Riding Herd
“The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it.”
by LEE PITTS
– JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
August 15, 2018 • www.aaalivestock.com
Volume 60 • No. 8
Country Club Cowboys
BY LEE PITTS
May your belly never grumble, may your heart never ache, may your horse never stumble, may your cinch never break.
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here’s a not-so-quiet revolution going on in the country. It pits the same old politicians, their staffs and cronies against the very people they were elected to serve. The entrenched politicians have a great thing going, at least for them, and then along comes a President who wants to upset their applecart and return the power to the people. Only this time I’m not referring to Donald Trump and the swamp he’s trying to drain in DC. No, this swamp is in the unlikeliest of places... it’s in the desert in Phoenix, Arizona. And those fireworks you may have seen or felt on in late July weren’t fired off by some Fourth of July revelers with a bad sense of timing, or an old outdated calendar. These fireworks were lit in a conference room in Prescott, Arizona, and they represented a microcosm of everything that’s wrong in this country... and everything that’s right.
The question of an organization being “staff driven” usually pops up when something has already gone terribly wrong. Like when Oklahoma’s state Beef Council lost $2.6 million of its checkoff dollars when a staffer embezzled it, or when NCBA staffers lobbied for the government to get rid of country of origin labeling at the behest of its packer members who don’t pay into the checkoff, while ignoring the wishes of its producer members who do pay the checkoff and overwhelmingly wanted COOL. In both cases you had the proverbial tail wagging the dog.
The Tail Waggers
NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING
There’s a principle in Leadership 101 that says anytime you hear there’s an issue of an organization being “staff driven” versus “membership driven” you already have big problems. The key word in that sentence is VERSUS. Volunteer members VERSUS paid staffers? Is this how any dues-worthy association should work? Versus? Really?
Joining that infamous list of tail waggers we now have the the staff, past presidents and Executive Board of the Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association (ACGA). It’s them VERSUS the ACGA President Jay Whetten. There’s that dirty word again! First, let’s meet the tail waggers. Basilio (Bas) Aja is the Executive Vice President of Arizona Cattle Feeders Association. His family came to America in late 1890’s successfully raised sheep for 109 years before selling out in 2006 and switching to cattle. In addition to being a rancher
Bas has nearly three decades experience lobbying the Arizona legislature on behalf of the Arizona Cattle Feeders, Cattle Growers and the Arizona Beef Checkoff. (Although, the words “checkoff” and “lobbying” aren’t supposed to even be found in the same sentence.) According to his bio, “Bas has been the lead government relations expert for the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association for the past 20 years.” From all accounts he has done a good and effective job. Bas has a relative, Patrick Bray, who just so happens to be the Executive Vice President of the ACGA. (This reporter called Patrick to get his side of the story but as of press time I haven’t heard from him.) Aligning with Bas and Bray in this battle of the new guard versus the old guard is a Phoenix land and water developer, the largest bull breeder in Arizona and the son of one of the most respected ranchers in
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Meet The Man Behind Trump’s Hammond Pardon How Forrest Lucas — the little-known millionaire whose company name is plastered on the home stadium of the Indianapolis Colts — wields power and even Sharon Stone to protect agriculture. BY ANNE HELEN PETERSEN, KEN BENSINGER, AND SALVADOR HERNANDEZ BUZZFEED NEWS REPORTERS
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he last call Oregon rancher Dwight Hammond Jr. made before heading to federal prison on two counts of arson in 2016 was to a man he hardly knew. Forrest Lucas, who made his fortune on oil engine additives, promised Hammond that he would do whatever he could to get him and his son, Steven, out of prison. Early the morning of July 10 aboard Air Force One, en route to the NATO summit, President Donald Trump signed an official clemency order pardoning the two men. Lucas — a 76-year-old Indiana self-made millionaire with tight ties to the Trump administration — had fulfilled his pledge. For nearly two decades, the Hammonds had been engaged in skirmishes with the Bureau of Land Management, an agency that functions as a go-between for ranchers and the federal land they lease for grazing. They pushed back, often threateningly, on regulations regarding the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, which bordered the Hammonds’ grazing allotment, and they set unpermitted fires on BLM land. After a second fire
in 2006, the pair were charged with 19 different crimes, but eventually arranged a plea deal for just two charges of arson on federal land, which carried a minimum of a five-year sentence. The judge declared that such lengthy jail time qualified as cruel and unusual punishment, instead sentencing Dwight to three months and Steven to one year and one day. The pair served their time and returned home. But the federal government successfully appealed the sentence, and on January 4, 2016, the Hammonds were ordered to return to prison. The verdict brought Ammon and Ryan Bundy — who, along with their father, Cliven, had been involved in an armed confrontation with BLM officials over the management of their grazing allotment in Nevada — to Eastern Oregon. On January 2, Ammon led several hundred people on a peaceful march through Burns, Oregon, in support of the Hammonds. At the end of the march, he made a declaration: Whoever wanted to take a “hard stand” against the government should follow him — thus launching what would become the 41-day armed standoff at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. The Hammonds, however, weren’t there. Nor did they condone what the Bundys and continued on page four
A Losing Battle
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e’ve turned the corner on beef consumption and it’s back on the rise after more than a decade of falling like a sack of hammers. I attribute beef’s decline to the plethora of diets urging folks to skip the meat in favor of melba toast, coffee enemas and colonic cleansings. Sometimes it seems like half the world is starving to death while the other half is on a diet. It is estimated that 80% of ten year old girls in this country are on some sort of diet. And they have so many to choose from. There’s the diets named after places where no one is fat, like the Hollywood, Beverley Hills, Scarsdale and South Beach diets. A lot of good the Scarsdale diet did its inventor, Herman Tarnower, whose so called “friend” lost 185 pounds of lover when she murdered Herman, probably because he made her eat too many pineapple chunks with cottage cheese and kept telling her how fat she was. We also had the no-whitefood diet, eat only when hungry diet, the milk diet, and the drinking man’s diet, which consisted of martinis and whipped cream. Actually, the drinking man’s diet has been with us for centuries because in 1087 William the Conqueror only consumed alcohol in order to lose weight. Forever after he was known as William the Drunk. Most of the diets were dreamed up by doctors who had something to sell and wanted to appear on Oprah. (She purchased Weight Watchers not long ago, probably to get the wholesale price on Weight Watchers cream puffs.) There were diet books by Robert Atkins, The Doctor’s Weight Loss Book by Dr. Irwin Stillman, and the No Breakfast Plan by Dr. Edward Hooker Dewey. Some people got seriously rich from fat, like Jennie Craig, and the people behind Nutri-Systems and Metrecal, which was all the rage when I was a kid. And in 1961 Royal Crown Cola introduced the first diet soft drink, Diet Rite, which started a flood of diet drinks. I had an uncle who was hooked on Diet Rite and he offered me a taste one time.
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Livestock Market Digest
August 15, 2018
COUNTRY CLUB COWBOYS
CAREN COWAN..........Publisher
LEE PITTS....................Executive Editor
CHUCK STOCKS.........Publisher Emeritus RANDY SUMMERS......Sales Rep
RANDY SUMMERS, 505/850-8544 email: rjsauctioneer@aol.com
MARGUERITE VENSEL..Office Manager
JESSICA DECKER..........Special Assistance CHRISTINE CARTER......Graphic Designer
the history of the state. These are the primary tail waggers attempting to get rid of, and destroy the reputation of, the President of ACGA, Jay Whetten. Jay and Jennifer Whetten are the owners of the 76 Ranch near Bonita in Cochise County. Whetten lived in Mexico for more than 50 years before moving to Arizona. In Mexico his father started as a cowboy working on different ranches in the State of Chihuahua until eventually building his own business. Says Whetten, “My dad and I worked together, along with my brother, Mark, to transition from the old-time idea of running cows to raising beef. We were busy, we took care of cow-calf operations and bought calves and pastured them. Apple and peach orchards were another venture. I also made horseshoes for a few years.” In the fall of 2008 Whetten and his family left Mexico and two years later bought the 76 Ranch. It didn’t take long for his neighbors and fellow ranchers to come to appreciate Whetten’s leadership qualities and Jay is now in the middle of a two year term as President of the Cattle Growers. According to everyone this reporter interviewed for this story, Jay is a well-liked, hard working Mormon who is a “take no prisoners” type of guy. in 2016-17 Jay got the Top Hand Award for signing up more new members for the Arizona Cattle Growers than anyone else. And heaven only knows, they could use the members. As best as I could find out, membership seems to be somewhere between 400 and 500 members, half of what it was just a couple decades ago. According to rancher Fred Davis of Tombstone, “Whatever Jay does he’s a Hell of a hand. Given a job, he puts his head down and goes to work to get it done. He’s a great leader and if you’re going to follow him you’d better get on and go. He’s a man of the people,” says Davis. “Jay wanted to revive the Cattle Growers by getting rid of dead wood. The past Presidents were running the show and had been for years and he made them look bad.” Rancher Rick Bader says the staff and the Cattle Growers Executive Committee acted like they didn’t need membership and they were always too busy to respond to our problems. There was no communication.” Of the 15 remaining past Presidents eligible to sit on the Cattle Grower’s nominating committee all but two that we know of wanted Whetten’s hide nailed to a wall and come time for the Cattle Growers Convention at the end of July they were going to be rid of Jay Whetten once and for all. A third past president plead for reason at the first meeting and did the same again in Prescott.
They Screwed Up We’ve all been in groups or organizations where slates of officers are “elected” to their
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positions by a nominating committee. Typically, the committee comes up with a slate of officers and presents it to the membership, then someone really quick makes a motion to close the nominations and the vote is taken. If you vote no or might want to nominate someone else, you are shunned and will never find yourself sitting on even the janitorial committee. It’s about as Democratic as the old USSR was. In the Arizona Cattle Growers the nominating committee is composed only of past state presidents. So the glorious irony is, Jay tried to get bylaws changed to get more membership and put more people on the nominating committee to dilute the power of the past presidents but it was these same past Presidents who made Jay Whetten the President of the CattleGrowers to begin with! In the words of one of Jay Whetten’s supporters, “They screwed up.” Normally they do a better job of rounding up the strays and putting them in the cull pen. In Arizona, Cattle Grower Presidents are expected to be good boys (never a woman), and do what the staff tells them to do. The staff writes their speeches, creates their itinerary and issues press releases under their name that they never even saw. A problem first arose because no one but Jay Whetten writes Jay Whetten’s speeches. He stepped on toes by visiting with ranchers anytime he was asked to attend an event without first getting approval from the staff or the Executive Committee. The staff tried to collar him by saying he couldn’t attend an event without being accompanied by a staffer. But what really got the old guard’s goat, especially Bas Aja’s, was that Jay lobbied for the cattleman’s cause any time he was given the opportunity and lobbying was supposed to be Bas Aja’s job. To top it all off, by all accounts Whetten and the Executive VP of the Cattle Growers, Patrick Bray, there is no love lost! The attitude of the Cattle Growers staff can best be summed up by their web page which states: “While you are tending to your business of raising cattle, we will be serving as your personal representative at numerous state and national hearings to keep you informed and to make sure your voice is heard.” But according to rancher Rick Bader, “The staff ran free for so long they got their own way. The old guard ran a lot of ranchers off, like me. I’ve been gone for 20 years. I quit a long time ago. I was back in the fold for one reason and one reason only: to support Jay. The irony is, they got a ton of new members over this just because lots of ranchers joined to come here and support Jay. It cost me $900 in dues, a couple hundred continued on page three
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COUNTRY CLUB COWBOYS to register and $500 for room and board just to get up and speak for two minutes in support of Jay.” In the old guard’s effort to get rid of Jay, things got downright nasty. Jay was even called on by the FBI. When the Whetten family sold out in Mexico they moved a substantial amount of money to the United States that they later used to buy their Arizona ranch. Someone got in touch with the FBI and suggested Jay ought to be investigated because he moved this money. It could’ve been drug money, or so the informant speculated. The FBI looked into it and told Jay he was NOT under investigation and when it was over Jay asked the FBI who turned him in. He was told it was a member of the Arizona Cattle Growers.
The Big Showdown Arizona is world famous for being the site of the biggest cowboy showdown of all time. Although the one in Prescott wasn’t as well documented as the one in Tombstone, the Cattle Growers annual convention in Prescott in the waning days of July was an even bigger ambush. As usual, there was a full schedule of events for convention goers but everyone knew there was really only one thing on the agenda: the ousting of a President by the past presidents and the Executive Committee. Tombstone rancher Fred Davis knows a thing or two about both showdowns. “In the past when there was an issue between the staff and a president the staff would just ignore the president and go on their merry way in running the orga-
nization. Presidents were only in for two years and Bray and his staff could ignore the president and wait until the next one.” This worked just fine until Jay Whetten came along. Much like President Trump, Jay is a hard guy to ignore. Jay too wanted to drain the swamp and he wanted to start by putting other people on the nominating committee to join the past presidents. Says Davis, “Some of those past presidents never even dug a post hole or branded their own calves. And they were condescending as Hell. It all came down to the fact that the ranchers wanted a voice. And Jay Whetten was that voice.” “Jay is as tough and honest as you’ll find,” says Davis. “He took the initiative and did stuff himself. Sure, he went and met county organizations and is a true man of the people. The Executive Committee said he undercut legislative action but they couldn’t cite one example where Whetten overstepped his bounds. Nor could they show where Whetten had said a bad word about anyone.” But never mind that, he was charting his own course to improve communications within the Cattle Growers and that automatically made him an enemy of the staff, Executive Committee and past presidents. According to Davis, the irony of the whole situations is, “They slung mud at Jay for three months and nothing stuck. Membership of Cattle Growers actually grew because of the fight to keep Jay.” Prior to the showdown, a group of Cattle Growers were so fearful the whole organiza-
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tion was going to implode they asked the Executive Committee what they could do to head this off. They were told to hand them Whetten’s resignation. His head on the proverbial platter. Ask the ranchers why the Executive Committee wanted to get rid of Whetten so bad and you’re told that he rubbed them the wrong way, wouldn’t take directions and even that it had religious overtones. Conversely, supposedly the Executive Committee had composed their own list of “50 things Jay Whetten did wrong” that was not disclosed until after the showdown was over. Rick Bader thinks it was only a matter of time before the proverbial bovine excrement hit the fan.”If it didn’t all blow up now, it would have at some point. The situation with the staff, Executive Committee and past presidents has been boiling and festering for a long time. Jay just caused it to come to a head.”
Old Mossyhorns And The Deep State During the Saturday business meeting that lasted twelve hours there were several items on the agenda but everyone knew there was really only one that mattered: would Jay Whetten retain his Presidency or would the Association self destruct before their very eyes? And boy, oh boy, did the onlookers get their money’s worth. Right off the bat a motion was moved to get make the Main Event the first order of business. This only made sense because if the Executive Committee was successful in getting
rid of Jay there wouldn’t have been a Cattle Growers organization left standing to have a meeting about. Rick Bader says, “It looked like for awhile they were willing to split the baby in half. We don’t need two associations but if they got rid of Jay we had at least seven organizations and a couple hundred thousand dollars ready to walk out the door to form a new organization.” Bader says it was all a mirror image of what we’re seeing in America. “Where the deep state refuses to change. The county organizations want a change of the culture and if the CattleGrowers don’t change with the times, we’re all more than happy to go along without them.” Caren Cowan, the Digest’s Publisher, Executive Director of the New Mexico CattleGrowers Association and longtime Arizona Cattle Growers member (her grandmother Mattie was a founder of and first President of the Cowbelles), sat through the entire session and recalls, “I’ve never seen adults act like this before. The Executive Committee brought along their own parliamentarian to the meeting and we spent great deal of time discussing several points of parliamentary procedure.” Caren fondly remembers that their annual vacation as a kid was to attend the annual Cattle Growers Convention. “I thought back then, Cattle Growers’ was in the business of educating its’ members. We didn’t see much of Granddaddy. In hindsight now realize he was an active member working on the issues of the day.” There were a lot of surpris-
es. Most members learned for the first time that the Cattle Growers had a heretofore undiscovered Constitution. And that Arizona’s by-laws are like the NCBA’s where the board approves the by-laws, not the membership. “You could have cut the tension in the air with a knife,” says Cowan. “Rumors were swirling everywhere” At the end of a very long day President Jay Whetten was still standing but only by one vote. At the bitter end five of the seven Executive Committee members stood up and gave short, unplanned resignation speeches. The only thing the two sides came to agreement over was to disagree. They opted for arbitration, mediation or marriage counseling, whatever you want to call it. Says Rick Bader, “Tommie Martin, well-known mediator is now charged with the task of trying to save this marriage that looks beyond saving. She’s good at this sort of thing,” says Bader, “but I don’t know if anyone is that good.” As for the past presidents and other old mossy horns and mossbacks at other state associations, the NCBA and the Beef Council, I think I speak for the vast majority of us when I say we’ve all grown just a little bit tired of listening to how much they’ve sacrificed over the years to serve their fellow ranchers. But since we’ve had the checkoff and the NCBA we’ve lost 40 percent of our fellow ranchers. So I say thanks to the old mossbacks and mossy horns for their service and suggest that they give each other big old plaques and go home. You’ve already done more than enough.
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HAMMOND
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others had done in their name. When the occupation began, they were back on their ranch with Dave Duquette, Lucas’s close associate. When the Hammonds flew back to a hero’s welcome in Burns, Oregon, it was aboard Lucas’s private jet. Lucas, whose company, Lucas Oil, currently holds naming rights for the Indianapolis Colts’ stadium, has made a pro-agriculture, anti-regulation agenda his mission over the past eight years. To achieve his goals, Lucas has used a nonprofit he founded, Protect the Harvest — devoted to “working to protect your right to hunt, fish, farm, eat meat, and own pets” — as well as his close ties to Vice President Mike Pence, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, whose top adviser is a former employee of Lucas’s. As Duquette puts it, “the access is very good.” “Most people wouldn’t get involved,” Duquette told BuzzFeed News in early June. “But thank God for Forrest Lucas, because he’s been willing to take on the hard issues.” Among those hard issues: fighting environmental activists, pushing back against regulation, and protecting farmers and ranchers from what they see as federal overreach. That’s why Lucas grew interested in the Hammonds in the first place.
“We’re all about affordable food and land use and personal rights,” Duquette explained. The Hammond case “intersects perfectly with the Protect the Harvest mission.” Protect the Harvest has built a positive rapport with the ag community by sponsoring scholarships and racetracks and film festivals. But the nonprofit has also benefited by the community’s anxieties that a time-honored way of life is coming to an end. For those active in the agricultural world, Lucas has primarily been known for his strong stance on animal regulation. A particular target of his efforts has been the Humane Society of the United States — the national organization that has spearheaded the vast majority of initiatives related to animal regulation, and which Lucas has referred to as “terrorists.” Protect the Harvest has spent millions producing web videos that spread across the dozens of Bundy-adjacent Facebook pages that have popped up in the last decade. It also focuses on messaging to children: There are anti-regulatory Protect the Harvest coloring activity sheets, and a pro-ag Protect the Harvest– branded teaching curriculum available for download on their website. In 2015, Lucas began producing feature-length films — starring Hollywood actors like
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Sharon Stone, Jon Voight, and would care about the fate of a Jane Seymour — to promote his pair of Oregon ranchers, you have to consider the concept of strongly anti-regulation agenda. In 2015, Lucas began produc- “the harvest” as Lucas is using it: ing feature-length films — star- a stand-in for everything from acring Hollywood actors like Sha- tual crop yields to what he views ron Stone, Jon Voight, and Jane as the fundamental right to make a living as one sees fit off the Seymour Lucas’s film and television land. In tax filings, Protect the production studio, the Corona, Harvest describes its mission as California–based ESX Enter- educational: “to ensure accurate tainment, currently has five films information is communicated to in production — including Stand the general public with the rise at Paxton County described as of various groups threatening the story of a rancher and his to end modern agriculture and daughter who “face off against hunting in the United States.” In practice, this “accurate state and local authorities who by questionable means relieve information” has centered on a local ranchers of their livestock cluster of issues that are closely tied to Big Ag’s priorities: porand way of life.” After Trump took office, Lu- traying animal rights activists cas made the short list of po- and environmentalists as out-oftential appointees for interior touch liberals bent on ending the secretary. Although Montana rural way of life; characterizing Rep. Ryan Zinke ultimately got regulation and federal oversight, the job, he has provided an open particularly on public lands, as door to both Lucas and Protect a means of curtailing American the Harvest. Meanwhile, Brian liberty; and advocating for and Klippenstein, who is still listed providing platforms for public as PTH’s executive director, now figures — such as the Hamworks as senior adviser to Per- monds — to function as symbols due. Pence’s vice presidency has of widespread persecution of the been a boon for Lucas, who, ac- ag community. cording to a Protect the Harvest That this apparatus was built spokesperson, has been friends in just eight years, by a man with with Lucas since before he took little in the way of a visible pothe office of Indiana governor. litical profile, is a testament to In addition to Lucas’s own what a few million dollars can do role as one of Trump’s agricul- in our current American ideologtural advisers, public records in- ical landscape. And while Lucas dicate that Lucas met with Zin- may seem like an unlikely politike in April 2017 to discuss wild cal figure, his “all-American” rise, horses, grazing access issues, and the obstacles that defined it, and national monument desig- go a long way toward explaining nations. In October, when Pence the ardor and anger fueling his flew to attend an Indianapolis cause. Colts game, abruptly leaving While Lucas may seem like n ... when players knelt during the an unlikelyck political blicatiofigure, his u p to rise goes a long national anthem, he first spent ma“all-American” e lives r tiv o f in t s way toward explaining the ardor time posing for photos with Luo m st’s uthwe Protect the and anger fueling his cause. cas and Duquette. o S e h T At age E 76, Lucas has deep Harvest also has ties to former K T hair that seems to belie EPA chief Scott Pruitt, who was brown MAR a featured speaker at a Protect the natural aging process. When the Harvest event in Indianapo- he speaks with the press, he tends to wear shirts emblazoned with lis on Jan. 26, 2016. Lucas’s investment in the the Lucas Oil logo of his compaHammonds — and the Bundys, ny, or a race car jersey. He’s the who’ve been invited to Protect sort of man who’d commission me to a documentary about his own the Harvest–sponsored Please forumssubscribe — titled — is a means the to an end. They Livestock Market life Digest for: American Real: The have become symbols of the Forrest Lucas Story — show it 1 Year at $19.95 2 Years at $29.95 way many rural Americans feel at a film festival, and then make they’ve been wronged by federal it nearly impossible for anyone overreach, and Lucas, much like to view it again. He considers NAME Trump, leverages those feelings himself an embodiment of the to build support for one of his American dream: a boy who, as overriding goals: wide-scale de- he tells it, grew up without elecADDRESS tricity in rural Indiana but then, regulation of big business. This is the story of how over decades of hard work and PHONE Forrest Lucas became the be- fair dealings, scraped his way to hind-the-scenes architect of a a multimillion-dollar company. E-MAIL multipronged political and proBorn in 1942, Lucas grew up paganda machine — unknown to on a farm in Elkinsville, Indimost Americans, yet with an out- ana — living, as he put it, “pretMC size influence on the current ad-VISAty much like people lived in the ministration and the way millions 1800s.” “Most people now could think their rural way of life, the only read about that,” he said, CARDof NUMBER industries that shape it, and the “but I got to see the tail end of government’s role within it. it. Most people think it’s kind EXPIRATION “This DATE administration has bucolic, but it’s actually a pretty been pretty good at asking for hard way to go.” problems,” According to Lucas, when he SIGNATURE Duquette explained. “And then addressing them.” was 9 years old, he got his start ThePayment Hammond as an entrepreneur by going Enclosed pardon is the or first such Protect the Harvest door-to-door, barefooted, selling subscribe “problem” that’s been directly a supposedonline miracle cure called @ SEND PAYMENT addressed on the TO: national stage. Cloverine Salve. But with Lucas’s direct access to Lucas was, in many ways, a AAALIVESTOCK.COM Livestock Market Digest multiple wings of the administra- typical farm kid. He’d wake in P.O.it’s Box 7458 to be the last. tion, unlikely the morning to take care of the Albuquerque, New why Mexico To understand an87194 in- cows and pigs, go to school, and credibly wealthy man like Lucas return home to care for them
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again. At age 15, he left home to work at a cattle ranch in Harrison County, near the Kentucky state line. He graduated high school, then, as he later put it, “went to a long college called hard knocks.” By age 18, Lucas was a married man with a child — and left the ranching life to make a living for his family, hauling dirt, finding odd construction jobs, selling Singer sewing machines, and working a muffler assembly line at night. But what Lucas really wanted was a semi. “I’d see these guys going down the road,” he said, “and maybe they were going somewhere. I wanted to get into the truck and go somewhere.” At 21, he pulled together enough money to buy his first semi — the first in what would eventually become a fleet. Two years later, the creek that ran near his childhood farm would be dammed in order to power the nearby city of Bloomington. The entirety of Lucas’s hometown of Elkinton was acquired through eminent domain. His childhood farm was gone, superseded by the needs of those in the city nearby. Lucas didn’t make his fortune on trucks. He made it on oil additives, created using a “secret formula” that Lucas says to have discovered almost by accident and which, his company claims, has seemingly miraculous effects on the performance of engines: It reduces wear, lengthens engine life, improves gas mileage, and makes motors run quieter, among other things. Lucas Oil is marketed to car aficionados, gearheads, and truckers with aging rigs. t In the ’80s, Lucas Oil began e lives rmativ o f in t putting its logot’son mosrace cars hwes as aThmeans e Sout of advertising. The Lucas’ bought a cattle ranch in RK Cross Timbers, Missouri, that MA has grown to 15,000 acres, with over 3,000 cattle. They opened an oil processing plant in Corona, California, and a second one in Corydon, Indiana, where they also purchased the local railsubscribe me road. In 2011, LucasPlease acquired a televisionthechannel, LivestockMAVTV, Market Digest fo and filled it with races featuring 1 Year at $19.95 2 Years cars emblazoned with the Lucas Oil logo. “I realized several years ago that people were starting to NAME [skip] commercials,” Lucas told Autoweek. “We needed to be in the TV show itself, more so than ADDRESS just be on the car.” Lucas began to acquire the PHONE entire means of production: He sponsored the cars, he built or E-MAIL bought the tracks, he owned the broadcasting network, and when the production company he’d MC VISA employed to make commercials went bankrupt, he bought their gear and trained his loading CARD NUMBER dock employees to operate it, moving to a dilapidated Sunkist EXPIRATION factory DATE in Corona. By 2012, at least 700 different racing teams wore the Lucas Oil logo; today, SIGNATURE many of those teams have transitionedEnclosed to wearing the logo for Payment Protect the Harvest. It’s vertical integration, done the Lucas way: SEND TO: his oil brand, @ firstPAYMENT to promote now to promote his ideological AAA Livestock Market Digest one. P.O. Box 7458 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87194
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Editor’s Note: Language reflecting personal opinion has been removed.
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Livestock Market Digest
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service & 2018 Santa Gertrudis NOAA Fisheries Seek Public Breeders Int’l Steer Input on Proposed Reforms to Feedout Results Released the Endangered Species Act T may find that designation for a particular species would not be prudent. The agencies anticipate that such not-prudent determinations will continue to be rare and expect to designate critical habitat in most cases. The ESA defines a threatened species as one that is likely to become in danger of extinction within the “foreseeable future.” For the first time, the agencies are proposing an interpretation of “foreseeable future” to make it clear that it extends only as far as they can reasonably determine that both the future threats and the species’ responses to those threats are probable. The agencies are also clarifying that decisions to delist a species are made using the same standard as decisions to list species. In both cases, that standard is whether a species meets the established ESA definition of an endangered species or threatened species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is separately proposing to rescind its blanket rule under section 4(d) of the ESA, which automatically conveyed the same protections for threatened species as for endangered species unless otherwise specified. This brings its regulatory approach to threatened species protections in line with NOAA Fisheries, which has not employed such a blanket rule. The proposed changes would impact only future listings or downlistings and would not apply to those species already listed as threatened. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will craft species-specific 4(d) rules for each future threatened species determination that are necessary and advisable for the conservation of the species, as has been standard practice for most species listed as threatened in recent years. “No two species are the same, and so by crafting species-specific 4(d) rules for threatened species, we can tailor appropriate protections using best available science according to each species’ biological needs,” said Sheehan. “By creating a clearer regulatory distinction between threatened and endangered species, we are also encouraging partners to invest in conservation that has the potential to improve a species’ status, helping us work towards our ultimate goal: recovery.” Under section 7 of the ESA, other federal agencies consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries to ensure their actions are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered or threat-
ened species or result in “destruction or adverse modification” of critical habitat. The proposed rule simplifies and clarifies the definition of “destruction or adverse modification” by removing redundant and confusing language. The proposed rule is not intended to alter existing consultation practice; rather, it seeks to revise and clarify language that was confusing to other federal agencies and the public. Additional proposed revisions to the consultation regulations will clarify whether and how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries consider proposed measures to avoid, minimize or offset adverse effects to listed species or their critical habitat when conducting interagency consultations and will improve the consultation process by clarifying how biological opinions and interagency submissions should be formulated. The proposed rules are available at www.fws.gov/endangered/improving_ESA/regulation-revisions.html and will publish in the Federal Register, including detailed information on how the public can submit written comments and information concerning these provisions. Comments must be received within 60 days of publication. All comments will be posted on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means any personal information provided through the process will be posted.
ELM
the Santa Gertrudis genetic package reaches desired quality grade targets and does so in an effective, efficient and profitable manner. The steers’ average USDA Yield Grade was 2.98 with 50 percent of the carcasses scoring Yield Grade 1s and 2s. The data becomes even more impressive when taking into consideration that the ribeye area (REA) average was 14 square inches, and the cattle gained 3.51 pounds per day during the feeding period. Results of the 2018 SGBI Steer Feedout are not an anomaly. The feedout findings support industry data collected and released in 2017 on 3,800 head harvested in 2015 and 2016. The industry-generated data showed Santa Gertrudis steers grading 70.9 percent Prime and Choice, surpassing the plant average of 62.3 percent by 8.6 percent. This information is valid and is proof that Santa Gertrudis feeders efficiently hit endpoint targets, producing a profitable animal for all beef industry members. Most important, the results of the numerous association, university and industry feeding trials and harvest data collection activities show that the final product pleases consumers. In 2013, SGBI was the first American (Bos indicus-influenced) breed association to provide genomically enhanced EPDs (GE-EPD). DNA data makes a GE-EPD more accurate and predictable than pedigree and performance predictions alone. SGBI was also the first beef breed association to use the powerful new single-step GE-EPD method.
FARMINGTON
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ontinuing efforts to improve how the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is implemented, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries proposed revisions on July 19, 2018 to certain regulations to ensure clarity and consistency. The changes incorporate public input, best science and best practices to improve reliability, regulatory efficiency and environmental stewardship. “The Trump Administration is dedicated to being a good neighbor and being a better partner with the communities in which we operate. One thing we heard over and over again was that ESA implementation was not consistent and often times very confusing to navigate. We are proposing these improvements to produce the best conservation results for the species while reducing the regulatory burden on the American people,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Principal Deputy Director Greg Sheehan. “We value public input and have already incorporated initial public comments we received in response to our notices of intent published in 2017. We encourage the public to provide us additional feedback to help us finalize these rules.” “We work to ensure effective conservation measures to recover our most imperiled species,” said Chris Oliver, NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries. “The changes being proposed today are designed to bring additional clarity and consistency to the implementation of the act across our agencies, and we look forward to additional feedback from the public as part of this process.” Several proposed changes relate to section 4 of the ESA, which deals with procedures for listing species, recovery and designating critical habitat (areas essential to support the conservation of a species). First, the agencies propose to revise the procedures for designating critical habitat by reinstating the requirement that they will first evaluate areas currently occupied by the species before considering unoccupied areas. Second, the agencies propose to clarify when they may determine unoccupied areas are essential to the conservation of the species. While the agencies recognize the value of critical habitat as a conservation tool, in some cases, designation of critical habitat is not prudent. Accordingly, they are proposing a non-exhaustive list of circumstances where they
he results of the 2018 Santa Gertrudis Breeders International (SGBI) Steer Feedout confirm that the association’s reliable genetic evaluation identifies animals that perform at the highest level. Unfortunately, Bos indicus-influenced breeds are often portrayed as inferior from a carcass quality standpoint. However, knowledgeable cattlemen recognize that no single breed holds a monopoly on superior carcass quality. Research results clearly indicate that genetic variation exists both between and within breeds for many important beef cattle performance measures. Simply stated, selection within breed populations is a very effective tool for improving carcass traits, and Santa Gertrudis Breeders International’s reliable genetic evaluation ensures that cattlemen can make sound comparisons and identify genetics that will perform at the highest level. Data from the recently completed 2018 SGBI Steer Feedout validates the fact that Santa Gertrudis feeders are profitable for all beef industry members and very capable of producing a consumer-pleasing product. Purebred Santa Gertrudis steers representing 25 different sire groups were fed at AzTx Feeders, Hereford, Texas, through the winter and spring and harvested at the Tyson Beef Plant in Amarillo, Texas, on June 29, 2018. The cattle graded a remarkable 96 percent Choice, with 51 percent hitting the Premium Choice mark. The data collected by the Beef Carcass Research Center at West Texas A&M University reveals that
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Livestock Market Digest
August 15, 2018
Nearly $2 Billion Now Available for Eligible Producers Affected by 2017 Hurricanes & Wildfires
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ecretary Sonny Perdue announced on July 16, 2018 that agricultural producers affected by hurricanes and wildfires in 2017 now may apply for assistance to help recover and rebuild their farming operations. Signups began on July 16 and will continue through November 16, 2018. “Hurricanes and wildfires caused billions of dollars in losses to America’s farmers last year. Our objective is to get relief funds into the hands of eligible producers as quickly as possible,” said Secretary Perdue. “We are making immediate, initial payments of up to 50 percent of the calculated assistance so producers can pay their bills.” Additional payments will be issued, if funds remain available, later in the year. The program, known as the 2017 Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program (2017 WHIP) was authorized by Congress earlier this year by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. Eligible crops, trees, bushes, or vines, located in a county declared in a Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration or
Secretarial Disaster Designation as a primary county are eligible for assistance if the producer suffered a loss as a result of a 2017 hurricane. Also, losses located in a county not designated as a primary county may be eligible if the producer provides documentation showing that the loss was due to a hurricane or wildfire in 2017. A list of counties that received qualifying hurricane declarations and designations is available at www.fsa. usda.gov/programs-and-services/ disaster-assistance-program/ wildfires-and-hurricanes-indemnity-program/index. Eligibility is determined by Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committees. Agricultural production losses due to conditions caused by last year’s wildfires and hurricanes, including excessive rain, high winds, flooding, mudslides, fire, and heavy smoke, could qualify for assistance through the program. Typically, 2017 WHIP is only designed to provide assistance for production losses, however, if quality was taken into consideration under the insurance or Noninsured Crop
Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) policy, where production was further adjusted Nearly $2 Billion Now Available for Eligible Producers Affected by 2017 Hurricanes and Wildfires, the adjusted production will be used in calculating assistance under this program. Eligible crops include those for which federal crop insurance or NAP coverage is available, excluding crops intended for grazing. A list of crops covered by crop insurance is available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Actuarial Information Browser at webapp. rma.usda.gov/apps/actuarialinformationbrowser. Eligibility will be determined for each producer based on the size of the loss and the level of insurance coverage elected by the producer. A WHIP factor will be determined for each crop based on the producer’s coverage level. Producers who elected higher coverage levels will receive a higher WHIP factor. The 2017 WHIP payment factor ranges from 65 percent to 95 percent, depending upon the level of crop insurance coverage or NAP coverage that a producer obtained for the crop. Producers
who did not insure their crops in 2017 will receive 65 percent of the expected value of the crop. Insured producers will receive between 70 percent and 95 percent of expected value; those who purchased the highest levels of coverage will receive 95-percent coverage. Each eligible producer requesting 2017 WHIP benefits will be subject to a payment limitation of either $125,000 or $900,000, depending upon their average adjusted gross income, which will be verified. The payment limit is $125,000 if less than 75 percent of the person or legal entity’s average adjusted gross income is average adjusted gross farm income. The payment limit is $900,000, if 75 percent or more of the average adjusted gross income of the person or legal entity is average adjusted gross farm income. Both insured and uninsured producers are eligible to apply for 2017 WHIP. However, all producers receiving 2017 WHIP payments will be required to purchase crop insurance and/or NAP, at the 60 percent coverage level or higher, for the next two available crop years to meet statutory requirements. Producers
who fail to purchase crop insurance for the next two applicable years will be required to pay back the 2017 WHIP payment. To help expedite payments, a producer who does not have records established at the local USDA service center are encouraged to do so early in the process. To establish a record for a farm, a producer needs: • Proof of identity: driver’s license and Social Security number/card; • Copy of recorder deed, survey plat, rental, or lease agreement of the land. A producer does not have to own property to participate in FSA programs; • Corporation, estate, or trust documents, if applicable Once signup begins, a producer will be asked to provide verifiable and reliable production records. If a producer is unable to provide production records, USDA will calculate the yield based on the county average yield. A producer with this information on file does not need to provide the information again. For more information on FSA disaster assistance programs, please contact your local USDA service center or visit www.farmers.gov/recover/whip
Ranch Horse Questions to be Addressed at Ranch Management Symposium Kingsville, Texas
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he 15th Annual Holt Cat® Symposium on Excellence in Ranch Management will bring together ranch owners, managers, and veterinarians from the most successful ranching operations to discuss the symposium topic, Horse Program Success on Working Ranches: Strategic and Operational Decision Making. Hosted by the King Ranch® Institute for Ranch Management (KRIRM), the symposium will be held in Kingsville, Texas, October 18 and 19, 2018. A variety of topics on managing horses on a working ranch will be presented by ranch owners and managers, ranch management consultants, practicing veterinarians, and professionals in the ranching industry. These speakers will offer their expertise on how they strategically use and manage horses to support cattle operations. “The ranch horse is a mainstay of ranching operations. While at the same time, they can be expensive to manage, a challenge to keep sound, and a source of inherent safety risk,” explains KRIRM Director Clay Mathis, Ph.D. “This symposium has been designed to address the most pressing issues regarding ranch horses for today’s ranch managers. From managing brood mares to purchasing replacement saddle horses, you will learn from the most experienced managers and industry experts on nutrition, reproduction, health, ranch economics, employee safety, and legal risks.”
The event will begin with a keynote address by John Welch of Welch Cattle Company in Wolfforth, Texas. Welch, who is among the most respected ranchers in our industry, will describe the characteristics of a successful ranch horse program. Bob Kilmer of Matador Cattle Company will offer a perspective on big decisions about ranch horse safety, which will lead into a presentation by agriculture attorney James Decker about the legal risks of horseback guests, dayworkers, and children. After a break in the industry trade show, a manger panel featuring representatives from Parker Ranch in Hawaii, Singleton Ranches in New Mexico, and Sooner Cattle Company in Oklahoma will delve into horse strategies and policies on the respective ranches. The second day of symposium will focus on nutrition, health, reproduction, and economics. Equine nutritionist Dennis Sigler, Ph.D. will present guidelines for keeping a string in working condition, and Glen Blodgett, DVM of 6666 Ranch will discuss preventive health care guidelines for mares and saddle horses. Ranch Management Consultant and Economist Stan Bevers will explain the financial implication of raising versus purchasing replacement saddle horses. King Ranch, Inc., equine veterinarian and private practitioner Ben Espy will discuss mare reproduction and the application of reproductive technology in ranch horse management.
A King Ranch Demonstration and Equine Tour will conclude the symposium on the afternoon of Friday, October 19th. Attendees will travel to King Ranch (transportation provided by KRIRM) to participate in two sessions. During the first session, attendees will learn about the rich history behind the King Ranch horse program, where it stands today, and its outlook for the future. The second session will include a demonstration on lameness diagnosis and treatment by ambulatory equine veterinarians Ben Espy and Kurt Heite. Registration is $150, which includes admission to the industry trade show during symposium and a steak dinner on Thursday, October 18th during which the Texas Farm Credit Certificate in Advanced Ranch Management awards are presented. A special address will be made by American Quarter Horse Association President Jim Heird, Ph.D. For more information about symposium, to download the agenda, and to register, visit krirm.tamuk. edu/symposium or call 361-5935401. Space for this event is limited. Formed in 2003, KRIRM is a ranch management master’s program at Texas A&M University-Kingsville created in honor of the 150th Anniversary of the legendary King Ranch. As the only ranch management master’s program in the world, KRIRM teaches graduate students using a multi-disciplinary, systems approach to ranch management, and provides the highest quality lectureships and symposia to stakeholders in the ranching industry. For more information about KRIRM, visit krirm.tamuk.edu or contact Ashley Patterson, ashley.charanza@tamuk .
August 15, 2018
Livestock Market Digest
Page 7
Colorado U.S. Rep Scott Tipton Wants to Open More Federal Land for Livestock Grazing BY: TOM RAMSTACK WWW.GAZETTE.COM
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olorado U.S. Representative Scott Tipton recommended the government enlist help from ranchers and farmers to better protect federal lands during a recent congressional hearing. Congress is considering legislation that would open hundreds of thousands of additional acres of federal land to grazing by livestock. Much of western Colorado is federally administered land. Livestock grazing already is permitted across large stretches of federal lands in the West. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management authorizes livestock grazing on 155 million acres, more than half of the acreage it administers. The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service also already permit grazing on some of their lands. Republicans like Tipton say farmers and ranchers would protect the property, reducing fire threats and helping to protect nature. Typically, they remove invasive weeds and build stock ponds that could be used by wildlife, he said. “Some of the best custodians for public lands happen to be our ranchers,” Tipton, R- Cortez, said during a hearing of the House Natural Resources subcommittee on federal lands. Some conservationists and their Democratic supporters say the livestock would ravage the wildland, diminishing its pristine beauty and ability to support wildlife. Tipton discussed the devastation being caused by fires raging in Colorado, particularly the Spring Creek fire, which stands as one of the worst in the state’s history.
The blaze has burned more than 110,000 acres in the Sangre de Cristo mountains between Fort Garland and Walsenburg. Other large-scale damage has come from the 416 fire north of Durango and the Divide fire near Craig. The hearing coincides with a recognition in Congress that the government’s enormous land holdings are too difficult to maintain under current budget restrictions. In Colorado, the federal government owns about 37 percent of the state’s land. Some members of Congress are responding by searching for alliances that would shift part of the maintenance burden to private businesses. “How important is it to be able to use that tool and the toolbox of having responsible
ranchers graze?” Tipton asked expert witnesses at the hearing. Stefanie Smallhouse, president of the Arizona Farm Bureau, said grazing livestock would remove overgrowth of plants, grasses and trees that provide the fuel for wildfires. “Overgrowth causes catastrophic fires,” she said. She mentioned as an example plant growth along the Colorado River watershed that has burned in recent fires. The charred ground can prevent rainwater from seeping into the soil, thereby contributing to flooding and mudslides, according to conservationists. “It’s imperative that we have ranchers out there managing for the public’s best interests,” Smallhouse said. Idaho Lieutenant Governor
Brad Little said farmers and ranchers could help with faster responses when fires erupt if they believe they are protecting their grazing land. “Being a part of the solution when we have a fire is what the ranchers do,” Little said. However, Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, a Laramie, Wy.based conservation group, said recent history shows grazing causes more harm than benefit to public lands. “While oil and gas development garners the greatest amount of media attention, as it represents a spectacular environmental trainwreck, livestock grazing is like a slow and invisible cancer that is insidiously and inexorably killing native ecosystems over vast areas,” Molvar
said in his testimony. He cited a U.S. Bureau of Land Management analysis showing that in 2012 more than 40 percent of federal land used for livestock grazing failed to meet minimum government standards for rangeland health. A large part of the funding for national park land maintenance comes from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a conservation program to preserve federal lands and set them aside for public access. U.S. Senator Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, called on Congress to provide more funding to eliminate a maintenance backlog the National Park Service estimates at $11 billion. In Colorado, national parks need more than $238 million to restore the land and infrastructure, he said.
g n i k a e Br ews! N The deadline for ADVERTISING and LISTINGS in the 2018 Fall Marketing Edition has been extended to SEPTEMBER 7th! For advertising contact Randy Summers at 505.850.8544 or email rjsauctioneer@aol.com For listings, fill out the form below or call Mattie at 505.219.8524. You can email the form to fallmarketdigest@gmail.com or mail it to P.O. Box 7458, Albuquerque NM 87194. Price for listings is $35.00 unless you are running a display ad, then they are free.
FALL MARKETING EDITION LISTING FORM Name Business Name Address City
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Livestock Market Digest
Federal spending is not endangered, but the ESA is BY FRANK DUBOIS Bipartisan waste
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f there is one thing that has bipartisan support, it is increasing federal spending. The House just passed the Interior & Related Agencies appropriations bill. Let’s look at some of the programs in the Department of Interior, and we’ll start with the BLM. Recall all the negative and embarrassing activities of BLM law enforcement. Even their own investigator found them guilty of ignoring federal and state recommendations “in order to command the most intrusive, oppressive, large scale and militaristic trespass cattle impound possible”, and BLM law enforcement had committed “excessive use of force, civil rights and policy violations.” So how does Congress respond to this misbehavior? It rewards them with an increase in their budget. An increase of $1.4 million over last year’s budget and $4.8 million more than President Trump requested. What about land acquisition? We often hear Congressmen speak of a bloated, inefficient and wasteful federal government. That would certainly mean we shouldn’t be increasing the size of the federal estate. But no, I must be wrong there too, as BLM’s budget for land acquisition will be $17.4 million. Less than last year but way more than requested by the President and an indication they want the federal estate expanded. The same for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who will receive $47.4 million for land acquisition. The Park Service gets a whopping $172 million and Smokey bear gets $35 million to expand the lands managed by the Forest Service. This gives us some insight
into the governing principles of the DC Deep Thinkers. First, initiate oppressive violations of people’s civil rights, and be rewarded with an increase in federal spending. Second, manage your agency to be inefficient, wasteful and damaging to natural resources, and be rewarded with continuing appropriations to expand your domain. Endangered Species Things are happening! The Departments of Interior and Commerce have released their proposals to amend the federal regulations as they pertain to endangered species. Many of the proposed changes relate to Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act, which deals with procedures for listing species, recovery and designating critical habitat. The proposals seek to clarify when unoccupied territory will be designated as critical habitat. They propose to revise the procedures for designating critical habitat by reinstating the requirement that they will first evaluate areas currently occupied by the species before considering unoccupied areas. And they propose a list of circumstances when designating critical habitat for a species would be “non-prudent” (i.e., they will evaluate the economic costs). These and other changes were spearheaded by David L. Bernhardt, the deputy secretary of the Interior, who described the proposals as streamlining and improving the regulatory process. “Together these rules will be very protective and enhance the conservation of the species,” Mr. Bernhardt said. “At the same time we hope that they ameliorate some of the unnecessary burden, conflict and uncertainty that is within our current regulatory structure.”
Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, hit the nail on the head when she said, “For too long the E.S.A. has been used as a means of controlling lands in the West rather than actually focusing on species recovery.” She said she hoped the changes would help lift restrictions on “responsible economic activities on private and public lands.” Simultaneously, actions were happening in Congress. The Congressional Western Caucus introduced a slate of nine bills, dubbed the Endangered Species Act Modernization Package. The nine bills released by the Caucus on July 12 were: H.R. 6356, the LIST Act. This legislation authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to de-list species when he receives objective, measurable scientific study demonstrating a species is recovered. It also creates a straightforward mechanism for USFWS to promptly act on information they receive that demonstrates a species was wrongfully listed in this manner, rather than letting the problem gather dust on the bureaucratic backburner as often happens now. H.R. 6345, the EMPOWERS Act (introduced by NM Rep. Steve Pearce). This legislation 1) Ensuring that agencies making decisions about Endangered Species Act listings consult States before so doing, and; 2) Requiring decision-making agencies to provide explanation when their decisions diverge from the findings or advice of States. H.R. 6344, the LOCAL Act. This legislation will codify several longstanding practices and regulatory language which facilitate voluntary conservation. In addition, this bill sets up another set of new incentives and opportunities for voluntary conservation by establishing a private party conservation grants program, and a habitat conservation planning loan program for state and local governments. H.R. 6355, the PETITION Act. The legislation allows Congress to step in and prevent illegitimate mass-listings of unqualified,
August 15, 2018 understudied species as well as ensure more resources go to species that are actually threatened and endangered. H.R. 6364, the LAMP Act. This bill would empower states with species conservation programs already in place to take the lead in managing and preserving such species when meeting certain qualifying conditions. H.R. 6360, the PREDICTS Act. To provide certainty, this bill would codify the requirements for Habitat Conservation Plans, Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances and Safe Harbor Agreements. H.R. 6346, the WHOLE Act. This legislation would reverse current policy that does not allow activities outside of designated critical habitat to count as federal action. H.R. 6354, the STORAGE Act. This legislation addresses the problem of water infrastructure areas being designated as critical habitat. H.R. 3608, the Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act. This legislation would require data used by federal agencies for ESA listing decisions to be made publicly available and accessible through the Internet, and also require the feds to disclose to affected states all data used prior to any ESA listing decisions. In addition, there is language in the just passed Interior appropriations bill that would bar the continued listing of species that had not been reviewed in five years, delist the gray wolf, and block the listing of the preble’s meadow jumping mouse and the lesser prairie chicken. The House version of the National Defense spending bill would prevent the listing of the greater sage grouse and the lesser prairie chicken for at least ten years. Now, how much of this will actually become law? We can only wait and watch. Until next time, be a nuisance to the devil and don’t forget to check that cinch. Frank DuBois was the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003, is the author of a blog: The Westerner (www.thewesterner.blogspot. com) and is the founder of The DuBois Rodeo Scholarship and The DuBois Western Heritage Foundation
RIDING HERD That was over 50 years ago and I still haven’t got the bad taste out of my mouth. There’s a long history of folks creating new food in order to get rich. In the 1830’s Reverand Sylvester Graham said being fat made people full of lust and so he invented Graham Crackers as a solution. The Good Reverand was known as “Dr. Sawdust” after that. When Dr. Harvey Kellogg became a Doctor at the Battle Creek Sanatorium in Michigan he pushed a vegetarian diet and invented granola and toasted flakes of grain to help patients lose weight. We now refer to them as Corn Flakes and the company as Kelloggs. Dr. James Salisbury created a concoction of minced meat and water to help people lose weight, thus giving us
continued from page one
the Salisbury Steak. There were diet gadgets too, like the fork that lit up when too much food was on it, a headband that filled your brain with negative thoughts about food when you sat down to eat, and a suit you filled with crushed ice which was supposed to burn calories by increasing metabolism. Some of the diets the quacks came up with were deadly. In 1976 Dr. Robert Linn invented “The Last Chance Diet” and for many who drank his protein drinks it was. There were 58 deaths associated with the drink before it was pulled from shelves. In the 1980’s The Cambridge Diet, so named because a Cambridge professor heartily endorsed it, was a pyramid scheme that caused at least 30
people to have heart attacks. Although I don’t need to lose any weight I have considered writing a diet book as a way to get rich. Among the titles I’ve toyed with are: “The Prison Diet: Living on bread and water on death row while waiting for Old Sparky to warm up; The Beer Diet: how to lose weight by switching from craft beer to Coors Light; The Bangladesh Diet: Go live there for two months. And my favorite: The Mob Diet. Two Chicago hit men will come to your house, beat you up so your jaws have to be wired shut and you’ll have to drink out of a straw for six months. I guarantee you’ll lose weight. wwwLeePittsbooks.com
For Real Estate and Classified Advertising Please Call 505/243-9515
Selling residential, farm, ranch, commercial and relocating properties. COLETTA RAY
Pioneer Realty 1304 Pile Street, Clovis, NM 88101
575-799-9600 Direct 575.935.9680 Office 575.935.9680 Fax coletta@plateautel.net www.clovisrealestatesales.com
Bar M Real Estate
SCOTT MCNALLY www.ranchesnm.com 575/622-5867 575/420-1237 Ranch Sales & Appraisals
521 West Second St. • Portales, NM 88130
575-226-0671 or 575-226-0672 fax
Buena Vista Realty
Qualifying Broker: A.H. (Jack) Merrick 575-760-7521 www.buenavista-nm.com
BAKER CITY, OREGON Andrew Bryan, Owner/Broker Office 541-523-5871 Cell 208-484-5835
andrew@bakercityrealty.com www.bakercityrealty.com
Bottari Realty Paul Bottari, Broker
775/752-3040 Nevada Farms & raNch PrOPerTY www.bottarirealty.com
August 15, 2018
Livestock Market Digest
Page 9
REAL ESTATE GUIDE AG LOANS AGLAND LAND LOANS AsLow LowAsAs 3% As 4.5% OPWKCAP 2.9% OPWKCAP 2.9%
521 West Second St., Portales, NM 88130
575-226-0671 www.buenavista-nm.com
Rural Listings with Homes & Barns in Eastern New Mexico 2638 S Rrd G, 160 ac very nice ranch setting near Causey, NM 361 S Rrd W, 38 ac w/ 3bdrm, 2 bth home 7 mi west Portales, NM 1866 NM 236, 10 ac w/4 bdrm 2 bth, barns, storage – 2 miles from town 1509 Davis Rd, very nice home, lots garage – barn space – 3 miles out 1242 NM 480, fantastic ranch home on 58 ac overlooking Portales
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Missouri Land Sales
Ranch & Farm Real Estate
On the Plaza
Donald Brown
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Joe Stubblefield & Associates 13830 Western St., Amarillo, TX 806/622-3482 • cell 806/674-2062 joes3@suddenlink.net Michael Perez Associates Nara Visa, NM • 575/403-7970
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116 Plaza PO Box 1903 Socorro, NM 87801 www.socorroplazarealty.com dbrown@socorroplazarealty.com
O’NEILL LAND, llc P.O. Box 145, Cimarron, NM 87714 • 575/376-2341 • Fax: 575/376-2347 land@swranches.com • www.swranches.com
See all my listings at: paulmcgilliard.murney.com
• WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND RETREAT IN THE WOODS, or permanent Paul McGilliard residency if you love privacy and seclusion. Winter view of the North Fork Cell: 417/839-5096 River, walk to the river, be sure to bring your canoes. Would be a great spot 1-800/743-0336 for a corporate retreat or a large family, could easily sleep 15+. Propety sells Murney Assoc., Realtors Springfield, MO 65804 fully furnished, down to the sheets and spoons. Very unique property, only one like it! Call Paul or Wes 417/823-2300 for your private showing. • 1+ ACRE CORNER LOT IN MOUNTAIN GROVE, MISSOURI sits this charming, one owner, custom built, 3200 sq ft home, 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths, formal living and dining room, gourmet kitchen, sun room, 2 fireplaces, w/o finished basement, too many amenities to list. $359,900 MLS#60102756. • NEW LISTING! 80 Acres - 60 Acres Hayable, Live Water, Location, Location! Only 8 miles west of Norwood, 3 miles east of Mansfield, 1/4 mile off Hwy 60. Well maintained 3 bed, 1 1/2 bath, 1432 sq. ft. brick/ vinyl home, nestled under the trees. Full basement (partially finished), John Deere Room. This is your farm! MLS#60059808
Scott Land co.
INTEREST RATESAS AS LOW 3% INTEREST RATES LOW ASAS 4.5% Payments Scheduledon on2525 Years Payments Scheduled Years
SOCORRO PLAZA REALTY
1301 Front Street, Dimmitt, TX 79027 Ben G. Scott - Broker Krystal M. Nelson - NM Qualifying Broker 800-933-9698 • 5:00am/10:00pm www.scottlandcompany.com
■ LEONCITO DRAW RANCH – 14 sections +/- ■ GREAT STARTER RANCH – Quay Co., NM – well
improved & watered, 2,400 ac. +/-deeded, 80 ac. +/- State Lease, excellent access from I-40. ■ OTERO CO., NM – 120 scenic ac. +/- on the Rio Penasco is surrounded by Lincoln National Forest lands covered in Pines & opening up to a grass ■ SAN MIGUEL CO., NM – 3,000 +/- ac., mostly covered meadow along 3,300 feet +/- of the Rio deeded, virtually new mobile home w/metal hay barn, Penasco. This property is an ideal location to build a metal shop bldg., good pens, open country to deep legacy mountain getaway home. canyons. ■ OPORTUNITY TO OWN A PIECE OF AN OLD ■ ARROYO LARGO – 22,850 ac. +/- located in WEST RANCH – Guadalupe Co., NM - There are Lincoln, Chaves & DeBaca Counties, NM, well improved multiple owners of the Frontier Ranch consisting of w/two homes, working pens & fences, well-watered by their individual, undivided ownership of 6,423.45 wells & pipelines, open rolling country w/numerous ac. +/- w/undivided ownership ranging from 38 ac. draws & arroyos provide for year-round cow/calf +/- & greater. You may buy undivided interest in this ranch at your discretion, this country suitable for a operation or seasonal yearling operation. year-round cow/calf or summer yearling grazing. ■ TEXLINE SPECIAL – 472.4 ac. irr., on Dalhart/ ■ Clayton hwy. in New Mexico, adjoins the Grassland w/ DEER, QUAIL & OTHER WILDLIFE – 779 ac. +/- – Borden Co., TX. – adjoins the Quail Haven ranch on strong irrigation potential. the north for addtl. acres or can be bought separately, ■ GRASSLAND W/STRONG IRRIGATION well fenced & watered w/a good set of pens, on large, POTENTIAL – Union Co., NM - approx. 927.45 ac. all-weather, caliche road. +/-, on pvmt., organic poss. ■ QUAIL HAVEN – along w/deer, turkey, antelope ■ MALPAIS OF NM – Lincoln/Socorro Counties, & other wildlife – Borden Co., TX., 1,672.8 +/- ac., 37.65 sections +/- (13,322 ac. +/- Deeded, 8,457 well located near Gail/Snyder, Texas on pvmt. & allac. +/- BLM Lease, 2,320 ac. +/- State Lease) good, weather road, well improved. useable improvements & water, some irrigation w/2 ■ ALFALFA & LIVESTOCK – Tucumcari, NM - 255.474 pivot sprinklers, on pvmt., all-weather road. ac. +/-, state-of-the-art huge hay barn & shop ■ WEST CLOVIS HWY. 60 – 1,536.92 ac. +/- of (immaculate), steel pens, Arch Hurley Water Rights, grassland w/two mi. of hwy. frontage on Hwy. 60, ½ two nearly new sprinklers, alfalfa established. mi. of frontage on Hwy. 224, 3 mi. of frontage on south side of Curry Rd. 12, watered by one well at the pens ■ UTE LAKE SUBDIVISION – beautiful, new custom built home, over 5,000 sq. ft. on 3.230 ac. +/-, 4 piped to both pastures. bdrm., 3 ½ bath, 3 fireplaces immaculate w/view ■ SOUTH CONCHAS RANCH – San Miguel Co., from every room. NM - 9,135 ac. +/- (6,670 +/- deeded, 320 +/- BLM, Please view our website for details on these properties, choice TX, 40 +/- State Lease, 2,106 +/- “FREE USE”) well improved, just off pvmt. on co. road., two neighboring NM, CO ranches (large & small), choice ranches in the high rainfall areas of OK, irr./dryland/CRP & commercial properties. We need ranches may be added for additional acreage! your listings on any types of ag properties in TX, NM, OK & CO.
WAGONMOUND RANCH, Mora/Harding Counties, NM. 4,927 +/- deeded acres, 1,336.80 +/- state lease acres, 2,617 +/- Kiowa National Grassland Lease Acres. 8,880.80 +/- Total Acres. Substantial holding with good mix of grazing land and broken country off rim onto Canadian River. Fenced into four main pastures with shipping and headquarter pasture and additional four pastures in the Kiowa lease. Modern well, storage tank and piped water system supplementing existing dirt tanks located on deeded. Located approximately 17 miles east of Wagon Mound on pavement then county road. Nice headquarters and good access to above rim. Wildlife include antelope, mule deer and some elk. $2,710,000 MIAMI HORSE HEAVEN, Colfax County, NM. Very private approx. 4,800 sq ft double walled adobe 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home with many custom features, 77.50 +/- deeded acres with water rights and large 7 stall barn, insulated metal shop with own septic. Would suit indoor growing operation, large hay barn/equipment shed. $1,375,000.
RATON MILLION DOLLAR VIEW, Colfax County, NM. 97.68 +/- deeded acres, 2 parcels, excellent home, big shop, wildlife, a true million dollar view at end of private road. $489,000. House & 1 parcel $375,000
SOLD
MIAMI 80 ACRES, Colfax County, NM. 80 +/- deeded acres, 80 water shares, expansive views, house, shop, roping arena, barns and outbuildings. Reduced $485,000 COLD BEER VIEW, Colfax County, NM 83.22 +/- deeded acre, 3,174 sq ft, 5 bedroom, 3 ½ bathrm, 2 car garage home situated on top of the hill with amazing 360 degree views. Reduced $398,000 $349,000 MIAMI 20 ACRES, Colfax County, NM. 20 +/- deeded acres, 20 water shares, quality 2,715 sq ft adobe home, barn, grounds and trees. Private setting. This is a must see. Reduced to $265,000
FRENCH TRACT 80, Irrigated farm with gated pipe, house, stone shop, many out buildings privacy. Reduced to $292,000 MAXWELL FARM IMPROVED, Colfax County, NM. 280 $350,000 +/- deeded acres, 160 Class A irrigation shares, 2 center pivots, nice sale barn, 100 hd feedlot. Depredation Elk MAXWELL SMALL HOLDING, home with horse improveTags available. Owner financing available to qualified ments, fenced, water rights and 19+/- deeded acres. Handy buyer. Significantly reduced to $550,000 to I25 on quiet country road. $232,000.
deeded, 120 +/- BLM, 20 +/- uncontrolled, beautiful Santa Fe style completed remodeled rock/adobe home, employee housing, good set of working pens, located SW of Santa Rosa, NM, beautiful view from all directions.
WE NEED LISTINGS ON ALL TYPES OF AG PROPERTIES LARGE OR SMALL!
TEXAS & OKLA. FARMS & RANCHES • 80 acre wood home with barns, meadows and woods. Fronts State Rd. $650,000 • 14 acre Van Zandt County TX, Canton. 2 homes, 2 shops. Fronts State Rd. Excellent buy at $400,000 • 160 acre Ranger Eastland Co, $560,000 • 270 acre Mitchell County, Texas ranch. Investors dream; excellent cash flow. Rock formation being crushed and sold; wind turbans, some minerals. Irrigation water developed, crop & cattle, modest improvements. Just off I-20. Price reduced to $1.6 million.
Joe Priest Real Estate
1-800/671-4548
joepriestre.net • joepriestre@earthlink.com
BLACK DOG RANCH – Central NM, near Corona in Lincoln County. Comprised of 314 deeded acres with nice new of remodeled improvements. Good elk, mule deer and turkey hunting. Comes with elk tags. Price: $565,000 Price: $525,000 DOUBLE L RANCH – Central NM, 10 miles west of Carrizozo, NM. 12,000 total acres; 175 AUYL, BLM Section 3 grazing permit; Water provided by 3 wells and buried pipeline. Improvements include house and pens. Price Reduced: $1,150,000 X T RANCH – Southeastern NM cattle ranch 40 miles northwest of Roswell, NM on the Chaves/Lincoln County line. Good grass ranch with gently rolling grass covered hills. 8,000 total acres, 200 AUYL grazing capacity. Partitioned into four pastures watered by 2 wells with pipelines. Call for brochure. Price: $1,750,000 SOUTH BROWN LAKE RANCH – Nicely improved cattle ranch located northwest of Roswell, NM. 5,735 total acres to include 960 acres deeded. 164 A.U. yearlong grazing capacity. Modern residence, bunkhouse, shop and feed barn. Three wells and buried
pipeline. Excellent grass country. Price: $1,300,000
L-X RANCH – Southeastern NM just ten minutes from Roswell, NM with paved gated
and locked access. 3,761 total acres divided into several pastures and traps. Nice improvements to include a site built adobe residence. One well with extensive pipeline system. Well suited for a registered cattle operation. Price: $900,000
Page 10
Livestock Market Digest
CLASSIFIEDS KADDATZ
Auctioneering and Farm Equipment Sales New and used tractors, equipment, and parts. Salvage yard, combines, tractors, hay equipment and all types of equipment parts. ORDER PARTS ONLINE.
www.kaddatzequipment.com • 254/582-3000
The Way Things Are BY BARRY DENTON
The views expressed in this column are not necessarily the views of this publication.
g•u•i•d•e angus
Bradley 3 Ranch Ltd. www.bradley3ranch.com
Annual Bull Sale: February 10, 2018
at the Ranch NE of Estelline, TX Ranch-Raised ANGUS Bulls for Ranchers Since 1955
M.L. Bradley 806/888-1062 Fax: 806/888-1010 • Cell: 940/585-6471
BEEFMASTER
HEREFORD
Registered Polled Herefords Bulls & Heifers
FOR SALE AT THE FARM
Cañones Route P.O. Abiquiu, N.M. 87510 MANUEL SALAZAR P.O. Box 867 Española, N.M. 87532
575/638-5434
RED ANGUS
A SOURCE FOR PROVEN SUPERIOR RED ANGUS GENETICS 14298 N. Atkins Rd., Lodi, CA 95240
209/727-3335
CORRIENTE
BRANGUS For Advertising Contact:
Lynn Marie Rusaw
R.L. Robbs 520/384-3654
Office: 505-243-9515 Email:
4995 Arzberger Rd. Willcox, Arizona 85643 Willcox, AZ
AAALivestockMarket Digest@gmail.com
M
y trip to the post office is 14 miles one way with only the last mile being on pavement. The biggest traffic problems I have are the vast amount of deer that jump off of the banks and run into your vehicle, or just in front of you so you are slamming on the brakes. Because Arizona is an “open range state” cattle tend to wander all over the road, and are another hazard that you have to be prepared for. If you are not in a hurry the trip is quite scenic and interesting. I make the trip about every other day. One morning as I was coming down the hill approaching the intersection where the dirt meets the pavement, I saw something in the road. The hill leading to the intersection is long and gradual, so I was trying hard to envision what it could be. Judging by it’s movements I knew that I had never seen an animal like it before. When I started getting close I slowed way down because it was in my lane. It was quite obvious this “being” had no idea I was approaching. No wonder it didn’t make any sense. It was about a thirty five year old male on an exercise mat doing his morning workout in shorts and a tee shirt. His car was parked behind some brush and out of sight. I drove up to him and stopped and got out. I said “What the h..l are you doing in the middle of the road?” He said “Oh, I’m sorry I was really into my workout and never heard you.” I said “Number one, I’m driving a noisy diesel, Number two; don’t you think the middle of the road is the stupidest place you could have picked to do your workout?” He said “I did not realize this was such a busy road.” I said “Get your mat and yourself back in your car and never come back here again.” He said “Okay, I’m sorry.” I thought I could not be surprised much anymore, but this took the cake. The scary thing is that, this guy is allowed to vote. My living in the middle of nowhere, is unfortunately becoming somewhere. It is disheartening how much left wing extremism
August 15, 2018
The View FROM THE BACK SIDE
took hold during the Obama Administration. The American rancher and farmer had to put up with hate speech against them. Funny, how that hate speech is legal? Extreme new rules and regulations were imposed on ranchers and farmers during that period as well. They made ranchers into villains, such as the Bundys and Hammonds. Thank God, for men like Forrest Lucas of Lucas Oil and his “Protect the Harvest” movement. I was so glad to see Vice President Mike Pence send his personal plane to fly the Hammonds home this week. There are still remnants of left wing extremism across the media and in the big cities, but we rural folks are starting to get over it, thanks to the new leadership. Have you visited your relatives in California lately? What a true disgrace, some of the California cities are becoming. Homeless and illegal aliens are camped all over the place and the California government thinks it’s wonderful. Funny thing is that the California government would never let a droughty rancher graze his cattle in a city park, but its fine for drug addicts and drunks. I’m curious as to how this will affect their tourism as you can no longer feel safe walking down the street in many places that used to be safe, just a short time ago. If you are a community leader how could you ever remain proud of your town? It looks to me like the government is promoting third world country conditions. This must be how community organizers handle things. Take Chicago for instance. One of it’s very own “community organizers” became the President of the United States. However, murder and crime continued to rise in Chicago during those eight years he was in Washington, DC? How could the most powerful person in the world look the other way? Today, we have students at our universities screaming about how wonderful socialism is, yet they cannot name one positive example of it throughout history. I know, I have asked them. When you no longer teach history to the younger generations how are they supposed to know what mistakes have already been made? Ignorance is a great tool of the far
left. I never in my wildest dreams thought that the American rancher and farmer would be under such attack. Nearly every week President Trump is pointing out how bad our trade deficits are with foreign countries, especially in agriculture. Where has our representation in Washington been the last several years? As a taxpayer I demand my money back from a do nothing Congress and several Presidents. Obviously, politicians that we help elect forget about us when they get to Washington DC. Our part of Arizona has been in a drought this year, with only one half inch of rain since January here at the ranch. It is finally starting to as we speak and this is mid July. Needless to say, we are quite thankful. This has been a week of mishaps around us. One of our fellow ranchers in the area had one of his calves hit by a car on the road to town. This is an “open range” state so cattle have the right of way. The road is very well marked warning you of cattle in the road. No one reported it to the owner. The mama cow is still distraught and cannot figure out why her calf won’t move. She has not been to feed or water for days. Time to move the cow and calf off the road, as it’s not good public relations for our industry. Another one of our fellow ranchers had some drunk hit two yearling steers at once. It must have had an impact on his truck and they were able to find him the next day. Naturally, the drunk wouldn’t just go over to the owner’s place and report it. Finally, the 50,000 gallon water tank was shot full of holes in the middle of our drought. I blame this on bad people that now have access to everywhere remote because of the All Terrain Vehicle. This is also located in an area where it is the only source of water for many miles. Not only does it take care of livestock, but also wildlife. Face it, in my area if it wasn’t for the ranchers, there would be no hunting, because without water there is no wildlife. Let’s try something new city slickers, lets try being courteous to your ranching neighbors and take responsibility for your own mistakes.
August 15, 2018
Livestock Market Digest
Page 11
New National Junior Angus Board Selected
N
ational Junior Angus Association (NJAA) members respect those who sit on the National Junior Angus Board (NJAB) wearing the green jackets. This year’s team was announced in Madison, Wisconsin, during the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS), and these new green jackets are excited to step into their new roles, serving the junior members of the NJAA. The National Junior Angus Board members serve two-year terms, the first year on the board of directors and the second as officers in the Association. During this two-year period, they travel and present, promoting the Angus breed and help juniors be successful in the Business Breed. Chairman Sydnee Gerken, assisted by vice-chair Madison Sundsbak, leads the new National Junior Board Officers. The rest of this officer team is assembled with communications director: Haley DeHaan; Angus Foundation director: Dawson Dal Porto; leadership director: Brody Fitzgerald; and membership director: Jera Pipkin. All of these green coats are excited to step into their officer roles, having served their first year on the board of directors, and engage further with the junior members throughout the year. “We are excited with the new junior officers and board,” said Jaclyn Upperman, American Angus Association director of events and education. “The green jackets are a time-honored tradition, and this board is set up to do a really great job in the next year.” The new six and NJAA Board of Directors (NJAB) are eager to begin and honored to have
Predator Friendly
A
concept in protecting coyotes has been introduced by a group of Montana animal rights disciples; Predator Friendly Wool. They proposed to develop a market for wool raised on ranches where sheep are not protected from predators. The sheep raisers who do not practice predator control are to be paid a bonus on their wool. They propose to sell Predator Friendly Wool products through boutiques. Well, all I can say is HALLELUJAH! When was the last time anybody wanted to help sheep people? The government took away wool subsidies, ecofreaks wear petrochemical derivatives and cowboys won’t eat sheep. Suddenly, from out of left field we have concerned citizens with expendable income willing to buy and wear wool items. The hitch is that the sheep ranchers must help
been voted in by their peers and other juniors. The new board joining the officers are: Keegan Cassady, Bloomington, Illinois; Tyler Bush, Britton, South Dakota; Caroline Cowles, Rockfield, Kentucky; Dylan Denny, Lubbock, Texas; Grady Dickerson, Paradise, Kansas; and Baxter Knapp, Bloomfield, Iowa.
Get to Know the NEW NJAB Tyler Bush is a sixth-generation Angus breeder and said a major aspect of the NJAA that has influenced him has been the mentorship program. Currently attending Hutchinson Community College majoring in agribusiness and minoring in animal science, and his goal is to judge collegiately before returning to his family’s Angus operation. Keegan Cassady is not from a farm background; yet, when her dad purchased her first Angus heifer, she was hooked on the breed and the Association. She is currently a junior at Oklahoma State University majoring in animal science, emphasis in business, pre-law option, planning to pursue a career in agricultural policy. Caroline Cowles had her first American Angus Association® membership at the age of five and is looking forward to engaging more with the conferences offered through the NJAA. She currently attends Oklahoma State University majoring in animal science with a focus on biotechnology and hopes to enter a career in medical or pharmaceuticals. Dylan Denny grew up with strong Angus influences despite being raised in the suburbs of Texas and currently has his own herd of cattle totaling 65
Baxter BLACK ON THE EDGE OF COMMON SENSE www.baxterblack.com
feed the coyotes, wolves, bears, lions, eagles, wild dogs, carnivorous poachers and mutton loving piranha. How can we go wrong? We’ll get national promotion. We can reduce costs by laying off herders and border collies. Park the camp wagons, use the carbine guns as planters, sell the mules. And all for the price of a few baby lambs and old ewes. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? And if the idea works it may spread to other areas. Inner cities, for instance. They suffer from a terrible image problem. The streets are unsafe, tourism is nill, budgets are always in the red. How about Predator Friendly Neighborhoods.
Any community that did not discourage muggers, buglers, murderers, arsonists, purse snatchers and other assorted predators would be given increased federal dollars. Police expenses would be cut drastically. Courts would close at noon. Lawyers would desert the community. Tours could be scheduled that allowed sensitive patrons to see predators in their natural habitat rolling winos, mugging passers-by, selling drugs and stealing cars. And all in an environment nationally advertised as Predator Friendly. And just like the Predator Friendly Wool program, the new Predator Friendly Neighborhood plan could all be accomplished simply by sacrificing a few more sheep. Or, how ‘bout new election laws where presidents and politicians were elected for life. A Predator Friendly Congress, unaccountable to any voter. Ah, my imagination ran away with me. But the sheep business needs a shot in the arm and the trade-off, though distasteful, is well worth considering. I guess my hesitation is the calling we have chosen. Ezekiel 34:8 “...and my flock became prey to every beast of the field because there was no shepherd...” We are the shepherds. www.baxterblack.com
head. He will be a freshman at Oklahoma State University majoring in agricultural business with a minor in animal science. Grady Dickerson has always looked up to the green jackets and can’t believe he is now going to be wearing one. He says the strength of this Angus breed is the leaders and producers who strive to continuously improve. He is currently attending Kansas State University majoring in food science with the goal of working in food distribution. Baxter Knapp is a second-generation Angus breeder and said his goal is to bring more connections at the state level through the mentorship program, especially. Currently a sophomore at Illinois Central College majoring in animal science/agricultural business, he will be transferring to a four-year university to pursue a career in the agriculture industry with emphasis on the Angus breed. While these new six join the green coat team, the old six officers step down from their roles with bittersweet emotions, their final activities being the Leaders Engaged in Angus Development (LEAD) Conference August 2-5, in Billings, Montana. Those who are completing their time with the NJAB are: Madison Butler, Vincennes, Indiana; Will Pohlman, Prairie Grove, Arkansas; Catie Hope, Berryville, Virginia; Corbin Cowles, Rockfield, Kentucky; Jordyn Wagner, Billings, Montana; and Michaela Clowser, Milford, Nebraska. The juniors of the NJAA are grateful for all the time, hard-work and dedication of these past six green coats and are eager to see the new six step up to the exciting two years they are about to enter into.
Page 12
Livestock Market Digest
August 15, 2018
The Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame Wins Emmy for Great Colorado Women Saving the Soul of Denver Honored for Music Composition and Arrangement
D
ENVER, July 26, 2018– On July 14, The Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame received an Emmy Award for best “Music Composition and Arrangement” for it’s Dana Crawford: Preserving the Soul of Denver episode of the Great Colorado Women film series. The Heartland Emmy’s Board of Governors presented the award at its annual gala which recognized award winners in over 100 categories. Preserving the Soul of Denver portrays the work of award-winning preservationist Dana Crawford and her pioneering accomplishments in historic preservation. The film presents Crawford’s contributions and the impact she has had on Denver and all of Colorado. The story ofCrawford’s concept of urban renewal, that was one of the first of its kind in the United States, is beautifully scored by award winning composer/ arranger Lisa Downing, adding a second Emmy to her growing portfolio of recognition for her work. Downing, a critical member of the production team, donated her original music to the film. Executive Producer Betty Heid, and Filmmakers Rick Higgins and Bill Ranshaw, and
After 15 Years, Japan Reopens Borders to U.S. lamb BY SUSAN KELLY MEATINGPLACE.COM
U
.S. sheep and goat meat has regained access to Japan, after an absence of nearly 15 years, USDA announced Japan was a primary market for American lamb before Japan banned U.S. sheep and goat meat exports in December 2003 after bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was detected in the U.S. cattle herd. Already the leading value market for U.S. beef and pork, Japan presents an exceptional opportunity for significant export growth, the U.S. Meat Export Federation said in a statement. U.S. lamb has been well-received in other upscale markets, including Taiwan, which reopened to U.S. lamb in 2016, USMEF said. Dan Halstrom, USMEF president and CEO, said the announcement lays the groundwork for a much-needed boost for lamb exports. Japan’s lamb imports reached a record value of $168 million last year, up 26 percent year over year. Australia and New Zealand are the top suppliers of lamb to Japan.
scriptwriter Becky Martinez created the film. “Receiving an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Science is quite an exciting achievement,” says Heid. “The award goes to everyone on our team.” “Telling the story of Dana Crawford’s energy and commitment was a journey we will not soon forget. And, Lisa’s music enhances and brings emotion to our storytelling.” Filmmakers Higgins and Ranshaw and writer Martinez are also previous Emmy award winners. “Working with such an extraordinary team is a great honor,” says Higgins. The CWHF “Great Colorado
Women “ film series debuted on Rocky Mountain PBS in February 2018. The multi-season broadcast focuses on historic and contemporary Colorado women and their little known, underreported achievements. Season 1 comprised an initial five episodes. Season 2 is in production and scheduled to air in early 2019. “We are thrilled that Rocky Mountain PBS will present Season 2 of Great Colorado Women, says Heid. “We have so many inspiring stories to tell about the amazing women of Colorado who have been inducted in to the Hall.” Not only have the Great Colorado Womenfilms been rec-
ognized by the Academy, the films also are receiving national recognition. “Our film, “Marilyn Van Derbur Atler: an Incest Survivor’s Odyssey recently won the Los Angeles Film Festival -- Inspiring Woman in a Film award,” Heid proudly announced. “The honor, presented in early July, recognizes excellence in filmmaking.” The Heartland Emmy® Chapter honors original content created for traditional broadcast/cablecast media as well as non-traditional and emerging platforms for broadband and portable delivery. The Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame was created to recog-
nize, honor and preserve the contributions of trail-blazing Colorado women. Both historical and contemporary women have shared foresight, vision and accomplishment, but lacked a forum for recognition. Since 1985, the Hall has inducted 162 extraordinary women who have been outstanding in their field, elevated the status of women, helped open new frontiers for women or inspired others by their example. Inductees include scientists, teachers, social activists, philanthropists, authors, business leaders, elected officials and more. To view all 162 inductees, visit the website: www.cogreatwomen.org.