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 Gene Hall

Those of us interested in preventing cruelty to animals in the Texas livestock industry have watched with interest as the drama in Ohio has played out in recent days. Apparently, an agreement has been struck that may eventually hamstring the livestock industry in

By Mike Barnett
I’m speechless. I watched with revulsion. I’m filled with disgust. It’s animal cruelty at its worst. And it must be stopped.

I’m talking about a disturbing undercover video released by the group Mercy For Animals (MFA) that shows farm workers abusing cows and calves at an Ohio dairy. It shows workers violently punching young calves in the face, body slamming them to the ground, and pulling and throwing them by the ears. It shows workers using pitchforks to stab cows in the face, legs and stomach. It shows workers maliciously beating restrained cows in the face with crowbars. And it gets worse. Be forewarned. The video is very graphic in nature and includes horrible and foul language. But it’s a video I think every livestock producer should watch (you can find it on YouTube).

By Mike Barnett

PETA is blowing smoke again.

Which isn’t unusual, because the radical animal rights group is always up to something. More times than not their caustic cauterwaulings are aimed at animal agriculture.

Such as their latest stunt. After learning that the national railroad Amtrak is conducting tests of a beef tallow-based biofuel on its route from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth, PETA protested. Big surprise. PETA wrote a letter to Amtrak’s CEO Joseph Boardman, offering to wrap the train with an ad touting the environmental benefits of a vegan diet. The ad would read, “Go vegan. Get on track to save the planet! PETA.”

By Mike Barnett

A proposal in the U.S. House would take production agriculture standards out of the hands of professionals and turn them over to bureaucrats. That’s what I find worrisome about new animal welfare legislation by two U.S. representatives from the Left Coast.

HR 4733, The Prevention of Farm Cruelty Act, was introduced earlier this month by Reps. Diane Watson and Elton Gallegly, both from California. If passed, the bill would prohibit the government from purchasing animal products that are not “humanely” produced for school lunch and other federal programs.