Rise Above the Little Things … December 31, 2009
One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things. ~John Burroughs
Good advice from Burroughs … I pray to make it one of mine in 2010.
Study: Raising Pigs Indoors Healthier for Animals, People December 22, 2009
Many swine diseases saw declines or eradication since move to confined operations.
- Raising pigs indoors reduced use of anti-parasitic agents.
- Outdoor pigs can damage land, environment.
Raising pigs indoors is healthier for the animals and has allowed for a higher-quality product for consumers, according to a new study, and the researchers hope it will provide producers with ammunition to combat attacks on modern production practices.
“We’re hoping to get this information out to producers,” said Beth Young, swine veterinarian with the University of Missouri Commercial Agriculture Program. “If producers are faced with criticism, we will be able to provide them with some …
Merry Christmas Greetings to You All! December 21, 2009
Pat and Pennee Murphree’s Christmas notes …
Merry Christmas Greetings to you all. We hope you have a wonderful New Year.
By Pennee Murphree
Last year we wrote about our Sawtooth adventures and invited friends and family
to come on down to enjoy the view and even spend the night. Don’t come yet!
On Oct 26th, I was up in the night on the computer as I am now, working on genealogy. I heard the water running and thought it was the water softener back-washing. I checked it out in the garage but figured it would finish so went back to bed. It was still …
Christmas on the Farm December 18, 2009
By Gene Hall, Texas Farm Bureau
It’s always a mistake to paint a mythological picture of farm life. The Norman Rockwell image never really existed. However, there are pieces of my childhood on the farm that my children never experienced, nor will my three-month-old granddaughter. Christmas is one of those times.
My Christmas memories are of the farm because that’s where I grew up. Our 235 acres were nestled in among walls of tall pines in deep East Texas. We raised cattle and hay and for a time tried both the dairy and the hog business. Christmas was never an extravagant affair, …
Farmers Declare: Don’t Cap Our Future December 14, 2009
Don’t Cap Our Future
By John Hart, American Farm Bureau Federation
With the United Nations climate talks occurring in Copenhagen and the recent finding by the Environmental Protection Agency that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, global warming is once again making headlines. Senate leaders are promising passage of a massive climate change bill by the spring, which will move the issue front and center on Capitol Hill in the new year.
In the meantime, many of America’s hard-working farmers and ranchers are actively involved in Farm Bureau’s “Don’t Cap Our Future” …
Don’t Blame Cows for Climate Change December 8, 2009
Despite oft-repeated claims by sources ranging from the United Nations to music star Paul McCartney, it is simply not true that consuming less meat and dairy products will help stop climate change, says a University of California authority on farming and greenhouse gases. Smarter animal farming, not less farming, will equal less heat,” Mitloehner said. “Producing less meat and milk will only mean more hunger in poor countries.”
Mitloehner traces much of the public confusion over meat and milk’s role in climate change to two sentences in a 2006 United Nations report, titled “Livestock’s Long Shadow.” Printed only in the report’s …
Another Pandora’s Box Just Got Opened December 7, 2009
So we knew it was coming, but once here did we just yawn? Yesterday’s EPA ruling on greenhouse gases is significant. If Congress can’t pass Cap & Trade, well let’s just rule Carbon bad stuff. Yes, the ruling was expected. But have we really considered the consequences?
Third Times a Charm … December 6, 2009
Editor’s Note: Over the Thanksgiving Day weekend my brother, Patrick, harvested a mountain lion. He shares the experience below.
According to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, “The mountain lion occurs only in the western hemisphere and has one of the most extensive ranges of any land mammal, from the Straights of Magellan in South America to the Canadian Yukon. In Arizona, mountain lions are absent only from the areas heavily impacted by human development.” The goal for mountain lion management is to manage the mountain lion population, its numbers and distribution. Most wildlife management experts explain that the aim …
The Next Green Revolution Needs Willpower December 4, 2009
By Dal Grooms, writing for American Farm Bureau Federation
It doesn’t matter who you talk to, feeding the world in 2050 is going to be a big job. The World Summit on Food Security, which just concluded in Rome, clearly pointed out that the job must be accomplished through reliance on technology.
That technology, they say, must increase production by 70 percent. Is the world ready for the next Green Revolution?
The first Green Revolution took place in the mid-1960s, but it really had its start in 1945. Technology developed for wartime quickly found peacetime uses. Mechanical technology was adapted to increase …
House Bill Extends Current Estate Tax
The House yesterday passed, 225-200, H.R. 4154, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009, introduced by Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.). The bill makes permanent the current estate tax exemption of $3.5 million person and the top rate of 45 percent. The bill was modified by the rule to include statutory pay-go.
During the Rules Committee meeting late Wednesday afternoon, a motion to allow a vote on Farm Bureau supported H.R. 3905, introduced by Reps. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) and Kevin Brady (R-Texas), was defeated in a 1 to 7 vote. Farm Bureau commends Reps. Berkley and Brady for attempting …
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