As the Spindle Turns . . .

Posted by thelunaticfarmer@gmail.com (Joel Salatin)

https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/2/11/2026/israel-post-one

I'm in Golan, Israel and doing another set of seminars for farmers like I did in February 2023.  A lot has changed since then; today I did a pasture walk with a group of farmers in the Golan, right along the Syrian border.

                  The Mediterranean climate means they start getting rain in November and by December grass is growing well and they can begin grazing.  The Golan is quite different than the lower parts of the country so everything here is compressed by perhaps a month.  The rains stop by the end of May and vegetation turns brown by early July. 

                  Today I was at a Savory Hub (named after Allan Savory); the land is managed by a kibbutz and consists of about 7,000 acres running a herd of 800 mama cows.  Numerous military bunkers dot the landscape and a dozen wind turbines capture the pervasive wind across the plateau.

                  The Golan is a high plateau and was captured by Israel in the 6 day war of 1967; in the most recent Oct. 7 fighting, it is where Hezbollah lobbed missiles.  The fields are grass between rock boulders; some the size of wheelbarrows and others more the size of basketballs.  It would be nearly impossible to traverse the fields with an ATV.  Ancient stone fences, bulwarks, buildings, Stonehenge-type installations cover the fields. 

                  Permanent fences are universally barbed wire on T-posts or a kind of square panel wire; no wooden posts exist.  Trees are almost nonexistent.  Due to the rugged boulders, they believe they can't subdivide fields with portable electric fence.  But after walking a couple of the fields, I assured them that they could wiggle through the rocks and greatly increase their management. Fences don't have to be in straight lines.  Because the land isn't owned outright, the government controls everything the farmers do, which means you have to get approval (it's hard) to build a pond, add a different kind of animal, build a structure, ect.  And of course, like all bureaucracy, the entrenched agents are not prone to authorize innovation.

                  The average calf crop as a percentage of mama cows is 60 percent; in other words, 100 cows only bring 60 calves to weaning.  The farmers at today's pasture walk were uncertain whether that low percentage was due primarily to low conception or calf mortality from pneumonia, predators, and sickness.  They have wolves and jackals.

                  For the uninitiated, in America a cattle operation would be considered failing if it didn't wean 80 percent of its cow numbers.  The Israeli government gives cattle farmers $300 per year subsidy per cow; the farmers said this makes them reluctant to cull nonproductive cows.  Interestingly, this farm today said their better management in the last 5 years has greatly increased herd health; I didn't ask what their weaning percentage was prior to beginning a rudimentary moving system.

                  The farmers today peppered me with Israeli farming regulations.  Poultry is difficult due to quotas.  There seemed to be a bit of disagreement about whether a person could raise more than 30 chickens; one farmer said you could raise 800.  In general, all poultry is raised in confinement houses and much of the manure is fed to beef cows.  This particular farm discontinued that practice a couple of years ago due to the changes toward grass.  I'll try over the next days to ascertain what the poultry situation is.  When you have a roomful of farmers answering your questions it's a bit chaotic.

                  Bull calves are never castrated into steers here.  They are weaned and go straight to feedlots to be fattened on corn; grass fattening is virtually nonexistent.  Of course, pigs are nonexistent; government regulations require that if you raise pigs, they cannot touch the dirt; they have to be on concrete.

                  Israel's climate zones change dramatically from tropical to temperate in extremely short distances.  This morning we went from banana trees around Tiberias to Golan, where even almonds are too cold.  As a result, regional food systems are probably more doable here than almost any place on the planet.

                  I'll be here for another week; not sure I'll post every day, but will try to offer insights as I learn them.  Hope this is interesting to everyone.

https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/2/11/2026/israel-post-one

Posted by thelunaticfarmer@gmail.com (Joel Salatin)

https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/2/3/2026/great-american-recovery-initiative

Yesterday the news was all aflutter over President Trump's GREAT AMERICAN RECOVERY INITATIVE, giving $100 million to agencies to fight drug addiction and homelessness.  Purported to view drug addiction as a disease, it will funnel money through public and private organizations to combat this growing scourge on our society.

                  I'm reminded of Lyndon Johnson's WAR ON POVERTY in the mid-1960s, which has spent more than $1 trillion, resulting in more people living in poverty today than when that initiative started.  Pardon me for being cynical about this one. 

                  But it got me to thinking about different ideas to combat this problem, which led me to some "what ifs."

What if the government exited education so searching kids wouldn't be told girls are boys and boys are girls and girls are cats and boys are dogs? 

What if the U.S. closed all its foreign bases, quit giving money to any foreign government, and brought the flower of our youth home and quit meddling in other peoples' affairs?

What if the government didn't subsidize wheat, corn and soybeans to make high fructose corn syrup, Cheerios, and seed oils the most affordable foods in the country?

What if the government got out of health care meddling and cut the budget by half and let us all keep half of our taxes to spend on what we wanted?

What if we didn't have a CDC and Anthony Fauci to lie to us, close our schools and nursing homes, and drive us into despair?

What if the government didn't subsidize and demand kids get 7 dozen vaccines in cocktails never tested?

What if anyone who wanted to build a house could build it however they wanted without asking the government's permission?

What if the government  went back on the gold standard, had to balance its budget and couldn't borrow, thus eliminating inflation and making money believable?

What if the government quit interfering in employer-employee pay so businesses weren't so desperate to get rid of people?

What if no college received a dime of government assistance and had to market itself based on real life performance instead of teaching stupidity?

What if we created a national objective to enable families to survive with one wage earner so one parent could actually be there to love on their children?

What if we eliminated property taxes so nobody would lose their home?

What if we let property owners build whatever they wanted to on their own property, thus producing millions of living quarters?

                  Okay, enough, but you get the drift.  Our epidemic of drug addiction and homelessness, I submit, is a societal problem, indicative of massive dysfunction; we don't have a drug and homelessness problem due to the government's financial stinginess.             

                  Two questions:  

                  1.  Do you think this $100 million will make any difference?

                  2.  If you wanted to add a "what if" to this list, what would it be?

https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/2/3/2026/great-american-recovery-initiative

Posted by thelunaticfarmer@gmail.com (Joel Salatin)

https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/1/26/2026/a0zyh5qlv9rxnmrdy2eccgrs2i88vv

The Virginia Independent Consumers and Farmers Association (VICFA) is convening on the General Assembly Tuesday, Jan. 27 in Richmond to lobby for a proposed constitutional amendment.

THAT THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO ACQUIRE THE FOOD OF THEIR CHOICE FROM THE SOURCE OF THEIR CHOICE, WITH MUTUAL CONSENT, SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.

                  Delegate Eric Zehr has put the bill in as HB699.

                  This is the most bold offensive tactic yet by this small by dynamic organization, whose mission statement is simple:  to promote and preserve unregulated direct farm-to-consumer trade that fosters the availability of locally grown products or home produced food.

                  Here are instructions:

We will meet up in the main lobby of the General Assembly Building, located at 201 North 9th Street, 23219. The public entrance is located on the East Broad Street side of the building. We will meet in the General Assembly's main lobby at 8:00am and start lobbying around 8:30am. HB699 is not on the docket to be heard yet, and currently it is in the House General Laws Committee, but could be moved to be heard as early as tomorrow. We will be adjusting our visit to that information. Call your Delegate and Senator and make an appointment to see them. 

We are scheduled to meet with Delegate Zehr at 2.30 pm. 

Please contact Suzi Croes at 540-419-6571 or Dan Lafever, 484-318-3789 with any questions  

                  Unfortunately I am in Florida on a farm consultation and unable to be there, but I hope others can be there or call your delegate to show support for this measure.  This is part of a nationwide groundswell at the state level to free farmers from industrial-scale food regulations that deny consenting adults exercising freedom of choice to give their microbiome agency from having to ask the government's permission to engage in a food transaction.

            The opposition says this freedom will create an epidemic of sick people due to unregulated food and dirty farmers selling to their neighbors.

            Do you think this food would be safer or less safe than government-sanctioned fare?          

https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/1/26/2026/a0zyh5qlv9rxnmrdy2eccgrs2i88vv