"John McCain recognizes that agriculture is one of America's greatest strategic assets."

Stategic Assets.  This is the first sentence on the McCain/Palin website under their Propserity for Rural America platform.  In the following two paragraphs, it states that leadership in agriculture is "critical to our national security and world peace" and "Our nation's security depends on the health of American agriculture".

Wow!  When I explained this to my cows they completely revolted.  They will no longer herd properly and have become increasingly condescending.  They graze and lay around knowing that they aren't food for America anymore, but perhaps a bargaining tool against North Korea.  With baling twine used as a sash, a pageant was held and the winner mooed out "world peace".......I think she was a ringer.

Now, do I understand the meaning behind his statements?  Yes.  Trade.  But, is this really the underlying and most vital needs of America's farmers and ranchers?  No.

There is actually not one mention of the words livestock, cattle, hogs, produce or vegetables anywhere in their "plan".  The actual references to farmers and ranchers I could find amount to "When farmers suffer from a natural disaster such as droughts or floods, we should assist them - this is a commitment we have made to our farmers and John McCain will honor it."  Sweet!  I asked my five year-old neighbor if someone's crops flooded if we should help them - she said "yes".  I think she's voting for McCain.

From their website, "John McCain believes alcohol-based fuels hold great promise as both an alternative to gasoline and as a means of expanding comsumers' choices.  Some choices such as ethanol are on the market right now.  The second generation of alcohol-based fuels like cellulosic ethanol, which won't compete with food crops, are showing great potential."  While that doesn't actually declare a vision or plan they have and is merely a "filler" statement, it does show that at least they are thinking about it.  But wait!  In the most recent issue of Farm Journal he states that he "Does not support the second generation production of ethanol from cellulosis sources."

Cellulosis sources are things like switch-grass, stems, leaves and wood; feedstocks and matter that is non-edible.  Essentially what's left of a plant like corn after it's been used for its purpose of food.   The research and development of cellulosis sources for ethanol and fuel, by McCain's own admission, "holds great promise," won't compete with food crops" and is "showing great potential".  But, he "does not support" it.  Drill Baby Drill.

My husband Paul is a cowboy.  A real one.  He wears chinks, not chaps.  He ropes for necessity, not for money.  His first choice is a reatta, not a rope.  He's old-school Californio vaquero, albeit a blonde-haired, blue-eyed one.  Tradition and what it means makes him the man he is.  His father is a row-crop farmer in the Salinas Valley in California.  Farming and ranching are in their blood. 

As one of - if not the - oldest industries in the country, ranching has continued to evolve over three centuries.  It's tough to be a rancher or farmer.  It's a great way of life, but it's not easy to make your bottom line the lovely shade of black - especially when your wife has a penchant for Rock & Republic jeans over Wranglers and Franco Sarto boots over Ariats.  Farmers and ranchers have consistently been on the innovation side of technology and productivity.  Obviously, the more productive your ground and management is, the more productive your bank account is. 

One of the only actual agendas I could find in McCain's plan is that he will "direct the USDA ....to develop more stress-resistant, higher-yielding crops to increase production per acre".  Wow!  Finally!  Someone will show us what to do - and thank goodness it's the government!  Um....okay....good use of spending.  I can't wait for the magic crops!  I hope its a beanstalk, I'd like to answer that God question once and for all.

Apparently, farmers and ranchers rate about as high as women on the McCain intelligence scale.  Women aren't smart enough to be allowed to make decisions about their own bodies and evidently, we can be hoodwinked into voting for a woman, simply because she's a woman.  Really?  And it seems that farmers and ranchers just sit around waiting for the government to come up with a mystical crop.  Well, to be fair, I do think about it sometimes when I'm saddling up my unicorn.

That is it.  What about what happens when there is an economic disaster?  Livestock is a commodity.  When the market crashes, we crash.  We see the dollar amount paid for an animal go down, but the price of feed for that animal goes up.  Same with farming.  At the basic level of producer, we see an increase in our costs and a decrease in our revenues.  And every American sees the impact of this in their grocery store.  This is happening now.  Do we not even warrant an update to your website? 

There are bottom-line issues that America's famers and ranchers have and linking 9/11 and national security to agriculture for votes is not one of them.  Neither is getting DSL or Broadband.

I watched helpless as our IRA was cut by a third.  $700 billion goes to bail-out Wall Street.  Major corporations see tax-break after tax-break.  McCain proposes a $10 million exemption "to enable farmers and ranchers to pass along their heritage to the next generation."  In our world, $10 million is a corporation, not a family farm or ranch.  The markets are down and dropping lower by the minute - down over 500...498....504 points as I'm writing this.  Yet, our costs are still up. 

So, after reading their entire plan on Rural America, I still leave John McCain and Sarah Palin one question:  What exactly is your stance on Prosperity for Rural America and it's family farmers and ranchers?  Besides arming our bulls, of course.

Barak Obama's Rural America plan can be found HERE.  You can click at the bottom of the page to read the entire plan.  It's about 13 pages long.

John McCain's Rural American plan can be found HERE.