Free Republic

National Public Radio knows who is driving climate change as an existential threat: men who eat meat. And they found the origins of the current crisis in a 2006 television ad for Burger KIng that heralded the fast food chain and its appetite-satisfying whopper as a source of masculine culinary delight totally unlike the small portions of vegetarian food offered by places where women like to frequent. That ad began running when Malcolm Regisford, whom NPR interviewed for the story, was 10 years old, Regisford saw this commercial often in between his cartoons. “Beef is marketed to men — steaks...

Shares of vaccine stocks Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX), and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX) rallied this week, appreciating 23.4%, 16.4%, and 9.3%, respectively, through Thursday trading, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. While these three stocks gained notoriety back in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears this week's detection of avian bird flu in a second U.S. citizen and the first-ever detection of avian flu in a human in Australia are spurring fears of an outbreak and thus a possible boon for companies that can quickly produce a bird flu vaccine. Bird flu detected in Michigan...

Cows in California have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and are now in quarantine, according to the state's Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). California hosts a fifth of the nation's dairy cows, and it is the number one producer of milk, butter, and ice cream, and the number two producer of cheese and yogurt in the US. The current infections of HPAI among cattle in the US started in March, when a 'mysterious' illness broke out among dairy cows in Texas...These cows were the first in the world to officially test positive for the bird flu...

Queen guitarist Sir Brian May says new research shows cattle could be passing bovine tuberculosis (bTB) between themselves, and that badgers are not a significant factor in the spread of the disease. Sir Brian, 77, helped conduct the research presented in a new BBC documentary, and says his campaigning against badger culling to tackle bTB "has become as important to me as music". Cattle are regularly tested and destroyed if the disease is found, with more than 50,000 slaughtered in the UK between April last year and March this year. A leading vet said Sir Brian's findings could not be...

Hidden deep within the new omnibus bill is a secret provision to allow the federal government to electronically track all cattle in the United States. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) warned about the hidden provision on X, stating that lobbyists will receive $15 million in taxpayer funds to unleash the electronic tracking grid on the nation’s meat-producing cows and bison. As stated directly from the omnibus, the agreement “directs the Department to continue to provide the tags and related infrastructure needed to comply with the Federal Animal Disease Traceability rule (9 CFR 86), including no less than $15,000,000 for electronic identification...

Denmark proposed a “flatulence tax” plan that allegedly garnered industry-wide support and is anticipated to be adopted by the national legislature, outlet Euro News reported. A bold new proposal from the Danish government states that starting in 2030, livestock farmers in Denmark will be charged for the greenhouse gases that their pigs, sheep, and cows produce.

Horses were domesticated at least twice, researchers report June 6 in Nature. Genetic data suggest Botai hunter-gatherers in Central Asia may have been the first to domesticate the animals for milk and meat around 5,000 years ago. That attempt didn't stick. But other people living north of the Caucasian Mountains domesticated horses for transportation about 4,200 years ago, the researchers found.Those latter horses took the equine world by storm. In just a few centuries, they replaced their wild cousins and became the modern domestic horse...ancient people from southwest Asia known as the Yamnaya have been credited with being the first...

Undoubtedly, by this time in your life you have read a hundred times, or maybe a thousand, that beef production is a “major contributor” to climate change. It’s one of those narratives that has become a continuous drumbeat in the progressive press. Probably, you have had no reason to question it. Without thinking about it, you likely assume that this narrative is probably true. But there is good reason to think critically about this one. Among the various scare stories used to take further control of your life, this is one of the more important. With the war against...

No need to make a stink: Controlling bovine flatulence could be key to helping curb global warming. New research suggests that breeding dairy cows to fart less — and, therefore, release less methane — could cut down on greenhouse gases. The team from Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute in Australia combed through 27 reports, drawing conclusions about various ways to curb methane emissions in the dairy and beef sectors in the country. Food production is one of the leading causes of climate change — livestock farming accounts for about 10% of greenhouse gas emissions — with one 2020 study finding...

The Biden administration's plan to relocate grizzly bear populations to rural parts of Washington State will have a devastating impact on agriculture and livestock in the region while posing a significant danger to local communities, a fifth generation cattle producer warned. Residents of Washington State are doubling down on their concerns surrounding the federal government's plan to translocate grizzly bears, an apex predator, to the federally-managed North Cascades National Park, after the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the strategy their preferred plan for grizzly bear management in the region. The North Cascades National Park borders...

Scientists in Brazil have engineered a cow to produce human insulin in its milk, making history as the world’s first transgenic cow capable of such a feat. Though still a long way off, the researchers hope that this bovine breakthrough could open doors for sustainable insulin production and help tackle the world's insulin supply problems. For now, the achievement is just a proof-of-concept – but with additional testing and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, it could be scaled up to rival current insulin production methods, which involve genetically modified yeast and bacteria. "Mother Nature designed the mammary gland as...

New York State’s Attorney General Letitia James is targeting businesses, such as the major beef producer JBS USA, for alleged environmental misrepresentations. The lawsuit accuses JBS of increasing beef production during a climate crisis and failing to adhere to environmental regulations, including driving deforestation in the Amazon. “We will cut our own emissions by 30% in 2030 and eliminate Amazon deforestation from our supply chain within five years,” James’ office stated. ames seeks penalties and criticizes JBS for misleading consumers on sustainability. “When companies falsely advertise their commitment to sustainability, they are misleading consumers and endangering our planet.” “JBS USA’s...

One of several wildfires raging in the Texas Panhandle has grown to become the largest in state history. The Smokehouse Creek fire has been burning since Monday and emergency crews have made little progress in containing it. It has so far torched over 1 million acres of land in Texas, the most by a wildfire in the history of the state, and 31,500 acres in Oklahoma, according to CNN. The Smokehouse Creek fire is just one of several that have ripped through Texas cattle country this week. Two people have died so far in the fires. Ranchers have lost thousands...

The United States is importing record amounts of beef this year and exporting less after ranchers slashed the nation’s cattle herd to its lowest level in decades, tightening margins for meat companies like Tyson Foods (TSN.N). The decline in cattle numbers, after years of drought fried pasture lands used for grazing, led to soaring U.S. beef prices. Higher prices incentivize companies to import cheaper beef and discourage U.S. beef purchases by buyers like China, Japan and Egypt. …The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) expects the U.S. to drop to the ranking of world’s fourth-largest beef and veal exporter this year,...

Former President Donald Trump is giving yet another major Iowa presidential campaign event a miss next month. Neither the 77-year-old 2024 Republican front-runner nor former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are scheduled to be part of Hawkeye State Gov. Kim Reynolds’ “Fair Side Chats” at the Iowa State Fair — as Trump continues his feud with Reynolds and Christie focuses his attention on New Hampshire. “President Trump looks forward to interacting with tens of thousands of Iowans at the fair in an open and unfiltered setting,” campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Post of the apparent snub to Reynolds.

If you’re planning to buy some beef to throw on the grill over the next few weeks, expect to pay up to three times more than you did just a couple of years ago, when our domestic supply was plentiful due to a historic cattle selloff. Since 2021, ranchers have been coping with drought and record feed prices, which forced many of them to send their animals for slaughter earlier than usual. And while that led to a higher supply and steadier prices back then, now it is resulting in falling production, empty shelves, and a painful spike in prices...

A few weeks ago, 42-year-old Jared Bossly ventured out into his farm to plant alfalfa. Bossly’s farm in Brown County, South Dakota has been owned by his family for four generations. They grow corn, beans, and alfalfa in addition to raising cattle. They also plant trees all over the property as a windbreak to protect the herd. Bossley has put his entire life into his work, and has passed those values along to his children. He and his 17-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son work on the farm daily to do the right things for the land. Every spare penny the...

Tens of thousands of ranchers are reporting the largest beef supply drop since 1962 as herds continue to shrink all across the country. The meat shortages we have been warned about for months are now hitting all major grocery stores, and consumers are seeing prices soar to levels last seen during the inflation peak of June 2022. However, livestock economists say that a price spike will likely be seen in the months ahead, with summer demand further squeezing inventories at supermarkets. A new report reveals that many Americans have already begun stockpiling meat to get ready for the shortages that...

Recent reports say that six cattle died mysteriously in Texas, all with their tongues removed, the hide around one side of their mouths gone, and without any apparent bloodshed. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office released a statement saying that the cause—and time-- of death was as yet unknown.The cattle were found along Texas State Highway in three different counties, with each animal part of a different herd and in a different pasture, according to the sheriff’s office. Five were adults, one a yearling.Stranger still, in two cases, the animals’ genitalia and anuses had been removed with a circular cut that...

The nation's leading industry group representing U.S. beef producers blasted Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams after he announced an effort earlier this week to push plant-based meals. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), which represents cattlemen and affiliate organizations across all 50 states, accused Adams of misleading on the carbon footprint and emissions profile of the American meat industry. The group noted that beef cattle represent a small fraction of nationwide emissions. "It’s easy for Mayor Adams to lob attacks at beef, anything that makes for better headlines than ‘Meet NYC’s Rat Czar,’ but the reality is that...