Weekly Posting of the Conservative Cow Doctor

The Beetles

I count and recount my winter feed supply every March, but as I am only wintering seven horses it doesn’t take a math wizard to inventory my haystack. My pasture is full of old feed, so my younger horses do quite well digging through the sagebrush for dinner but the two most senior members could always use a few extra calories. For the last three winters I have purchased my hay from Kraig. I text him my order, mail him a check and, like magic, the bales appear in my front pasture. Haying in my sixties certainly is easier than it was in my twenties. In keeping with my winter feed theme, here is my fictitious farmer Fred’s story.

It is a drought year. Fred agrees to winter 40 head of horses before discovering hay is in short supply. After an extensive search, Fred’s hay broker secures 50 tons of alfalfa from North Dakota. Fred scatters the first couple bales and nothing seems amiss but after busting open the third he discovers the hay is loaded with blister beetles. This is bad. Blister beetles thrive when grasshopper populations are high because the immature beetles feed on hopper eggs. Mid-bloom alfalfa fields next to pastures grubbed bare by hoppers is nirvana for blister beetles and they congregate in the alfalfa like teenagers at a drive-in theatre in the 1970s. The beetles skin contains cantharidin which is toxic to livestock, especially horses. Affected animals develop blisters in their mouth and esophagus and the ingestion of 30 to 50 beetles can be fatal. Fred is facing a dilemma.

Option one, he could ignore the problem, feed the hay and hope the horses survive. Option two, he could ignore the beetles and sell the hay to someone desperate for winter feed. Option three, he could burn all 50 tons, and hunt for new hay. Option one is the easiest, option two is despicable and option three is honorable, but costly. What would you do? This brings me to my point.

A public hearing for HB645, the blood bank bill, was recently held in the Montana House Human Services Committee. Spike protein from mRNA jabs has contaminated Montana’s blood supply just like blister beetles do hay. Proponents alarmed by this threat, advocated replacing contaminated blood with spike protein free blood. Opponents admitted 80 percent of their reserves would be considered contaminated under HB645, so they simply ignored the cytotoxic effects of the spike protein and claimed their contaminated blood was still “safe and effective.” Does that sound familiar? HB645 went down 19 to 1, hitting the ground faster than Damar Hamlin. Montana’s blood supply remains contaminated so pray your Covid jab does not trigger a bleeding disorder because a contaminated transfusion could kill you.