John was a buddy of my first father-in-law; we inherited him after Grandpa died. John was a Commander in the US Navy, retired to Omaha, then went into business. As ex-military, his priority was efficiency, so when he came to the ranch to “help out” (he was about as much help as the average city visitor, but we loved him anyway) he was free with advice. We were working the chute on a fall day, with John doing his best to be involved, when he made a ridiculous prediction. I was entering the ear tag numbers in a notebook when he said, “Soon you’ll keep track of all this stuff on a computer.”
“Just city folk talking,” I thought to myself. “They have no idea how impractical that would be, not to mention expensive.” You know, of course, that all ranches use computer records now. The calf book will never go out of style; when you’re in the pasture or barn with a new arrival, pertinent information goes in the little red book that ranchers carry in a shirt pocket but, at the end of the day, it’s entered into the computer. Safer that way. Computers can crash, but not as likely as the washer eating a little red book, which always precipitates days of cold silence between washerwoman and rancher.
The latest rule from on high is for the numbered tags in the ears of cattle to be electronically read and entered into a national database. Ranchers will have to record all movement of livestock. This hasn’t met with enthusiasm. Would you appreciate the government telling you which drawer to put your socks in? Supposedly, this will provide traceability in case of a disease outbreak. This from a government that will not allow beef producers to have a designation on packaging that guarantees the product was born, raised, and processed in the US.
Don’t be fooled by a label that says Product of the United States. That can simply mean it was imported from countries that don’t have the safety standards we require, and then processed here. Money and lobbying are behind this, of course. But your apple, and the cranberries you will put on your table for turkey day have country of origin labels. If it sounds like we are paranoid for thinking somebody’s out to put us out of business, that’s because they are.
Have you bought a package of fake meat? At least they tell you it’s not the real deal, but they left out the information about all the cancer-causing ingredients. How about a serving of crickets? I’m told they can be tasty, but eating insects can cause serious health problems. They probably didn’t tell you that either. But you’ll be saving the planet. Did anyone mention what happens to the planet when insects that are part of the balance of nature are decimated?
Activist groups that work to eliminate farming and ranching are well funded and globally involved. They’re open about their agenda and often resort to violence against agricultural workers and farmers. Some European countries have implemented laws and taxes that make agriculture impossible. Think it can’t happen here? Remember what I believed about computers. And we had no clue about anything called Artificial Intelligence back then.
The United Nations is involved in this movement. This isn’t about climate change. It’s about money, power, and global control. About fear, lies, and taking away your choices. Are the leaders of the climate change bandwagon limiting their travel, selling their private jets, and eating crickets? Go vegan if you choose. Eat some grasshoppers. Not my business but, no matter the credentials, never believe anyone whose agenda limits your ability to choose.