Dear Farmer,

As a loyal customer, I am grateful for you and the other Texas farmers and ranchers who grow the fruits, vegetables, meat and other products that I buy and serve to my family. Each week, I know the shelves at my local grocery store will be stocked with a large variety of products with plenty of price, flavor and nutrition choices.

By Mike Barnett

I hope 2010 was a year to suit you. Here are my fearless ag predictions for 2011.

January 2011: In late 2010, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) lauded Bill Clinton as Person for the Year in honor of his newfound vegan diet. PETA revokes title as the former president is discovered in a compromising position with a cheeseburger.

February 2011: Global warming officially declared dead after mini-Ice Age continues to grip East Coast.

March 2011: Mass defection to meat markets as vegans discover there’s a little bit of bovine in most everything.

By Gene Hall

Okay, all of you get it by now. I’m not in favor of the cap and trade climate legislation that passed the U.S. House and stalled in the Senate, despite enthusiastic support from the Obama Administration. Please let it stall forever. This is more than opposition to a minor inconvenience. This thing, folks, is a pending disaster. Wall Street loves it because it would give them a new market to manipulate, but our current economic situation is no time to impose the largest tax increase in the history of the planet. But while they happily trade carbon credits, the rest of us—including Texas consumers and Texas farmers and ranchers, are going to suffer.

Cold temperatures have gripped much of the Lone Star State this past week and in fact, much of the nation. A low of 8 degrees was recorded in Waco Saturday morning, where temperatures were below freezing for three days. The jury is still out on the hard freeze effects on sugar cane and citrus in the Rio Grande Valley. Miami, Florida suffered a freeze; Tampa, Florida had ice. A cold front that paralyzed this nation swept all the way through Cuba.
 
My niece in Nebraska reported the snow plows had quit running when temperatures plummeted with wind chill temps at -45 degrees. A friend in New Jersey is considering hibernation. Another friend in Iowa mentioned moving back to Texas where it is warm. I told him never mind. I reverse migrated and flew to Seattle, Washington this week, where it was a balmy 50 degrees, to miss the vicious chill in the Lone Star State.

By Mike Barnett

I guess cow burps are big news. I’m seeing a lot more internet, newspaper and television coverage about gassy cows causing global warming.

Before we get started, let’s get a couple of things straight. Just as men sweat and women glisten, bulls burp, cows eruct. Just thought you ought to know the polite terms.

Even ex-Beatle Paul McCartney is moooooving in on the bovine debate, calling for “meatless Mondays” and for governments worldwide “to adjust their agriculture, development, environment and public health policies to reflect the role of livestock production in climate change.”