Pew takes on farm antibiotics with D.C. ads

The twenty- and thirty-somethings who run the legislative branch of government - men and women otherwise known as congressional aides - are being greeted this month with ads attacking the livestock industry’s use of antibiotics. The ads, which are placed in the two Metro stations nearest the U.S. Capitol include messages such as “Who’s hogging our antibiotics?” and “Drug dependent” superimposed over photos of hogs. The ads also will be in Metro subway cars this month. The ads are the work of the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming, and they’re designed to win support for legislation that would phase out the non-therapeutic use in livestock of antibiotics that are important to human health. The campaign reflects concerns in the medical and scientific community that overusing antibiotics both on farms and in human use is leading to bacterial resistance to the drugs. I saw Pew interns handing out flyers to commuters outside the Capitol South Metro station this morning...DesMoinesRegister

New book highlights Ghost Ranch

Editor's Note: Hamilton's book explores the lives of several farmers across the U.S. who are bucking the industrial ag trend. Below is a look at the contributions of one rancher in Abiquiu, N.M. It's the first Saturday in November, and Ghost Ranch is waking up from its summer sleep. That is, the rangeland at Ghost Ranch. The visitor center's busy season is June through August, but the tens of thousands of acres of open land have been vacant since May. Today, the cattle return. In 1967, Ghost Ranch started a program that allowed local stockmen to graze their cattle on the llano for the winter at subsidized rates. The program was a boon for small producers in the region. Nearly everyone grazes their cows on Forest Service land during summer, but those who don't own irrigated land had always had to search for a place for their cattle between October and May. Ghost Ranch quickly became an integral part of their survival as cattlemen. The program has had up to 55 ranchers at a time, but there are fewer people in the business now, especially since the drought. This winter there will be about 40 stockmen in the program, mostly with fewer than 15 animals. For the season, all of their cattle live as one herd of 600...AlterNet

Kansas Horse Positive for Rabies

A horse in Kansas has tested positive for rabies, according to an article from the Clay Center Dispatch that was circulated via Pro-MED, a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases. The equine case is the second report of rabies in Clay County so far this year. The horse's owners and other people with potential exposure are undergoing rabies vaccination as a precaution. No further information was available. The American Association of Equine Practitioners includes rabies as a core vaccine in its vaccination guidelines. Vaccination of domestic animals, including horses and other livestock, is an important part of preventing human exposure to the virus...TheHorse

Song Of The Day #056

No time to write much this morning. Most should know Patsy Montana who's big hit was I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart. Today we will feature her singing Cowboy Rhythm, which is available on her 27-songs CD The Original Cowboy's Sweetheart.

Senator Udalls Surface Owners Amendment To Be Voted On Tomorrow in Senator Bingaman's Committee

From: Caren [mailto:nmcga@nmagriculture.org]
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 4:19 PM
Subject: Call Senator Bingaman to support amendment to protect surface owners!!! Vote is tomrorrow JUNE 9!

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by New Mexico’s Senior Senator Jeff Bingaman, is scheduled to vote tomorrow, Tuesday, June 9, on an amendment (that)would help protect private landowners who face serious damage to their land when the federal oil and gas beneath their property is leased and drilled by oil and gas companies.

Senator Mark Udall's surface owner protection amendment would:

• Ensure that landowners are notified before the minerals beneath their land are leased.
• Require oil and gas operators to negotiate surface use agreements that minimize damages to the surface, reclaim the site, and compensate landowners for damages - or post bonds to ensure the same.

The Committee is closely divided on this issue, which means that the amendment could pass or fail by a single vote.

Please take just a moment and call or email Senator Bingaman to voice your support for this IMPORTANT amendment.

Senator Jeff Bingaman / http://www.bingaman.senate.gov/contact/types/email-issue.cfm
202.224.5521

If you know folks in other states who have senators on the Committee, please ask them to their senators too!

Here are the Committee Members
________________________________________


Chairman Jeff Bingaman (NM)
Byron L. Dorgan (ND)
Ron Wyden (OR)
Tim Johnson (SD)
Mary L. Landrieu (LA)
Maria Cantwell (WA)
Robert Menendez (NJ)
Blanche Lincoln (AR)
Bernard Sanders (VT)
Evan Bayh (IN)
Debbie Stabenow (MI)
Mark Udall (CO)
Jeanne Shaheen (NH)

Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Richard Burr (NC)
John Barrasso (WY)
Sam Brownback (KS)
James E. Risch (ID)
John McCain (AZ)
Robert Bennett (UT)
Jim Bunning (KY)
Jeff Sessions (AL)
Bob Corker (TN)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This is an important issue that Bill Humphries and others have been working on for years. It deserves everyone's support.

Below is the text of the amendment:

AMENDMENT NO.llll Calendar No.lll
Purpose: To require an operator to compensate a surface
owner for damages resulting from the oil and gas operations
of the operator on land affected by the operations.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES—111th Cong., 1st Sess.
(no.) lllllll
(title) llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Referred to the Committee on llllllllll and
ordered to be printed
Ordered to lie on the table and to be printed
AMENDMENT intended to be proposed by Mr. UDALL of
Colorado
Viz:
1 At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. ll2 . SPLIT ESTATE.
3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing
4 Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is amended by adding at the end the
5 following:
6 ‘‘(q) SPLIT ESTATES.—
7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
8 ‘‘(A) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘covered
9 land’ means land with respect to which—
2
O:\END\END09A57.xml S.L.C.
1 ‘‘(i) title to oil and gas resources is
2 held by the United States; but
3 ‘‘(ii) title to the surface estate is not
4 held by the United States.
5 ‘‘(B) LEASE.—The term ‘lease’ means a
6 lease issued by the Secretary under this Act
7 that provides for the development of oil and gas
8 resources (including coalbed methane) on cov9
ered land.
10 ‘‘(C) LESSEE.—The term ‘lessee’ means
11 the holder of a lease for the development of oil
12 and gas resources on covered land.
13 ‘‘(D) OIL AND GAS OPERATIONS.—The
14 term ‘oil and gas operations’ means all activi15
ties affecting the interest of a surface owner in
16 covered land that are associated with explo17
ration, drilling, or production of oil and gas,
18 through final reclamation of the affected sur19
face.
20 ‘‘(E) OPERATOR.—The term ‘operator’
21 means a person with the legal right to conduct
22 oil and gas operations on covered land.
23 ‘‘(F) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’
24 means the Secretary of the Interior.
3
O:\END\END09A57.xml S.L.C.
1 ‘‘(G) SURFACE OWNER.—The term ‘sur2
face owner’ means a person who holds legal or
3 equitable title, as demonstrated in the records
4 of the applicable county clerk or other local gov5
ernment official, to the surface of the covered
6 land on which the operator has the right to con7
duct oil and gas operations.
8 ‘‘(2) COMPENSATION AND RECLAMATION.—
9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An operator shall
10 compensate the surface owner for damages re11
sulting from the oil and gas operations of the
12 operator on land affected by the operations
13 from—
14 ‘‘(i) loss of agricultural production
15 and income;
16 ‘‘(ii) lost land value;
17 ‘‘(iii) lost use of and lost access to the
18 land of the surface owner; and
19 ‘‘(iv) the lost value of improvements.
20 ‘‘(B) RECLAMATION.—An operator shall
21 reclaim the surface affected by the oil and gas
22 operations of the operator.
23 ‘‘(3) NOTICE OF OPERATIONS.—
24 ‘‘(A) PRIOR TO INITIAL ENTRY.—Prior to
25 initial entry for activities that do not disturb
4
O:\END\END09A57.xml S.L.C.
1 the surface, the operator shall make good faith
2 efforts to provide notice to the surface owner.
3 ‘‘(B) OPERATIONS.—Prior to commencing
4 oil and gas operations, the operator shall make
5 good faith efforts to provide not less than 30
6 days notice to the surface owner with sufficient
7 disclosure of the planned operations to enable
8 the surface owner to evaluate the effect of the
9 operations.
10 ‘‘(4) SURFACE USE AGREEMENT.—
11 ‘‘(A) SURFACE USE AGREEMENT.—At the
12 time of providing notice of operations under
13 paragraph (3)(B), the operator shall provide to
14 the surface owner a proposed surface use agree15
ment that—
16 ‘‘(i) to the extent known, specifies—
17 ‘‘(I) facilities, terms of ingress
18 and egress, and proposed reclamation;
19 and
20 ‘‘(II) actions to minimize surface
21 damages to the land; and
22 ‘‘(ii) includes an offer of compensation
23 for damages to the surface affected by oil
24 and gas operations.
25 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURE.—
5
O:\END\END09A57.xml S.L.C.
1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30
2 days after the date of receipt of the pro3
posed surface use agreement, the surface
4 owner may accept or reject the agreement.
5 ‘‘(ii) FAILURE TO ACCEPT.—Failure
6 to accept the agreement during the 30 day7
period described in clause (i) shall be con8
sidered a rejection of the agreement.
9 ‘‘(C) NEGOTIATIONS.—The surface owner
10 and operator may enter into negotiations re11
garding the surface use agreement.
12 ‘‘(D) AGREEMENT.—The operator and the
13 surface owner may enter into a mutually ac14
ceptable agreement that specifies the rights and
15 obligations of the parties with respect to the
16 surface activities conducted by the operator.
17 ‘‘(5) ENTRY WITHOUT AGREEMENT; BOND.—
18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If no surface use
19 agreement has been executed within 30 days
20 after the date on which the surface owner re21
ceives the proposed agreement under paragraph
22 (4)(A), the operator may enter the property of
23 the surface owner and conduct oil and gas oper24
ations as provided in this section.
6
O:\END\END09A57.xml S.L.C.
1 ‘‘(B) FINANCIAL ASSURANCE.—The oper2
ator shall provide an appropriate financial as3
surance, as determined by the Secretary, prior
4 to commencing operations under this para5
graph.
6 ‘‘(C) RELEASE OF FINANCIAL ASSUR7
ANCE.—The Secretary shall provide for the ap8
propriate release of the financial assurance on
9 a determination that—
10 ‘‘(i) the reclamation is complete; and
11 ‘‘(ii) the surface owner has been com12
pensated for any damages.
13 ‘‘(6) NOTICE OF SECRETARIAL ACTION WITH
14 RESPECT TO FEDERAL LEASES.—The Secretary
15 shall make reasonable efforts to provide to each sur16
face owner of affected covered land, and to each per17
mittee or right-of-way holder with the right to use
18 the surface of affected Federal land, written notice
19 of—
20 ‘‘(A) any lease sale for an oil or gas lease
21 under this Act by not later than 30 days before
22 the date of the lease sale; and
23 ‘‘(B) the issuance of a drilling permit by
24 not later than 5 days before the date of
25 issuance.
7
O:\END\END09A57.xml S.L.C.
1 ‘‘(7) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW.—Nothing
2 in this subsection preempts any applicable State
3 law.’’.
4 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after
5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the
6 Interior shall promulgate such regulations as are nec7
essary to carry out the amendment made by subsection
8 (a).

Colo. land prices luring Amish

A new road sign cautions drivers to watch for Amish horse-drawn carriages in the valley beneath Colorado's Sangre de Cristo mountains. Highway pull-offs and dedicated horse-and-buggy paths are in the works. Amid the serenity and isolation of southern Colorado, hamlets like Westcliffe, La Jara and Monte Vista are welcoming Amish families who are moving West to escape high land prices and community overcrowding back East in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. "The reason we moved out West is the farm land is a little bit cheaper and it's not as heavily populated, a little more open space and a little more opportunity for young people to get started with their own farms," said Ben Coblentz, a 47-year-old alfalfa farmer from Indiana. "The general public seems to have a little slower pace of life than what it was back East. Everybody here respects us." Of an estimated 231,000 Amish nationwide, more than 60 percent still live in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana. But from 2002 to 2008, Colorado's Amish population went from zero to more than 400, according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Pennsylvania's Elizabethtown College...Denver Post

NM land grant activists turn to Obama for help

New Mexico land grant activists have sent a letter to President Barack Obama, asking for his help in returning millions of acres of land in the Southwest that Hispanic settlers lost when the United States took over the territory. The letter, sent to the president Wednesday, was signed by Rosita Tijerina, daughter of Reies Lopez Tijerina, who led a 1967 raid on the courthouse in Tierra Amarilla in a land grant dispute, and Andres Valdez, director of the community activist organization, Vecinos United. Their letter said much of the land was taken by the federal government and is now managed by U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Other land, they said, was stolen by "rich white ranchers" from ancestors who could not read or write. AP

Pennsylvania landowners have one week to sell property for 9/11 memorial

The federal government on Friday set a deadline for Pennsylvania landowners who have refused to give up their property so that a memorial to United Airlines Flight 93 can be built. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told landowners that they have one week to reach sale agreements with the National Park Service before the agency exercises eminent domain to acquire the 500 remaining acres for the memorial, at the site where the hijacked plane crashed on Sept. 11, 2001. On Friday, a delegation that included Salazar and Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) met with the property owners near Shanksville, a tiny rural town about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The park service, an agency of the Interior Department, has reached agreements to purchase nearly 1,000 acres from other landowners in the area, but it has failed to persuade the six families that own the rest of the land to sell...LATimes

Those Flight 93 passengers died to protect our freedoms, and as a result of their heroic act their fellow citizens will have their property condemned by the federal government.

What a great way to honor the passengers' bravery. The Politically Superior Ones are wonderful aren't they.

Man Convicted of Littering had Placed Water Jugs On Federal Land for Illegal Immigrants

A Tucson man convicted of littering on federal land said he will continue to leave out water for illegal immigrants walking through the desert, even if that means risking further citations. "We're committed to our humanitarian efforts," said Walt Staton, 27, who was found guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court of knowingly littering on a national wildlife refuge. Staton, a Web designer and volunteer with the humanitarian group No More Deaths, faces up to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine when he is sentenced Aug. 11 by U.S. District Magistrate Judge Jennifer Guerin. He was cited Dec. 4 for littering when U.S. Border Patrol agents spotted him placing unopened gallon containers of water in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge southwest of Tucson...ArizonaStar

Whether or not you agree with what Mr. Staton and his group were doing, this case raises some important issues.

First, does the Border Patrol have the authority to cite someone for littering on federal land? Or did they detain Staton until Interior officials arrived? If the Border Patrol has such authority, what other non-immigration federal land law enforcement authority do they have? Can they cite OHVs in the wrong place? Campers? Tressspassing cattle?

Second, what on earth are the priorities of the U.S. Attorney for Arizona? The article says Staton is the second person charged with this infraction and also quotes Staton's attorney as estimating the two-day trial cost the government $50,000 or more. Is this the wisest use of federal dollars and the federal court system?

Are All You Surburbanites Blue?

You may not have noticed, but Hollywood has: you’re miserable. No, really. According to Census Bureau numbers, roughly 75 percent of Americans live in suburbs. And, according to one of last year’s Golden Globe nominees for best picture, that’s eating away at us. “Our whole existence here [in the ’burbs] is based on this great premise that we’re special. That we’re superior to the whole thing,” declares the female lead in the movie “Revolutionary Road.” “But we’re not. We’re just like everyone else. We bought into the same, ridiculous delusion.” That “delusion,” as depicted in the film, is that a couple can be happily married, own a home with some land and raise children together in the suburbs. Indeed, it’s difficult to conceive of such a crazy notion. But never fear, suburbanites. The government will ride to your rescue (if it doesn’t get stuck in heavy traffic on the way). The Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have teamed up on a new interagency partnership to create what they call “affordable, sustainable communities.” Hint: the communities won’t look like your current cul-de-sac...CNSNews

Rahall eyes oil and gas addition to climate bill but leadership uncertain

House Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) hopes to add a major oil and gas title to the Democratic energy and climate bill, but it remains unclear whether he will get the chance as House leaders aim to speed the bill's progress. "I'd prefer to have it attached to the climate bill, because when we're talking about energy, it should be in a comprehensive piece of legislation," Rahall told E&E yesterday. "Now is the time to do it, in a nonpolitical season without the emotions attached there to and at a time when the price of the pump is relatively low compared to where it was when we heard 'drill baby drill'" he added. But the path forward for the proposal is uncertain. The bill has not yet been formally introduced, and Rahall said it is being prepared so that "if asked to include it as part of climate change, we'll be ready rather than go through a crammed session to get it ready." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) yesterday said she wants committees to act by June 19, and floor debate could begin by the end of this month...NYTimes

Buried Code

THE RUNNING joke in Washington is that nobody has read the 900-plus-page energy bill sponsored by Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), which the House will consider in coming weeks. What you hear from its backers is that its cap-and-trade provisions would create a market-based program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions -- which should mean that a simple, systemwide incentive encourages polluters to make the easiest reductions in greenhouse gases first, keeping the costs of fighting global warming to a minimum. In fact, the bill also contains regulations on everything from light bulb standards to the specs on hot tubs, and it will reshape America's economy in dozens of ways that many don't realize. Here is just one: The bill would give the federal government power over local building codes. It requires that by 2012 codes must require that new buildings be 30 percent more efficient than they would have been under current regulations. By 2016, that figure rises to 50 percent, with increases scheduled for years after that. With those targets in mind, the bill expects organizations that develop model codes for states and localities to fill in the details, creating a national code. If they don't, the bill commands the Energy Department to draft a national code itself. States, meanwhile, would have to adopt the national code or one that achieves the same efficiency targets. Those that refuse will see their codes overwritten automatically, and they will be docked federal funds and carbon "allowances" -- valuable securities created elsewhere in the bill that give the holder the right to pollute and can be sold. The Energy Department also could enforce its code itself. Among other things, the policy would demonstrate the new leverage of allocation of allowances as a sort of carbon currency -- leverage this bill would be giving to Congress to direct state behavior...WPost

Levy on international air travel could fund climate change fight

Britain and other rich countries will be asked to accept a compulsory levy on international flight tickets and shipping fuel to raise billions of dollars to help the world's poorest countries adapt to combat climate change. The suggestions come at the start of the second week in the latest round of UN climate talks in Bonn, where 192 countries are starting to negotiate a global agreement to limit and then reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The issue of funding for adaptation is critical to success but the hardest to agree. The aviation levy, which is expected to increase the price of long-haul fares by less than 1%, would raise $10bn (£6.25bn) a year, it is said. It has been proposed by the world's 50 least developed countries. It could be matched by a compulsory surcharge on all international shipping fuel, said Connie Hedegaard, the Danish environment and energy minister who will host the final UN climate summit in December...Guardian

Think twice about 'green' transport, say scientists

You worry a lot about the environment and do everything you can to reduce your carbon footprint -- the emissions of greenhouse gases that drive dangerous climate change. So you always prefer to take the train or the bus rather than a plane, and avoid using a car whenever you can, faithful to the belief that this inflicts less harm to the planet. Well, there could be a nasty surprise in store for you, for taking public transport may not be as green as you automatically think, says a new US study. Its authors point out an array of factors that are often unknown to the public. These are hidden or displaced emissions that ramp up the simple "tailpipe" tally, which is based on how much carbon is spewed out by the fossil fuels used to make a trip. Environmental engineers Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath at the University of California at Davis say that when these costs are included, a more complex and challenging picture emerges. In some circumstances, for instance, it could be more eco-friendly to drive into a city -- even in an SUV, the bete noire of green groups -- rather than take a suburban train. It depends on seat occupancy and the underlying carbon cost of the mode of transport...AFP

Northwest's biofuel boom goes bust

In two short years, the Northwest has gone from biofuels boom to biofuels bust. The boom began in August 2007, when Imperium Renewables opened a 100 million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant near Grays Harbor, Wash. A month later, Pacific Ethanol opened a 40 million-gallon corn ethanol plant in Boardman. In June 2008, Cascade Grain opened a 113 million-gallon corn ethanol plant in Clatskanie. Encouraged by tax breaks and Oregon and Washington standards designed to require biofuels' use, the companies promised environmental benefits on an industrial scale, a quantum leap from smaller-scale producers making fuel from cooking grease and Northwest crops. Nearly 30 more projects were under discussion. Then came this year. In January, Cascade Grain filed for bankruptcy six months after it opened, idling its plant and putting a $20 million loan from the state of Oregon in jeopardy. Imperium, whose grand opening was attended by both Washington senators, idled its Grays Harbor plant indefinitely, laying off 24 workers in March. And Pacific Ethanol, which received $14.6 million in Oregon tax credits for its plant, filed for bankruptcy for five of its subsidiaries last month, including the subsidiary that owns its Boardman plant. It warned that it has enough money to continue operations only through June...Oregonian

University of Idaho had evidence of bighorn disease link, group says

Environmentalists aiming to close the West's public lands to grazing contend a University of Idaho research center had evidence for more than a decade that bighorn sheep can contract deadly diseases from domestic sheep on the open range, despite its coordinator's insistence to the contrary. The UI Caine Veterinary Teaching and Research Center's Marie Bulgin, a ranching advocate who has long denied evidence of open-range transmission, said she didn't know about the studies, though they were conducted by her own scientists starting in 1994. This is a sore subject in Idaho, with U.S. Forest Service managers now considering closing grazing allotments near Hell's Canyon to protect bighorns. Jon Marvel, of Western Watersheds Project, says Bulgin should have known about the evidence, even as she was testifying in federal court and at the Idaho Legislature that no open-range transmission had been documented. AP

Hundreds of farmers face BLM in lawsuit over herbicide, lost crops

When his beets came in patchy, pushing through the soil with misshapen and discolored leaves, Perry Van Tassell did what most farmers would do. He watered more. And more. And more. "They looked like they were thirsty," Van Tassell said. "They looked like they were in a frozen state." It was 2001, and Van Tassell, like most farmers, had hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in his crops. His corn fields stood shorter than his toddler son when they should have been stretching 12 feet high. He came to believe his land had been tainted with Oust, a potent herbicide that kills plants by attacking their roots and leaves. The herbicide had been spread across more than 100,000 acres of nearby public land at the direction of the Bureau of Land Management, which was hoping to prevent the spread of invasive weeds on land that had been scorched by wildfire. But no rains came to melt the herbicide into the soil. The wind picked up. And Van Tassell and more than 130 other farmers claim the powdery herbicide blew across their crops, leaving them with warped plants, barren soil and millions of dollars of debt...AP

23-Year-Old SD Rancher Claims $232.1 Powerball Win

A 23-year-old rancher whose family has fallen behind in their taxes and recently had a mobile home repossessed has claimed a $232.1 million Powerball jackpot. Neal Wanless, who lives on his family's 320-acre ranch near Mission, S.D., bought the winning ticket in the nearby town of Winner late last month during a trip to buy livestock feed. He will take home $88.5 million in a lump sum payment after taxes are deducted. Wanless says his family has been helped by their community and that he "intends to repay that help many times over." He said in a statement issued Friday that he plans to continue ranching, albeit on a larger ranch. He says he recently told his horse, Eleanor, that "It'd be nice if we go for a longer ride than usual on a bigger ranch of our own." AP

Cow-Pooling: Buying Beef in Mega-Bulk

If you prefer to keep the image of meat — say, a juicy hamburger — safely separated from the image of an actual animal — say, a 1,200-lb. castrated bull — then cow-pooling is not for you. Jean Edwards is clearly not squeamish about knowing precisely where her steaks come from. In 2007, she and her husband James, a corrections officer in Vermont, went in with another family to buy a side of grass-fed beef directly from a farmer. The Edwardses wanted naturally raised meat but couldn't afford natural-food-store prices. Not only did cow-pooling prove to be cost-effective but also the meat from Mike Bowen's 900-acre North Hollow Farms, in central Vermont, was so tasty — compared with beef raised on corn in an industrial feedlot — that in the years since, Edwards has purchased an entire side just for her family. On a recent evening, the 43-year-old mother of five loaded her minivan with 250 lb. of beef, butchered and vacuum-packed to her specifications. "Not only am I buying a freezerful of meat, which gives me a kind of secure feeling," she says, "I'm dealing directly with the farmer, which is almost inspirational." At a time when many family incomes are falling, the pressure is on to give up expensive foods like organic produce and grass-fed beef. But thanks to the Internet, cow-pooling is an increasingly popular way to get high-quality non-factory-farm meat without paying about $16 per lb. for a strip steak — the usual price at the Whole Foods Markets of the world...Time

I know a bunch of you are grinnin'. A side of beef is mega-bulk?

500-plus Yellowstone bison hazed, none killed

Roughly 500 to 600 bison that migrated out of Yellowstone National Park last winter are back on their summer feeding grounds, after being hazed into the park by state and federal personnel. Only one migrating bison was killed this winter, by a Montana hunter. The prior winter 1,601 bison were killed, most of them captured and slaughtered to prevent the spread of the disease brucellosis to cattle. The disease causes pregnant cattle, elk and bison to miscarry. About half of Yellowstone bison carry the disease, but there have been no recorded bison to cattle transmissions in the wild. With Yellowstone’s bison population down sharply - about 3,000 now versus 4,700 two years ago - this winter’s migration in search of food at lower elevations was smaller than in recent years. Christian Mackay, the head of the Montana Department of Livestock, said the hazing program lasted about 10 days and pushed the bison into an area about 15 miles inside the park in northeastern Wyoming...AP

You can call it buffalo-pooling, or better yet, mega-hazing...