OCV Proposal

The other day I blogged about the OCV Proposal here in Montana to help with our Brucellosis problem. Many public meeting have been held throughout the state to answer questions and take producers comments on the proposal.

Over at Northern Ag you can listen to MT Stockgrowers Assocation President Tom Hougen answer a few questions on the proposal. Also on there is an interview with a Montana rancher and his thoughts on the proposal. And then watch an interview with MT State Vet Dr. Marty Zaluski.

It's all good information, with great questions being asked and answered. Here's the link: Northern Ag.

And don't forget to take a minute and submit your concerns and opinion to the state.

Rerecording Montana Brand

Did you know there were 55,000 active brands in the state of Montana! Wow.

2011 marks the year when livestock producers need to rerecord their brand with the MT Department of Livestock.

The department of livestock is asking producers to update their mailing address with them, to help the rerecording process go smoother.

Here is a link with the information on how to update your mailing address: MT Dept of Livestock

Yellow Tail changes Gears

A couple weeks back I blogged here and here about about Yellow Tail wine and its donation to the HSUS. I even showed you a video made by Troy Hadrick and his thoughts on Yellow Tail. Well, today I found an article in the Drovers Journal, that states that Yellow Tail wine will support farmers and ranchers around the world and that any future donations for animal welfare will go to organizations specifically devoted to hands-on care, such as rescue, sterilization, feeding, or disaster assistance.

You can read the article and letter from Yellow Tail here or here.

So if you are one of those that voiced your opinion by an email, or blog or facebook or letter, Job Well Done!

Here is another little article I found at Drovers Journal:

Backlash forces Yellow Tail to change donation strategy By Drovers news source Friday, February 19, 2010

A major Australian wine exporter facing a backlash in the United States for donating to a key animal rights group says it will take its support elsewhere in the future.

The $100,000 donation by Yellow Tail Wines to the Humane Society of the United States' (HSUS) animal rescue program has prompted a flurry of angry online postings in the US calling for people to boycott the wine.

In a statement to ABC News, the managing director of Casella Wines, John Casella, says the company will look to non-political groups in the future.

"Yellow Tail is committed to the plight of animals in need and as a result, we can confirm that through any future activity, we will be looking to other non-profit organisations without lobbying interests that best deliver on our intended outcome of saving animals," the statement said.

Mr Casella says he never anticipated any negative criticism of the donation and the intention of the partnership with the HSUS was to celebrate and save animals.

"Being farmers ourselves, we acknowledge those who care for their land and their environment, just as we do," he said.

"We are proud of our rural heritage and value a solid relationship with agricultural communities around the world

Meet Pedro & Coffee

Pedro & Coffee. Coffee & Pedro. They go together like....well like all the good things in life.

Pedro & Coffee

Pedro

Pedro was bought as a colt in hopes she would grow up to match one of grandpa's red road percheon cross mares that we had been driving. She grew up, but not enough. She was broke to ride and then sent to our house. We rode her for awhile, and she just got ornerier and crankier. I was ready to give up on her, so we sent her to the Amish to get broke to drive. And she is great!


Coffee

Coffee is out of one of grandpa's mares and is such a sweetheart. Big D and I spent one winter taming her, halter breaking her, picking her feet up and saddling her. She was then sent to the Amish to break to drive. She also is great!



The wagon awaits, at Andi & Jason's Wedding

After many years Dad finally has a team again. He is proud of them, enjoys driving them, and brags about them to anyone who will listen. They outwalk any team, gentle as all get out and are scared of anything.



After Bucking Horse Sale Parade 2009

We have had them in Bucking Horse Sale parade. 125th Montana Stockgrowers Association Parade. Several wagon trains. Andi & Jason's Wedding. Wagon rides during the winter. Wagon rides for the heck of it. They are kid broke. The are beer broke. Heck, Dad's even let Grandpa drive, whom has only really good working arm.

Dad driving his team


Madion is becoming quite the teamster

Dad & flower girls waiting for the wedding party.

Brucellosis

Brucellosis has wreaked havic on Montana's cattle industry the last few years. Everything from marketing, breeding stock, and exporting beef from and around Montana has been affected. It's been the topic of many discussions all over the state and surrounding states.

Right now the Montana Department of Livestock is holding meetings across the state and taking public comment on their proposal of a statewide Official Statewide Vaccination (OCV) for brucellosis. This proposal calls for statewide requirement of OCV for all sexually intact female cattel and bison that will not be slaughtered, but used for breeding.

Currently the state only requires OCV four Montana counties, Beaverhead, Gallatin, Madison and Park. These counties are all part of the brucellosis Designated Surveillance Area. Part of the push for OCV is that it will show Montana is doing all they can to help prevent spreading of brucellosis.

Here is the link to read the full proposal and the address where producers can send in there comments about this proposal.

Oh, Snap!

I have been blessed with a daughter whos language, speech and understanding is beyond her 3 years. Some people are quite amazed at her speech, and can't imagine where she gets it from. I know where and how she gets it. Her gift of gab comes from all parts of her family tree. Her dad. Her mom. Her grandma. Her papa. Her great-grandpa. Her aunties. The list goes on. Second of all, we never 'baby talked' to her. Third, she has been around adults since she was born, and we have great friends that talk to her, make her mind and play with her. And I don't think there is a shy bone in her body.

She remembers peoples names better than I do. She wants to know everyones name and she has never met a stranger. Instead of asking me who people are she now walks up to them and says "What's your name? " and after you tell her your name she sticks her hand(sometimes the left hand, sometimes the right hand) and says "Mine name's Tally. Nice ta meet ya"

So this brings me to the other night. I was in the kitchen making supper and she came walking up to me and said: "Mama, I just said 'damn it' and that's naughty. What other word can I say thats not naughty so I don't get in trouble." I agreed with her that that word is naughty while making a mental note to watch my language. She thought for a moment and said "I have a great idea, how 'bout I say 'oh, snap' and not 'damn it' and that won't be naughty and I won't get a spanking, k?" I told her that was a great idea. She then spent the next four minutes repeating 'oh, snap. oh, snap' many times!

One would think it would be safe to say, that when she is sleeping, she finally quits talking.

But now she has taken to talking in her sleep. Just like her mom. Her grandma. Her daddy.

What's a Gal to Do?

Big D left for the weekend. He is attending some fire board training (or so he says) on the other end of the state. I am so excited I wanna get up and do a happy dance!



Don't go a'hating on me. I am just looking forward to a girls weekend. T & I have plans of baking cookies, a few heated games of Hungry Hungry Hippo. Don't feel sorry for her. She is very serious hippo player and takes no prisoners.



We're gonna hang in our comfy clothes. Get some cleaning done. Play in the snow.



Watch what we want. Eat what we want.



Have a picnic in our living room.



We're gonna take a trip to the quilt store with Auntie J. Well, T says we are taking a trip to get ice cream and a balloon. A girl can dream, right?



NO. BOYS. ALLOWED.

Can you go back home again?

It's almost funny how things come full circle. How old stomping grounds become new. How forgotten memories come flooding back it's almost scary. How old friends become new neighbors. How time and distance doesn't change much between good friends.

My parents moved again last week. It's been a hell of a year for moving. We should be pros at it by now, but I don't think it quite works that way. They moved back to North Dakota. Back to the ranch that we first lived on when we first moved to North Dakota. I was in first grade. My little sister celebrated her first birthday there. Even though we moved from that particular ranch a few years later, it was just fifteen miles up the road and it was the same community, same friends. It's the community that my sisters and I grew up in. The friends we grew up with. The school we graduated from. Which, is now closed. We may have moved from there for a few years, but we never left our friends or community. We would go back for weddings. For rodeos. For parties. And now I will go back for a whole lot more. Brandings. Christmas. Or just to get away for the weekend.

It's exciting. It's weird. It's crazy. But I am sure it's all good.

Halters For Healing

I recieved an email this morning from my friend Glo, asking to check out a website of a friend of hers that makes halters. But there is something special about this guy and these halters. He is a cancer survicor. His mother has been battling cancer for years. He was looking for a way to give back and support research, and so Halters For Healing was born. The idea is simple. As most know, most cancers have a color associated with them to bring awareness. The customer chooses which color of halter they want and a portion of the profit will be sent to organization that supports choosen cancer. Here are the choices:

Cancer Awareness Color Chart
Yellow - Bladder cancer
Grey - Brain cancer
Pink - Breast cancer
White - Cervical cancer
Gold - Childhood cancers
Dark blue - Colon cancer
Burgundy & Ivory - Head & Neck cancer
Lavender - Genera cancer
Kelly Green - Kidney cancer
Orange - Leukemia
Lime Green - Lymphoma
Black - Melanoma
Burgundy - Multiple Myeloma
Teal - Ovarian cancer
Purple - Pancreatic cancer
Blue - Prostate cancer
Light Yellow - Sarcoma/Bone


Check out the website http://ropentime.com/default.aspx and read his story and check out the Halters for Healing.

HSUS Ranks States

The HSUS has a new list out. They examined state animal protection laws in 65 potential categories and then ranked the states.

You can read the whole thing here Billings Gazettes HSUS story

Here are a few hilights of this story:

*California recieved top score
*Montana was ranked 35th, and tied with Alaska, Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wyoming
* North Dakota was ranked 47th and tied with Mississippi
*South Dakota was ranked 50th

There categories are something else. Take a moment and read this insane list compiled by the ever crazy HSUS.

Food for Thought

President John F. Kennedy once said, "The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything he buys at retail, sells everything he sells at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways." That's the truth.

When A Cow is More than A Cow

Back in high school I remember preparing a speech with the title 'When A Cow is More Than A Cow'. Even for a ranch/ag kid I can remember being shocked by all the by products that cow from a cow. I remember doing all sorts of research, being excited to present my findings and shocked with all that I didn't know! I mean I was a ranch kid, I knew lots about a cow! I don't remember if I did this for a FFA competition or FCCLA competition, but I remember giving that speech at several different community meetings and at my 4-H meeting. I wish I still had that crumbled old folder that held all that information, but I have moved way too much in my short life to still have that.



So, When is cow more than just a cow, you ask? Well, let me tell you.

A Cow is more when it's a meal:

• Blood Sausage
• Marshmallows
• Candies
• Mayonnaise
• Chewing Gum
• Oleo shortening
• Clarification agent forPaté, juice, wine & beer
• Sausage casings
• Comsommé
• Yogurt
• Cookies
• Head Cheese
• Gelatin in Salads
• Ice Cream
• "Light" Products

A Cow is more when it's in your house:

• Leather is most common by product. Boots, handbags, gloves, luggage, shoes, jackets, belts, and even footballs and baseball gloves are made from leather.
• Bones and hooves are used to make doggie chews or ground to bonemeal for dog biscuits, and other animal feeds.
• Bone china
• Beef tallow is an important ingredient in many products that we use in everyday life. For example, it provides glycerine for lipstick, face and hand creams, toothpaste and cough medicine
• Photographic film manufacturing requires gelatin to fix light sensitive chemicals to the film base
• Plastics
• Deodorants
• A variety of cleaning agents also come from tallow - commercial soaps, industrial cleaners, shampoos, liquid soap and detergent
• Shaving cream
• Textiles
• Free fatty acids derived from tallow are also used in the production of candles, fabric softeners, crayons, paper, phonograph records
• Glue
• Upholstery
• Insecticides
• Violin strings
  
  

A Cow is More when it's at the Pharmacy:

• Insulin
  - treatment of diabetes
• Heparin
  - used in treatment of allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic fever, and respiratory diseases
• Thyrotropin
  - stimulates the thyroid gland
• Parathyroid Hormone
  - used to treat parathyroid deficiencies
• Thrombin
  - promotes coagulation during surgery
• Glucagon
  - treats hypoglycaemia
• Sodium Levathyroxine
  - thyroid replacement therapy
• Trypsin & Chymotripsin
  - cleansing wounds and ulcers
• Deoxyribonuclease
  - acts against devitalized tissue in purulent (discharging pus) states
• Fibrinolysin
  - treatment of blood clots within the cardiovascular system
• Pancreatin
  - treatment of infants with celiac disease (gluten intolerance ) and related pancreatic deficiences
• Thyroid
  - treats myxedema (metabolic disease caused by deficient action of the thyroid gland) in adults and cretinism (deformity and mental retardation caused by thyroid deficency) in children

A Cow is more when it gets you from Point A to Point B:

• Stearic acid, and free fatty acid made from tallow, is an important component in the tire curing process
• Hydraulic brake fluid
• Airplane lubricants and runway foam
• Various machine oils and viscous fluids
• Steel ball bearings containing bone charcoal
• Car polishes and waxes
• Textiles for car upholstery
• Ashphalt
  

A Cow is more when it's used everyday:

• Free fatty acids derived from tallow are also used in the production cement blocks
• Animal Feeds
• Industrial Cleaners
• Lubricants
• Molds for Plastics
• Explosives
• Printing Ink
• Fertilizers
• High Gloss for magazines
• Whitener for paper
  

Unbelievable, isn't it! And all from a cow.

I Heart Beef

Valentines Day is fast approaching! Are you prepared? Valentines Day is not the only thing happening in February. This month is also Heart Health Month and also host to the "I Heart Beef" campaign. So as you are making those Valentines Day plans, don't forget the Beef!

Below are a few fun facts I found:

• In this month of romance, beef is the preferred choice of Americans (62 percent) because nothing says love like a great steak dinner for Valentine’s Day.
• Americans associate steak as a “best match” for love (44 percent), romance (42 percent) and passion (41 percent)—more so than other high-end proteins.
• When it’s time to share that Valentine’s Day meal, beef wins. A ribeye (35 percent) or T-bone steak (32 percent) are chosen as the best meal to share with a significant other.
  Americans most often associate beef with celebrations (50 percent), compared to chicken (18 percent), pork (17 percent) or fish (15 percent).
• Sixty-two percent of Americans say they choose to prepare beef if they are looking for gratitude or appreciation from their dinner partner.
• Fifty-three percent of Americans identify filet mignon as the food most associated with candlelight romance and 50 percent of Americans think filet mignon is the best way to say “I love you.”

The above fun facts were taken from here

Yellow tail smellow tail......

The other day I passed along some information I found about Yellow Tail wine and their campaign 'tails for tails' where they plan on donating $100,000 to the HSUS, and some informative links. I just recently found this video and thought I would pass it along. Troy Hadrick, who made the video, is from South Dakota and you can check out his blog here: Advocates for Agriculture.

We Survived!

We we made it back from South Dakota. The roads weren't pretty but we returned unscathed. A good time was had by all. We took my 86 year old grandpa, whom had a great time once we talked him into riding in a wheel chair. Believe me, that took alot of talking! Ran into old college friends. Friends from where I grew up. Saw lots. Enjoyed a great rodeo. And drank some beer. I believe it was a successful trip!

Black Hills Stock Show....here we come!

We are headed south to the Black Hills Stock Show and rodeo! Whooopwhooop!! I am so excited! I haven't been down there for years. I have plans of meeting up with some old college friends and will definetly unexpectadly run into other people I know. Big D is actually going. Which is shocking! We are taking my grandpa and my friend J and her husband (who is my cousin) are going down too. We will meet the rest of my family down there. My friend 'Chief No Talk' (childhood nickname that stuck) is flying up from Colorado. I. Am. Excited!

There is just one problem with this little plan. Mother Nature. She has taken to snowing and there are weather warnings out for tonight and in the morinng. I so hope the pass.

So, hopefully I will have lots to share from the stock show come next week. Which would be better than me writing about wanting to kick Mother Nature's butt!

Maybe I should send her a bottle of wine? Get in her good graces?

Beef...

Beef...it's what's for dinner at my house! Come across some facts I thought I would share.

*29 cuts of beef meet the government guidelines for lean, with less than 10 grams of total fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per 3-ounce serving.

*More beef is consumed on Memorial Day than any other day of the year. Fourth of July and Labor Day typically tie for the second most popular beef eating days of the year.

*There are over 70 different breeds of beef cattle in the United States today.

*Christopher Columbus brought cattle with him to the Western Hemisphere on his second voyage to the New World in 1493, but Hernando Cortez was the first to bring cattle to North America in 1519.

* Beef accounts for 39% of poundsand 52% of total dollars spent atretail.

* Chicken—the second largest segment ofthe fresh meat case—garners just21% of total meat sales.

* Retail meat sales in 2004 were $26.2 billion,with beef accounting for sales reaching$13.4 billion.

*According to the latest government data, a 3 oz. serving of beef is a good source of 9 essential nutrients. What’s more, the six leanest beef cuts have, on average, just one more gram of saturated fat per 3 oz. serving than chicken’s leanest cut, the skinless chicken breast.

* Nearly nine out of 10 U.S. households (88% ofhouseholds) will eat beef at home in the next two weeks. That’s 251 million people! This base level has remained stable over the past13 years.

*While the U.S. has less than 10 percentof the world’s cattle inventory, it produces nearly 25 percent of theworld’s beef supply.