Animals Of The Desert Is Not The Only Thing They Excel At

Ever since forty plus years ago Agriculturalists have shown a variety of show cattle and ran ranches with them. I showed cattle for a few years throughout my FFA experience. Cattle have played a huge role in our society feeding families and other people who reside in this world. Their effect on human culture is something that we take much pride in when raising our cattle whether it is for companion or meat products. Previous cattle showman know and strive to achieve the ultimate goal: winning grand champion. This reward is earned by having the best show calf in the ring to the judge’s perspective. In order to reach this goal, the exhibitor must use proper feeding methods and show technique. (Insert thesis here.)

The American Bison, more commonly known as the Buffalo is a humpbacked wild ox. Historically, the American bison played an important role in the Great Plains. They graze on native grasses and actually disturb the soil with their hooves which allows plant and animal species to flourish. Prairie dogs prefer areas grazed by bison where the grass is short so they can keep a lookout for hungry predators, and wolves once relied on bison herds as a major food source. Today, wild bison are beginning to return, mainly in national parks but they still need to more room to roam as they are still being hunted outside the park’s safe borders.

Our nation’s industrial farming has become more than just feeding people; it has become a way for the food industry to make more money as human population continues to grow. Jonathan Safran Foer in his book Eating Animals, illustrates the effects factory farming has had on animals meant for human consumption. Furthermore, Foer asks many questions to the reader on what will it take for us to change our ways before we say enough is enough. The questions individuals need to be asking themselves are: how do we deal with the problem of factory farming, and what can people do to help solve these issues? Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, also illustrates the animal abuse that goes unseen within the food industry as well as Bernard Rollin and Robert Desch in their article “Farm Factories”, both demonstrate what is wrong today with factory farming. Foer gives such examples of employees who work in slaughterhouses giving accounts of what goes on in the kill floors, and stories of employees who have witnessed thousands and thousands of cows going through the slaughter process alive (Animals 231). Namit Arora in the article “On Eating Animals”, as well as Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, both address some of the issues that animals face once they hit the kill floor. The food industry has transformed not only how people eat, but also the negative effects our climate endures as a result of factory farming as illustrated by Anna Lappe in “The Climate Crisis at the End

October 15, 1934 was a very dry year we had less than 10 inches of rain from January 1st to October 1st 1934. With the lack of rain my crops did not grow well at all. Not only did my crops not grow well but I only harvested 500 bushels of wheat… Which is less than the 2,800 I was expecting to harvest, and now we only 500 gallons of potable water left. I don’t know when it will rain again but winter is near and I need plan to provide for my family. Not only do I need to feed my family but I have male bull and female Jersey cow. I need to be resourceful here. I had now decided to eat the bull. Keep the cow alive but don’t feed it, drink the cow's milk, once production ceases, eat the wheat.

In the US today cattle are part of everyday culture. With more than 93 million cattle in the dairy and beef industry, and tens of thousands in the rodeo business, cattle are definitely a huge part. Lately, there has been many concerns with the bovine friends along with multiple misconceptions. Rodeos may look tough on animals, and todays society is not educated well enough on the beef and dairy industry. People don’t realize that these animals are happy, healthy, and very well cared for.

In the past century there has been a substantial change in the way human beings raise and keep animals meant for food. While in the past there were great numbers of widely spaced small individual farms, now there are relatively few, but extremely large industrialized farms. And as the numbers of animals kept and slaughtered for human consumption increases, these industrialized farms, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFO's, are having more and more of an impact on the environment and people around them. The concentration of animals causes a major problem with the waste products they produce, as well as the gases, chemicals, and other types of byproducts. And the increased use of antibiotics in the animals is beginning to have a profound effect on the health of not only the environment but the communities that exist around these industrialized farms. CAFO's, and their secondary industries, are also a large consumer of oil, gasoline, and other fuels which can have an indirect, but devastating effect on the environment. Luckily there are some who have come to recognize the problems, and potential future problems, involved in this type of animal farming and have begun to inform the public to the dangers these farms pose. And in response to this information, the public is beginning to force changes in the way these CAFO's operate and the impact they have on the environment and

Domesticated donkeys have changed their habitats over the years. Presently, they primarily live on marginal desert land and are adapted to areas that are arid at least seasonally (Moehlman, 534). Domestic donkeys prefer warm, dry climates and if left to become feral, they will return to this type of habitat. Deserts are characterized by low, unpredictable rainfall and sparse vegetation. Donkeys found their way to the New World due to Christopher Columbus’s expeditions. He aided in the migration of these animals to America. This is why donkeys can be found in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe,

Stress? Cattle? Do they not just lie around and chew their cud? The stereotype of lazy cows soaking up the sun perhaps is far stretched. Cattle are associated with this stereotype because it is what people see. An average citizen’s only interactions with cattle are seeing them in the field grazing; however a farmer understands to keep his profit and cattle healthy he must reduce stress.

The conditions in which meat livestock live in is not exactly that of a large open green field in which they are free to roam and be merry. In the Economist article, Cows down: The beef business (2008) the effects of the ill conditions cows talks of how a

Abd El-Shaffy and G. A. Abd El-Rahman.  El-Nor, Khalif and El-Shaffy are from the Dairy Science Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt.  Khattab and El-Sayed are from the Animal Production Department Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Shoubra Al-Kheimah, Cairo, Egypt.  The last author El-Rahman is from the Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University.  All that was just listed was the source of authority that these authors have in their country.  These authors or professors are well-prepared to write about this topic because they talk about the whole experiment.  They inform the reader about what was done in the experiment and what came out of the experiment.  This article came from Revista Veterinaria.  The intended readers are possibly Buffalo breeders to see what is the best way to feed the calf and what milk is the most nutritious.  Also people that are interested in this topic can read this article as well.  There

In Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, the author gives the list of the ancient fourteen species of big herbivorous domestic mammals and how they affect their regions. Diamond lists the animals in sub-categories on page 152 when he wrote, “Of those Ancient Fourteen, 9 became important livestock for people in only limited areas of the globe: the Arabian camel, Bactrian camel, llama/alpaca, donkey, reindeer, water buffalo, yak, banteng, and gaur. Only 5 species became widespread and important around the world. Those Major Five of mammal domestication are the cow, sheep, goat, pig, and horse” (Diamond, 152 & 153). In the form of a table, the author also shown the fourteen domesticated animals with the place of which they originated from.

“…these [camels] protectors of the hot winds with their fur…” and “…foretellers of gust winds as they stuck their snouts in the sand whenever a gust of wind picked up …” (Whitefield 146).

Bedouins divide their camels into two types: Common camels, and thoroughbreds. Common camels are not utilized much in daily lives. On the other hand, thoroughbreds are treated with great reverence while they carry powerful genes. There’s a rumor that thoroughbreds actually come from a female camel who ran away from its herd. She was impregnated by a wild undomesticated bull. That’s why the camels that are in that bloodline are considered quicker and tougher. Thoroughbreds are the winners of races and they are mighty enough to go to the

Camel raiding is a part of Bedouin culture. It’s a show where men display their capability of handling a camel. Although it is banned nowadays, it was highly admired in men’s honor code, then. Men, who failed to comply the code, and his family were disgraced. The rules were manageable; not to frighten the camel but rather to be gentle, not to harm neither women nor children and not to do the raiding with the morning light. These rules were put, in order to show the regard and hospitality towards the

As the twentieth century approached, America was experiencing a time of considerable expansion. All eyes were looking for ways to make the United States a larger, more powerful, and more efficient country. Because of this wave in American society, there was no movement given more devotion than the settling of the West. The range-cattle industry in its various aspects, and in its importance to the United States and particularly to the Great Plains, has been a subject of focus to Americans since its origin in the mid 1800's. This industry was rendered possible by such factors as vast sections of fertile land, the rise of heavy industry involving the great demand for beef, and