Random Thoughts on Some Issues in Agriculture

It has been awhile (again) since I have posted anything on this blog.  I don't know why, but, I feel compelled to write something agriculturally related!

Perhaps it is the approach of Spring that has me thinking agriculture.  I flew over the Flint Hills today as American Airlines took me from DFW to Omaha and saw several burned places as well as burning grasslands.  It is the time of year when ranchers are preparing for Spring rains and the renewing of the grasslands.

Burning the prairie to control the noxious weeds and brush is still commonly practiced in the Flint Hills.  It should be practiced in a lot of other places too, but, it isn't.  Brush has invaded much of the former grazing lands where buffalo once roamed -- from Texas to the Dakotas.  There does seem to be renewed interest in controlled burning though.  I'd really like to see it happen.  The problem is, the uninformed will complain about the smoke in the air.

It is amazing to me how people have lost touch with the land and the source of their food supply.  Urban sprawl and misguided government programs have cost much of the land that used to be the home to beef cattle.  That land today is growing houses or invasive weed, brush and tree species because it is in a "conservation" program of some sort.  Ranchers generally do an exceptional job of managing land the way it should be managed.  Using grazing species of animals to harvest grass and control invasive species is the way God designed it.  Instead, it now takes an army of people to do what a good rancher can accomplish by himself and maybe a couple of hired hands.

I guess when the price of beef gets too high, people might start to see things differently.  But, I guess that's the agenda of the Vegans and Vegetarians anyway -- cause the price of beef to increase until people can't afford to eat it.  Doesn't that make a lot of sense?  Make high-quality protein unaffordable to people who need it.  Sounds like a pretty elitist attitude to me.

But, there is the argument that the world can't feed itself if so much of the agricultural capacity is utilized for producing protein from inefficient sources like cattle.  I have several problems with that.  First, cattle are extremely efficient utilizers of forage that is unusable by humans unless converted to meat first.  Second, the reason people are starving in the world has nothing to do with beef cattle in the U.S. or other places.  It's more about corruption and poor governance.  Third, the force driving food prices and availability, etc. is fuel prices and policies.  Oil is the energy choice most easily utilized for producing food.  Or, we could go back to human and animal labor if you prefer (and some think we should).  So, what does our government do?  It uses some of that food produced using oil to create an additive (alcohol) to add to the oil used to produce it.  How does that make sense?  Talk about inefficient utilization!

Arrgh....too many interwoven issues -- all of them created by misguided people with misguided policies.  If I didn't know better, I'd think the Devil himself was trying to make it as difficult as possible for farmers and ranchers to do their job.  Malnourished people are much more likely to fall for his schemes than are healthy, happy ones.  Besides, misery is his stock in trade.....

Regulating Cattle Emissions and Conspiracy Theories

OK. I’ve finally had enough of the ludicrous idea that the way to control greenhouse gases is to regulate emissions by livestock. I suspect it is really a plan to destroy the livestock industry by those who think we should all become Vegans. Or, maybe it is something even more sinister.


The carbon cycle is relatively simple to describe although its actions are complex. Living things are carbon-based. This includes plants and animals. Plants take carbon-dioxide out of the atmosphere, trap the carbon into their tissue in the form of various molecules such as sugars and then release Oxygen. Animals eat plants (or other animals) and through the process of digestion, break down the complex molecules (such as sugars) from the plant material and utilize the released energy to fuel their existence. In the process of digestion, some of the carbon is released back into the atmosphere as various gases and carbon dioxide is released through respiration. This process cycles the carbon in a somewhat continuous loop. Plants also release carbon when they die. The process of decomposition releases carbon into the atmosphere.

This carbon cycle has continued since the beginning of life on this planet. At one time in pre-history, there was significantly more carbon floating around in the atmosphere which fueled riotous growth of plants. Many of those plants were then trapped in sediment and over time changed to oil, gas and coal or were bound into limestone and other sedimentary rocks.

Until we began releasing the carbon that was “sequestered” in the form of oil, gas and coal, carbon wasn’t a problem. It was cycled through plants and animals just as it is today. It was this release from the utilization of fossil fuels of huge amounts of carbon back into the carbon cycle that created what some scientists today are claiming to be a cataclysmic problem for life on earth. In other words – it isn’t the cattle that are causing “climate change,” it is the burning of fossil fuels that released huge amounts of trapped carbon into the atmosphere that is causing the increase of atmospheric greenhouse gases.

So, why do our government and the governments of other nations throughout the world think the solution lies in regulating gas produced by cattle? Here is one possibility – it is part of the plan to control the world food supply. In the U.S. most crops are subsidized through various support payments. Livestock production is not. Placing regulations on the livestock producers under the guise of controlling greenhouse gas emissions makes sense only in the context of attempting to gain control of one of the few lightly regulated industries left.

It fits into what could be construed as a plan to force a one-world government. The way I see it, if one wanted to control the world you would begin with a series of induced crises. The crises would be designed to gain control of some key things – banking, energy and food. Hmmmm…..we recently saw manipulation of the first two of these items. That leaves food. I wonder what’s really going on behind the scenes in Copenhagen……

Bovine Genome Sequencing News

This is important in developing new ways to combat disease in cattle and to continue improvements to food safety.

Bovine genome sequencing provides clues to possible new developments

Obama's Circus of $$$'s

What's $9.7 Billion compared to the Trillions that are being spent in other industries????

Obama’s Farm Subsidy Cuts Meet Stiff Resistance

HR 875

Below is a note that I received from Alex Tiller. Check it out.

"I wanted to make you aware of an online petition to stop HR 875, the so called “Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009” that would effectively obliterate small scale farming and gardening for profit in America. It would crush our small local food producers by imposing heavy government regulation that only large corporations could adhere to.
Please check out: http://www.leavemyfoodalone.org/ "

Summary of Poznan Climate Conference

The following is a link to:

COP14—Poznań Climate Conference Summary

Whatever your thoughts on climate change, it has definitely become a part of our world economic situation.

Carbon Taxing Food

New EPA rules could conceivably be interpreted to mean that livestock producers will be required to pay a carbon tax based on the number of animals on their premises. This is absolutely crazy. It will drive enough producers out of business that the cost of food in the form of animal proteins will go sky high. The last time that I looked, food was somewhat important to life on this planet. Below is just one of numerous related articles.

Livestock industry raises stink over EPA report on air pollution

If you think about it, livestock are converting unusable carbon into edible carbon. A cow converts grass into beef. Would you rather be eating grass or beef?

Most of the beef in our grocery stores comes from corn-fed cattle. That corn is raised by farmers who use diesel to fuel their tractors. That diesel will also be taxed. So, that means livestock producers in this instance will be subject to double taxation if a "cow" tax is implemented. Our country -- the world -- has lost its ever-loving mind over "climate change" when in fact, 2008 will be the coolest year of the decade. What is the world coming to????!

Ethanol Consolidation Appears to be Beginning

It was only a matter of time given the tight or non-existent margins in the ethanol industry. Much of the initial capital came into ethanol companies because of favorable tax incentives. Now we will see consolidation.

I suspect that we are only beginning the first wave of consolidation. It will be driven by the most efficient current producers. The second wave will see the major oil companies entry.

First signs of consolidation in ethanol industry

The Reason Wild Horses are a Problem

The real problem is the horse slaughter ban passed by Congress. The BLM is being overrun by feral horses -- horses that people have released into the wild because they no longer wanted to care for them. Our country has a serious problem with these feral horses -- and that's just what they are -- the glamorous "wild mustang" of the Old West is a fiction today. Most of the horses running wild across our country were from poor stock to begin with. The better animals are kept and the worthless ones released into the wild because there is NO MARKET for them! To fix this problem we MUST allow domestic horse slaughter plants to operate.

Nevada: Costs Threaten Wild Horses

Steve Kopperud Speaks to CattleNetwork

The animal rights activists are well-armed and well-funded, but agriculture has its advocates as well. One that I had the privilege of hearing last week is Steve Kopperud of the consulting firm, Policy Directions, Inc. He had some very straight-forward things to say to the Texas Cattle Feeders about those animal activists. The article linked below will give you a taste.

Jolley: Five Minutes with Steve Kopperud, Senior V.P., Policy Directions

New EPA Requirements for Livestock Operations

Most confined animal feeding operations do an excellent job of controlling manure and wastewater. State permitting processes require management plans that protect water resources. Now, the EPA has joined the process making it even more expensive for livestock operations to become permitted.

New Requirements for Controlling Manure, Wastewater from Large Animal Feeding Operations

From Aggie Carrots to Tomatoes

At first glance, one would think that maroon carrots at A&M were just a gimmick based on the school colors. The fact is that the maroon carrots are high in a specific antioxidant that has been shown to be life-prolonging in laboratory mice. The work done there has now been utilized by others to produce maroon tomatoes. Who knows, maybe the world of food will slowly become maroon and white, demonstrating the real impact of Texas A&M's role in feeding the world. Gig 'em!!



A&M's maroon carrot branches out
Based on research at school in the '80s, scientists are starting to develop purplish tomatoes with a life-prolonging antioxidant

Reproductive Issues Impact Bottom Line of Dairies

Reproductive efficiency and health are critical to profitability in all livestock operations but critically so to dairies. One contibutor to both reproductive and health issues is the presence of cattle persistently infected with BVD. Eliminating those animals from the herd can have very positive results for the bottom line.

Reproductive inefficiency eats at dairy producers' wallets

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Now that many producers are unable to utilize rBST, maximizing the dairy operation's reproductive efficiency is more critical than ever, said a Purdue University expert.

Allen Bridges, expert in reproductive management, said with the loss of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) - which increased milk production by 10 percent to 15 percent, and, in some cases, was demonstrated to...(complete article here).

Biofuel Waste to Riches

Potential new bi-products from biofuel waste may revolutionize the biofuel industry.

Adding Value to Biofuel Waste

What do you get when you cross E. coli with biofuel waste products? A new process that may revolutionize the economic development of the growing biofuel industry.

Biofuels represent the best sustainable, secure, and renewable alternative to fossil fuels. Unfortunately, biofuel production is beset by the same problem as traditional petroleum refining – excess waste. In traditional refining, only about...(complete article here).

Ethanol Subsidy Market Distortions

Iowa State takes a different look at the impact of ethanol.

Ethanol: A Welfare-Increasing Market Distortion?

Xiaodong Du, Dermot J. Hayes, Mindy L. BakerOctober 2008 [08-WP 480]

This study estimates the welfare changes for consumers and producers resulting from ethanol production and related support polices in 2007. The results suggest a positive welfare gain from the support policies; this is possible because ethanol subsidies effectively replaced a market distortion that had a larger deadweight loss. Previous farm subsidies created overproduction, which then depressed market prices and increased the cost of maintaining target-price supports. Ethanol polices resulted in additional ethanol production, but because this additional ethanol was sold in price elastic energy markets, the price depressing impact of the government supports was less than before. This resulted in lower government spending and a net welfare gain of $2.65 billion for given market parameters. The results are...(complete news release and link to study here).

National Biofuels Action Plan Released

You need a plan if you expect to accomplish anything -- even if what you are trying to accomplish isn't the right thing.

USDA & DOE Release National Biofuels Action Plan

WASHINGTON – Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Ed Schafer and Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today released the National Biofuels Action Plan (NBAP), an interagency plan detailing the collaborative efforts of Federal agencies to accelerate the development of a sustainable biofuels industry.

“Federal leadership can...(complete news release here).

Ethanol Secrets of the Bovine

This one is common sense. Cattle have been utilizing roughage since they were created.

Secret for efficient ethanol in cows' stomachs?
Professor: Enzyme that helps digestion could be the key
(complete article here)

Malawi and the New Green Revolution

One Brit's perspective on how Malawi is becoming food independent.

Seeking Africa's green revolution

From the begging bowl to the bread basket: in just two years, Malawi has gone from famine to food surplus - a minor agricultural miracle.

By applying a mixture of...(complete article here).

Gene Identified to Improve Rice Yields

Rice is the number one food crop for the majority of the people on earth. Improved yields are critical for meeting future food needs.

Scientists identify gene that may contribute to improved rice yield

A team of scientists, including Hong Ma, Penn State distinguished professor of biology, has identified a gene in rice that controls the size and weight of rice grains. The gene may prove to be useful for breeding high-yield rice and, thus, may benefit the vast number of people who rely on this staple food for survival. "Our work shows that...(complete news release here).

Plastic From Sugar Coming Soon

Plastics from sugar is a further shift to renewables and away from petroleum.


Bacteria Ready to Make Plastic From Sugar

Eric Bland, Discovery News

Sept. 26, 2008 -- Claims of biology-based oil and plastic usually bear the caveat "in five years." But a San Diego-based company claims they will have a pilot plant for production of E. coli-based 1,4 butanediol (BDO), the base chemical for plastic products ranging from Spandex to car bumpers, next year.

"We are able to...(complete article here).