The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), a self-declared "sophisticated political organization," submitted a petition to Ohio’s Attorney General this week in support of placing an "anti-cruelty" measure on the statewide November ballot. The proposed measure would allow voters to require the newly created Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to adopt standards that will effectively end livestock production in Ohio by making it economically unfeasible to feed chickens, hogs, or veal calves in the state.

Utilizing a large corps of paid petition circulators, the group will seek to collect more than 600,000 signatures of registered Ohio voters upon approval of the petition forms by the Secretary of State. In doing so, they will attempt to circumvent the will of the Ohio voters in passing the measure to create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board last November.

The Annual Convention of the Cattle Industry is less than six weeks away, and my anticipation is building for what is annually one of my favorite events in agriculture.  Featuring the annual meetings of the major stakeholder organizations in the cattle and beef business, NCBA, the Cattlemen's Beef Board, the American National Cattlewomen, and CattleFax, this gathering of farmers and ranchers is THE event of the year in our business.  This year's gathering is especially exciting for me, as my first Cattle Industry Convention was in San Antonio, Texas over a decade ago.  As a young member of the National Beef Ambassador team, I took part in a number of sessions and activities on behalf of ANCW.  It was a truly memorable experience, and set in my heart a love for the city, and for the event.

I started covering the Convention several years ago as a farm broadcast journalist, and have attended industry gatherings in places like Phoenix, Nashville, and Reno.  Each Convention, and each host city, has a little different flavor, a distinct theme that sets one apart from the next.  As with all gatherings in the farm and ranch family, the best part of the meetings is seeing old friends and forging new relationships.  Traveling alongside cattlemen from my own state allows us to bring home shared memories and stories of our experiences, and enjoying the fellowship and insight of colleagues from other parts of the world gives me additional food for thought on how to improve my own cattle business.

Another part of the distinct More...

There are two groups we get placed into based on how we approach life.  We either approach situations with "black & white" decisions or our decision making process is a little more blended; the resulting color is "gray".  What happens if our decisions are black & white sometimes and gray other times?  Does this mean we are lost or does it mean we created a "charcoal" group?

 Recently I've spent a lot of time doing that thinking thing again.  Reflection is something that can be very difficult to engage in.  I don't blame anyone that chooses not to reflect back on experiences in their life or conversations they have had.  It can be one of the most emotionally challenging experiences we may have.  That emotion business can be a dangerous territory to enter into!  For some reason I choose to attempt to reflect on my experiences.  I keep telling myself the big guy above must keep giving me experiences for a reason and I better listen if he's talking.  Recently this reflection has been centered on a man very dear to my life More...

In less that a week Ohio voters will cast their ballots on Issue 2 (not to be confused with California’s Proposition 2), which would create a statewide body to prescribe standards for animal care and well-being with the following makeup: