Editorial / Opinions

And so time passes with the speed of light. Our so-recent “New Year” has passed the half-way mark and is headed for the end of the year with, if not the speed of light, a speed that each day finds us incapable of keeping up with the changes we will see tomorrow.

I don’t know whether the entire country has become agriculturally illiterate or just the people in Hollywood and on Madison Avenue, but I’ve about had enough.

There is a lot of proposed legislation and regulation being debated in both Congress and in the USDA’s halls right now. From The National Animal Identification System “listening sessions” to the House's “Cap and Trade” bill and another, similar measure in the Senate, there are heated, and vastly differing opinions on what effects upcoming changes might mean to agriculture. I know for sure there were provisions in the “Cap and Trade” bill that could have meant a “cow tax” targeting livestock’s greenhouse gas emissions, which would drastically affect all of us. Fortunately, there were enough ag-minded Congressmen and women out there to stop that legislation from staying in the bill, thus far. Then there's NAIS'  three sides of the issue – supporters for mandatory ID systems, those for voluntary ID systems and those opposing all national ID programs. There is a lot of debate out there on this issue, and make no mistake – the outcome of this debate will affect you! I encourage you to research these issues, and let your voice be heard. The NAIS website has places you can submit your opinions. Go to www.ozarksfn.com to find a link to that site.

This has sure become  a complicated world. If your car or truck won’t start and you have amps in your battery to turn over the engine, don’t bother to lift the hood. There is nothing under there that you can simply fix. Call the tow truck and take it to a computer for analysis to even tell what needs to be done.

When I’m asked to speak to an agricultural group, the request is almost always for a light-hearted, humorous talk that will entertain and “lift the spirits” of the audience of farmers in attendance. I’m happy to try and always enjoy myself as I get the chance to visit with other like-minded people across the country. In the past six months, however, I’ve been warned on two separate occasions, “Jerry, it’s a group of dairy farmers and if you can make them laugh, with what they are going through right now, you will earn every penny.”

There is a lot of proposed legislation and regulation being debated in both Congress and in the USDA’s halls right now. From The National Animal Identification System “listening sessions” (including one well-attended in Jefferson City, Mo.,) to the House's “Cap and Trade” bill and another, similar measure in the Senate, there are heated, and vastly differing opinions on what effects the proposed changes might mean to agriculture. I know for sure there were provisions in the “Cap and Trade” bill that could have meant a “cow tax” targeting livestock’s greenhouse gas emissions, which would drastically affect all of us. Fortunately, there were enough ag-minded Congressmen and women out there to stop that legislation from staying in the bill, thus far. Then there's NAIS'  three sides of the issue – supporters for mandatory ID systems, those for voluntary ID systems and those opposing all national ID programs. There is a lot of debate out there on this issue, and make no mistake – the outcome of this debate will affect you! I encourage you to research these issues, and let your voice be heard. The NAIS website has places you can submit your opinions. Go to www.ozarksfn.com to find a link to that site.

Monte Ritchie – Part II
Frank recalls one of his great interviews with the Texas Rancher Monte Ritchie. He's been intimidated by Monte on his visit to Monte's JA Ranch, but things have only begun to get good…

Both of our sons were home at the same time recently, each having just finished their semesters away at college. We were sitting around one evening and they were both whining about how tough the next few months were going to be for them. Seth, the oldest, will finish up his Masters degree at the end of this summer, while Zach will begin his senior year in college this fall.

For better or worse, the garden is in the ground. I have a love hate relationship with gardening. I love the produce, and honestly I don’t even mind the work it takes to get the plants set out and cultivated. But I hate all the effort it takes to ward off the rabbits, beetles, aphids and blight that always seem to strike, despite my best efforts. And I get tired of trying to come up with effective watering ideas. It always seems like, for better or worse, I end up hauling five gallon buckets back and forth from the water spigot, thinking, now WHY have I not set up my watering system yet?

From somewhere in my subconscious mind a notion came to me about another lost mine I knew about besides the Lost Dutchman. You know in a half century that you can forget a lot of things like names. Well, if you’re young and bright maybe not. I was running a service station in east Phoenix and going to college over at Arizona State University in the late fifties. That’s the 1950’s.  I had built up quite a list of loyal clients from working on their car’s brakes, ignition, lube and tires.