I Was Offered A New Job Hauling Livestock In The Rockies

I think the black eye that the beef industry has is from the horrible treatment of the dairy cows...and it IS horrible. I was raised on a dairy, and when we ran CA, I was so shocked at the conditions at those dairies...You can smel them 10 miles away..LITERALLY !! And everytime I see that commercial about the happy CA cows, I about gag....I have milk cows now...they have pasture, fresh water, and a nice cozy stall to get into. They give me milk in return for the life I give them. But if I don't feed them, they don't give me milk !! So I know my job and they know theirs. They like to be scratched, and brought goodies, like sweet taters (cooked), or a piece of bread (Sadie's favorite). Maude likes lettuce, but won't touch the peelings from a cucumber...go figure. They have their own personalities, and I enjoy that..

Daniel, I totally dig where you're comin from on that. Oh, and you weren't around for the late 70's and early 80's but I was in elementary school and we used to have to do "bomb drills" where we would line up in the school hallway, kneel down, put our head on our knees, and hope to God this drill would never be for a real attack. We were preparing ourselves in case of a nuclear attack from Russia. That's no joke. Well luckily you guys didn't attack and I thought maybe you could pass a "thanks" to your ancestors for that. Because to be honest, I don't think kneeling in the hallway would have held up to nuclear weapons.

What a world, eh?

Most people involved in animal husbandry care very deeply about their animals and will do just about anything for their welfare. It's kind of like all the B.S. you hear about trucking companies, once you've actually been exposed to it you understand what the truth is and how it really works. Well I can tell you that most of that garbage you hear about mistreated animals is from just a few places and it is not rampant in the industry.

Old School I very much enjoyed your stories about raising beef and that quote above is very well said.

Starcar, I'm still considering getting a little dairy side going but I don't know about a dairy cow. That's a lot of milk!!!! I'm thinking maybe a dairy goat. How much milk are you getting from your cow?

No joke, it's amazing what truckers talk about!

Brett, Ill be sure to tell them thanks on your behalf. Except, I can't even speak Russian but I can understand it. I'm just about as Americanized as you can get.

Old School, perhaps a phone call while driving and you can tell me all of these interesting farm stories. I have the time and I know you do also!

Starcar, are you talking about those "farms" along I5 and 99? In the Central CA area?

Congrats on the gig but you know I have to say this: THE SMELL! That is all.

Yup, Daniel...those are the ones.....I was soooooo shocked. The reason that dairy cows were given so many antibiotics back in the day was because of lung infections.......from breathing the urine acids that was soaked into the ground. And they are still in those urine soaked pens...so it makes one wonder...what are they giving them now to combat the infections...that is going right into the milk ??? I'm glad I have a milk cow....besides, I make wonderful butter !!