Thoughts from the pasture

As I sit at the table waiting and wondering when this year’s harvest will begin, I have plenty of time to wonder about the direction production agriculture is headed.

Why, in a democracy such as ours, is Washington, D.C., now filled with czars? Twenty or more years ago we had a “drug czar” to fight the importation of illegal drugs. We now have over 20. That gives us more czars than cabinet posts. Last month, a new “regulatory” czar was appointed: Cass Sunstein, a Harvard professor. The impact on agriculture is that Mr. Sunstein holds many views akin to those of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Humane Society of the United States. In the last five to 10 years, production and animal agriculture have been buried in new regulations. We are currently fighting new wording in several areas already, including noise, odor, air and water regulations. We already must deal with state and federal EPAs, the Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Farm Service Agency; we really don’t need another agency attacking us.

Speaking of being attacked, all of us in livestock production are carefully watching what is going on in Michigan and Ohio. In these two states, livestock industries are in pitched battles with HSUS and public perception to prevent what has happened in Florida, Arizona and California from taking place in their states.

Michigan poultry and pork producers, along with the Michigan Agri-Business Association, reached compromise legislation with HSUS in order to prevent further restrictive ballot initiatives.

The Ohio Farm Bureau and other ag groups, including livestock and grain producers, decided to turn the tables and create their own ballot initiative in order to keep control of their own livestock operations. If passed, Issue 2, will create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board. It will be a board that will bring a wide range of interests to the table and will ensure that what is right in terms of farm animal care will be decided by people from Ohio that know and understand animal agriculture. Good luck to both states.

The biggest news for area cattlemen is that the Walnut Sales Barn is cutting the number of special calf sales in half. Instead of having two sales per month, there now will be only one. Hopefully, this will offer enough opportunities for both the buyers and sellers. Maybe larger sales will benefit both sides. In my opinion, we need this barn to stay open. There are many cow-calf producers and feedlot operators that utilize this sale barn. It is close, convenient and has a good reputation.