LMD Feb 2010

Livestock “The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it.”

– JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL FEBRUARY 15, 2010 •

MARKET

Digest A Volume 52 • No. 2

The First Dollar

by Lee Pitts

B

The Smell Test

NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING

At the recent convention in San Antonio, where the NCBA (National Cattlemen’s Beef Association) unveiled its final recommendations for its restructuring, Drake told Ron Hays of the Oklahoma Farm Network that, “There comes a time when people get fed up, the people who actually pay the checkoff.”

He spoke of the ill will, of open disdain for one another, of really upset people talking in the halls between sessions, and of the

“It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.” “open sores” that exist between many Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) members and the NCBA. “People were trying to be civil,” he said “but imagine what it’s like behind closed doors.”

You got a taste of that discord last month when the Digest revealed letters sent by the Beef Board to the NCBA. Well, guess what? Even after some details of the plan were tweaked at the convention, the groups are still not playing happily together in the sandbox. Though they’re trying their best to put on a happy face, all is not well in the tug of war for checkoff dollars between the NCBA and the Beef Board.

How bad is it? Bob Drake now worries that the ill will has

gotten so bad that the restructuring of the NCBA might give opponents of the checkoff an opportunity to file a lawsuit that could end the checkoff. He’s troubled that the NCBA is “just trying to take care of themselves, while putting in jeopardy any move to unite the beef industry.”

While the NCBA is desperately trying to raise the checkoff to $2, Drake thinks there’s a chance they could lose the first dollar, let alone get the second.

Drake wasn’t the only one concerned about the policy division of the NCBA getting to be too “cozy” with checkoff dollars that are supposed to be off limits to any group that lobbies. The only way the NCBA and the

Beef Board were able to save the checkoff in the Supreme Court was to say it was a government program. So how can you have our government funding lobbying efforts? Even in morally bankrupt Washington, D.C. government financed lobbying is taboo.

One member of the Cattleman’s Beef Board from Iowa said that while at the end of the day the restructuring recommended by the Governance Committee might be legal — it didn’t pass the smell test. Not even for ranchers who, let’s face it, are used to getting a whiff of some pretty disgusting smells.

Dead On Delivery After documents were revealed by this newspaper, and Alan Guebert in his Farm and Food File, that showed the discord between the Beef Board and the NCBA, the Governance Task Force of the NCBA knew they were in trouble if they tried to strong- arm their proposals through. So, on a Friday evening, the night before the vote on the reconstruction, and at the same time state cattlemen’s groups were meeting to decide if they would support the reconstruction, the Task Force met and made some changes. More than one of those state groups was continued on page two

Tax Dollars Have Already Decided U.S. Global Warming

by KAREN BUDD-FALEN, Budd-Falen Law offices,P.C.,Cheyenne, Wyo.

This is part of a series on the federal government paying environmental groups to sue the federal government. This information focuses on taxpayer funded attorney fees paid to environmental groups by the U.S. government in the name of protecting the planet from global warming. lthough the world’s leaders may have been in Copenhagen to save the planet from global warming, the United States federal government has paid millions in tax dollars to environmental groups to litigate over global warming already. These cases are NOT about whether global warming is or is not a scientific fact, but over timelines and proce-

A

by LEE PITTS

Judgment Day

www. aaalivestock . com

ob Drake could be called the “Godfather of the NCBA.” After all, he was the President of the National Cattlemen’s Association (NCA) who went around the country stumping for the merger of the NCA and the Beef Industry Council of the National Livestock and Meat Board. This reporter specifically remembers one heated discussion in Reno, Nevada, when Drake emphatically dismissed predictions that the mixture of the two would prove to be a recipe for disaster. So what does the Godfather of the NCBA think of his Godchild now?

One gets the impression he’d like to take his misbehaving offspring out behind the woodshed and give it a good thrashing!

Riding Herd

dures which seem to be impossible for the federal agencies to comply with. There will never be a scientific answer from the courts that definitively determines if global warming is a well designed hoax to slow the U.S. economy or take private property rights. Rather environmental groups are filing suits over procedural failures in considering whether global warming/climate change exists, and getting paid handsomely to do it.

According to a Climate Change Litigation Survey by the Congressional Research Service published in April, 2009, although the first case related to climate change was filed 19 years ago, the real environmental litigation, assuming continued on page four

n ag teacher who teaches at an innercity school is attempting to put together a livestock judging team and he recently asked me to help him evaluate the city kids by listening to them give a set of reasons. Normally I would say “no” because I have a fear of teenagers and I feel it’s the job of the parents and the police to raise them. I do feel qualified to help, however, because I judged on an FFA team and judged three years on my collegiate team. Mind you, I didn’t say I was any good. I was a terrible judge which is one reason why my judging career at county fairs lasted exactly one show. But I could give a decent set of reasons, which was fortunate because when you judged livestock as bad as I did there were many opportunities to justify your placings.

For those of you who’ve never judged on a livestock judging team, a contest is composed of several classes with four animals of similar species and kind which are placed in order of merit by experts. Then the kids have to try and place them in correct order and give reasons on some of the classes to justify their placings.

After I listened to four of the youngsters give their reasons the ag teacher asked me what I thought and I proceeded to give the order in which I placed them.

Sir, I place this class of kids 4-3-2-1 with an easy top, a tight middle pair and an easy bottom. I placed the youngster dressed in an allgoth outfit, who I think was a girl, at the top of the class because she was the only one who knew they were Angus and that they were bulls. Instead of giving reasons from memory like you are supposed to do she read from a lengthy manuscript.

And because she was a vegan, and thought comparing the animals was immoral and judgmental, she recited a poem she’d written about soybeans being the key to world peace. I criticized her “poem” for not having any words that rhymed, but commended her for trying. continued on page eleven

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Livestock Market Digest

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February 15, 2010

The First Dollar

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leaning towards voting “no” when the time came. The NCBA knew from the talk in the halls, and the rancor displayed at an hour-anda-half question and answer period about the reconstruction, that they had better back off, at least on one of their most controversial recommendations.

Previously the Task Force wanted the Board of Directors reduced by 90 percent and for the much smaller Board to have final say on all bylaw changes and big decisions. This bold, not so subtle, concentration of power was dead on delivery. It was just too much power in the hands of too few people. Those 29 board members would basically control the checkoff AND lobbying for the beef industry.

So the Task Force changed their recommendation so that the all new “House of Delegates” would have sole authority to amend the bylaws of the organization. The thinking was that it’s better to have the checkoff controlled by 250 people, as opposed to 29.

As these new changes became known, the minds of many who were considering a “no” vote were changed. There were other concessions made as well, including...

■ Each state would have a minimum of one (1) seat and a full vote in the House of Delegates. Votes would be weighted based on "investment" just as they are now. (The word “investment” being synonymous with cold hard cash.) There were worries in the days leading up to the vote that states like New Mexico, Iowa, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Washington, Arizona and others would only have a fraction of a vote.

■ The bylaws would contain a provision for the removal of board members in addition to elections.

Based on these changes, the concept of the reconstruction was passed by a count of 201 to 13. Most of the dissenting votes appeared to be Beef Council members who are concerned about self-determination issues of the Federation of State Beef Councils in the future.

The Devil Is In The Details Make no mistake . . . this was only the beginning of the process. What the folks in San Antonio approved was a “concept” for the restructuring of the NCBA. Now three work groups will add in all the details. One group will come up with new bylaws, policies and procedures, another will work out the financial details and a third will work on a transition timeline for implementing the new structure.

These groups will present their ideas what the new structure will look like and proposed bylaw changes at least 30 days in advance of the summer meeting that will be held in Denver July 28 to August 1, 2010. Then the whole plan will be voted up or down by those in attendance.

Needless to say, there remain

continued from page one

many unanswered questions, but already there is carping and complaining by those out of earshot, and some of the very same folks who voted for the concept in San Antonio. Many think it gives the NCBA too much power and those who collect, and are supposed to administer the checkoff, too little. In the final report the House of Delegates would have 250 votes, 106 from affiliates like state cattlemen’s organizations (42.5 percent), 106 Beef Councils (42.5 percent), and 38 product council/allied industry/ breed associations and other organizations (15 percent). In other words, a breed association and a drug company could be the swing votes.

As co-chair of NCBA’s Beef Association Governance Task Force, Jan Lyons of Kansas, was leading the charge for reconstruction. For an hour and 45 minutes she tried to answer all questions and allay everyone’s fears. At times the discussion got very heated, according to those who were there. But she never wavered off point. The industry needed this because we need to come together and speak with one voice. When she spoke of going from 274 members on the Board of Directors down to 29 she did it in the popular jargon of the day. We would merely be “downsizing.” She said, “We must become more integrated, both the business and the organization. We’ve seen enough fragmentation. We need a broader vision and a stronger voice.”

To many folks when those words are translated it means we need a more concentrated industry. While that may be the reality it doesn’t mean we have to hasten the day when we look like the pig and poultry industries, especially if that effort is financed by your beef checkoff dollars.

To the criticism that the Federation of State Beef Councils needs to distance themselves from the NCBA, not come closer together, Lyons said, “We looked at that seriously and came up with the exact opposite.

To address issues more fully we need to be more integrated. We need to come together as a team.” Sounds almost cozy doesn’t it. But one has the same old nagging feeling that what the NCBA really wants to cozy up to is more of your checkoff dollars.

Firewall or Speed Bump?

One of the words heard the most during the convention was “firewall.” There is supposed to be one between those who lobby and those who collect and allocate the checkoff. The Task Force concluded “that while there needs to be firewalls maintained between the checkoff and policy efforts, the makeup of the organization should bring policy and state beef councils closer together than ever before.” Jan Lyons said that “we have taken the firewall to new heights.” Still, that doesn’t mean that while the NCBA was adding bricks to the

February 15, 2010 top of the wall, they were also burrowing beneath it to gain access to the Big Bank of Beef Bucks so they can grab your checkoff dollars.

The question on everyone’s mind is . . . is all this even legal?

Is it in the spirit of the act and the order that created the checkoff in the first place? According to one attendee, “The week was filled with meetings on the governance proposal. Every time we went into a room we got a different story than we had heard in the last one, especially in terms of whether or not USDA supported this concept. I believe the reality is that USDA took no position because this is a concept. We were finally told that there was a meeting with USDA where the concept was laid out. USDA was asked to submit any comments or concerns within two weeks. There was no response, so that was taken as acceptance.”

The fact is we don’t know if it’s legal because the USDA has to see the reorganization plan before they can decide. And we won’t have the plan until July.

Then we will get an opinion from the USDA and then, possibly several years later, we will get a legal opinion when someone tests the whole new structure in a court of law. That’s what checkoff proponents at the Beef Board are afraid of. And rightfully so.

All this heated debate raised the question in San Antonio . . .

Is this reorganization really worth risking the checkoff for? It is to someone. To the cash strapped, nearly-always-broke NCBA, it is. But maybe not to the Beef Board who wants to steer clear of politics and do what they are charged with doing: promote and defend beef.

Bob Drake wondered aloud if some repair work, what he called “a little maintenance,” could not have been more advantageous to the industry, rather than a complete makeover. “But evidently, he said, “the Task Force looked at it and came to the conclusion it was necessary to tear it down and start all over from scratch.”

We don’t doubt the NCBA needed to be fixed. We said that before it ever took its first breath. But the question we pose now is simply, “Is this really an improvement, or another greedy grab for more cash? We suspect it’s the latter.

One of the officers of the Cattlemen's Beef Board, Tom Jones of Arkansas, told Ron Hays of the Oklahoma Farm Network that his concern is strictly about how the restructuring of the NCBA would impact the checkoff. “The Beef Board, he said, “is responsible for the entire dollar — and that the State Beef Councils have to fully comply with the Beef Checkoff Act and Order for the half of the money they retain after sending fifty cents of every dollar to the CBB to be invested on behalf of stakeholders. ONLY the Beef Board or these agents of the Beef Board, the State Beef Councils, can make decisions about how to spend checkoff money.” He has concerns of

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper” allowing one group to have influence over those decisions while other groups that have members who pay the checkoff do not have that access. He’s adamant that non-checkoff people should not gain control of the dollar and adds that the “allocating beef checkoff funds must be fair to all payers of the checkoff.”

As for the issues raised at the NCBA Convention he calls them legitimate potential problems down the road.” He too is worried that they could lead to lawsuits. He stated emphatically that, “The Cattlemen’s Beef Board has the responsibility to make sure the money is being used according to the act and the order. If it’s not, it’s our responsibility to go to the USDA and ensure oversight.”

Red Flags In Washington Already complaints are being raised by other groups that have been shut out of the entire process. Groups like R-CALF and the Organization for Competitive Markets who now, it could be argued, have more sympathetic friends in Washington, DC and the USDA than the NCBA. They’ve already raised red flags in DC over the reconstruction.

“The Beef Checkoff Program shouldn’t be controlled by a politically motivated entity such as the NCBA,” said R-CALF’s Bill Bullard. “We’re hopeful the CBB folks will look out for the interests of actual cattle producers, and we certainly hope they will stand their ground and refuse to be intimidated into granting

Page 3

even more control to NCBA.” Amidst all this discussion about reconstruction is the debate about an increase in the checkoff.

The NCBA officially supports an increase, while R-CALF is really adamant about not raising the amount of the assessment. “If genuine producers aren’t allowed to participate in the process and in the direction of the program, then there will be great, great opposition to any increase in the assessment fee.”

Bob Drake said “we need to get our act together and get straightened out before we ask for an increase in the checkoff.

His biggest fear is that enough ill will may develop from the pursuit of this change in the makeup of NCBA that any hope of uniting the industry to pursue a vote on

19th Annual

raising the beef checkoff from one dollar to perhaps two dollars will be gone for a very long time.”

“If we continue down this road,” said Drake, “we’ll have a checkoff vote . . . but it won’t be on the second dollar. It will be on the first dollar.”

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Page 4

U.S. Global Warming climate change exists has blossomed in the last six years. Obviously one of the first statutes that shows up on court docket sheets is the Clean Air Act (CWA). The seminal case regarding whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can regulate carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas was started as a petition for rulemaking filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and other environmental groups. Eventually the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the EPA only had to consider whether greenhouse gases

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(GHG) such as CO2 were air pollutants; the court did not mandate that they were or were not.

Even though 19 years later the Obama Administration still has not issued a final determination with regard to whether GHG are an “endangerment” under the Clean Air Act, environmental groups have been “winning” attorneys fees for litigating over GHG since. In the California litigation regarding the Delta Smelt (the 6-inch minnow that has so adversely impacted California’s Central

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Valley farmers), the federal court rejected a biological opinion because it “failed to consider” climate change data. The environmental groups and the federal government have agreed to “negotiate” how much in tax payer dollars the environmental groups will be paid for those cases. These negotiations with your tax dollars will take place outside of any public process or review and will unlikely be ratified by the federal court. The amount of money requested by the environmental groups and the hourly fees charged by Earthjustice Legal Foundation and Natural Resources Defense Council attorneys will never be revealed to the public. In one of these cases, the federal government simply decided not to fight the merits of the case and the environmental groups will still be paid for suing the government.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the CBD seems to have “spearheaded” the effort to use the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to enforce its global warming beliefs. The CBD has a list of 350 species it believes should be listed and critical habitat designated under the ESA to protect them from GHG and global warming. Just between Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Georgia, New Mexico, and Washington, the CBD has amassed $6,709,467 in attorneys fees all paid by the taxpayers. The vast majority of these cases were suits over the failure of the federal government to “timely” respond to CBD’s ESA listing petitions. As with the GHG Clean Air Act litigation, the environmental groups are not asking the federal court to decide whether a species is sci-

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entifically threatened or endangered or whether GHG adversely impacts the species; the majority litigation is only over the timing of the federal governments’ decisions or the process used to make the decisions.

Once a species is listed under the ESA, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups then use the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process to further their view of global warming. NEPA is a procedural statute — it does not mandate the outcome of a federal agency’s decision. However, environmental groups use litigation under NEPA to claim that the federal agencies are not “considering” things like whether a power plant operating with Wyoming coal in Kentucky would emit GHG that impacts polar bears in Alaska. That is not a far-fetched example. Already the CBD, Natural Resources Defense Council and others have mounted this type of litigation in both the California Federal District Court and the District of Columbia Federal District Court. The outcome of these cases, and the attorneys fees that may be awarded or settled by environmental groups and the government, is yet unknown.

Attorney fees awards to environmental groups to continue to sue the federal government is big business and is likely to get bigger with environmental groups fervor to use procedural errors by federal agencies to push the global warming agenda. The manipulation of the federal courts to force federal agencies into “giving up” and making substantive decisions supporting environmental litigation tactics is not new, but it is certainly prof-

itable for environmental groups.

According to Western Legacy Alliance’s research, in only 18 of the 50 states, 13 environmental groups have amassed total attorney fees payments of 30 million dollars plus extracting another four million dollars from businesses all based upon payments from federal attorney fee-shifting statutes.

Additionally these and other environmental groups were “awarded” over $500,000 in “donations” based upon settlement agreements. The vast majority of these cases are ESA cases and there are more of those to come. Recently the WildEarth Guardians filed a single petition to list 206 species under the ESA and the CBD has filed a petition to list 225 more species.

According to the CBD’s website, this is an exercise in “strategic, creative litigation.” There is absolutely no way that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) can make a “scientific” finding on all of those 431 species within the 90-day time frame mandated by the ESA, making federal district court litigation (and the payment of attorneys fees) inevitable and profitable.

The world’s governments may discuss global warming in Copenhagen, but it is already being enforced in the United States, not based on scientific discoveries and data, but based upon procedural statutes and payment of millions of dollars in attorney fees. Western Legacy Alliance is poised and prepared to continue to bring these tactics to light. I can feel the cool-down already.

For further information, contact Western Legacy Alliance at www.westernlegacyalliance.org.

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ost people just don’t get it,” said Ron, bemoaning the urban politicians that continue to whittle away at funding for county fairs and the ag extension service. “It’s all about the kids learning real life.”

To their misfortune, urban children have much less opportunity to connect with real life. They look at some farm kid working on his show steer every day for months. It is beyond their comprehension.

“Why”, they think, ‘Would anyone want to waste their time in such a mindless pursuit?’ and then they whip out their Game Boy and fall into a trance.

Thank goodness there are some politicians, corporations and influential associations that DO get it. As farmers and livestock raisers continue to decline in numbers, it is even more critical that parents, county agents, ag teachers, 4H leaders, scientists and teachers instill in the next generations the realities of life that farming depends on.

Does America want to become a net importer of food in 50 years?

I appreciate Mrs. Obama’s garden, Whole Foods specialty markets, organic and natural producers. They have a niche market. But who is going to feed the other 99 percent of our burgeoning population, much less a hungry third world?

Those kids, our kids who are fitting steers, doing chores, picking apples, showing hogs, driving the

“M

grain truck, learning to weld, riding pens, irrigating strawberries, managing a pasture, hosing the milk room, stacking hay and learning to read the sky are assimilating the mountain of knowledge that it takes to make dirt and rain into food.

Farm kids start learning the land and the livestock when they are old enough to carry a bucket.

When they help with the daily chores they are practicing. It’s like taking piano lessons or tennis lessons except what farm kids learn has a much more profound objective; feeding us all.

Our culture expends a great deal of effort on future NBA stars, astronauts, environmental lawyers, doctors, and political science majors. But for every 100 rock stars, Rhoads scholars and Heisman trophy winners our country produces, we better make sure we spend enough to train at least two future farmers, so the rest of them can eat.

That is the essence of the county fair.

Beneath all the fun, auctions, and show ribbons, the serious business of learning how to make a living off the land continues like an underground river.

The list of ‘essential professions’ is a short one.

That’s the reality of real life. Farm kids hold our future in their hands. They are in training to feed the world. And fair board members and county agents get it.

February 15, 2010

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper�

Score Them Now ody condition at calving, especially for spring-calving cows, not only impacts how cows perform at calving, but also influences performance during the next breeding season.

How cows perform during the breeding season impacts profit potential in the cow/calf enterprise in regards to pregnancy rate and when in the breeding season they become pregnant.

B

Cows that become pregnant early in the breeding season, calve early in the calving season, and their calves are older and heavier at weaning. Over conditioned cows, especially if the extra condition was fed on, is wasting money. Under conditioned cows are risky because their performance can be very inconsistent. Proper conditioned cows are the goal. It’s like Goldilocks and the porridge being too hot, too cold, or just right.

Let’s refresh the condition scoring system. The most common system used is the one to nine condition scoring system. A condition score one cow is very thin and emaciated. A condition score 9 cow is very fat and obese.

Very seldom do we see the extreme body condition scores.

Most cows are between a condition score 3 and 7.

There are six areas on the animal that we visually access the amount of condition (fat): the brisket, ribs, back, hooks (hip area), pins, and tailhead area. A condition score three cow will have no fat in the brisket, over the ribs and back, or in the hooks, pins, and tailhead area. In fact, she will have a crease in her hind quarter where she has had to start to mobilize muscle tissue to meet maintenance energy needs.

The condition score three cow, as she is viewed from the rear, appears pointed because you can easily see her spinus process, hip and pin bones. A condition score five cow will have a “smoother� appearance because she has fat in the areas described previously. You cannot see the fore-ribs, but can see the 12th and 13th ribs in a condition score five cow. A condition score six cow will have fat in the brisket, you will not see the 12th or 13th ribs, and there will be two small ponds of fat on both sides of the tailhead.

Sometimes inexperienced condition scorers will catch cows in the chute and hand palpate them to train the touch to a visually image. It is critical that when condition scoring cows that you evaluate condition and not muscle or hair. “Seeing� through the hair can be difficult in the winter.

Cow body condition is a much better gage of your nutrition program as compared to cow weight. When you observe cows daily, it is more difficult to detect changes in condition score. Many times before you realize a change in condition, cows have actually lost more condition than you would like.

Producers need to be disciplined

to make sure they are not underestimating condition changes so that appropriate action can be taken. If you would like to have new ranch-hands learn about condition scoring beef cows or brush-up on this tool, go through our learning modules Body Condition Scoring Your Beef Cow Herd [http://beef.unl.edu/ learning/condition1a.shtml], A Guide to Condition Scoring Beef Cows [http://beef.unl.edu/learning/con dition2.shtml], and Using Body Condition Score to Manage the Nutritional Program [http://beef. unl.edu/learning/condition3a.sht ml].

For spring-calving cows, manage cows to calve in a condition score 5. For first-calf-heifers, manage them to calve in a condition score 6. The extra condition is warranted for the young females because they are still growing, lactating for the first time, and trying to get ready for their next pregnancy. Even if you do everything right with these females, their postpartum interval is at least 15 days longer compared to a mature cow.

Cows will gain and loose condition throughout the year. If they are doing a good job of raising their calf, they will likely be thin at weaning. In drought conditions, cows raising a calf will be thin. In most conditions, thin cows should bounce back in condition 45 to 60 days after weaning. If mature cows are always thin and need you to feed them to get them back in condition before calving, check the genetics. Something doesn’t match up with the feed resources. Cow size and milk production are the biggest challenges from a nutritional standpoint. May be one or both of these characteristics don’t match your feed resources.

Condition scoring cows at weaning seems logical. Pay particular attention to young females weaning their first calf — they are the ones that are likely to be thin. Don’t separate them off yet, watch them to make sure they begin to regain condition after the nutrient demand for lactation has been removed. Mature cows that are thin at weaning should bounce back in condition if they are thin at weaning by 60 days postweaning. These are what I term “elastic� cows, they are thin at weaning but then, like a rubber band when stretched and the stress relieved, return to an

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acceptable condition once the calf is weaned. Condition score spring-calving cows again about 90 days prior to calving. This is your last opportunity to get cows in the right condition before calving. Trying to add condition to cows after calving is like trying to push water uphill. The diet will need to be fairly dense in energy and cows that get high energy diets after calving, tend to milk more and calves seem to get milk scours.

If you need to feed thin cows

Page 5

prior to calving to get them back into condition, in the 1996 Nutrient Requirements for Beef Cattle there is a table that, based on cow weight and condition score, has the energy required to move a cow from a lower body condition to the next highest condition. In the learning module URL given above, there is another learning module titled “Using Body Condition Score to Manage the Nutrition Program.�

You can learn how to use the 1996 NRC table and there is an example of designing a diet.[January 11th, 2010]

Roark / Diamond Ranch JK

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W291 PB Maine Anjou. DCC Premium Blend x Swoosh. Thickness and style are combined with a top pedigree. He sells March 13th.

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W220 PB Angus. Juneau x SC Stockman. BW: 73 WW: 638 If your breeding for added pounds and red meat in a complete package we have them in quantity in Beaver, UT March 13, 2010.

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W292 PB Simmental. Dream On x Power Surge. BW: 78 WW: 709 Club Calf producers our bulls will add more performance, milk and maternal traits to your cow base, and maintain a moderate size.

W251 PB Angus. OCC Jet Stream x SC Stockman. BW: 70 WW: 705.

This will be one of the stoutest most complete Angus bulls to sell this year, guaranteed. Offering 1/2 Interest, 1/2 possession.

W358 ½ SM ½ Angus. 3C Macho x Traveler 8180. BW: 85 WW: 733 Carcass, performance, and eye appeal, along with strong maternal traits leads to a balanced breeding program.

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Livestock Market Digest

Page 6

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February 15, 2010

Forest Service and BLM announce grazing fee he Federal grazing fee for 2010 will be $1.35 per animal unit month (AUM) for federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and $1.35 per head month (HM) for lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). The grazing fee for 2010 is the same as it was in 2009.

An AUM or HM — treated as equivalent measures for fee purposes — is the occupancy and use of federal lands by one cow and her calf, one horse, or five sheep or goats for a month. The newly calculated grazing fee, determined by a congressional formula and effective on March 1, applies to nearly 18,000 grazing permits and leases administered by the BLM and more than 8,000 permits administered by the USFS. The formula used for calculating the grazing fee, which was established by Congress in the 1978 Public Rangelands Improvement Act (PRIA), has continued under a presidential Executive Order issued in 1986. Under that order, the grazing fee cannot fall below $1.35 per AUM, and any increase or decrease cannot exceed 25 percent of the previous year’s level.

The annually determined grazing fee is computed by using a 1966 base value of $1.23 per AUM/HM for livestock grazing on federal

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lands in Western states. The figure is then calculated according to three factors — current private grazing land lease rates, beef cattle prices, and the cost of livestock production. In effect, the fee rises, falls, or stays the same based on market conditions, with livestock operators paying more when conditions are better and less when conditions have declined.

The $1.35 per AUM/HM grazing fee applies to 16 Western states on federal lands administered by the BLM and the USFS. The states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The USFS applies different grazing fees to national grasslands and to lands under its management in the eastern and midwestern states and parts of Texas.

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land — 253 million surface acres — than any other Federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 Western states, including Alaska.

The USFS, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, manages 193 million acres of Federal lands in 44 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Agriculture is Bright Spot in a Bad Economy

– George Chambers - Carrollton, Georgia

by LYNNE FINNERTY, editor of FBNews, the newspaper of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

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ith the U.S. facing deep economic turmoil and unemployment hovering around 10 percent, it might seem as if there’s little to be optimistic about. Agriculture, however, has helped fortify the economy when it needed it most, as other sectors such as U.S. automobile manufacturing, real estate and construction have contracted and shed workers.

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Funny thing, how agriculture often is overshadowed by seemingly more exciting industries, like, say, derivatives trading, but turns out to be the old reliable when other endeavors fail. Just like the tortoise and the hare in Aesop’s fable, farmers and ranchers keep plodding along, producing food, fiber and fuel stocks.

To contrast two industries in particular, auto manufacturing and agriculture, let’s zoom in on the state of Michigan, home to the big U.S. automakers and attendant industries like auto parts manufacturing. With the decline in the automakers’ fortunes, the state’s unemployment rate has risen to the highest in the nation, 14.6 percent.

On the bright side, agriculture in Michigan contributes $71.3 billion to the state’s economy, an increase of $16.3 billion since 1997. That’s right — an increase.

Production agriculture, food processing and related businesses employ more than 1 million Michigan residents — jobs for which they probably are extrathankful as they see so many of their friends, family and neighbors being laid off.

U.S. agriculture has maintained a trade surplus for the last 47 years straight. Farming and ranching was one of only four segments of the national economy with a trade surplus in 2009.

This isn’t to say that agriculture hasn’t taken its lumps.

USDA estimates farm income to be down 34.5 percent in 2009 compared to 2008. That’s largely due to less demand both in the

U.S. and overseas because of the global recession.

However, given productive soil, a supply of workers, reliable inputs, limited regulations and, of course, a couple inches of rain, farmers will keep farming, ranchers will keep ranching and American agriculture will remain a bulwark against severe downturns in other sectors.

Over the last two years there have been several news stories about recession-proof jobs — things like health care and education. Agriculture isn’t recession proof, but we’ve got to eat!

There will always be a demand for food grown and packaged here in America.

Our elected leaders should take note of the role agriculture has played in shoring up the U.S. economy while ensuring a safe, plentiful food supply. They should steer clear of policies that shrink our capacity to produce food, such as the cap-and-trade climate bill passed by the House last year, which would move 59 million acres out of agriculture into trees. And they should approve policies that increase our ability to sell U.S. farm products around the world, such as the pending trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

Good ole U.S. agriculture may not seem as exciting as making millions flipping houses.

But it’s an economic powerhouse that, if we don’t turn our backs on it, will employ many of our citizens and feed much of the world for decades to come.

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

February 15, 2010

Focus on feed costs ublished data sets and research reports continue to demonstrate the huge role that costs — especially feed costs — play in determining cowherd profitability. Production measures like weaning percent and weights do, of course, directly impact the bottom line.

But multi-year analyses from across the country consistently show that variation in feed expense is the predominant economic differential between highand low-profit producers.

In a paper published earlier this year, ag economists from Kansas State University made an observation that really puts this in perspective, “ . . . even though returns are highly variable over time due to hard-to-manage macro economic factors, the variability across producers at a point in time is even larger.” Did you catch that? Over the past 30 years, average returns above total costs ranged $190 from the best year to the worst. But within a given year, they saw differences in net returns between the most and least profitable onethird of producers of over $370!

Two other interesting points: The relationship between feed costs and calf selling weight was very weak; additional dollars spent on feed did not necessarily translate into additional pounds of weaned calf.

However, the data clearly showed that operations with relatively more of their costs as feed (that is, a greater percentage of all expenditures went for feed rather than other inputs) were more profitable. So what are the take-home messages here?

■ It is possible to manage cow/calf operations profitably, regardless of the cattle cycle, weather, markets, or other external factors; ■ Controlling costs, especially feed costs, is key; ■ Adequate nutrition is a sound investment; ■ Feed dollars need to be spent on inputs that will yield a positive return.

More importantly, how do we apply this information? Assuming the basic premise that any feeding program being considered will meet the nutritional requirements of the herd, a summary of management goals could simply be: Use feed that costs less, Find ways to feed less, and, Manage to waste less.

P

Get the most out of grazing opportunities It is almost always more economical to let cows harvest their own forage, rather than make, store, and feed hay. Cost-conscious operators are alert to expanded grazing opportunities, whether that involves more acres (i.e., crop residues or currently unused areas) or an extended grazing season (i.e., stockpiling or plant diversity) .

Managed grazing distribution, using supplement placement, temporary fencing, and even herding, sometimes has a place

in improving utilization of pastures. Of course, these changes can bring costs of their own, which need to be measured against potential savings in harvested feed use.

In many cases, the most effective tool for improving utilization of grazed forage is protein supplementation. When cows are on late-season or dormant pasture or crop aftermath, a shortage of rumen-available crude protein (nitrogen) effectively restricts overall intake. When that need is met, animals are able to take in significantly more feed, basically increasing the yield of nutrients from that field.

Optimize utilization (digestion) of the diet The buzzword of the moment seems to be “efficiency,” and with good reason. With the need to meet cowherd nutritional requirements with the least possible investment, anything that allows the animal to get more good out of what she is already eating has real value.

On a forage-based diet, the most important thing we can do to help feed efficiency is make sure the rumen microbes have all the nutrients they require available at all times. Typically that is best accomplished through limited supplementation with degradable protein and an appropriate (sugar or soluble fiber) energy source. And at least some research shows value in ongoing or frequent availability of that supplement, rather than large, less-frequent doses. The goal is to have as many microbes actively fermenting feed as possible, to maximize the release of nutrients that the cow can use.

There are also a growing number of feed additives available that are designed to enhance efficiency. Each needs to be evaluated on the basis of available

research, experience, cost, and expected level of return.

Reduce waste For many operations, this is the area offering the greatest potential for reducing feed cost.

With hay, losses occur making, moving, storing and feeding this resource. The value of proper handling is emphasized when we remember some basic geometry.

In a 6-foot round bale, 35 percent of the hay is contained in the outer 6 inches, and an additional 15 percent in the next 6 inches. Annual hay usage can be significantly reduced if bales are stored to minimize water and weathering damage, and offered to the animals in feeders. Recent research shows wastage can vary significantly with type of feeder as well, with cone and ring feeders being most effective an minimizing losses. Hay waste can also be reduced when liquid supplement is used to treat the bale prior to feeding, especially with coarse and low-quality forages.

Supplement ‘waste’ is more commonly looked on as shrink — the difference between volume purchased and volume fed — and it is often overlooked.

Bulk commodities may appear to be an economic purchase, but their true cost can be significantly elevated by storage and handling losses. As an example, suppose 6 tons of DDGs were purchased for $200/ton, then fed to a group of 120 stocker calves at a rate of 5 lb/head/day, and this feed lasted 16 days. Using some simple math: Bought: 6 X 2000 = 12000 lb Used: 120 X 5 X 16 = 9600 lb Wasted 12000 - 9600 = 2400 lb Shrink: 2400/12000 = 20% Actual Cost: $200 / (100%-20%) = $250/ton Exercises such as this can help cattlemen identify areas where they can find ways to reduce the size of their critical investment in cowherd nutrition.

Source: Dr. Cathy Bandyk, Quality Liquid Feeds

Economic and fiscal effects of the estate tax f all the taxes in the U.S. tax system, the estate tax probably does the most damage to output and income per dollar of revenue raised.

The high rates discourage saving and investment at the margin, while the base amount that is exempted from the tax reduces the average tax rate and tax revenues. A tax with a large difference between its average and marginal rates does far more damage per dollar of revenue raised than a lower rate on a broader base, says Stephen J. Entin, President and Executive Director of the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation.

If estate tax rates revert to pre-2001 levels: ■ Private sector output and labor compensation would be cut by $183 billion and $122 billion, respectively.

■ Gross domestic product (GDP) would eventually be

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Page 7

reduced by $183 billion.

■ By contrast, repealing the estate tax entirely would boost labor income by $79 billion and add $119 billion to GDP. Furthermore, the loss in GDP, wages and other income reduces other tax collections by more than the estate tax brings in — resulting in a net revenue decrease from having the tax, explains Entin. One source of loss comes from giving assets to one’s heirs over many years prior to death. Indeed, Professor B. Douglas Bernheim of Stanford University estimates that estate tax avoidance by giving assets to children, most of whom are in lower income tax brackets than their parents, costs more in income tax revenue on the earnings of the assets than the estate tax picks up.

Source: Stephen Entin, “The High Marginal Cost of the Estate Tax,” National Center for Policy Analysis, Brief Analysis No. 688, Jan. 28, 2010.

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February 15, 2010

Unpacking the HSUS Gravy Train from CONSUMER FREEDOM

here are only two things certain in life, as the saying goes, and a byproduct of one of them requires nonprofit organizations to file paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). So now that the deceptively named “Humane Society” of the United States (HSUS) has submitted its “Form 990” for 2008, we thought it was time to take a close look. The tax filing itself is a bit more detailed than ones in the past, thanks to some new IRS rules. And more detail equals a clearer picture of exactly what HSUS is doing — and what it’s not doing — with all its money.

HSUS reported spending almost $20 million on “campaigns, legislation, and litigation” — enough to worry any livestock producer, farmer or hunter looking to keep their chosen lifestyle alive. The group collected over $86 million in contributions, and spent more than $24 million on fundraising, including $4 million on professional fundraisers.

Think about it: 28 cents of every dollar contributed to HSUS goes back out the door to raise more money. HSUS even paid a single “lockbox” company more than

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$4.2 million to count and process its cash hauls. We won’t comment on that company’s curious “ALF” initials (for Arizona Lockbox & Fulfillment).

The bottom line is the same as it ever was: HSUS rakes in millions from unsuspecting Americans who may confuse the animal rights group with an unaffiliated local humane society. And with all this cash flying around, it’s no surprise that 41 HSUS employees made at least $100,000 last year. All told, HSUS paid out over $30.9 million in salaries, wages, and other employee compensation.

HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle earned more than $250,000 in salary and benefits in 2008. We wouldn’t begrudge him a large salary, of course: He runs an animal-rights business “charity,” after all.

But the real trouble lies in where most HSUS money doesn’t go: to pet shelters. In contrast with the group’s extravagant spending on people, HSUS’s total grant allocation was less than $4.7 million. And of that, almost half went to a political campaign committee called “Californians for Humane Farms,” the main lobbying organization responsible for California’s

“Proposition 2” ballot initiative.

For all the cute pictures of puppies and kitties on HSUS paraphernalia, you’d think it would operate a pet shelter, or at least give a substantial portion of its money to one. But HSUS has lobbying to do, a PETA-inspired agenda to push, meat eaters to and livestock stigmatize, proucers and farmers to put out to pasture. Lobbying? Oh, yes.

HSUS takes four full pages to detail its lobbying activities on the state and federal levels.

With all the politicking going on, the animals — remember them? — seem to get lost in the shuffle. We added up the totals, and HSUS gave only a little more than $450,000 — that’s just half of one percent of its total budget — in grants to organizations providing handson care to dogs and cats. That’s less than 11 percent of what it paid “ALF” (see above) just to count its money.

We’re musing today about HSUS’s next big self-marketing blitz, and some new slogans it might want to use. Our favorite?

“HSUS: Feed the lawyers, save the fundraisers, screw the pets.”

Source: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/ news_detail.cfm/h/4062-unpacking-the-hsusgravy-train

Creating a climate of fraud f we’re serious about restoring science to its rightful place, the head of the U.N.’s panel on climate change should step down. Evidence shows he quarterbacked a deliberate and premeditated fraud, says Investor’s Business Daily (IBD).

The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been forced to back off its nowdiscredited claim that the Himalayan glaciers would soon disappear. But it’s not true, the panel’s vice chairman, Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, told the BBC, that it was simply a “human mistake.”

■ The panel’s chairman, Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri, who was forced to admit the claim had no basis in observable scientific fact, said its inclusion was merely a “poor application” of IPCC procedures, acting as if the original source of the claim, Indian scientist Dr. Syed Hasnain, was a total stranger.

■ In fact, as Christopher Booker of the London Telegraph points out, Dr. Hasnain “has for the past two years been working as a senior employee of the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the Delhi-based company of which Dr. Pachauri was director-general.”

So after the 2007 assessment that included Hasnain’s claim, Pachauri was impressed enough to hire him as an employee.

Pachauri should have been familiar with both his work and the fact the claim had not been peerreviewed, and aware that it had been challenged by reputable geologists, says IBD.

I

Before the 2007 report was published, Hasnain’s claim was challenged by another of its lead authors, Austrian glaciologist Dr. Georg Kaser.

He described Hasnain’s prediction of glaciers vanishing by 2035 as “so wrong that it is not even worth dismissing.”

So why was it included in the 2007 IPCC assessment? In an interview with the London Daily Mail recently, Dr. Murari Lal, the coordinating lead author of the chapter on Asia, gave a disturbing answer, says IBD. “It related to several countries in the region and their water sources,”

he said. “We thought that if we can highlight it, it will impact policymakers and politicians and encourage them to take some concrete action.”

In other words, the motive was political, not scientific, in contradiction to the IPCC mission statement that says its role is “to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis, scientific, technical and socioeconomic information — the IPCC reports should be neutral with respect to policy.”

Source: Editorial, “United Nations’ Climate Chief Must Go,” Investor’s Business Daily, January 28, 2010.

More guns, less crime in ‘09 mericans went on binges buying guns and ammunition in late 2008 and early 2009, worried that a radical leftist president and Democrat-dominated Congress would violate their Second-Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.

The effects? Less murder, robbery, rape and property crime, according to report released recently by Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).

The gun-buying started shortly before, and then took off after, President Barack Obama’s election, says the American Thinker: ■ The Toronto Star reported a 15 percent increase of 108,000 more FBI background checks in October 2008 than during the same month in 2007.

■ In November 2008, the number of FBI background

A

checks on applicants buying guns spiked 42 percent from the previous year.

■ The FBI performed 12.7 million background checks in 2008, compared to 11.2 million in 2007, a 13 percent increase.

More evidence of rampant gun-buying in the states, according to the American Thinker: ■ Through June 2009, the Texas Department of Public Safety received a monthly average of 12,700 applications for concealed handgun licenses, up 46 percent from the average in 2007.

■ In liberal Massachusetts, gun permits surged 15 percent over the last two years (after falling several years before that).

Source: Joe Gimenez, “More Guns, Less Crime in ‘09,” American Thinker, December 30, 2009.

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

February 15, 2010

Page 9

Perfect storm forming for global food, agriculture new paper from Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) assesses the current readings and charts the critical course under the title Agricultural Productivity Strategies for the Future: Addressing U.S. and Global Challenges.

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of the world; ■ strategies to meet future food needs; and ■ examples of research areas that could enable the next ‘Green Revolution’.

Dr. Gale Buchanan, former USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Eco-

“We need to end the three-decade-long pattern of living beyond our means; importing more than we export, borrowing more than we lend, spending more than we earn, and consuming more than we produce."

Numerous factors are converging to create ‘the perfect storm’ for global food and agriculture, conclude the authors of CAST’s newest Issue Paper, Agricultural Productivity Strategies for the Future: Addressing U.S. and Global Challenges.

Prepared as an update of CAST’s first publication written in 1973 by Dr. Norman E. Borlaug (Agricultural Science and the Public, CAST Paper No. 1), the newly released paper is dedicated to Dr. Borlaug and features a Preface written by him shortly before his death in September 2009. Dr. Borlaug, credited with saving more lives than any other person who has ever lived through his development of highyielding grains, was a lifelong promoter and advocate for CAST. The authors of the current paper address: ■ future demands facing agriculture; ■ the relationship of bioenergy and bioproducts to agriculture; ■ major U.S. agricultural productivity; ■ major issues facing agricultural productivity in other parts

nomics and former CAST President, chairs the task force of notable scientists, researchers, and government leaders who drew from an extensive pool of literature as well as from their own broad experience and insight in preparing the new document.

Dr. Buchanan said: “We need to end the three-decade-long pattern of living beyond our means; importing more than we export, borrowing more than we lend, spending more than we earn, and consuming more than we produce. We are most concerned about the apparent lack of commitment by the United States and other countries to make the research and education expenditures needed to address the problems affecting our survival on this planet. Complacency is unwarranted at this time of unprecedented challenges.”

Dr. John Bonner, CAST Executive Vice President/CEO, concludes: “CAST is pleased to contribute this excellent, frank assessment of where we are and where we need to be to establish and sustain the health and abun-

dance of world agriculture. We also are honored that the paper includes Dr. Borlaug’s last known published work, in which he summarises both today’s challenges and CAST’s mission: ‘You have to be able to communicate.

Research information must be applied in order to meet human needs.’”

You can download the full report free of charge at: http://www.cast-science.org/displayProductDetails.asp?idProduct=168

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Arrests made in 17 cattle stabbings

by DANIEL P. FINNEY

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15th ANNNUAL

oweshiek County sher iff’s deputies arrested two men recently in connection with the stabbing of 17 cattle at a Montezuma, Iowa, sale barn recently.

Robert Edward Fults, 20, and Jamey Leroy Christofferson, 22, both of Montezuma, were each charged with 17 counts of livestock abuse. The men also face burglary charges from unrelated crimes in Montezuma. A citizen’s tip to the sheriff’s office put deputies on Fults’ and Christofferson’s trails.

Deputies searched separate residences occupied by Fults and Christofferson before making the arrests. “We had a break in the case and moved quickly on it,” Poweshiek County Chief Deputy Lawrence McNaul said.

McNaul said neither suspect would speak with police.

Workers at the Montezuma Sales Co. sale barn found the cattle with stab wounds

the morning of January 6. The wounds were severe enough that all 17 animals required veterinary treatment and three were euthanized. Detectives quickly ruled out insurance fraud or possible cult activity in the investigation.

The grisly crime rattled the community of 1,400 about halfway between Des Moines and Iowa City.

The incident raised questions about the security of livestock at sale and cattle barns. The Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers offered a $2,000 reward for leads in the case, and it was unknown whether the prize would be claimed in connection with the arrests.

“I could have never even conceived of something like this happening,” said Carl Fenner, a Grinnell cattleman and president of the Poweshiek County Cattleman’s Association. “I don’t know how you protect yourself from somebody who wants to do something so strange.”

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Livestock Market Digest

Page 10

February 15, 2010

Beef industry hopeful for 2010 recovery

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he cattle industry should be on the mend in 2010. Available supplies of beef will drop in the U.S. as production declines and exports increase. Demand will be better at home as the U.S. economy continues to climb back from the depths of the recession.

The beef herd continues to drop slowly. Beef cow numbers on January 1 were estimated at 31.4 million head, down another one percent from last year. Over the past four years the beef cow herd has dropped five percent.

Dairy cow numbers were down three percent in 2009 as herd reductions resulted from large financial losses.

The number of heifers being retained by beef cow producers is down two percent, indicating that beef cow numbers will continue their slow decline through this year. On the other hand, milk cow replacement heifers were up two percent. Does this mean milk cow numbers will rise this year? Probably not — it is just a reflection that modern dairy production requires a higher replacement rate.

During the past decade the beef cow herd dropped by 2.1 million cows, or about seven percent. Regionally, however, the location of beef cows was fairly stable during the last decade with some shift to the Southern Plains.

The Eastern Corn Belt, as an example, had four percent of the nation’s beef cows in both 2000 and 2010. The Western Corn Belt

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has maintained about ten percent of the beef cows, while the Southern Plains increased from 24 percent to 25 percent.

Beef production and the amount of beef available per person in the U.S. will decline in 2010. With smaller cow numbers, the 2010 calf crop is estimated to be down one to two percent and will be the founda-

is for the slow recovery to continue, but with unemployment continuing to remain high. Given that the weak economy had such negative impacts on cattle prices in 2009; it may be possible for even modest economic recovery, in the range of three percent, to have a surprisingly strong impact on rebounding cattle prices.

In 2009, Nebraska finished

This year is expected to be one of healing for a battered beef industry as smaller supplies and recovering incomes swing cattle prices upward. tion for smaller production.

USDA currently expects beef exports to rebound by ten percent in 2010. If so, this will mean beef exports at 2.0 billion pounds will have reached 81 percent of the pre-BSE record set in 2003.

Trade improvements and population growth in the U.S. mean that per capita availability of beef will be down about three percent in 2010. In addition, pork availability per capita is expected to be down four percent. When chicken and turkey are included, there will be about one percent less meat and poultry per person in the U.S. Cattle prices were under severe downside pressure in 2009, primarily due to the recession. Looking back at 2009, beef availability per person in the U.S. was down two percent, yet finished cattle prices dropped by ten percent, representing about $9 per live hundredweight. Lower supply and sharply lower prices represent the devastating impact of the very weak demand.

The degree to which demand improves this year depends on the extent of the 2010 U.S. and world economic recovery. The U.S. economy has been in modest recovery since the summer of 2009. The expectation for 2010

steers averaged only about $83 per hundredweight. For 2010, that number is expected to be closer to $90 for the year. Prices are expected to reach the low $90s by early this spring and then trade in the high $80s to low $90s in the summer. Assuming continued improvement in the economy as the year progresses, prices in the fall could be in the very low $90s.

Calf prices finally began moving higher this fall. Oklahoma steer calves weighting 550-600 pounds averaged $109 per hundredweight in the final quarter of the year, about $4 higher than in the fall of 2008. Strengthening finished cattle prices and moderation in feed prices should keep calf prices moving upward in 2010, perhaps pushing these same calves to the $115 to $120 range in the second-half of 2010.

This year is expected to be one of healing for a battered beef industry as smaller supplies and recovering incomes swing cattle prices upward. As the headlines indicate, a slow economic recovery is probable, but not yet assured. Thus, most cattle producers will approach this year both with optimism, but also with caution. It is also clear that their bankers feel the same way.

Biofuel Bust ne popular solution to global warming is to turn trees and grass into transport fuel, thus reducing our reliance on fossil fuels such as gasoline. But a study published in the October issue of Science finds that advanced “cellulosic” biofuels could emit more greenhouse gas during the next few decades than burning gasoline will, says Reason.

■ Running a computer model that links global economic and huge biogeochemistry data, Marine Biological Laboratory Researcher Jerry Melillo and his colleagues projected that growing energy crops will require cutting down a lot of forest, which

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releases extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

■ In addition, energy crops will need to be doused with nitrogen fertilizer; which gives off an even more potent greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide.

■ By the end of the 21st century, the amount of land devoted to biofuels may be greater than the total area currently used to grow food crops.

“In the near term, I think, irrespective of how you go about the cellulosic biofuels program, you are going to have greenhouse gas emissions exacerbating the climate change problem,” says Melillo.

Source: Ronald Bailey, “Biofuel Bust,” Reason Magazine, February 2010 Issue.

February 15, 2010

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

Study Says Ranchers’ Knowledge, Experience Valuable nput from ranchers, based on knowledge and experience, can be a valuable tool in land management decisions, according to a recent study published by Colorado State University (CSU).

On a large part of the United States’ over 770 million acres of rangelands, site-specific data and long-term ecological monitoring does not exist. According to the study, rancher knowledge may provide insight into ecosystem processes, sustainable management practices and interactions between human and natural communities.

I

Rancher knowledge must be understood in the context of working landscapes . . .

For this study, Knowledge In Practice, Documenting Rancher Local Knowledge in Northwestern Colorado, graduate student Corrine Noel Knapp, and associate professor Maria E. Fernandes-Gimenez interviewed 26 ranchers in one watershed in northwest Colorado.

Ranchers interviewed had a broad understanding of rangeland ecology including knowledge of plant growth and reproduction, animal behavior, vegetation change, and ecosystem responses to disturbances.

In addition, ranchers have sitespecific applied knowledge, which is often absent from the scientific literature To make decisions, ranchers balance multiple factors. On the lands they manage, this includes balancing knowledge of different landscapes, including their productivity, nutrient content, and past management history, to make stocking decisions according to the study. On a regional scale, this includes understanding patterns of change such as the increase in exurban development.

Ranchers are continually assessing the health and productivity of their landscapes.

Because ranchers develop and use indicators in specific places, they may provide insight into the most meaningful, sensitive, and efficient site specific indicators of rangeland health.

A real risk, according to the study, is the loss of this accumulated information. In the past, knowledge was passed from generation to generation. Today, many young people are not continuing in the ranching business, and ranches are being sold to new owners or for non-ranching purposes, and knowledge of the land is disappearing.

Sharing information and working together could benefit all parties — landowners, land management agencies, and scientists, the research concluded.

Increased dialogue may expand our knowledge of sustainable

management by highlighting both unique and overlapping contributions of each knowledge type and suggesting specific research questions and management needs ripe for collaborative knowledge creation and problem solving. Rancher knowledge must be understood in the context of working landscapes; however, this need not be a barrier to using it as an information source to understand rangeland ecosystems if ranchers and scientists clearly communicate about the context and purpose of specific types of knowledge.

The detailed study can be found at: http:// www2.allenpress.com/pdf/RAMA-62.6fnl.pdf

Riding Herd continued from page one

She also told me that having all bulls in the class was sexist. I had to cut her off after 15 minutes.

Although I don’t think this young lady has a career ahead of her in judging livestock professionally, she could do very well as the President for the National Organization for Women.

I placed the young slacker teenager in second place although he referred to me as “dude” no less than 37 times. I found it disconcerting that the young juvenile delinquent was covered in tattoos, listened to his iPod the entire time he was giving his reasons, and his board shorts were ready to fall off at any

Page 11

minute. He referenced several terror movies and said the number three bull was, I believe, “kickin.” He called the scrawniest bull “phat” and his “two dangly things between his legs were rad.”

He used more automotive terms than livestock ones, referring to the bulls “gearbox” several times.

I think his time would be better spent on the ag mechanics team.

I put the “valley girl” in third place because it pained me to look at all her body piercings.

Especially the big silver globe in the middle of her tongue that bounced up and down like a basketball when she talked. I criticized her for placing the class backwards, for chewing gum throughout her reasons, for using the terms “awesome” and “glam” excessively, and for taking a call

on her cell phone while she was giving reasons. The number 2 bull was her fave because “he looked like he had big steaks, a fluffy tail, and soft leather.” She also observed that the bull kicked really good but placed him down when he went to the bathroom right in front of her. G-R-O-S-S! Finally, I rolled the arrogant kid with the expensive sunglasses on top of his head to the bottom because he tried to text the goth girl to get her reasons. He acted like he knew more than I did, which was quite possible, but I did not appreciate it when he tried to bribe me for a better score. Come on dude, just 20 bucks? Surely I’m worth more than that! I predict this kid has an awesome future as a lobbyist or a politician, but as a livestock judge? No way, bro.

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B FEocu E seFdMonA S T E R S :

by CALLIE GNATKOWSKIGIBSON

Per formance

or cattle producers looking for ways to improve their cattle’s performance, Beefmaster genetics can be a good tool. The breed was developed by Tom Lasater in the early 1930s by crossing Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman cattle and focusing on what are now known as the six essentials — disposition, fertility, weight, conformation, milk production and hardiness.

The Beefmaster breed of cattle is a multipurpose breed that is full of convenience traits, according to Dr. Tommy Perkins, Executive Vice President, Beefmaster Breeders United. “Beefmaster females, purebred or percentage, will add disease tolerance, insect tolerance, heat tolerance, longevity, docility, calving ease, maternal abilities and hardiness. When used in a crossbreeding program,

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Beefmasters will add growth and efficiency in all phases of the production chain. This added growth and efficiency will put dollars in your pocket at the cow-calf level and all the way through the feedlot phase, giving you the best of both worlds. You get all the convenience traits in the female along with a crossbred, high performing calf with excellent carcass traits.”

For purebred and commercial producers alike, Beefmasters area good fit. Their hardiness, disease resistance and a few extra pounds at weaning time can make a big difference in that all-important bottom line.

From Arizona: Arizona producers Jeff and Sarah Mattox, of the Belmont Ranch, like the breed’s self-sufficiency. “The best thing about Beefmasters is that they take care of themselves,” Jeff said.

“They do so much better in our conditions than any other breed that I have seen.”

Jeff and Sarah got into the Beefmaster business about 16 years ago wanting to improve their cattle’s performance. Their results after buying a Beefmaster bull convinced them to stay with the breed. “To make the ranch profitable, we needed to make the cattle more productive,” he explained.

Located 40 miles west of Phoenix and 30 miles south of Wickenburg, the ranch is in the hot, dry, Sonoran Desert. “This area gets an average of eight inches of rain a year. We have gotten a total of eight inches in the past three years,” he explained. “Beefmasters do well in the very worst conditions, and our ranch is in the worst conditions. I tell people that if their country is any worse than ours, they don’t have any business in the cattle business.”

February 15, 2010 Those harsh conditions are a good marketing tool, Jeff said.

“Because of their background, I can guarantee that our bulls will perform in any conditions.”

Today, the Mattox family produces purebred Beefmaster bulls and heifers for sale as breeding stock. Most cattle are sold private treaty, although they have attended some bull sales. “We’ve sold bulls to ranchers in New Mexico, Utah, and all over Arizona,” Jeff said.

“Our customers are almost exclusively commercial operators, Beefmasters are a good cross on anything,” he continued. “We have bull buyers who run almost all Corriente cows because of their rough country, and some who use them on big Brangus cows.”

Hardiness is another strength of the breed. “Our country is very rocky, and in some cases the cattle feed five miles from water.

Even in the summertime the Beefmasters travel like nothing else I’ve ever seen. When conditions are bad, and everyone else’s cattle are dropping off, our cattle still look good.”

He also likes the breed’s strong maternal instincts. “The cows calve easy — we have heifers calving at 19 to 20 months old with no problems.

The calves are born small, and the cows take care of those calves. They are protective mothers, too, we are in lion country.”

A good disposition is another important quality to Jeff. “We can work everything we have, even the bulls, on foot. One thing buyers like about our bulls is that they are so easy to handle.”

“Beefmasters are just far and away the best breed there is for this part of the country,” Jeff concluded. “We sell bulls guaranteed to work in any situation.”

To Oklahoma: Beefmasters are also a good fit for the Tapp family, of Boise City, Okla. Bob Ed Tapp, his wife, Mary Ruth, and their chil-

dren Kenny Bob, Lelayne and Joshua, raise commercial Beefmaster cattle on the ranch that has been in the family since 1957.

The Tapps first learned about the breed when Bob Ed’s father, who worked for Matador Cattle Company, bought some Beefmaster bulls for that ranch. “Later, he and my uncle bought some Beefmaster bulls from Watt Casey in Texas to use on our cattle. We bought a ranch in southeastern New Mexico, and used Beefmasters there. When I moved back up here and took over from my grandfather, we kept using the Beefmasters.”

This fall marked the Tapps’ thirty-third buying bulls from the Casey family. “We are really pleased with the cattle. Their milk production is good, their mothering ability is good, we have no problems with them.”

A gentle disposition is one of the breed’s best traits, according to Bob Ed. “You can make any bull mad if you get them hot enough, but overall, the cattle have a very gentle disposition.

When we go to Casey’s to look at bulls, there are between 40 and 50 short two year old bulls in the pen. You are out there walking around with them, looking at them, and they’re so gentle that sometimes you almost have to push them out of the way.”

He also cites their calving ease. “We don’t have calving problems. I can’t remember the last time I had to pull a calf. We turn our heifers out in the pasture to calve, and see them every day or so but don’t go looking for them.”

The Tapp Ranch is located in the mesa country, north of the Cimarron River at about a 3,500 foot elevation. “The cattle do well, we have a mix of rocky and sandy country. The cows seem to be good foragers and good mothers. The bulls come from a lower elevation, but adjust well,” Bob Ed explained. continued on page thirteen

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The Beefmaster breed of cattle is a multipurpose breed that is full of convenience traits, according to Dr. Tommy Perkins, Exec. Vice President, Beefmaster Breeders United.

“Beefmaster females, purebred or percentage, will add disease tolerance, insect tolerance, heat tolerance, longevity, docility, calving ease, maternal abilities and hardiness.

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

February 15, 2010 The Tapps calve year round, with a majority of their calves born in the spring, and go to market with weaner calves in the fall. Even with the current market preference for black calves, Bob Ed remains satisfied with the results he gets with Beefmasters. “We get enough of a gain on our calves that we make it up.

Our calves wean between 50 and 100 pounds heavier than calves of other breeds.”

Bob Ed and Mary Ruth took the ranch over from his grandfather 25 years ago, and have raised their family there. “The kids are very involved in the dayto-day business of the ranch, and are old enough now that they can do it,” he noted.

To New Mexico: Larry Benedict and his family raise commercial Beefmaster cattle on their ranch 30 miles north of Roswell. “Beefmasters fit our country really well. Some

years, it can be really tough country. They get along okay when things are bad, and do well when things are good.”

Larry bought his first Beefmasters in 1995 from Bob Mahone. “I put them on my Hereford cows, and was really pleased with the results. My grandparents had raised Herefords since time began, so making the change was hard for them at first. Once you see the calves, they kind of sell themselves.”

Calving ease is one breed characteristic Larry really likes.

“When we had straight Herefords, we were always pulling calves. By switching to Beefmasters, we have practically eliminated that,” he said.

“I am not saying it is completely foolproof,” he continued.

“Our heifers calve on their own, out in the pasture. We might lose one occasionally, but rest pick up, move back into the herd

How regressive is a price on carbon? nder either a cap-andtrade program that limits carbon emissions or a carbon tax that imposes an outright tax on these emissions, the poor may be among the hardest hit. Because they spend a greater share of their income on energy than higher-income families, households in the lowest fifth of the income distribution could shoulder a relative burden that is 1.4 to 4 times higher than that of households in the top fifth of the income distribution, according to a study by Corbett Grainger and Charles Kolstad, conducted for the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

Previous research already suggests that a carbon tax would probably be regressive. The NBER study further bolsters this conclusion with several key points: First, by linking the amount of carbon emissions from each industry to consumer expenditures by income group, the authors show that consumption differences explain the regressivity of a carbon tax: ■ Assuming a levy of $15 per ton of carbon dioxide, which is in the range of current proposals in Congress, the authors calculate that the one-fifth of households at the bottom of the income distribution would spend an extra $325 a year.

■ That’s less than a third of what the one-fifth of households at the top of the income distribution would pay annually.

■ However, households in the low-income group earn only onetenth as much as those in the high-income group on average, so their burden relative to income would be almost four times higher.

The second key point is that calculations by household understate how regressive a price on carbon would really be: ■ That’s because households in the highest income quintile

U

are much larger — averaging 3.1 persons — than those in the lowest quintile, which average only 1.8 persons.

■ Accounting for those differences (and for economies of scale in household consumption), the authors calculate that the real impact of a carbon tax on a person in the lowest income quintile would be nearly five times more burdensome than for someone in the top income quintile.

■ Using lifetime income in this calculation, the burden would be 2.2 times greater.

within three days and go back to work.”

He also credits the breed for their ability to adapt. “It impresses me that these cattle can range from Colorado to South Texas, adapt to whatever their surroundings are, and do well.”

A gentle disposition is another important trait, according to Larry. “The cattle are nice and gentle, we don’t keep any that are silly. That’s just asking for trouble, and life is too short for that.”

Beefmasters are also good mothers, he pointed out. “They are very protective mothers.

We’ve never had trouble with coyotes, the cows just won’t

Page 13

allow that to be a problem.”

The Benedicts run their cattle on grass pasture, feeding supplemental cake when needed. They winter their calves on wheat, and sell them in the spring as feeder calves, usually sending them to the Texas panhandle. “We are tickled with the calves. It’s a black cattle market right now, but my preference is the Beefmasters. I don’t intend to change any time soon,” he explained.

“I like the Brahman influence, I think it helps the cattle do a little better here,” Larry said. “They travel well, it’s a long way between waters when the dirt tanks dry up. They may not fit everyone, but for our deal they

work.”

“Lasater hit the nail on the head when he developed these cattle,” he continued. “They are a good cross on any type of cows, and don’t need any special treatment.”

Since he started raising Beefmasters, Larry has purchased bulls from Tom Cooper and Watt Casey. “I’m no expert, but the people I’ve met and dealt with within this breed are first rate. It says a lot for the breed that these families have been raising them for as long as they have through good times and bad and are still in business. The cattle must have worked for them, too. “

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Source: Laurent Belsie, “How Regressive is a Price on Carbon?” NEBR Digest, January 2010; based upon: Corbett A. Grainger and Charles D. Kolstad, “Who Pays a Price on Carbon?”

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Bovine TB Confirmed In South Dakota Yankton County cattle herd has been found positive for bovine tuberculosis (TB) after a 3-year-old cow from the herd was confirmed to be infected with the disease.

State Veterinarian Dr. Dustin Oedekoven said the herd has been quarantined for additional testing. “At this time, there is only one confirmed case, but we are taking all of the necessary precautions,” Dr. Oedekoven said.

Herds that have had contact with the affected herd, or purchased animals from that herd, are being tested by state and federal animal health officials. The positive test presents no risk to food safety.

Dr. Oedekoven said South Dakota remains a TB Accredited Free state and has been since 1982. The finding of a single affected beef herd will not automatically impact the TB-free status of the state.

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Source: S. Dak. Stock Growers’ Association

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Livestock Market Digest

Page 14

February 15, 2010

Grass-Fed Beef Won’t Save the Planet

by GEORGE WUERTHNER

nother livestock industry propaganda piece recently appeared in Time magazine by Lisa Abend titled “How Grass fed Beef Can Save The Planet.” The basic premise of the article is that factory farming is bad, so grass-fed or freerange beef is good for the planet and even human health. Grassfed beef is the latest fad with people who have little scientific training, and thus are easily duped by pseudo-scientific sounding pronouncements.

While there are some livestock operators who are promoting grass-fed beef, many of the advocates are well-meaning people who are vulnerable to anything that has the word “natural” in it. Just because raising cows in factory farms on grains is bad for the Earth, does not mean that cows grazing on pasture or hay are better for the Earth.

The assumption of many people is that less industrialized makes it better to consume.

Some of the “natural” folks eschew city water treated with chemicals, for instance, and prefer “natural” water sources. Yet many natural water sources have many unhealthy things in them.

Arsenic, for instance, is often found at naturally high levels in water at levels that are a health risk to drink. One needs to be careful about assuming that anything more “natural” is automatically safer, healthier, and better for humans and the planet.

I do not want to contend that industrialized livestock production is good. There are huge problems with factory-raised meat. Cattle raised on grain tend to be given more hormones, and grain production generally requires heavy pesticide and fertilizer use, as well as fossil fuels to operate machinery. But just because a cow grazes in a pasture, does not mean it is “green” or that eating grass-fed beef is

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environmentally beneficial.

Indeed, as a generalization, almost all the negatives associated with Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) exist with grass-fed beef. And grassfed livestock has many unique impacts not shared by their factory-raised counterparts that may be more environmentally destructive. The assumption that grass-fed beef is “healthier” is based more upon wishful thinking than reality.

rumen are emitting great quantities of methane.

Researcher, Nathan Pelletier of Nova Scotia has found that GHG are 50 percent higher in grass-fed beef. If somehow magically we could convert all factory grown cattle to free range grassfed animals, our global warming situation would be greatly accelerated.

Beyond the GHG issue, free ranging cattle present other problems that CAFO raised animals

THE ASSUMPTION OF MANY PEOPLE IS THAT LESS INDUSTRIALIZED MAKES IT BETTER TO CONSUME. One of the presumed benefits of grass-fed meat is the idea that somehow livestock fed grass reduces global warming gases.

Research suggests that livestock, particularly cows, are a major source of greenhouse gases (GHG) that are warming the planet. One recent UN report finds that as much as 18 percent of the GHG are from livestock — more than all transportation and/or industry sources of GHG. Others put the figure even higher. No matter which studies are used, there is little dispute that cattle are a major contributor to global warming.

Fermentation in the animal’s rumen generates huge quantities of gas — between 30-50 liters per hour in adult cattle. So those proponents of grass-fed beef start with the simplistic assumption that since cattle evolved to eat grass, such a diet must be superior to grain-fed factory raised animals. Yet grass is a poor substitute for grains in terms of caloric energy per pound of feed. As a consequence, a grass-fed cow’s rumen bacteria must work longer breaking down and digesting grass in order to extract the same energy content found in grain — all the while the bacteria in its

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do not. For instance, one of the major consequences of having cattle roaming the range is soil compaction. There’s not a single study that demonstrates that having a thousand pound cow trample soil is good for the land.

Soil compaction reduces water penetration, creating more run-off and erosion. Because water cannot percolate into the soil easily, soil compaction from cattle creates more arid conditions — a significant problem in the already arid West, but also an issue in the East since the soils are often moister for a longer period of time. Moist soils are more easily compacted.

Sometimes the influence of pasture grazing is long lasting.

One study in North Carolina found that stream insect biota were still significantly different in streams heavily impacted by agriculture 50 years after agricultural use had ceased compared to control streams. Soil compaction also reduces the space in the top active layer of soil where most soil microbes live, reducing soil fertility.

Free ranging cattle trample riparian areas, the thin green lines where 70-80 percent of all western wildlife utilize for homes and food. According to the EPA livestock is the major source of pollution and riparian damage in the West. But that doesn’t let eastern cows off the hook since trampling of riparian areas also occurs in the East, though with less biological impact since fewer species are solely dependent on this habitat.

Cattle, of course, release a lot of manure on the soil. A typical 1,100 pound cow releases 92 pounds of manure a day as compared to a typical person a pound of feces. Most of that excrement is left on the land where it washes into streams and adds to nutrient loading as well as the spread of disease like E. coli bacteria. In fact, livestock manure is a major source of water-borne disease and pollution throughout the country.

To put this into perspective, consider that state of Vermont has approximately 150,000 cows, most of whom excrete their waste either directly on pastures

or if collected from barns it is later spread on fields. In either case, most of this waste winds up on the land without further treatment. This is the same as permitting a city of nearly 14 million people to spread their human waste on the land!

It has been asserted without good evidence that grass-fed beef cattle produce less E. coli, Campylobacter, Salmonella, and other dangerous pathogens. Yet all of these diseases have been repeatedly isolated from both grass and grain-fed livestock.

Outbreaks of diseases like E. coli have been traced back to pastured animals. Notably, the E. coli spinach outbreak in California in 2006 was isolated from pastured cattle. And there are other examples.

By contrast CAFO operations, because of their scale and ability to collect and process manure in a treatment plant, can potentially be less polluting overall compared to grass-fed beef — though admittedly this is not common practice as yet.

There are disease issues for wildlife as well. For example, grass-fed animals carry disease that can harm native species.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) or Mad Cow disease is thought to have originated with domestic livestock and later transferred to elk and deer. And foot and mouth disease transmitted from cattle has been shown to infect bison. Brucellosis, another disease originating with domestic cattle, has created a huge controversy in Montana, where bison infected with the disease are killed when they wander from Yellowstone National Park.

Free range cattle are also prob-

GEORGE WUERTHNER is the editor of Welfare Ranching — The Subsidized Destruction of the American West as well as a contributor to Fatal Harvest about Industrialized Agriculture, and a soon-to-be-published book on Factory Farming

lematic for other reasons as well.

Take predators. Most grass-fed cattle are vulnerable to predators, and it is the presence of “free range livestock” that leads to conflicts and the eventual slaughter of everything from wolves to coyotes both as preventative or in retaliation for predation.

On western rangelands where livestock are often let loose on public lands, even the mere presence of cows socially displaces native herbivores like elk that simply won’t graze in the same place as cows. Since there are no empty niches, these native herbivores are displaced into lower quality habitat. Thus even “predator friendly” beef is more hype than reality.

One of the big problems with grain-fed livestock operations is the huge amount of land that is used to produce grain. Approximately 80-90 million acres of land in the US are used to grow corn alone. That is 80-90 million acres of once native prairie that is now growing a mono crop at a tremendous loss of biodiversity.

As bad as that plant community conversion may be for natural process, and native species, grass-fed beef generally dine on either pasture or hay — both of which consist of exotic grasses that are planted at the expense of native plants. In most states, the biggest single factor in the destruction of native plant communities has been their convercontinued on page fifteen

Or . . . You Can’t Feed The Aligator To Avoid it

by CAREN COWAN

he surrounding story is not one that you may be used to seeing in a livestock publication. The inaccuracies are so many that it would take days of research to refute it — but the research is out there and most, if not all, of the numbers are not supported by science.

The notion that 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases (GHG) is indeed from a 2006 United Nation’s report called Livestock’s Long Shadow. What Mr. Wuetherner fails to note is that the number is for under developed counties — where few of the population has cars or the huge number of air, water and other environmental quality regulations that those in the United States (US) must comply with.

Thus, there is little but livestock to emit gases.

The UN report’s estimate for livestock’s contribution to GHG emissions (18 percent) is a global estimate, and not applicable to

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the United States or other developed countries.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the entire U.S. agriculture sector accounts for only six (6) percent of annual U.S. GHG emission. Of this, livestock production is estimated to account for 2.8 percent of total U.S. emissions.

However, this is just a tiny piece of the anti-cattle, antiagriculture sentiment that is bombarding the public every day. The beauty of this piece (if there is such a thing) is that it demonstrates the serious need for the beef industry to stand united. Marketing opportunities abound for the wide variety of beef that is available from commodity to branded to grass-fed to organic.

The beef industry cannot afford to divide ourselves by niche. The industry also must understand rules of engagement and engage.

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

February 15, 2010

Grass-fed Beef continued from page fourteen

sion to hay or pasture. Indeed, across the country more than 130 million acres have been converted to hay and pasture. To put this into perspective, the entire footprint of all urbanization and developed land in the entire US is about 60 million acres. In a sense one could argue that grassfed cows have destroyed far more of the native plant cover than all the cities, highways, factories, Wal-Mart parking lots, etc. combined. No small impact.

Whatever the exact figure may be, there is no denying that a lot of native plant communities have been converted to hay or pasture.

Even cattle grazing on native grasslands are not immune from judgment. One can’t be putting the majority of native grasses into the belly of exotic animals like cattle which are then exported from the system without impacting the ecosystem. Every blade of grass going into a cow’s belly is that much less forage for native animals, from grasshoppers to elk.

There are far more ecological problems I could list for grassfed beef, but suffice to say cattle production of any kind is not environmentally friendly.

The further irony of grass-fed beef is that consumption of beef products is not healthy despite claims to the contrary. There may be less fat in grass-fed beef, but the differences are not significant enough to warrant the claim that beef consumption is “healthy.” There is a huge body

of literature about the contribution of red meat to major health problems including breast, colon, stomach, bladder, and prostate cancer. The other dietary related malady is the strong link between red meat consumption and heart disease.

Another health claim is that grass-fed beef has more omega-3 fats which are considered important for lowering health attack risks. However, the different between grain-fed and grass-fed is so small as to be insignificant, not to mention there are many other non-beef sources for this.

Fish, walnuts, beans, flaxseeds, winter squash and olive oil are only some of the foods that l provide concentrated sources of omega-3 fats. Arguing that eating grass-fed beef is necessary or healthier grain-fed beef is like claiming it is better to smoke a filtered cigarette instead of a non-filtered one. The health benefits are minor if they make a difference at all.

There may be ethical reasons to prefer grass-fed animals over the often inhumane treatment given to factory-farmed animals.

But even that rationale seems hollow to me. If one is that concerned with ethical issues, one should consider whether keeping any animals captive for slaughter is really ethical.

Beef consumption, whether grass-fed or grain-fed animals is neither healthy for the planet nor for humans. Reducing or eliminating red meat — whether grass or grain fed — from one’s diet is one of the easiest way to “save” the planet.

Source: newwest.net

Page 15

Class war: How public servants became our masters employees overnment have turned themselves into a coddled class that lives better than its private-sector counterpart, and with more impunity. In effect, the public’s servants have become our masters, says Steven Greenhut, a columnists with the Orange County Register.

There was a time when government work offered lower salaries than comparable jobs in the private sector but more security and somewhat better benefits. These days, government workers fare better than privatesector workers in almost every area — pay, benefits, time off, and job security: According to a 2007 analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics by the Asbury Park Press, the average federal worker made $59,864 in 2005, compared with the average salary of $40,505 in the private sector.

Across comparable jobs, the federal government paid higher salaries than the private sector three times out of four, the paper found.

The Obama administration has extended the hiring binge started by President Bush: The executive branch employment (excluding the Postal Service and the Defense Department) slated to grow by 2 percent in 2010 — and more than 15 percent if you count temporary Census workers.

The average federal salary

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(including benefits) is set to grow from $72,800 in 2008 to $75,419 in 2010, CBS reported.

But the real action isn’t in what government employees are being paid today; it’s in what they’re being promised for tomorrow, says Greenhut: Public pensions have swollen to unrecognizable proportions during the last decade.

In June 2005, BusinessWeek reported that more than 14 million public servants and 6 million retirees are owed $2.37 trillion by more than 2,000 different states, cities and agencies, numbers that have risen since then.

State and local pension payouts, the magazine found, had increased 50 percent in just five years.

People who are supposed to

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serve the public have become privileged elite that exploit political power for financial gain and special perks. It is a two-tier system in which the rulers are making steady gains at the expense of the ruled. The predictable results: Higher taxes, eroded public services, unsustainable levels of debt, and massive roadblocks to reforming even the poorest performing agencies and school systems. If this system is left to grow unchecked, we will end up with a pale imitation of the free society envisioned by the Founders, says Greenhut.

Source: Steven Greenhut, “Class War: How Public Servants Became our Masters,” Reason, Feb. 2010.

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February 15, 2010

Swine flu was a textbook case of a scare SWINE FLU CORRESPONDS TO THE CLASSIC “BENEFICIAL CRISIS” MODEL

by CHRISTOPHER BOOKER / telegraph.co.uk

o swine flu — eventually found to be only a tenth as virulent as ordinary flu — passes into history as yet another massive scare. Hyped out of all proportion by drug companies and the World Health Organisation (WHO), this fooled our endlessly gullible politicians into spending £1 billion on vaccines which turned out not to be needed. Thus, quite predictably, did the swine flu panic follow the classic pattern of so many other scares before it, as Dr. Richard North and I analysed in our book on the phenomenon, Scared To Death. Tracing the history of many examples, we showed how the most damaging point in any scare, from BSE and salmonella

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late on food safety. No sooner had it done so than the hysteria over dioxins in Belgian chickens, which led to losses of £1 billion, was found to have been completely baseless. But once again, the EU had succeeded in the one thing it is really good at — sucking ever more power to the centre, in order then, corruptly and very inefficiently, to misuse it.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/7006043/Swine-flu-was-a-textbook-caseof-a-scare.html

Record high beef production for December ommercial red meat production for the United States totaled 4.15 billion pounds in December, down slightly from the 4.16 billion pounds produced in December 2008, the USDA said in its Livestock Slaughter Report.

Beef production, at 2.13 billion pounds, was two percent above the previous year. Cattle slaughter totaled 2.75 million head, up three percent from December 2008, the USDA reported. The average live weight was down seven pounds from the previous year, at 1,296 pounds.

Veal production totaled 13.1 million pounds, two percent below December a year ago.

Calf slaughter totaled 92,300 head, down two percent from December 2008. The average live weight was down five pounds from last year, at 240 pounds.

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in eggs to the Millennium Bug, comes when governments fall for the hype, needlessly costing us all billions of pounds.

With perfect timing, the European Parliament recently shelled out 70,000 euros on a propaganda exercise at Olympia, designed to turn children into “active EU citizens”. I was alerted to this shameless PR stunt by Gawain Towler, press officer for the group in the Brussels parliament which includes the UK Independence Party.

The EU’s interactive game, dubbed “Crisis Point”, asked children to imagine that they were an MEP or a European Commissioner faced with a deadly new disease, Xtreme Drug Resistant TB, which had sent Europe into meltdown. The players were told they had just a day to choose from a range of strategies to save their fellow European citizens from disaster.

Clicking the buttons, Towler soon saw the point. If national governments were allowed to take unilateral action, the screen showed that millions would die.

But if the EU was allowed to assume control, it would be possible to reduce the number of deaths to only a few dozen.

This is what North and I dubbed “the beneficial crisis”, whereby the EU has repeatedly used some panic over health, energy, finance or terrorism to justify seizing more power from national governments. A glaring instance was the Belgian dioxins panic of 1999, which gave Brussels the excuse to take over from member states all power to regu-

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Poultry Defense — Blame Cattle

by DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer / Tulsa World

veterinary toxicologist testified recently in federal court in Tulsa that some 233,000 tons of dry manure are deposited by cattle in the Illinois River watershed basin per year.

The trial stems from the state’s suing poultry companies over environmental damages they allegedly have caused. The companies continued presenting their witnesses in early January.

The testimony of Billy R. Clay underscored the positions he took in his November 2008 expert report, in which he noted that cattle manure is deposited directly to the land surface in the watershed while poultry manure is allowed to undergo drying and fermentation before it is avail-

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able for land application as fertilizer or exported.

Clay, called to the witness stand by the defense, found in his report that poultry litter has a “long history of safe usage,” that there are a variety of benefits associated with its use as a fertilizer, and that its application is highly regulated in the watershed.

During its presentation, the state introduced expert testimony from witnesses who asserted that the chemical composition of poultry waste — including its high concentrations of phosphorus, copper, zinc and arsenic — is distinct from that of cattle waste in the area.

Clay’s report claims that of the phosphorus in livestock and wildlife manure produced in the watershed, cattle contribute about 46 percent of the total that is deposited in the relevant

area while poultry litter available for application represents only about 35 percent of that total.

On cross-examination, the state attacked Clay’s figures and the methods he used to arrive at those numbers. Clay defended his conclusions and said, “We felt comfortable about the methods we used and the approach we took.”

Earlier, defense witness Steven P. Larson, a hydrologist, told the court that the ground water sampling data he analyzed showed no significant relationship between items such as phosphorus, copper, zinc and the existence or density of poultry houses in the area.

The state is suing 11 poultry companies in U.S. District Court in Tulsa, claiming that the companies are legally responsible for the handling and disposal of poultry waste in the Illinois River watershed in eastern Oklahoma.

Wolf advocate lists hunters’ names oise wolf advocate has used a public records request to get the names of hunters who reported killing a wolf in Idaho and posted all 122 names on a Web site.

Rick Hobson also bought an ad in the Idaho Statesman that directed people to the Web site.

Hobson says his intention in getting the names from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game was not to cause the hunters to be targeted for harassment by wolf hunt opponents. But he says hunters who bagged wolves have by default inserted themselves into the debate.

“They’re paying for the privilege to use a resource that belongs to all of us,” Hobson told the newspaper. “They’ve made a conscious decision to do something that other people in this state disapprove of.”

Robert Millage of Kamiah is the state's first successful wolf hunter. He said he’s been dealing with harassment since he killed a wolf last September on the opening day of the season.

“I’m glad it was me if it saves someone else from dealing with it,” he said. “A lot of people that I’ve never met took it upon themselves to go to my

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defense. (It was) a humbling experience.”

Successful wolf hunters are required to report a kill within 24 hours to Idaho Fish and Game.

Agency spokesman Ed Mitchell said officials had no choice but to release the names, and that the agency has received a few complaints. “We understand the concerns, but under state law, and upon request, we have to give up the names,” he said.

Mitchell said the agency plans to add a disclaimer in the next hunting rules booklet warning hunters their names could be released.

Millage said his name appearing on a list won’t stop him from future wolf hunts.

“They think if they put people’s names out there and stop a few people from hunting, they feel like they’ve won,” Millage said.

The newspaper reported that hunters put Hobson’s name, address and other information on a prohunting Web site. That information was later removed and Hobson said no one has contacted him.

On another Web site for Montana, a list of hunters in that state who killed a wolf in 2009 has been set up.

The Golden Quarter n the nine quarter-century periods since the American republic was founded in 1789, the one with highest economic growth and job creation was the period from 1983 through 2007. Particularly remarkable — there were just four quarters (out of 100) of negative economic growth in that entire interval, says Richard W. Rahn, a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and Chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth.

■ That period of time was characterized by a reduction in government spending from 23.5 percent of GDP to 20 percent (the low point was 18.4 percent in 2000), and a reduction in marginal tax rates.

■ Despite the reduction in tax rates, tax revenues both in absolute terms and as a percentage of GDP grew in the 19832007 period because of the improved work and investment incentives.

■ As a result, the deficit fell from 6 percent of GDP in 1983 to just 1.2 percent in 2007.

I

For many years (until 1983), the Federal Reserve implicitly followed the Taylor Rule (a formula that provides central bankers with information about whether they are creating too much or too little money) to guide monetary policy, which gave the U.S. both a falling and relatively stable rate of inflation, says Rahn.

During that golden quartercentury, both the presidency and Congress switched parties a couple of times. Thus, it should be politically possible to go back to the policies that gave us the golden quarter.

Most people understand that if the government is growing faster than the economy (as it has been for the past two years) disaster ultimately will occur, but if the economy and the private sector grow faster than the government, as they did from 19832007, almost everyone can be far better off, says Rahn.

As noted, the golden quarter was characterized by a long-term trend toward lower tax rates. The current Congress and adminis-

tration have been enacting tax increases and proposing many more, which will only cause more economic misery. Many tax rates, particularly on capital, such as the capital gains tax and corporate income tax, are well above their revenue and welfaremaximizing rates and should be reduced, not increased, says Rahn.

Page 17

HITCHINGS RANCH Registered Beefmaster Cattle

WE BREED FOR THE 6 ESSENTIALS HITCHINGS RANCH

Our cattle are temperament-tested and bred for quality

JERRY HITCHINGS 530/251-5471

Offering the best genetics the breed has to offer

708-980 Center Rd. Susanville, CA 96130 beef@hitchingsranch.com www.hitchingsranch.com Visitors always welcome.

We are recruiting new Junior Beefmaster members!

Call today for best selection.

SHOW CATTLE BREEDING STOCK EMBRYOS • SEMEN RANGE-READY BULLS

Add A dd Pou unds unds.

Pounds.

Add Profit.

Profitt.

Add Visit www.smartcross.org to find out how to Add Pounds and Add Profit to your next calf crop.

Source: Richard W. Rahn, “Recouping the golden quarter,” Washington Times, Jan. 27, 2010.

################## # # # ATTENTION! # # New Type Sucker # # Rod For Windmills # # # Available in 7/16", 5/8" and # # 3/4" OD sizes — 20 ft. long # Virden Perma-Bilt Windmill Manufac- # # turing of Amarillo now has revolution- # new URETHANE SUCKER ROD # # ary COUPLERS for fiberglass and wood # sucker rod! These male and female # # screw-together urethane couplers do # # double duty as rod guides also! No # corrosion on coupler! No more # # more flop in pipe or pipe wear! Special Intro# ductory Price, $3.87 per ft. for sucker # # rod with Virden’s Urethane Coupler # # Guide! Call or send for our free catalog. # # Serving Farm and Ranch since 1950. # # VIRDEN PERMA-BILT CO. # # 2821 Mays Ave. • Box 7160 LMD # Amarillo, Texas 79114-7160 # # 806/352-2761 # # www.virdenproducts.com # # ##################

“I prefer to buy all Continental-British cross cattle.

As I see cattle come in the feedlot, there is a big advantage to Gelbvieh cross cattle for their cutability and performance. Color doesn’t make as much of a difference in the feedyard, its conversion and average daily gain that drive price and Gelbvieh cross cattle are outstanding in that at regard..”

Bill Sleigh, manager nager of Hays Feeders, Hays, Kan.

American Gelbvieh Association American ation 10900 10 900 Dover Street Westminster, W estminster, CO CO 80021 80021 (303) (3 03) 465-2333 465-2333 Fax: (303) 465-2339 F ax: (3 03) 4 65-2339

www.smartcross.org www w.smartcross s.org • info@gelbvieh.org info@gelbvieh.org

Livestock Market Digest

Page 18

February 15, 2010

THE LIVESTOCK MARKET DIGEST

Real Estate GUIDE Southern Plains Land Company

LOOKING TO SELL YOUR FARM, RANCH, OR RURAL HOME?

483 Acres, Hunter Mania: Nature at his best.

Dont miss out on this one. Live water (two creeks). 70+ acres open in bottom hayfields and upland grazing. Lots of timber (marketable and young) for the best hunting and fishing (Table Rock, Taney Como and Bull Shoals Lake) Really cute 3-bd., 1-ba stone home. Secluded yes, but easy access to Forsyth-Branson, Ozark and Springfield. Property joins National Forest.

MLS#908571 90 Acres: Just north of Phillipsburg off I-44. 80 percent open, pond and a well. Build your dream home and enjoy. MLS#910997 See all my listings at: pmcgilliard.murney.com

Call me today. As a fellow farm owner and operator, I understand the unique challenges faced by agriculture and am here to help you in meeting your goals, whether buying or selling.

Oklahoma & Texas Real Estate Ranches, Farms, Commercial Kalin Flournoy, Associate +%%' * "( +++ %)( &$ " !$' $ %#

5 Acres – Log home. Price Decrease: 3,800 sq. ft. log home, 6 br, 4 BA on 6 acres m/l. 35 x 68 bunkhouse/classroom heated & 1 BA. 1/2 mile from Gasconade River & Wetstone Creek.

Many possibilities for this property. Mountain Grove schools. Asking $170,000. MLS#814022

PAUL McGILLIARD Cell: 417/839-5096 • 1-800/743-0336

MURNEY ASSOC., REALTORS SPRINGFIELD, MO 65804

PAUL STOUT, QUALIFYING BROKER "" , # !"

"!$

# !" %#

Idaho-Oregon

3352 State Road 209, Broadview, NM 88112 O: 575/357-2060 • C: 575/760-5461 F: 575/357-2050 • paul@firstalternativerealty.com

Call 208/345-3163 for catalog.

www.firstalternativerealty.com

KNIPE

KEVIN C. REED Ranchers Serving Ranchers Texas and New Mexico

LEE, LEE & PUCKITT ASSOCIATES INC.

RANCH SALES & APPRAISALS Office: 325/655-6989 Cell: 915/491-9053

1002 Koenigheim, San Angelo, TX 76903 • www.llptexasranchland.com • llp@wcc.net

NEVADA RANCHES and FARMS

Cattle Ranch For Sale ocated in Southeastern New Mexico approximately 25 miles west of Jal, N.M. along and on both sides of N.M. State Hwy. 128 situated in both Eddy and Lea Counties. 28,666 total acres with 2,250 deeded. BLM grazing permit for 370 AUYL. Eleven pastures and traps. No cattle since March, excellent grass. Headquarters with residence, shop, hay barn and shipping pens with scales. Price: $1,100,000

Bar M

Contact: Scott McNally, Qualifying Broker, 575/622-5867

REAL ESTATE

www.ranchesnm.com

This should be a great investment property ideal for a 1031 exchange!

Deeded sheep base in Elko Co: 10,960 deeded acres plus a 29 percent public BLM permit in the mountains just northeast of Elko. Fifty percent of the mineral rights included. Good summer spring and summer range for sheep or cattle. Annual lease income, plus inexpensive ag taxes. Price: $1,425,800.

Waddy Creek Ranch: located in a remote Nevada ranching valley called Charleston which sits at the foot of the Jarbidge Wilderness which is part of the Humboldt National Forest. The ranch is bounded on two sides by forest. There is no power in the valley but there is land line phone. Two creeks provide irrigation water for approx. 138 acres of historic meadow. This property has Quaken aspen groves and is quite beautiful. Access is on a county road. There is a BLM grazing permit attached to the ranch for 71 head. Price: $500,000. Terms considered.

Indian Creek Ranch: White Pine County, Nevada. This is a great property for a hunter as it is surrounded by public lands and has plentiful mule deer, antelope and elk. There is a large spring arising on high ground that could provide pressure for hydro power, or gravity flow domestic or irrigation water. This is an old historic ranch base and can provide summer pasture for cattle or horses and includes approx. 200 acres in three separate parcels. Piñon pine and Utah juniper plus some cottonwood, willows and Quaken aspen.

Very scenic. Approx. ½ mile off county maintained road. Price: $425,000.

Bottari Realty Out West Realty Network Affiliate

PAUL D. BOTTARI, BROKER www.bottarirealty.com • paul@bottarirealty.com

Ofc.: 775/752-3040 Res: 775/752-3809 • Fax: 775/752-3021

Established 1944

L

P. O . BO X 428 • RO SW ELL, NEW ME XICO 8 8 2 0 2

Dawley Creek Ranch — located in one of the most beautiful ranching valleys of the West: Ruby Valley: Set at the foot of the majestic Ruby Mountains with approx. 1,100 acres of lush meadows and good private pasture. This ranch has approx.

6,000 deeded acres. Approx. 700 acres are currently being cut for meadow hay plus two 110 acre piviots with alfalfa/orchard grass hay. This ranch runs approx. 500 pair plus heifers and bulls year long and around 30 head of horses. No water fights in this case as the water doesn’t run off the ranch but rather fills a snow water lake called Franklin Lake. This ranch has been a target for conservation easements. Priced at $4,500,000. And contingent upon being able to complete a 1031 exchange into another acceptable property.

LAND CO.

RANCHES FARMS COM’L.

Wild West Properties, L.L.C.

7400 Gila Rd. NE Albuquerque, NM 87109

THE GOLDEN RULE ISN’T JUST A RULE; IT’S A WAY OF LIFE.

Give me a call or see our website for the following properties:

Extraordinary 39,000 Deeded Acre Hunting Ranch 474-Acre Hunting Paradise near Luna, NM (under contract) 66-Acre MRGCD irrigated farm south of Veguita, NM 145-Head Cattle Ranch near Magdalena, NM 2,800-Acre Cattle Ranch near Quemado, NM (pending offer)

SOLD

9,400-Acre Ranch next to Capitan, NM 14-Acre MRGCD irrigated farm near Las Nutrias, NM 190-Acre Irrigated Horse Ranch near Ruidoso, NM 500-Head Cattle Ranch near Trinidad, CO. 3,200-Acre Ranch near Marquez, New Mexico

RANDY J. WOOD, Qualifiying Broker • O: 505/980-8019 • F: 505/823-2262 Email: rjwood5@comcast.net • www.wildwestproperties.com

Betty Houston Residential Commercial Land

VIEW ALL MY LISTINGS ON YOU-TUBE www.socorronmproperty.com Ph: 505/835-1422 • C: 505/440-8297 505/865-5500

TEXAS & OKLA. FARMS & RANCHES • 503 Ac. So. Navarro Co., Texas.

It’s got it all. $1,950/ac.

• 632-acre CATTLE and HUNTING, N.E. Texas ranch, elaborate home, one-mile highway frontage.

OWNER FINANCE at $2,200/ac.

• 274 acres in the shadow of Dallas.

Secluded lakes, trees, excellent grass. Hunting and fishing, dream home sites. $3,850/ac.

• 126 ac. jewel on Red River, Tex. – Nice river frontage, irrigation well, excellent soils for crops, nursery stock, cattle grazing, you name it! $3,250/ac.

• 1,700-acre classic N.E. Texas cattle and hunting ranch. $2,750/ac. Some mineral production.

• Texas Jewel, 7,000 ac. – 1,000 per ac., run cow to 10 ac.

• 126 ac. – Red River Co., Tex. Home, barns, pipe fence. $225,000.

Joe Priest Real Estate 1205 N. Hwy 175, Seagoville, TX 75159

972/287-4548 • 214/676-6973 1-800/671-4548 www.joepriest.com joepriestre@earthlink.com

Scott Landco.

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

February 15, 2010

Buena Vista REALTY

VIEW THE WEBSITE FOR FULL PICTURES AND DETAILS ON THESE AND OTHER LISTINGS: WWW.BUENAVISTA-NM.COM

521 W. 2nd, Portales, NM 88130 • 575/226-0671 • Fax 575/226-0672

What a Place! Only 320 acres but really improved.

2 brick homes, several large barns, well-watered with 2 wells. Excellent turf, very accessible. Horse friendly.

Very Nice Smaller Ranch – Has brick 3 bedroom, 2 bath home plus a smaller hand house, shop building, hay barn, livestock scales, large steel pens with some feed bunks, working chutes, overhead bulk feed storage, outside fencing (mostly new 5-wire steel post), 1141 acres of excellent turf, and 2 pastures cross-fenced with drinkers. In all, this is a great opportunity for someone.

GIVE US A CALL OR STOP BY. LET US WORK FOR YOU!

Qualified Broker: A.H. (Jack) Merrick Sales Agents: Charles May, Koletta Hays, Kercida Merrick

1301 Front St. Dimmitt, TX 79027

Ranch & Farm Real Estate

Ben G. Scott, Krystal M. Nelson–Brokers 800/933-9698 day/night • www.scottlandcompany.com

This ad is just a small sample of the properties that we currently have for sale. Please check our website: scottlandcompany.com and give us a call!

We need your listings both large and small, all types of ag properties (ESPECIALLY CRP).

RITA BLANCA RANCH – Dallam Co., TX. – 4,055 acres, 4 circles, 375 acres CRP, good fencing, pens and water. Priced to sell.

S. WICHITA RIVER RANCH – ABUNDUNT DEER, QUAIL, DOVE & TURKEY – 12-1/4 section ranch, fronts on two hwys., 466 ac. in farmland, hunting facilities, new set of steel pens.

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Tenney’s 4U Land & Real Estate 4520 West Airport Rd. Willcox, Arizona 85643 jimassist@vtc.net

J.L. (JIM) TENNEY

Office 520/384-2834 Cell 520/906-7335 Fax 520/384-6396

Our family trains roping and barrel horses, so the cattle we have are Corriente Cattle we use for training our horses. My primary business is brokering real estate.

41 Acres: Irrigation well with new Submersible pumping system that produces 260 GPM, concrete water distribution system, just 6 miles NW of Willcox in Stewart District, great location with all utilities and nice views ¾-mile from paved Rd. $240,000 with Owner financing. Additional acreage available.

100 Acres: New 30'x60'x17', concrete-floored, open front, sheet metal barn, very high producing irrigation well (tested over 2,000 GPM) new pump and electric motor in place, domestic well with submersible pump and pressure system, electric, phone & new septic system ready for your new home. Abundance of water ready to put in to farming. $275,000.

640 AC + 600 AC State Lease in livestock grazing. This property lies along Birch Road, a main paved road that connects Hwy. 191 and Kansas Settlement Road, the 2 main southern routes, in Sulfur Springs Valley. $1,120,000 2,240 Acres, 10 wells, all videoed showing water depths and condition of wells.

Paved road to corner of property, on Bell Ranch Road. 2 miles North of Hwy 181. In a farming area with Pat Hills as backdrop.Well located for development property or re-development as farm and/or dairy. Has annual government crop payments and can be leased out for grazing to keep taxes to a minimum. $5,600,000.

RIAD PROPERTIES ALTURAS•CALIFORNIA

Vernon Knoch, Broker 530/233-1993 Fax: 530/233-5193

Website: triadproperties.net triadproperties@frontiernet.net

KELLY CREEK RANCH: This reputation Oregon ranch has 2,400 deeded acres, free water with 1869 water rights, large flood irrigated meadows, and no irrigation wells.

Improvements include three homes, three hay barns, three horse barns, two sets of corrals, with scales, feed lot with 450' of fence line bunk space and miscellaneous other buildings. Water fowl, deer, and many other wildlife species are abundant on the ranch. This is an easy operating ranch with one hired man. Price quick sale reduced from $3,750,000 to $2,995,000

“EAGER SELLERS” 1,350 -1,400 AU’s YEAR ROUND – WINTER RANGE – 11,750 DEEDED PLUS BLM and STATE LEASES - ONE CONTIGUOUS BLOCK - LOW OVERHEAD – GOOD IMPROVEMENTS – 10 MINUTES TO TOWN and SCHOOLS -$6,000,000 – CAN CUT TO 1,000 HD AND REDUCE PRICE! – P BAR 225 – 250 AU’s - 850 DEEDED (650 irrigated) – 1-1/2 MILE RIVER - NICE MEADOWS – MODEST IMPROVEMENTS WITH GREAT WORKING FACILITIES – CLOSE TO TOWN and SCHOOLS - $1,800,000 – WANT OFFER -CAN ADD CUSTOM HOME AND 80 ACRES – GREAT STOCKER OPERATION – LYMAN – RAE @ 208-761-9553 LIFESTYLE RANCH 55 MILES TO BOISE – 2,213 DEEDED ACRES PLUS STATE AND BLM – DROP DEAD PRIVATE – 2 MILES MAJOR STREAM – BEHIND LOCKED GATE – COMFORTABLE IMPROVEMENTS – ELK, DEER, TURKEY, CHUKAR, HUNS, QUAIL, WATERFOWL - BEAR, LION AND VARMINT – TROUT and BASS PONDS - $1,400,000 – WANT OFFER – TURKEY CREEK LIFESTYLE – 320 DEEDED ACRES (105 irrigated) COMFORTABLE IMPROVEMENTS – SPECTACULAR VIEWS – BORDERS FEDERAL LANDS – ELK, DEER, TURKEY – ONLY MINUTES TO SOME OF THE FINEST YEAR LONG FISHING IN THE NORTHWEST – STEELHEAD, STURGEN, TROUT, BASS, CRAPPY AND MORE - $690,000 – WANT OFFER – POSY -RAE @ 208-761-9553 LIFESTYLE/INCOME – POSSIBLY THE FINEST WILDLIFE VARIETY/QUANITY AVAILABLE – 1,160 DEEDED ACRES (180 irrigated) – 2-1/2 MILES RIVER – 2 BASS PONDS – PLENTIFUL QUAIL, CHUKAR, DOVE, PHEASANT, WATERFOWL, DEER and AND VARMINTS - EXCELLENT IMPROVEMENTS – COW/CALF AND/OR STOCKER OPERATION FOR INCOME /TAX ADVANTAGE - $1,900,000 – LANDRETH

AGRILANDS Real Estate www.agrilandsrealestate.com Vale, Oregon • 541/473-3100 • jack@fmtcblue.com

1,360 ACRES, near Ravendale, Calif. Develop this property into a hay ranch. Excellent area for irrigation wells.

Two older homes plus outbuildings. Priced at: $600,000

WAHOO RANCH:– Approximately 39,976 acres: 10,600 deeded, 6,984 BLM, 912 state, 40 uncontrolled and 21,440 forest. Beautiful cattle ranch located on the east slope of the Black Range Mountains north of Winston, N.M., on State Road 52. Three hours from either Albuquerque or El Paso.The ranch is bounded on the east by the Alamosa Creek Valley and on the west by the Wahoo Mountains ranging in elevation from 6,000' to 8,796'. There are 5 houses/cabins, 3 sets of working corrals (2 with scales) and numerous shops and outbuildings. It is very well watered with many wells, springs, dirt tanks and pipelines. The topography and vegetation is a combination of grass covered hills (primarily gramma grasses), with many cedar, piñon and live oak covered canyons as well as the forested Wahoo Mountains. There are plentiful elk and deer as well as antelope, turkey, bear, mountain lion and javelina (49 elk tags in 2008). Absolutely one of the nicest combination cattle/hunting ranches to be found in the SW. Price reduced to $8,500,000.

SAN JUAN RANCH: Located 10 miles south of Deming off Hwy. 11 (Columbus Hwy) approximately 26,964 total acres consisting of 3,964± deeded, 3,800± state lease, 14,360± BLM and 4,840± Uncontrolled.

The allotment is for 216 head (AUYL). There are 278± acres of ground water irrigation rights (not currently being farmed) as well as 9 solar powered stock wells and metal storage tanks and approx. 6½ miles pipeline. The ranch begins on the north end at the beautiful Mahoney Park high up in the Florida mountains and runs 5½ miles down the mountains to their south end. It continues another 7½ miles south across their foothills and onto the flats. The ranch has a very diverse landscape with plentiful wildlife including quail, dove, rabbits, deer and ibex. Lots of potential and a good buy at $1,200,000.

REDROCK CANYON RANCH: Located in Redrock, N.M. Approx. 7,268 total acres consisting of 1,908± private, 1,040± state, 4,320± BLM, 120-head grazing permit and 24 acres of farm land. 3½ miles of the Gila river runs thru the middle of the ranch. Deer, javalina, quail and great fishing. Topography consists of large hills and mesas, bi-sected by the cottonwood lined Gila River Valley. Very well fenced and watered. Priced Reduced to $1,900,000 212 ACRE FARM BETWEEN LAS CRUCES, N.M. AND EL PASO, TEXAS: Hwy. 28 frontage with 132 acres irrigated, 80 acres sandhills, full EBID (surface water) plus a supplemental irrigation well, cement ditches and large equipment warehouse. Reasonably priced at $2,000,000.

118.8 ACRE FARM: Located on Afton Road south of La Mesa, N.M. Paved road frontage, full EBID (surface water) plus 2 supplemental irrigation wells with cement ditches. Will divide into 2 tracts — 50.47 acres and 68.32 acres. Priced at $14,500/acre — $1,722,600.

BEAUTIFUL 143.81-ACRE NORTH VALLEY FARM located in Las Cruces, N.M. next to the Rio Grande River. Great views of the Organ Mountains. Cement ditches, 2 irrigation wells and EBID. Two older houses and shed sold “as is”. Priced at $13,212/acre — $1,900,000. Will consider dividing.

OTHER FARMS FOR SALE: In Doña Ana County. All located near Las Cruces, N.M. 8, 11, 14, and 27.5 acres. $11,111/acre to $17,000/acre. All have EBID (surface water rights from the Rio Grande River) and several have supplemental irrigation wells. If you are interested in farm land in Doña Ana County, give me a call.

DAN DELANEY R E A L E S TAT E , L L C

318 W. Amador Ave. • Las Cruces, N.M. 88005 (O) 575/647-5041 • (C) 575/644-0776 nmlandman@zianet.com • www.zianet.com/nmlandman

Livestock Market Digest

Page 20

February 15, 2010

Animal Rights Groups exploit religion

by PHILIP LOBO, Communications Director, Animal Agriculture Alliance

he animal rights movement, often characterized as a secular, liberal cause, is working with increasing intensity to appeal to religious organizations. For example, the Los Angeles Times published a Nov. 6, 2007 article titled “For all of God’s creatures; Activists for animals are finding a receptive audience in the faith community, including on the religious right.”

According to the Times, animal rights activists have been lecturing in Quaker meetinghouses and Episcopal churches,

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Join Us for

setting up Web sites that post Scripture alongside recipes for vegan soup and using biblical language to promote political initiatives, such as laws mandating larger crates for gestating pigs.

The Best Friends Animal Society, an animal rights group based in Utah, hosted a summit Nov. 7, 2007 in Washington, D.C., to collect 1 million signatures on “A Religious Proclamation for Animal Compassion” from people of all faiths committed to making the world a kinder place for animals.

Of the five “calls to action” in the proclamation, No. 2 called upon people of faith to reduce meat consumption, refuse to

wear fur, buy from local farms and actively support those who encourage humane treatment of animals. According to the proclamation, “. . . the increasing commercialization and commoditization of animals for the purpose of human consumption and comfort causes untold suffering upon animals each year in factory farms, the commercial fishing industry and the fur trade.” At press time, the Best Friends Animal and Religion team boasted 7,435 signatures for the proclamation, and they plan to reach more than 2,000 churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and faith organizations by the end of 2008 in prepara-

tion for the 2009 Summit of Animals and Religion.

Animal rights, evangelism and higher education Karen Swallow Prior, an associate professor of English at Liberty University — a fundamentalist Baptist institution founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell — recently wrote an editorial for the university’s journal declaring animal welfare an evangelical concern. According to Prior, the evangelical hero of the late 18th and 19th centuries, William Wiberforce, pushed for laws to protect animals from human cruelty. The Los Angeles Times commented that buzz on animal

Cattleman’s Weekend in Prescott, Arizona

Friday & Saturday, March 5-6, 2010 at Prescott Livestock Auction in Chino Valley Selling 100 Bulls of All Breeds, 35 Ranch-Raised Horses & Yearlings, and 200 Replacement Heifers

Featured Events:

36th Annual Arizona Hereford Association Bull Sale 10th Annual Arizona Angus Association Bull Sale 22nd Annual Prescott All Breed Bull Sale 12th Annual Invitational Ranch Remuda Sale (The best ranch horse sale and competition in the state, featuring Arizona’s top working ranches!)

18th Annual Commercial Heifer Sale 19th Annual Cattleman’s Trade Show, and More!

For more information contact: Richard Smyer, Prescott Livestock Auction, P.O. Box 5880, Chino Valley, AZ 86323 Sale Manager, 928/445-9571, Ed Ashurst, Horse Sale Manager: 520/558-2303 Leslie Hoffman, Trade Show Coordinator: 928/713-2658

New Sale Barn located 5-1/2 miles east of Hwy. 89 on Perkinsville Road in Chino Valley Sale Headquarters: Days Inn, Chino, 928/636-0311 For Cattleman’s Weekend Program visit our website www.cattlemansweekend.com or email mccraine@cableone.net

rights Web sites indicated to leaders in the animal rights movement that the religious right was a potential ally and resource contributor.

HSUS launches Animals and Religion program The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) launched a new Animals and Religion program at the end of September 2007, hosted on its Web site at http://www.HSUS.org/religion.

HSUS’s Animals and Religion program, funded at $400,000 a year, aims to persuade faith communities to take a series of small steps toward “animal welfare,” like offering a vegetarian entree at a fellowship meal or insisting that the coffee cake set out on Sundays is made with free-range eggs.

HSUS also is seeking to enlist religious leaders in its political campaigns. In California, the group is pushing a ballot measure to ban certain confinement systems for farm animals. Promotional advertisements for the campaign show photos of hens in crowded cages with the caption, “Is This Faithful Stewardship of God’s Creatures?”

HSUS’s Animals and Religion Web site gives various U.S. religions’ opinions about animals.

According to the site, Seventhday Adventists present a health message that recommends vegetarianism and expects abstinence from pork, shellfish and other foods proscribed as “unclean” in Leviticus 11. Additionally, the site quotes a section from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 2003 Agricultural Pastoral, “Catholic teaching about the stewardship of creation leads us to question certain farming practices, such as the operation of massive confined animal feeding operations. We believe that these operations should be carefully regulated and monitored so that environmental risks are minimized and animals are treated as creatures of God.”

Campaigns not fully embraced Some religious sectors are showing backlash against the recent trend in animal rights extremist campaigns, arguing the phrase “animal rights” subverts God’s plan for man to exert dominion over the rest of creation. For example, Evangelical Commentator Charles Colson suggested in a November radio broadcast animal-rights activism implies that “humans are . . . just one of many living accidents roaming the planet.” In the broadcast, Colson said Christians must treat animals humanely, but that doesn’t mean granting them the legal right to live in bigger cages.

The goals of the vegan-driven animal rights activists, if realized, could devastate farmers, ranchers and the rural communities that rely upon them. History has proven that America’s religious communities can greatly influence social causes in the nation.