The hands that feed you need a helping hand themselves every now and then; and it’s our responsibility to reach out our hand and pull them out of whatever pit they’re stuck in.

“You ever plow a field? To plant quinoa or sorghum or whatever the ‘heck’ it is you eat? You kill everything on the ground and under it. You kill every snake, every frog, every mouse, mole, vole, worm, quail…you kill them all. So I guess the only real question is: how cute does an animal have to be before you care if it dies to feed you?”

— John Dutton, Yellowstone

In summary: Yellowstone did a better job of communicating agriculture than I ever have.

My dad hammered the phrase “actions speak louder than words” into my brain when I was in high school. At the time, I brushed it off, but as I’m getting older, I understand it more. The big bad wolf can huff and puff all he wants but until he blows the house down, he’s just blowing smoke.

We as ag industry supporters, professionals, and elected officials need to do a little more acting and a little less speaking. But how?

Vegan activists filled hand sanitizer dispensers outside of restaurants and butcher shops with fake blood so consumers would realize eating meat means they have “blood on their hands.” However, their motives seemed more rooted in climate issues than ethical veganism, begging the question: is climate change really the issue?

There was quite a bit that happened in the past two weeks as far as anti-ags go, and I can’t really narrow down what I want to focus on. So, without further ado…here’s what you missed in the ridiculous world of anti-ags this week.

In the past, I’ve talked quite a bit about the nasty comments and messages I and many other agriculturists have received from anti-ags. However, today I would like to shift gears and talk about the aggressive and completely unnecessary comments I’ve seen from agriculturists and how we can incorporate graceful education in our responses.

It's taboo, it's hard to hear, it's something you don't want to have to explain to your kids — but it's what anti-ags are saying about the dairy industry. In this weeks blog post, I talk about anti-ags claiming farmers and ranchers sexually assault their livestock by breeding them to other animals, artificial insemination, and even helping an animal give birth.

This past weekend, I traveled to Bozeman, Montana, to the Montana Farm Bureau’s Young Farmer & Rancher Conference. I’ll be presented a workshop with a lecture titled “Effectively Communicating Agriculture: How to Talk to Anti-Ags.” This blog is a written version of my workshop.

We’ve been told transparency is incredibly important to consumers, and specifically vegan and on-the-fence consumers. But is transparency really as coveted as we’ve been taught? By the looks of an anti-ag Facebook group I’m in (and by viewing the comments made on Commissioner Quarrels’ Facebook post), transparency regarding what is and isn’t lab grown meat may not be so desirable.

It’s a sad fact to face: knowledge of the animal ag industry is not included when a consumer purchases animal products in the grocery store. In this blog post, I talk about an example of this non-existent knowledge I heard while listening to one of my favorite podcasts.

Who do you trust more: Actress Kate Winslet or science?

Instagram prioritizes anti-ag content over pro-ag content? Let’s investigate.

I got attacked this week by an anti-animal ag activist on Instagram.

The activist in question goes by the Instagram handle @andrea4liberation and has 11.6 thousand followers. They have a master’s degree in Animal Law and frequently posts videos of protests and tear-jerking photos of baby animals.

Today, I want to discuss something that is at the forefront of every Northwesterner’s mind: fire.

Growing up in a swampy, lush area of Texas, where our average rainfall is around 50 inches per year, my experience with fire was basically nonexistent. I remember a few houses in our area burning down due to electrical issues, the back pasture of some family friends catching fire while their parents weren’t home, and roasting marshmallows on an open fire at our family’s Deer Camp. Needless to say, I was not prepared for the crazy that is wildfires in the Northwest.

So I’m frustrated — actually, no, frustrated doesn’t begin to cover it — I’m frazzled, frantic, and just flat out sick and tired of animal rights activists blaming the U.S. for “animal crimes” committed in other countries.

Wild horses, although beautiful and intriguing, are a problem — that’s a simple, unarguable fact. So, here’s what you need to know about the issue of wild horses…