Ag-Visors

We are almost to the start of summer and it is time to turn out the bulls for spring calves next year.  Generally, the most expensive animal on the farm is the bull.  And he should be.  The bull is the most efficient way to change genetics in your herd and the fastest.  You can pay anywhere from butcher price to above $10,000.00. You are taking a big chance on buying a herd bull by paying butcher price at the sale barn.  There is generally a good reason for bulls to be at the sale barn.  I have tested several at the barn and generally I have more than 50 percent fail a breeding soundness exam. They have also been exposed to all of the diseases at the sale barns.  You could also be buying a bull with other problems, like not staying home, mean or not enough libido.

The law has changed regarding circumstances, alternatives, options and choices to protect a reasonable person when using defensive force.

It’s not very often that a legal question can be answered with specificity and certainty. So when I was asked if there was a list of items that qualified for the state sales tax exemption for agricultural purposes, I was prepared to sift through tons of research. Fortunately for us, the State Legislature did us a favor by listing these exemptions in a few statutes.

It’s a warm summer day and you’re at the stadium watching your favorite minor-league baseball team take on a division rival. If your team is having a good season, the game may be a sell-out, and the stadium would be at full capacity. If your team is in last place and known more for errors than home runs, then the attendance would probably not approach the stadium’s capacity.

When was the last time you asked yourself “How is my personal property going to pass to my heirs?”  Okay, maybe not that often, but it is an interesting question.  As discussed in a previous article a beneficiary deed is used to transfer real property (land and the house that is on that land) post death directly to the persons of your choice. But the personal property within that house, such as that heirloom piano or collection of baseball cards do not pass within that beneficiary deed. How do you pass those items along to a loved one without going through the probate process?  Is it even possible?

Housing market crunch. Recession. Economic downturn. These are some scary words often heard while watching the news these days. In times like these, people are often reminded to re-evaluate their own financial situation and examine their financial institution’s stability during an economic downturn.

The states of Arkansas and Missouri have been bombarded by heavy rains this spring and many of the rivers and creeks within them have reached flood stage at some point (and some remain at flood levels). While these streams are still at a high level now, at some point in the future the waters will recede, and this may create new problems for landowners. Many property owners have one or more of their property boundary lines as a river or creek, and the beds of these bodies of water can change over time.

As the old saying goes, character means doing the right thing even when nobody else is watching. In the context of credit, character also means doing the right thing by making your payments in full and on time, paying down your debt and not allowing accounts to go to collections. Even though employers, insurance agents and loan officers may not be watching your credit activity all the time, you can bet the farm it’ll come to their attention should you ever need their services.

One morning you receive a phone call from your veterinarian telling you that he has finished treating some of your animals that you dropped off at his clinic last week but if you want to pick them up, you will have to pay his bill in full.  When you dropped-off the animals at the veterinary clinic, you signed a form authorizing their treatment. Your veterinarian tells you the reason why he will not release your animals to you is because while you have eventually paid your bills in the past, you had been taking a long time to do so and he was tired of waiting to get paid. The question immediately jumps into your mind: Can my veterinarian keep my animals until I pay my bill? The answer in many states, including Missouri and Arkansas is: “Yes.”

In this article, I thought I would add a few more species in and cover a broader range.  I am only going to cover one disease or family of bacterial agents, though.  Let’s talk about the Clostridia family of bacteria.  A species of this family of bacteria can affect any and all species of mammals.  One of the most common species I see in my practice is Clostridium Perfringens type B, C or D. In regular language that we can all understand, let’s call it Overeaters or Gut Form Blackleg.