Colorado trying to improve the life of livestock

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MacFromOK

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The age part alone is absolutely nuts... and they're including fish as livestock. :shocked:

"In an updated definition of animals, livestock has been added to the statute. Livestock is defined as bovine, camelids, caprine, equine, ovine, porcine, FISH and poultry. The act proposes that no animal can be harvested (butchered) until it has lived 25 percent of its natural lifespan. The act “explicitly defines” the natural lifespan of a cow as 20 years, a chicken as 8 years, a turkey as 10 years, a duck as 6 years, a pig as 15 years, a sheep as 15 years, and a rabbit as 6 years. "

"The fallout from passage of such an initiative would be devastating at so many levels. Colorado’s sheep, lamb, and wool production ranks fourth in the nation. Because a lamb is butchered at 6 – 8 months and the natural lifespan defined in this initiative is 15 years, lamb farmers would be out of business in the state of Colorado."

"Cattle and Calves is Colorado’s number one agricultural commodity with 2.6 million head of cattle in the state. No one I know wants to chew on a steak from a 5-year-old steer. Youthfulness and tenderness are directly and positively correlated."

"I have not even begun to talk about the all the costs associated with caring for livestock those extra months (years?) before they can be harvested or the added cost to the consumer. So long export markets. They do not want beef from cattle over 30 months of age. These concerns only scratch the surface."

"Colorado ranks tenth in the nation in the number of cattle with 2,650,000 head. If it can happen in a state that has 2.83% of our country’s cattle, it can happen anywhere."

https://brownfieldagnews.com/two-cents/animal-agriculture-threatened-in-colorado/
 

Cowcatcher

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The age part alone is absolutely nuts... and they're including fish as livestock. :shocked:

"In an updated definition of animals, livestock has been added to the statute. Livestock is defined as bovine, camelids, caprine, equine, ovine, porcine, FISH and poultry. The act proposes that no animal can be harvested (butchered) until it has lived 25 percent of its natural lifespan. The act “explicitly defines” the natural lifespan of a cow as 20 years, a chicken as 8 years, a turkey as 10 years, a duck as 6 years, a pig as 15 years, a sheep as 15 years, and a rabbit as 6 years. "

"The fallout from passage of such an initiative would be devastating at so many levels. Colorado’s sheep, lamb, and wool production ranks fourth in the nation. Because a lamb is butchered at 6 – 8 months and the natural lifespan defined in this initiative is 15 years, lamb farmers would be out of business in the state of Colorado."

"Cattle and Calves is Colorado’s number one agricultural commodity with 2.6 million head of cattle in the state. No one I know wants to chew on a steak from a 5-year-old steer. Youthfulness and tenderness are directly and positively correlated."

"I have not even begun to talk about the all the costs associated with caring for livestock those extra months (years?) before they can be harvested or the added cost to the consumer. So long export markets. They do not want beef from cattle over 30 months of age. These concerns only scratch the surface."

"Colorado ranks tenth in the nation in the number of cattle with 2,650,000 head. If it can happen in a state that has 2.83% of our country’s cattle, it can happen anywhere."

https://brownfieldagnews.com/two-cents/animal-agriculture-threatened-in-colorado/
Where it reads “No one I know wants to chew on a 5 year old steer”......well, they won’t have to cuz it’ll be a 5 year old bull unless someone committed a felony by castrating the bull. The deal is so whacky on so many levels that even when you think you are describing what things will be like, you gotta speak even crazier.
 

trekrok

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Where it reads “No one I know wants to chew on a 5 year old steer”......well, they won’t have to cuz it’ll be a 5 year old bull unless someone committed a felony by castrating the bull. The deal is so whacky on so many levels that even when you think you are describing what things will be like, you gotta speak even crazier.

I envision the Boulder politicians sitting around a circle like on the 70s show brainstorming ideas. What would have offered a good laugh a few years ago is a real possibility nowadays.

This would basically shutter the CO livestock industry would it not? Does this restriction also apply to products shipped into CO?
 

Cowcatcher

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I envision the Boulder politicians sitting around a circle like on the 70s show brainstorming ideas. What would have offered a good laugh a few years ago is a real possibility nowadays.

This would basically shutter the CO livestock industry would it not? Does this restriction also apply to products shipped into CO?
I’d say it will wreck their agriculture business. I’m not sure about imports or if the animals can be hauled out of CO, castrated/pregged and return to CO. I’m really surprised they didn’t mention how horrible branding cattle is. Last I knew (I lived in CO from 1999-2002) CO was still an open range state and like @dennishoddy mentioned several folks cattle will run together at certain times of the year. Therefore branding is very important. CO is also much stricter on hauling livestock. You’ve got to get a brand inspector to look at any animal you buy and get a brand inspectors hauling permit for whichever particular animal you’re hauling if you are going further than 75 miles. Any animal you haul to a salebarn you better have a brand inspection for that animal or some other way to prove you’d recently purchased it. I dunno about today but I’d say 15-20yrs ago that stealing cattle out there wouldn’t be near as easy as it is in other states.
 

rawhide

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I've become a big fan of the Cowboy Channel which is owned by Patrick Gottsch, who also owns RFD TV. He is using his platforms to address issues such as this. I recently heard him mention that the Colorado governor is supporting a "meatless Monday" in a state that many make their living ranching. Gottsch has also stated that part of his mission with these channels is to reach an urban audience to help bridge the cultural and political gap between rural and urban America. I encourage everyone to support his efforts. Just as with gun control, if we are not proactive to get ahead of these kind of issues, we may be forced to deal with them in ways that none of us want.
 

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