Market Farming

["jay gee" <jgj23 AT mindspring.com>]

Rick Williams wrote:

>>>
 Why not bring up issues that are of concern? The wolf issue is not some
 theoretical thing "out there someplace" but is affecting more farms as they
 move further south. We are expecting that we may be seeing them not far from
 us on the other side of the Mississippi River in Minnesota eventually. If
 anyone would have told me a couple decades ago that we would have coyotes
 here in Wisconsin I would have thought they were nuts, but look what has
 happened. It does change the wildlife as coyotes tend to kill out the fox
 and if wolves come in the coyotes are killed by them. Along with pets and I
 suspect we will see young children injured or killed as time goes on. There
 have been some physical altercations between hunters and wolves.
<<<<

Seems like the "wolves issue" is important to you Rick so let's talk a little
sense and stop trying to portray things in an us vs them light.

Wolves have a place in the environment to help maintain order among
predators.  Wolves do tend to keep down the number of coyotes where
they compete for the same food supply.  Wolves also depress the supply
of excess deer.

Granted that an old steer sitting in a field is the same thing as "free burger
day" at McDonalds to the wolves in  that area, but you have to decide
as a farmer or rancher how you want to spend your time.  As you have
described yourself, you currently ranch or farm "part time."  The rest of
us, farmers and environmentalists, et. al., are not obligated to make your
range predator free.  That is up to you.

Where I live, the coyotes have been known to come onto the occasional
patio and drag off newborn human infants.  I don't blame this behavior
on the coyotes  -- they're just being coyotes.  I do, however, hold the parent
responsible. They know they live in the hills and are surrounded by wild
animals.  It's their responsibility to take the child indoors with them, not
to leave it outside.

If you want to raise cattle and ranch in an area where wolves have returned
or exist, protect your cattle by building wolf proof enclosures for the time
you cannot shepherd them.  Maybe someone will design a kind of chicken
tractor for steers.  Necessity is the Mother of Invention.

The ecosystems of the lower 48 states have been thrown out of whack
by the elimination of the full range of wild predators.  No one is saying
you can't shoot a wolf that is about to attack your steer.  But don't cry
wolf when there are ways for farmers to peacefully coexist with wolves.

This is all a part of that constant you recently referred to as "change."
Ranchers who raise animals that are affected by wolves may need to
reconsider the way they do business so that they might capitalize on
the beneficial changes brought about by wolves.


Jay Gee
not a farmer -- but interested in farming