Thoughtful Thursday--Heartbreaking and Forgotten

Good Morning to you!

For those awesome readers who do not like it when I wax political or "dooms-dayish" then today is most likely a day you want to skip over, or at very least skim over and move on to the recipes or something.

Because I am deeply, incredibly disturbed by something going on close to home, and I simply can not explain why it has not been covered.

Frankly, if you are a canner or a person who believes in food storage, which honestly, should be a factor for everyone in these uncertain times, then I want to warn you, again, about something absolutely critical.

If you can afford to buy beef, now is the time to stock up and get it in your house and cupboards.

Why?

Because South Dakota has been totally crippled by this unprecedented blizzard.

And Wyoming.

And other parts of states located in similar area.

The pictures just starting to finally be posted are horrific, and eye-opening.

The personal accounts of friends and their families are absolutely stunning.

Source of image + Story

In fact most of the pictures are so graphic that I simply don't want to post them.

I will include links for those of you who want to look into this further, but there is another side to this that is absolutely infuriating to me as a blogger, and as an American citizen.

WHY has this not been covered for over a week? Really? Have we sunk so low as a nation that we do not care that an enormous portion of our beef herd has been decimated, and the suffering of the ranchers and families that ranch in that area is not worth covering? Do we really care more about Miley Cyrus and her ridiculous antics than we care about people who have, in one storm, been completely and totally wiped out of the beef industry?

Perhaps you have no idea how long it takes to build a herd of beef cattle. Perhaps you have no idea that these ranchers literally have lost, some of them, an entire lifetime of working on blood lines, not to mention the income that was weeks away from paying their bills and supporting their families through the winter.

It is horrible.

And I am angry because I know some of those people.

I am angry because this is NOT the America that I know and I want to know who the heck hijacked the American spirit of supporting the underdog and soaring in to save the day. Where is the American spirit of standing shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Americans and giving the shirt off our back if it is needed?

And see, that is where I am at today. I have stayed away from posting about a lot of this, because frankly, I don't want to doom and gloom folks and bring things further down.

However, you know what, while I am a Christian, 

I am also an American, and I love my country.

I love South Dakotans.

They are some of the kindest, strongest people I know. You HAVE to be made of tough stuff to live in one of the harshest states in the nation, weather wise. To raise animals in that environment means you have a core of steel, and are used to losing a few animals. But this goes so so far beyond that right now.

So lets say you could give a whit about some people in South Dakota losing some cattle. I mean, bigger picture, what does it matter if it does not impact you directly?

Well let me tell you how that is going to impact you.

In case you are one of those awesome Americans who thinks that the grocery stores have a factory in back that produces meat in pretty little packages, the rest of this post is for you.

My husband is a meat cutter by trade, and running into you weekly makes his day. Every time. Especially the lady who was so horrified to learn that meat comes in big hunks from the slaughterhouse that you told him you were going to become a vegetarian and then ordered a chicken cut into pieces.

Yep, this is for you.

 The last two years the cattle industry has endured enormous losses thanks to the drought and loss of viable hay to feed stock. In fact, if you want, you can certainly search this blog for a series I did last summer about the insane loss of crops and stock in the drought-stricken areas of TX, IN and quite a few others.

Beef prices skyrocketed, taking simple ground beef from an average of $1.89 per pound to more than $3 a pound. Sometimes you can get it on sale for less, and right now we are finally starting to see a decrease in the price of that.

We saw an increase in food costs across the board for many reasons, but one of the main ones was the loss of corn and other grain crops from the drought.

And now we have this.

You see, last fall, one year ago, the National beef herd was at its lowest point since the 1950's.

60+ years of loss in just a couple years, 

and all because of  prolonged drought.

And when those cattle were lost or sold, ranchers did not replace them. 

They couldn't.

They were wiped out and could barely afford to pay bills let alone feed cattle on more astronomically high prices of hay and feed.

And who do you think took up the slack?

Yep, South Dakota ranchers. Wyoming ranchers. Montana Ranchers. Nebraska ranchers.

So how does this apply to you?

Well, in the words of the amazing Handy Hubby who lives here:

"Beef is going to skyrocket."

 And who does that hurt?

You.

Me.

Anyone who is barely able to afford beef now for their families.

The ranchers who provide it.

So, please, seriously, start caring. 

Share this story, share the links I have added at the end of this, and please PLEASE, spread the word. If you can afford to buy beef right now, and freeze it, or can it, please do it.

And pray for these ranchers. Pray for their families. Pray for the poorer families of our country who in a a few months are going to find it even harder to make ends meet for their families.

And please, wake up. Start getting frustrated with how things are going in this country. I don't care which side of the aisle you are on, you should be more than frustrated with how the American people are being treated, how our vets are being treated, and how it seems we are being "punished" or "ignored" by the mainstream media. It is time to get active, start making those calls to our representatives, and tell them to get together and actually accomplish something, across the board.

We the People do not need any more stress on our plate...we are financially poorer, emotionally distressed, and dealing with blow after blow. We do not need more than that right now.

Word to the wise.

Blessings to you and yours, 

~Heather

Images on Facebook: 

Image and Post one

Image Two

Article One---excellently written

Article Two---sobering pictures
Article Three---someone else just as upset as I am

Media coverage from South Dakota

And FINALLY the about-darn-time cursory articles from the MSM that decided to cover it with egg on their face for waiting so long:

one

two

three

and Four, which just came across the wire ONE HOUR AGO.

Nice job CNN, nice job.