MOO MOO - BOO HOO

"Holstein Grazing"
8X10
©Cheryl A. Pass


I love milk. I love cows. I love all things dairy and beef. I could go for a big bowl of ice cream right now. No, not tofu faux ice cream, but the real thing. Calcium and proteins from bovines are good for us. Grilled cheese sandwiches, Philadelphia cream cheese, sweet creamery butter, sour cream, yummy yummy!! And right now, since it is 97 degrees, maybe a thick, cold, chocolate milkshake would do the trick!

I can't think of anything more soothing and wonderful in the food department than the gifts given by domestic cows....unless....oh wait...they pass gas? Oh, no, don't tell me!!

In the interest of ruining all of our joy and gratitude for the gifts we receive from the wonderful animals called cows, the USDA released a report this week quantifying the environmental damage from our dear Elsie and Elmer. I think we need to start calling the marxist environmentalists what they are: Killjoys! They have declared war on all things good, so who is surprised at this latest revelation?

"In the first detailed study on emissions from large-scale dairies, ARS researchers found that a commercial dairy with 10,000 milk cows generated an average of 3,575 pounds of ammonia, 33,092 pounds of methane, and 409 pounds of nitrous oxide every day>" Cite

As Anthony Watts says, can regulations be far behind? "Hello $10.00 gal. of milk."

Gee, for personal anecdotal evidence, I know people who grew up around and on dairy farms and they didn't suffer any dire consequence from bovine generated methane. The air was not thick with toxic substances. In fact, I can still recall the sweet summer smell of grazing grasses and hay, along with the peaceful landscape full of dairy cattle ambling around a green pasture by the side of a country road. Pure bliss! And I don't remember any horrible air pollution from living in an agricultural area, as I did when I was growing up. But personal anecdotal evidence is hardly what the USDA and the EPA want to use as real life proof of the good life.

That was then and this is now....now being when we spend our tax money trying to prove that cows are destroying the planet. Is this government lactose intolerant?? I think I'll head over to Tony's Ice Cream now and delight my taste buds while I still can. Take a look and salivate!!

The Cow Fart Chart
Farms Lost Since 2001