katfeete

katfeete, 14 days ago

@COVID19_DISEASE I mean, obviously, because they are more concerned with protecting the industry than protecting human health, I just….

It’s frustrating that this “biosecurity” babble could sound reasonable to people outside the industry. But it’s bullshit! And the bulk tank panel! It’s RIGHT THERE! It could tell us how many herds this is really in and what mutation is looking like and whether this is really single source and —

froths

katfeete, 14 days ago

@COVID19_DISEASE And I mean, a smaller aggravation, but “up to” $1,500?

The average dairy herd size in Texas — where all this likely started — is 1,000 head. Large herds (and this is likely running through large herds) are 10,000 head.

The USDA offering somewhere between $1.50 and 15 cents PER COW for “biosecurity measures” is a joke. No one is doing that.

katfeete, 21 days ago

Like yes, my dude, I know this wasn’t what you expected from your American Experience, but there’s the U!S!A! and then there’s rural Appalachia. Mama Mountain don’t allow no fiber optic cable ‘round here. Stop bitching about it so loud, she might hear you and drop enough forest on us that we’ll be back to two cups and a string.

katfeete, 22 days ago

@ZachWeinersmith LeGuin called superheroes “submyths”. I dunno that she was specifically thinking of the Weird Sex issue but it still tracks. 😂

katfeete, 1 month ago

First: the status of fluid raw milk in the US. A 2019 study found that about 1% of consumers reported consuming raw milk “frequently”. In states where it’s legal, it’s usually only allowed to be marketed by the farmer to the consumer, either openly or via the “herdshare” loophole. In about ten states, it’s more or less illegal (“pet milk” states like FL are counted in this.) Only in around another ten is it legal to sell in stores. So… it’s a very, very tiny slice of milk consumption.

katfeete, 1 month ago

Second: the dairies. Currently only 34 dairies have diagnosed cases of bird flu, and there’s evidence that there was a single “jump” event of the virus from bird to cow; all subsequent infections have been spread from that first, unlucky host. But remnants of virus have been found in 20% of milk on shelves. How can this be?

There’s several potential factors, but the one I’m not seeing in the media: 70% of the US milk supply right now is being produced from herds of 1,000 cows or bigger.

katfeete, 1 month ago

A thumbnail sketch of these operations: they are confinement — cattle stay indoors or in cramped feedlots. The milking parlors run 24/7, staffed mostly by immigrant labor (often, obviously, illegals.) Maintenance for equipment, people, and animals is kept to a bare minimum. Turnover — of people and animals — is high, so there’s constantly animals moving in and out. It’s disease spread heaven.

What operations like this aren’t doing is selling goddamn raw milk at the goddamn farmer’s market.

katfeete, 1 month ago

So in summary: a tiny fraction of the US population drinks raw milk. Of those, most are getting their milk directly from small homestead or family farms. The bird flu epidemic likely originated on and is likely to be spreading mostly through megafarms, whose operational conditions are ideal for it. The number of people likely to be exposed to bird flu via raw milk is not zero, but it is quite low.

So WHY is EVERY SINGLE ARTICLE mentioning RAW GODDAMN MILK?

katfeete, 1 month ago

Because theater. Because raw milk is the sacrificial bone thrown to all the people asking why the USDA isn’t doing more, why they’re withholding vital data, why they aren’t saying anything about the farms this is on or even how many animals are affected. Because it’s the distraction so people won’t ask about pasteurized milk, or beef (around 20% of the beef supply is from dairy herds), or the other products that represent real money, not raw milk’s pocket change.

Food security theater.

katfeete, 1 month ago

Thank you for coming to my TED rant, please go yell at the USDA to give the scientists real data so as a damn farmer I know what to fret about. And, you know. Watch out for the damn theater.

katfeete, 1 month ago

No, it’s not proven yet, but feeding cows bird waste or ANY animal product is such a ludicrously terrible idea on so many levels. I thought we’d learned our lesson after mad cow, but NOPE.

(Fair cop: it’s also something that I kinda want to believe, because as dairy farmers we’ve obviously been watching the bird flu saga with great worry, and if this is the cause we can stop worrying, since we don’t, you know. Feed our cattle bird shit.) #agriculture #H5N1

katfeete, 1 month ago

@batichi … what

Like a) that makes no sense but also b) are you actually having this nonsense conversation MORE THAN ONCE, and if so how?!

katfeete, 1 month ago

@ZachWeinersmith I’ve heard good arguments that certain things like calculus shouldn’t be taught at the high school level (the argument was we should be teaching statistics instead, particularly how to analyze statistics in media.)

Algebra though — I’m an English geek and even I think that’s way too important a building block. It teaches you how to THINK in math.

katfeete, 1 month ago

@cstross @cdarwin And much like novelists, farmers are also shouldering the majority of the (substantial) financial risk. Crop failures? Wildfires? Company won’t pick up your milk because there’s a pandemic on and they aren’t set up to handle the switch between restaurant/cafeteria packaging and packaging for home sales? You’re the one on the hook.

It’s a mess.

katfeete, 2 months ago

@samhainnight My neighbors are all lawn people and not garden people, alas. I mean, I could sneak in and plant them in their lawns. But I’m not sure I wanna be That Neighbor….