Greetings all. I’m coming to you from my kitchen table on a windy Thursday morning here in Missouri. I had plans of getting up and getting a run in, but no way am I braving those 30 mph winds. I have the morning off so I can load a trailer of 5-600 pound calves to take to a sale in Salem. I’ve had these calves weaned since November putting condition on them and waiting for the market to take an upward trend. We normally sell our calves right off of the cow, but changing market conditions have forced us to change our marketing to adapt. Thats ok because I welcome the change.

I tell you about my weaned calves to give you just a short glimpse into the effort I put into our cattle operation. Although it is not my primary source of income to support my family, it is something I rely on and something that I take great pride in. That is why I am so bothered by the Golden Globes deciding to go vegan this year.

Now I could care less about the Golden Globes, or any award show for that matter. Listening to celebrities use their platform to harp about politics is not my idea of must see tv. However, when their incessant propaganda affects my farm and others like mine, I stand up and take notice. They said that the Golden Globes went meatless to help raise awareness of climate change. Well according the the EPA, all of agriculture is only responsible for 9% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Livestock only account for 4.2% of emissions and cattle only being 2%. Comparitively, transportation accounts for 26% of GHG emissions.

So, it could have been argued, that a great way for the Golden Globes to have raised awareness about climate change was to not have taken place at all. The fuel and emissions from all the private jets matched with the electricity for the event, the clothes they wore, and the materials used, that would have had a much greater impact on climate change than simply not serving meat. If they simply would’ve decided to not have the Golden Globes citing reducing their impact on the environment, that would’ve been much more meaningful.

But you see thats the problem. It is so much easier for folks to point a finger at someone else than to actually do something that makes a discernible difference. Animal agriculture provides an easy scapegoat for the elites to point the finger at. Folks in Middle America who’s lives and well being depend on the health and production of these animals are easy targets for Hollywood because they do not understand us. The only saving grace for the Golden Globes was host Ricky Gervais’ monologue calling these elites out telling them they have no business trying to dictate other peoples lives… and Ricky is a vegetarian!!!! Talk about irony!!!

“If you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world.”

Ricky Gervais from his Golden Globes opening monologue

So my call to action to you is not to rely on Hollywood, PETA, or other anti-ag establishments to dictate your feelings about how food is raised. My best advice to you is to go to the source. Find a local farmer and rancher and ask them if you can come and see their operation. Find out how their crops are grown or how their animals are raised. I believe you will be quite refreshed to know that these producers ALWAYS have both the animals and the people who will consume them as a top priority.

Thanks for checking out my blog. Here is a list of some other blogs who provide some excellent content on topics similar.

• Beef Runner– Ryan Goodman. Highlights how beef has helped him become a competitive long distance runner
• Beef Daily– Amanda Radke. Amanda provides excellent insight and opinion on the Beef industry as a whole and its positive affects on the environment and economy.
• New Mexico Milkmaid– A 5th generation dairy farmer who is also an environmental scientist. She started the blog because she realized that so many people have negative conceptions of those involved in agriculture and she wanted to be a conduit to remedy that.
• High Heels and Canola Fields– Lesley Kelly. Leslie is a wife, a mother, blogger, podcaster, and farmer from Saskatchewan. Lesley’s blog exists to help the ag industry create positive change in how we think and act. She was also a guest on Episode 14 of our podcast