The Utah Young Farmer & Rancher Leadership Conference is held every January, and is designed to provide opportunities for Utah’s young producers and ag business leaders, and beginning farm families. All Utah Young farmers and ranchers ages 18-35 are invited to attend the leadership conference, January 22-23, 2010 at Ruby’s Inn near Bryce Canyon. The theme of this year’s conference is “Tie Up Loos Ends” and will feature will known speaker and radio host Trent Loos and his ‘Loos Tales’. Presentations will be geared toward the needs of Utah’s young farmers and ranchers, including topics such as agricultural advocacy and leadership development.

For more information or to register for the conference, please contact David Bailey at 801-233-3020 or david.bailey@fbfs.com.

This week I have read some crazy headlines in the media. They range from neighbors suing each other over livestock odors to an activist group wanting to put a warning label on hot dogs claiming processed meats contain nitrates/nitrites which may cause cancer. But it doesn’t stop with a warning label; they want to sue the makers of hot dogs as well. Where has common sense gone in this country? It seems society is more concerned about suing people than feeding a growing population.

Our bodies create nitrates, and green leafy vegetables have more nitrates than processed meat products. Spinach has 85 times more nitrates than a hot dog. If we allow warning labels to be attached to hot dogs, will we also have warning labels on our vegetables as well? Where does it stop?

Suing neighbors over livestock odors is something our founding fathers would have probably laughed at. If livestock were being housed in an urban area, I can understand people being upset. Livestock barns are built in the country though, where livestock are supposed to be raised. If you move to the country, whether it was 30 years ago or last week, you should expect to smell the country air, which includes the odors created by livestock. Today, thanks to technology, farmers are housing their animals in climate controlled barns to protect their livestock from the elements of the weather, disease and predator attacks. Because of these barns, farmers are able to manage the manure and recycle it as fertilizer to protect our environment better than ever before.

Every time a farmer or rancher is sued, not only do we jeopardize our food security, but we also increase the cost of food for every American. These frivolous lawsuits cost each of us, even if you are a vegetarian. As I sit and read these headlines, I can’t help but wonder who stole common sense from America? I also wonder what our founding fathers would think about farmers being sued for feeding an ever growing population.

Study Flawed

The epidemiological study that came out two years ago and declared that there was "convincing" evidence to link consuming red meat with cancer, specifically colorectal cancer, was flawed, and now, the author of the report has admitted it and has promised to write a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture saying so. To learn more, click on the following link: http://tiny.cc/EHfmy

This is news that probably won't make it to the major networks but farmers & ranchers need these networks to begin telling the real story. Our story is a great story, and a story only we can tell.