By Gene Hall

My goodness, have we reached the point where disagreeing on something makes us “haters?” Gee, I hope not.  Recently, here on Texas Agriculture Talks, we pointed out some problems with recent ads by the chain restaurant Chipotle in what are plainly attacks on modern agriculture. Other Farm Bureau writers around the country posted similar views. 

Chipotle’s ad was cute and engaging—cartoon pigs, cartoon farmer and a lovely Willie Nelson rendition of the Coldplay tune, The Scientist, Back to the Start. A colleague of mine says there’s no black or white on this. It’s either an attack on conventional agriculture that justifies a response or it’s gospel truth and any response is the start of the attack. 

By Mike Barnett

You might be a redneck if your dinner ever mooed, oinked or clucked. That’s a new twist as animal activists continue to use cruelty in animals in Texas and other states as a reason for you to quit eating meat.

I never heard Jeff Foxworthy use that line. But it’s a sentiment expressed by Bryan Monell, an activist who has frequently obtained illicit employment at farms and research facilities in order to obtain undercover video footage. He mocked the work of both farmers and researchers, as reported by the Animal Agriculture Alliance, a non-profit group who communicates the important role livestock agriculture plays in our nation’s economy.

By Mike Barnett

Nature has a way of teaching lessons. If only we will listen.

I was visiting a friend in Austin this weekend, taking a dip in the pool, when we noticed a flurry of activity in the branches of one of the many live oaks dotting the landscape. Close inspection revealed two green heron chicks, big, fluffy, agile puffballs that could scurry the branches close to the nest, but were not yet ready to fly.

The not-so-tiny birds were obviously upset, crying out over and over again with a sound only described as a hiss, kuck, kuck…  Wings flapping, extreme agitation…  Hiss, kuck, kuck… Over and over again.

By Mike Barnett

Whew, I’m glad my kids are grown. Especially since USDA has estimated that it will cost $222,360–$286,050 if inflation is factored in—to feed, shelter and provide other necessities for a child born in 2009 to age 18.

That puts on the onus on my two daughters, who each have two children of their own. And although my grandchildren weren’t born last year, the USDA report estimated child rearing expenses at $11,650 to $13,530 per child per year. It adds up in a hurry.

By Gene Hall
It is a lifelong habit of mine to check the comic page of the local newspaper. I no longer read them all, but I look for a few of my favorites. Imagine my surprise when, on April 17, I saw a large cartoon picture of a dairy cow on the Beakman-Jax science page near the comics. Initially impressed that agriculture was getting some attention, I read it with growing disgust.