THE PUBLIC MIND: FACTS AND FACTOIDS: DESPITE UNSUBSTANTIATED STATEMENTS, AMERICA IS A BLESSED NATION

To the Editor:

We are now in the final month until the election. It is a time filled with debate, discussion, decision and ... factoids. Factoids? Factoids are pieces of information presented in a debate, speech, column, etc., as fact ... but in reality they are not factual at all. Factoids are used frequently by extremists and activists who seem to operate under the premise "if the facts don't fit, make some up that do". The public has been inundated the last ten years with factoids about the beef industry. The need to categorize these statements led to the National Cattlemen's Association staff to coin the term factoid. I thought I would list a few of the factoids frequently used by activists when attacking the beef industry.

Factoid 1: If only we didn't feed grain to livestock we could feed all of the hungry people in the world.

The fact is grass, roughage, by-products and crop residues make up 85 percent of the nutrients consumed by cattle. These are all renewable resources and not edible by humans. Sixty million reasonably good crop land acres in the U.S. and 75 million acres of the best crop land in Argentina are being idled because there is no market for the grain. That is an area three times the size of the state of Missouri. This doesn't include the land idled in Canada, Europe, Australia, etc. People are starving because of unstable governments, civil wars and poor infrastructure, not livestock.

Factoid 2: (This one I have heard several "movie stars" repeat.) For every hamburger eaten in this country 5,000 square feet of tropical rain forest are destroyed. The implication is that the rain forests are being destroyed to provide pasture for cattle destined for U.S. markets.

The fact is common sense and a small calculator will tell you if that were true, we would have destroyed all of the rain forest long ago. If you would want to make the effort to actually check you would find that the U.S. does not import any fresh meat from tropical rain forest countries. Why? Because these countries cannot meet our high health and inspection standards.

Factoid 3: Methane produced by cattle is a threat to the environment.

The fact is according to research at Texas A&M, beef production in the U.S. contributes .5 percent of the total estimated world production of methane. The number one source of methane is the burning of fossil fuels. Number two is gas emissions from "wetlands."

Factoid 4: Ted Turner having just recently purchased ranches in Montana and New Mexico sold the cattle and replaced them with buffalo. He actually said in a speech that buffalo are more pleasurable to be around than cattle because they have a sense of humor and cattle don't. He also said buffalo are cleaner and better for the environment than cattle because they "wipe their bums."

The sources for the facts 1, 2, and 3 are the USDA, U.S. Customs Service and Texas A&M. I cannot quote a source that repudiates factoid 4 but will depend on your common sense. I have, however, been watching TBS lately in anticipation of a commercial saying that 9 out of 10 buffalo prefer Charmin over White Cloud.

What was the "factoid" done to the way we do business? Factoids have moved all businesses, not just agriculture, to a point where we are perception-driven rather than production-driven. We now must ask ourselves daily questions about perceptions. Will I be viewed as a good steward of the land? Do people know the extra efforts made to treat my animals humanely? Can people see the tremendous efforts made to produce a safe, wholesome, healthy product? These are things that the beef industry has done for decades but now our problem is getting people to recognize these efforts.

If you are producing a product or in some instances a service, you must answer these same questions. Is my product perceived to be environmentally safe? Is the service I provide perceived to be fair to all? You may have been doing everything perfectly in these areas for years, but if people perceive otherwise, the facts don't matter. It is time we as a nation moved back to a production-driven society rather than perception-driven.

In the days ahead beware of the factoid and the factualization process of a factoid. Step one is the original statement. Step two is the quotation of that statement. Step three is the constant repetition of the factoid until it is perceived as true. The facts are out there for anyone who is willing to make the effort.

As the campaigns continue, I am positive that more factoids will rear their ugly head. The one that bothers me the most comes from that free flowing fountain of factoids, Bill Clinton. He continues to put forth the idea that times now are the worst since the Great Depression. He advocates more taxes, more government regulation, more government control of private business and more input into our daily lives. To call that the answer to our problems has to be the grandfather of all factoids.

The fact is the U.S. has the highest living standard in the world. We are the number one manufacturing country in the world. Interest rates are the lowest they have been in decades. We have the best educational system in the world (consider that we try to educate every child). Inflation has dropped to 3 percent. The employment rate is 92.5 percent. We have the best health care in the world. We have the cheapest, largest variety, most abundant, safest, food supply in the world. We have a clean, healthy environment that is getting even better, not worse. The rich are paying more taxes than they have ever paid. Our life expectancy continues to increase. The people under the official poverty line have a higher standard of living, adjusted for inflation, than the middle class had in the '50s. Due to the growth in our economy, more jobs and the Reagan tax cut, income to the federal and state governments doubled in the '80s, Congress just spent even more. We should always strive to do better, but sometimes we need to stop and count our blessings. We truly are a blessed nation.

Mike Kasten

Past President of the

Missouri Cattlemen's Association,

Director of the

National Cattlemen's Association

Cape Girardeau County

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