuse to go for days without stepping in and doing anything! How could someone who works for a group called Mercy for animals not stop this senseless torture? I think this person should be charged along with the workers and owner of the dairy. They stood by as a silent observer. Does this condone the actions to some point? They sat their and filmed for their own gain and watched the cattle suffer at the hands of these monsters.

Livestock Board- Take Two

I realized after I had posted under the title of Livestock Board, I never got to the point of talking about them. I believe that Livestock Boards such as those trying to be put together in Ohio and Tennesee are needed. They seem to take away the emotions associated with animal rights and welfare and replace it with decision making based on science.

Should be simple to convince legislators of right? WRONG! One doesn't think it is needed. Another believes it would be difficult to form a non-biased board. The politics and the list goes on.

Kids

Had Ag in the Classroom yesterday. OVer 75 first graders visited a ranch to learn about agriculture. There were all types of animals and people. It was a very rewarding experience.

It also opened my eyes as to how far away from food source even rural kids are getting. I held a picture of a chicken drumstick and asked where it came from? It was scary when one kid answered Safeway.

Livestock Boards

Animal Welfare has come to the forefront of many ballot measures and news articles lately. Proposition 2 in California was a law passed to regulate cage laying hens, farrowing crates and veal crates. It had the loose restrictions of the animal being able to turn freely and extend limbs without touching the sides of enclosure, among other things. I guess there was very dramatic commercials that went along with the campaigning for this proposition. We don't have TV so I didn't view any of them. Sounds great, right? What voter wouldn't want their food animals to have free movement?

The problem is the commercial were put together by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). A known lobbying group against animal agriculture in any form. They give very little of their multi-million dollar budget to help animals (sources quote from less than 0.05% to 5%). They are not helping your local humane societies and are a close partner to PETA.

The science shows raising animals in the current confinement structure is actually more beneficial for the animal and efficient for food production. Chickens raised in "free range" situations tend to be cannabilistic, have increased disease, and are less healthy than those raised in cage operations. Farrowing crates are used to decrease the incidence of females eating their young or laying on them and smothering the young pigs.

Lastly, why can't people vote at the grocery store? If they want cage free eggs then buy them! Don't push businesses out of a state by over regulation. All that happens is: Businesses move to surrounding states that are less regulated and California then imports eggs or whatever that are raised in the same manner as before the law was passed.

Prop 2 didn't help animal welfare! It helped the economy in Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, and Arizona. It is going to reduce the tax base in California- a state that is currently facing a 20 BILLION dollar deficiet. Doesn't make much sense to me.

Great Weekend

I had a long, rewarding, and stressful weekend. We went to the in-laws and worked cattle. We practiced low-stress livestock handling, beef quality assurance, and animal welfare, all in a sustainable manner. The same way they have been doing it for 50 years before we had buzz words. Why haven't they been changing they're ways? Because it works! And in order for the small environmentally friendly place to be passed down to the next generation like it has for two generations we must continue. Over 95% of all farms and ranches are family owned, just like ours. Not factory farms with uncaring faces taking care of livestock. They are taking care of their livliehood and legacy. Not something to take lightly.

So, I guess it would be families feeding families. I don't want my daughter to eat her beef from Brazil. I would prefer it comes from the USA.

Horses

When does feral stop and wild begin?

In the west there are tens of thousands of horses out on the range and even more in long-term holding facilities in the Midwest. These animals are called wild horses or mustangs but are they really?

Feral is an animal that was once domesticated but has returned to its natural surroundings. According to most archealogists, horses were extinct on North America sometime in the last 6,000 to 25,000 years. Horses were reintroduced to the area with Columbus. Stretching common sense a bit, I would think a horse would have to be somewhat domesticated to be placed on a boat, fed and watered for several months as the boat sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, and then taken off a boat to a new country. With this theory, I would say most mustangs or wild horses are actually feral.

So, they have feral cat round-ups, feral dogs can be shot on site, but feral horses are protected by federal law and Disney. Don't get me wrong, there is something romantic about seeing horses running free on the sagebrush sea but they have become overpopulated. Overpopulation leads to reduction in the amount of feed available for everything including wildlife. Because of laws that are in effect, feral horses cannot be permanently altered for population control. You can not spay or neuter these animals until adopted. Instead, millions of taxpayer dollars are spent towards creating PZP vaccine that is only partially effective for 3 years.

Something to think about the next time you watch Spirit.