THIS gets me worked up...

My friend and I were talking this morning about this whole beef thing, and how people are so detached from the actual process that they REALLY don't know what goes on in the beef industry. Case in point-here is an article that she received from another friend of ours who runs a calf/cow operation:

Click this link to read a dumb article and then listen to all of the stupid people comment on it.

I'll just highlight some of the things in this article that piss me off, and some of the comments that show me just how ignorant some people are:


"Her study, which appeared in the Journal of Animal Science, was produced at the request of—and with some funding from—the industry." 

-To me, saying that her study was funded from the industry is generating bias. Guess what? The Humane Society of the US has an annual budget of $230 million dollars to tell everyone how bad beef is for you and the environment. The Beef Checkoff Organization has about $48 million. Don't EVEN talk to me about funding studies that provide bias towards one side or the other.

-"Corn, the food of choice at industrial feedlots to fatten cattle for slaughter, is a cheap and calorie-dense food source. But cows are designed mainly to digest grass, and a grain-heavy diet can over time irritate the digestive tract, which can require antibiotics as treatment." 

-Guess what genius? Even the farmers feed the cows grain. You know why? When the mothers are getting ready to calve, it helps them get the extra nutrients they'll need for birth and to produce milk for their babies. Also, we feel the calves grain all year long until we sell them, to help them gain weight and grow strong. We do this so they'll be healthy so we DON'T have to give them antibiotics. And even when they DO get sick, we give them vitamins to get healthy. Example: When our cow went blind earlier this year, we gave her giant pills of vitamin B to help her regain sight. We feed her grain and grass every day. Guess what? She can see again! Friggin' miracle.  SO, cows are getting grain their whole lives. They are with the rancher for most of their lives, and in a feed lot for the last 4-6 months of their lives before slaughter. And if you knew anything about the grading scale for beef, you would know that if the beef is too lean or too fat, it isn't paid nearly what average fat content gets. So no, they don't want them to gain just fat right before they're slaughtered because then they'd lose money.

Ok, onto the comments from these ever-so-informed people:

"I am a vegetarian because the whole meat industry turns my stomach. I really wish we could see a return of the smaller family farms instead of the huge industry farms that are running the country."

-Here are the facts: 720,000 ranches have fewer than 100 cows (50% of the total US beef cows), and 45,000 ranches have between 100-200 cows (17% of the total beef cows) (Source: CattleFax). SO, 67% of the cattle in America belong on farms that have less than 200 cows on their land.

-"In the United States about 3% of the beef we consume spends even a moment on our public lands (mainly in the arid West) yet livestock grazing is responsible for more threatened and endangered species, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, degraded water quality, invasive species,ruined archaeological sites, etc. etc. All of this for a paltry grazing fee that costs taxpayers millions per year to maintain.The time has come to remove private livestock from our public lands."

-Lady, I'm quite certain that my cows spend most of their time on our PRIVATE land. And when they do spend about a month on public land, does it cost you anything to repair the fences? NOPE! Didn't think so. That comes from ME.


-"However, the cattle industry in partictular needs to remain robust. It could be tweaked and improved for the benefit of both the consumer and environment but it must remain. The reason is that in most of the west grazing land will not be used for alternative crops should cattle/sheep production go away. It's too dry, too steep, too rocky, too cold for any other agricultural use."

-I thought I had a winner with this one...I agree with the first part of the statement about how there's always room for improvement. HOWEVER, I lost all respect with the second-half of his argument. "It's too dry, too steep, too rocky, too cold"....ummmm...have you been where I live? This statement tells me that no, you haven't. Being a farmer and rancher, I can tell you that no, it isn't too dry-in fact, last year it was too wet. Steep? Nope, I can see for days out here. Too rocky? What does that have to do with anything? That's what rock-pickers are for. Too cold? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. -60 degree windchill last winter didn't keep the wheat from growing in the summer. IDIOT.

- "GE (genetically engineered) crops have given way to a hole new breed of plant that doesn't require soil to be overturned. When you overturn such soil it releases harmful gases contained and produced by compost."

- Tell me sir, how does your bagel made with fake ingredients taste? Oh by the way, it's also made with the wheat that I grow on my farm. I'd like to know what "gases" are released from the "compost" when soil is overturned? When I'm out in the field and stuff is being planted, it sure looks like dirt to me. And BTW, any good farmer knows not to plow when it's windy, because the NUTRIENTS in the soil that help the wheat grow, blow away with the wind....

-"I rarely eat beef, don't like the cruelty in the processing, and feel the feedlot system is unnecessary and abusive. It's still an environmental nightmare in many locations. When I want red meat, I prefer grass fed, free ranged bison and am happy to pay more for it."

-This literally makes me laugh out loud. How do you think bison are slaughtered? You prefer grass-fed, free-range bison? Then you should go hunt for it and kill it yourself. You aren't going to find anything different about how bison are kept in feed lots and slaughtered, than cows. Newsflash-cows are fed grass too! And most of their lives are spent free-ranged!

-"I'm curious about how much progress has been made over the last 30 years to reduce methane "output" from cows. There is no mention of that in the article, even though it is a huge pollution problem."

-Have you ever heard of a dairy farm that converts it's methane gas into heat to use for consumption in homes or on their ranch? I have...in fact, my dad helped install one. LOOK HERE to read about it. Although this could be done many other places, it's getting there. So yes, progress has been made.  Huge pollution problem? A study by the EPA shows that cows produce 2.9% of the gases emitted into the air, while vehicles produce over 16%. Yep, HUGE problem. Enjoy driving your car to work every day.





Reading these comments make me really realize how far detached people are from the whole process...it makes me sad that people are saying things they don't know anything about, and are not actually out there in the middle of the shit (literally) like I am every day. The statistics I spouted off in this article are from my farm class that I took last year, from www.explorebeef.org, and the Beef Checkoff Program.

OH, and my personal experience.


So please everyone, pray for me as I feed the cows this week while I get high off all of the methane.