Message to Governor re: Factory Farms in Midwest

Dear Governor Nixon:

Here is an article that is written by Tom Philpott, examining the trend in agriculture in the Midwest. I doubt that Missouri's charts would look much different.
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/11/industrial-scale-hog-farming-screws-small-towns

I remember you were celebrating exports of pork one recent year. Some of them may be landing in Asia I would think.

Because of environment, human rights, animal rights and wages to workers, we are indeed obligated, in my opinion, to revert to sustainable farming practices. This may not be as difficult to sell to the General Assembly as you think, if you show them some of these numbers. By the way I am living in a small town again in Missouri.

Thank you for your attention to these issues.

This is certainly the DRYEST EARTH in my lifetime!

No laughing matter

One day I actually looked up the word "drought' on google images out of wondering how the front yard happens to look like this. Yeah, this is what it is alright. Wet earth is usually expanded through some spongy areas where the water sinks in from intermittent rain. Now it is looking all cracked up, but this is no laughing matter, as the news is telling us.
(click under the picture for this video)
http://www.abc17news.com/news.php?id=7338http://www.abc17news.com/news.php?id=733   

No one wants to have to think about whether the storms in the Gulf that delayed the Republican Convention for a day will blow further north and land a few showers over us. But I remember that happening in some times past. The weather man in the above video says we may have to wait for snow!

In Columbia one landowner is attempting to save a 350 year old tree by carrying water to it. Meanwhile we have been hearing about depleted aquifers and low rivers and streams. And the outlook is not good. You can visit the drought outlook map which pertains through the end of November this year here: National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration Graphic

To me, after the record temperatures since spring, this looks like climate change. What does it look like to you?