In a normal year the Flint Hills of Kansas receive 36 inches of rain. Steve Anderson holds a nine-foot-tall blade of grass that he has mounted on to a stick.
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When the Kansas Livestock Association partnered up with the Sierra Club to pass Land Trust and Conservation easement legislation here in Kansas, the NCBA didn’t paw the dirt and bellow in indignation. In fact I’m betting the cow-tax paid for the free BBQ at the KLA meeting that summer with all those Sierra Club flags flying and nattily dressed dudes in attendance.
Why don’t the NCBA want an honest audit of the cow-tax dollars and Wow they’re spent? We all learned when Eastern Livestock stuck hundreds of cattlemen in 30 states with millions in fraud, that Government oversight ain’t worth hen squat. No honest organization objects to a fair annual audit.
If Alexander is correct, 75% of producers support the cow-tax, then why does the NCBA so vehemently oppose letting us hold an honest vote every 5 years? Democracy or Plutocracy?
If we’re all in this together, why did the NCBA take Canada’s side on the COOL trade dispute? To me, COOL is more than a label, it’s a property right. Born, raised and slaughtered in the U.S. and proud enough to darn sure label it that way.
GIPSA clearly proved the only bunch NCBA is willing to sit around a campfire with are the packers.
Twenty-five years of cow-tax and over 10,000 cattlemen gone broke isn’t exactly a record to brag about.
I can well remember when our own Pat Goggins teamed up with Callicrate and a few honest men to sue a packer. A good jury awarded U.S. cattlemen over a billion dollars. When a black robed clown threw out the verdict, we all know which cattle group snickered up their sleeves.
Negotiating with wolves, either 4 or 2 legged is a useless gesture as proven again and again. I learned all about negotiations in Miami at the 2003 Free Trade Summit. A cowgirl from Kalispell, MT and I were the only ranchers on our side of the police lines, along with 25,000 working class and retirees. All the other cowboys were on the elite protected side with the elite, transferring jobs out of the U.S. Us protestors got tear gassed, some beat bloody and many arrested. The other cowboys got free steaks and whiskey. We went home with our pride and integrity intact. They went home with a bag of empty promises.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. – Frederick Douglas
So get ’em Mike and O.C.M.; the chickenization of cattle country is knocking at our door.
Stephen Anderson
27610 Poor Farm Road
Alma, Kansas 66401
