I found this story about France's grape harvest extremely interesting. I knew grapes were very sensitive to temperatures but this really talks about how they are being affected by climate change.
I didn't post this to argue about global warming/climate change and whether humans are responsible for it of not. Anybody over about 25 years old in agriculture knows that things aren't like they used to be when it comes to the weather and climate and they are busy trying to adapt their operations to these changes. Just like the article talks about the grape growers looking at making changes. Are these changes good or bad? It's a fact of life. I don't know that there is good or bad to it.
Can we humans do something to stop or reverse this climate change whether we are responsible for it or not? I'll be damned if I know. By living and breathing we affect things for good or bad. Hell even by not living and breathing our remains would affect things so can we change things? Maybe somebody, someday will figure out how. Right now I don't think anybody has the politically expedient answers or the scientific answer to this question. They keep finding more and more things out about climate change which then ask more and more questions about what to do to change it.
So what can I do as an agricultural producer. Keep struggling along trying to grow the food that feeds people. Keep scratching my head and wondering. I don't have an answer beyond that.
Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? C. S. Lewis
Sunday, September 2. 2007
Early Harvest
Tuesday, January 23. 2007
Horses
Horse slaughter ban re-introduced in House, Senate
I hoped this effort would slowly die but I see it's not going to happen. That I'm aware of I have never eaten horse meat and I have no particular desire to but I don't see a problem with people that want to. It's just meat like any other.
I don't understand the problem with horse slaughter that is driving this effort. Horses are not pets. Some people might treat them as such but the horses that are being slaughtered are not pets for anybody. Nobody is out there raising horses just for slaughter, there is no money in it. They are just horses that nobody has a use for so they are being used for something useful instead of just killing and burying them.
If people don't want to see horses slaughtered why don't they go out there and buy them, and keep them up themselves. This would save them from being slaughtered and no new laws are required. I can tell you why this doesn't happen. Maintaining a horse is not a cheap proposition and the groups that want to ban horse slaughter don't want to pay the costs of keeping the horses up.
Can anybody out there tell me what we are going to do with all the extra horses running around? According to the article around 90,000 horses are slaughtered every year. What's going to happen to these horses? Are they going to be killed and buried or are they going to require people to keep them until they die a natural death? What is the answer for all these extra horses? Who's going to pay to house and feed them? If the owner doesn't want them anymore there is a chance they will be mistreated if the owner is forced to keep them because there is no way for him to get rid of them. I know there are a lot of people that love horses out there but can you answer these questions? I really would like to know.
I know that there are a lot of horse lovers out there. Answer my above questions with your head, not your heart. Horses might be like a pet to you but they are not that way to everybody. Horses are not a pet to me. They are a tool of my trade. I respect them and love them for what they can do for me and they get to live a fairly free and good life when I am not using them but I know where to draw the line between pet and an animal that I love. If you love your horse like a pet there is nobody forcing you to send it to slaughter so it really doesn't affect your pet. Other people might need other options though.
My Darling Wife told me I was going to make a lot of people mad with this post. She is probably right, she normally is about such things but I had to say something. It doesn't make sense to ban horse slaughter. No matter how detestable you find it, it gives us a valuable outlet for horses that nobody has a use for anymore. Hell, it might not even be a matter to worry about as much anymore. It looks like two of the plants might be closing anyway.
All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth. Friedrich Nietzsche
The House of Representatives last year passed legislation to ban federally inspected horse slaughter in the U.S. Federal inspection of meat from slaughtered horses allows it to be exported to countries like France and Belgium where horsemeat is considered a delicacy. The bill died in the Senate after farm state lawmakers blocked it. But now its back, as lawmakers re-introduced the measure in both chambers of Congress this week.
More than 200 groups and associations oppose the horse slaughter ban, including virtually all U.S. ag groups. The Kansas City, Missouri-based Livestock Marketing Association (LMA), which represents the nation's livestock auction markets, has led efforts to block the bill.
I hoped this effort would slowly die but I see it's not going to happen. That I'm aware of I have never eaten horse meat and I have no particular desire to but I don't see a problem with people that want to. It's just meat like any other.
I don't understand the problem with horse slaughter that is driving this effort. Horses are not pets. Some people might treat them as such but the horses that are being slaughtered are not pets for anybody. Nobody is out there raising horses just for slaughter, there is no money in it. They are just horses that nobody has a use for so they are being used for something useful instead of just killing and burying them.
If people don't want to see horses slaughtered why don't they go out there and buy them, and keep them up themselves. This would save them from being slaughtered and no new laws are required. I can tell you why this doesn't happen. Maintaining a horse is not a cheap proposition and the groups that want to ban horse slaughter don't want to pay the costs of keeping the horses up.
Can anybody out there tell me what we are going to do with all the extra horses running around? According to the article around 90,000 horses are slaughtered every year. What's going to happen to these horses? Are they going to be killed and buried or are they going to require people to keep them until they die a natural death? What is the answer for all these extra horses? Who's going to pay to house and feed them? If the owner doesn't want them anymore there is a chance they will be mistreated if the owner is forced to keep them because there is no way for him to get rid of them. I know there are a lot of people that love horses out there but can you answer these questions? I really would like to know.
I know that there are a lot of horse lovers out there. Answer my above questions with your head, not your heart. Horses might be like a pet to you but they are not that way to everybody. Horses are not a pet to me. They are a tool of my trade. I respect them and love them for what they can do for me and they get to live a fairly free and good life when I am not using them but I know where to draw the line between pet and an animal that I love. If you love your horse like a pet there is nobody forcing you to send it to slaughter so it really doesn't affect your pet. Other people might need other options though.
My Darling Wife told me I was going to make a lot of people mad with this post. She is probably right, she normally is about such things but I had to say something. It doesn't make sense to ban horse slaughter. No matter how detestable you find it, it gives us a valuable outlet for horses that nobody has a use for anymore. Hell, it might not even be a matter to worry about as much anymore. It looks like two of the plants might be closing anyway.
All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth. Friedrich Nietzsche
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