April 2009 Archive for On the Udder Hand

First, of course, it will be years, maybe many years, before the commercial impact of the gene sequencing is felt.  After all, it’s been nearly a decade since the human genome was decoded, and the result of that has been faint, for most people.  So we have to be careful not to get ahead of ourselves.

But because genes are the blueprints for all living things, having a better understanding of how cattle are wired will be crucial to helping breed better livestock.  Using selective breeding techniques for centuries, humans have done a commendable job of supercharging the ancient auroch, but delving down to the DNA level will accelerate that process.  And it’s worth acknowledging that selective breeding can create bottlenecks where genetic diversity can be as homogenous as a glass of milk.  Genomics will help us bust out of those bottlenecks.

It’s interesting to see in this Associated Press story that cattle and humans have roughly the same number of genes, and share about 80% of them.  This Washington Post article also notes that the genome project allows us to see how mankind has shaped the evolution of cattle into the world’s most important animal, at least as far as nutrition is concerned. 

This also reflects on my most recent post, about animal welfare and the meaning of stewardship.  In terms of today’s dairy and beef cattle, there is no longer a wild, free-ranging equivalent.  The auroch’s been gone for four centuries.  Opening the barn door and letting cows get back to nature would not improve animal welfare, since domesticated livestock can no longer be yoked to some primitive, more natural point in time.  We’ve hitched a ride on their backs, and vice versa.  They’ve moved on, and so has the world.  The genetic blueprint is also a roadmap for the future, and it tells us that we have a responsibility to be good stewards of this breed  Along that road, however, we’re the drivers.

During World War II, the Wehrmacht soldiers often sported a belt buckle with the phrase “Gott Mit Uns,” which means God Is With Us.  Even though the Nazi regime was officially atheistic, they weren’t above proclaiming that God was on their side as they conducted an unholy rampage across Europe.

We saw that same type of religious fervor in the attitudes of the 9/11 hijackers, who apparently were convinced that killing thousands with weapons of mass destruction was part of their God’s plan.

And now we come to Rush Limbaugh, the Humane Society of the U.S., and modern agriculture.  As I recently blogged about, there are certain people who care deeply about where their food comes from, and how it was raised.  For those who, for whatever religious or philosophical reason, choose not to consume animal products, well, bless their hearts.  It’s a free country. 

But freedom of thought and freedom of choice shouldn’t be confused with the right to play fast and free with the facts, and co-opt the scripture to support such a perspective.  Unfortunately, that’s what seems to have happened recently with Mr. Conservative Talk Radio himself, Rush Limbaugh, who basically endorsed the Human Society’s perspective that animal agriculture today is a violation of God’s law. 

The source for this opinion, apparently, is a recent book by former Bush Administration speechwriter Matthew Scully, who in Dominion, asserts that livestock production today violates religious edicts to be good stewards of all the Earth and its creatures.  Limbaugh is exceedingly generous when he says that the Humane Society deserves credit for its support of “traditional values” and “morality” as it bonds with faith-based organizations that support the rights of animals and believe in stewardship. 

I can say without hesitation that every dairy farm I’ve visited seriously believes in the concept of stewardship of his/her herd.  This doesn’t necessarily mean treating them as pets, giving them names, or imbuing them with anthropomorphic qualities.  They are animals, not two-dimensional, four-legged copies of people.  But having well-treated cows is good business, common sense, and is mutually beneficial for both farmer and the farm animals.  That is the essence of faithful stewardship, and it is both preached and practiced daily on farms of all sizes in America.

Are there occasional bad apples in the farming community?  Obviously, we’re not all saints, regardless of our vocation.  But the truth – if the truth truly will make us free – is that farmers don’t need lectures from disingenuous animal rights activitists, with their distortions and phony rhetoric, nor do they need lectures on what’s moral from talk show hosts.

That said, what farmers do need is yet another reminder – which this situation provides us – of the fact that they have to communicate with language and values that focus on compassion, morality and stewardship.  In this day and age, with the megaphone that social media offers, it’s sadly too easy to let our opponents vilify us, the same way that all soldiers have to vilify their enemies in order to trample over them. 

If you’ve read any news lately, (or here, or here), you know that dairy farmers are facing a winter of great discontent.  Prices are very low, and with input costs still high, the cost of milk production is at one of the lowest points in history.  All the 1930s-era comparisons when talking about today’s economy are certainly true for dairy farmers right now.

That’s why Cooperatives Working Together announced Wednesday the latest in its series of herd retirement programs.  Some may have  thought it was an April Fool’s prank, but given where the economics of dairying are right now, the situation is in fact very serious.

This is the second bit of good news farmers have received in the past week.  Last Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA was going to use 200 million pounds of surplus nonfat dry milk in domestic feeding programs.  The main benefit of that decision was to keep the powder from being resold to the commercial market by USDA, which could have retarded the rebound in farm-level milk prices.  The other good news about the announcement was, frankly, just the fact that USDA recognized the gravity of the dairy problem, and did something about it.

And that’s basically what CWT’s announcement means today:  it’s a sign of spring blooming, not April fooling.  The futures markets are pricing in stronger milk prices in the last 4-5 months of the year.  CWT will help farmers get there.