On being resourceful

Philosophy #7: If it's stupid, but it works... it's not stupid.

Change of pace here. As many of you who read my blog know, I'm a graduate student at New Mexico State University.
Which is in Las Cruces.
Which is basically little Mexico.

Most of the time, when I try to commingle with "ranch-type" folks (like myself), I feel like I've happened into a spaghetti western gone horribly wrong.

That being said, I am a college kid and therefore do not live in one of the nicest parts of town, to say the least. It's not a bad part of town, per se, and all of my neighbors have been exceptionally nice thus far. But... well... I'll just have to let the situation speak for itself.

I came home from Christmas break the second week of January to a new addition to my street. I live at the end of a cul-de-sac, and thankfully my landlord had a carport installed behind my house near the yard gate, so I always park back there and not on the street. My immediate neighbors also have taken to mostly parking in the back. Consequentially, it seems that one of my other neighbors took advantage of the extra space on the street.

Before I go any further, I'll have you know that I am the furthest thing from racist so I'll ask you to refrain from calling me one.
But these particular neighbors air on the "sketchy" side.

When I say "sketchy", I mean that their Civic's hood and driver's side door are not only different colors from each other, but also from the rest of the car.
I mean that they have a one eyed cat that often eyes me (pun intended, no pun intended, I'm not sure) from his perch on said car.
I mean that they pay their rent entirely in cash each month (or so says the grapevine).

These neighbors also happen to be Mexican. As a result, I have taken to mentally referring to them as the Sketchicans.
Nice folks, though.

I digress. I come home from Christmas break, and this is on my street:

Now, I'm not sure that you can entirely see what is going on here. So I zoomed in and snapped a closer picture (from my incognito spying position around the corner of my unit) so that you could get the full effect:

Yeah. That's right.
There is a basketball goal.
On my street.
Chained and padlocked to the rim of an SUV.

I would like to point out that this particular SUV was not regularly on the premises before the arrival of the basketball goal. I can only assume that a friend has loaned the SUV, and in return gets to use the goal.

Ya'll, the basketball goal (and thus, the SUV) has not moved for at least 4 weeks (I'm assuming this was a Christmas gift so it's probably closer to 4 or 5 weeks now). Lord knows how long it's going to sit there.

Not that I mind! It doesn't affect me. Honestly, as far as I'm concerned, it's great. There's some grown(ish) men that participate in the evening games but usually it's junior high aged kids out there, which is way better than them sitting inside mindfully watching TV or playing video games, right?

I mean, it definitely is a little bit... "sketchican" of them.
But, kudos to them for investing in something active.
And kudos to them for protecting their investment!

Stay positive, my friends. -C.

FFA scoundrels and a vegan rescue

Philosophy #6: If you want to be taken seriously, at least try to sound intelligent.

Because you really just sound like an angry child pointing fingers at the other side and whining about how nothing is fair and they're doing everything all wrong.

I'll explain. There has been a blog post circulating around on Facebook recently that, needless to say, caught my attention along with the attention of many of my friends. I actually have had 3 people bring it to my attention and request I write about it, and I've been a little conflicted about whether or not to do so, and here is why:

There are a lot of irrational and ludicrous things in this world - that's something that I think we can all agree on. And while it is often so tempting to want to point out to the world just exactly how moronic these things are, it only raises more attention to the subject matter, until it's all over everywhere.

And that, my friends, is how things go viral. Very, very stupid things.

So I strongly considered just leaving this topic be, because by just reading the title alone, one can determine that it was not written to accurately and factually disprove agricultural practices, but was written with the sole purpose of being a nuisance.

To stir the pot.
To poke the bear.
Well, the bear is peeved.

Another reason I considered walking away from this article is the fact that I was never in FFA. I was homeschooled for the vast majority of my life and we lived pretty far from town. I did participate in 4-H activities such as horse judging, shooting sports, livestock shows and the like, but never did have the opportunity to get involved in FFA. However, as anyone who has been around people who did grow up within the organization would know, it is a very prestigious institution.
 
FFA members are VERY proud of the gold and blue.
They are also now all royally pissed, to be frank.

I stand behind FFA 100% - but I cannot speak for it from experience. This makes me a poor candidate to defend FFA against something like this. But FFA obviously represents agriculture and is dedicated to upholding its reputation and dignity, and that is something that I definitely can relate to.

Part of me just feels like this article doesn't even deserve the time it will take to pick apart all the ways in which it's ridiculous. But then again... let's be honest. It's what I do best. So here we go. This one's for you, Swagerty.

First of all, click here so you can thoroughly investigate this work of art and form your own opinion of it.

Initial thought: web address is "peta2.com". Oh good. I bet they're friends with animalrevenge. I bet they have vegan brunches and sit around the fire, holding hands and singing kumbaya. (The post was actually submitted by a Ms. Emily Rohr, and I will refer to the author appropriately from here on out.)

Thought #2: that is the most unintelligent heading for an article that I have ever seen. Word of advice: if you have any intent of being taken seriously as an intelligent individual, avoid using wordage such as "lame", or teenage Internet slang to make your point. Maybe if you call Donald Trump a meanie face he'll drop out of the presidential election, too.

I'll start by drawing a direct quote from the first "point" Rohr makes.

"Yet FFA encourages students to raise and slaughter animals for food. If members are working to develop their personal growth and to do the best they can, they should also hold themselves accountable for the harm that they’re causing when they eat animals or raise animals who will be killed and eaten."

You're right, Ms. Rohr. FFA does encourage students to raise agricultural livestock to eventually enter not only the food chain, but also to enter the chain that provides a plethora of other things. You yell at meat eaters, you scorn those wearing leather shoes, you pity the meat goat, but I challenge you to go a day without using products that, unbeknownst to you, rely on agricultural production to exist. And again, I agree with you (look at how much we have in common!) when you say that these same students should be held accountable for the well-being of the livestock, whose entire lives have been entrusted to these students. And guess what? I don't know if you've spent a whole lot of time around FFA members, or agriculturalists in general, or if you just happened upon a bad chapter. I'm not sure what terrible thing has happened to you in your lifetime to make you so blind to reality, but I feel obliged to clue you in to a little tidbit about these people raising livestock:

Nobody holds themselves more accountable.

Do you think sheep, cattle, goats, chickens, horses, whatever it may be, grow on trees? Do you think these animals are cheap to obtain or maintain, much less grow to show or slaughter (oh, that dreadful word) quality? Do you honestly believe that we pour hundreds, often thousands, of dollars into these animals just to throw their well being to the wayside?

Oh, but wait. There's more! (We miss you, Billy Mays.)

I noticed there was a clickable link in that direct quote. So, being the curious person that I am, I clicked on it (like you can do here.)

Oh, yes! I am so glad you are here to save the day, vegans! Where have you been all this time while agriculture was toiling away in vain trying to feed and clothe the world?! What villains. I'm so glad that you have all the answers through veganism. Now we can all sit back and watch you liberate the planet from all of its starvation and poverty.

Thank God. We've been saved, ya'll. (This time by Lily Trahan. You and Emily make a game plan and pitch it to us, I'm sure it'll be incredibly economically and financially viable.)

I'd like to add here that I actually do have some friends that are vegan or vegetarian for their own personal reasons. I very much respect their chosen lifestyle and the reasons for it, whilst they also understand and respect mine. We don't have to share these choices or the reasons for them to have a mutual respect and understanding. However, that is not what is taking place here. There is nothing respectful, understanding, or mutual about declaring war on the very industry that sustains the entire planet, if we're being real honest here.

I can't seem to get past the first bulletin on any of these blog posts. The first point on this post includes the following statement:

"Animals on U.S. farms produce 10 times more poop than the country’s entire human population. All the excrement has to go somewhere, and it often ends up in pond-like areas called “lagoons” that flood into rivers and lakes—more than 35,000 miles of river water in 22 states is now polluted—or the feces is used as fertilizer, which also contributes to water pollution."

Her argument is literally shit (pardon my language). I can't help but find that humorous, but moving on: any of you who have ever been around animals of any kind know that there is usually a lot of fecal matter around, also. That lovely feed yard smell. (Smells like money, am I right panhandle people?) 

Okay, so animals defecate, they defecate a lot. So what's your master plan? Stop sending animals to slaughter, turn them all free and let them run amuck where they can defecate anywhere they please rather than in a controlled environment where it can be almost entirely contained? And in addition, let them reproduce to their little hearts content so that they can breed even MORE poop machines? Because, I mean, who's going to regulate the population if you've removed human consumption? You, Emily? You, Lily? Are you guys going to shoot them down and let them rot? Oh no, that'd be silly, not to mention barbaric. In order to keep the planet from being overrun, or to keep species from dying off horribly from a disease that would inevitably run rampant, maybe we should help regulate the overpopulation by culling some of these animals and using their products, thus making the process economical. Right?

Oh, wait. That's agricultural livestock production. We hate them. Sorry, I forgot. That'd never work.

Waste runoff from feedlots and the like is collected into lagoons. And you cannot imagine how many thousands and thousands of dollars is invested into making sure these do not leak or run off into lakes or ponds, into making sure that they are sufficient for the animals being held in that facility, and into making sure the detriment to the environment is negligible.

To hear all about methane emissions and those effects on that environment, see a post that I predict evolving sometime in the near future.

Funny enough, this particular blog post does indeed address the issue of world hunger:

"All the land in the world that’s used for livestock farming could be used to help conquer world hunger—meaning that if we ditched animal agriculture and instead used the land to plant crops, we’d have enough food to feed everyone. Isn’t it messed up how a portion of the world’s population is starving and the rest gorges on animal products? Going vegan removes you from this crazy imbalance."

There's a lot of issue with this so-called "solution". One is that not all land is suitable for crop production - ask any farmer (traditional, organic, or otherwise). In fact, a rather large proportion of cattle ranches are on land that couldn't be utilized for farming. (Shout out to the Chihuahuan desert and Davis Mountains of West Texas.) So land that would go to waste, is being used to produce protein. There is also a lot of land that utilizes both cattle grazing and crop production (i.e. grazing winter wheat) to benefit both sides of the spectrum. And before I go off on people who complain that cattle grazing is destroying our range lands, I'm gonna make a mental note to write an entire post on that another time. 

And I would, once more, like to point out how animals are used for so much more than food. You'd be amazed at what we would struggle to produce without animal products.

I'm going to digress back to the original FFA article, or we'll be here all day long.

"It’s also typical for lambs’ talks to be cut off and their ears hole-punched without painkillers. How can your outfit be on point with all that blood on your hands?"

The removal of lamb's tails is commonly known as "docking". A quick search on Wikipedia will tell you why it's done:

"Many breeds of sheep have their tails docked to reduce the buildup of faeces which can encourage fly strike... Docking also makes it easier to view a grown ewe's udders to detect potential problems."

Oh, hey. Lookie there. It's to help the producer better care for this animal. Who would've thought?!

Also, I have a quick question. When these lambs are tagged (I'm assuming that's what you mean by "hole punch"), you're correct in that they are not given pain killers. But were you given pain killers when your ears were pierced? I sure wasn't. I definitely survived. I screamed bloody murder, apparently (I was 6, leave me alone) but I survived! I've never seen an animal become ill or get off of feed as a result of any of these procedures when done properly.

I'm really getting long winded here, and I just don't have the time nor energy to address every idiosyncrasy in this article, so just one more:

"Many FFA chapters hold fundraising hunts where participants are encouraged to kill as many animals as possible. This violent form of “entertainment” tears families apart and leaves countless animals orphaned or badly injured. Quick kills are rare, and many animals endure prolonged, painful deaths. SMH. How can you demonstrate good sportsmanship when you promote killing? For something to be considered a “sport,” both “teams” must agree to play and have a shot at winning."

You've never ridden up on a coyote gnawing on the baby calf you helped deliver in the middle of the night a few days ago, have you?

Did you think the saying "reproduce like rabbits" was just that? Just a saying? The coyotes and the rabbits keep each other in check for the most part, but sometimes either side can get out of control. If you're going to complain about cattle eating up the land (something that contributes to society in so many more ways than just as food), you certainly have to have an issue with rabbits (something that contributes almost nothing to anything productive) taking over the range and gnawing up all the good grass for livestock to turn into protein. As far as the "prolonged, painful deaths" - that isn't nearly as true as I think you'd like for it to be. Most avid hunters are stellar at kill shots - just because an animal is thrashing around after the shot doesn't mean they are conscious, suffering, or even alive. It just means that you don't know enough about physiological processes to understand what's actually going on. 

I'm scared to even start in on the "must agree to play and have a shot at winning" part.

There are prey animals, and there are predator animals. We are predator animals.While that may seem "unfair" to you, it's just a little taste of something called 

Mother Nature. 

Reality. 

Circle of life. 

Surivival of the fittest.  

Take your pick.

You can say I'm cruel or cold blooded but these are the facts, my friend. You can sit behind your keyboard over there and point fingers and cry for the animals but that's your own fantasy. And you're more than welcome to live it, but don't act like you understand the consequences of messing with the balance that all of these animals bring to the world. 

Because there's a reason we produce animals for meat and always have. Let me repeat this, we ALWAYS have. And no, I don't have a guilty conscience about it. Yes, I sleep great at night. Because I am not deranged with a mind full of all of the unfortunate exceptions of the industry. I know the standard. I know animals are well taken care of.

I understand that bad things happen in the meat animal production industry. But bad things happen in nature, too. And bad things happen to people all the time. Bad things happen to your pet dog, or cat, or to your kid. Is that anybody's fault? Not usually. Does it mean you weren't doing your job as their caretaker? I sure hope not. Animals are going to die. Some of them are going to suffer. Is that the industry standard? How many times do I have to say this? Absolutely not. 

So if you ask me, Ms. Rohr (and I know you didn't but here it is anyway), FFA is not "lame AF", as you have suggested.
In fact, I think your slam on FFA is what appears to be inadequate and in poor taste.

I know that it has been destined for us to produce animals, eat them (oh, how DARE she say that?), wear them (yes, I went there), and utilize them in countless other ways. And this is how I know that.

"Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things."

-Genesis 9:3 

My God said so.

And I know that probably isn't satisfactory for you.

But that's okay. I guess I don't need your approval anyway.

Without abandon

Philosophy #5: Be obsessed.

You may not know who this guy is, and you also may also raise an eyebrow at me for knowing who he is rather well, but I'm okay with that.

Fun fact about me: I hate football, but I can really get into some UFC.
*cue the judgement*
Go on. I'm used to it.

I happen to think it's an incredible sport that calls for an immense amount of dedication and athleticism, but I won't talk your ear off about it (for now). I do, however, want to use one man as an example for the point I'd like to make.

Conor McGregor came onto the MMA scene several years ago as a loud mouthed little Irishman yelling about how he was not only going to succeed within the UFC, but was going to dominate the entire sport. Almost everyone rolled their eyes, maybe got a few chuckles out of his antics, and eventually grew annoyed with his overzealous confidence (or arrogance) that soon eclipsed the media.

But then guess what? He did it. He overcame an incredibly worthy and competent component to gain the title in his division. McGregor now intends to fight in the weight class above the one in which he just earned the title, and gain a title there also. Additionally, he recently declared that by the end of 2016, he will have succeeded in gaining the title belt in three total weight classes.

Crazy?
Maybe.
Talented?
He doesn't think so.

Back in 2008 when McGregor was filmed saying he was the future of the UFC, do you think anyone took him seriously? I doubt it.

But that obviously wasn't important.
What was important was that he took himself seriously.

While McGregor may still be viewed by most as a high-strung, impetuous media trend, I think he understands and practices something that is very, very important.

He understands that there are no excuses.
He knows that the ones at the top didn't chance upon it.
He know that you have to work harder than anybody else.
He knows that if you are one of 5,000 people vying for the same thing, you have to work harder than 4,999 people.
He practices work ethic. He practices dedication. He practices discipline.
He practices obsession.

McGregor has just as many, if not more, people rooting against him as he has fans. He's known for his loud mouth and his cocky demeanor. I think what a lot of people don't understand, though, is that when he says "I am better than anyone else in the sport", he isn't saying he is just inherently superior to them. He's saying that his obsession has driven him beyond anyone else's desires or pursuit of what he wants. He doesn't attribute any of his success to being talented, with quick reflexes, built and designed to be athletically competent. He attributes it only to one thing that encompasses self discipline, perseverance, and above all, work. Obsession.

(By the way, if you're interested in watching McGregor predict each and every successful step of his journey to the top, watch this compilation of his career here. It's really incredible.)

That being said, no McGregor is not my favorite fighter. No, I do not idolize him or his accomplishments. And yes, I definitely disagree with some things he has said and done. My point is that you don't have to be a fan of the sport or of what he does to appreciate that obsessive quality about him.

And you don't have to be on national TV, or be the world champion of a well known sport, or be a celebrity of any kind to be an example of what I'm talking about here.

I recently watched a documentary type film on Netflix called "Unbranded". In a nutshell, it's about 4 young men who adopt and break 10 mustangs, and then ride them every single mile from the border of Mexico to the border of Canada. It's a really great film with some breath taking scenery, and I highly recommend it. The man who was the instigator and spearheads the entire trip, Ben Masters, has the type of quality (in my opinion) that I'm speaking of here. He was obsessed with completing this journey, no matter what it took. He didn't just want to complete the trip. He had to. He was obsessed with it.

Muhammad Ali was obsessed.
Ludwig Beethoven was obsessed.
Usain Bolt was/is obsessed.
Ernest Hemingway was obsessed.

All of the greats were obsessed. They were passionate and dedicated to whatever it is that gave them a purpose to live.

That being said, I'm pretty sure that Adolf Hitler and Fidel Castro were also obsessed and that didn't end so well for a lot of people, so obsession isn't always good. Don't let your obsession land you with a restraining order, okay?

My point is that life is too short, ya'll.
Life is too short to have a 9 to 5 that you dread going to every Monday.
Life is too short to live for your vacation time.
Life is too short to look at people doing spectacular, unbelievable, "impossible" things and wonder what it would be like.




If you've never been told "you're crazy to do that", or "that'll never work", or "you're gonna fail"...

Then you're doing life all wrong.

Find your passion and pursue it without abandon. It doesn't matter what that passion is. It doesn't have to be a big deal to somebody else. It just has to be a big deal to you.

It may be being able to saddle up every morning, be horseback before the sun blinks a sleepy eye, and work through the wind, snow, and sleet.
Do it with great passion.


It may be becoming a middle school teacher and making that subtle but eternal difference in many lives like that one teacher once did for you.
Do it with great passion.

It may be toiling endlessly over dirty dishes, dirty floors, and squabbling children to be rewarded with their sleepy hugs and crayon drawings.
Do it with great passion.

You don't have to be famous. You don't have to be in the record books.

Speaking of record books, there's a pretty cool one that stars this one particular Guy who was pretty obsessed with His Father. He was pretty obsessed with you, too, actually - He did something pretty radical for you. And He had these other 12 guys that followed Him around during His life on earth, and they had some pretty cool stuff to say too.

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold not hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So because you are luke warm - neither cold nor hot - I am about to spit you out of my mouth." 

-Revelations 3:16

Don't be luke warm - not about your job, your marriage, and especially not your relationship with God. 

Nobody ever did anything worthwhile because they put in the required time or because they kind of liked what they did. 

Go above and beyond. Do it without abandon. Whatever "it" may be for you.

Love each other, ya'll. - C

Time to jump back on my soapbox

 Philosophy #4: You can't fix stupid.

I'm pretty certain ya'll didn't wake up this morning, brush your teeth, make a pot of coffee, and think, "Ya know, I sure wish Caitlin would give us a piece of her mind today."

But I'm gonna do it anyway, so sit tight, because I'm ready to roll here.

A friend of mine recently brought to my attention an Instagram post by a page called "animalrevenge".

Sketchy already, right?

I was immediately infuriated, yet he encouraged me to go to the page and scope out the full scope for their radicalism. Which, obviously, only infuriated me more. Why? First, let me fill you in really quick about some events over the past couple weeks that will put it all into perspective.

My family and I are based in south-eastern New Mexico, and the weekend following Christmas we were hit by a blizzard that was affectionately (haha) nicknamed Goliath. The 35-40 mph winds that accompanied the onslaught of snow made it difficult to quantify the exact amount of snow received (due to heavy drifting), but I've heard it was somewhere in the range of 16 inches, and I won't argue that point.

Ya'll, we got a lot of snow.

Much of the panhandle of Texas (an area very near and dear to my heart) was also hit by the storm, and everybody was affected. The livestock included. The ranch my daddy runs is roughly 128,000 acres and I think we're stocked right now roughly in the neighborhood of 900-1000 head of cattle. Cattle that, in the heart of winter, require to be fed due to the lack of adequate forage. As you can imagine, in south eastern New Mexico we are not sufficiently prepared for a blizzard that created drifts up to 3 feet deep. We can't just walk out to the pens to break ice and feed our cattle and call it good. In many cases we have to drive for several miles just get to a particular pasture, but we couldn't even get our pickups a quarter mile down the road. Daddy spent days (I mean literally, several entire days) in the back hoe clearing roads so that he could get to calves and cattle and water troughs. Of course we didn't get to all the cattle, but getting to our calves (weaned in October) is imperative as they don't know how to lick through the ice to get to water, and they have a much higher energy requirement, making their detriment due to a lack of feed much more severe.

Despite clearing roads with the tractor, I can't even tell you how many times we got stuck and had to pull each other out of drifts.

And the worst part is that it absolutely refused to melt. The temperature never would get high enough and the sun enjoyed a coy little game of hide and seek behind the clouds for over a week. Oh, and the FOG! We were fogged in for several days, it was so thick that there was no point in even trying to get out and feed cattle because you couldn't even see them.

So as you can see, the storm has been very difficult on all of us desert rats down here and on all of our desert rat cattle (although they truly do much better in extreme weather conditions than most people think).

But as you can also see, we spent a lot of time and effort doing what was necessary to get to our livestock and make sure they were taken care of. We put hay out for all of our horses and the cattle we could get to, broke ice where we could, fed the calves we could get to, despite the difficulties. All of our cattle are in good health that we have seen and there is no reason to believe that the rest of them aren't in the same condition, so we were very blessed. However, others were not so fortunate.

And then some imbecile has the audacity to share this crock of bull hockey:  

Yes this just happened in New Mexico and Texas because the Ag industry did not provide shelter to them!  Snowstorm likely killed more than 30,000 dairy cows January 1, 2016  An estimated 15,000 mature dairy cows died in Texas and another 20,000 in New Mexico, said Texas Association of Dairymen Executive Director Darren Turley. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime (storm),” Turley said. There will be less milk coming from the region for a while. “It was unbelievable,” said Andle van der Ploeg, owner of Mid-Frisian Dairy near Clovis. He says snow drifts on his farm are 14 feet high in spots. Snowdrift1“You can walk right over the top of a trailer house,” says Andle. “I had heifers walk right over the fence and out of the pen.” “The snow was just one part of the storm,” says the Albuquerque Journal. “It was the wind that led to drifts as high as 14 feet (4.26 m), where many animals died. Wind will push animals into a fenced corner where they can suffocate in snowdrifts.” Robert Hagevoort, a dairy Extension agent with New Mexico State University,  estimates about 5% death loss on milking cows and double that on young stock. “Consider our average herd size is 2,300 cows, and we’ve got 150 dairies in our area,” he explains. “At 5% loss, that’s more than 20,000 cows.” Total losses won’t be known until farmers finish digging cows out of snow drifts, Hagevoort says. “Cows have literally been buried alive for two days” he says. “Some of them are alive when they are found, and some of them aren’t.” The Texas producers are working with state environmental officials to find ways to dispose of the carcasses. The storm’s primary impact area ran about 100 miles, from Lubbock, Texas, to Clovis, New Mexico. Imagine the potential deaths if that storm had encompassed a larger area. http://www.abqjournal.com/699253/news/cows-lost-to-snowstorm-likely-to-top-30000.html http://www.agweb.com/article/new-mexico-dairy-farms-survive-blizzard-but-20000-cows-likely-wont-naa-anna-lisa-laca/ #nm #tx #texas #longhorns #meat #meatsucks #vegan #govegan

A photo posted by Animal Revenge ✔️🐼 (@animalrevenge) on Jan 9, 2016 at 8:35am PST

Are you mad? I hope you are.

Because, ya'll, I am livid.

First of all - everything said in the caption is entirely true, so at-least they didn't cite some radically biased interview. I guess props to them for that. The drifts were obviously far worse the further East the storm went and we were very fortunate to not be hit with the worst of the storm.

But listen up, I won't sugarcoat this at all: a lot of cattle perished during Goliath. I've heard anywhere from 35,000 to 50,000 deaths; it is incredibly unfortunate, disheartening, and just down right sad. And on top of that, there is a lot of country (especially in the Lubbock area) that fences in wheat fields with hot wire and stocks cattle in there to graze it over winter. The snow drifting up over that hot wire obviously rendered it useless and there were thousands of cattle roaming through the panhandle, and even right down the highway in Lubbock. I know a lot of guys that have been horseback constantly to recover these cattle and get them back into a safe environment, and I know a lot of them have been recovered, but there's still a lot of them missing.

Devastating, right? Sorry, it's about to get worse.

I don't know how many of you reading this knew about the blizzard that hit South Dakota in October of 2013 but here is a link to an article briefly summarizing the events:

South Dakota ranchers reel after 'catastrophic' storm leaves up to 100,000 cattle dead

 You thought Goliath was bad? This was one of the most devastating things I'd ever heard in all my life. Can you even imagine that?

Here's the bottom line: Mother Nature does whatever she damn well wants to. I mean, duh, she's a woman, right? It's our prerogative.

And since when has anyone been able to avoid the consequences of her temper tantrums? I'm not just talking about animal casualties here. The same week that Texas and New Mexico were dealing with the repercussions of  Goliath, the Dallas area was victim to multiple tornadoes, and other areas of Texas were afflicted with mass flooding.

My biggest problem with this type of ignorance is: what could we have done?!

The answer is nothing. The only precaution they take up North is that they have windbreaks in the pastures to allow cattle relief from the drifts and the howling wind, but as in the case of the South Dakota blizzard, the initial rain before the blizzard was the detrimental factor and no amount of windbreaks could save them.

But tell me something.
Does Arizona heavily prepare for mass flooding?
Do the majority of Wyoming homes come equipped with tornado cellars?

Wanna know why not? Because those types of devastation don't happen often enough for them to feel the need.

So you know what, animalrevenge, you're right, we didn't feel the need to provide shelter for hundreds of thousands of animals from an act of mother nature that has almost never ventured as far south as Lubbock, Texas. You cannot imagine a shelter big enough to house that many animals.

Need I once again bring up the fact that cattle are worth too much for producers to simply not care about their health and survival? Do you have any idea how much time and money is invested in improving and maintaining their well being?

30,000 cattle died because of a catastrophic act of nature. This is no fault of any producer or care taker. This is one of the many, many hazards of agriculture. It is an unpredictable industry susceptible to acts of nature such as these, and we can do many things to help alleviate these vulnerabilities, but we will never be able to make ourselves immune to them. My point is (and pardon my french): shit happens, ya'll.

Dear, animalrevenge:

Have you ever even met a beef producer?
You obviously weren't there at 2 am in the middle of frigid January when he was checking heifers.
You obviously weren't there when he spent hours, days, and weeks riding through his calves, doctoring each ill one.
You obviously weren't there when he bottle fed a week old dogied calf back to full health.
You obviously don't know these people.
You obviously want to point fingers at things you don't understand.
Your accusations are not a threat. They are an annoyance.

I've read through your posts and fully scoped out your boycotting of meat and dairy products.
What you don't understand is that without this animal agriculture that, according to you, cares so little for their animals, you wouldn't have so many things.

The soap to wash your hands.
The concrete beneath your feet.
The tires on your car that get you to work.
The condom that should have been used when you were conceived to prevent you from spewing such nonsense on the Internet.

I think I've wasted everybody's time enough now with my ranting and raving. Like I said in my very first post: I'm fully aware that my blabbering and lecturing the Internet doesn't change anything. I'd just like to believe it would.

Don't burst my bubble.

Love each other, ya'll. (Even whoever is behind animalrevenge. Just don't like them.) -C.

You can't handle the truth

Philosophy #3: Sometimes, it's like Jack Nicholson said: you just can't handle the truth.

In the fall semester of 2014 I took Meat Science at my undergraduate school from Dr. Lawrence - one of the most fun classes and most entertaining professors I ever had. (In case this strikes you as an odd college course, keep in mind that my major was animal science.) The class was focused on the production and processing of pork, lamb, poultry, and beef and covered topics such as food safety and factors affecting meat quality. Within my major, the media's inadequate and often convoluted representation of the agricultural industry as a whole is often acknowledged and discussed. For now, let's just realize that mainstream representation of agricultural practices are very muddled and often misinformed. As a result, it isn't rare for ag students to receive assignments involving such topics. Dr. Lawrence brought to our attention a current (at the time) issue involving the pork industry. A common practice in sow barns that was altogether humane, though brutal to the uneducated or sympathetic eye, was secretly videoed by Mercy for Animals and exposed to the public. (If you're interested, you can Google it.) There was a major upset over the matter, as is common when it comes to agricultural practices being taken out of context and presented to the public. Wal-Mart responded to this exposure by suggesting that all Wal-Mart supported pork producers would be required to install 24/7 video surveillance throughout their plants. This became highly controversial within the industry rather quickly.

I know what you're thinking.

"If they weren't doing anything wrong and had nothing to hide, why the controversy? Don't we have a right to know where our meat is coming from?"

Absolutely, you do! Our assignment regarding this subject was to write a short essay assessing the situation and stating whether we were for or against the video surveillance, and discuss our reasons why. I don't have my essay anymore, but I remember my stance quite well.

I commended the idea, from an industry standpoint, as an attempt to reconcile with the public and regain consumer trust. If you thought pigs were being subjected to inhumane treatment and unnecessary suffering, would you want to support that? I admit that I wouldn't. When damage is done to the industry image, it's necessary to try to correct or repair the consumer perception.

But there's a flip side. Before I get into it, let me first explain what the issue at hand regarded. The controversy involved methods of euthanization for pigs/piglets in cases where the animal would have otherwise endured undue suffering. The common industry method is blunt force trauma to the head, and while it may look brutal and inhumane, it is quick and completely painless for the animal. An alternative method, regarded as more humane by the general public, is euthanization by carbon dioxide - essentially, gas chambers. It seems better, but with some education and information, most people would be singing another tune. The animal endures far more suffering and the industry standard is truly the most inhumane. But this is not considered when a completely out-of-context video is released to the public.

The flip side to my essay was that the industry has nothing to hide, but people don't know what they are seeing. They are not informed to adequately assess the situation and have too much control over something they don't understand. Now, maybe the agricultural industry is partly to blame for this. Maybe we could do better to adequately educate the consumer. Then again, the public has grown to be so dang sensitive, that we, as an industry, can't discuss these things. Why?

People are emotional. The media comes at agriculture from an emotional angle - something that people can relate to, something they cling to.

Agriculture is not emotional. Agriculture is practical. Agriculture is driven to feed the world and provide resources for almost every thing you use in your daily life.

Does that mean that animals are not cared for? Does that mean that the rancher, farmer, or producer doesn't express compassion for their livestock?

Let me make this completely clear: absolutely not.

General compassion and humanity aside (which exist more strongly in agriculture than anywhere else I've ever seen), livestock are worth too much from a financial standpoint for a producer to risk their health and well-being and a potential loss of capital.

Is there the occasional bad egg that ruins it for everybody, just like anywhere and in any workplace?

Of course. Do not let these people influence your idea of the the standard ag producer.

Sometimes, you may acquire information you don't understand. This applies to agriculture, government, and a plethora of other things. However, this doesn't necessarily mean the information should be withheld. But it is your duty to educate yourself with reputable sources, unbiased if possible, and if that is not possible then explore all sides and facets of the subject and make an informed decision for yourself. But please, for the love of God, do not be another misinformed, uneducated, overly opinionated member of society.

I'm not picking on anyone - this is something we all can relate to. Sometimes, we are that pork producer, being bombarded by the judgments of misinformed assailants. And sometimes, we are the general public - confused, overwhelmed, misconstruing and misunderstanding information. I have absolutely been the latter, especially in my relationship with the Lord.

He withholds things from us often.
Not because He doesn't love us.
Not because He thinks poorly of us.
Not because He's hiding something from us. 
But because we cannot understand what He is doing. 

The difference is... we can trust that He knows what He is doing. We can trust that He knows the best, that He will not lead us astray.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for anyone else. So please. Inform yourself. Don't adopt a biased opinion and regurgitate the thoughts of others. Make your own informed decisions. The information is out there and is available, you just have to make an active effort to become educated. Whether it's agriculture, gun control, or Donald Trump. The media can twist anything - you and only you are responsible for how vulnerable you make yourself to skewed perceptions.

This goes back to my last post about reading. Read to educate yourself. Read to inform yourself. Is there always one right answer, one pure opinion, or one clear "side" to pick? Almost never. Disagree with me, your boss, your family - but do it in an educated manner. Well informed opinions make the world go round. Ill informed opinions set fire to it.

Just some food for thought, ya'll. Oh, and in case you don't know the Jack Nicholson reference, it's from the movie "A Few Good Men". If you haven't seen it, I recommend it; if you're interested, click here for one of the best rants in all of movie history.


                                   Love each other, ya'll. -C

For the love of books.

Philosophy #2: For a healthy body, eat your veggies. For a healthy mind, read. Read A LOT.

 I must admit. I have a love affair with words. I have an entire notebook dedicated to quotes and passages that particularly strike me. Needless to say, reading has always been a vital part of my life. As a very small child I remember curling up on my parents' four-poster bed with my brother for my mama to read aloud to us- everything from The B.F.G (Roald Dahl, you are truly an artist) to Little House on the Prairie, to Harry Potter. When I got a little bit older, Mama had a notebook where we all kept track of the books we'd read as we completed them. And would you believe it, she kept it!

My reading skills were impeccable. My penmanship, on the other hand...

I digress. Books have been instrumental in my life for as long as I can remember. However, it seems that life always seems to get in the way of the things we enjoy the most- or rather, we LET life get in the way. It is in this fashion that I have let my "reading for fun" passion fall to the wayside to make room for "reading for necessity". Allow me to explain...


Grad school is basically reading, studying, reading, reading, writing, reading, crying, followed by some light reading. My eyes are literally burning most days when I leave my office. I read so much, that I forgot reading used to be fun. Used to be a get away. And only adding to the detriment of my passion for words is the ever-present Netflix trap. I come home, I take the dog out, I take a shower, make some dinner, and bam my butt is on the couch for the evening, ready for a consecutive string of Parks & Recreation episodes.

I simply cannot stress just how important I think reading is. And I'm not just talking Jane Austen or Tom Clancy here. I'm talking anything you can get your hands on. Read the news, read about science, read about politics! All our lives we've heard "your brain is a muscle, it needs exercise". It's so true! 

If you ever encountered somebody who's an absolute bore to be around and a dirt poor conversationalist - chances are, they don't read. 

You don't have to be "smart" to be intelligent. Intelligence is self-taught - it's information. The bottom line, without getting on my high horse and trotting off to a topic for another day,

EDUCATE YOURSELF.

Because you can't trust anyone else to do it for you. 

Benefits of reading:
-you'll almost always have something to talk about, no matter who you're with or what situation you're in
-you'll be confident and well-informed
-you'll dazzle your friends with your vocabulary and conversational skills

Disadvantages of reading:
-you'll probably fall in love with a fictional character whom you'll never actually get to meet and will likely spend weeks wallowing in your self-pity and sorrow   

I find myself often having to digress. I stumbled across something on the good old Facebook the other day that has inspired me to revive my love of reading.

Following is my personal list, in order of the above figure.

1. A Gathering of Shadows - V. E. Schwab
2. The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
3. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
4. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. Safely Home - Randy Alcorn
7. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
8. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
9. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
10. Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
11. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
12. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

 

 If you, too, are a reading connoisseur, I would highly encourage you to participate in this challenge! If I succeed, 2016 will be known as the year I finally conquered War & Peace. I'm coming for you, Tolstoy. 

      Love one another! -C.  

In a nutshell

 Philosophy #1: First impressions are everything.

Happy first of the year, my fellow Interwebbians! Here's hoping your holidays were full of good memories, good health, and the good Lord, as I know mine certainly were.

It's a happy chance that my first blog post in many years would land on the first day of a brand new year, and in keeping with the theme of "new beginnings", it only seems fitting that I should introduce myself before I allow you to stroll off of the proverbial cliff of Internet wanderings and into my ever so muddled mind. However, introducing yourself to the Internet feels as awkward as trying to make small talk at your grandmother's 70th birthday party with someone whom YOU barely know, but seems to remember you "when you were knee high to a grasshopper!" So forgive my lack of formality but we're gonna get down and dirty and to the point here.

I. I'm a graduate assistant at New Mexico State University, pursuing a masters in ruminant nutrition, and therefore I love to talk about cows. I mean, I really do. A lot. You've been warned. All joking aside, I've been exceptionally blessed to have the opportunity to study that which I am profoundly (or obnoxiously) passionate about.

II. "Desert Rat" stems from my raising in west Texas and south eastern New Mexico on commercial cattle operations. Don't put me anywhere humid. I'll melt.

III. I have a 5 month old Basset hound named Harvey with whom I am wholly and unabashedly obsessed. He's probably cooler than you. I've learned to accept it, you should too.

IV. My mother is relatively blog-world famous. If you've read the lovely Dirt Road Scrapper's blog: that is my dear madre. Before you get too excited, no, I don't possess her quilting, cooking, or photography skills. She kicks my butt on all levels.

V. Though I may be 22, I'm roughly 67 years old on the inside. Which means I love cheesy old movies, Dean Martin, and classic literature. I have a growing collection of vinyl records that range from Marty Robbins to Eric Clapton to Hozier (uh-oh, my inner hipster is showing). My movie collection includes works of Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and Glenn Ford. Basically, I was born in the wrong decade, but I'm learning to deal.

          I think that gives you a pretty good idea of the writer behind the rambles.
                                  Love one another! -C.