Enough popcorn, give me steak
by Steve Kopperud, Brownfield Network

Conversations in DC these past few weeks have inevitably begun with "What did you think of the speech?" From Michelle Obama's "We're-just-like-you" oratory, to Sen. Barack Obama's cross of gold speech to the multitudes, to Gov. Sara Palin's "I'm-real-take me seriously" barnburner, to Sen. John McCain's "my road" speech, we in this town have been glued to C-SPAN, CNN, Fox and MSNBC.

I've joked with friends and colleagues that if Hollywood had scripted a presidential campaign, it couldn't be any more bizarre than this quadrennial horse race. But it's time to move beyond the theatrics and "rate-the-speech" game and start demanding substance.

The problem is, we can demand substance, but I'm afraid we're in for more of the same as both candidates worry too much about playing to the media mob. Both presidential candidates misstepped with the media in their veep choices, and the press is now looking for red meat on which to dine.

Obama's selection of Sen. Joe Biden (D, DE), the DC insider, gave lie to his quest for "change," but played to the folks who worry that Obama lacks the gravitas and experience to sit in the Oval Office. McCain, more bad boy than maverick in this case, picked "Sara who?" Palin, to shore up support among the far right wing of his party, while hoping to snag at least some part that golden undecided independent women's vote.

Both candidates poked the bear that is the national press corps with a very sharp stick. Having spent more than a decade as a reporter and editor, I can tell you that nothing ticks off a self-important media type than being bored or caught unprepared. When either condition sets in, there results general pettiness and muckraking,and we've seen it in spades.

What Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin must do now is redirect their energies and messages so that they're talking directly to the American people, not to the press gaggle. Force the press to cover what you're saying and what you stand for, not what you're wearing, who you dated in high school or how many houses you own. Forget about DC types -- we'll adapt to whomever sits in the White House; forget about the party leadership, they'll defend their candidate no matter what, and forget about the zealots out there of whatever political stripe. They made up their minds a long time ago and there's nothing that will change their opinion.

Part of the job of any political candidate is to draw contrasts with their opposition. I like this part of the campaign; it's the drama and comedy that keeps our interest. But for the first time in recent memory, I feel a real, deep need for information from both teams. There's a serious void in the substance category. I don't feel I've learned much more than soundbites about positions on the issues I care about like the economy, rural/ag/food issues, trade, energy and international relations. Like many, I'm not disposed -- nor should I have to be -- to spend hours searching the web or buying esoteric publications to get my information. I want to hear it straight from the horses' mouths. And the media is supposed to deliver.

The media is doing a crappy job of covering both teams. Most of the members of the Fourth Estate have allowed themselves to get down in the mud with the supermarket tabloids and chase rumor and innuendo. This is a betrayal of public trust -- such as there is these days -- and its counter to everything journalism is supposed to be.

To both campaigns and to the press corps, I offer again, a turn on an old campaign phrase:

"It's the issues, stupid."

A key issue facing the livestock industry, as federal country of origin labeling takes effect Sept. 30, is how to move required livestock origin information along the ownership chain. That issue was addressed in an unprecedented industry meeting recently organized by LMA, and co-hosted by the National Farmers Union and the National Meat Association. The result was the development of three universal “Country of Origin Affidavit/Declaration Statements.”

Read more on LMA Member InfoLink Press Releases.

MICHIGAN STATE CLAIMS WORLD'S FASTEST GROWING SHEEP
Aug. 27, 2008

American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) reports:


The Sheep Research and Teaching Facility at Michigan State University (MSU) reports what it believes to be the "World's Fastest Growing Sheep."

MSU 8130, a Suffolk ram, was born on Feb. 8, 2008, as a 20-pound single. He was weaned on April 16, at an age of 68 days, and weighed 120 pounds. At 120 days of age, MSU 8130 tipped the scales at 203 pounds with a post weaning 60-day growth rate of 1.6 pounds per day.

MSU 8130 was part of a research study at MSU evaluating growth rate and feed efficiency in Suffolk ram lambs. Rams are fed for 42 days post weaning using feed intake recording equipment. MSU 8130 had a feed conversion rate of 3.87 pounds of feed per pound of gain. At 96 days of age, weighing 163 pounds, MSU 8130 was scanned using ultrasound and was found to have a 12th rib fat measurement of 0.21 inches and a loin eye area of 3.71 square inches.

Another ram, MSU 8139, born as a 16-pound twin on Feb. 11, was weaned at 93 pounds at 65 days of age. At 120 days of age, MSU 8139 weighed 199 pounds with a post weaning 60-day growth rate of 1.91 pounds per day. MSU 8139 had a feed conversion rate of 3.39 pounds of feed per pound of gain. At 114 days of age, weighing 184 pounds, MSU 8139 was scanned using ultrasound and was found to have a 12th rib fat measurement of 0.21 inches and a loin eye area of 3.53 square inches.

Both rams were sired by Culham & Stevens 5BR155, the National Sheep Improvement Program Suffolk trait leading sire for both weaning weight and post-weaning gain.

Gary A. Hachfeld
Extension Educator
Extension Regional Office, Mankato, MN
Ag Business Management

Your grandparents may have made a good living by farming 80 to 160 acres. However, the agricultural industry has changed drastically in the past several years, including the farms where raw agricultural products are produced.

As input costs increase and commodity prices farmers receive fluctuate, profit margins change over time. As these changes occur, farmers have had to change their businesses. Some farmers have gone out of business. Some are farming part-time and work off the farm to supplement their income. Others have gone to alternative farming methods in order to remain in farming. Yet others still farm full-time and have increased the size of their farms to remain profitable.

Whether we agree or disagree with these changes, the changes are a function of the changing agricultural industry. The following numbers are used not to justify or support the changes in agriculture. Rather, they’re put forth as one approach to explain what’s happening. The numbers presented are real numbers from real farm families throughout the southern one-third of Minnesota.

In 2007, a total of 850 farm families from the MnSCU South Central/Minnesota West Adult Farm Business Management Program kept household and personal expense records. Their average household and personal expense for the year was $74,804, with an average family size of 3.4 persons.

This family living expense includes: food, medical care, charitable donations, supplies, furnishings, clothing, educational costs, recreation expenses, gifts, utilities, child care, house rent and upkeep of the house. Also included are expenses for the purchase of non-farm vehicles, investments, savings, life insurance premiums, income/social security taxes, and non-farm capital purchases.

If a farm family plants a 50/50 corn and soybean rotation, they would need approximately 464 acres of corn and 464 acres of soybeans- -- a total of 928 acres to earn the family living amount of $74,804.

For other farm enterprises, it would take 127 dairy cows, 10,717 head of hogs from weaning to finish, or 948 head of beef cows in a beef cow/calf operation.

Click here to read the whole report

Gearing up for the September rush...

It's the middle of August and Washington, DC, is pretty much a ghost town. Congress is back home, running for reelection, and most everyone else has headed to the beach, the mountains or elsewhere for some rest and relaxation.

That well-earned R&R is, it's hoped, going to re-energize folks for the congressional rush to adjournment in September. This is when, having had two years to to its job, Congress tries to complete major legislation in about three weeks. This should bother you as much as it bothers me because legislation crafted in a rush tends to be flawed at best. The "unintended consequences" are often monumental, leading to a big congressional "whoops."

Consider that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D,NV) recently identfied the following issues as "must-pass" legislation in the run-up to the targeted September 26 adjournment of the 110th Congress: Energy -- a comprehensive bill that will embrace both GOP and Democrat wish lists, including energy exploration, CFTC authority and incentives for alternatives; spending -- two or three of the undone appropriations bills dealing with defense and military spending, AND a supplemental spending bill for FY2008 AND a continuing resolution kicking all the other spending into the next Congress; tax extensions -- one-year extensions of various personal, business and biofuel tax breaks; stimulus -- if not included in the spending bills, the Democrats want desperately to do a second economic stimuls package before the election, and possibly, food safety -- rewriting the rules at FDA about food/feed ingredient and product imports, recalls, inspections, etc.

The agenda on the House side is not as long but is equally daunting. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) just wants the GOP "talkathon" on energy to be over.

Now, overlay all of this work with the fact that congressional Democrats and Republicans are barely speaking to each other let alone working together to move the system efficiently and you get my point about how much can actually be done before they adjourn.

Prediction: It pains me to say this, but I see a lame duck session coming. Unless leadership decides to run this session to the middle of October, they'll likely be back after the elections. There's time to do energy -- the top priority of the every congressperson up for reelection, and they can likely get most if not all of the spending measures completed. I'm guessing, however,that anything tax related, i.e. extenders and stimulus action, will be post election. Trying to do comprehensive food safety legislation in less than a thoughtful, deliberate fashion is just a bad idea, especially with a new Administration coming.

***

USDA is punishing small farmers. That's what Sens. Tom Harkin (D, IA) and Chuck Grassley (R, IA) and a whole slew of their colleagues are saying about the way USDA is writing the rule to implement the 10-acre-or-less farm exclusion from direct,countercyclical or ACRE payments. You'll recall that this was one of those clever money-savers included in the 2008 Farm Bill. USDA simply wants to lop off the list of recipients anyone with 10 acres or less. What the good Senators want is USDA to go back and read the report that accompanies the Farm Bill and allow folks who own more than one small plot to consolidate those acres to continue to qualify. You gotta hand it to Congress -- and farmers -- you take away with one hand, and you give back with the other.

Yesterday my 3 year old grandson, his dad and I spent the morning at the fair. Here are a few photos of Dane's first time at the fair.
In the hog barn

In the sheep barn

On machinery hill
Dane fell asleep on the way home!

Source: Univ. of Illinois news release

The average farm real estate value for Illinois in 2008 is $5,000 per acre, according to a new University of Illinois Extension study.

"This is the highest value on record," said Dale Lattz, University of Illinois Extension farm financial management specialist who prepared the report based on data from the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REPORT

Agriprocessors suffers PR setbacks
By Lisa M. Keefe MeatingPlace online

At Agriprocessors, these truly are the dog days of summer: In less than a week, the kosher meat processor has gotten two pieces of bad news that once again has stirred the pot of opinion over events at the kosher processing company, based in Postville, Iowa.

Over the weekend, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver wrote a scathing opinion piece about the company in The Des Moines Sunday Register, comparing the company to Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" and saying he believes the company has "chosen to take the low road" in its business practices. Among other steps he has taken, Culver wrote that he is asking that Agriprocessors' open positions be blocked from appearing in state job-listing services "due to the unsafe working conditions."

In addition to being the target of a country's largest single-site ICE raid in May, the company has a history of state sanctions for water pollution, health and safety law violations, the most recent being levied just last week. Typically, the company has had a chance to respond to the state's allegations, and the fines have been negotiated to a considerably lower level, according to media reports.

Unusual move

Such a public denouncement from a sitting politician is unusual. The Rubashkin family, who owns Agriprocessors, are known to make large political donations across the state, usually to Republican candidates but also to Democrats, according to coverage by the Iowa Independent newspaper. Gov. Culver is a Democrat.

Menachem Lubinsky, the Brooklyn-based consultant to Agriprocessors who serves as a company spokesman, promised "a forceful response to the governor's guilty verdict even before trial," according to an update at DesMoinesRegister.com. He indicated in an e-mail Sunday afternoon that company execs still were putting their response together, the site said.

Supervisor pleads guilty

Meanwhile, last week one of three supervisors who had been charged in the aftermath of the ICE raid with helping the company hire illegal immigrants, agreed to plead builty to two charges, the Des Moines Register reported.

Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hire illegal aliens, and aiding and abetting the hiring of illegal aliens. Each count carries a maximum of five years' in prison, in addition to hundreds of thousands in fines and surcharges. Attorneys declined to comment further on whether Guerrero-Espinoza has agreed to testify against anyone else at the company as part of his deal.

One other Agriprocessors supervisor still faces trial. A third is a fugitive, and his charges are sealed.

Your first 6 months of a Breeder Ad on BullShop.com, GoatAds.com or SheepAds.com are FREE! After that, you can let it drop or renew it for another 6 months for $30.

Hello sir/Ma,
I will like to Know if you still have ur ships for sale and if so Let me have the Final Price..Get back to me asap.
Andy
andyluv008@gmail.com

This guy is a scammer.

Harry and Louise have returned to promote a new multi-million dollar ad campaign that will air on national television throughout the Democratic and Republican conventions. In light of ever increasing health care costs and increasing numbers of people without health insurance coverage, Harry and Louise will urge the next President and Congress to put health care at the top of the domestic agenda.

HarryandLouiseReturn.com

Yesterday Evelyn and I spent the afternoon helping celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of a great couple we know.

We met them years ago when their and our kids were small. The kids arn't small any more. They all have kids of their own.

Time seems to just fly by when your busy living!

COOL webcast to outline impact of mandatory labeling

Ames, Iowa, 8/7/08 – In light of mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) taking effect Sept. 30, 2008, Iowa
State livestock experts are coming together to help producers understand how they will be affected.
“There’s no need for producers to panic, but we should pay attention and be prepared,” John Lawrence, Iowa Beef
Center director, said. “Sellers are likely to ask for an affidavit stating the origin of the animal, but buyers’ normal
records should be sufficient to back up the affidavit.”
Lawrence, along with several other Iowa State livestock experts, will be speaking at a COOL webcast held Aug. 25,
2008, at 7 p.m. Host sites will be available so individuals can attend a nearby location to watch the speakers broadcast
throughout the state. For an up-to-date list of host sites, visit the IBC Web site (www.iowabeefcenter.org).
Along with hearing details about COOL’s impact on beef producers from Lawrence, and its impact on pork producers
from Iowa Pork Industry Center Director John Mabry, attendees will also hear updates on cattle, hog and corn
market outlook.
“In addition to COOL, there are other market uncertainties that producers should be prepared for,” Lawrence said.
To learn more about the COOL webcast, including information about local host sites, contact Taylor Gerling, IBC
communications specialist, at 515-708-4133 or tgerling@iastate.edu. Further details are also available on the IBC
Web site, along with the IBC COOL resource section at www.iowabeefcenter.org/content/COOL.htm.

Two years ago, Nouriel Roubini predicted the current economic crisis. Now he sees things becoming far worse.

Here is an interesting article in the NY Tmes on the US economy.

Click here to read the article

Today some fellow is responding to a bunch of ads on BullShop.com, RualAds.com and GoatAds.com.

He has sent out so many that I know he is running a scam.

Here is one of his.

Hi There,
Do you still have this horse for sale? Please get back to me asap.

I await your swift response.
Thanks
giosona@yahoo.com

He changes it to cattle or goats when needed.