Editorial / Opinions

Granted, after almost 30 years of marriage, it’s difficult to be surprised by anything my wife does around the house or farm. Through the years, I’ve been shocked by; opening the dishwasher and finding a cow skull staring back at me, because she thought it would make an attractive wall hanging, if only she could get it clean; Or, jumping over the fence in her best Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a calf that I had just pulled and pronounced it, “beyond help.” She saved the calf.

Recently, I visited a friend in St. Louis, Mo. While staying with my friend I found myself visiting with her roommate, who was born and raised in St. Louis. Naturally the roommate wasn’t very familiar with farming and she was intrigued by my occupation and lifestyle. As an animal lover, she was a little concerned with the way farmers are portrayed in the media in regards to how they treat their livestock. During our conversation I learned that she makes buying decisions based on what the media portrays. Wanting to become more education on the matter she asked my opinion and of course I was happy to share.

They say it was the third warmest winter we’ve ever had in the Ozarks. Nothing unusual about that, weather runs its course and besides La Niño in the Pacific Ocean has lots of control on our weather. Meteorologist tell us that though we had a mild winter it is by no means a sign we have another drought coming. No one can predict that despite all the forecasting aids available.

My dad was very skeptical about anything new being introduced into his world. That is probably why we were still putting up loose hay for several years after those ‘new-fangled’ hay balers came along. He wanted to make certain they were here to stay before we finally purchased a used baler sometime along in the mid 1960s. His skepticism was not confined to the world of agriculture, either, for I’m pretty sure that he still believed the American moon landing was a hoax at the time of his death in 1997.

Recently, I visited a friend in St. Louis, Mo. While staying with my friend I found myself visiting with her roommate, who was born and raised in St. Louis. Naturally the roommate wasn’t very familiar with farming and she was intrigued by my occupation and lifestyle. As an animal lover, she was a little concerned with the way farmers are portrayed in the media in regards to how they treat their livestock. During our conversation I learned that she makes buying decisions based on what the media portrays. Wanting to become more education on the matter she asked my opinion and of course I was happy to share.

A couple of months ago, I noticed something strange as I entered through the gate at my creek farm. A natural spring that surfaces in the yard of that homestead was backing up to the point that it was flooding the rather sizable lawn. Since it had rained a few days before, I assumed that that was the cause. But, after a week of observing what was beginning to look like Everglades North, I decided to investigate.

How many customers walk the aisles of Walmart each week? Answer: 104 million customers go through Walmart’s doors each week according to Joe Quinn, Senior Director of Issue Management and Strategic Outreach for Walmart Corporate Affairs. That’s astonishing. How many of those 104 million consumers make conscious shopping decisions based on agriculture?

We are going back to slaughtering horses. Even the PETA people have agreed, the prohibition of horse slaughter has not worked as planned. The prohibition led to horse owners releasing unwanted horses, which led to starvation and more problems. Cruel hauling to get these horses to the U.S. borders has ended in more severe conditions for unwanted horses. The whole business has made even good horses worth less. The cost to ethically destroy a horse has reached $600, a ridiculous sum. People, who did not even own horses, rushed this law through congress.

I’ve known James for almost 30 years and he has been a full-time farmer all of that time. In addition to considering him a friend, I’ve always thought of him as one of the shrewdest farmers I’ve ever met, in that he seems to analyze every move and every possible scenario before he changes his farming operation. More often than not, he makes the correct decision. He’s also a college educated farmer, but, as my late father would have attested, “He hasn’t let that degree mess up his common sense.”

As a rebuttal to the previous letter to the editor (Melinda Oberman, Feb. 6, 2012) I’d like to respond to some of Ms. Oberman’s assertions.