IT'S A GREAT FUTURE!

Admittedly, there are a lot of challenges ahead of us, but we have a great future! One of the characteristics of the people of God is that they are optimistic! His people never loose! Even when things apparently seem to go wrong, they turn out right (Romans 8:28)! Having said all that, things are going to get really interesting in the future on the farm. Last week I helped my 2 nephews work the cows and calves, they bought from me, through the chute. We vaccinated, deloused, pregnancy checked cows and castrated calves. While we were doing this I told the guys about the following blurb I read in "Feedstuffs" magazine, "Last year, Jason Matheny, a researcher at the University of Maryland announced that meat could be cultured in a lab from cow blood. One of the benefits, as touted by the researcher, is that it does not require the killing of animals. Matheny is one of 11 Ph. D. and/or M.D.s that make up a nonprofit organization called New Harvest. New Harvest is a research organization working to develop new meat substitutes, including cultured meat--meat produced in vitro in a cell culture rather than from an animal. . ." I simply ended by saying, "Cowboys of the future will be wearing lab coats instead of chaps and spurs."

The cowboy running the squeeze gate that guides the cows into the squeeze chute said, "That can never happen!" I happen to believe there will always be a market for real prime rib. Think how unromantic it will be for your meat to come from a lab rather than a feedlot. But changes are a comin'!

In his State of the Union address, Pres. Bush talked about energy coming from switch grass and other cellulose. People outside of agriculture laughed, but anyone who knows anything about cellulose ethanol production was not laughing. There is a huge potential of ethanol production in switch grass. It has more energy than corn, unless you count the cornstalks, which can also be turned into ethanol. With the wind turbines, ethanol production, nuclear power and efficient use of our own fossil fuels, the United States can be energy independent! It is a critical factor in turning off the funding faucet for terrorists.

For me, things are going to get extremely interesting down on the farm!

Praise the Lord!
Tom