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PROPERTIES R A N C H • F A R M
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December 5, 2011 • Section Two
ADVERTISERS’ INDEX — PAGE 9 Cover photo is of the Ladder Ranch located in Big Timber, Montana. Photo courtesy of Bates • Sanders • Swan Land Company See page 2 for details.
NEVADA MEAT PROCESSING PLANT PLANNED PLANNED—A 300,000square-foot meat processing plant is scheduled to begin construction in early 2012 near the small town of Yerington, NV. Officials with Walker River Meat Processing said the facility could employ up to 700 when running at full capacity. Page 4 ICA TAKES ON ANIMAL CRUELTY CRUELTY— After a year of consideration, members of the Idaho Cattle Association (ICA) passed a resolution that may have raised some eyebrows. The resolution called for legislation that would make a third offense of animal cruelty a felony. Page 8 NEVADA WATER PIPELINE FATE WITH STATE ENGINEER ENGINEER—Nevada’s state engineer, Jason King, will determine the fate of what may easily be the state’s scarcest and most precious resource— southern Nevada’s water supply. Page 8 INDEX Beef Bits ................................... P-3 Sale Reports............................ P-10 Markets ................................... P-12 Classifieds ............................... P-14 Sale Calendar.......................... P-15
USDA has a new program to entice farmers to grow camelina, a seed crop that some researchers consider a potentially cost-effective alternative to overseas oil. Camelina (Camelina Sativa)— also known as wild flax, German sesame, or Siberian oilseed—is an ancient oil-bearing plant that has been domesticated and extensively used in Europe for several thousand years. The seed oil of camelina contains up to 45 percent of omega-3 fatty acids, as well as a unique antioxidant complex making the oil very stable and resistant to heat and rancidity. Camelina proponents claim it is virtually 100 percent efficient and produces both food and fuel. It can be harvested and crushed for fuel and the remaining parts can be used to produce high quality omega-3 rich animal feed, fiberboard or glycerin. Camelina has the ability to grow on marginal land, utilizing very little moisture, and thrives in both warm and cold states. Camelina is also considered a good rotational crop and studies have shown it improves the yield of subsequent crops such as wheat by up to 15 percent. The Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) started the first commercial-scale farm initiative to get the ball rolling on the camelina-to-fuel industry earlier this year.
USDA is hoping farmers will jump on the camelina wagon so companies will invest money in production facilities to turn camelina oil into a biodiesel, or its higher-value option, green aviation fuel, according to Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA. Speaking in August on the topic,
Time Sensitive Priority Handling
Cantwell said the BCAP program was set up to pay eastern Washington farmers a total of up to $4.5 million in crop support over five years to grow camelina on their land. The program’s largest target growing areas are California, Washington and Montana; in those three states, farmers could receive
up to $20 million over five years. USDA is also part of several partnerships to develop oilseeds and native and perennial grasses as a biofuels, including: • In 2010, USDA partnered with the Boeing Corporation and the Air Transportation Association on See Camelina on page 5
Photo by Sun Olkjer, HM Livestock
Legislation would permanently close grazing A cadre of environmental activist groups is celebrating the presentation to Congress of new legislation that would allow for grazing permit buy-outs. If passed, the bill would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) to permanently terminate grazing on an allotment if a rancher waived use of the permit as part of a third-party transaction. The legislation would provide an avenue for environmental groups to pay ranchers, possibly at rates well above market value, to per-
manently terminate grazing on an allotment. Brian Ertz, media director for Western Watersheds Project (WWP), heralded the bill as a “winwin” for environmental activists and for public lands ranchers who elect to profit from the termination of grazing on multiple-use lands. “The passage of this legislation promises to open a new collaborative front in our efforts to restore western watersheds and wildlife by enabling an effective means of working with public land ranchers and administering agencies to
USDA’s recent forecast for net farm income, which reflects income from production, was $100.9 billion in 2011, up $21.8 billion or 28 percent from last year. Net cash income, which only reflects cash transactions, is forecast up by $17.5 billion from 2010 to $109.8 billion, or up 18.9 percent, and $34.2 billion above its 10-year average (2001-2010) of $75.6 billion. According to USDA, farm income is a measure of the increase in wealth from production, whereas net cash income is a measure of solvency, or the ability to pay bills and make payments on debt. Net value added is expected to increase by almost $23.9 billion in 2011 to $153.7 billion. Net farm income and net cash income are both projected to exceed $100 billion for the first time in 2011. However, the rates of increase in both income measures show slight decreases from the previous year. The 2011 inflation-adjusted forecasts of net value added of agriculture to the U.S. economy and net cash income are the highest values recorded since 1974.
Highlights
NEWS:
A Crow Publication
Pilot program for biofuel-friendly oilseed crop
Net farm income forecast up 28 percent in 2011 LIVE STEERS DRESSED STEERS CME FEEDER $201.55 $146.10 N/A WEEK ENDING: 12-1-11
December 5, 2011 • Vol. 91, No. 9
• Net farm income is forecast to rise 28 percent in 2011, matching the increase recorded in 2010. • Net farm income and net cash income are both projected to exceed $100 billion for the first time in 2011. • USDA expects a more than 16 percent increase in sales of crop and livestock by U.S. farm operations in 2011, with gains spread out among many different categories. - Crop sales are expected to exceed $200 billion for the first time in U.S. history, with record or near-record levels across different crop categories. - Livestock sales are predicted to rise almost 17 percent, with double-digit increases across most categories, especially red meats. See Farm income on page 6
ensure lasting natural resource conflict resolution,” Ertz wrote in a press release. “Even heavily subsidized public lands ranching has become untenable for some public lands ranchers. In the face of increasing competition, falling prices, rising costs, and mounting conflicts with other land uses, many federal grazing permit holders would choose to retire from public lands grazing if they could recoup their investment in their grazing permit,” Ertz continued. “REVA provides a private market mechanism to do this.”
The Rural Economic Vitalization Act, or “REVA” (H.R. 3432), was introduced by Rep. Adam Smith, D-WA, along with six original cosponsors including Reps. Raul Grijalva, D-AZ, Barbara Lee, D-WA, Earl Blumenauer, D-OR, and Peter DeFazio, D-OR, all from public lands ranching states. According to Mike Hudak, Grazing Committee chair for the Sierra Club, the primary author of the bill was Mark Salvo of WildEarth Guardians. “He’s lived it for eight years,” See Grazing on page 7
Record high prices According to USDA reports, cattlemen have much to be thankful for this holiday season with all-time record high prices posted during November on most major cattle and beef products, including; Choice carcass cut-out values, 50 percent lean beef trimmings, live slaughter cattle (including CME contracts), yearling feeder cattle (including the CME feeder cattle index and the Board), and all classes of lightweight calves throughout the country. This has, by far, been the most impressive market performance in the history of the beef cattle industry and it has happened right in the face of turkey/ham day and the seasonal lull in retail beef featuring and purchasing, USDA reports said. A midweek stock and commodity rally carried cattle along for most of last week. The fed cattle market once again climbed atop its record pedestal with live sales $.50-3.50 higher and trading from $123-127. Cash cattle offers emerged at $125-127 last week, with bids at $121-123. According to Andy Gottschalk with HedgersEdge.com, trade was slow early in the week with offers at $125-126 live and $202-204 on
a carcass basis. Limited bids surfaced at $123 and $202 in the Corn Belt. The best bid in the south was at $121. “We expect trade to be steady with [the previous] week and lower prices to develop,” Gottschalk said. In the south, cattle owners raised offers to $127 while packers bid at $123. Private forecasts called for larger supplies of cattle last week but show lists remained small. Markets saw the decline in carcass weights continue, both from recent periods and year ago comparatives. Packer margins remain in the red, so some traders feel there is still a negative outlook for cash prices, according to CME reports. The estimated cattle slaughter came in at 128,000 head on Wednesday, bringing the total by midweek to 384,000 head, down from 394,000 head the previous week at the same time and down from 390,000 head a year ago. Box prices softened with Choice cuts reaching $197 this past week—just short of the record set in 2003 but the highest price in eight years. Choice cutout was quoted at $194.50 and Select at $175.50. The spread remained See Markets on page 13