01/15/09 Bovine flatulence

Just when you thought it was safe to come in out of the cold&more ominous news from the feds&specifically the EPA. Now hear this: Cows could cost dairymen and beef ranchers tens of thousands of dollars each year and drive up input cost if an idea of the Environmental Protection Agency becomes law. What? Proposed legislation states that farmers whose farms emit more than 100 tons of methane would be required to purchase permits, and that includes any farm with 25 or more dairy cows or 50 or more beef cows - which amounts to almost all farms in Idaho. American Farm Bureau Regulatory Specialist Paul Schlegel says: "What we found based on the USDA estimate was that dairies as small as 25 cow dairies, feedlots with as little as 50 beef cattle would all be affected by these potential permit obligations. What that meant if you looked at the calculations was you could have $175 per cow cost imposed on the dairy of 25 cows, an $87 figure for a feedlot. In the words of Idaho Cattle Rancher Carl Ellsworth: "That's more than the profit is per head". Now the good news. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer of New York says "this idea is absurd, and if imposed would be very, very bad for our farmers and for our whole economy. ... Now is the time to nip this in the bud and wipe out any and all suggestions of a cow tax.'