A ‘livestock-friendly’ industry has massive problems, from groundwater contamination to greenhouse gas emissions.
Pete Letheby
Posted inArticles
Farmers team up with Humane Society on behalf of animals
Like all farmers and ranchers, Kevin Fulton has experienced his share of tough days at work. But he does everything possible to make sure that his animals – goats, sheep, cattle and chickens – never have to experience more than one bad day themselves. “If we can provide an environment where our animals only have […]
Posted inWotr
Nebraska’s 22 mountain lions in the crosshairs
The larger question looms: Who “owns” wildlife in the state?
Posted inWotr
A moral issue confronts industrial farmers
Did you know that Nebraska is being invaded by “terrorists” and “conspiracists?” Perhaps the kindest descriptive noun some unnerved Nebraskans are using these days is “extremists.” Brace yourself: The terrorists and extremists in question are various organizations and people who care about the welfare of farm animals, led by the Humane Society of the United […]
Posted inWotr
A more colorful future awaits Nebraska
The 2010 Census recently revealed that the population of Grand Island, Nebraska’s fourth-largest city, has increased by a whopping 13 percent over the past decade. This was exciting news in a state in which 69 of the 93 counties lost population since 2000, and a third of those counties lost more than 25 percent of […]
Posted inWotr
Great Plains aura
Not long ago, I revisited the long-abandoned farm in south-central South Dakota where my grandparents farmed for over 30 years. Nothing could induce any of their children or grandchildren to copy their commitment to this lonely land, but it took a nasty cancer to get grandpa Lyle off the place. Standing at the farm’s highest […]
Posted inWotr
Like it or not, corn is in every meal
For the first time in history, the youngest generation alive today is at risk of a shorter lifespan than their parents. As we begin the 21st century, we have managed to take a great leap backward: We’re living shorter lives. We know why. It’s because of our poor diets, our alarming proclivity for fast food, […]
Posted inWotr
Western water is petering out
Gerald Spangler needs no statistics or charts to tell him what he already knows: We are running out of water. Spangler is a semi-retired farmer who has lived in southwest Nebraska, 15 miles east of the Colorado border, since the Dust Bowl days. In 1 979, he drilled his first groundwater well to a depth […]
Posted inWotr
Bring on the immigrants
Vanishing towns of the Great Plains and Midwest ought to open a welcoming door for immigrants.
Posted inWotr
Corn ethanol isn’t all it’s cracked up to be
This was supposed to be a cakewalk, a no-brainer, a slam-dunk. Ethanol from corn lessened our dependence on foreign oil, they told us. It helped our struggling Midwestern farmers. It was much better for the environment. Who could not support this? As it turns out, quite a few of us. Ethanol plants are sprouting like […]
Posted inWotr
Lions and tigers and wolves, oh my, even in the Midwest
Don’t look now, but there may be a couple of keen eyes within a placid suburb or rural Midwestern neighborhood. In fact, they might be up a tree. That’s where Nebraska’s most recent mountain lion was spotted earlier this year. The 100-pound animal was lounging comfortably in a tree in South Sioux City, across the […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2004: Keepers of the Flame
Who took the ‘farm’ out of the Farm Bureau?
It’s an organization “preying upon the very people it claimed to help,” said Frances Ohmstede, 40 years ago, about the American Farm Bureau Federation. “Its policies lead rural America further and further into debt and poverty,” said her husband, Bryce. “It’s a financial empire built for their own benefit,” added Alfred Schutte, the Ohmstedes’ friend […]
Posted inWotr
Who took the ‘farm’ out of the Farm Bureau?
It’s an organization “preying upon the very people it claimed to help,” said Frances Ohmstede, 40 years ago, about the American Farm Bureau Federation. “Its policies lead rural America further and further into debt and poverty,” said her husband, Bryce. “It’s a financial empire built for their own benefit,” added Alfred Schutte, the Ohmstedes’ friend […]
Posted inWotr
Thanks, Frank and Deborah Popper, for pointing the way
They’re not laughing anymore. Back in 1987, when Frank and Deborah Popper traversed the Great Plains ballyhooing their “Buffalo Commons” prediction for the region, they were ridiculed. At some outposts, bodyguards were needed to ensure their safety. A Montana appearance was canceled because of death threats. Funny thing, though: Parts of the Great Plains are […]
Posted inWotr
A river, a bird and a flock of untruths
Geez, all those punches must sting. In Nebraska and its neighboring Plains states, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists and other employees are again taking shots right and left from critics. It would be one thing if those blows were legitimate – almost all of them, however, hit below the belt. A recent Fish and […]
Posted inJune 10, 2002: Hatching reform
The name might be green, but not the group
When it comes to environmental, wildlife or habitat issues, it’s smart to be wary of names and titles. I was reminded of that recently when a group called the Nebraska Habitat Conservation Coalition gathered to consider strategies for halting habitat protection for wildlife along the Platte River. That’s right. The Habitat Conservation Coalition opposes habitat […]