CALF_News_April_May_2021

5 CALF News • April | May 2021 • www.calfnews.net Editor & Publisher Betty Jo Gigot | (620) 272-6862 National Account Manager Jessica Ebert | (785) 477-1941 Art Direction & Administration Kathie Bedolli, Lisa Bard Leslie McKibben | BluePrint Media Copy Editor Larisa Willrett | BluePrint Media Contributing Editor Walt Barnhart Contributing Editor Faith Baxter Contributing Editor Blaine Davis Contributing Editor Jessica Ebert Contributing Editor Chris McClure Contributing Editor Kari Porter Contributing Editor Larry Stalcup Contributing Editor Will Verboven Contributing Editor Megan Webb, Ph.D. Contributing Editor Jim Whitt Contributing Editor Patti Wilson CALF News (ISSN 00077798) is published bimonthly for $40 per year by B.J. Publishing, 115 Wilcox Street Castle Rock, CO 80104; (620) 272-6862 e-mail: bjgigot@calfnews.net Postmaster/Change of Address Send address changes to: BluePrint Media 2935 Little Salt Road Seward, Neb. 68434 (308) 440-8179 Please notify us of your change of address at least six weeks before the change. Include the address label from your latest issue. Give both your old and new full addresses. Please print legibly. Copyright 2021. B.J. Publishing CALF NEWS The Face of the Cattle Industry April | May 2021 Vol. 60 Issue 2 Published bimonthly by B.J. Publishing Gypsy Wagon From the Publisher ON THE COVER: Nothing satisfies consumers' appetites like this decadent hamburger – made with real beef. It is impossibly good. A s you can tell from the columns and stories in this issue, we here at CALF News are just a bit peeved with Bill Gates and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. s the stories came in this time, it was obvi- ous that they both had gotten not only our attention but a lot of other people’s as well. Mr. Gates certainly separated the men from the boys when he said that the 100 richest countries should eat fake beef and that they were working on improving the imitation product’s taste. He seems to think it can get better. I resent the fact that he proudly announced he has invested in several fake meat companies and his attempts to tell us what our food choices should be. As for Gov. Polis, his announcement of a Colorado “MeatOut Day” on March 20 comes after several other not-so-disguised hits on agriculture here in the state. As one of our cattle people said recently, “We used to have a seat at the table. Now we aren’t even in the room.” The appointment of an outspoken vegan to the Colorado State Board of Veterinary Medicine was a bit suspect and then, after taking some hits from the public, he put out an announcement about how proud he was of the state’s agriculture industry. Unfortu- nately, the announcement was almost all about the National Western Stock Show and how proud he was of that. The show draws cattlemen from all over the world to Denver, supporting the city for three weeks. Sounds more like supporting Colorado’s tourist trade instead of the billions of dollars agriculture brings in all year. It will be interesting to see what March 20 brings since everybody and their dog is pushing beef on MeatOut Day. There are proclamations from counties across the state, as well as more than 100 barbeques as folks rally around Colorado’s meat producers. And Nebraska’s Gov. Pete Ricketts has declared March 20 “Meat on the Menu Day” in protest of his neighboring state’s attack on agriculture. While on the subject, have a look at one of the ballot initiatives here in the state. Called the Protect Animals from Unnecessary Suffering and Exploitation, Section 1.9 reads: “Any person who slaughters livestock in accordance with accepted agricultural animal husbandry practices does not violate the provisions of subsection 1 of this sec- tion (on cruelty to animals) so long as the animal has lived one- quarter of their natural lifespan based on species, breed and the type of animal, and the animal is slaughtered in such a way that the animal does not needlessly suffer.” To their way of thinking, the life span of cattle is suggested to be 20 years . Five years old is a bit long in the tooth to produce a decent steak. Weather has certainly affected many of us recently with the massive storms in the south country and the recent two-foot snowfall we just got here on Colorado’s Front Range. With the drought across the area, and in the face of last year’s forest fires, our snow was very welcome. It certainly is a challenge sometimes. This issue’s theme, Opportunity Is out There, shines a light on the good things that are happening, and I encourage you to read Patti Wilson’s story on the fate of cattle shows nationwide. It looks like we are going to have to reinvent how we do that. I have no doubt there are ways to work around that. Continued on page 44 