dickie, I saw early on that Heifer does do gift animal programs but I've not seen anything in this program which suggests thats involved here.

It's this particular program which has been attacked and so far I've not seen any evidence that the things it's been attacked about apply.

The impacts of introducing exotic genetic strains may be relevant as may be the possibility that the farming practices are unsustainable. I'm not managing to get the links to open at the moment (not sure whats happening there) so I can't comment on them yet.

If Heifer does live exporting elsewhere and Gates is funding a program which does not involve that then that aspect should be a good thing.

R0bert

I hope you're correct RObert.

Heifer, with the benefit of the Gates contribution, will train some 10,000 farmers to become growers of animal fodder to sell to dairy farmers. I strongly suspect the fodder will be genetically modified.

Bill Gates, the Rockefeller Foundation, Monsanto and Syngenta appear to be a team.

I certainly trust they know what they're doing RObert. The previous "Green Revolution" overall was, according to the following author, a multiple of failures.

http://www.foodfirst.org/node/1506

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529

dickie, I'm not absolutely sure that they will get it right. Thats sometimes hard to tell up front with limited access to information.

They do appear to be trying to do more than others, the description of the overall program suggests that it is broad and has tried to address a lot of the normal failures.

Your comments and concerns are worth considering, sometimes the best intentions go horribly astray. I don't think that Bill's philanthropy is ill considered but that does not mean all elements are correct.

Honest and fair discussion of the pitfalls is a far more likely to see any weaknesses addressed than sensational and unsubstantiated claims.

R0bert

Hi R0bert
I suspect that PALE hit the nail on the head insofar as de-emphasising the transport issue (or concealing it, if you wish). But one would have to wonder how they would be planning to get Friesian-Holstein cattle there WITHOUT transporting them (can't all be done by AI).

It is worth noting that these breeds of cattle (mostly bred in the southern areas of Australia) are not supposed to be exported from the Australian winter to the Middle Eastern summer (i.e between May and November) because of the heat stress risks involved. These cattle will no doubt thrive in this climate to which they are being sent thanks to the intervention of farmer training programs (perhaps air conditioning as well?).

And Dickie is absolutely right, these countries - and no doubt donors - have no hesitation with regard to GM crops. It looks more and more ill-considered to me the more I look at it, particularly since there is not exactly a surplus in these countries of universities to train veterinarians (or veterinarians either). Farmers there may one day be able to deal with healthy animals, but what happens to them when they get sick? What happens to the massive proportion of the population who are lactose intolerant (children AND adults)? More suffering. Short sighted, to put it kindly.

Nicky

Nicky fyi
http://www.getfarming.com.au/pages/farming/articles_view.php?fId=9200020080513104901

ABA asks Meat and Livestock Australia and Cattle Council: Where the bloody hell are you?

ABA Chairman, Brad Bellinger has issued a missing persons alert for both Meat and Livestock Australia and Cattle Council of Australia.

The ACCC Inquiry into grocery pricing and the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee investigation into meat marketing, are the two most important Inquiries into the meat industry, in more than a decade.

MLA and CCA have failed to present any submissions to the ACCC and CCA has advised the Senate Committee that it will not be making a submission on behalf of beef producers.

ABA has made a number of submissions to the ACCC including a detailed analysis that showed supermarkets mark-up mince more than 100%. They have a long submission with the Senate Committee.

Meat and Livestock Australia and Cattle Council of Australia are apparently both happy with the unsustainable and currently record low prices, that the producers (who fund them) receive.
Yo
I watched Landline Yabby. So it showed Tony visting ' old friends" on a first visit to a farm- How nice.
He was met with a bottle of bubbly for christ sake.

At least as much as I dissaproved of them Mark Vaile and the Howard government he had ministers that were off the land!. My god this new Government is not only a disgrace but completely making themselves look stupid!
Well if the cap fits!. They raved about peta who are a US group but forgot to mention ALL Australian groups especially RSPCA reject that its not barbarically cruel.
More on Tony Burke and Rudds crap later.
Shame on that live exporter family and in my next few posts we will take a close look at them.

Hi all

R0bert, I hope you can get to Dickie's links, they should provide you with the background. PALE is quite right in saying that throwing money at a "cause" does not necessarily make one a good person, particularly when you have it amassed as Gates does (BTW, would you describe his software as "cheap"? I'd put it more in the category of exploiting the masses. Some would say it is an inferior system, as well). This project does not appear to be remotely sustainable to me, I'm afraid - the solution to world poverty and/or starvation is not to be found in simply sending live animals there to deplete already over-stretched resources further without real thought to the future. It is a short-term panacea that no doubt makes Gates feel good though. It might even help sell more of the dreaded Windows Vista, which will make him a few more bucks too.

PALE, I'm sorry, but I don't see the relevance of your last link to this thread. That's a domestic issue.

Nicky