Can you burp "No cow tax?"

     A year ago, the Bush administration's EPA released documents outlining how the Clean Air Act could regulate greenhouse gases. Buried deep in the documents was a single paragraph about the amount of methane released into the atmosphere by bovine belches.

    Using EPA guidelines on the costs of ameliorating various environmental threats, the American Farm Bureau quickly coined the term "cow tax" and figured out how much it would cost farmers if it ever came to be. TheAFB's estimate for an emissions permit would have been $175 for each dairy cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle, and $20 for each hog.

    Taxing cows or regulating their natural vapors is an idea whose time may never come, but they are definitely an environmental factor. Quoting from a story in Sunday's Washington Post, "Belching from the nation's 170 million cattle, sheep and pigs produces about one-quarter of the methane released in the U.S. each year, according to theEnvironmental Protection Agency."

    EPA also said it has no intention of regulating livestock emissions of methane, which traps heat in the atmosphere. Any attempt to do so would cause enormous practical difficulties - how would you trap gas from both ends of a cow - and would no doubt face a loud chorus of public ridicule.

    That said, there are studies underway to reduce emissions from cows by tinkering with their diets. Stonyfield Farm, Inc., which makes yogurt from organic milk, is working with a number of its milk suppliers to reduce their environmental impact. The test cows are being fedflaxseed , alfalfa and grasses high in Omega 3 fatty acids. The diet is supposed to produce less intestinal methane than a diet high in corn and soy.

    Disappearing equity and a huge tax bite proved to be double whammies for a dairy family that turned to Brad Hilty for help. Hilty is a management specialist with the Penn State Dairy Alliance, part of the university's extension service. The couple thought the equity in their farmstead would bail them out if they went too deeply into debt. Hilty pointed out that they'd been living partly off depreciation for a number of years, and if they sold everything they'd still be on the hook to the feds for $100,000. With the help of Hilty and others, the couple, who are no longer dairying, worked through their problems. It's an interesting story, and it's in the current edition of Lancaster Farming.

    How to wake up, be really busy and do absolutely nothing.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yv0ETlEls