Texans beaten down by the heat.

    Slithering snakes seek surcease from the driest summer Texans have seen in the last half century. Snake bites are reportedly up around Austin and San Antonio as the reptiles crawl from their usual haunts in search of shade and water and run into Lone Star citizens.
    Rambling rattlers aren't the worst part of it for ranchers and farmers. A rancher in central Texas had to sell 600 head of cattle because his grass dried up. Lake levels are down as much as 30 feet, 100-degree days are the norm, and cattlemen have suffered $1 billion in losses so far.
    Crop farmers have been hit hard, too, especially cotton. Texas leads the nation in both cattle and cotton production. Some farm economists predict that this summer's losses could exceed the record $4.1 billion wipeout suffered by Texas agriculture in 2006.
    There's an AP report on the situation here http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5idiO5oOBgb4k6rcgdomM-FHn8Z8QD99IV6G00    
   
    Kentucky's King of Cones is a graduate of the world renowned Penn State ice cream short course. Carl Chaney completed the short course in 2003, went back to his home farm near Bowling Green, Ky, and began making and selling ice cream by the truckload. Lancaster Farming correspondent Sue Bowman paid a visit to the Chaney family's growing ice cream empire and reports on her visit in Section B of the current issue.

    PETA thought they should have used a blue brush. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL6u2moekds&feature=player_embedded