Unfair deal to citizens

Unbelievably, no matter which state I travel through there seems to be a controversy over ethanol. Yes I said the United States renewable resource Ethanol. Last week it was Marshall, MO. This article was in the Marshall Democrat News, but here is an excerpt.

"I'm not opposed to the ethanol plant, I'm just opposed to the (tax abatement) deal," he said. "It's not the tax part, it's the fairness part to the citizens of the county. You're expecting everyone else to pay property taxes. It takes away even the obligation for sales tax.

Here is my letter to the editor printed Wednesday…

I wonder why? Why is the next generation leaving the farm? Why, in Saline County, is the average age of the populations under 18 and over 65 years of age 1% lower and 3% higher, respectively, than the entire state of Missouri? It may have to do with hypocrites that talk about saving the family farm in one breath and try to stab us in the back in the next.

I can’t believe what I heard while in Marshall for short time on Friday. There is a controversy over tax abatement on the farmers investing in Mid-Missouri Energy. This is not some New York Wall Street Company moving into Saline County to avoid paying taxes. All of the investors in Mid-Missouri Energy are farmers who are working and taking a risk in an attempt to add value to their farm products.

The last time I checked the property tax deposits for the county’s checking account, “farmland and farmers” were pretty well represented. I read the concern about “fairness to the citizens of the county.” How fair is it that Saline County has an average annual salary that is $3000 less than the state average? How can that be corrected? Not by setting back and waiting it to rain dollar bills. You must seek opportunities for increased income as these farmers are attempting to do.

Perhaps someone could explain to me which of these is a bad deal for Saline County or any rural community:

Ethanol is a value-added product of corn, which aids local and state economies and boosts profitability for producers.

Ethanol is a biodegradable alternative additive that provides consumers with a high-octane fuel at a competitive price.

One less barrel of imported oil is needed for every 28.3 gallons of ethanol used, which helps the U.S. balance of trade.

Ethanol reduces our demand for imported gasoline by 100,000 barrels each day.

Ethanol lowers harmful carbon monoxide (CO) emissions by 30 percent.

Oh yes I understand that you are not against ethanol but you just don’t want it in your backyard. You just want things the way they used to be in the good old days right? Well, today is your lucky day, because the Amish communities in Missouri will gladly accept new members.

And the whistle blew

This year, the plains portion of our country has had more than it’s fair share of fires. The entire state of Montana tried to burn all summer. I know of one volunteer fire department (White River, SD a community of 600) that received seven fire calls in one night a couple weeks ago. In honor of all firemen on this anniversary of 9-11-01, I wanted to emphasize the importance of volunteer firemen in rural America. I have some interesting facts about firemen in the United States from the National Volunteer Fire Council:

1,078,300 total firemen; 73% are volunteer

The number of volunteer firemen is declining by 10% annually

2 million fires are reported each year

Volunteer firemen save communities $36.8 billion annually

Each year fire kills more Americans than all other natural disasters combined

I was prompted to tribute these volunteer firemen today because this was sent to me last night, thanks Doug.

http://www.fdnylodd.com/BloodofHeroes.html

The most passionate fireman I know is Susan Littlefield from Columbus, NE. She is a farm broadcaster for Farm and Ranch Market Network. Check out her website.

New age marketing

David Cantor, long time Animal Rights advocate, has again showed his hand. I attended the Animal Rights 2003 conference in Washington DC in June. The movement has moved into colleges and universities across the country recruiting members. Locations of secondary education are a haven for young people, typically ladies, who are “searching for a cause”. That is why David Cantor has chosen to target Land Grant Universities in search of members for his new animal rights group. Here is what he had to say this week in a letter to Iowa State University, read entire letter here.

"I would love for students to understand our campaign and get involved to
the extent that they can," he said.

"Teaching people to make animal products is infinitely worse than any other
major could possibly be," Cantor said.

"If animal agriculture remained the way it was in 1862, it would not be a
target of animal rights activists. Period."

His history is a bad as his logic. The number of bison in the 1800’s exceeded the number of bovine today. The Indians were more than just a little dependent on animal products for their survival. People lived in sod houses with no electricity, no phone, no cars and kept snakes in the ceiling to control insects. Life expectancy was about 42, considering that millions of Americans that died from Malaria, Tuberculosis, Measles or Typhoid. The population was 31 million and it took 60% of the population to feed the people, lest we not forget that 3.5 million of the 31 million were slaves. So it is probably not a stretch then to consider Cantor a racist.

Here is an Abraham Lincoln quote from 1862 which also endorses this theory?

Speaking of farmers, Lincoln said, “It also follows that that interest is most worthy of all to be cherished and cultivated -- that if there be inevitable conflict between that interest and any other, that other should yield."

A quick history lesson from the University of Illinois:

Although pioneer farms were much more diversified than today's corn and soybean farms, corn was grown on considerable portion of cropland acres because it gave high and reliable yields and the mature crop could stand in the field all winter without spoilage or much loss to wildlife. However, corn's low price per bushel did not justify transporting it very far and consequently much of it was used to feed livestock on or near the farm where it had been grown. Thus, by 1860, the Midwest was becoming the nation's livestock and feed grain producer, complementing the agricultural and industrial specializations occurring in other regions.

It seems that despite our advances in technology, many things remain unchanged.

Scientist or activist?

Dr. Elizabeth S. Williams, researcher at the University of Wyoming, has been a full time researcher of Chronic Wasting Disease. How does a “scientist” promote the need to attain research dollars without exaggerating the problem? I am pretty sure this scientist doesn’t know the answer to that one. Nature.com printed this article yesterday morning, and as of right now, I know of 15 newspapers that have used it to scare the public about BSE and/or CWD. Read this….

Here we compare the incidence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in captive mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) that is attributable to horizontal or maternal transmission. We find that horizontal transmission is remarkably efficient, producing a high incidence of disease (89%) in a cohort of deer in which maternal transmission was improbable. Our results indicate that horizontal transmission is likely to be important in sustaining CWD epidemics.

Although prion diseases have emerged worldwide as a threat to human and animal health, they are incompletely understood.

Now remember that we have had 132 deaths worldwide due to vCJD as a result of BSE. We have had ZERO humans affected by CWD and less than 500 confirmed cases in the cervid population in the history of the United States. Furthermore, with a cervid population of over 30 million, this “scientist” made “significant” findings by testing less than 20 head of deer. I am no statistician but I know a couple and they agree that the numbers are a little lacking.

I found this from 1998 and thought you would find an interesting correlation:

Wyoming has yet to issue health recommendations for deer and elk hunters, but "the risk is so small, I wouldn't worry about it at all," says Tom Thorne of Wyoming Game and Fish, who adds that he regularly hunts and eats deer from southeastern Wyoming.

The spread of the disease among captive animals may represent a more immediate threat.

"This is probably going to cause quite a bit of problem in the game-farm industry," says Wyoming's Tom Thorne.

What you need to know is that Tom Thorne is married to Elizabeth Williams, humm…? Also, notice their implication that BSE is looming even though this study is only about CWD and there have been no confirmed cases of BSE in the US. But shouldn’t consumers always be on the lookout for it?

Keep my kid safe

On Friday I briefly mentioned the assurance of food safety with the irradiation process and got bombarded with comments, all in support of the process. With school once again back in full swing and our kids eating lunch at school, it is no wonder the anxiety arsonists are back at work trying to scare the nation’s mothers. Ron Eustice, Minnesota Beef Council, tells me there is irradiated ground beef in over 9,000 stores. I believe consumers are speaking with their food dollar. Then I found this article from Consumer Reports in August:

Supporters of irradiation as a tool for preventing foodborne disease are dismayed by a generally negative evaluation of irradiated meat in the August issue of Consumer Reports.

"There's no real reason to [buy irradiated meat] if you cook meat thoroughly," the article says. "Irradiation actually destroys fewer bacteria than does careful cooking." In addition, Consumer Reports taste testers found a "slight but distinct off taste and smell" in irradiated beef and chicken servings they sampled.

It makes me wonder if they have figured out that seat belts don’t help you at all if you never have an automobile crash. Furthermore, who would buy it if it didn’t taste good? And of course the Public Citizens try get in on all the fun, in this article from Wyoming they are trying to bash the neighborhood “demon” Hatfield Quality Meats based in Pennsylvania.

Public Citizen argues that irradiation could cause cancer, that the materials could be used to make a radioactive "dirty bomb," and that concerns about food contamination should be addressed by making slaughterhouses more sanitary.

I have my own personal experience with Public Citizens click here to read my assessment. But most importantly notice the context, we don’t have any proof but the sky may be falling…..

Phil Clemens of Hatfield Quality Meats is one of the premier individuals in this industry. Sounds like a good time to reread his company values. Read the entire thing with a click here, but this is what you must now.

Let me put this into practical terms. Let me tell you what we do at our family corporation. First we have clearly identified our values. They are:
1. Honor God in all we do.
2. Earn a reputation of high ethics and integrity
3. Make sound business investments
4. Take a long-term view
5. Share success with employees, community and shareholders
6. Be good stewards
7. Seek to set commercial standards
Of course maybe it’s just the “In God we trust” concept that they can’t handle.

The Animal Rights movement

With so many trying to understand the whole movement, it looks to me like the American Veterinary Medical Association has found one professor who does. Read entire article.

Dr. B. Taylor Bennett's presentation on the animal rights movement July 21 at the
AVMA Annual Convention in Denver could not have been timelier. He believes that the protest and media campaign directed at the AVMA in July during the Denver convention are just the beginning.

"The AVMA is now going to come under attack, and they're going to have to deal with it," he said. Bennett began his presentation with a review of the AVMA position statements distinguishing animal welfare from animal rights and the recently adopted statement opposing the trend in several cities and municipalities to refer to pet owners as pet guardians.

Frogs only give you frog legs

Recently I attended the Waterkeeper Alliance’s “Fear a Minute” conference. The Waterkeeper’s whole premise for existence is to improve the waterways of the country. But the theme of this annual rally seemed to be presenting any topic that might instill fear in the minds of consumers. Animal rights issues had plenty of time on the program, including three presenters from the UK. Now there is a prototype we should adopt when it comes to animal laws! You need to know that Patty Lovera, from the Public Citizen group, presented information about a deadly concept - making meat safer.

It reminded me of the whole bumper sticker approach to creating consumer anxiety. She identified the things that are happening in the food business and then made little statements poking fun of science in action. The one that sent my head spinning was her perception that “the implementation of HAACP is an industry excuse to limit inspectors.” So why is it that we have fewer and bigger packers? Concentration has increased sharply in recent years. The four largest packers handled 82% of the cattle harvest in 1994 compared to 72% in 1990 and only 36% in 1980. It seems that the cost of food safety compliance is forcing many smaller packers out of business. Food-borne illnesses are predominately a handling issue yet some seem to believe you can mandate consumers to wash their cutting boards or even their hands!

According to Ms. Lovera, “manure from cattle has e-coli.” She made it sound like some rare plague that you can only catch if you eat beef instead of an organism that is present in every human body. But there is the hidden anti-meat agenda slipping a little subliminal message in there.

In her criticism of the USDA, Lovera stated that “they have created so much of this irradiated beef that now we let them sell to it the school lunch program”. Her statement implied that since nobody else wants irradiated beef, we will dump it on the school children. Never once was irradiation considered an important means of ensuring food safety. If the procedure kills 99% of all bacteria, wouldn’t it be a good idea to provide the safest food to our children that technology will allow?

Lovera suggested that “the farm to fork” concept is one of the most dangerous strategies this industry has come up with. I find this statement fascinating because while she is busy poking holes at the concept, she is probably shopping at a farmers market. I guess it is fair to say that she may want to know the guy who raised her tomato but when it comes to meat, ignorance is her choice.

Her closing jab was that “irradiating beef is similar to painting a house when the foundation is crumbling.” I’m not sure what part of the beef industry is on such shaky ground because consumption is clearly on the rise. The U.S. is not only consuming more beef annually but more total meat protein than ever before.

While many in the meat industry ignore people like this wishing them away, I recognize all the people like her are a problem only if they are not held accountable. Whether it is the truth or not, when we hear something enough times, we begin to believe it. As consumers continue to be bombarded by messages like these, they will lose trust in the safety of their food supply and those who produce it.

Consequently, I challenge everyone in this industry to confront the Patty Loveras of the world as you hear them manufacturing and propagating these tales. If you don’t believe that their lies uncontested will become “truth” just remember that, contrary to what you heard when you were a kid, you don’t get warts from a frog!

Farmer Scapegoat

Perry Beeman with the Des Moines Register should stop disguising himself as a news reporter and come out of the closet as the activist he really is. Once again he has written a story ripping the United States farmer. Des Moines, the city he hails, from built a $4 million nitrate removal facility for their water supply. They remove nitrates and guess what they do with them - put them back in the river! Nearly 41% of the continental United States, including 31 different states, drains into the Gulf of Mexico yet Beeman claims it is the Iowa farmer that is causing the environmental problems at the Gulf. The article actually states that nature has a way of repairing itself but activist Beeman attempts to direct your mind-set in the first two paragraphs. Click here to read the entire article in the Des Moines Register but here is what I am talking about.

07/31/2003 A dead zone off the coast of Louisiana, the result of farm pollution washed down the Mississippi River and other waterways, is half the size scientists expected, a top researcher reported Wednesday.

Nancy Rabalais of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium said two tropical storms stirred the waters, adding oxygen to deep water in large areas that typically wouldn't have much plant and animal life this time of year. The low oxygen kills much of the life and sends some sea creatures packing for other areas, disrupting one of the nation's richest fisheries.

The low oxygen happens as algae, fed by commercial fertilizers and naturally occurring nitrogen, die and decompose. Federal studies have shown Iowa is one of the largest sources of fertilizer that ends up in the gulf.

While farmers are planting buffer strips, implementing conservation tillage and other utilizing erosion management techniques, urbanization is placing concrete at every corner. E-mail the Des Moines Register and tell them Perry Beeman should be employed by the Sierra Club if he is going to continue doing their Public Relations and masquerading them as news pieces. Here is an excellent factsheet on the Mississippi River.


Don’t for a minute

If you believe this whole anti-antibiotic movement is not coming from the vegan and vegetarian socialists, you live in a cloud. This movement is wonderful at pitting the “natural” producers against “conventional”. Natural is an option that the producer and consumer can CHOOSE. Aligning yourself with this anti-animal agriculture movement in any way will eventually benefit Brazilian soybean farmers exclusively. Here is a two part article from the San Jose Mercury that describes what I am talking about. Again, doctors can tell my 5 year old daughter to start treatment with amoxicillen and we will work up to more powerful drugs for her ear infection, but it my fault as a livestock producer that humans are becoming resistant to antibiotics. Click here for part one or part two, but here is excerpt.

At Yolo Land and Cattle near Davis, 600 pairs of cows and calves chew through thousands of pounds of feed as they are raised for beef. Rancher Scott Stone plies the cattle with grass, hay and rice bran, but leaves out one ingredient that has become a mainstay in much of livestock farming -- antibiotics.

Unlike what has become standard practice in meat production, Stone's family ranch never used low doses of the drugs in feed. But until five years ago, they did treat sick animals, and occasionally the entire herd, with drugs commonly used in human medicine, like erythromycin and penicillin. Then Stone decided to start producing ``natural beef'' and dropped the use of antibiotics and other additives such as growth hormone.

``I want to be able to eat what I produce,'' Stone said. ``And the healthier and fresher I can make it, the better I feel about the product I'm producing.''

Limits on Big Macs

I can see it now. You walk up the counter at McDonalds to order a Big Mac and the high school kid working there has to tell you, “Sorry, we have sold our limit today. Please come back tomorrow”. In the same vein, Illinois has a law limiting the number of non-resident hunters. Below is an excerpt from the Quincy Herald Whig last Sunday. We are killing 500,000 deer a year on the nations highways with automobiles, obviously we do not have a shortage of deer. But the real issue is the use of private property. What is the point of buying land if you must use it as the government sees fit. We used to call that socialism. The entire article written by Deborah Gertz Husar is not available on-line, but I do have it if you would like to read it. Send me an e-mail and I will send it to you.

PITTSFIELD, Ill. - West Virginia deer hunters planning to spend time in Adams County during bow season won't be making the trip this year. They couldn't get the required non-resident deer hunting permit. "They'd been here two years in a row and were really looking forward to hunting again," said Ben Kessler, a Loraine outfitter and private landowner working with the hunters. "They'll have to hunt somewhere else or not hunt
in the Midwest."

Illinois caps nonresident permits at 12,843. Permits went on sale at 8 a.m. July 12 and sold out by the morning of July 17. "Last year it took about four weeks. I wonder what will happen next year. Will they be sold out in 24 hours?" Pike County Board member Harry Wright said. "In the meantime, we have a large deer herd in Illinois and a cap
creating hardships for private landowners. I think we need to get in touch with legislators, talk about the possibility of raising the cap and think about properly managing the deer herd."


Protein - the Health Food...

Why is our society still en-“grained” with the notion that meat is not a healthy part of our diet? How many times do you hear someone who works in a restaurant refer to a meatless diet as healthful? Protein is the “new” health food. Dr. Robert Atkins knew that in the 60’s and major medical communities are finally accepting it only 40 years later. I have just found the American Council on Science and Health. The nucleus of ACSH is a board of 350 physicians, scientists and policy advisors - experts in a wide variety of fields-who review the Council's reports and participate in ACSH seminars, press conferences, media communications and other educational activities. The list includes Nobel prize winner Norman Borlaug.

This site is an excellent source of information, and not from the “biased” beef industry. This is from their site.

Despite the positive news about beef, nutrition, and health, many Americans are misinformed and think that including beef in their diets will have negative health consequences. But, as the ACSH report explains, many of the supposed health risks associated with consuming beef lack strong scientific support or have been exaggerated.

For example, concerns have been raised about the fact that beef contains saturated fat—ostensibly the kind that raises blood cholesterol levels. But in fact, 2/3 of the fats in beef are of the type that do not raise cholesterol levels. Scientific studies have shown that a diet that includes moderate portions of lean beef is similar to one containing poultry or fish in its effects on blood cholesterol levels. In the news

California Wool Growers Association have posted my article "What weighs heaviest on your mind" on their website. Thank you.

Last chance to be heard

Any of you who know me know that I want as little government intervention in agriculture as possible. Two weeks ago I sent out a request to write to Dr. Nancy Helpern during the comment period about animal handling guidelines and I got some negative feedback from some my best supporters. I believe that this is a pro-active step in animal agriculture. The attempts to legislate us out of business are endless and well-funded. At the Animal Rights conference, a man who finances these initiatives bought me breakfast while he was telling me how he would do it.

Sunday morning I had breakfast with Bradley Goldberg from New York. He spent 35 years in the investment banking business; now at age 59 he is spending his retirement using his wealth to change food production. His group, Animal Welfare Trust, is not about animal welfare but it is animal liberation. One of the projects he has “invested” in is Farm Sanctuary and the New Jersey legislation. It is not a coincidence that a story appears today in the New Jersey Star Ledger with a wonderful slant towards Farm Sanctuary. Read entire story, although check this out from the story…

"I'd wish I wasn't tethered all the time. But you know what, I'm a person, that's why I'd wish that," said Larry Katz, chair of the Department of Animal Science at Cook College and a farm industry adviser. "You have to try to view the world as the animal does and not expect the animal to perceive the world as a human does."

"The American public enjoys the healthiest, safest, cheapest food supply in the world," Katz said. "That has been the fuel for so many of our other economic advances, which have allowed us the luxury of starting to think about what is humane." I don’t know Larry Katz, but we all have something to learn from him. Those two paragraphs NEED to be adopted by every one of use who desire to be heard. Nice job Mr. Katz.

The deadline for comments on the proposed legislation ends Friday. If you haven’t responded, you need to. I am not telling you what to say although this is a nice first line:

I’m writing to you in support of the Humane Animal Standards as published in the May 5,2003 New Jersey Register (35 NJR 1873).

Send them to: humane.standards@ag.state.nj.us

Irradiation battle

Speaking of the luxury of thinking, on June 18, 2003 this story appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer about Hatfield Meats. The anti-irradiation movement is somewhat harder to understand than the animal rights issue. Don’t believe for a minute that whether it is irradiation, animal rights, environmentalism or global warming that they aren’t all connected. “Anti’s” will use any source of “fear” or “anxiety” that might get attention.

For example did you know “health foods” such as St. Johns wort is irradiated? How about fruits and vegetables, wheat flour, etc? During irradiation beef receives a dose of 4.5 kGy and herbs get 30 kGy. So it is not only possible but highly likely that the same “weenies” are complaining about irradiated beef immediately after consuming irradiated herbs on their veggie-burger.

An excellent resource on the subject of irradiation is the Minnesota Dept of Health website. Be sure to look at this Journal of Food Protection report on lettuce, where are the weenies on this one?

Gamma-irradiated lettuce

In studies, irradiation at 1 or 2 kGy improved overall appearance of fresh-cut lettuce and reduced browning. Fresh-cut iceberg lettuce packaged in passive modified atmospheres can tolerate 1 kGy of radiation. Results demonstrate that irradiation at doses of less than 2 kGy can be used to improve the safety of fresh-cut iceberg lettuce without loss of quality. The irradiated lettuce was stored at 37.4°F (3°C) for 14 days without significant quality loss compared to non-irradiated control lettuce.

Animal Rights 2003

I just returned home from the Animal Rights 2003 Conference in DC. What an eye-opening event this was, even for me. It would best be described as an “Activist Training Camp.” Training levels range from teaching college girls (in search of a “cause”) how to stand on street corners distributing literature to convicted felons teaching an eager audience how to burn, bomb and destroy private property and deal with law enforcement if they are caught. Some very alarming things are happening within this movement, especially the invasion of the freedoms and privacy of those outside the movement. Groups you have never even heard of, such as SHARK, are there discussing strategies. SHARK is an Illinois based group with many campaigns, but this is straight from their website www.HuntersRapeNature.com.

Documentation!

SHARK's number one tool is video footage, and no one does video quite like SHARK. Using hidden video, long range video, and even video cameras that see in the dark, SHARK leaves no place for animal abusers to hide. SHARK's award-winning video footage is supplied to local, national and international media, lawmakers, courts and other animal advocacy organizations.


Birds of Prey

SHARK has also taken to the air to help animals, using Ultralite aircraft to divert animals from hunters' bows and guns, for surveillance, and to protest animal cruelty. Dubbed the "Birds of Prey," SHARK's Animal Rights Air Force sends animal abusers scurrying for cover. These machines allow us to go where there are no roads, and beyond fences and walls.

See the Ultralite in action!

In these videos, SHARK president Steve Hindi drops down to say "Hi" to hunters at the Woodstock Hunting Club, and in the process he keeps geese and ducks from being shot. The club subsequently closed.

According to this movement, factory farms confine animals and they don’t like that. However,free range hunting isn’t good either because we kill animals. Many of their platforms include preaching about humane handling of either farm animals or wildlife, but it is really a path to humanizing food animals. This hunting issue is especially fascinating that humans in this day and age think they are more in touch with “nature” and yet hunting is not considered “natural”. I need to inform the neighborhood coyotes that they should start treating my calves more humanely. They simply have no compassion for other animals!

Make no mistake about it – the people in these movements know that they will not convert everyone to a vegan lifestyle but they plan to harass and legislate their values upon us.


Where are the headlines

Obesity lawsuits are surfacing everywhere and people want to blame everyone but the person responsible for what they see in the mirror. Reuters had a story Friday with the true facts. Here is excerpt

Doctors should regularly prescribe exercise as a way to lower blood pressure and prevent heart disease and diabetes, the American Heart Association said on Monday.

The National Center for Health Statistics reported in May that a quarter of all Americans get virtually no exercise. Only 19 percent engage in a "high" level of physical activity.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the United States and other industrialized countries, killing more than 700,000 Americans a year.

Weenie Roaster of the week

Phil Clemens of Hatfield, PA responded to 60 minutes about “Pork Power”, a segment taped in 1996 about the alleged ills of the pork industry in North Carolina. The segment aired this past Sunday. Congratulations Phil, your “Weenie Roaster” certificate and bumper sticker are in the mail. This is what Phil told them.

I was very surprised that you did not include Robert Kennedy, Jr with Water Keepers Alliance about his comments on hog farm and hog farmers. He has been quoted that hog farmers are greater terrorists that Osama Bin Laden and he will do everything he can to have all hog farms removed from the US, and then he will go after chicken and beef, etc. Some of the people used in the story are connected and have the same "wild" thinking as Kennedy and don't care if they have the facts or can make them up. As Bernie Goldberg once told me, 60 minutes and the other news organizations begin with the end in mind and then interview people to make their point. Your reporting is as accurate as the New York Times.

This was mine, sure would like to see you what you sent them?

In reference to your Power Pork story that aired on June 22, 2003, the “information” you presented was very dated and clearly in line with your agenda to chase food production out of the United States. As a 6th generation United States farmer, I wish the major media outlets in this country would evaluate the credibility of special interest groups before presenting them as experts in the field. Furthermore, if your goal is to be considered anything more than an infomercial, the least you could do is include both sides of the story. You might consider including the view of someone who is actually involved in producing some of the safest, highest-quality food in the world – a US farmer. Maybe your goal wasn’t credible journalism since you felt that pigs should be nominated for academy awards rather than recognizing them for their true purpose – a source of protein and vitamins in a balanced diet.


Sincerely,
Trent Loos
Proud 6th generation livestock farmer
Loup City, NE