Riding Herd Saying things that need to be said. November 15, 2024 • www.aaalivestock.com
Volume 66 • No. 11
by LEE PITTS
Covid For Cows D
I Quit
BY LEE PITTS
By now most of us have heard all the squawk about bird flu, or “H5N1” as researchers refer to it in scientific shorthand. Up until now anyone raising cattle has paid passing interest because bird flu didn’t really concern us and cattle weren’t dying all over the place. But that is no longer the case as H5N1 has flown the coop. This is best illustrated by a story in the Los Angeles Times written by Susanne Rust called, “Dead Cattle pile up as bird flu rises.” She tells about Brandon Mendonsa, a 37 year old, third generation dairy farmer in California who had lost 28 head of dairy cattle to the H5N1 virus by the middle of October, prompting him to call it “COVID for cows.”
Dying In Droves According to Rust’s story, “Anja Raudabaugh, chief executive of Western United Dairies, a California dairy trade organization, said although she and the dairy farmers she represents had been reading about the virus for months before it hit, ‘No one was prepared for the devastation and unevenness with which
the virus has struck California’s dairy herds. On some farms, the cows seem virtually unaffected, despite being infected. While on others, the animals are dying in droves. And it’s not slowing down.’” In the LA Times article, Jimmy Andreoli II, a spokesman for Baker Commodities, a rendering company with facilities in Southern California, said his
site in the Fresno County town of Kerman, where the bodies are ‘recycled’ and turned into ‘high protein’ animal feed and fertilizer, or rendered into liquids that are then used in fuels, paints, varnishes, lubricants ‘and all sort of different industrial products.’” Raudabaugh says that, “Some breeds are hit harder than others. For instance, Holsteins seem to suffer more than Jerseys. The reason is because Holsteins produce more milk so they have more volume for the virus to enjoy.” She also said, “Research shows the virus has an affinity for mammary tissue. Most of the animals that are succumbing to the virus are young; they are going through their second lactational cycles.” (She also said, “Most dairy cows
A person who agrees with all your palaver is either a fool or he’s gettin’ ready to skin ya ... workers “are picking up a surge of dead cows throughout the San Joaquin Valley noting that one of his drivers picked up 20 to 30 animals at one farm in one day. The diseased carcasses are brought to Baker’s rendering
Scientists Were Wrong: Plants Absorb 31% More CO2 than Previously Thought BY OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY / SCI-TECH DAILY
NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING
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new study reveals that plants have been absorbing 31 percent more CO2 than previously believed. Yes, 31 percent —a glaring error that casts serious doubt on climate models, emissions scenarios, and policy prescriptions like Net Zero. For years, we were told that the “science was settled,” and that urgent action was needed to avoid catastrophic warming. But this discovery suggests that our models have been dramatically underestimating nature’s ability to manage CO2. This revelation not only upends the rationale behind aggressive policies but also raises broader questions about the supposed certainty of climate science.
The Myth of “Settled Science” The phrase “settled science” has been the bedrock of climate advocacy for decades. We’ve been told that if we don’t make rapid, costly changes, we’d face imminent disaster. Skeptics were treated as heretics, while the so-called consensus was portrayed as unquestionable. Yet, it turns out we were 31 percent wrong about something as fundamental as plant CO2 absorption. This isn’t a continued on page 4
will have five or six lactational cycles before they are taken out of production and turned into beef or rendered.)” “As a result, the farmers are doing what they can to keep these young animals alive given the extreme rearing and raising and just expenses that go into raising these animals. There’s hope that on the other side of the virus, they will come back into production that’s sustainable for the farmer. So, it’s definitely a last resort if they are culling them. It is unclear whether infected dairy cows will recover full production when they enter a new lactational cycle.” It’s becoming clear that just as COVID changed the way Americans live their daily lives, H5N1 is showing signs that it will leave permanent scars within the dairy industry. Ranchers are hoping it doesn’t do the same to the beef cattle industry.
Bye, Bye, Birdie The severity of the bird flu continued on page 2
Feds Refuse to Fund Floating Offshore Wind Project in Maine BY BONNER COHEN, PH.D./CFACT
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ealing a stunning financial blow to a controversial renewable energy project off the New England Coast, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) October 21 rejected a grant application for $456 million to build offshore wind turbines and install them on floating platforms in the Gulf of Maine. The decision marks a setback for Maine Governor Janet Mills (D), a coterie of environmental groups, and – in an odd twist – the Biden-Harris administration, an enthusiastic backer of offshore wind projects. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the awarding of more than $4.2 billion in grants for 44 green-energy projects nationwide. DOT officials did not say why the Maine project was not among the recipients. Unlike traditional offshore wind installations, in which giant turbines are anchored to the ocean floor, the Maine project is designed to be a port, where turbines are to be assembled at what is essentially a boatyard. The turbines are then transported to and mounted on floating platforms at sea, where they are attached to the ocean floor by means of flexible anchors, chains, or steel cables. From the beginning, however, the Maine project encountered stiff local resistance. After some wrangling, the project’s backers settled on state-owned Sears Island, “the largest undevelcontinued on page 4
ear Mr. and Mrs. America, I’m not going to apologize because I broke the “woke” rules again or may have “misgendered” you in referring to you as Mr. or Mrs. The fact is, I just don’t care anymore about being politically correct or woke. If this angers or shocks you, so be it. This letter is to inform you that I’m handing in my letter of resignation from American society, effective immediately. I’m not giving six weeks’ notice because I simply can’t stand one more minute of all the lunacy going on in our country today. I’ve resigned myself to think that all hope is lost and our current course of self-destruction is, in their words, “not sustainable.” So go ahead and condemn me in a letter to the editor, say something bad about me on your Facebook page, give me a bad rating on Yelp or “cancel” me altogether. I DON’T CARE. If I had a kid today I’d think twice about sending he or she to a public school where instead of teaching the kids their ABC’s, teachers are educating them about LGBTQIA’s. Nor will I unlearn the basics of the birds and the bees. I will always believe there are only two sexes and no matter how hard a man tries to be a woman, he will never give birth to a baby. Guys, I’m sorry if this upsets you so much your tears make your mascara run. Frankly, I don’t care if you want to dress up like it’s Halloween every day. That’s your problem but if you ask me it’s way past time you should go back in the closet. I’m tired of being called a racist simply because I made the comment to my buddies at the coffee shop that “blacks are taking over.” What I was actually referring to was Black Angus cattle dominating today’s cattle industry so might I suggest to the eavesdropper who scolded me that she might be a lot happier if she’d quit looking for reasons to hate me because I’m white and a male. If that’s a problem, get over it because I’m not apologizing or attempting to become a female. I don’t care what the government says, I will never pay reparations to black people who never were slaves unless I get paid by the Indians who made slaves of the white people they kidnapped. I don’t judge people by the color of
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