Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/357128
TrentLoosisa6thgen- eration rancher that trav- els the country to promote the people in agriculture through his public speak- ing and radio programs. He writes columns for several publications and his work may be found at www.LoosTales.com. "Eat a ribeye and im- prove planet health" or "Cattle are the solution, not the problem" I found on loostales.blogspot. com/2014/07. This is in re- sponse to last week's big headlines in the media about beef and greenhouse gases. "Attacking the cow as the primary contributor to climate change is just an- other way to divert atten- tion from the real prob- lem. Ruminant grazing animals actually improve planet health by consum- ing cellulose material which improves the plant's absorption of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and reduces fuel for wild fires. "The number of wild fires in the western half of the United States has been trending upward sig- nificantly since 2000, par- alleling the reduction of grazing animals in that area. Uncle Sam, the na- tion's largest land owner with 33% of the total land mass is only grazing ani- mals at 20% of the capac- ity, creating the perfect scenario for more extreme fires. "Scientific estimates suggest that wild fires ac- count for 6% of the GHGs produced in the U.S. Scien- tists have long labored to quantitatively assess the effect of wildfire soot par- ticles on climate change, with wildfires responsible for 34% of the global soot mass in the atmosphere. "Grazing animals pre- vent hotter fires thereby reducing soot, pollutants and GHGs. "Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, found that grassland pro- duced more nitrous ox- ide during the spring thaw when sheep or cattle had not been grazing. This is because greenhouse gas is released by microbes in the soil. When the grass is long snow settles to keep the microbes warm and provide water. When the grass is cut short by ani- mals, the ground freezes and the microbes die. "Dr. Frank Mitloehner is the global expert on green- house gas emissions. He tells us that in the United States, 6% of all GHGs are emitted from agriculture. Of that, 3.4% are from livestock agriculture while it is believed that roughly 1.4 % is from beef produc- tion. Mitloehner has made the case that if Meatless Monday were to be man- dated for all 314 million Americans, the reduction of GHGs would be only 0.2%. "The Mas Planck Insti- tute for Chemistry and the Ruprecht-Karls Univer- sity of Heidelberg discov- ered that methane is pro- duced by growing plants and the greenhouse ef- fect of methane is 25 times greater than that of car- bon dioxide. "Rice production ac- counts for around 20% of human — related methane emissions and food waste contributes one-third of a GHGs in the nation. "Within the United States, the building sec- tor accounts for approx- imately 48% of annual GHG emissions, with 36% of the direct energy re- lated GHG emissions and an additional 8-12% of to- tal GHG emissions related to the production of mate- rials used in building con- struction. "So in conclusion while cows do indeed produce a moderate level of GHGs, let's not forget that all liv- ing things do. If you are not producing GHGs you are not living and for all of us to live better, we need proper management of all our resources and not a target on cattle as the sole source of the problem when they indeed may be the solution." BattleMountain Northeastern Nevada ranchers hit with graz- ing closures — July 24 by Dylan Woolf Harris, Elko Daily Free Press BATTLE MOUNTAIN Once again ranchers who run cattle on the Argenta Al- lotment in Lander County were told Wednesday that due to drought a number of areas would be closed to livestock. Pete and Lynn Tomera were told by the Bureau of Land Management they had a week to remove cat- tle from nine segments of the allotment — Mill Creek, North Fork, Indian Creek, Trout Creek, San- sinena, Slaven, Maysville North, Maysville South and Corral Canyon use ar- eas — because those areas had exceeded drought re- sponse triggers. In an email sent to a number of ranch ad- vocates, including Elko County Commission Grant Gerber and former as- semblyman John Car- penter, the Tomeras said they were contacted Tues- day and handed a packet of monitoring data that prompted the decision. "We have 7 days to ride the entire mountain and have the cattle off. We are right in the middle of haying and are forced to drop everything and be- gin gathering cattle," the Tomeras wrote. "We are forced to put the cattle in areas that have much less forage than the mountain where they are now. Much of their monitoring re- flects only a small portion of the area yet this is what they use to determine the health of the entire area." The Tomeras, who had hired a range consultant for monitoring, disputed the need to remove cattle. The entire allotment, he noted, is about 56 percent privately owned. "I never dreamed we could have so much trou- ble," Pete Tomera told the Free Press. "I've had countless other ranchers say 'I wish I had feed like that' or 'I wish I had water like that.'" Rudy Evenson, BLM state office deputy chief of communications, said the permittees and the agency had previously entered into an agreement that cattle would be moved once the forage fell below an agreed upon threshold. Of the 20 areas in the Argenta Allotment, Even- son added, 11 have not been closed. "The ranchers on their general allotments are not being asked to do some- thing different," he said. Ranchers are routinely asked, he explained, to ac- tively manage their herds and move the cattle from one area that has been grazed to another pasture. Evenson said the letters that informed ranchers of the closures were reviewed and approved by the state and federal BLM offices. According to the Tomeras, their range con- sultant was denied access to the agency's monitoring data. The ranchers also worry that the decision to close nine areas of the al- lotment would in effect close many more because of a lack of fencing. Their livelihood is in jeopardy, they've argued. "It's sad that this is what we're dealing with," said Shawn Mariluch, who also runs cattle on areas of the allotment. In May, the BLM first informed permittees graz- ing closures would be in effect on the Argenta Al- lotment. Gerber that month spearheaded a protest, dubbed "the Grass March," in which he and other horse riders carried from Elko to Carson City peti- tions calling for the ouster of BLM Battle Mountain District Manager Doug Furtado. Ranchers also offered tours of the range to show- case the plants. As the movement gained widespread atten- tion, an agreement was reached and the ranchers were told they could turn out their cattle. The county commis- sioner traveled to Wash- ington, D.C., on Wednes- day. He is slated to testify 11 a.m. today at a Con- gressional sub-commit- tee hearing on public land and environmental regu- lations. The topic of the meeting is "Threats, intimidation and bullying by federal managing agencies." "It's bad and getting worse," Gerber said. "It's a terrible thing." JeanBartonhasbeen writing her column in the Daily News since the early 1990s. She can be reached by e-mail at jbarton2013@ gmail.com. JEAN BARTON Response to claims about cattle and greenhouse gases COURTESYPHOTO Angus cattle grazing at Bidwell Ranch, Hat Creek. Almond growers with orchard blocks that suffer loss or damage in excess of 15 percent as a result of a natural disaster, such as a drought, are eligible for fi- nancial assistance under the 2014 Farm Bill Tree Assistance Program (TAP). Nursery trees are also eli- gible. The 2014 Farm Bill makes TAP a permanent disaster program and pro- vides retroactive author- ity to cover eligible losses back to Oct. 1, 2011. TAP is administered by the Farm Service Agency of USDA. To be eligible, the loss could not have been pre- vented through reason- able and available mea- sures and must be visible and obvious to the FSA representative. To qual- ify, orchardists and nurs- ery tree growers must have owned the eligible trees when the natural disas- ter occurred, but are not required to own the land on which eligible trees are planted. Trees must be re- placed within 12 months from the date the applica- tion is approved. A fact sheet is available to explain additional re- quirements and limita- tions, and how to apply for TAP financial assistance. ALMONDS Program covers drought-damaged orchards By Mary-Clare Jalonick Associated Press WASHINGTON The Obama administration is moving to cut down on the thou- sands of foodborne ill- nesses linked to chicken and turkey each year with an overhaul of poultry plant inspection rules that are more than 50 years old. Final rules announced Thursday would reduce the number of govern- ment poultry inspec- tors. But those who re- main will focus more on food safety than on qual- ity, requiring them to pull more birds off the line for closer inspections and en- couraging more testing for pathogens. More inspec- tors would check the facil- ities to make sure they are clean. The Agriculture De- partment says the change could cut down on 5,000 foodborne illnesses annu- ally. The changes would be voluntary, but many of the country's largest poultry companies are expected to opt in. The chicken and turkey industries swiftly praised the new rules, say- ing they would modernize their businesses. Federal law requires that government inspec- tors be present in poul- try processing plants. Right now, many USDA inspectors stand in one place on the production line and check for visual defects. This doesn't do much to ensure the birds are safe to eat, since common poultry patho- gens like salmonella and campylobacter are invis- ible. The new rules would better train inspectors to find hazards in the plant and would require all com- panies — whether they opt in or not — to do additional testing for pathogens. Agriculture Secre- tary Tom Vilsack said the changes take into account current science, updating the inspection system from 1950s thinking that visual defects meant safety prob- lems. "This is a significant opportunity to bring the inspection system into the 21st century," he said. USDA originally pro- posed the rule in January 2012, saying the reduction in inspectors would save companies and taxpay- ers money while also de- creasing pathogens in the food supply. Consumer groups have said an over- haul is necessary but criti- cized the proposal, saying it would shift too much of the inspection burden to the industry. Those same groups ex- pressed disappointment with the final rule, saying the decreased overall num- ber of inspectors could en- danger consumer health. Wenonah Hauter of the advocacy group Food and Water Watch called it a "gift from the Obama ad- ministration to the indus- try" while Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Inter- est said USDA "missed the boat" on designing a new system and put budget sav- ings ahead of food safety. The final rule aban- dons a controversial part of the original proposal that would have allowed companies to increase the speeds of processing lines in chicken plants. USDA said that increasing line speeds wouldn't affect food safety, but consumer groups argued it could make it harder to detect obvious contamination and harm worker safety. USDA said the number of inspectors at poultry plants could be reduced by around a fourth if all com- panies opted into the pro- posal. Some companies — especially smaller ones — may not choose the new system, however, mean- ing more inspectors would stay in their jobs. USDA said the reductions would mostly come through at- trition. USDA 50-year-old poultry inspections overhauled Associated Press BERLIN Thousands of people are trekking to a Bavarian farmer's field to check out a mysterious set of crop circles. The or- nate design was discov- ered by a balloonist last week and news of the find quickly spread online. Farmer Christoph Huttner, who owns the wheat field near Weil- heim, couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday but told the dpa news agency Tuesday he didn't create the circle himself. He suggests students on summer holiday may have cut the image with a 75-meter diameter (246 feet) into his field. The news agency says thousands of visitors have come to sing, dance and even swing pendu- lums in the giant image. Huttner says he's not yet sure whether he will leave the circle in his field. MYSTERY Crop circles in Germany attract visitors Deli-TastyBurgers-Wraps NewTo-GoSection Thursday,Friday&Saturday Lunch&DinnerBuffet Happy Hour with Cocktails, Food & Entertainment Saigon Bistro 723 Walnut St. Red Bluff 528-9670 STOVEJUNCTION The TheNorthState'spremiersupplierofstoves 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Over 25 years of experience Tues-Sat9am-5pm• ClosedSun&Mon Now Carrying! 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