No honeymoon for Vilsack

[OldDog/NewTricks]

No honeymoon for Vilsack with animal rights group

By Janie Gabbett on 12/19/2008


President-elect Obama's appointment of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack was met with a round of congratulatory statements from the agricultural community, but at least one animal rights group decided to forgo the honeymoon.

"Vilsack has an uneven track record when it comes to farm animals and fighting factory farming," said Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, a self-described farm animal protection organization, in a statement.

"He has supported some animal protection measures and has at times stood up to Big Ag, yet he has also taken actions that are not in the best interest of farm animals and rural communities," Baur added, noting that during his tenure as governor of Iowa, the state saw a proliferation of massive hog farms.

"This is not a time for us to be complacent, but a time to remind Vilsack that USDA was founded as the people's department, not the factory farmers' department," he added.

 

[MsSage]

Please will someone tell me what a "Factory Farm" is?
Hail I could be working at one and NOT know it....... :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

OK I go back to what I KEEP saying Yall ( me included NOW) Need to inform city people where their food comes from. How it is grown. How well cared the animals are.
With the right wording and lack of education too many people are being lead the wrongway about farming. As I have said in the past if you have the city dwellers behind you and supporting you PETA and animals rights wackos would NOT be able to strong arm legislation through that HARMS farmers and ranchers.
I will not sit quietly on the sidelines, I have not.
Join up with Provider Pals, become a pen pal to a class in the inner city, write letters to major newspapers, get involved in the local Farm Bureau, Breed assoc,and many others.
Stop the seragation of "rancher" , "back 40 farmer" ,"hobby farmer', and "just farmer". All server a purpose and can work together for the greater good of Agriculture. I dont care if you have 10 cows or pigs, 10,000 cows or pigs, hired hand, overseer, owner, or just friend. We all have a stake in the future of farming/ranching we musy work together and have one loud strong voice.

 

[jigs]

in 1986 we farrowed to finished 450 sows, had a 4 1/2 week rotation cycle for the nursery and farrowing houses, and a 9 week finisher rotation. we were some of the big dogs in the industry. by 1998 we were out of the sows buying pigs weaned at 10 days old putting them in hot nurseries, then finishing them. it was a 9 week rotation. in 2000, we were out of the hog deal.

we were sending over 5000 pigs a year to the plant, and we were not big enough for the guys to even care if we sold to them or not. in 86, buyers came out, wined us, dined us, and in 2000, they did not need us.

the average guy was farrowing 10,000 sows and another guy ran the nursery, and another finished them.

the last year we ran hogs, we paid more for a stock trailer load of 10 day old pigs than we got for a semi load of fats.

it all worked out, the neighbor rented the whole thing and converted it to a boar stud.hog semen is a HUGE industry, and he is one of 3 in the nation that is disease free....deliveries to Colorado, both Dakota's Minn, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois ,Nebr, KS, Oklahoma and Missouri 3 times a week. all with his own delivery trucks!! quite the operation!
theier slogan is "we deliver the Male" I thought it should have been "we jerk no swine, before it's time"

 

[mytfarms]

Jeeze, whatcha think feeds this huge nation? Little podunk farms scattered here and there and everywhere? Sure, I might feed 4 or 5 families with my "humanely" raised beef. But how about the rest of the nation? We gotta have someone producing lots and lots of grains and meat. Those humane wackoes give me indigestion. I hate to think about if there will even be an industry for me when I grow up. The likesof PETA would like to do nothing less than turn us all into vegans and shut down the meat animal and dairy industry altogether!!

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

in 1986 we farrowed to finished 450 sows, had a 4 1/2 week rotation cycle for the nursery and farrowing houses, and a 9 week finisher rotation. we were some of the big dogs in the industry. by 1998 we were out of the sows buying pigs weaned at 10 days old putting them in hot nurseries, then finishing them. it was a 9 week rotation. in 2000, we were out of the hog deal.

we were sending over 5000 pigs a year to the plant, and we were not big enough for the guys to even care if we sold to them or not. in 86, buyers came out, wined us, dined us, and in 2000, they did not need us.

the average guy was farrowing 10,000 sows and another guy ran the nursery, and another finished them.

the last year we ran hogs, we paid more for a stock trailer load of 10 day old pigs than we got for a semi load of fats.

it all worked out, the neighbor rented the whole thing and converted it to a boar stud.hog semen is a HUGE industry, and he is one of 3 in the nation that is disease free....deliveries to Colorado, both Dakota's Minn, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois ,Nebr, KS, Oklahoma and Missouri 3 times a week. all with his own delivery trucks!! quite the operation!
theier slogan is "we deliver the Male" I thought it should have been "we jerk no swine, before it's time"

Jiggsy, Jiggsy, Jiggsy I bet lady that screens Provider Pal candidates wouldn't know where to send you. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Sundancer]

A little background....Vilsack is a lawyer from Pennsylvania. Married a Iowa girl and that is how we inherited him. I'm not sure how much he knows about the agriculture industry.....I don't think he has ever had too much manure on his boots. Just because one is a former governor of Iowa does not mean that one is a good candidate for US Sec. of Agriculture. :shock: