As some of you will remember I wanted to try trending @4H through the ag related cowboy gathering Texas Crossroads. This experiment to see if we could consciously trend an agriculture related event on twitter, but if it was possible for the different factions of agriculture to band together and have a louder voice.
We may be able to blame part of it on the weather and the rolling blackouts around much of the country, but only a small part of it. How can we explain that out of nearly 200 tweets, this experiment received only 20 RT's and of those 20, only five of them came from the several hundred that knew about this experiment ahead of time. Of the five, three of them were from a high school student who is interested in agriculture. The remaining RT's I made myself from my other Twitter account.
As I have mentioned before, we are a minuscule part of the population. Compared to the people and organizations dispensing negative and often false information about agriculture we are like a whisper in the wind. We cannot afford to be fragmented and expect to reach the general consumer in enough numbers to really make an impact.
If we don't find a way to band together and get our voices heard, the Agricultural industry in this country will go the same way as the steel mills, textile mills, and auto factories. A big step in this direction is already being taken with the USFS proposal to sell off all of its 193,000,000 acres and yet barely a whisper from people in agriculture.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
US Forest Service to Sell off 193 Million Acres
The National Forest Service has announced plans to sell off its 193,000,000 acres of federally owned land. Government attorneys have argued that precedence for federal ownership of land has been set, showing the federal government has the authority over these lands. We can show that the precedence used to prove the legality of federally owned lands was flawed by asking one simple question:
Why did the federal government adhere to the stipulations of Article 17 under the Powers of Congress in all statehood expansion east of the Mississippi River?
For those of you not familiar with this section of the Constitution, it says:
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;
The precedence set of allowing territories to become states and NOT withholding large tracts of land east of the Mississippi River would indicate that the federal government is NOT allowed to hold interest of large tracts of land within a state.
The fight needs to be taken to the federal government on a three pronged attack. First disprove that the precedences used to support the government's claims that federally owned lands are legal. Secondly it needs to be pointed out to the Supreme Court in (historical terms, not legal) that the founders of our country, and the drafters of the Constitution were trying to create a government which would not own large portions of the country. The third prong of attack is using someone who is versed in the English language at the time the Constitution was written to describe what the article means in today's language.
By approaching the matter in this way we can prove that the government was acting beyond its authority when it withheld lands from the territories when granting statehood. That precedence used showing the federal government has the authority to control multi-use or recreational lands was false. It will also show that the intent of Article 17 in the Powers of Congress section was purposely written to prevent federal ownership of land.
In actuality, this proposed sale could prove to be an opportunity. The attorney generals of every state having USFS or BLM controlled land should be banding together on this fight. These states should be suing to have all land held by the federal government, falling outside of Article 17, returned to possession of the states. This would allow states to receive the income now going to the federal government for grazing, mining,logging and National Parks.
If you would like to read exactly what the powers of Congress are, click here!
Why did the federal government adhere to the stipulations of Article 17 under the Powers of Congress in all statehood expansion east of the Mississippi River?
For those of you not familiar with this section of the Constitution, it says:
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;
The precedence set of allowing territories to become states and NOT withholding large tracts of land east of the Mississippi River would indicate that the federal government is NOT allowed to hold interest of large tracts of land within a state.
The fight needs to be taken to the federal government on a three pronged attack. First disprove that the precedences used to support the government's claims that federally owned lands are legal. Secondly it needs to be pointed out to the Supreme Court in (historical terms, not legal) that the founders of our country, and the drafters of the Constitution were trying to create a government which would not own large portions of the country. The third prong of attack is using someone who is versed in the English language at the time the Constitution was written to describe what the article means in today's language.
By approaching the matter in this way we can prove that the government was acting beyond its authority when it withheld lands from the territories when granting statehood. That precedence used showing the federal government has the authority to control multi-use or recreational lands was false. It will also show that the intent of Article 17 in the Powers of Congress section was purposely written to prevent federal ownership of land.
In actuality, this proposed sale could prove to be an opportunity. The attorney generals of every state having USFS or BLM controlled land should be banding together on this fight. These states should be suing to have all land held by the federal government, falling outside of Article 17, returned to possession of the states. This would allow states to receive the income now going to the federal government for grazing, mining,logging and National Parks.
If you would like to read exactly what the powers of Congress are, click here!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Trending @4H Tonight through Saturday
We are trying to make @4H the Texas Crossroads Cowboy Gathering held tonight through Saturday night trend on Twitter. Crossroads donates all proceeds to 4H and the Christian Homeless Shelter here in Van Horn Texas. If you want to help, follow, mention and RT @Texascrossroad on Twitter. You can view this event on the browser below or at http://www.texascrossroadscowboypoetry.org
Video chat rooms at Ustream
Video chat rooms at Ustream
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Supporting Agriculture Through #KamikazeCows and #Agritainers
In my last post I asked the question if the different factions of agriculture could band together to increase consumer awareness in an agricultural related event. If we look at cowboy poets, musicians, and story tellers as the #Agritainers they are, perhaps we can draw in enough people to possibly tend on twitter.
February 3, at 6pm we are kicking off the Texas Crossroads Cowboy Gathering with a Calcutta auction on the entertainers to raise money for the local 4H Club and Christian Homeless Shelter. As each entertainer in the auction will perform their own original version of a poem, song, or story with the title The Kamikaze Cow before being bid on we are calling it the #KamikazeCowCalcutta. The Crossroads Gathering will run until the Cowboy Church is over on Sunday February 6th and we will be averaging a minimum of six tweets per hour.
If you wish to participate, just follow @Texascrossroad on Twitter from the third of February until the sixth. If you keep the @Texascrossroad complete profile open in your browser, every tweet we do will show up and all you have to do is click on the Retweet link.
If you want to watch the live broadcast you can do it at the Crossroads website or on the browser below. Spread the word and lets see where the #KamikazeCow and #Agritainers can take us.
Streaming Video by Ustream.TV
February 3, at 6pm we are kicking off the Texas Crossroads Cowboy Gathering with a Calcutta auction on the entertainers to raise money for the local 4H Club and Christian Homeless Shelter. As each entertainer in the auction will perform their own original version of a poem, song, or story with the title The Kamikaze Cow before being bid on we are calling it the #KamikazeCowCalcutta. The Crossroads Gathering will run until the Cowboy Church is over on Sunday February 6th and we will be averaging a minimum of six tweets per hour.
If you wish to participate, just follow @Texascrossroad on Twitter from the third of February until the sixth. If you keep the @Texascrossroad complete profile open in your browser, every tweet we do will show up and all you have to do is click on the Retweet link.
If you want to watch the live broadcast you can do it at the Crossroads website or on the browser below. Spread the word and lets see where the #KamikazeCow and #Agritainers can take us.
Streaming Video by Ustream.TV
Monday, January 17, 2011
Viral Ag Related Event...An experiment in Social Media
Unicorns and cowboys are mythical creatures and hamburgers are made in a factory. Livestock producers beat on their animals which spend their lives in cages so small they can't turn around. We know that isn't true, but enough people do believe it that many of us have turned into the agrovate posse. While we may be making some progress against HSUS and PETA, are we really making as much impact as we can? The six hundred dollar question becomes: Are we really educating unknowing, or are we mainly preaching to the choir?
If all of our efforts were really hitting pay dirt, it would be showing up in mainstream media and possibly in a trend or two on Twitter. Even the big stock shows don't attract that many non-ag people. I have an idea of why this is. To the average person, agriculture is boring, and those of us involved are a bunch of ignorant rednecks. The second reason is answered in a simple question. Would the average person rather spend a week at the Smithsonian or Disneyland? I would wager the odds would be in favor of the latter.
The next question is, can we come up with an agricultural event that is educational, yet entertaining enough for the average person to attend? If we can come up with such an event, do we wield enough social media clout to make an event go viral? Could we get an event to trend on Twitter, or spread on Facebook enough that it would possibly make national news? It would be an interesting experiment on the power of social media, and one we could do fairly easily.
February 3rd through the 6th I put on the Texas Crossroads Gathering, a small cowboy poetry gathering in Van Horn, Texas. There are a few things about this event which makes it unique. First, we actually live-stream video to the internet. Second the entertainers are not paid (the event is a small, but growing talent show.) Finally, all money raised from this event is donated to the local 4H Club and Christian Homeless Shelter.
When you stop and think about it, the majority of these entertainers are either involved in agriculture or have agricultural roots. Much of their material is derived from their experience in agriculture. True to form for people in agriculture, they also go out of their way to do things for other people. Several of these poets and singers are going out of their way to come early so that they can drive even farther to give shows to schools in Valentine and Sierra Blanca Texas.
When an entertainer goes on stage, I tweet their name and website url if they have one. Then I post it on Facebook. I do it again when they go off stage. By simply clicking the button to RT on Twitter or the like button on Facebook you are adding to the traffic the event receives. Twitter actually makes it easy to do. If you open the profile @texascrossroad in the right hand side of your twitter browser, all of the tweets in my timeline will show up there. This allows you to miss Crossroads tweets in your timeline, but still having them available to "RT."
We have the nucleus for an experiment in social media marketing. By combining all of the agvocates and their followers with the cowboy entertainers and their followers we can see if we can get this event to go viral. Between mentions and RT's on Twitter, and posting the live video on Facebook walls and blogs, we may be able to do it. Why do we want to do this?
If we can do this with a small event in Podunkville USA, then we can think about a series of events in urban areas to inform the general public on agriculture. It shouldn't be too hard to come up with a program which would inform and entertain. We also have a near perfect social media hook. The hashtag #kamikazecow.
As the entertainers will be judged to see who goes into the finals show, I decided to hold a Calcutta Auction to help some of the entertainers while raising money for the 4H Club and Christian Homeless Shelter. Bidders will have four choices of what to do with their winnings (and that choice along with the winning bidder's names) will be announced at the end of the day performance on February 5th. They will have the choice to donate to the 4H Club, the Christian Homeless Shelter, split their winnings between the two, or be greedy and keep it (Of course that last choice will be announced as well so I doubt if anyone will take that option)
So that bidders will have an idea of what kind of talent they are bidding on, participating entertainers will all perform an original poem, song or story with the same title...The Kamikaze Cow.
In case you are wondering, the title was inspired by an event a friend of mine had with rank cow high up on a ledge.
If you have any thoughts on this, leave a comment, then tweet it and post a comment on Facebook. Lets see if we can truly publicize an agricultural event using social media. If we are successful, then lets see what kinds of agricultural events we can design to bring in the John Q. Consumer!
If all of our efforts were really hitting pay dirt, it would be showing up in mainstream media and possibly in a trend or two on Twitter. Even the big stock shows don't attract that many non-ag people. I have an idea of why this is. To the average person, agriculture is boring, and those of us involved are a bunch of ignorant rednecks. The second reason is answered in a simple question. Would the average person rather spend a week at the Smithsonian or Disneyland? I would wager the odds would be in favor of the latter.
The next question is, can we come up with an agricultural event that is educational, yet entertaining enough for the average person to attend? If we can come up with such an event, do we wield enough social media clout to make an event go viral? Could we get an event to trend on Twitter, or spread on Facebook enough that it would possibly make national news? It would be an interesting experiment on the power of social media, and one we could do fairly easily.
February 3rd through the 6th I put on the Texas Crossroads Gathering, a small cowboy poetry gathering in Van Horn, Texas. There are a few things about this event which makes it unique. First, we actually live-stream video to the internet. Second the entertainers are not paid (the event is a small, but growing talent show.) Finally, all money raised from this event is donated to the local 4H Club and Christian Homeless Shelter.
When you stop and think about it, the majority of these entertainers are either involved in agriculture or have agricultural roots. Much of their material is derived from their experience in agriculture. True to form for people in agriculture, they also go out of their way to do things for other people. Several of these poets and singers are going out of their way to come early so that they can drive even farther to give shows to schools in Valentine and Sierra Blanca Texas.
When an entertainer goes on stage, I tweet their name and website url if they have one. Then I post it on Facebook. I do it again when they go off stage. By simply clicking the button to RT on Twitter or the like button on Facebook you are adding to the traffic the event receives. Twitter actually makes it easy to do. If you open the profile @texascrossroad in the right hand side of your twitter browser, all of the tweets in my timeline will show up there. This allows you to miss Crossroads tweets in your timeline, but still having them available to "RT."
We have the nucleus for an experiment in social media marketing. By combining all of the agvocates and their followers with the cowboy entertainers and their followers we can see if we can get this event to go viral. Between mentions and RT's on Twitter, and posting the live video on Facebook walls and blogs, we may be able to do it. Why do we want to do this?
If we can do this with a small event in Podunkville USA, then we can think about a series of events in urban areas to inform the general public on agriculture. It shouldn't be too hard to come up with a program which would inform and entertain. We also have a near perfect social media hook. The hashtag #kamikazecow.
As the entertainers will be judged to see who goes into the finals show, I decided to hold a Calcutta Auction to help some of the entertainers while raising money for the 4H Club and Christian Homeless Shelter. Bidders will have four choices of what to do with their winnings (and that choice along with the winning bidder's names) will be announced at the end of the day performance on February 5th. They will have the choice to donate to the 4H Club, the Christian Homeless Shelter, split their winnings between the two, or be greedy and keep it (Of course that last choice will be announced as well so I doubt if anyone will take that option)
So that bidders will have an idea of what kind of talent they are bidding on, participating entertainers will all perform an original poem, song or story with the same title...The Kamikaze Cow.
In case you are wondering, the title was inspired by an event a friend of mine had with rank cow high up on a ledge.
If you have any thoughts on this, leave a comment, then tweet it and post a comment on Facebook. Lets see if we can truly publicize an agricultural event using social media. If we are successful, then lets see what kinds of agricultural events we can design to bring in the John Q. Consumer!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Taking Cattle Through Gates
Last week I covered starting and moving your cattle in a way which instills herd instinct in your cattle. Taking cattle through gates can either be one of the easiest things we can do with our cattle or one of the most stressful things we can do to our cattle, and ourselves.
Too many people tend to wait to open the gate until all of the cattle have reached the gate. This results in the cattle being forcibly crowded up to the fence. This creates stress on the cattle as they do not like to be forced together. When we are moving pairs this assures that the cattle will not be paired once they are through the gate. If we can have the gate open before the cattle get there, it is a simple matter of pointing them towards the gate without stopping the motion.
If the motion does stop, the only two things we need to work on is keeping the everything pointing towards the gate, and getting the cattle at the front to go through without pushing from the back. When you do this properly all of the cattle will go together, strung out as a herd naturally moves. Once they start through, the lead may pick up speed and may even run and play a bit. As long as they are headed in the right direction there is nothing to worry about as they tend to slow down on their own.
The two hundred steers in the following video had only been on the place a week. The only other time I had moved them was taking them from the pens where they had been unloaded, to this pasture. Not only was this the first time they had been through this gate, the pup I was using is deaf, and I didn't have a shock collar. Needless to say she made a few mistakes (to put it mildly) but the steers still all made it through the gate, and acted as a herd once they went through.
Taking cattle through a gate in the middle of a fence is actually easier than taking them through a gate in a corner. Take the cattle to a point a hundred yards to either side of the gate and have them turn down the fence towards the gate. Ride along, or just in front of the lead animals. When you reach the gate, simply get in front of the lead animals and position yourself so that the lead will go around and by you. They will see the gate and go through easily.
Too many people tend to wait to open the gate until all of the cattle have reached the gate. This results in the cattle being forcibly crowded up to the fence. This creates stress on the cattle as they do not like to be forced together. When we are moving pairs this assures that the cattle will not be paired once they are through the gate. If we can have the gate open before the cattle get there, it is a simple matter of pointing them towards the gate without stopping the motion.
If the motion does stop, the only two things we need to work on is keeping the everything pointing towards the gate, and getting the cattle at the front to go through without pushing from the back. When you do this properly all of the cattle will go together, strung out as a herd naturally moves. Once they start through, the lead may pick up speed and may even run and play a bit. As long as they are headed in the right direction there is nothing to worry about as they tend to slow down on their own.
The two hundred steers in the following video had only been on the place a week. The only other time I had moved them was taking them from the pens where they had been unloaded, to this pasture. Not only was this the first time they had been through this gate, the pup I was using is deaf, and I didn't have a shock collar. Needless to say she made a few mistakes (to put it mildly) but the steers still all made it through the gate, and acted as a herd once they went through.
Taking cattle through a gate in the middle of a fence is actually easier than taking them through a gate in a corner. Take the cattle to a point a hundred yards to either side of the gate and have them turn down the fence towards the gate. Ride along, or just in front of the lead animals. When you reach the gate, simply get in front of the lead animals and position yourself so that the lead will go around and by you. They will see the gate and go through easily.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Starting and Turning Your Cattle as a Herd
In my last post I described how to begin training cattle to act as a herd. When cattle begin acting as a herd, they will all be facing in the same direction when grazing, as in the picture. It doesn't matter if you have a herd of thirty, three hundred or over a thousand, the cattle will be facing the same direction like in this photo. 
Their natural instinct at this point is for everyone to follow the lead animals. By simply taking advantage of their instinct to go by you, the cattle will automatically start up as you make your approach from the front. If you try starting them from the back you will not get them to go in the same direction. Starting the herd from the back is asking the cattle on the lower end of the pecking order to pass up the cattle which are higher on the order. Rather than pass them up directly they will tend to go around them, resulting in the cattle starting out in three different directions.
One thing you need to remember. Cattle are comfortable and relaxed in a tight situation if they feel it was their idea to do so. When you force them into the situation, it causes stress similar to being pursued by predators. Therefore it is in your best interest to handle them so that they want to act as a herd. Anything you do to work against their herd instinct will only make you work harder to move your cattle, let alone getting them to behave as a herd.
Another area of concern is turning your herd. When following a fence line, there is a tendency to ride between the cattle and the fence, from the back to turn them. This results in the back end turning before the front end and the cattle spreading out. When turning a herd in open country the tendency is often to ride at the shoulders of the lead cattle to force them to turn. Once again, the key word her is force. Anytime you are forcing the cattle to do something, you are creating stress in the cattle which creates more work for you and your horse.
When your cattle are acting as a herd (or if you are wanting them to start doing so) you need to take advantage of every situation to let them do what you want, rather than forcing them to do so. When the cattle are going down a fence, simply ride past the cattle from far enough out that you do not slow them down or stop them. When you are in front of the cattle turn and ride at an angle towards the lead cattle. As you are riding toward them, the lead cattle will actually speed up to go around you and turn in the direction you want. You may have to make an adjustment in how much they are turning, but with a little practice, they will be turning nearly exactly the angle you are wanting them to turn. Herd instinct will take over and the rest of the herd will follow on their own.
This same method will also work when changing direction in open country. Rather than forcing the cattle to turn set them up to go around you. For instance, if you want to turn the cattle to the left, ride ahead of the cattle on the left side of them. When you want them to turn, simply ride towards them at an angle. This will allow the cattle to follow their instinct to speed up and go around you. Once the lead has made their turn, you can simply stop and let the rest of the cattle to follow them.
You have probably noticed I use the terms “allow” and “let” quite a bit when describing how to move cattle. This is because when you are handling cattle correctly, you are only setting yourself up to take advantage of the natural instincts of cattle. Simply put, when you approach cattle in any manner their reactions are what their instincts are telling them to do. If you try forcing things you are working against their instinct to act calmly as a her. By keeping your patience and making the right approaches, you are allowing them to make their own decision to go where you want as a herd.
Next week we will discuss taking cattle through gates in a way which instills herd effect. If you have any questions be sure to post them in the comments and I will answer them!
Their natural instinct at this point is for everyone to follow the lead animals. By simply taking advantage of their instinct to go by you, the cattle will automatically start up as you make your approach from the front. If you try starting them from the back you will not get them to go in the same direction. Starting the herd from the back is asking the cattle on the lower end of the pecking order to pass up the cattle which are higher on the order. Rather than pass them up directly they will tend to go around them, resulting in the cattle starting out in three different directions.
One thing you need to remember. Cattle are comfortable and relaxed in a tight situation if they feel it was their idea to do so. When you force them into the situation, it causes stress similar to being pursued by predators. Therefore it is in your best interest to handle them so that they want to act as a herd. Anything you do to work against their herd instinct will only make you work harder to move your cattle, let alone getting them to behave as a herd.
Another area of concern is turning your herd. When following a fence line, there is a tendency to ride between the cattle and the fence, from the back to turn them. This results in the back end turning before the front end and the cattle spreading out. When turning a herd in open country the tendency is often to ride at the shoulders of the lead cattle to force them to turn. Once again, the key word her is force. Anytime you are forcing the cattle to do something, you are creating stress in the cattle which creates more work for you and your horse.
When your cattle are acting as a herd (or if you are wanting them to start doing so) you need to take advantage of every situation to let them do what you want, rather than forcing them to do so. When the cattle are going down a fence, simply ride past the cattle from far enough out that you do not slow them down or stop them. When you are in front of the cattle turn and ride at an angle towards the lead cattle. As you are riding toward them, the lead cattle will actually speed up to go around you and turn in the direction you want. You may have to make an adjustment in how much they are turning, but with a little practice, they will be turning nearly exactly the angle you are wanting them to turn. Herd instinct will take over and the rest of the herd will follow on their own.
This same method will also work when changing direction in open country. Rather than forcing the cattle to turn set them up to go around you. For instance, if you want to turn the cattle to the left, ride ahead of the cattle on the left side of them. When you want them to turn, simply ride towards them at an angle. This will allow the cattle to follow their instinct to speed up and go around you. Once the lead has made their turn, you can simply stop and let the rest of the cattle to follow them.
You have probably noticed I use the terms “allow” and “let” quite a bit when describing how to move cattle. This is because when you are handling cattle correctly, you are only setting yourself up to take advantage of the natural instincts of cattle. Simply put, when you approach cattle in any manner their reactions are what their instincts are telling them to do. If you try forcing things you are working against their instinct to act calmly as a her. By keeping your patience and making the right approaches, you are allowing them to make their own decision to go where you want as a herd.
Next week we will discuss taking cattle through gates in a way which instills herd effect. If you have any questions be sure to post them in the comments and I will answer them!
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