Halloween & Critter Invasion

Halloween & Critter Invasion

Halloween & Critter Invasion plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Today is Halloween. It's known by many other names but is basically a harvest festival that pays tribute to our ancestors. Today it is known for colorful costumes and treats. Dr. Karen Debord discusses safe trick or treating.

DEBORD: You may not know your neighbors as well as when you were a child so there does need to be supervision. You certainly want to - with the child - go through and make sure that you have wrapped candies and you have things that look safe.

In true Halloween fashion one small northwest Oregon town is being invaded by hungry, crawling monsters. The problem is an invasion of armyworms. They might be a typical pest this time of year but the sheer number is causing some concern for residents and farmers in and around Hermiston, Oregon. Unless treated with pesticides the armyworms will cause major damage to yards and fields as they move en masse through the area. Hundred of thousands of the small caterpillars have taken over the area and experts surmise that last years mild winter and recent warm weather is the trigger for the invasion.

Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray.

Speciesism as defined by Merriam-Webster is "prejudice or discrimination based on species; especially: discrimination against animals". Interestingly just below the definition are rhyming words for speciesism such as absurdism, alarmism, and activism, which pretty much describes animal activists embracement of the word "speciesism" as a propaganda tool. A new documentary titled "Speciesism: The Movie" has been touring the United States the last couple of months and has garnered much attention in the media. As one can expect from the title it is rather one-sided and goes for the throat of modern animal agriculture. One of the biggest problems with animal rights activists is that they try to put a human face on animals, and seem to believe that if given a chance all animals in the wild - large and small, would behave as though they were characters in a Disney movie, if it weren't for mans' interference. The fact is bestowing human characteristics and motivations on animals won't make them more "human".

A cow is a cow. A pig is a pig. And a goat is a goat. All of which should be treated as such, albeit with care and respect.

Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.

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