Harsh Realities

10600 U.S. Highway 42 Marysville, Ohio 43040 Phone 614-873-6736 • Fax 614-873-6835 www.ohiocattle.org cattle@ohiocattle.org

Editor Elizabeth Harsh

Managing Editor Hanna Fosbrink

Ohio Cattleman magazine (USPA: 020-968, ISSN: 1543-0588) is published six times per year: Winter issue, mailed in January; Expo preview issue, mailed in February; Spring issue, mailed in April; Summer issue, mailed in July; Early Fall issue, mailed in September; and Late Fall issue, mailed in October; for $15 a year to OCA members only. It is dedicated to reporting facts about Ohio’s cattle including marketing, production and legislative news. All editorial and advertising material is screened to meet rigid standards, but publisher assumes no responsibility for accuracy or validity of claims. All rights reserved. Circulation for the issue is 3,086.

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OCA Staff

Elizabeth Harsh Executive Director Ron Windnagel Director of Accounting & Operations Hanna Fosbrink Manager of Communications & Managing Editor Karigan Blue BEST Program Coordinator Tiffany Arnett Administrative Assistant

Persistence

By Elizabeth Harsh, Ohio Cattleman Editor

Our farm has been under attack this summer and it’s not from government regulators or an animal rights activist group. Our attacker is a small, but tenacious, red bird. By now you are probably laughing over the idea of one little bird wreaking havoc, but the war has been real. The attacks were carried-out by a very persistent cardinal who saw his reflection and presumed another bird was on the inside of our home’s glass doors. So, obviously we closed the curtains, but the bird continued pecking away at his reflection. What started out as slightly amusing, quickly escalated. Our humor turned to animosity when beery season rolled around and the mess, he was already making on the porch, grew significantly worse. As weeks passed, it was suggested that the reflective side of DVDs when hung up in the targeted area would scare the bird away. Only problem was finding something to hang the DVDs on. Bent wire coat hangers fit nicely over the door and suspended the shiny DVDs. Unfortunately, the DVDs were not successful in stopping the cardinal’s pecking, but they did add an unnecessary extra measure of redneck ambiance to the entryway of our house and were quickly discarded. I think the bird actually played with them. And every time he was shooed away, he refocused his attacks on the windows and side mirrors of whatever car or truck was sitting in the driveway leaving his calling card in the process. With frustration and bird droppings mounting, some quick online research yielded a motion-activated bird alarm. The alarm flashed lights and made an irritating noise when something moved in front of it but resulted no reduction in attacks. In fact, the bird alarm only succeeded in making the bird mad, and occasionally he would add shredding the basil plant located nearby to his list of attacks. As the war moved into multiple months and multiple porch scrubbings, the red menace showed no signs of letting up and his persistence never wavered. This story of persistence leads me to the heart of this column. Cattle producers share this same persistent nature. It is our persistence as good stewards of the environment that drives us to find a better way to communicate that cattle production in the U.S. is a climate solution. This thinking led to NCBA’s recent announcement to address beef sustainability and solidify their commitment to environmental, economic and social sustainability for the industry. The announcement led with the bold goal of demonstrating climate neutrality of U.S. cattle production by 2040. Additional goals include creating and enhancing opportunities for producer profitability and economic sustainability by 2025. And enhancing trust in cattle producers as responsible stewards of their animals and resources by expanding educational opportunities to further improve animal well-being. There is lots more to this effort to “begin playing offense and quit being kicked around by biased, unscientific data in the media,” as one of the presenters so accurately pointed out. Consumers are pushing for sustainability in their food, but most struggle to define what sustainability means. More education is needed as 70% of consumers admit they are not familiar with how cattle are raised. NCBA market research shows when defining sustainability, animal welfare is the biggest concern for consumers as they think about raising cattle or beef for food. Yet their top considerations when they make decisions about proteins are still issues like taste, safety, value and nutrition. The research also shows great opportunities for the industry as 62% of consumers say they find cattle producers very credible. It’s this high level of trust that will help cattle producers successfully share our story of commitment to sustainable beef production and being part of a climate solution. And as always, cattle producers will be persistent in this effort.