Celebrate Earth Day!

Today, we are celebrating Earth Day for the 40th consecutive year. My family will join more than 800,000 farmers and ranchers in celebrating this day like we do every other, by raising food responsibly to feed the world.

Farmers and ranchers represent America’s first environmentalists. They are charged with the responsibility of using the earth’s limited resources wisely. For many farm families, they have been doing exactly this for generations that go back to the founding of our country.

It's Hot Dog Season

Last night, I attended a K-State baseball game to mark my first of what is sure to be many innings of baseball watched and hot dogs consumed over the next 6 months. I love baseball and ballpark food. Supposedly, I'm not alone. Americans love hot dogs.

The fun folks at the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council dug up some great facts on America's obsession with hot dogs and baseball. Here are some neat hot dog facts for you to chew on.

It's Time to Defend the Poultry Industry

You're probably reading the title of this post and asking yourself, "Why is a beef-loving farm boy talking about chickens?" Some of you are probably convinced I fell of my rocker, but follow me for a second. I have a reason for my madness, but let me start off with a few quick apologies.

First, I'm sorry it has been a while since my last post. Graduate school has been a bit chaotic lately, and the blog had to take a back seat to bigger priorities and values for a few days. The good news is the spring semester is almost over, and personal time will be more plentiful soon. Hopefully I can keep the delays to a minimum until May 15.

Also, before I dig into this topic, I need to get something off of my chest. I'm a closet poultry expert. Yep, it's true. In 2003, I was the FFA's third best poultry evaluator in the nation. I traveled throughout the state of Kansas touring hatcheries, egg laying operations and broiler houses.

I've actually cut up a whole chicken into all the little pieces you buy at the grocery store. I can tell about all the things that go into egg grading and share how differences in lighting, moisture and litter can affect the welfare of chickens. Plain and simple, I know a little bit about the poultry industry.

Blown Away By the Climate Change Debate

Is global climate change real? I don't know for certain, but I am definitely a skeptic. In my opinion, a group of neglected climatologists started looking for juicy gossip to breathe new life in the profession. They threw out a bunch of ideas, and climate change seemed intriguing.

Climate change has been a trendy topic in the early 2000s, but I can't see the argument adding up to much.

For starters, the debate is championed by the same goofball that said he invented the Internet. Second, I have spent a good portion of my life outdoors, and weather seems to be a zero-sum game. Some years are warmer and some are cooler, but in all, I'm not trading in my coveralls for t-shirts. Then, climategate only deepened my suspicions.

I don't believe the ocean caps are turning to mush, polar bears are going extinct and the the world is melting. Could it happen? Absolutely. Does my disbelief make me an evil, earth-destroying heathen? I don't think so. I simply think the debate is irrational.

Farmers and ranchers are some of the world's best conservationists. Caring for the land and animals they raise is essential to productivity, but good stewardship is more just a profit motive. It's woven in the fabric of rural America. Producers don't take their responsibility lightly.

Who Made Celebrities Food Experts?

A weekend of great March Madness action was interrupted on Sunday with a television commercial about  the latest entertainment endeavor by actress Kirstie Alley. The new A&E show Kirstie Alley's Big Life will focus on the actress's struggles with losing weight and keeping it off.

I was disturbed as the commercial made wisecracks at the expense of a serious problem in Alley's life, and the lives of many others -- the struggle to make healthy food and lifestyle choices.

The discomfort hit a new level when I read about Alley's recent comments on The Late Show with David Letterman on Monday morning: 

Forbes Magazine Offers Agricultural Insight

When mainstream American media offer consumers enlightening articles about farming and food choices, it's a boost to family farms and agriculturalists everywhere. Let's face it. Non-farm voices offer more credibility to the farm and food debate, and Forbes deserves a hat tip from us farm folks.

FARMER TALK NOTE: A hat tip is a Western gesture of tipping the brim of your cowboy hat in respect of another person. It's often interpreted as a general hello, acknowledgement of respect or thank you for a job well done.

In the last two months, the magazine has published two great articles. One summarizes the food debate's effect on American agriculture. The other highlights healthy foods that don't have to break the bank. As a farm boy that is going back to college, you can understand why these articles caught my eye.

UPDATE -- HSUS is in Agriculture's Crosshairs

The Humane Society of the United States is finding out producers and consumers don't like being deceived. Farmers and ranchers have used social media to tell the anti-animal agriculture organization "we're mad as heck and not going to take it anymore!"

In a post earlier this week, I shared the progress being made in sharing the truth about the HSUS. Well, the efforts to expose this wolf in sheep's clothes continue to take on a life of their own.