Yeehaw! Starting a cattle farm

There are many reasons you would want to own your own ranch or cattle farm: raise herds of cattle and sell meat and dairy afterwards, raise prize-winning cattle for show in events and festivals, and with the economy being what it is, raise cattle for your family’s personal consumption. Whatever the reason is, starting a cattle farm is hard work, and these tips will teach the basics of owning and starting a cattle farm.

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Know what you are getting yourself into

As with all things in life, knowledge is power. Think carefully and research about the cattle industry you want to get into and the kind of farm you want to have. Start small and don’t overspend. Buy only the equipment you need. Learn to prioritize the things you need to do over other things. This is the most important part.

Location, location, location

Choosing a good location is the key to a successful cattle farm, as factors like seasonal variances, vegetation, topography, climate, and markets differ. In addition, establishing your farm in a good location ensures that your cattle can grow healthier, faster.

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Choose between dairy or beef

Contrary to what most people think, there are two kinds of cattle you can raise in a cattle farm: dairy or beef cattle. Dairy cattle have huge udders. Compared to beef cattle, dairy cattle produce more milk, which can be made into dairy products. Beef cattle are raised for slaughter and people’s red meat consumption.

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People say that owning and operating your own cattle farm is one of the greatest joys you can get.

Charles Crispin owns the Hammock Walk Ranch in Okeechobee, Florida. Visit this Facebook page for more information about cattle ranching.

REPOST: Packers add to beef quality

This CattleNetwork.com article talks about how packing and cutting affects the overall quality of beef.

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Anyone who thinks ranchers and feeders are the only ones who work long hours in the beef business has not talked with a foodservice distributor or thought about a chef burning the midnight oil.

Anyone who thinks beef quality only rides on the production sector’s shoulders has not toured a packing plant or learned about aging and cut shops.

There are real people at every link along the beef chain, working to add value, ensure safety and make sure the meat that starts on the farm or ranch gets sold at the price point consumers demand.

During a Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) tour of ranch country last fall, foodservice professionals made a stop at the Cargill Meat Solutions plant in Fort Morgan, Colo.

“After the ranch visits [the attendees] were bubbling over with excitement about the down-to-earth, passionate people they met—and when we got to the packing plant, we found the same type of people,” says Deanna Walenciak, CAB director of marketing and leader of that excursion. “That made such an impression.”

Cargill’s Nicole Johnson-Hoffman welcomed the group and even told them to give her employees a “thumbs up” as a way to let them know their work is appreciated.

“Seeing every step is so important so they truly understand what an amazing and efficient business the packing plant is. To see the overwhelming amount of skilled work it takes to get it from animal to meat,” Walenciak says.

Packers also have a great influence on the quality of the cattle that come into their plants, and the beef that goes out.

South Dakota rancher Rich Blair once complained to a packer-buyer, saying producers are never told what kind of animal packers want. “He said, ‘Yeah we have. We’ve laid our grids out there. We’ve told you what we wanted.’”

“And I thought, ‘Holy smokes, he did,’” Blair says. “He told me he didn’t care if they were blue or green, but he’ll pay me if they grade Choice and he’ll pay me if they’re CABs and Primes.”

Procurement strategies and price signals tell producers they want quality, but once the ranchers and feeders have set them up for success, it’s up to the packers to maintain that potential.

“You only get one chance to handle them right,” says Phil Bass, CAB meat scientist.

Animal handling when the cattle arrive—things like letting them rest and not comingling groups so they have to establish new pecking orders—can impact stress level. That ultimately makes a difference in the number of dark cutters and meat tenderness.

Charles Crispin is a spirited outdoorsman and ranch owner. This Facebook page offers updates about Crispin, and many useful articles about ranching, farming, and lifestyle.

From concrete jungle to the wide open

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Beyond the concrete jungles, the ultimate creation of urbanity and modernization, lies a world often taken for granted—nature. Urbanites have gotten so caught up with the haste that they have forgotten to pause and breathe in its wonders.

Nature is said to be God’s greatest theater. It is where all majestic and beautiful things are supposed to be found: trees, birds, flowers. Sometimes, they are deemed insignificant or mundane for being too little. However, mundane or insignificant, nature offers various benefits that people should ponder. Some of these are the following:

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1. Nature makes one appreciative. Nature in all its glory makes people appreciative of life—of the sunlight, rain, and air. Reconnecting with nature seems to bring anyone back to the basics, to the origin of life.

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2.Nature nurtures. A study found at the Oxford Journals shows that nature nurtures and plays an important role in human health and well-being. It has been said that people who have closer access to nature are healthier than those who don’t.

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3. Nature restores. Studies have shown that nature offers relaxation, stress reduction, and mental restoration. Whether it is a simple walk along the riverbanks or a climb over the hill, the restorative effects of natural environment leads to a renewed attention and positivity.

Nature, hence, while it may be deemed as just a part of everyday living, is crucial. With the countless benefits it gives, it is therefore important to care or start caring for it.

Charles Crispin is a former CEO of Evergreen Re Optimal Reinsurance Analysis. He is an outdoor enthusiast and a rancher.

To know more about nature and its benefits, visit this Facebook page.

A look at the cattle connection: How ranching benefits the ecosystem

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“The public doesn’t always realize what ranchers are doing and how that benefits everyone,” says Bill Tietje, a natural resources specialist based in San Louis Obispo County. “No one really thinks about it…” he continues, “until it’s gone.”

Unknown to many, ranchers like Charles Crispin contribute more to the world than their clichéd livestock-churning fill. According to scientists, rangelands maintained by ranchers provide the following benefits to the ecosystem:

• Rangelands play a crucial role in water cycling. In California, 80 percent of the water flows through the rangeland.

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• Studies show that rangelands managed by ranchers result to greater biodiversity. The diversity of plants and animals is found to be greater on grazed grasslands compared to unmanaged grasslands.

• Wild raptors hibernate on rangelands managed for beef cattle.

• Rangelands provide habitat to insects which are important in the process of cross-pollination. This results to a more robust and a more diverse "gene pool," enabling a particular species to be more adaptable to various environmental changes.

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• Having cattle graze rangelands can greatly reduce the amount of dry grass that could serve as fuel to a wildfire.

• Managed rangelands are more efficacious in sequestering carbon molecules which may be wedged in soil particles.

Ranching is more than a business, and even more than a way of life—it is also one of the many ways by which man can help the ecosystem remain sustainable for the years to come.

For more information, visit this Facebook page.

The logistical considerations in buying a ranch

As with most investors, ranchers also devote an ample amount of time reviewing the logistics in buying a ranch. By not plunging aimlessly into the ranch market, any chances of possible loss are greatly mitigated.

The following are the things that an aspiring rancher must take into consideration before finalizing the acquisition of a ranching property:

1. Accessibility. Is the place just within reach or does one have to pass through a rough terrain just to be able to enter the boundary? The ease of ingress and egress to the land is also essential as it is a main determinant of a property’s salability. If the property is out of the way, then creating access may become an additional financial burden to the rancher.

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2. Water access. It is an accepted fact: Ranches and farms greatly depend on water. Livestock, crops, and wildlife need a substantial amount of water to thrive; thus, an ideal property is one that at least has a creek or a river running through or adjacent to it to ascertain a year-round and reliable water supply.

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3. Land type. The rancher should first determine his purpose before starting to study this aspect. Different purposes require different land types. For example, if a rancher is interested in possibly raising wildlife for hunting purposes, then he should consider a property that resembles wildlife’s natural habitat with natural vegetation.

4. Land cost per acre. Because real estate prices fluctuate depending on market conditions, an aspiring rancher should consult professional help in timing the purchase. Real estate properties which are bought in time of overvaluation may be poised for correction, resulting to an inequitable loss.

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Charles Crispin is the owner of Hammock Walk Ranch in Florida. Learn more about ranching by visiting this Facebook page.

Primary Care Physicians May Be Hard To Find By Newly Insured Patients

This Medical News Today article talks about one of the possible effects of the Affordable Care Act.

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act - now assured by the re-election of President Obama - is expected to result in up to 50 million currently uninsured Americans acquiring some type of health insurance coverage. But a study by researchers at the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) finds that a significant percentage of the primary care physicians most likely to care for newly insured patients may be not be accepting new patients. The investigators note that strategies designed to increase and support these "safety-net" physicians could help ensure that newly covered patients have access to primary care.

"This study raises very serious concerns about the willingness and ability of primary care providers to cope with the increased demand for services that will result from the ACA," says Eric G. Campbell, PhD, of the Mongan Institute, senior author of the report to be published in the American Journal of Medical Quality. "Even with insurance, it appears that many patients may find it challenging to find a physician to provide them with primary care services."

In 2000 the Institute of Medicine published a report on the health care "safety net" - physicians and organizations caring for a significant proportion of uninsured or Medicaid-covered patients - that noted a lack of enough safety-net providers and the chronic underfunding of Medicaid. The Affordable Care Act was designed to ensure almost universal health insurance coverage, including expanding the number of individuals eligible for Medicaid. The authors of the current study note that many newly covered patients are likely to turn to physicians in the already-stressed health care safety net and that areas where such patients are likely to live often have limited primary care services. In addition, studies have suggested that physicians caring for disadvantaged groups of patients may provide lower-quality care.

The authors set out to better understand the physicians in the primary care safety net, to determine their willingness to accept new Medicaid patients and to assess their attitudes about and interest in quality improvement activities. As part of a 2009 survey of medical professionalism, physicians were asked to indicate the approximate percentage of their patients who were covered by Medicaid or were uninsured and unable to pay. They also were asked whether they were accepting new Medicaid or uninsured patients, along with several questions regarding services they provided to vulnerable populations and their attitudes towards and participation in quality improvement activities. Because of their focus on the primary care safety net, the investigators restricted their analysis to responses from internists, pediatricians and family practitioners.

Of 840 primary care physicians responding to the survey, 53 percent were safety-net providers, defined as having patient panels with more than 20 percent uninsured or Medicaid patients. Half of all responding primary care physicians indicated they were accepting new patients who either were covered by Medicaid or had no means of paying for their care. But safety-net physicians were considerably more likely to accept both patient groups, with 72 percent taking new Medicaid patients and 61 percent taking new patients with no medical coverage. There were no significant differences between the physician groups in reported attitudes about or participation in quality improvement efforts, and safety-net physicians reported greater awareness of and efforts to address disparities in health care than did non-safety-net physicians.

The authors note that the concentration of care for Medicaid and uninsured patients among a limited number of safety-net physicians and the fact that 28 and 39 percent, respectively, of those physicians are not accepting new Medicaid and uninsured patients indicate that the current health care safety net may have reached its capacity. In addition, they note, safety-net physicians' interest in quality improvement and attention to health care disparities suggests that reported differences in the quality of care they provide probably reflect limited resources available to their practices or barriers to care within the local communities.

"We found the attitudes of safety-net primary care physicians are consistent with providing equitable, universal care, and they were almost twice as likely to look out for possible racial and ethnic disparities within their practices," says Lenny López, MD, MPH, MDiv, of the Mongan Institute, corresponding author of the report. "We're already aware of the need for more primary care physicians, and these results make it apparent that the need for safety-net PCPs is even more critical. We also found that safety-net physicians were more likely to be women, under-represented minorities or foreign medical graduates, so efforts to bring more such physicians into primary care, along with efforts to close the income gap between safety-net and non-safety-net PCPs, could help expand the safety net."

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/253242.php

The Claim: Exposure to Plants and Parks Can Boost Immunity

This New York Times article discusses some of the ways how nature benefits people's health.

This time of year, allergies and the promise of air-conditioning tend to drive people indoors.

But for those who can take the heat and cope with the pollen, spending more time in nature might have some surprising health benefits. In a series of studies, scientists found that when people swap their concrete confines for a few hours in more natural surroundings — forests, parks and other places with plenty of trees — they experience increased immune function.

Stress reduction is one factor. But scientists also chalk it up to phytoncides, the airborne chemicals that plants emit to protect them from rotting and insects and which also seem to benefit humans.

One study published in January included data on 280 healthy people in Japan, where visiting nature parks for therapeutic effect has become a popular practice called “Shinrin-yoku,” or “forest bathing.” On one day, some people were instructed to walk through a forest or wooded area for a few hours, while others walked through a city area. On the second day, they traded places. The scientists found that being among plants produced “lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, and lower blood pressure,” among other things.

A number of other studies have shown that visiting parks and forests seems to raise levels of white blood cells, including one in 2007 in which men who took two-hour walks in a forest over two days had a 50-percent spike in levels of natural killer cells. And another found an increase in white blood cells that lasted a week in women exposed to phytoncides in forest air.

THE BOTTOM LINE   

According to studies, exposure to plants and trees seems to benefit health.


Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/health/06real.html