Guy Reads

Guy (that's my nickname for my husband) gets his paycheck from the farm, which in turn gets a lot of its steady income from milking cows. So even though his time and energy are spent on pigs, I try to keep him updated on cow news. Which means it's time for another installment of Guy Reads, the exciting segment where I share with you the news items I clip out of the paper for my husband.

In international news, CNN.com is reporting that a woman in England was trampled by cows while walking her dogs. I want Guy to see this, not because I really think any of us stand a chance of being trampled, but because the 98 percent of the nation who is not involved in agriculture will see things like this and believe cows are dangerous.

My husband does not get to have the conversations I do with Friendly Suburban-Dwelling Co-Workers to understand how little people do know about agriculture.

But here's something I didn't know... the Associated Press reports:

Belching from the nation's 170 million cattle, sheep and pigs produces about one-quarter of the methane released in the U.S. each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That makes the hoofed critters the largest
source of the heat-trapping gas.

Yuck. Let me just share that I have smelled a sheep burp and it is nasty. I'll save that story for another post.

Thanks to our powerful farm lobby and the quick thinking of Rep. Todd Tihart R-Kan., the EPA will not be allowed to include biological processes of livestock in their greenhouse gas regulations.

So in summary... do not mess with the cows. They will hunt you down, and burp on you.