Department of Labor Pulls the Proposed Child Labor Regulations

Sorry for neglecting my blog y’all. Here is a huge victory for American agriculture and all those involved in production agriculture.

Check out Chriss Chinn’s blog post about The Department of Labors Child Labor regulations that would have directly impacted production agriculture in this country as we know it.

Chris is one of my favorite bloggers, check her out!

Department of Labor Pulls the Proposed Child Labor Regulations.

 

Modern Rural American Family--Actively Involved in 4-H, FFA, & State and National Youth Livestock Associations--I think we have turned out pretty good!

Challenge Friday–Share the Resources

The first Friday of March should signify something right? Spring is getting close, flowers will be blooming, crops will be planted (when mother nature allows), and beautiful white face calves will be hitting the ground (or any color, but I am partial).

Either way, I am going to kick of March with asking a question. Not to you the faithful blog reader, but to the Center for Food Integrity and their blog called Best Food Facts.

The Center for Food Integrity started the blog called Best Food Facts with the hopes of creating a running tab of agricultural resources from the leading researchers in the field. Anyone can ask a question, about anything related to food and agriculture.

So here is the Challenge for Friday March 2, 2012.

Go ask a question on the BestFoodFacts.org website, and then share this website with your friends, family, and social media network. This organization wants to become the WebMD of food, so lets help them! Don’t be scared, start asking, the organization and the panel of researchers want to answer your questions––we are all consumers!

Here was my question:

What is the hormone level in beef compared to that of other animal protein products? With that how does an animal that has been implanted with synthetic hormones excrete those hormones? 

 

I honestly dont know the direct answer to this, so I figured what better way to find out than asking an expert. 

 

I hope you will check out this new website that was launched this week by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), it is called Know Your Farmer, Know your Food Compass.

Again, SHARE these resources!
Consumers want to know about the food they are purchasing so let’s share with them!

Example of asking a question on BestFoodFacts.org 

Consumer Knowledge and Opinions of the Food Industry

We are all consumers, whether we are raising the corn that is in almost every processed product or the beef that is in a fast-food hamburger, at some point we are all consuming products.

Do you have worries or wonder how a product came to be that you are serving to your  family? I know I do, but I also know where the resources are to find the answers.

Following my blog post “I Wont Ever Eat Chipolte with Willie..or Anyone for That Fact…Again” I think this is a fitting chart (see below) to show consumer concern and questions about the food industry. I question companies like Chipolte whose mission is to use sustainable produced animal proteins or organics. Which is a great intention, but here is the deal we cannot feed the world on organics or naturally produced food (whatever that means), Michael Pollan even said so himself. So is pushing this agenda item ethical?

Personally, I dont think the “benefits” of eating organics out way the premium price from choosing these products over conventionally produced products.

This is my opinion, and food is a personal, and emotional choice, so heck, I dont care what you chose. It is all supporting agriculture. 

 

I was having the discussion with myself over this consumer information, and who would be willing to sponsor the research funding to find out these answers. Thankfully a united front for U.S. Farmers and Ranchers called the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance did just that. I saw this chart of Facebook from Ag Media 101.

So what are your opinions, concerns, or comments regarding food production and consumption in this country? Are the major agribusiness companies going to make us all obese or starve us all death in the end? (Opinion of many concerning the current state of the “whole story” of agriculture–see blog comments).

Additional reading: Bill Gates discussion of the green revolution and the advancement of agricultural technologies.

Wordless Wednesday

Thank goodness for the Idaho Department of Agriculture and the USDA for decorating my Macbook. It needed a good dose of agriculture passion. Next sticker, TTU Animal Science, Wreck Em’ Tech!

Makes me a little jealous that I am not an Idaho resident.

Animal Husbandry, a Labor of Love

Let’s make it known, in no way do I condone what happened at the E6 Cattle Company dairy in Hart, Texas earlier this year. The video sickened me; I could not believe anyone would treat an animal like that.

A fellow blogger, Crystal Cattle, responded to the post I made earlier today on Facebook with some very good points. I encourage you to read her blog post! I decided that I needed to respond as well.

I would like to believe that we are all grateful for the Mercy for Animals employee who captured the video footage and ultimately put a stop to this abuse, but really who watches something like that. Who willing watches animal cruelty to that level multiple times before they report it to authorities?

If anything it may disgust me more that this employee watched this happen numerous times.

I will be real honest, some days I am positive my cattle hate me. They don’t like receiving vaccinations, but neither do I. On the same hand, I don’t like getting sick or hurt, so I do what I have to take care of myself. The same thing is done on farms and ranches to prevent livestock from becoming hurt or sick.

My favorite cow Meme and her darling heifer calf!

My sister and I worked calves over fall break, my sister does not have a tough stomach, and we when opened up an abscess, she about lost it. The calf flinched for a moment, but soon as the pressure was revealed from this abscess she was fine. Our vet said due to the rainy spring and summer that Eastern Oregon had this year he had seen more joint and navel infections than ever before. We have never had an infection like this in any of our cattle, due to the cleanliness of our property.

We also had to dehorn the calves, which is not pretty and I wish we would work calves at a younger age so we could use a different procedure, but it is just not feasible for us to do so. The calves always act as their world has come to an end about a half hour after the horn is removed. By the next morning they are fine, continuing to eat and play with the other calves. It similar to do to the dentist and having a tooth removed, you will whine and mope around the house, but the next day you are ready to go again.

During whatever procedure is done to our cattle, we are sure to keep a close eye on them. Unlike many producers our cattle are not livelihoods, but our cattle are still very important to our family. I can remember many sleepless nights taking care of cattle, what has to be done must to be done to ensure the health and safety of our animals.

Purple Currency Bull Calves from Chandler Hereford Ranch

This is a side of the industry that consumers rarely see; the general public watches the evening news which will feature the horror stories such as the E6 abuse case. This is another reminder to continue to advocate on part of the beef industry. Let’s push to educate on the true story of the cattle industry and maybe keep some people from jumping off the edge to a completely vegan diet.

Sustainable agriculture-Define It!

Between the discussions of “green” everything the matching debate is about sustainability. While working on some background research for my thesis I stumbled upon an article about how the United States soybean producers are working to ensure that the public understands this organizations mission to be sustainable.

“Many people define and measure sustainability differently, and the discussion about what it really means can generate more heat than light,” said David Wilson, USB Sustainability Initiative Chair and soybean farmer from Lincoln, Ala. “Agriculture has been working well for 10,000 years, so it has always been sustainable historically. But soybean producers are doing some innovative work recently to improve on that success and make sure soybean production continually decreases environmental impact and remains sustainable going forward.”

Here is the new website link: USB Thinking Ahead

My question about this popular trend of sustainability:

So are we in danger of loosing agriculture? Or are we just in danger of not having the ability to feed the growing world population? What are the dangers of new technology is everyday life as compared to food technologies? Why are so many people against genetically modified food, don’t we all want to end world hunger? What other forms of sustainable agriculture will continue the lifestyle that we all know so well? Is agriculture really the root of all evil, meaning the continuing debate about global warming?

I am not really sure what to make out of this craze-trend of sustainability, I also didn’t gain much insight for the USDA either. The USDA definiton is below.

What are you opinions on sustainability and how would you define it?

Here is what the USDA has to say about sustainability:

Sustainable Agriculture: The Basics Some terms defy definition. “Sustainable agriculture” has become one of them. In such a quickly changing world, can anything be sustainable? What do we want to sustain? How can we implement such a nebulous goal? Is it too late? With the contradictions and questions have come a hard look at our present food production system and thoughtful evaluations of its future. If nothing else, the term “sustainable agriculture” has provided “talking points,” a sense of direction, and an urgency, that has sparked much excitement and innovative thinking in the agricultural world. The word “sustain,” from the Latin sustinere (sus-, from below and tenere, to hold), to keep in existence or maintain, implies long-term support or permanence. As it pertains to agriculture, sustainable describes farming systems that are “capable of maintaining their productivity and usefulness to society indefinitely. Such systems… must be resource-conserving, socially supportive, commercially competitive, and environmentally sound.” [John Ikerd, as quoted by Richard Duesterhaus in "Sustainability’s Promise," Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (Jan.-Feb. 1990) 45(1): p.4. NAL Call # 56.8 J822] “Sustainable agriculture” was addressed by Congress in the 1990 “Farm Bill” [Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (FACTA), Public Law 101-624, Title XVI, Subtitle A, Section 1603 (Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1990) NAL Call # KF1692.A31 1990]. Under that law, “the term sustainable agriculture means an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term: satisfy human food and fiber needs; enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends; make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls; sustain the economic viability of farm operations; and enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.” [Subchapter I: Findings, Purposes, and Definitions, U.S. Code, Title 7, Chapter 64-Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching, Available at GPO Access: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/ getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+7USC3103 (8/23/07)]