Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

Here is a picture of the heifer calves that I sold. My Darling Wife managed to take a few shots while I was busy. Everybody present commented on how framy the calves were and how they are really prepared to gain weight for the buyers. A little more grass and I could have put some more weight on them. Taken 9/29/2006.

Boy, the calf weights sure showed it was dry this summer. The steers averaged 527 lbs. and the heifers averaged 478 lbs. Quite a bit under what I had contracted for. That's the breaks and it's what happens in a dry year. I could whine and cry about it or accept it and go on and hope for a better year next year. You do relize it's Next Year Country around here, it will be better Next Year.

Hopefully, next year if we can get everything sorted out and together. Melanie Brown

Just an interesting shot I got the other day. It didn't work out quite the way I wanted it to. Taken 9/19/2006.

No, nothing to do with the cattle. They are looking great. I am all ready to ship and looking forward to getting the job done.

No, the problem is the company that hosts this website is having quite a few problems and they are screwing me all up. I called in right away yesterday morning when I couldn't access the site. They started by telling me it was my problem and not theirs. I politely pointed out that the problem was root@localhost could not connect to the database and that made it their problem since the root account is theirs. The guy I was talking to was not very happy with this and told me their was nothing he could do about the situation and he would have to send it to the tier 2 team for resolution.

I asked him how long that would take. Two to three days. I got a little upset at that but told My Darling Wife that they would figure it out before then since this problem would be affecting everyone on the host so they would do something about it pretty quick. It was kind of working by the time I got home so we will see. I am looking into self hosting the site if I can work out a deal for a land based hi speed Internet line. At least that way I will be in control of my own destiny. We will see.

Preparations for shipping took up the bulk of yesterday. All the big stuff was done it was just a matter of the little odds and ends that were left. The weather is supposed to be very warm and dry. It's funny, two weeks ago I was worrying about the dust in the corral and now after all the rain I am worried about the mud in the corral. What a change.

The steer calves were contracted at 575 pounds. I am anxious to see what they will weigh. I don't think they will be that high but they will be close. The Vet thinks they will make weight. I will know this evening.

Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. John F. Kennedy

Another beautiful morning in the Big Sky Country. If you look closely at the big sand rock in the center (larger view might be necessary) you will note that it is still wet from the rain. It takes a lot of moisture for the sand rocks in this area to hold moisture like that. Quite a change from the months of dry weather. Taken 9/24/2006.

House Democrats launch Discharge Petition

Democratic members of the House of Representatives have introduced a discharge petition in an effort to bring ag disaster relief to the floor. Minnesota representative, Collin Peterson is Ranking Minority Member of the House Ag Committee; he says the real problem is a dispute over how any disaster package would be paid for. He charges the Administration wants spending cuts to offset any aid instead of the usual emergency spending. Peterson contends that has not been the case in previous situations. “When it came to the Iraq war, didn’t have to be paid for. In the supplemental bill, we spent $2.3 billion on bird flu,” which Peterson says has a slim chance of ever materializing, “But that was an emergency.” Yet he contends at a time when farmers desperately need help, “That’s not an emergency.” Peterson says the Discharge Petition does not have any specifics about a bill, it is designed to bring a bill forth that they can then work on. “We stand ready to work with them to craft a bill that will get the aid to the people that need it.”

The petition requires that a majority of House members, 218, sign it and that means some Republicans would have to join the Democrats. Peterson says, “It only takes a handful and we have enough Republicans that have disaster in their districts to make a majority here to get this thing up.” Representatives can sign the petition as long as the House is in session, he hopes to get enough to force action before the recess, and otherwise they’ll continue it in the lame duck session after the election.

The Democrats are really angling for any vote they can get. Even if they get thier disharge petiton the package will go nowhere. The Senate leadership will never allow it. Politics at its best.

In the United States today, we have more than our share of nattering nabobs of negativism. Spiro T. Agnew

Bringing in some of the last cows to sort. If someone told me it would only take 2 days to sex all of the cattle I would have called them crazy, but that's what happened. Either the cattle are getting more used to being worked this way or the hired hand is a hell of a hand. I keep teasing him that he must be a hell of a hand since everything is going so smoothly. Hopefully the trend continues. Taken 9/25/2006.

A big part of Sen. Conrad Burns re-election campign, is how he delivers money to the state with his senority and how if Tester were elected, it wouldn't happen. So, how is Conrad's latest effort to bring the bacon home going?

Senate leaders turn back Conrad disaster bill

The third time was not a charm as Senate Republican leaders once again blocked efforts by a bipartisan group of farm-state senators to provide assistance to farmers and ranchers hammered by weather disasters in 2005 and 2006.

“A fair vote has been denied here in the Senate and the party in power has turned its back on American farmers,” said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. Conrad and Conrad Burns, R-Mont., Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and other senators introduced two other emergency assistance bills for 2005 and 2006 that have not become law.

“This fight is far from over,” said Conrad, a member of the Agriculture Committee, following the action or lack of action in the Senate on Thursday. “I won’t stand by and let this be swept under the rug. The livelihoods of thousands of farm families are at stake.”

You Bet, that seniority is really helping out now isn't it.

This indicates to me that the Senate leadership has effectively written off Sen. Burns as a lost cause. If they were serious about a Republican holding the seat they would be at least considering the disaster aid since it would help Burns in his race.

Now, let's be truthful, Jon Tester would not be able to do any better on this issue so It's really not a positive point for him, just a negative point for Burns. If Tester is elected he definitely wouldn't have the seniority and clout to do anything about the disaster aid. This just goes to show that the Seniority idea, that Burns keeps touting, isn't all it is cracked up to be. It might help some but it isn't a magic wand that will solve all the problems a Senator faces. Poor Conrad, nothing is breaking very good for him this year.

The only real influence I've ever had was myself. Edward Hopper

Scarcity Of Smaller Cattle, High Market Prices Suppressing Beef Sales In Japan

U.S. beef is selling for almost as much as domestic Wagyu beef in Japan, and the "paucity" of cattle under 20 months of age has combined with high prices to suppress sales of U.S. beef in Japan, according to Phil Seng, chief executive of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

"Onerous and time-consuming" procedures at customs, which can take up to a week to clear a single shipment, are making matters worse, he added.

However, not all the news from Japan is bad, he said, speaking to reporters in the midst of a five-city tour of the country to promote U.S. beef. One bright spot is growing suspicion in Japanese scientific circles that two cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in animals aged 21 months and 23 months may not in fact have been legitimate cases. If that is true, it would undermine Japan's demand that only beef from cattle under 20 months is safe, and open up a far larger pool of cattle in the United States for possible export.

I've always been skeptical of the younger BSE cases Japan has had. It just doesn't square right with what is known about BSE. The thing is, even if they discount the younger BSE cases I doubt whether Japan will let in any older cattle. Any way to stymie the US seems to be Japan's modus operandi lately and I doubt they will change their ways now.

I will say that the guy who bought my calves last year had the majority of them fat, around 1400 pounds, and to the packer by 16 months of age so they would be eligible to go to Japan. I'm sure he will try to do the same this year. Hopefully it works out for him.

It's funny how much better things look after a rain storm. This is why I call it God's Country. Beautiful. Taken 9/19/2006.

I keep an eye on the Senate race going on here in Montana. It's a very tight race and is hotly debated in Montana circles. There was a debate in Butte last night between the candidates and I found an article that very accurately describes how it went.

Sen. Burns, Tester Debate in Montana

U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns accused his Democratic challenger Saturday of wanting to raise taxes and weaken the U.S. Patriot Act, but brushed off allegations of ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Jon Tester, locked in a tight race with the three-term incumbent, blasted Burns during their debate for running up the federal deficit and claimed he has lost touch with Montana.

I listened to the debate as best I could via the streaming audio available at The Montana Standard, kudos to them for this service, and would have to agree with the above blurb on the debate. Sen Burns would never answer the questions about Abramoff and completely avoided the question. Sen Burns being the typical politician was very adroit at ducking any question he didn't want to answer. Tester didn't duck the questions as often as often as Burns but he still did his fair share of this.

Winners and losers? I have no answer to that. When it comes to political debates I don't think there are winners or losers. If you are really interested in the politics the winners are the voters, and the losers are the candidates for having to stand there and sweat it out in a venue other than the media.

I will give you a quote of the night though which is mentioned in the article.

"Let me be clear. I don't want to weaken the Patriot Act. I want to get rid of it," Tester said.

I give kudos to Tester on this one. I might not like him for the most part but my stance weakens a little bit hearing him say this.

Continue reading "Senate Race" »

Mary Zanoni, Director Of Farm For Life speaks to cattlemen on NAIS.

You don’t have to eat whatever slop the government puts in front of you. Send the slop back to the kitchen and demand a better chef.

I like it!

Here is one way to calm down wild cattle.

Polish woman caught growing marijuana for cow

A Polish woman who grew marijuana to calm the nerves of her cow has been charged with cultivating a narcotic by police in the western town of Lobez.

The cow had been "skittish and unruly" -- once breaking a person's arm -- until someone suggested mixing cannabis in with its feed, the woman told police.

"The cow became as calm as a lamb," the 55-year-old woman said, according to the PAP news agency.

One side benefit, if it doesn't calm the cow down the owner can use it and he/she won't care if the cow is wild or not.

He who is of calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden. Plato

Jon Tester's spiel about a living wage in today's Gazette bothers me a little.

All Montanans are encouraged by our state's recent surge of economic expansion. After more than a decade of stagnation, unemployment is down, per capita income is up and regions of Montana are experiencing rapid economic growth.

But if you take a closer look at the numbers, or visit areas of Montana outside these regions of prosperity, you see a very different picture. Montana is near or at the bottom of numerous economic indicators, be it per capita income, average weekly wages or the number of Montanans who work more than one job just to make ends meet. Montanans are entitled to ask what our leaders in Washington are doing to ensure they can work the kinds of jobs that will allow them to participate in the American dream. Sadly, the answer is: not much. It's time for a change.

He criticizes Sen Burns for voting against raising the minimum wage 11 times. Fine, I will believe that number without a problem, but when a raise in the national minimum wage was brought up before Congress recently the Democrats themselves rejected it. You can whine and complain about the linkage of the minimum wage and estate tax all you want. but the facts are the Democrats, like Jon Tester, turned back the minimum wage increase.

Second, if Montana is in such desperate straits, and has been for years according to Tester, why didn't Jon Tester sponsor and support a minimum wage bill for the people of Montana while he was in the Legislature? Why wait until now? The states can set their own minimum wage so there is no need for him to wait until he is running for US Senate to do this. He should have tried to raise the minimum wage in the most recent legislature. He lauds his supposed success on the health care issue but doesn't talk at all about doing anything statewide about the minimum wage. This is deceitful and disingenuous. I would expect better from a man campaigning for change in Washington, but that's not the way of politics in Montana, Democrat or Republican.

Flagrant money corruption, deceitful communication of public plans and purposes, shocking incompetence - take your pick, all are involved. None are new to American politics, but they are potently fused in the present circumstances. William Greider

Unbelievable. It doesn't rain all summer and now it seems like it can't stop. When I went to bed last night we had 3/4" of rain and it rained most of the night so I don't know how much we had. I know it's getting ridiculous though. I noted last evening that the water is running off instead of soaking in. The ground at this time is so saturated it can't handle anymore.

I have been noticing some of the cool season grasses are starting to green up. A little warm, sunny weather and the green will really start showing up. I just wonder if it will get warm again. What a change.

I am also beginning to get worried about shipping on Friday. Right now the forecast looks......okay, but the have some warnings in it.

HOWEVER THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT NEED TO BE WATCHED. 12Z
ECMWF/GFS RUNS EACH SHOW THE UPPER FLOW REMAINING A BIT MORE
AMPLIFIED AND KEEP THE RIDGE AXIS A BIT FURTHER WEST...AND THIS
COULD POTENTIALLY LEAVE US PRONE TO ADDITIONAL BACKDOOR FRONTING
BY FRIDAY. A POTENTIAL PLAYER IN OUR WEATHER APPEARS TO BE WHAT IS
NOW TYPHOON YAGI OFF OF THE SOUTHEAST COAST OF JAPAN...AS THIS
WILL TRACK TOWARD THE BERING SEA AND GULF OF ALASKA OVER THE NEXT
SEVERAL DAYS. IF THIS FEATURE AIDS IN AMPLIFYING THE RIDGE FURTHER
WEST OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC...WHICH IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE...THAT
WOULD POTENTIALLY LEAVE US IN A COOLER NORTHWEST FLOW FOR DAYS 6
AND 7. WITH SUCH UNCERTAINTY IN HOW WELL THE MODELS WILL HANDLE
YAGI SEE NO REASON TO STRAY FROM GUIDANCE/ENSEMBLE MEAN TEMPS
WHICH ARE NEAR CLIMATOLOGY. DRY FORECAST STILL LOOKS GOOD FOR NOW.

So, of the many things I can worry about for shipping, I get to worry about Typhoon Yagi and how it will affect the weather here come about Friday. If it isn't one thing, it's another.