#livestock industry

[plethoraworldatlas]

Oregon’s gray wolf population did not increase last year due in part to a large number of wolves killed by people, causing concern among conservationists and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials.

The latest Annual Wolf Report found the population remained steady at 178 wolves, marking the first time in eight years that their numbers didn’t increase. Typically, the population has grown by 6% a year. Among the 36 wolf deaths in 2023, 33 were caused by people. The state sanctioned the killing of 16 wolves following livestock deaths and 12 were killed illegally, the report said. 

“The amount of poaching and other suspicious deaths is alarming, impacts our conservation goals and could affect our ability to manage wolves in Oregon,” Bernadette Graham-Hudson, the agency’s wildlife division administrator, said in a news release.

[jenniferrobingallery]

Document of the day: Protest Resolution Report

Mar 26 23 Today I learned about the ‘Protest Resolution Report.’ I might add that it is never included with the NEPA/Eplanning docs that we all view for government projects. This one is associated with Land Use Plans (LUP). While I don’t have time to follow up as to what laws BLM must conform to regarding these reports, I am going to assume by law they must do this, and make it available for…

[toxicanonymity]

the runt

A fluffy Thomas Hewitt slice-of-life in THE SPREAD UNIVERSE. WARNING: ref to hypothetical animal death.

When Tommy's shift was over, he stopped by the pig pens on the way to his old faded truck. Most of the pigs were in the barn but some juveniles were outside in the fenced section.

Jim, the man who handled the feeding, announced, "Bout to head out myself." Tommy approached the fence and looked over the edge, watching some young pigs play in the mud.

Jim wiped his hands off on a rag and walked over to join him. "See that one?" He asked, pointing to a much smaller one, resting in grass while the others played and are. "somethin' wrong with that pig, Tommy. Same litter as those," Jim nodded toward some pink pigs more than twice as big. "Ain't just a runt."

Tommy looked at Jim inquisitively and Jim continued, "she don't roll around. don't like the slop. I bring her cow's milk, but if the boss knew..." The piglet yawned and rose to its hooves. Jim bit his lip, then mused, “maybe we oughta put her out of her misery."

Tommy's arms tensed and his chest puffed up. She didn’t look miserable as she laid down again, this time in his shadow on the dirt. Tommy squatted, reached over the pen, and picked her up with one hand. He held her and looked her in the face for a moment, then he stroked between her ears with his thumb. Her eyes closed and she let out a barely audible snort.

[indignantlemur]

Hi again! What do you think the cast would think of a rodeo?Like the different showes i.e. bull riding, calf roping, and barreling? What would andorain in general think of rodeos?

Hello!

So this is an interesting question, because by the time of Emigre and the early years of the United Coalition of Planets/Federation... these things wouldn't exist. Well, that is, they wouldn't be like they are now.

After Humans dropped warheads across the globe on major city centers, there was massive ecological die-off. About 30% of all life on the planet was wiped out, with significant human casualties and the extinction many species during the event and in the aftermath. The Human species as a whole experienced a high resource scarcity era and only clawed its way out of said era with the help of the Vulcans and their replicator technology.

With Vulcan aid came Vulcan influence. The meat industry, and indeed many of the animal industries, were fundamentally altered. Humans no longer consumed vast quantities of non-replicated meat - indeed with replicators in place the demand in some sectors disappeared almost overnight.

So in order to answer your question we kind of have to adjust what these events would actually look like in a post-scarcity era where non-replicated meat is a luxury item, rather than a major food source. We know that there are still farms and ranches on Earth throughout the various Star Trek series, and certainly throughout the Federation - particularly in regards to the edges of Federation space and new colonies. Horses and other livestock species appear to have survived the bombs, and those species have been so altered by Human efforts that they cannot survive without Human intervention; leaving them to the wilds that they can no longer naturally survive in would be negligent and senselessly wasteful at best.

However, since it no longer became necessary to maintain large herds of cattle for food security many years after First Contact, there would have been some changes. The market for trading and breeding cattle (and other livestock) would likely become significantly reduced, and a number of minor events which had taken on a cultural significance around herding and animal husbandry in the past might quietly die off over the ensuing years.

Now, that being said, the various rodeos and stampedes and other such gatherings are major cultural touchstones, particularly in North America (and the remains of North American post-war.) I don't think those would have entirely faded away but they would likely have been altered nonetheless. Events involving the deliberate aggravation or agitation of livestock (such as bull riding) would likely be replaced with versions involving mechanical substitutes, trading/auction markets would be smaller and more heavily regulated than they already are, and so on.

So now, with this context, we can look at your questions properly.

What would the cast of Emigre think of rodeos?

Dagmar never had much to do with rodeos, livestock, or farming in her time, and even less in the modern era. The closest she got was occasionally hunting deer, caribou, or elk with her father and younger brother, really (and one really bad hunting trip involving a mountain lion.) She was tangentially aware of events like the Calgary Stampede, but never had any interest in attending. This hasn't really changed in the modern era.

Shral and Thelen would regard them as novel events, of apparent cultural significance to Humans involving what must be traditional youthful displays of dexterity and temerity. Terran animals aren't especially fearsome by Andorian standards in terms of strength or natural armour, but only a fool underestimates what he does not understand. They'd partake in a rodeo or stampede event once or twice, perhaps, out of curiosity. (Dagmar spends a great deal of time fielding questions on the subject from these two, most of which she has to go and look up the answer to herself.)

Ambassador Thoris would find such events mildly entertaining, but ultimately not enough to fully engage his interest. If he wanted to wrangle a dangerous animal for fun, he'd go hunt more veeg. Still, there's merit to taking the time to observe and understand such gatherings and their significance to Humans as a foreign ambassador. He might inquire as to historical facts, socioeconomic relevance, and so on. On a good day, he might even deign to compliment a particularly skilled participant. He can understand and value the cultivation of fast reflexes and keen hand-eye coordination that these activities require as well as base strength and agility well enough, but the proceedings are somewhat dull to him after the first viewing. He's a one-time visitor.

Vrath would most likely be trying her hand at mechanical calf roping the moment Dagmar took her eyes off her, and generally having a good time of it.

As for a general opinion from Andorians on the subject? It's a very Human thing. Novel and entertaining, but ultimately largely of interest only to those Andorians who handle livestock and animal husbandry. There's not much in common between Terran and Andorian livestock species, biologically speaking, but somehow Andorian ranchers still find enough common ground with Human ranchers to spark lively debates and very intense conversations over herd management and predation.

Cheers!

[werebutch]

So many times I’ve seen people on here be like wowww it’s so funny seeing ppl rage over vegans 😁!! ….. these people genuinely have no idea what they’re talking about. If you mention all their stuff being made of plastic they cover their ears and go lalala like they’re 5. I’m sorry but it DOES make me mad. I wish your passion for the environment could go somewhere actually useful and not to blissful ignorance and even environmental harm. -_-

[alistair-blackwood]

while watching nimona, my friends and I got into a huge argument about how they could have scottie terriers with no scotland and jazz with no harlem renaissance so now I too just like to drop explicit references to real world things in my fic that have 0% justification being there in the first place and i feel like the funniest mfer alive

[vegandude72]

[knight-in-baggy-sweatpants]

it is literal agony to read anything about livestock animals that is from the pov of or written by someone who does not know anything about the industry that surrounds them. i don't think i've ever said it here, but i've lived on a farm since i was just barely a teenager. one thing that the meat industry depends on is CHILDREN "showing" their animals at competitions, YES like dog shows. My brother and two of my sisters started out showing dairy cows(of which there was a competitive team already in place at my school), but two of them no longer show at all and my sister now shows pigs.

And the entire operation is focused on getting your animals the best they can be for either breeding or market(those are the actual official categories for pigs. for cows it is either dairy or beef) and those are two completely different categories with different standards! and there are so many different breeds of any livestock animal, and at least for cows they are specialized for one of the two categories! You would never see a Holstein heifer shown for beef, just like you would never see an Angus steer shown for dairy! they also have very different grooming standards and builds; dairy cows are much thinner, clean-shaven, and you should be able to easily see their prominent hip-bones and first few ribs, while beef cows are much stockier with shorter legs, usually left hairy and only trimmed a little. i'm not as familiar with beef cow standards but i know you aren't expected to be able to see their ribs.

all this is to say, if you describe an animal's breed or even just markings, i can usually identify which breed you're talking about(it is always a Holstein for cows). But then you go on to describe them as large and in charge, and that is NOT how dairy cows should be! if you want a big, tough cow, at LEAST go for a breed that is MEANT to be that way.

and YES, this IS about Batcow fics.

[petsincollections]

Phillip Gregg and Dr. James L. McBee Jr., Buckwheat Festival, Preston County, W. Va., ca. 1965

Shown in the picture is Phillip Gregg, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Gregg of Masontown, with his Baby Beef Carcass that placed Second in the Carcass Contest sponsored by Sterling Packing Company of Reedsville, W. Va. Shown with him is Dr. James L. McBee Jr., Associate Professor of Animal Industry of West Virginia University.

West Virginia History OnView

[makerscockandballs]

if you think vegan food is just shit like quinoa and imported "exotic" foods you dont know jackshit about veganism outside of movie stereotypes and animal agriculture industry propaganda (which is a real thing, big surprise. capitalism is full of industry propaganda) and should inform yourself outside of that. read a fucking cookbook at this point.

[plethoraworldatlas]

Somewhere on a remote mountainside in Colorado’s Rockies, a latch flipped on a crate and a wolf bounded out, heading toward the tree line. Then it stopped short.For a moment, the young female looked back at it’s audience of roughly 45 people who stared on in reverential silence. Then she disappeared into the forest.

She was one of five gray wolves Wildlife officials released in a remote part of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains on Monday to kick off a voter-approved reintroduction program that was embraced in the state’s mostly Democratic urban corridor but staunchly opposed in conservative rural areas where ranchers worry about attacks on livestock.

...

It marked the start of the most ambitious wolf reintroduction effort in the U.S. in almost three decades and a sharp departure from aggressive efforts by Republican-led states to cull wolf packs. A judge on Friday night had denied a request from the state’s cattle industry for a temporary delay to the release.

The group watched as the first two wolves — 1-year-old male and female siblings with gray fur — were set free. The male bolted up the golden grass, running partially sideways to keep an eye on everyone behind, then turning left into the trees.

The crowd watched in silence, then some hugged each other and low murmurs started up.

[teabookgremlin]

i love listening to people who have devoted their lives to working with cows talk about cows

[vibinwiththefrogs]

Today in lecture my professor really challenged the idea that grass fed cattle are more environmentally friendly than grain fed. Obviously I have some thoughts on that because generally I exist in environmentalist and agroecological spaces outside of school. But I've never heard the idea really challenged. I emailed her asking if she had any research she could recommend, so we'll see where that goes 👀

[cruelsister-moved2]

if you bring up soy unprompted when someone tells you they're vegetarian/vegan I need you to google "global soy use" really quick first ^_^

[quotesfrommyreading]

There is no physical border between Kazakhstan and Mongolia. To travel from one to the other you must first cross a slither of Russia. And, ironically, according to what the local Kazakhs told me, the first of their people to roam the Mongol steppes didn't even come from Russian Kazakhstan. Apparently they were Chinese Kazakhs from the north-western province of Xinjiang, who trekked over the Altai mountains sometime around 1860, and whose motive simply seems to have been searching out fresh pasture for their animals. These remote central Asian frontiers had long been crossed back and forth by nomads who cared nothing for national boundaries, and left only the indent of their gers as evidence of having ever pitched a camp. The Kazakh pioneers swiftly found what they were seeking: horizons of ungrazed steppe, and few people to disturb them. Abbai's local history tome, a solemn navy-blue book scribed by the Russian historian G.H. Potanin, claims Kazakh patriarchs with splendid names like Kojamjar, Samur-Khan, Kulku-Shuu and Kobish-Butumsh erected their tall gers along the deserted banks of the Hovd river on the Xinjiang-Mongol border, and herded their livestock in isolation. They and their families came into contact with only a smattering of Halkh Mongol herders, and a small nomadic community who were then known as the Urianhai, but, after the 1921 Mongol Revolution, were renamed the Tuvans.

As news of this barely inhabited Mongol steppe filtered back to China, so more Xinjiang Kazakhs joined Kojamjar and the rest. Gradually Kazakhs from the Russian Altai also began to trek towards Mongolia – fleeing the October 1917 Revolution. By 1924, the year Mongolia became a sovereign state, there were more than 10,000 Kazakhs in Bayan-Olgii. And during the 1930s thousands more Xinjiang Kazakhs fled over the border to escape frequent riots in their volatile Chinese province.

For the Mongol government these new Kazakh settlers were ironically welcome, as they served a strategic purpose. They represented a buffer zone between Mongolia and China. The Mongol government was concerned about the possible break-up of western Mongolia, having already ceded territory to north-western Xinjiang. The Russian and Chinese Kazakhs were encouraged to remain on the western Mongol cusp, and in 1940 the Mongol government declared Bayan-Olgii a Kazakh autonomous area. The name Bayan-Olgii means 'Rich Cradle'.

Inevitably, as the Bayan-Olgii population expanded, some Kazakhs began an intrepid new urban life in Mongol cities and then in the capital itself. They arrived in Ulaanbaatar during the early 1950s, settling in city enclaves, and in the mining town of Nailakh, which lies 35 kilometres from the capital. Nailakh was a microcosm of Kazakhstan – the Kazakhs constructed their own wooden homes and a distinguished silver mosque. This was originally a thriving proud community with a burgeoning coal mine, but when that industry slowly collapsed, 20,000 Kazakhs were forced to survive and forage in a ghost town. The mosque was tattered and tourists accelerated past Nailak towards the nearby Terelj nature reserve, repelled by the bald gaping hillside and the scars of the mine, gouged out of the dry, heavy earth, which was now useless and obscene. By the mid-1990s most of the coal seams had been exhausted or abandoned and few Kazakhs were needed to descend the shafts. Nailakh became a slum ruined by boredom, dereliction and despair.

The Kazakhs of Nailakh, Ulaanbaatar and Bayan-Olgii have always lived uneasily alongside their Mongol neighbours. Many of the Mongols, agitated and threatened by Kazakh patriotism and especially their religion, casually branded the Kazakhs as dirty, potentially dangerous Muslims. In response to this insiduous contempt, the Kazakhs made little effort to integrate with the Mongols, choosing to remain separate linguistically, culturally and religiously. Despite spending more than a century in Mongolia, the vast majority of Kazakhs have remained in Bayan-Olgii, as far from Ulaanbaatar as possible. In Ulaanbaatar the Mongols usually refer to Bayan-Olgii with a grimace. “It's a foreign country to us,” more than one of my Mongol friends told me before I'd even thought of moving to Tsengel. “We don't trust those Kazakhs. Zowan [dirty]. If you ever go there, you'll be kidnapped and taken as a bride for a Kazakh herder, you know. It's a dangerous place.”

When the Kazakh government dramatically appealed to its Mongol brethren to return to their newly independent homeland at the end of 1991 and boost the Kazakh population, the response was momentous. The temptation of finally belonging to a land of their own had a magnetizing effect on the 120,000 Mongol Kazakhs, and by 1994 almost half of them had flown, driven or trekked to Akmola and beyond, abandoning their fragile Mongol inheritance for a new life over the mountains. It's easy to understand why they left: they'd never had a homeland before, the newly democratic Mongol economy was floundering in comparison to Kazakhstan, and most of the Mongols had never wanted the Kazakhs in their country in the first place. Elia, Marat-Khan and their extended family had all reinvented their lives in that better land, which every Kazakh I had met in Mongolia referred to as his or her spiritual home.

Over the last nine months I'd slowly become used to hearing the scathing comparisons between Tsengel and Kazakhstan, between Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Even, and maybe especially, those who'd never set foot outside Bayan-Olgii province, assured me Kazakhstan was the land of plenty. Alma-Ata means 'City of Apples', and long before I spent that evening talking with Elia I'd often listened to other Tsengel Kazakhs lovingly describe the wealth of fruit and vegetables, motor cars, apartments with colour TVs, stocks of lavish food and laden market stalls of Kazakhstan. Zulmira, Princess, Abbai, the teachers at school, the shopkeepers and the Imam himself had all told me the same sublime tale.

But in spite of this abundance, these apparent opportunities and this potential new life in their own nation, the brutal irony is that so many of the Mongol Kazakhs who left Mongolia in the 1990s have already returned. Bruised by unashamed they've trekked back over the Altai mountains to their barren refuge on the edge of Mongolia. After their long expensive pilgrimages to Kazakhstan, after uprooting their families and abandoning their homes, they discovered that even in their own land they're still considered a minority, and not a particularly liked or welcome minority at that. Of the approximately 17 million people living in Kazakhstan, just under half are ethnic Kazakhs, with the rest of the population made up of mainly Russians and Ukrainians, plus Germans, Uzbeks and Tatars.

In Kazakhstan the Mongol Kazakhs are still widely regarded as immigrants. Initially encouraged by the Kazakh government to settle and work in the underpopulated, windswept northern Kazkh oblasts, where mainly Russians lived, they were immediately regarded with suspicion and treated not as Kazakhs but Mongols who spoke Kazakh. Foreigners laying claim to a land which was not theirs by right. The Russians, Ukrainians, Uzbeks and Tatars already owned part of the history of Kazakhstan, and had nothing to gain from living amongst newly settled Mongol Kazakhs. When the Kazakh economy began to flounder in 1996, many of the Mongol Kazakhs, who like immigrants everywhere were employed in low-paid manual work, quickly lost their jobs. And as Nazarbaev's government struggled with a crippling and unpopular reform programme, state pensions also dried up. But most intransigent and ironic of all, the Kazakhs' nomadic herding life, which has thrived in the harsh Mongol Altai since the middle of the last century, has been almost curtailed in Kazakhstan itself.

Long before Kazkah independence the Russians were already intent on urbanising this land and exploiting its vast mineral resources. The compulsive building and then expanding of factories and surrounding new towns and cities has reached endemic proportions since 1991 as Kazakhstan has sought out industrial wealth. The nomads, who've stoically continued with traditional herding lives in the face of this concreting over of their land, have found themselves increasingly living on the edge of a nation that does not value them any longer.

“No, there aren't many herders left in Kazakhstan,” Elia told me that evening. She sounded pragmatic, there was no trace of regret in her voice. “Most of us live in the cities. Most of the Kazakh nomads live here, you know, in Bayan-Olgii [the Rich Cradle].”

  —  Hearing Birds Fly: A Nomadic Year in Mongolia (Louisa Waugh)

[durable-windproof-canopies]

Top ways windproof canopies protect your outdoor spaces year-round

Maintaining outdoor spaces year-round is essential for efficient operations and the protection of equipment, workspaces, and personnel at industrial sites. Canopies provide a durable solution that shields against harsh elements like wind, rain, and snow, enabling the optimum use of these outdoor industrial spaces.  

Designed with robust materials and engineered to withstand extreme conditions, canopies ensure continuous productivity in any weather. This blog explores how windproof canopies offer critical protection and durability, keeping your industrial outdoor spaces functional and safe throughout the year.

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Provide lasting protection with durable materials

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Enable flexibility and ease of installation through modular and adaptable design

The adaptability of canopies is one of their most valuable features for industrial enterprises. Businesses often need to adjust their outdoor spaces based on different requirements. A modular design offers you the flexibility to expand or modify the canopy’s size to fit your evolving needs.

The modular design and the ease of ‘self-build’ installation allow for flexible installation of the container canopy according to your business requirements as well as quick reconfiguration of the canopy structure to accommodate changing requirements. The design and build of the special canopies allow businesses to make these adjustments without sacrificing the windproof capabilities of the canopy, ensuring continued protection.

https://mcgregorstructures.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/modular-canopies.jpg

Keep outdoor storage areas functional in any season with windproof canopies

These modular canopies are a game-changing investment for your commercial venture relying on the optimised use of outdoor spaces. By providing year-round protection from wind, rain, and snow, these canopies keep outdoor areas functional in any season. Whether you need to expand your outdoor storage area, provide a work site protected from the elements or need a space for machinery, these canopies offer a durable, flexible, and cost-effective solution. 

The year-round usability of outdoor spaces is critical for many industrial functions. Customised canopies ensure that these spaces remain open and functional, even when the weather is less than ideal. With robust materials like PVC roofing and heavy-duty MAGNAtube® frames, these container canopies stand up to harsh weather conditions, ensuring lasting protection.

Investing in windproof canopies is a great strategy to optimise the outdoor functions of your business regardless of weather conditions.