Yellowtail is back in fridge!.....following withdraw from HSUS support:)

Well Christmas is over and a new year is about to be among us.  I find it so interesting that all the work and stress and running around and last minute shopping is all over in a matter of hours.  The family time is well worth it as well as the delicious food but I am coming to realize that perhaps I should not worry so much about the little details because I'm pretty sure no one will even notice.  Next year I'm thinking it would be fun to make home made gifts for everyone.  This year my husband and I made homemade boot racks for my sisters and they were a hit!

Now on to the important issues.  I get so annoyed with the commercials for support of HSUS and as i was going through the archives of one of my favorite beef blogs: Beef Daily Blog I was so happy to see that Pilot and yellowtail have withdrawn from supporting HSUS after realizing their true antics.  I had stopped drinking yellowtail wine for the mere fact that they supported HSUS and they have delicious moscato so now I will go back to enjoying it.  Nice work Pilot and Yellowtail!

The Beef Daily Blog also posted many of the companies that support HSUS and if at all possible you should avoid!  I was very surprised and not at the same time to see Bank of America because they do a ton of business with the livestock industry and we in the livestock industry all know the truth behind HSUS.  It was also sad to see that Microsoft supports them.   If they only knew the truth!  Find the list here: HSUS list of supporters.

Just for fun I'm going to now share with you some of my favorite gifts received this Christmas!

My new purse from Southern Jewlz.  If you have never visited this site it is a MUST!! You will be addicted!

Christmas Gift Ideas.....Give Beef!!!

Christmas is just around the corner and there is still a little time left to order gifts and go out and make those purchases.  While their are many different ideas for christmas gifts one of my favorites that i purchased this year was an Omaha Steak package that I took to a christmas gift exchange. 

Omaha Steaks has a ton of options for gift ideas from steak to chicken or pork and even side dishes and desserts.   They always have a deal of the day which is a great value.  I got the bacon wrapped filets and they were an absolute hit!

This season think outside the box and support your livestock producers and #GiveBeef!!!!!!

The advantages that FFA and 4H give youth

Tuesday I joined in on #agchat twitter discussion that is held every Tuesday. It was about the involvement of youth in the agriculture industry. It is very interesting seeing the point of view from people all over the country. But most everyone had the same thoughts.......youth involvement is CRITICAL!!!!!

One of the questions was "do you think being involved in 4H and FFA gives youth an advantage for their future?". Having been involved in FFA I can easily say yes to that question. FFA shows you so much responsibility and shares a wealth of knowledge you won't learn in any other high school course. I feel employers do find it impressive to see when these youth receive their state and American degrees. It shows that they know the meaning of hard work, dedication, and responsibility.

It is frustrating to see that with so many states cutting funding to the schools and education many of the VoAg classes are being cut as well. This is very sad and we should do our part to keep the administration informed of how important this course is. So to all you parents out there encourage your children to take this course and if you are a student try the course and you will not be disappointed!!!

Well that's my thoughts for the night. Be sure to joint the #agchat discussions on Tuesday nights! If you have a twitter account add them @agchat. I'm off to ice my foot....fell in a hole and did something to it. No bueno!!

Child Labor Law changes will not benefit farmers!

If any of you have been following the changes that are attempting to be made to the child labor law you probably already know that they are not in favor of farmers at all.  Currently farmers are the exception to the rule in the current law; for many obvious reasons.  Now I realize that the law has not been updated in quite some time and perhaps some things should be updated but not to the extremes that they are requesting. 

This is very frustrating for me because growing up on a farm it showed me an extreme amount of responsibility.  At a young age you are expected to help out and pull your weight.  My parents did an excellent job at keeping us safe around equipment and animals and making us aware of dangers. 

With the new law it would almost abolish 4-H.  If you are under 18 you are not allowed to help with any acts of animal husbandry.  Herding animals, branding, breeding, treating of animals is all prohibited.  Another rule would require everyone under the age of 16 to take a 90 hour course to be able to run any type of equipment that can only be taken at a vocational or secondary school.  This is an interesting rule because with funding at many state levels being cut many schools are having to cut Vo-Ag which would be providing the class.  It is going to be a utter burden for most if not all farming families.

With all this being said it is very important for all of us to voice our opinions.  Many people think that their opinion doesn't matter or that it doesn't really make a difference.  That is completely not true.  Most of the people making these rules for the law I'm sure are not from a farm or have no idea what the day to day activities are that make up a day on a farm.  We need to let them know!  Speak out!  Every opinion counts!