My quote for the day

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner. Liberty is a well armed lamb.
-Benjamin Franklin

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. A term that can sound trite or sincere, depending on how it is said. What is Thanksgiving about? Simple. It is about giving thanks to God for all of our blessings and, yes, our trials. The Bible says to be thankful in all things and that's what this day is about. What are you thankful for? I am thankful for the fact that I have a roof over my head as I write this, that I have a computer to write it on, that I have a family to share it with, that I have such wonderful friends and many many other things. When I count my blessings I realize that things aren't nearly as bad as I might think they are. I am especially thankful that I live in the United States of America, the most powerful, most wonderful nation on earth. I am thankful that I live in the Northwest, in the middle of cattle country. I hope you have as many things as I do to be thankful. God bless and Happy Thanksgiving from the bottom of my heart.

Have a nice Day!

Luke

Animal Rights?

“Animal welfare theories accept that animals have interests but allow these interests to be traded away as long as there are some human benefits that are thought to justify that sacrifice.
Animal rights means that animals, like humans, have interests that cannot be sacrificed or traded away just because it might benefit others. However, the rights position does not hold that rights are absolute; an animal’s rights, just like those of humans, must be limited, and rights can certainly conflict. Animal rights means that animals are not ours to use for food, clothing, entertainment, or experimentation. Animal welfare allows these uses as long as "humane" guidelines are followed.”

-www.peta.org/about/faq/What-is-the-difference-between-animal-rights-and-animal-welfare.aspx

As you can see here, PETA believes that animals have rights just like us and thus are not ours to use for food, clothing, etc. However, if you use a little logic you can see that the claim that animals have rights is nearly ludicrous. The logic is slightly different depending on your worldview. As there are essentially only two worldview types, I will give two sets of logic.

Before I begin, however, I think we need to define cruelty.

Cruelty: “Barbarous deed; any act of a human being which inflicts unnecessary pain; any act intended to torment, vex or afflict, or which actually torments or afflicts, without necessity; wrong; injustice; oppression.”

(American Dictionary of the English Language by Noah Webster. 1828)

Ranchers, feedlots, and slaughterhouses are always improving their animal handling techniques to minimize or eliminate animal suffering and are therefore not cruel. We do not want our animals to suffer.

Now, back to my response to PETA’s claim of animal rights:

The first argument assumes that you believe (as I do) that God created the earth and everything in it, including animals and us. He told Adam “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”(Genesis 1:28) This passage shows that animals are ours to use. Does that mean we can do whatever we want to them? That cruelty is acceptable? NO! We must be good stewards of the land and the animals. When God created the earth everything, including tigers, wolves, sharks and us, was vegetarian. Then man sinned and was banished from the Garden of Eden. Since then, animals have eaten other animals and humans have eaten animals and used them for labor and companions.

The second argument assumes that you believe (as does a large portion of the population) that the earth, and everything in it, evolved over the course of billions of years. If this is what you believe then the logic is quite simple. According to this theory, humans are just animals, very advanced animals to be sure, but animals nonetheless. If so then it is OK for us to eat other animals because we are just predators. A key part of the evolution theory is the rule “survival of the fittest” and we are the fittest. Still not convinced? Then why doesn’t PETA stand up for the rights of a rabbit that is running for its life from a coyote and capture the coyote to “rehabilitate” him into a vegan? Because coyotes are predators and PETA understands that predators can’t survive on vegetables.

In conclusion, it doesn’t matter what you believe put us here, animals are an important food source for us and for other animals. PETA’s stance on animal rights is hypocritical and I hope they realize that someday. If you think eating animals is cruel because of the practices involved, feel free to make your voice heard to help correct the perceived problems. But the argument that animals have rights does not have substance unless you are putting coyotes on trial alongside humans for murdering rabbits. You have to be consistent in supporting your worldview. PETA is not.

Have a nice day!

Luke

Welcome to AgZINE!

Greetings family, friends, neighbors and strangers alike!

Many of you know me quite well but for those who do not, allow me to introduce myself and what I do.

My name is Luke Coomer. I live on a small ranch a few miles outside beautiful Baker City Oregon with my parents and two brothers. We raise commercial and registered cattle for a variety of markets from grass fed beef to herd bulls with a large portion of sales being show steers for local youth to take to the county fair. I have been interested in agriculture as long as I can remember and have helped out on the ranch my whole life. I am passionate about the agricultural way of life and all it has to offer. I show cattle and have my own (tiny) breeding herd and have friends among many of the farmers and ranchers in the Baker Valley. This blog is part of my FFA Ag SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience). I decided to have an Agricultural Communications SAE because of my desire to correct the misinformation being spread about Ag by people who, in general, know nothing about it. Approximately one year ago, I joined the Baker FFA Chapter and dove in headfirst. I was a member of many of the chapter’s competitive teams and had a blast! I was on the Parliamentary Procedure, Ag Sales and Service, Horse Judging, Livestock Judging, and Ag Issues teams. The Ag Issues team was extremely interesting to me as it ties in with my career choice very well. In Ag Issues, we have a team of seven members who prepare a presentation about an issue facing agriculture today and then give it to several groups around the community before competing at the state level. My responsibility on the team was to write the script for our presentation (it will be included on this blog). Our presentation was entitled “A Tale of Two PETAs”. The two PETAs are People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and People Eating Tasty Animals (which is actually a website that is the subject of one of the longest domain fights in internet history). The presentation explores the claims of both sides of the animal welfare debate as well as some of the assumed health concerns associated with eating meat.

My purpose in having this blog is to form a bridge between ag and non-ag, as well as between different sectors of the ag industry. I will be updating this blog weekly with a comment on some issue and I will post full articles as I write them. This introductory letter will also be revised occasionally, so check back often! If you have questions or suggestions for AgZINE feel free to send them to luke.agzine.coomer@gmail.com. I am always happy to listen to input from you, my readers.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoy reading and learning!

Sincerely,

Luke RW Coomer

Luke Coomer, Owner, AgZINE Communications