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Most of us rant and rave freely to our neighbors and friends about every new political issue facing our lifestyle and culture, quite satisfied to preach to the choir. I propose to enlarge that audience and even encourage opinions contrary to my own. Each topic is a sub-category that will be created with a lead-in opinion. Comment freely.
Though heavily promoted, no one’s yet sold me on the necessity for National ID. Though my brand is only registered in California and may be duplicated in other states, it’s not as if this year’s calves shipped to an Iowa feedlot were without brand inspection papers and Health Certificate, the originals of which are on file in Sacramento. I’ve heard the argument that we need the program because most cattle east of the Mississippi aren’t branded. Frankly, that’s not my problem – and that may be a good place to test the NAIS – but at least give producers the choice to brand their cattle instead.
The recent spinach E-coli outbreak had me wondering if we needed an All-Flex ID button for each leaf, because apparently there weren’t enough plastic bags with enough information available to not kill spinach sales across the USA. I’ve lost count of the Mad Cow incidents over the past three or four years, most all traced back to dairy cows, which have had very little impact on the market for beef. Any argument that the NAIS could better maintain cattle prices by quickly quarantining the target of a terrorist attack or other contagious disease has yet to be proven.
What we do know is that this program is going to cost a lot of money – not just for the ID buttons and high-tech wands that wirelessly read them as they file through every auction ring and loading chute in America, but to administer it. We know how these government bureaucracies work, the offices and enforcement reps they’ll need, the additional paperwork and forms that we will probably have to file with the USDA. Once Washington has that information, I can guarantee that there will be more forms to fill-out, and some with penalties for forgetting or failing to do so. And once included in the USDA databank, this information would be accessible to friend and foe alike under the Freedom of Information Act.
Millions? No, billions of dollars to start and no one seems to care with trillions in Federal deficits. Is the consumer picking-up the tab? I can’t think of a single agricultural commodity where the consumer pays a surcharge for the extra costs that come with increased regulations, accountability and paperwork.
Maybe I’m wrong-headed, but what do we get in return? I plan to contact the feedlot in Remsem to see if the VAC 45 program helped keep our calves from getting sick, to learn what percentage of carcasses graded Choice or Prime, and most importantly, would they buy our calves again? I don’t need the NAIS for that.
As an incentive for voluntary compliance, McDonald’s and Wal-Mart are offering $20 for each head with an NAIS ID button in an ear. However, most of the beef that they might trace would be from cull dairy cows, a good many of which are never branded anyway. With the regime of hormones and antibiotics in a dairy cow’s short life, I don’t blame McDonald’s or Wal-Mart, but I’m not looking to pick a fight with the Dairy Industry either – it just is what it is.
Currently, the NAIS is voluntary and proposed to be mandatory by 2008-2009. According to the latest issue of the Western Livestock Journal, “U.S. Senator Jim Talent, R-MO, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, recently introduced legislation that would prohibit USDA from developing a mandatory National Animal Identification System (NAIS).”
Certain smells won’t wash off.
She’s three, bred at a thousand pounds
to a low birth-weight Angus
and the calf’s breech. One big hoof
swollen – upside down if it’s head first
which it obviously ain’t – protrudes,
but the chute is close-by. A rattley
old Linton too low for today’s cows
to poke their heads through. Just
try to save the heifer. Long pull
with lot’s of stretch – ninety-five
pound black-whiteface bull calf.
Down, a coyote pack
gets her in the night.
I’m so mad. I’m so mad.
I’m mad, I’m mad, I’m mad.
Smoked a half-grown pup
trying to wind me in Section 17.
Too close to focus in the scope,
I squeezed on fuzz. As he folded,
said in my head,
“That’s for Robbie – ”
There is no easy grief
to sort silently into sanity
amidst the primal echoes
of each soliloquy for the dead,
but to hear one’s own voice
in the chorus of hate
becomes alarming.
I undress on the way
to the shower outside
before dusk, lather like
Lady MacBeth and swear
I can hear Eric Clapton
up in the live oaks singing,
I’m so mad. I’m so mad.
I’m mad, I’m Mad, I’m MAD.
Rabbit Flat
September 6, 2006
About 5 days old when this photo was taken, Bob's tail had already healed after a coyote got off with the longer part.
Greasy Creek Corrals
February 9, 2006
MOTH TO FLAME
We will awake to the same sad news
we went to bed with – hundreds of us
knowing: it is no dream.
Easy to be angry at the Great and
lesser gods who have stolen him
away from us and his young family,
to rend our flesh in grief and rage, to
curse the righteousness in each of us
he craved as much as herding flames.
Everywhere you look is something
of him – chrome-plated gate valve
to fill a fire truck, steep hillside pad
for a water tank he chiseled
with pick and shovel for a friend.
You can see him in his son’s eyes,
his daughter’s smile. Always there
to help, we'll shake his hand
in each branding pen as the irons get hot .
for Robbie
Greasy Creek Corrals
Frank Ainley II & Rob Stone
February 9, 2006
Men were directing forest firefighters in Tulare County.
By Tim Bragg / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Thursday, September 7, 2006, 8:33 AM)
MOUNTAIN HOME STATE FOREST — Two men helping direct forest firefighters were killed Wednesday when their plane crashed in the Tulare County mountains near Balch Park.
Killed were Robert Paul Stone, 36, of Visalia, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and his pilot, George "Sandy" Willett, 52, of Hanford.
The crash happened at 10:25 a.m. in steep, rugged terrain above the Mountain Home State Forest conservation camp.
The crash was the first of its kind for the scout plane during its CDF service, a fire official said. Authorities hope an investigation will pinpoint why the aircraft went down.
The plane, one of 15 used by CDF statewide, took off from a fire air attack base in Porterville on Wednesday morning to observe a small wildland blaze burning in the Bear Creek Drainage north of the camp, said Becki Redwine, a CDF/Tulare County Fire Department spokeswoman.
News of the crash left fire crews in shock.
"As you can imagine, it's really hard when it's your own people who are involved," said division chief Pete Marquez. "When something like this happens, it not only affects us in Tulare County, it affects the CDF statewide."
CDF fire stations across the state were ordered Wednesday to fly their flags at half-staff to honor the men.
Stone, an 18-year CDF employee, leaves behind his wife, Mary Marinda "Rindi" Stone, and two children, ages 8 and 4. Willett has been a pilot with DynCorp for four years and is survived by his wife, Judy.
DynCorp is contracted to provide pilots for CDF.
Redwine said she had spoken to Stone recently: "He had been working a lot of fires lately, and he was excited about doing something with his family."
Stone and Willett were flying over one of three small blazes to break out in the area this week, Redwine said. The other fires were believed to be started by people, but the cause of the fire that Stone and Willett were circling remains under investigation, she said.
The crash sparked yet another fire. Redwine said CDF crews were working to contain that blaze.
CDF crews from other parts of the state were brought in to work at the crash scene and to staff Tulare County stations to help local firefighters distraught from the deaths, she said.
Campers reported hearing the plane overhead before a loud crash or an explosion. Curtis Tritch of Bakersfield said he initially thought the plane engine noise was a chain saw.
"I thought someone was sawing a tree down," he said. "You could hear a motor, then a loud crashing sound. I thought it was a tree falling at first."
Tritch said he realized the noise must have been something else when he heard sirens and helicopters a short time later.
Barry Jones of Lemoore, who was also camping in the area, said he and others went to the area of the crash to see if they could help, but it was too late.
He said he saw some firefighters crying.
Redwine said investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified and CDF will launch its own investigation into what caused the crash.
She said the men in the plane didn't radio for help.
The Vietnam-era plane is one of 15 bought by the CDF in the early 1990s, said Rick Moore, a battalion chief. The planes were "zeroed out," or rebuilt to a like-new condition before being put into service, he said.
The plane is a model OV-10A built by North American Rockwell in the 1960s.
Moore, who used to fly in the planes regularly for CDF, said they are generally manned by a pilot and a battalion chief who fly over wildfires to direct ground crews and to marshal helicopters and other aircraft.
Wednesday's crash was the first for the OV-10A model during its CDF service, Moore said.
"In general, they've always been good airplanes," Moore said. "We've logged a lot of flight hours on them."
Moore acknowledged that any kind of flying over forest fires is inherently dangerous, no matter what plane is used. Forest firefighting planes must fly low over challenging territory.
"Those men dedicated their careers to helping fight fires," he said. "They were doing what they loved."
Robbie talking to John
Forks, Lower Field
August 26, 2005
An exercise to familiarize his crew with the roads in the Dry Creek watershed.
Unlike most of us, Rob knew early what he wanted to do with his life. He hung around the Hammond CDF Fire Station in Three Rivers until he was old enough to become a volunteer and then a part-time employee. I remember how the bureaucracy frustrated him so.
Once on the payroll, he availed himself of every class and opportunity to become one of the most qualified CDF employees in the State when he died. But first and foremost, Rob was a hands-on man, able to distinguish the difference between theory and actual practice, insuring that he continue to learn from some of the best firefighters available. Unafraid to buck internal politics, he was known to speak his mind and polished this trait into creative ways to make the CDF more responsive and effective. Beginning at the bottom rung, the ranching community took great pride in Rob’s success, always more secure during fire season knowing that he knew our watersheds intimately.
As a teenager, he started cowboying with Kyle Loveall on the Elliott Ranch, some rough and brushy real estate that spanned the watersheds of Cottonwood Creek, Dry Creek and the North Fork of the Kaweah River. He continued to hone his skills over the years on his days off to become an integral part of the ranching community, especially during branding season. Able to accomplish whatever he put his mind to, Rob consciously directed his career and his life, and could always be depended on to do the right thing. This tragic loss of life and the void it has left in our hearts has been tough for us all to accept.
One of the best, you got the job done, amigo.
After eight and a half miles of rough 4-wheel drive road, an early morning service was held for Rob's ranching community at Brown Flat where Rindy and Rob were married. The primary service in Visalia was attended by an estimated 2,500 people with a procession of CDF fire trucks and mourners that began in Exeter, some 10 miles away.
Perhaps not for the squeamish, this trio rolled out from under a bush in the garden to provide a good hour of educational entertainment while we barbecued for our dove hunting friends.
King Snake, Garter Snake & Tree Frog
Frog Stretchin"
Eye to Eye
Froglegs Appetizer
Loose End
Quick Knot
Good Hold
Last Gasp
Begin at the beginning,
then swallow....
...and swallow...
...until the end.
[Note their size relative to the acorn in the above.]
Spanish Flat - Lower Field
August 31, 2006
While checking the stockwater pond for fresh baby calves, caught this group of hens and poults at water’s edge.
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