Talking Agriculture with Mike Rowe

Last weekend Stacy and I had the privilege of meeting with Mike Rowe.  If you haven't heard of Mike you've probably been living under a rock for the past six or seven years.  He's practically become the face of the Discovery Channel with his hit show Dirty Jobs and along the way he's also become the face of the American worker. 

Through his experiences doing Dirty Jobs across the country he's come to realize and appreciate that everything we have is either grown or mined from the earth.  Along with that his appreciation for the people that do that work has grown.

Out of that the mikeroweWORKS.com website was born.  It's a site dedicated to educating people about the importance of skilled trade workers, including farmers and ranchers.  Through that Mike happened to find my youtube video where I dumped a bottle of Yellow Tail wine on the frozen ground to tell people that they had made a donation to the world's wealthiest animal rights group, the Humane Society of the United States. 

Our work with the Farm American project also caught Mike's eye and they featured a blog post of mine about the program on their site.  When it turned out that we were all going to be in Atlanta at the American Farm Bureau Federation meeting we were able to finally meet in person. 

Mike and his team were very interested to hear about our efforts to advocate for agriculture, including our work with the Farm American program.  Mike gets a lot of requests to be spokesman.  In fact he was the most sought after spokesman in the world in 2010.  His name has been thrown around many times in the world of agriculture as someone that would be a great spokesman for our industry.  But Mike can wisely see that we don't need a single spokesman, we need lots and lots of advocates for agriculture.  Mike isn't an expert in food production, not the way that farmers and ranchers are.  So while he is certainly willing to help share the story, ultimately we are the ones that need to be doing it. 

Mike also highlighted the efforts of the Farm American program as a great way for farming and ranching families to spread their message.  He was impressed by the unselfish efforts of Furniture Row to start the program because it was the right thing to do, not as a way to pay for a race team.  When you explain to someone all of the things we could do with Farm American to tell the story of agriculture it starts sounding too good to be true.  One look at the race car proves the intentions of Furniture Row though.  There's not a single mention of Furniture Row on the car.  That really caught the attention of Mike as it has with so many others. 

We are really looking forward to a continued partnership with Mike and his team at mikeroweWORKS.com to tell the story of agriculture.  Mike is a genuine guy who was a pleasure to meet and visit with.  He's certainly a friend of every hard working American and as he put it, a big fan of "chewing and swallowing".  It was a real pleasure to spend a few hours "chewing and swallowing" with him last week. 

You've heard me telling you to be an advocate for agriculture, now hear it from Mike Rowe.

Local Humane Society Talks About Damage Caused by HSUS

Hear the words straight from the director of a pet shelter in South Dakota that the intentional confusion caused by the HSUS is hurting local shelters.  You will also hear her say that they give 97% of their budget towards the animals they care for.  Why can't the HSUS do that?

Editors Encourage Avoiding HSUS Donations

Give to the local Humane Society
• Journal Editorial Board Posted: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 6:00 am
• Rapid City Journal

The Humane Society of the United States is cheating abused, neglected and abandoned animals out of the help they need with misleading ads that don't disclose the way donations actually are spent. (See related article on this page.)

The national organization uses gut-wrenching ads filled with pitiful animals in an emotional appeal to raise money. The problem is, only a very small fraction of that money filters down to local shelters, with those in many states, including South Dakota, receiving no money at all.

According to the financial report posted on HSUS's website, the agency raised nearly $100 million in donations and bequests last year. It spent nearly $31 million of that on fundraising alone while only $11.6 million was dispersed to animal care facilities.

Most of the money not used for administrative costs is spent on educational campaigns.
Don't make the mistake of confusing the national organization with the local Humane Society that does so much to help animals in need.

The next time you see one of those gut-wrenching ads of abused animals, and feel inclined to help, be sure to give to the local Humane Society. Read More


The editorial board of our regional newspaper in western South Dakota took note of the harm being caused by the Humane Society of the United States. The local humane societies lose when donations are made to the HSUS. If they are so confident in their mission, they should at least be honest in their commercials and advertise where the money is going to be spent. A little honesty from a humane society shouldn’t be asking too much.

HSUS Livestock Measure Heads for Ohio Ballot

HSUS Livestock Measure Heads for Ohio Ballot
By Pork news source Monday, June 28, 2010

Ohioans for Humane Farms, an affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States, said it has more than enough signatures to put an animal-housing initiative to state voters in the fall, reports Meatingplace.com.

The group is asking voters to support a constitutional amendment that would require new animal housing standards giving egg-laying hens, pregnant sows and veal calves more room to move around in their enclosures.

Karen Minton, campaign manager for Ohioans for Humane Farms, told Meatingplace the group currently has well over 450,000 signatures in hand and expects to turn in more than 500,000 on the June 30 deadline. The minimum is 402,275.

"We're heartened to have had so many Ohioans sign the petition to implement modest, common sense minimum standards for Ohio's livestock," she said in an e-mail. Link


Media reports continue to claim that the world’s richest vegan animal rights groups, the HSUS, has paid enough people to gather enough signatures to get their issue on the ballot. Many of the media and first hand reports are also reporting that the signature gatherers have been much less than truthful with potential signers. It’s certainly telling when you have to lie to people in order to get them to sign a petition but deception is how the bread is buttered at the HSUS.

ND Shelters Losing Money to Confused HSUS Donors

Difference between local, national Humane Societies confuses animal donors
Consumer Freedom center criticizes national group, which says it doesn’t claim to be a source for local sheltersA group that’s been critical of the national Humane Society renewed its jabs Wednesday, detailing in a state-by-state report on how little the society donates to local animal shelters.
By: Dave Roepke, The Forum
Grand Forks Herald

A group that’s been critical of the national Humane Society renewed its jabs Wednesday, detailing in a state-by-state report on how little the society donates to local animal shelters.
The Humane Society of the United States dismisses the criticism by the Center for Consumer Freedom, saying it doesn’t claim to be a source of grant money for local animal shelters.

Regardless of the goal of the national group, directors of shelters in Grand Forks and Fargo say they often battle the notion that donations to the HSUS will go to actual shelters.

“I definitely think it’s an issue,” said Arlette Moen, executive director of Circle of Friends Humane Society in Grand Forks.

Moen and the executive director of the FM Humane Society, Nukhet Hendricks, said they regularly encounter indications that some donors draw no distinction between their outfits and the national group.

“We have people walk into the shelter and say, ‘Oh, I give to the Humane Society of the United States,’” Moen said. “That’s our opportunity to tell them, ‘No, it doesn’t work that way.’”

Read More

It has to be incredibly frustrating for local shelters to see local money being donated to the HSUS by people who mistakenly believe they support pet shelters. I find news stories like this on a very regular basis now. Some shelters are now changing their names just so they can distance themselves from the HSUS because the confusion is affecting their ability to get donations. But the fact that HSUS is causing this hardship doesn’t seem to bother them much.

Local Shelter Suffers Due to HSUS

Shelters: We’re not them
Kylie Saari — Staff Writer Fairmont Sentinel, Fairmont MN
POSTED: April 30, 2010

FAIRMONT - When the phone rings and a voice asks for donations to the Humane Society, many people's thoughts go to cats and dogs sitting in local shelters waiting to be adopted.
But more than likely, the group calling is not local but rather the Humane Society of the United States, a charity-funded lobbying organization.

According to research released recently by the Opinion Research Company, 71 percent of those surveyed believed Humane Society of the United States is an umbrella organization representing local shelters; 63 percent believe the local shelter is affiliated with the group; 59 percent believe Humane Society of the United States contributed most of its money to local organizations; and 48 percent believe their local shelter received financial support from Humane Society of the United States.

All four beliefs are false.

"Financially, Martin County Humane Society does not receive any funding directly from HSUS," wrote Karen Folkers, vice president of MCHS, in an email to the Sentinel.

The Sentinel has published letters from citizens pleading with others to reconsider donating to local shelters because of HSUS policies.

"These letters were in response to policies of and lobbying by the Humane Society of the United States," Folkers wrote. "We hope that readers realized that the writers were referring to the national group. MCHC is a completely separate entity. The Martin County Humane Society realizes how important farming is to the economy of our area." Read More

Here is another example of a local Humane Society that is suffering because of the actions of the HSUS.

Joplin Humane Society Forced To Change Name

April 28, 2010
No Affiliation
By Karen Aquino Special to The Globe

JOPLIN, Mo. — As more and more Americans are putting the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) under the microscope, I would like to clarify a common misconception. A recent national study reveals that 7 of 10 Americans believe that the Humane Society of the United States is an “umbrella group” for local humane societies. This is not the case and seems to be the belief of many people in our region.

The Joplin Humane Society is in no way affiliated with the Humane Society of the United States or any other national organization. The Joplin Humane Society receives no funding or support from HSUS and we are an independent entity from a funding, oversight and philosophical perspective.

This misconception is so pervasive in our region that the Joplin Humane Society’s board of directors has made the difficult decision to change the name of our organization to reflect the fact that we are independent, local shelter. Our new name will also encompass our mission to promote the human-animal bond, prevent cruelty to animals and elevate the standard of care for animals in the four-state region.

The new name of the Joplin Humane Society will be announced at noon April 30 during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The Joplin Humane Society was founded in 1948 and provides care for 12,000 animals each year. All of our funding comes from private donations and fees for service.

Karen Aquino

Joplin


Many local pet shelters are suffering due to the deliberate confusion being caused by the HSUS. Consequently, the animals are the ones that pay the biggest price. The constant ads asking for money by the HSUS would make anyone believe that they are involved in direct pet care, but nothing could be further from the truth. It’s a shame that so many local shelters are having to change their name in an attempt to distance themselves from the worlds wealthiest animal rights group. While the HSUS puts millions of dollars into salaries, fundraising, lobbying and buying stock in companies, our local shelters continue trying to operate on the pennies put in a pickle jar on the counter. If you want to help pets, please donate to the local shelters in our communities that actually help pets in need.

Most People Confused About What HSUS Is

Americans Wrongly Believe the Humane Society of the United States is a Pet-Shelter "Umbrella Group"

Consumer Group Reminds Americans that Less than One Percent of Donations to HSUS Benefit Local Pet Shelters



WASHINGTON, March 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Seventy-one percent of Americans questioned in a new opinion poll wrongly believe the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an "umbrella group" for America's local humane societies. Sixty-three percent incorrectly think their local "humane society" is affiliated with HSUS. And fifty-nine percent falsely believe HSUS "contributes most of its money" to local organizations that care for cats and dogs.



The poll, which sampled the opinions of 1,008 Americans, was commissioned by the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) and conducted by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) of Princeton, New Jersey.



"These numbers indicate that Americans don't really know what the Humane Society of the United States is all about," said CCF Director of Research David Martosko. "HSUS intentionally uses those sad dogs and cats in its TV infomercials as props in an animal rights fundraising shell game. Meanwhile, thousands of American pet shelters are underfunded and struggling." Martosko blogs about HSUS at http://www.humanewatch.org/.



According to the federal income tax return filed by HSUS for the tax year 2008, less than one-half of one percent (0.5%) of the organization's budget consisted of grants to hands-on pet shelters. HSUS does not run a single shelter for dogs or cats anywhere, and it is not affiliated with any local "humane society" organizations.



Martosko continued: "This poll indicates that most Americans think HSUS is a worthy charity. But very few Americans understand what HSUS really is—a super-rich lobbying group that puts more money into its executive pensions than in the hands of local humane societies."

Survey Methodology



The survey of 1,008 adults nationwide was conducted by telephone between February 25 and February 28, 2010 by Opinion Research Corporation. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.



Questions:



I'm going to read you the names of several nonprofit organizations. For each one, please tell me if you are very familiar, somewhat familiar or totally unfamiliar with the organization.

The Humane Society of the United States: 79% familiar ("very"/"somewhat" net)



I'm going to read you several statements. For each one, please tell me if you think the statement is true or false.



71% "TRUE": The Humane Society of the United States is an umbrella group that represents thousands of local humane societies all across America.



63% "TRUE": My local humane society or pet shelter is AFFILIATED with the Humane Society of the United States.



59% "TRUE": The Humane Society of the United States contributes most of its money to local organizations that care for dogs and cats.



48% "TRUE": My local humane society or pet shelter receives financial support from the Humane Society of the United States.



(Tax records filed by HSUS show that all four statements are false.)



Link



Just as Yellow Tail and Pilot Travel Centers were fooled into thinking that the HSUS was something they aren’t, so are most folks living in this country. This survey shows exactly how they have become so wealthy. It’s been accomplished on the backs of our hard-working local pet shelters. Because of the great work they do the HSUS profits. Wayne Pacelle will probably roll out the same old song about the Center for Consumer Freedom, but they didn’t do the survey. Along with that, the questions asked in the survey were very direct rather than misleading in way that could have affected the results. We’ve got a long way to go in educating the public about the HSUS, but this past month has shown that we can accomplish great things when we work together.

HSUS Uses Common PETA Tactic

HSUS Targets Two Restaurants
By Pork news source Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Humane Society of the United States announced it has purchased shares of Steak 'n Shake and Jack in the Box restaurants, according to Meatingplace.com. The action is part of an HSUS effort to pressure the restaurants to stop purchasing eggs from caged hens, pork from crated sows, and poultry from producers that use certain slaughter methods.

HSUS uses its shareholder status to propose changes to publicly traded companies and has charged both companies with a "complete lack of meaningful movement on animal welfare." Restaurant chains such as Burger King, Wendy's, Quiznos, Denny's, Hardee's and Carl's Jr. have already created policies more to the animal activist group's liking. Link

Does this really sound like something a non-profit organization would be doing?? In the same week they are begging for money to help pets in Haiti, they are buying up stock in national chain restaurants. At the same time, our local dog and cat shelters continue operating on shoe-string budgets. Just imagine if the Humane Society of the United States did what their name implies. Maybe then some of that $200 million dollar budget would end up helping animals.