Skyrocketing beef prices today are not a result of the drought...Stay tuned for more on this subject but don't believe major media. They caused high beef prices more than Mother Nature.

Feeding corn that was baled last summer due to the drought. Yes I mean the whole corn stalk because it would not make grain. Great cow feed though. Nitrates okay. Lets "FACE" it, if every day was 55 degrees no wind clear blue skies the "need" for gestation crates may be less. But Mother Nature is not that cooperative.

HumaneWatch.org reporting information from IRS 990 on HSUS.. Here are points of interest. Here are the nuggets—lowlights, really—from the tax return: ■ HSUS spent less than 1 percent of its budget on grants to pet shelters. ■Meanwhile, HSUS had fundraising-related expenses of $48.1 million, or a whopping 38 percent of its total budget. If that doesn’t tell you the real priorities of HSUS, nothing will. ■ HSUS paid $7.7 million to Quadriga Art, a fundraising consultant recently exposed by CNN that is reportedly under investigation in New York and California. Between 2009 and 2011, HSUS paid Quadriga about $25 million. ■ HSUS also reported paying about $333,000 to Infocision Management, whose questionable practices were exposed by Bloomberg this fall. ■ HSUS added another $2.4 million to its pension plan, bringing the total to about $17 million since Wayne Pacelle took over as CEO in 2004. ■ Speaking of Pacelle, he pulled in just under $300,000 in compensation. That brings his total haul since joining HSUS to about $3 million. ■ In all, HSUS had 24 people who received more than $100,000 in compensation. ■HSUS’s “All Animals” magazine had a circulation of about 530,000. That’s a good estimate of HSUS’s true membership size, since the magazine is included with a $25 membership. (HSUS likes to claim it has a “constituency” of 11 million, which inflates its influence greatly.) In short, HSUS as usual had plenty of money to spare for overhead. But its giving to pet shelters—which desperately need resources in this economy—was once again scant. Link here to full HumaneWatch.org report.

Why does that bucket look so dirty? Because it is the hogs got it down and do what pigs do.

Of course the perfect time to dig a water line when the lows are single digits.

Loading replacement heifer calves to haul to corn stalk field. Corn stalks provide excellent feed source and is otherwise wasted resource.

I am not fond of crossbred hogs but this 21-3 sow leads me to great "Anticipation" with her next litter coming in two weeks. A barrow from her will be exhibited by Lindsi Loos at the Arizona National Show the last week of Dec.

This heifer is quite impressive and if her moma is any indication she will be a great cow too.

The water is full for cows on corn stalks after night freeze.

Press Release: Loos Tales Merit award to OK FFA'er Piper Merritt

For immediate release For additional information, contact Trent Loos 515.418.8185 trentloos@gmail.com. www.LoosTales.com Oklahoma FFA student inspires Loos Tales Merit award (Owasso, OK) The first ever Loos Tales Merit award will be presented to Piper Merritt, a freshman at Owasso, OK High School. Loos will award a purebred Spotted gilt to Merit as a result of her research and presentation on the importance of antibiotics in animal agriculture. Merritt will receive the gilt in the Owasso, OK High School at 11:00 am on Nov 14, 2012. “Piper Merritt, as a 13 year old, has as much poise and maturity as any guest on my Loos Tales radio program” says Trent Loos, host of Loos Tales. “Piper addressed antibiotic usage in animal agriculture, an issue that many others have made very complicated, and she was able to break it down to the sheer basics of science and explain the importance to all consumers.” “In today’s world many myths exist about how and why modern agriculture has evolved into the most efficient safest food supply in the world. Technologies such as antibiotic usage have contributed to healthy animals and safe food. It has become a largely political issue yet as an 8th grade student Piper Merritt chose to give a speech on the topic.” Loos Tales is a daily look at the people and places in Rural America that truly make it what it is. In 13 years of broadcasting in 19 states on over 100 radio stations, Loos says no one program generated as much positive impact as the Piper Merritt speech on air. The United States of America was built by generations of individuals doing extraordinary things to improve the lives of others. That is what Piper did by bringing to light the importance of antibiotics for improving the health of animals and thus the food supply for 313 million Americans and people around the world. As a result of her powerful presentation, Trent Loos decided to establish the Loos Tales Merit award to recognize a young person that goes above and beyond the call of duty to improve human lives. The purebred Spot gilt that Piper Merritt will receive was born on Aug 18, 2012 and will provide her the opportunity to compete in youth livestock shows including Oklahoma Youth Expo in March 2013. In accepting the Loos Tales Merit award gilt, Piper agrees to continue the tradition by recognizing other agricultural youth who rise above and beyond. She will be asked to designate one person next year to receive a gilt from her first litter. Trent Loos is a 6th generation United States farmer residing in central Nebraska. His passions include a lifetime in animal agriculture and supporting youth within the farming community that inspire optimism for the future of American Agriculture. Congratulations to Piper Merritt, not only for being the first recipient, but for being the person who inspired the entire program.

Dr. Temple Grandin responds to radio program with my criticism. If case you missed the show link here to listen.

Temple Grandin not working on Animal Welfare for consumers benefit any more.

Dear Trent,

I would really appreciate it if you would post my response to your program about me on your website. I will address each topic that you discussed below:

1. Bob veal –I have worked extensively in slaughter plants where Holstein bob veals that were less than a week old were processed. Holstein calves are weaker than beef calves and if they are too young, they have difficulty walking. Downer bob calves would be condemned, but they would still have the stress of travel. Bob veal is a regional industry that occurs in places where there is no market to grow the calves into either milk fed veal or beef steers. The development of beef steer or milk fed markets in these regions would improve animal welfare.

2. Gestation Stalls – Over ten years ago, I conducted a very objective informal survey with fellow airline passengers. I showed them very attractive pictures of sow gestation stalls and clean finishing pigs housed indoors on a slatted floor. Almost everybody liked the finishing pigs but two-thirds of the people did not like gestation stalls. Later scientific surveys had the same results. Gestation stalls are a degree of confinement that many people find objectionable. On the other hand, I have taken many people through a large beef slaughter plant and they were amazed at how quiet and calm the cattle were. A well-run beef slaughter plant was acceptable when it was shown to the public and gestation stalls were not acceptable. I am fully aware of the scientific studies, but the public will not accept them.

3. Ick Factor – There was a discussion that there are icky things in agriculture that the public will not accept. Now that every phone is a video camera, the public will see everything. We need to modify practices and open the doors electronically. Fair Oaks Dairy in Illinois is doing a wonderful job with its public tours. I hope they build Pig Adventure, which will be a large commercial farrow to finish unit that the public can view.

4. Horse Slaughter – There is a very good EU inspected horse slaughter plant in Mexico. Unfortunately, there are some horses traveling to Mexico that go to unregulated municipal abattoirs where they are killed with a stab in the back of the neck. The lucky ones go to an EU inspected plant. Horse traders take horses across the border in small trailers to sell for slaughter in unregulated markets. I get attacked on the horse slaughter issue by horse activists because I do not oppose horse slaughter in the U.S.

5. Sy Montgomery’s Book – In this book I show very clearly that a large slaughter plant can be run humanely. When I travel the country I see more and more restaurants and college cafeterias with vegan entries. I have had many people write to me and tell me that my work has made them comfortable about eating meat. I eat meat and I plan to keep eating it.

Concluding Statement: Animal agriculture needs to look at everything they do and ask “How would my wedding guests from the city react to what I am doing.” On the infamous “pink slime” controversy, I think the finely textured beef product can be sold to the public as a method to avoid wasting food. It should be listed on the label. One of the reasons why the public went berserk was due to not listing the product on the label. People hate surprises.

Sincerely,
Temple Grandin
Professor of Animal Science
Colorado State University
Fort Collins CO 80523