Mel’s Musings – And that’s no bull

MITCHELL, S.D. (MITCHELL NOW)  PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) recently came out against carousels. You know the type of thing, the merry-go-round with the plastic animal figures that people ride on in a circle to nowhere before dizzily getting off and running crazily to their parents or whomever. I’ve ridden my share of carousels both as a child and as a parent. I imagine I’ll be doing it again soon, once my grandson gets a bit older.

PETA argues that carousels can be just as much fun when one rides in a rocket, plane, tank, car, truck or a piece of construction equipment, etc. instead of on animal figures. I agree those are all good alternatives but disagree with PETA’s reasoning. They say riding on plastic animals normalizes human conceptions of animals as means of conveyance and creatures for use by people, from a very young age. To which I say, “That may be true, but so what?”

I agree animals shouldn’t be treated cruelly, tormented or tortured. There’s a difference between that and using animals ethically in medical research to make sure products and procedures are safe for use on humans or for folks to consume. There is also a difference, for example, between setting a dog on fire or chasing a deer with an ATV for sport and the humane slaughter of an animal for processing into food. What on Earth does PETA think animals are for?

If you listen to the radio, you’re starting to hear ads for bull sales. In Egypt, in the ancient city of Memphis, the Apis Bull was worshipped as the herald of the god Ptah. To put it in Christian terms, the Apis Bull was a sort of John the Baptist to Ptah’s God, the Creator. The Apis Bull was an actual bull believed to embody the spirit of the original herald of Ptah. It’s a bit like the belief around the Dali Lama who is supposed to be the reincarnation of Avalokitesvara, the embodiment of all the compassion of the Buddha. Once the current Dali Lama dies, the search begins for a new reincarnation. So too for the Apis bull.

Once the Apis bull lived for twenty-five years, it was ritually sacrificed, mummified and then got a burial worthy of kings and a search for its reincarnation began. Live bull calves were examined for the tell-tale marks of being the next Apis bull. The new Apis bull would be all black except for a square of white on its forehead and an eagle shape in white on its back and it would have double hairs on its tail. I guess a bovine case of split ends or some such thing…

Why do all of this, you’re probably wondering. The Apis bull represented strength, resilience, fertility and prosperity. Bulls represent many of those things to farmers and ranchers today as well. South Dakota’s ranking varies by year, but typically South Dakota ranks 5th in beef production in the nation. (Texas is 1st followed by Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska and then South Dakota.)

In the fall of 2023, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (an Iowa native) talked about the state of farming in the United States. He pointed out that the nation has lost 438,000 farms since 1981. That’s the equivalent of losing every farm that is currently in operation in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Also since 1981, more than 141 million acres of farmland are no longer under cultivation. One can see that happening in real time here in South Dakota. The development and spread of Sioux Falls is an example of an urban area consuming rural acreages around it for expansion. One need only take the Marion Road exit off of I-90 to see what Secretary Vilsack talked about. Once lined with corn fields and only sporadic housing, Marion Road is now a highly developed thoroughfare with more construction continuing to the west of it.

Secretary Vilsack points out that the loss of farms and farmers translates into the closure of rural schools, the loss of ag related businesses and the shuttering of small town Main Street businesses, not to mention the diminishment of the United States’ ability to feed itself and the rest of the world.

In PETA’s universe, where would food come from? Proteins are important to human health, growth and development. The most efficient way to get that is to consume meat – animal protein. Greenhouses can be used to produce plant based foods, but they aren’t as productive and efficient as open air agriculture on farm acreage. Too often people and politics are all about today and not the future. Any rational projection of the future foretells that there will be many more mouths to feed while using less total farm land to do so, rather than visa vera.

People in urban areas want a decent place to live and farmers, after a lifetime on the land, want a decent retirement. The sale of the farm often provides the revenue for that comfortable retirement. However, too often that acreage is being sold to a property developer and not to a fellow farmer.

When Teddy Roosevelt (TR) was president, he had the foresight to see that the United States was a vast country, but it would eventually fill with people. Prior to his political life, Roosevelt had a ranch in what is now Medora, North Dakota. Blizzards and blight ran him out of business, but TR never forgot his cowboy days or what it was like to live on and off of the land. He loved the natural beauty of this country and so set aside 230 million acres for national parks, bird sanctuaries etc. Presidents who came after him added more acres to that total, which is why we enjoy the national park system (like the Badlands and Wind Cave national parks in South Dakota) and national monuments (like Mount Rushmore) that we have today.

Farmers work hard. Agronomists innovate and develop new and more efficient seed and ways to farm. That’s all well and good. When I was born, there were 179 million people living in this country. The number of people that live in the United States today has almost doubled since then to 334 million, while the number of acres under cultivation has dropped dramatically.

We have a National Park Service in charge of conserving and caring for our national parks. I wonder how long it will be before we consider establishing a National Agriculture Service in charge of caring for, conserving and cultivating protected acres to ensure that the United States can always feed itself. I know, I know – it will never happen you say. That’s also what people used to say about planes flying and people landing on the moon too – and that’s no bull.