Found

More pet food milk protein stuff

Here is a pretty good editorial bringing up the same things I said the other day about MPC or milk protein concentrate and unrestricted food imports. Not to bore you to death or anything, but unregulated importation of the darned stuff is pretty rough on farmers here.

Happy Mother's Day

And thanks, Paints....very sweet....E-Train is having her first Mother's Day, having had a cute little heifer yesterday. We were in the barn until nine PM because old Zinnia decided to keep mother, baby and all the other cows out on the hill.

I would like to thank my mom for being such a great mom...Happy Mother's Day, mom, we love you!.........and my kids for keeping me on my toes, by such means as inventing games like "Whack-a-brother", "manure fight", and many, many others too obnoxious to mention. Last night it was "who can think of the most names of bulls?" (We women were shutting Alan right down until the boss got in the game. Never try to get between a man and his specialty.) I may no longer be quite sane, but I can assure you that I am awake.

Speaking of Mother's Day...here is a very determined mother.
and here is a very funny mother.

Brand new goslings

Liz took this out the car window when we driving over to the school today (she forgot to hand in a scholarship application and it was due today...since she bought me gold fish and a water lily and some hens and chicks for Mothers Day I am sure not complaining).
These babies just came off the nest, because the girls have been watching the parents setting. The silly things nest within yards of the road. Just a few yards from here Becky and I was an American bittern on Tuesday, a life bird for me....don't get too many of those any more.

**You may want to click to get a better view.

Before the Hell storm

Still more on food saftey and inspections

This morning I found the update below in one of my inboxes. It originated with the Meating Place, which offers an industry newsletter to which I subscribe.

"Only a week after taking the reins as FDA's food czar, and in the midst of a melamine outbreak, Dr. David Acheson has had plenty of explaining to do.
More of it came Wednesday, when Acheson found himself before the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, trying to assure its members that the U.S. food supply is safe despite widespread contamination of chicken, hog and fish feed.
However, some committee members contended that melamine is indicative of a bigger problem.

"The explanations from the USDA and FDA leave me with the uncomfortable feeling that maybe we just got lucky this time," said Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.). "The next time tainted food or feed products slip through the very large crack in our import inspection system, we may be forced to confront a much more serious situation in terms of animal or human health."

Acheson conceded that FDA, which inspects just a small percentage of the $60 billion in food imported annually, is due for an overhaul. He says plans to request additional funding and manpower to fuel such efforts."

Um, yeah, I do believe that might be a plan.

More on the pet food recall

Here is a story that reveals all too clearly that some plumb shady practices have been going on in the pet food industry. Obviously no one has been very careful about what went into what dogs and cats eat, where it came from, or even honest ingredient labeling.
Sadly, there is nothing stopping contamination in the dog food dish from showing up at the dinner table too. Another story yesterday indicated that the contaminated rice and wheat gluten (that actually turned out to be wheat flour) was made into fish food in Canada and fed to fish in the USA, which were certainly eaten by unsuspecting Americans.

We were discussing the issue in the barn this morning (politics and national issues are topics that turn up there every bit as often as how many bales of hay to feed.) We decided that if the US inspected foreign foods and their suppliers anywhere near as thoroughly as we do American farms and factories, the likliehood of such adulteration would diminish immensely. Here at Northview we have an inspector from Producers Cooperative, where we sell our milk, who routinely checks our premises. From seeing that medicine for dry cows is on a different shelf than that for lactating cows, to making sure there are no holes in the milk house screens, no dirt where it shouldn't be, and even that the place is tidy, he keeps a close eye on us. Our milk is tested EVERY SINGLE TIME the tanker picks it up, that is every other day, for antibiotics, cleanliness, butterfat, protein, somatic cells and water content. If it is too high in any negative factor it is condemned and we pay for the entire truckload of milk that it was dumped into. We are also under the direct oversight of state and federal inspectors who check for the same things and very thoroughly too.We could be denied a place to ship our milk and fined if we get caught doing naughty things. Certainly if we dumped melamine into our tank to boost our protein price, we would get caught...real fast

Then we are under the observation of the Soil and Water Conservation folks, the EPA, state Ag and Markets, and have so many other government entities watching over how we do what we do that I literally can't bring them all to mind. Building inspectors, Dept of Environmental Conservation, nosy neighbors.... vets inspecting the beef that we ship....we are being watched, and carefully. However, it is pretty darned obvious that while the US government peers at its own navel by layering inspections on its internal food supply like someone dressing a kid for January in Alaska, it has its back turned toward millions of tons of material that is slipping in through the back door. What we need is for imported products to fall under the same scrutiny, and, (since not everybody outside this nation is our best buddy... most favored nation status to the contrary) they should actually fall under MORE scrutiny.

The whole affair makes Pete Hardin, of the Milkweed, look real smart. He has said for years that uninspected and unregulated imports of fractions of milk, such as milk protein concentrate, potentially permit milk from exotic species, such as water buffalo, and unclean locations, such as Chernobyl, to be included in our food. Hmmmmm, ya think?

I like this quote

From hearings on animal welfare by the House Ag Committee....


"The Committee gained insight not only on the issues facing animal welfare but also the solutions that industry is working through to ensure that we have a safe, plentiful, and affordable food supply," Chairman Boswell said. "It's evident that livestock producers are vigorously addressing animal welfare issues."

"Today's hearing demonstrated that the animal agriculture industry is committed to ensuring the humane treatment of animals in its care. Farmers and ranchers, not activists, should be dictating animal husbandry practices. Passing legislation based solely on emotion goes against the Committee's responsibility to use science and best management practices that are designed to improve animal welfare practices," said Subcommittee Ranking Member Robin Hayes."

I give thanks to both of them for having some common sense rather than pandering to whatever special interest group has the most strident voice each day.

May sunrise

The days are long this time of year, but they sure get off to a good start!

It isn't always arm and hammer

Sometimes it's arm and chickadee

Some people have lawn ornaments

Some people have garden gnomes...
Some have blacktop...
Some have the ocean.,
or forest,
or sidewalks





I have........Liz and Mandolin Rain!

On the way to a milk meeting last night

***HT ...this is the kind of land that is getting buried under houses.

Another kindness requested

Last month when I asked readers to support my brother's ride in the Tour de Cure for diabetes, several were kind enough to do so. He is grateful for your kindness, as am I. Great cause, great brother, wonderful folks...it's all good. Thank you.

Here is another kindness that could be done. Laurie at Don't Make Me Get My Flying Monkeys has been writing for some time of her cousin Dale's battle with cancer. Things are going hard for Dale right now and Laurie is hoping that folks around the world will send Dale cards or photos to cheer him up.

His addy is:
Dale Petersen
Room 3408
Presbyterian St. Luke's Hospital
1719 E 19th Ave
Denver, Colorado, 80218

Town for sale

I love this story of a husband and wife who decided to build a town, did so, and ran it all their lives. Mrs. Hagglund is auctioning the place off this weekend if you are thinking of picking up a nice little lakeside town all your own.

"Everything Eddie and I did in life was successful, because we worked together," she said. The dream started one day in 1954 when the couple, who operated an implement dealership in the town of Sharon, spotted dozens of anglers on Lake Ashtabula during a drive to visit relatives. "I said to Eddie, 'Wouldn't this be a good place to have a hamburger stand?'" Hagglund said. "That's all it took." The couple bought a chunk of lakeshore prairie for a couple thousand dollars, planted trees and began putting up buildings. The first was the dance hall, which featured a large neon sign that said "Danceland" and hosted dances and roller-skating. They later added the cafe and other businesses. "We were just like homesteaders when we came out here," Hagglund said.n 1960, when the local township board denied their request for a liquor license, the Hagglunds incorporated the town and issued themselves a license. To meet the requirement of 100 residents, the couple "counted cats and dogs" and even coaxed some residents of nearby Luverne to sign a petition saying they lived in Sibley, Hagglund said."

I like that!

Still another meme

From Matthew. Posted over on 2007 Garden Records

Wanna feel a little insulted?

If you are a farmer that is, and not too fond of NAIS (National Animal Identification System)? Just read this story on Cattle Network.com. and you will get the idea.

Especially the part about reading to farmers at the sixth grade level.

"....As described by the USDA, these “key messages” “are organized into topic categories and supported with concise sentences. They are designed for an audience reading at the sixth grade level.” (Handbook, p. 41.)"

Dang. Sixth grade. It has been a while.

"Staff are advised not to “invest[ ] time” in “Anti-NAIS producers” and instead “locate and motivate more favorable individuals” (p. 9). While staff are to tell farmers that participation in premises ID will not compel them to participate in either individual animal ID or animal tracking (Handbook, p. 42), at the same time, staff are to pursue the second and third components of NAIS, “adoption of animal ID and tracing,” during 2007. (NAIS Outreach bulletin, Feb. 2007, p. 1)."

I can't help it. My feelings are hurt.


***Update....Here is a story on the human form of NAIS

Found by accident

I came across this site while trying to find some place within fifty miles of here where I can buy a couple of fan tailed gold fish for my garden pond. We went to Herkimer Sunday in said pursuit and found the fish store there out of business and replaced by a tax preparation store front operation.
I was already aware of puppy mills, before I stumbled on this site, having spent eight years working in a veterinarian's kennel and seeing plenty of sad stories. This is simply horrific though. I guess I won't be visiting the local branch of this chain to buy my fish. I can't justify spending money in such a place. So does anybody within a few zip codes of here know where I can buy a couple of healthy fish without bankrolling such enterprises?

**BTW check out the prices! I bought Mike and Gael from a reputable breeder of working quality border collies for $350 and $425 respectively. Both come from parents that had successfully competed in open level sheep dog trials. Gael's father ran in the Nationals. They were both healthy, well socialized, and capable of what I wanted them for. (Plus in my admittedly biased opinion, they are great dogs.) If you want a purebred dog, buy from a reputable breeder and do your homework. You wouldn't hire a nanny without a background check. Don't hire a dog without looking into its background too. You can also deal with a reputable rescue organization where someone will help you through the experience of starting with a new dog. But talk to dog people. Find out about your breed, the breeder, or whoever is providing you with your pet BEFORE you bring one home and fall in love. Oh, and stay away from border collies unless you have a job for them and plenty of patience. Some of them are fine anywhere, but a good many will herd kids, car tires, tractors, cats, each other and even running water if they don't have something constructive to keep them busy. I almost lost Gael that way when she was a pup and hadn't learned "come here" yet. She took off trying to head a little stream of water and was almost to the road before I thought to use my whistle....which luckily she heeded.

Yep

Spring!

Cow magnets

Apples asked in the comments just what cow magnets do and why we use them. I thought it was a good enough question to answer in a post (plus I don't have much to say today and am grateful for any and all ideas.)

Cows eat all kinds of things in their pursuit of digestible greenery. Autopsies have revealed bicycle tires, shirts, entire feed bags and lots and lots of baling twine. Unfortunately cows often also ingest bits of sharp metal, which can pierce the stomach lining, causing infection and even affecting the heart.The resulting condition is called hardware disease. At the very least it causes the cow a lot of discomfort. In some cases it ends in death. At least some of the time, shooting a powerful magnet down the cow's throat with the same balling gun you use to give aspirin or stomach pills will fix it. Ideally the magnet will grab the offending nail or bit of steel and drag it to the bottom of the stomach where it can just sit there doing no harm.

Magnets don't always work, but sometimes the results are simply spectacular. We had an old cow, number 80, Adela, years ago, before we were married. She went off feed and began a slow decline. Our vet at the time didn't think she had hardware so he treated her symptomatically and went on his way. Days went by and she failed to improve. Finally I suggested to the boss that we give her a magnet just to see what happened. She was obviously dying, so what did we have to lose? By the very next morning she was gobbling hay as if she had never been sick.
Coincidence? Nah...

We had another cow drop dead from a standing position at the end of milking one day. One minute she was standing in her stall chewing her cud; the next she was sprawled on the floor stone dead. We were stunned and really puzzled so we had our veterinarian conduct an autopsy. Amazingly a bit of sharp metal stuck in her stomach wall had worked its way through the stomach lining to pierce her liver, she moved just right (or perhaps just wrong) and bled to death internally in seconds. The metal was a bit of steel off a wagon that a less-than-diligent hired man put through a forage blower into the silo. (Of course we didn't know about it until too late for old Danillla.) We didn't keep him too long after that.

Anyhow, we keep a couple magnets on the fridge among the Far Side cartoons, shot up targets, family photos and school schedules. Then we can always find one when some cow starts refusing dinner and acting odd.

Beck and her bunny