United we Stand ~ Divided we Fall

The past two weeks we have talked quite excessively on my face book page about the connection with the Organization of Competitive Markets, the Humane Society of the United States and the Beef Check Off. The original article that started the conversation can be found here.http://brianallmerradionetwork.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/08-10-12-hsus-ocm-form-alliance-to-destroy-beef-checkoff/

I try hard to understand it all, why do folks do what they do, why do they support the things they do, and why do they have so much energy in their beliefs?  On this particular story it seems like everyone had an opinion. I appreciate everyone’s opinion, I respect them I try to understand but sometimes I just don’t get it. A comment struck me that made me realize we in agriculture have a problem- a problem that I believe until we can find some sort of common ground we will never gain ground.  The post went like this:

Face book Followers Thoughts:

Another question is "What is the NCBA thinking getting in bed with the pork and poultry industry?" Cattlemen have nothing to worry about with the HSUS. Beef production practices are not only acceptable to almost every American, but also the American rancher is seen in a totally different light than the hoghouse janitors now taking care of (kind of) pigs and chickens. Thank God 5000 cows can't be put in confinement! Thank God for the independent Americans raising beef. Dad used to say "careful who you associate with, because you are, who your friends are". Stay the hell away from those with a bad reputation, the vertically integrated pork and poultry industries.

My Response:

thanks for chiming in ~ I believe that we are American Agriculture and no matter what we raise whether it be poultry, hogs, beef, sheep , horses etc - we are ONE in the eyes of our customers - we are the other side - the side producing their food ~ I believe we need to support each other , be on the same team- will that ever happen ,in a perfect world yes but we know that we don’t live in a perfect world so we certainly need to strive for that , we all need to work together if we ever expect to make any headway - as far as the beef industry not having to worry about HSUS - I disagree - HSUS major goal is to end ALL animal agriculture and beef is a piece of that - Again - my face book page is a place to share my thoughts wrong or right and a place for folks like yourself to share theirs - I respect everyone’s opinions and try very hard to understand and find balance in everything however I feel very very strongly that we need to support our industry as a whole because that is exactly what HSUS and anti ag groups want - for us to be divided and when we divide we are not as strong and they can squeak in and work on their agenda

A pig is a cow is a chicken is a horse is a goat is a lamb = we are American agriculture and if we cannot get along within our own world how in the heck can we expect those off the farm to ever understand us or support us. 

I am committed to speaking out for my very large farm family – no matter what avenue they wish to take in agriculture I will be there to support them!

We are agriculture and we need to stick together!!