Utah

Critical Thinking Is Paramount (And No, Cows Are NOT Killing The Earth)

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 22:05:51 GMT

An Open Letter to Superintendent Rick Nielsen, Nebo School District (Utah):

This letter concerns a recent news story regarding the Nebo School District: “Utah school gives kids ‘disgusting’ insects to eat in class for climate assignment on cows killing the Earth.” Undoubtedly, the broader coverage means you’re fully familiar with the situation. While the news story drew attention to the turn-of-events, from my perspective it invokes some broader considerations.

First, climate change facts: Classroom teacher, Kim Cutler, claims, “…we’re killing the world by raising cows and animals. So we need to, get rid of cows…”. There’s simply no basis for that statement. To the contrary, EPA details agriculture as responsible for just 11% of all GHG emissions in the United States. More specifically, the beef industry represents only 3.3% of U.S GHG emissions.

Let’s take that one step further. The U.S. accounts for about 15% of the world’s total GHG emissions . Hence, the U.S. beef industry comprises less than one-half-of-one-percent of total global emissions.

Second, some broader context: Per capita beef consumption (carcass weight basis) in the United States is ~85 lb (rounded up). The total carbon footprint - considering ALL sources of GHG (both direct and indirect) associated with that production - equates to 22 kg CO₂ equivalent per kg of beef . Accordingly, the annual per capita carbon footprint for beef consumption is ~.85 mt CO₂-eq. Moreover, advances in beef industry efficiency and productivity have enabled a reduction of more than .7 mt CO₂-eq (nearly half) during the past 50 years.

Third, closer to home: EPA also outlines that 27% of GHG emissions are attributable to transportation. To that end, Utah’s Office of Tourism reports the state benefitted from having 17.8M out-of-state visitors in 2021. I’m one of those.

Now some quick math. A roundtrip flight for me from Nashville to Salt Lake City (~2800 miles) would produce the equivalent of .815 mt of CO₂ . In other words, just my portion of visiting Utah is roughly the equivalent of eating beef for an entire year. On average, my trip is likely representative of many visitors – and that occurred nearly 18M times in Utah in 2021.

None of that is intended to be critical of tourism. Rather, it’s an important industry and essential part of economic development in the state. I’m thankful for, and respectful of, the opportunity to visit Utah. As such, it’s offered as a tangible example for some broader context and draw attention to the absurdity of Ms. Cutler’s supposition.

Fourth, it demeans ranching families: Ms. Cutler’s argument completely disregards the importance of farming / ranching to the individual families whose livelihood depends on such - and their collective economic contribution to their local communities and the state. Not to mention, it neglects the respective role of ranchers – working in conjunction the Forest Service and BLM – who provide meaningful stewardship for, and preservation of, the state’s public lands (thereby also positions them as key partners in the role of Utah’s tourism).

Fifth, Nebo’s activisim: The news story reports Ms. Cutler’s assignment instructed her 6^th-grade students to write an argumentative essay “but did not permit students to disagree”. She explained, “There’s only one right answer to this essay.” That’s inherently counter-intuitive: a single viewpoint defeats the very purpose of requiring students to do their own research and subsequently provide an expositive argument.

Given that, one of the most concerning aspects in all this surrounds the very foundation of what occurred in Ms. Cutler’s classroom. It stems from training the teachers received at the District level. Seemingly, Nebo’s classrooms are increasingly prioritizing climate change activism and subsequently promoting a misplaced anti-beef agenda.

Last, critical thinking is paramount: All of the discussion above regarding climate change and beef and transportation demonstrates the importance of developing the ability to sort facts and think critically. However, the Nebo School District has seemingly relinquished its responsibility to provide such instruction.

The broader principles are what matter most. And therein lies the crux of all this. How are we supposed to get the next generation to reason clearly through any issue, if we’re unwilling to do the same?

The public school, and its effectiveness, is an essential cornerstone of our society. No one articulates that better than Henry Hardin Cherry . Therefore, I’ll conclude with one of his great exhortations regarding the paramount importance of critical thinking instruction from his book, Education and the Basis of Democracy (c. 1926):

The hope of our country is in a people who read, think, and serve; who preserve the right to take the initiative for themselves; and who challenge the right of any man or organization to do their thinking and voting for them.

Respectfully,

Nevil Speer, PhD, MBA

Nevil Speer is an independent consultant based in Bowling Green, KY. The views and opinions expressed herein do not reflect, nor are associated with in any manner, any client or business relationship. He can be reached at nevil.speer@turkeytrack.biz .

Darigold to Close Utah Cream o'Weber Operation

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:34:20 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah dairy operation will close its doors at the end of the month, marking the end of a local institution that has changed hands several times during the past decade as it struggled to stay in business.

Seattle-based Darigold Inc. will close Cream o’Weber on July 31, eliminating 96 positions. The Cream o’Weber brand will now be produced in Boise and its milk products will continue to be sold in Utah stores.

“The plant closure was an extremely difficult decision that came only after careful review of the significant losses from the past year and losses we anticipated in the future,” said Darigold communications coordinator Michelle Carter.

The closure does not affect any other Darigold plants, she said.

Darigold is the marketing and processing subsidiary of the Northwest Dairy Association. Carter said the dairy cooperative is comprised of more than 550 independent dairy producers who ship approximately 8 billion pounds of milk annually from their dairyfarms located in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Northern California and Utah.

Darigold employs about 1,400 employees operating 13 processing plants. The company was founded in 1924 but was purchased in November 2010.

The Salt Lake plant, located at 2323 S. 900 West, produces pasteurized milk products. Darigold declined to comment on specific financial data on profits and losses.

But finances are at the heart of the decision to close the Utah plant. The company is the third owner/operator of the Utah facility in the past five years. “During that time the plant has not been profitable,” Carter said.

In 2010, milk production accounted for about $293 million in revenue for the state’s dairy industry from 1.8 billion pounds of milk produced, according to John Hilton, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Utah field office. That was up substantially from 2009’s 1.77 billion pounds and $214 million in revenue.

Despite the growth, the dairy industry nationwide has experienced some volatility as milk prices have fallen from a 2012 high in January of $19 per cwt. (hundred pounds) to $16.10 per cwt. last month, falling each month so far this year.

Milk production has risen overall in Utah since 2002, but some years were better than others. The state produced 1.67 billion pounds of milk in 2002, but didn’t reach that level again until four years later. However, since 2006 milk production has increased steadily.

“Agriculture generates about $1.4 billion in revenue (annually) to farmers and ranchers in Utah,” said Larry Lewis, spokesman for the Utah Division of Agriculture and Food. “Twenty-two percent of that is milk.”

While the impact of milk production is significant and the number of milk cows has increased, the number of dairy operations in Utah has decreased, due in part to difficult economic circumstances for many smaller dairy operations.

“Last year we had about 87,000 milk cows in the state. This year we have about 91,000,” Hilton said. “Most of the dairies that have gone out of business have sold to other in-state dairy producers so the number of operations is going down.”

He said there are still more than 400 dairy operations statewide, down from about 450 just two years ago. It was that volatility that created serious financial challenges for Cream o’Weber, resulting in the pending shutdown, Carter said. “We recognize the significant impact this announcement has on both the Salt Lake City employees and the local community,” Carter said.

E-mail: jlee@desnews.com Twitter: JasenLee1

Spontaneous Combustion Claims Utah Dairy’s Hay Supply

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 05:53:57 GMT

While water is typically used to extinguish a fire, moisture is likely the cause of the flames at Holt Dairy in Newcastle, Utah.

Damp hay packed too tightly caused a spontaneous combustion reaction last Sunday, resulting in a massive barn fire. Suffering a complete loss of their storage facility, the family must now look for new forage sources during a time when most of the country is suffering drought.

“Hay fires will burn for weeks if not months if you just let them burn,” said Brenden Mood, chief of Enterprise Fire Department. “So we had to use equipment to pull the hay out.”

Battling the fire for seven hours, firefighters were able to extinguish the flames. However, the farm’s owners continued to spray bales throughout the week to ensure no flareups would occur, according to St. George News.

Research from Ohio State University shows most wet bales catch fire within six weeks of baling and contain moisture levels higher than 20%. Jason Hartschuh, guest contributor to Ohio State University Extension’s Ag Safety Program, recommends monitoring hay temperatures twice a day with a long probe thermometer.

Hartschuh says bale temperatures of 120° to 130° F often results in mold growth and makes the protein less available to animals. According to research from OSU, if the temperature in the hay continues to rise, reaching temperatures of 160° to 170° F, then there is cause for alarm.

If hay is baled with moisture levels higher than 20%, it is recommended to store these bales outside unstacked. The ventilation will allow bales to breath and go through a “sweat” period . Once moisture levels fall below 15%, bales can be stored indoors but should still be monitored closely.

For safety information regarding hay fires, read these stories below: