New Wind Incentive Good for Landowners

A new federal wind incentive signed into law will make it more feasible for farmers and ranchers to own wind turbines instead, says Cole Gustafson, NDSU biofuels economist. The law allows allows U.S. taxpayers to deduct 30% of the cost for installing new wind energy systems through the year 2016 or obtain a 30 percent direct grant if the project is completed by 2012. Landowners who participate have to give up the production tax credit, which has been a major catalyst for wind development. Last year, the PTC provided a .021 cent per kilowatt-hour tax credit for electricity produced by a wind tower for 10 years after it was placed in service. However, many landowners didn't have sufficient income to utilize fully the PTCs that were generated. Therefore, landowners typically partnered with high-income external investors who could claim all of the credits during the 10- year project life. This source of investment capital was commonly referred to as "tax equity" financing. The new legislation provides commercial businesses (including farmers and ranchers) the opportunity to receive this incentive in the form of an immediate investment tax credit or grant. These commercial businesses no longer will have to search for external tax equity partners. Rural small businesses and agricultural producers can receive the grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Energy for America Program. DakotaFarmer

News Conference to address seizure of Herman Schumacher's home by Tyson Fresh Meats

Directed by a court order obtained by Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. (Tyson), the U.S. Marshals Service on June 11, 2009, posted a “No Trespassing” sign and “Warning” on the front door of the home of South Dakota rancher and cattle feeder Herman Schumacher. Tyson obtained a judgment against Schumacher because Schumacher tried to protect his fellow cattle producers by stopping Tyson from violating the Packers and Stockyards Act. A federal jury unanimously sided with Schumacher, but then a three-judge panel for the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (8th Circuit) overturned the jury’s decision. So, in a bizarre twist, Schumacher must now pay Tyson $15,881.38 or Tyson will use the U.S. judicial system to finalize the seizure of Schumacher’s home. “This retaliatory action against Schumacher, who courageously did what USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) was supposed to do but refused to do, is an extreme injustice,” said R-CALF USA President/Region VI Director Max Thornsberry. “We cannot sit back and allow Tyson to intimidate U.S. cattle producers and destroy our markets. R-CALF USA is sponsoring this news conference to help protect Schumacher’s property against Tyson’s advances, as well as to highlight the urgent need to end – once and for all – the market-manipulating practices of the four largest packers who together control approximately 88 percent of the U.S. fed cattle market.”...OpEdNews

HSUS Shows Its True Colors

The newest blog manifesto by Wayne Pacelle, animal-savior-in-chief at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), is just a reminder that HSUS has more in common with PETA than with your local animal shelter. Pacelle writes: Gourmet magazine is reporting that people are reducing to some degree their consumption of meat products. Given the inordinately high per capita consumption of animal products in America, this is good news for animals, the environment, and public health. The HSUS is a big tent organization, and we support people who want to switch to more humanely raised animal products, reduce the amount of meat in their diets, or try a vegetarian lifestyle—but the reduction of meat consumption is one of the best things we can do for the planet given how unsustainable the current levels of factory farming are. For a so-called “humane society,” HSUS sure seems concerned with what you eat. Pacelle's 'Go Veg' blog posts make it easy to see beyond his group's feel-good name: HSUS’s real agenda has precious little to do with helping shelter animals and a lot to do with advancing the fringe goals of animal-rights activists...CFCF

Canadian scientists breeding cows that burp less

Canadian scientists are breeding a special type of cow designed to burp less, a breakthrough that could reduce a big source of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. Cows are responsible for nearly three-quarters of total methane emissions, according to Environment Canada. Most of the gas comes from bovine burps, which are 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Stephen Moore, a professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, is examining the genes responsible for methane produced from a cow's four stomachs in order to breed more efficient, environmentally friendly cows. The professor of agricultural, food and nutritional science completed primary tests using traditional techniques to breed efficient animals that produce 25 percent less methane than less efficient animals...Reuters

Song Of The Day #068

The Radio Ranch is running late this morning, but we'll put up a song by The Arizona Yodeler, Kenny Roberts.

The tune is The Yodel Polka, recorded in 1952 and available on his CD Jumpin' & Yodelin'.

I'll tell you more about Roberts at a later date.

TSA's express security grounded

More than 250,000 frequent fliers who pay $200 a year to speed through airport security lines lost that privilege Monday when a company that runs the expedited lines went out of business. Verified Identity Pass, which operates its Clear program in 18 airports, said Monday that it would shut operations at every airport by 2 a.m. ET today. The program started at Orlando International Airport in 2005 and grew to major hubs such as Atlanta, Denver, San Francisco and Washington Dulles. A statement on Verified's website said the company "had been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations." There was no information about whether enrollees would get refunds. The announcement is a huge blow to lengthy efforts by travel groups and Congress to ease airport screening for "trusted travelers" who clear a background check...USAToday

GAO Cites Gun Sales to Those on Watch List

People named on the government's terrorism watch list have successfully purchased firearms hundreds of times since 2004, government investigators reported yesterday. In one case, a known or suspected terrorist was able to obtain an explosives license, the Government Accountability Office reported. U.S. lawmakers requested the audit to show how people on the watch list can be stopped from boarding airplanes but not from buying guns. Under federal law, licensed firearms dealers must request an FBI background check for each buyer but cannot legally stop a purchase solely because someone is on the watch list. The study found that people on the list purchased firearms 865 times in 963 attempts over a five-year period ending in February. Those who were denied gun purchases were disqualified for other reasons, such as a felony conviction, a drug violation or being an illegal immigrant...WPost

Homeland Security drone patrolling Northern NY

A monitor inside an operations trailer shows a close-up view of a boat skimming across the water on Lake Ontario. The image was taken from an unmanned aircraft more than three miles away. A Predator B Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) has been temporarily based at Fort Drum since early June in an experiment by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office. The Department of Homeland Security is using the extensive restricted air space over Fort Drum to test whether the drone could be a good fit along this stretch of the northern border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has five of the aircraft but so far none of them based permanently in the Northeast. The Predator will operate out of Fort Drum for about three weeks for testing and training, and to evaluate its use to law enforcement. John Stanton, director of CPB's Office of Air and Marine, said state, provincial and local law enforcement agencies were quick to take up the offer of added surveillance of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. "So while we were flying, we were asked by our partner law enforcement agencies if we would be kind enough to be on the lookout for suspicious activities," Stanton said...NewsWatch50

New Mexico has 1st case of Vesicular Stomatitis

June 22, 2009

Vesicular Stomatitis-Equine

USDA has just notified New Mexico that a horse in De Baca county has been confirmed as positive for the New Jersey strain of Vesicular Stomatitis. The premises has been under quarantine since June 18, 2009. No other horses have been exhibiting signs. At this time there are no other investigations.

New Mexico has along history of this disease, Veterinarians around the state are well versed in reporting the disease. New Mexico will follow USDA guidelines as given in VS memo 555.17, May 30 2007. .

Every effort will be made to assure that no animals exhibiting symptoms will be allowed to move. Sale Barns, Race Track and Event Veterinarians will be on notice to exercise due diligence.

Dave Fly, D.V.M.
State Veterinarian
New Mexico

Food safety bill clarified

A COMPREHENSIVE bill to reform the Food & Drug Administration's authority on food safety cleared the House Energy & Commerce Committee on a voice vote last Wednesday, and it now heads to the House floor for action. The bill was praised by Democrats and Republicans alike. They noted the committee's leadership worked with both sides of the aisle and stakeholders to forge compromises that drew bipartisan support. Many called it a "model" of bipartisan collaboration for dealing with politically sensitive issues. The committee vote came on a new 133-page version of the bill, which, as unveiled June 17, is a substitute for previous versions. The substitute included compromises that were agreed upon in the wake of an early-June markup of the bill in the health subcommittee. In what was a major issue, the bill survived an attempt to add language that would ban the subtherapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock production. That amendment was offered by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D., Ill.) to give voice to the issue, but she withdrew it without pressing for a vote. House Energy & Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D., Cal.) pledged to support future action on antimicrobial resistance but praised Schakowsky for withdrawing the amendment from the food safety bill, noting that "it is contentious, and a compromise could not be reached for this markup." Waxman's committee expects to take up a comprehensive bill to reform FDA's authority on drugs and medical devices later this year. An animal health industry insider told Feedstuffs any bill that deals with FDA's authorities is a potential target for the inclusion of amendments that attempt to ban the subtherapeutic use of livestock antibiotics. That could include the current bill on health care reform that is moving in the Senate...Feedstuffs

Conservation wave builds in the West

Craning his neck to see over the small airplane's instrument panel, Ron Gardiner points out the path Spanish explorers had to take around the deep crevasse that cuts through the center of northern New Mexico. To the west of the famous Rio Grande gorge and its towering basalt cliffs is a broad plateau of sagebrush, native grass and remnants of the ancient volcanoes that helped form this rugged landscape. Herds of elk, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep and golden eagles call it home. "This is one of the last undeveloped tracts in the Southwest," said Gardiner, a water policy consultant who is among those who have been spearheading the decades-old effort to protect the area. The push to set aside nearly 370 square miles as the El Rio Grande del Norte National Conservation Area is part of a new wave of congressional proposals aimed at protecting more than 34 million acres of public land across the West...AP

New Scientific Assessment Predicts Massive Droughts For New Mexico

Today, 13 government science agencies issued the most definitive scientific assessment to date of the impacts of global warming on the United States and reinforced the urgency of acting now to reduce pollution. The story the report tells for New Mexico is one of more extreme heat waves, more drought, reduced snowpack in winter and river flows in summer, if global warming pollution levels are not dramatically and rapidly cut. According to Environment New Mexico, the report also tells another story – one of the opportunity to avert disaster by converting to a clean energy economy. The report found that global warming has already raised average temperatures in New Mexico, and that recent warming in the Southwest is among the most rapid in the nation. If global warming pollution continues under the report’s high emissions scenario, scientists expect New Mexico to experience the following impacts: - Massive droughts, which will have a catastrophic effect on agriculture - Extreme heat waves - Reduced snowpack, which will have a devastating effect on the ski industry...LocalDialogue

New Forest Service chief vows quick spending of stimulus money

New Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell says he will move quickly to ensure that his agency spends its $1.15 billion share of federal economic stimulus funding. The Forest Service has spent $643 million of its stimulus money so far, including $228 million in projects announced this month to repair forest roads and bridges in 31 states. Tidwell said even more projects should be approved in coming weeks...AP

Whew, I was so afraid they wouldn't get it all spent.

I wonder how much is being spent on range improvements?

Salazar Names Sylvia V. Baca Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today named Sylvia V. Baca, a senior public and private sector manager in energy and environmental policy and programs, as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. The appointment does not require Senate confirmation. From 1995 to 2001, Baca served as the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management at the Department of the Interior, where she was the principal policy advisor to the Secretary of the Interior for environmentally responsible stewardship of public lands and resources. She was responsible for the development of national policy and management direction of the Bureau of Land Management, Minerals Management Service and Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. Baca held several senior positions in New Mexico government, including director of Finance and Management for the City of Albuquerque, Senior Fiscal Analyst with the Legislative Finance Committee and director of the New Mexico Minority and Small-Business Development program...PressRelease

$3.4 million stimulus project to protect turtles called wasteful

Biologist Matt Aresco has been carrying a big burden for years. He's made it his mission to save thousands of turtles from near-certain death on one of the worst turtle-killing highways in America, U.S. Route 27 just north of Tallahassee, Florida. But what sounds unreal to some in Washington is the solution to the turtle trouble: $3.4 million in federal stimulus money to build a series of walls and tunnels under the highway so the turtles and other creatures don't have to take on the cars and trucks roaring overhead. U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, highlighted the turtle crossing in a blistering report on what he called the 100 worst projects in the stimulus bill. "They are wasteful projects, and most of us don't want to steal money from our grandkids to do something that's really stupid right now," he said...CNN

West Virginia names coal as its official state rock

The black bear, the Golden Delicious apple, and Monongahela silt loam now have a new member in their ranks. Last week, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin signed a House of Delegates resolution adding coal to the list of official state symbols. The resolution, which was introduced by 46 sponsors and passed by a vote of 96 to 0, notes that the coal industry is an “integral part of the economic and social fabric of the state” and that “Bituminous Coal is hereby designated and declared to be the official state rock.” The resolution makes no mention of coal’s other varieties – lignite, anthracite, and graphite – suggesting that they will continue to be classified by the state as nonofficial rocks...brightgreenblog

Arraignment Set in Mustang Cruelty Case

The operator of a Nebraska training ranch and sanctuary for Bureau of Land Management mustangs and burros has waived his right to preliminary hearing and will be arraigned on more than 100 animal cruelty counts in Morrill County District Court on July 14. Jason Meduna, operator of the 3-Strikes Ranch in Alliance, Neb., is charged with 149 counts of class 4 felony animal abandonment and cruel animal neglect resulting in injury or death. The charges stem from authorities' seizure of 211 allegedly emaciated mustangs, burros, and mules from the ranch, along with the discovery of an additional 74 carcasses. Each charge penalties of up to 5 years in jail and up to $10,000 in fines...TheHorse

Farmer Brown Fights Back

To all appearances, green special interests are on a roll. They have managed to get committed environmentalists appointed to key congressional committees and regulatory positions. They have a president in the White House who agrees on the broad contours of their agenda. They have already won increased fuel economy regulations, restrictions on drilling for oil and gas in the West, and billions of dollars of subsidies for wind and solar power. But their hot streak may soon run into some trouble. Why? Because they have provoked the most powerful special interest in congressional history: farmers. These are the same folks who once convinced Congress to pay them to grow nothing. Now they are holding hostage legislation to fight so-called climate change. Farmers in developing countries are clear-cutting rain forests to make room for arable land to grow crops and meet global demand. According to many scientists, these land-use changes result in massive emissions of greenhouse gases. Environmentalists campaigned to include these "indirect" emissions in the Environmental Protection Agency's calculation of ethanol's "lifecycle emissions." It's an important distinction, because in 2007, Congress also imposed a requirement that most new ethanol production should produce 20 percent less "lifecycle" greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline. If such emissions are taken into account, much of the ethanol produced from corn could fail to meet Congress's requirements. Farm special interests lobbied fiercely against including indirect emissions, arguing that the science was inexact. The environmentalists prevailed. In early May of this year, the EPA announced it would include the controversial emissions in its calculation of ethanol's lifecycle emissions. Now the farm lobby is hitting back. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Colin Peterson exploded in a hearing in late May, declaring the EPA is going to "kill" the ethanol industry...CEI

A Bluegrass Debutante, A High School Graduate

In the past three weeks, Sarah Jarosz has hit some big milestones. She turned 18. She graduated from high school. And her debut album, Song Up in Her Head, got reviewed in Rolling Stone, where she was dubbed "a contemporary-bluegrass prodigy." Jarosz has been playing mandolin since she was 10. In the years since, she's also picked up banjo and guitar, and become a songwriter. "A lot of the songs on my CD — there's a lot of questions in the lyrics," she says. "And I think that's reflective of my age and the curiosity that I have about everything." She gave a few brief demonstrations of her songs, plus a cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." Jarosz also spoke with host Guy Raz about balancing a career in music and being a teenager. "Many times it would feel as if there were two lives going on," she says. "But sometimes they would coincide with each other — in calculus class." NPR

Family keeps digging for centuries-old truth

The small band of travelers rode north on the Natchez Trace, winding through the Tennessee wilderness en route to Washington, D.C. Leading them was Meriwether Lewis, who just three years earlier had helped blaze a trail to the Pacific Ocean, cementing his fame and power in a young America. On this journey in October 1809, Lewis' heart was heavy with problems. He was sick and in financial straits. The task of completing his Lewis and Clark Expedition journals weighed on the 35-year-old explorer, as did the politics of the day. He and a pair of servants stopped at a two-room inn made of logs, on the trace about 60 miles from Nashville. Hours after they settled in, two shots rang out in the night. By morning, Lewis was dead, and a 200-year mystery was born: Did he take his own life, or did thieves or political enemies murder him? Lewis' modern-day relatives have spent years seeking permission from a reluctant federal government to remove his body from its Tennessee grave, examine it and answer the question once and for all. Now they're pushing even harder — hiring a publicist, launching a Web site and opening new lines of dialogue with the National Park Service, the agency that would permit the exhumation...Tennessean