Rich Sanders, USDA/NRCS
Agriculture is intrinsically linked to the environment: roughly half of all land in the lower 48 States is farmland, including cropland, land in the Conservation Reserve Program, pastureland, and rangeland. Both crop and animal production generate pollutants that enter the air as well as surface and ground waters. The Natural Resources Conservation Service estimates that the annual loss of soil from water erosion is approximately 1.07 billion tons per year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates, based upon areas sampled, that pollutants originating from this runoff contribute to an estimated 60 percent of impaired river areas, 30 percent of impaired lake areas, 15 percent of impaired estuarine areas, and 15 percent of impaired coastal shoreline. Read the rest of this entry »

Texas Longhorn

Survivor of the Past – Bright Promise for the Future

by Dr. Stewart H. Fowler, PhD

Cattlemen caught in a devastating cost-price squeeze are now taking a serious second look at the old Texas Longhorn. Doubly stunned by the inflation of all cost factors and the recession of cattle prices, cattlemen are actively seeking new “profit genes” for their beef herds. The quest has broadened to an international search for “new” genes that might boost productivity and profits. In this process, many have tended to overlook a promising gene source close to home. I refer to the Texas Longhorn.

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Small operators always have to be prepared for the worst but must also position themselves for movement into viable new areas.

After the producer is comfortable with his/her production method and has proven the cattle sold are of good quality, they may want to branch out into retained ownership.

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