LMD December 2019

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

– JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

December 15, 2019 • www.aaalivestock.com

Volume 61 • No. 11

Loving Them To Death

BY LEE PITTS

I

If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.

t’s a cruel heart that doesn’t love a horse. And therein lies the rub. We are loving America’s “wild horses” to death.

Mongrels And Mutts

NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING

First of all, let’s get something straight. Only three to five percent of the horses we call mustangs or “wild horses” have unique genetics and can trace their heritage back to the Spanish horses the conquistadores brought to the Americas. The rest are, by definition, mongrels. The equivalent of a crossbred mutt. I realize that is a dangerous thing to say in the supercharged atmosphere that surrounds the debate about what to do with the exploding population of America’s wild horses. After all, three years ago Ben Masters wrote basically the same thing in an article for National Geographic and he received death threats for saying so.

But Ben Masters had done his research, after all, he’d adopted seven wild horses himself and spent years studying the problem. Masters quoted Bob Garrot, director of the Fish and Wildlife Ecology and Management Program at Montana State University, who’d researched wild horse population dynamics since the 1980s.

According to Garrott, “Before 1971, they were feral livestock and anyone could go out, gather them, do whatever they wanted. The vast majority of the wild horses we have come from standard saddle stock like thoroughbreds and farm horses, and their genetics are commonly found domestically. A lot of these horses originated in the Dust Bowl when people just turned them loose when they

couldn’t afford them; that still happens today.

“It’s akin to dogs,” said Garrott. “Dogs came from domesticated wolves, but through a long history of artificial selection by people, we have all these different breeds which all trace back to wolves. But are they native? Are they the same critters that were there 10,000 years ago? Well, no they aren’t.

Those horses are not the same horses that were here in the Pleistocene. The Western landscapes are not the same landscapes, neither are the plant and animal communities. So the question now is, how many do we need to have, where do we need to have those animals, and how do we manage them to get to that number?”

Masters also interviewed Gus Cothran, a professor and equine geneticist at Texas A & M who has genetically tested 70,000 horses, 12,000 of which

were BLM wild horse and burros. Cothran told Masters, “The vast majority of herds living on the BLM’s lands are basically mongrel, mixed-breed horses that probably have not been living wild for many generations.”

Worth Preserving There are 179 wild horse Herd Management areas in America covering 31.6 million acres in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. Each Management Area is different in size, geography, and bloodlines. Cothran says that the true wild horses are primarily found in just 10 of these 179 herds. According to Cothran, “these herds do have unique bloodlines and are worth preserving and treating as special populations, managed differently, to grow that unique genetic pool. The vast majority

of the mustangs, I refer to it as the mongrel population, you can take a general management strategy on them because their genetics are commonly found in domestic breeds. In fact, if you took individuals from different breeds and turned them loose in the wild, after a few generations you would have the mustangs we have today. Because that’s exactly what happened.”

It may surprise you to learn that the horse actually originated in North America. But those horses crossed the Bering Land Bridge back into Siberia from Alaska 53 million years ago and any semblance of those horses is long gone. So even the three to five percent of the horses that we call “wild” descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. They are actually a reintroduced native species of horses and the rest are nothing more than feral horses whose genetics are no different than the horses in your pasture right now.

Walking Hamburger Factories When William Perry Pendley, was asked on one of his first outings as the new acting chief of the Bureau of Land Management at an environmental gathering in Fort Collins, Colorado, continued on page two

America’s Cattle Ranchers Are Fighting Back Against Fake Meat Beef producers and their allies are marshalling food scientists and lobbyists as they defend their turf against meatless burgers

BY JACOB BUNGE & HEATHER HADDON / WALL STREET JOURNAL

O

n a rainy September morning, a pair of cattle ranchers browsed the refrigerated meat cases at a Walmart Inc. store in Mandan, N.D., snapping cellphone photos of an unwelcome invader among the shrink-wrapped ground beef: Beyond Meat Inc. patties, made from pea protein and coconut oil. After a separate check at a nearby local supermarket, the ranchers headed to the North Dakota Department of Health. They showed officials the photos and warned of food-safety risks from mixing plant burgers with the traditional beef kind.

Their message: Meatless burgers don’t belong on beef’s turf.

The impromptu inspection by the ranchers—one of whom was Kenny Graner, president of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association—is just one front in a growing war against their plantbased rivals. Cattle ranchers and their allies are pushing regulators to scrutinize alternative meat-makers, recruiting food scientists to test plant-based products for potential health risks, and ramping up countercampaigns to highlight beef’s nutritional benefits while comparing their

rivals to dog food.

They’ve even created a digital assistant, available on voice-activated Google and Amazon devices, that can answer consumers’ questions about beef and, when pressed, beef alternatives.

“The best alternative to beef,” it says,“is more beef.”

Over the past two years, the beef industry has pushed legislation that restricts terms like “beef” and “meat” to the kind raised on the hoof, not products derived from plants or future ones developed using animal cells in labs. Various labeling laws are now are on the books in 12 states and were considered this year in 15 others, with a federal bill introduced in October.

For restaurants and grocery stores, growth is coming not from the real thing, but from a new generation of meatless products that combine proteins from soy or yellow peas with potato starch, beet juice and other ingredients to more closely mimic beef’s sizzle and juiciness. U.S. retail meat sales fell 0.4 percent in the past 12 months through October, while sales of alternative meat grew 8 percent, according to market-research firm Nielsen. In the 12 months before that, meat sales fell 0.8 percent while sales of alternatives rose 21 percent.

Plant-based alternatives amount to the continued on page four

I

by LEE PITTS

vacillate between being a traditionalist afraid of the future and being an early adopter of technology.

I bought the first model of Apple Macintosh computer ever sold but I don’t have a cell phone. I’m a writer, not a talker. I’m not on Facebook, don’t know how to tweet and I have no idea what Instagram is. I don’t do my banking online, have never got a dime out of an ATM machine and I know the names of every teller in the bank we’ve been loyal to through four ownership changes.

I feel guilty because I’ve bought a few things on Amazon that I could have purchased from local merchants but I shouldn’t feel that way because the hardware store in town practically begs you to shop on their web page.

You can’t be like me any more and I should know better. I got a good lesson on what happens to people and companies who refuse to periodically overhaul and remodel. I was 21 years old and got a job as the “manager” of a registered Angus herd. Actually, I was just a hired hand.

The man I worked for refused to be receptive to new ideas. His cattle were terrible and he was still breeding the type that were really short and low set, so much so that if he would have ever won a class at a cattle show and a photo would have been in the livestock press you would have been able to see all the belt buckles of the big shots standing behind the animal.

But he didn’t have to worry about that because the odds of his cattle winning anything in a showring were the same odds the bull has in a Tijuana bullring.

I tried to convince the owner that he should make use of my talents as an artificial inseminator but “By, God, my daddy bought his herd bulls out of a range bull sale and if it was good enough for him then it’s good enough for me.”

I almost got killed on numerous occasions because I had to feed a big pen full of bulls that ranged in age from yearlings to four year old bulls we couldn’t sell. I had to feed them with numerous fifty pound sacks of feed in open troughs in the middle of the pen. And did I mention the bulls had a wicked strain of blood that made them man killers. I asked if I couldn’t build some feed bunks like they have in feedlots so I could feed from outside the pen but the owner said, “No. We’ve never done it that way before and it would cost too

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Livestock Market Digest

December 15, 2019

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what he thought was the biggest public lands crises facing the BLM today. What do you think he said?

Maybe wildfires that are left to burn out of control, the crumbling relationship between the BLM and ranchers, or perhaps the fight over water rights?

Nope. Pendley shocked many listeners when he said the biggest problem facing the BLM today is the explosion of wild horses that are destroying the land and starving to death in the process. Despite being right, as usual, Pendley was hammered in the press afterwards.

Jonathan Thompson, who once edited and is now a contributing editor for High Country News wrote afterwards, “William Perry Pendley, the acting director of the BLM, warned environmental journalists about the greatest problem facing the 244 million acres of public land that he is charged with overseeing. This scourge “wreaks havoc” everywhere it goes, and — far more than a mere headache for land managers — it is an “existential threat” to the lands that Americans hold dear. And that threat is?

Wait for it … wild horses.”

Thompson was quick to suggest that wild horses aren’t the problem, although another four legged creature is, what he calls “walking hamburger factories that eat more, poop more, and trample vegetation more thoroughly than a wild horse. Plus, there are a heck of a lot more of them: Last year, close to 2 million head of cattle feasted upon BLM lands, with another couple million on Forest Service land.

“Pendley said that horses leave land “so devastated and destroyed” that it will never recover,” wrote Thompson. “The same can be said of oil and gas companies. For each of the 23,000 wells drilled on public land over the past decade, more than an acre of land was scraped clean of all vegetation, top soil, cactuses, sagebrush and even centuries-old juniper trees.”

But it’s not cows or oil wells that are standing around dried up water holes in Nevada without enough energy to walk the 20 miles, or so, to where there might be some sparse vegetation. It’s not cows or oil wells experiencing a population explosion on America’s public lands and starving to death in the process. If we really love these creatures, and I do, we’d better stop arguing and start doing something. Fast.

It’s Now Or Never Needless to say, William Perry Pendley’s appointment to head the BLM was one of President Trump’s more controversial appointments. In his former life Pendley was the president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation. If the name sounds familiar it’s because he’s been a friend to public lands ranchers, oil producers, miners and other multiple-use groups for decades. Thompson suggested that Pendley was biased because “In 2014, he sued the federal government on behalf of stockgrowers to remove the animals from the checkerboard lands of southern Wyoming.”

Pendley wrote in 2015 that “Congress has placed a mandatory, non-discretionary duty on the Secretary to remove wild

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horses that stray from public lands onto private lands, upon the private landowner’s notification.”

If I had to name two lawyers who have done the most to help public lands ranchers in my lifetime the two would be Karen Budd-Falen and William Perry Pendley and both are now in Trump’s Interior Department.

If we can’t begin now to solve some of the problems that plague America’s public lands we never will.

A Lot of Extra Mouths To Feed According to Pendley, “Reducing the number of wild horses and burros on Western public lands could take 15 years and cost $5 billion.” We have 88,000 wild horses and burros on our western federal lands where there should be a quarter to a third that amount. And according to Pendley, “They are causing havoc.”

In ten western states the wild horses are eating us out of house and home. In some states it’s not that big a problem. It’s not so bad, for instance, in Idaho where there are 710 wild horses which is close to the recommended 617 head; ditto for Montana where there are 162 instead of 120, or in New Mexico where there are 241 where there should be 83 in just one area. But in Nevada, ground zero for the wild horse controversy, there are 47,468 wild horses and burros where the government says there should be no more than 12,811! Utah also has three times more wild horses than it can support.

Add all the numbers up in the west and you have 88,090 wild horses and burros on ground the BLM says can only support 26,690. And if you don’t think it’s a population explosion consider this: there was an increase of 7.5 percent in just the past year.

So according to BLM’s own figures there are an extra 61,400 mouths to feed at the public trough. And even that population count doesn’t include the thousands upon thousands of free-roaming wild horses on tribal lands, or the unknown number of horses on public lands that aren’t designated as wild horse areas.

Faced with these numbers the Office of the Inspector General found in October 2016 that, “The BLM has no strategic plan to manage wild horse and burro populations.”

Pointing The Finger For cattle ranchers the wild horses are not only a problem because they are destroying the public lands (as well as some of their private land) to the point of sterilizing the ground, they pose another threat to the rancher’s existence. That’s because if you talk to wild horse advocates they have a quick and easy way to solve the wild horse problem: kick the cows off the public ground and give the land to the horses. They argue that privately owned livestock outnumber wild horses by up to 50 to 1 on some ranges and they contend it’s the cows causing all the damage, not the wild horses.

The wild horse enthusiasts say that wild horses are starving because since 1971, 22.2 million acres of land have been removed as wild horse habitat.

December 15, 2019

Livestock Market Digest

LOVING In 1971, wild horses and burros grazed 53.8 million acres of land, of which 42.4 million acres were BLM acres. Then Herd Management Areas were created as a result of Congress passing of The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Today those Herd Management Areas consist of 31.6 million acres, of which 26.9 million acres are under BLM management. Wild horse habitat has decreased by 41 percent since 1971, including a net loss of 15.5 million acres of BLM land originally designated for wild horses and burros.

The wild horse groups point the finger of responsibility at what they call the “subsidized ranching industry” which “wants to maintain access to taxpayer-subsidized, commercial livestock grazing on public lands.” They point to a 2015 Center for Biological Diversity study that estimated that the costs to U.S. taxpayers for public lands grazing amounted to more than $1 billion over a decade.

Wildlife conservation organizations complain that wild horses only have access to 11% of federal lands and say the quickest fix to the horse problem is to reduce the forage available for cows and turn it over to wild horses, bison, bighorn, mule deer, pronghorn, sage grouse, and other native species that should take precedence over livestock. It has simply come down to this... a struggle over the use of America’s natural resources. And who do you think the urbanized and clueless American public is going to side with when the issue is framed as a choice between a picture of a beautiful horse running free, or a cow defecating at a dry water hole, probably created by a wild horse herd?

The public seems to forget that ranchers pay to graze their cattle on public lands, unlike continued on page four

Page 3 continued from page two

An Equine Nuclear Bomb Want a crystal clear picture of the state of the “wild horse” program these days? Consider these facts gleaned from a variety of sources from E and E News to the BLM: • Dean Bolstad, who was division chief of BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program, said the situation is dire: “Rangeland habitat is ‘being nuked’ by the overpopulation of horses and burros.”

• As of July 2018, there were 43,886 wild horses and 1,434 burros in government holding facilities. BLM spends nearly $50 million a year caring for such horses.

• Since 1971, more than 235,000 wild horses and burros have been adopted. Annual adoptions have fallen from a high of 8,000 per year to about 2,500 per year currently. Over time, these excess horses became stockpiled in feedlot-type pens to the point where the BLM knew they couldn’t adopt them all out.

The agency started leasing out pastures in the Midwest for long-term holding.

• The cost for all 45,000 of these horses is approximately $50,000 per horse over its lifetime.

• The average wild horse sits in a feedlot for about five years. They have been or will be released onto a foreign pasture in the Midwest bearing no resemblance of their former wild lifestyle. Each horse will live on that long-term pasture until it gets old and dies.

You could say the government is taking better care of these horses than we are our elderly.

• The expense of holding all these horses has crippled the BLM’s wild horse budget to the point where it’s spending two-thirds of its budget warehousing horses.

• Ben Noyes, the wild horse specialist in BLM’s Ely District in northeast Nevada, says the current situation will lead to starvation and suffering for many of the nearly 90,000 wild horses and burros on federal rangelands.

Noyes added. “We are losing our grasses; we’re losing our key components for good range management. And eventually, that’s going to take hold to where nothing can survive out there.”

• In addition to the financial cost, the environmental cost of transporting tens of thousands of horses and supplying feed to them is staggering. Data from California shows that irrigated grass hay can require a hundred gallons of water per pound of hay. The BLM generally feeds each horse 20 pounds of hay

every single day. One horse in a holding pen eating locally produced irrigated hay, could be responsible for water usage totaling 730,000 gallons per year. Today, there are 4,620 wild horses and burros in California and Nevada pens, needing 3,372,600,000 gallons of water annually if no non-irrigated hay is available.

• The BLM estimates that there were 25,300 wild horses in 1971 when Congress passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burros Act. • The BLM has set a national “Appropriate Management Level” of just 26,690 wild horses and burros.

• It cost $2.07 per day to feed a horse in a long-term holding facility in fiscal year 2017 • It cost $5.03 per day per horse in a shortterm holding facility in 2017 • It cost $133,225 per day for taxpayers to maintain horses in holding facilities in 2017.

• The status quo, a bureau official told lawmakers in July, could result in half a million horses on the range by 2030.

• Ruth Thompson, of BLM Nevada’s Wild Horse and Burro Program says, “Underground springs are the only reliable source of water here, and they are few and far between.

What’s more, the large number of wild horses are eating the winterfat and Indian ricegrass literally down to the root, allowing invasive species to spread. This is just not sustainable.

This creates a cycle in which the horses must travel farther and farther from water sources to find forage. The winterfat is very sensitive to overgrazing. If we lose it, then more than likely the site will not come back.”

• Getting wild horse and burro populations to sustainable levels would require removing more than 55,000 horses. The most BLM has ever removed in a single year was 13,279 — in 2001.

• According to Bruce Rittenhouse, acting division chief of BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program, “Last year BLM removed 11,472 horses from federal rangelands. More than half — 5,800 — were taken in “emergency gathers” because of a lack of water or forage. While it was among the highest numbers of horses removed from the range in the past decade, it had little impact: As many as 18,000 foals were born on the range last year.”

• In 2016, the BLM used about 67% of the Wild Horse and Burro Program budget to

roundup, remove and stockpile horses compared to .61% spent on fertility control.

• Wild horse advocates don’t support increased gathers or the darting of animals with fertility drugs, specifically one that renders mares infertile for only one year.

• Bruce Rittenhouse contends it’s just not practical to solve the problem with fertility drugs. “There’s no real way to determine which horses have been treated and which ones have not. We just don’t see the value of the one-year fertility vaccine, which would require continual gathers.”

• The BLM contends that spaying the wild mares would be cheaper and longer-lasting than hormonal methods. But Joanna Grossman of the Animal Welfare Institute says, “Severing the ovaries of conscious wild mares under non-sterile conditions in a bizarre attempt to quantify the risks and complications associated with this outdated procedure is beyond the pale. Our wild horses deserve better.”

• Under a 2004 law, BLM is supposed to sell “without limitation” wild horses age 10 and older or younger horses who have not been adopted after three tries. BLM has sold about 5,900 wild horses and burros since 2005. The 4,100 sold between 2005 and 2010 were sold for an average of just $17 apiece.

• The same 1971 federal law that protects wild horses and burros also allows the Secretary of the Interior to euthanize older and unadoptable animals, or to sell them for slaughter. The U.S. Congress has blocked all such attempts in annual appropriation bills. enage closets today. In more recent times the preferred leather has always come from beef and dairy cattle but if pundits, markets, animal rightists and the millennial generation are to be believed, in the near future leather will be as popular as fur coats at a PETA convention.

According to the fake news on TV and in urban newspapers, cattlemen not only have to worry about fake meat, now they have to worry about the most prized byproduct of cattle being replaced by fake leather. What’s next, fake footballs, basketballs, baseballs, fake rawhide chew bones for your dog, fake saddles, knock off bomber jackets, fake purses, fake wallets and wristwatch bands, and fake gloves? Will teenage pants fall even lower without leather belts? Perish the thought!

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the wild horse herds. They also seem to forget that cattle and sheep are more easily managed than wild horses and can, and are, being used to improve the range, reduce fire danger and maintain grasslands in a sustainable fashion. Cows also eat differently: they cut the grass while horses pull it up with their teeth, often uprooting the plant entirely.

Bad Answer Despite the photos you’ve seen of mustangs being turned into reining horses, it’s become clear to nearly everyone that the BLM adoption program has failed to rein in the mushrooming population. The BLM removed 11,472 animals from the wild in 2018, but only a small number of these horses were actually adopted. So the BLM went back to the drawing board. Now, instead of adopting these horses out, the feds are going to pay people $1,000 to adopt a wild horse. It’s called the Adoption Incentive Program and it began on March 12 of this year.

Anyone adopting one of these wild horses or burros will be paid $500 within 60 days of adoption and another $500 a year later pending review of proper care and official title transfer. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, the adopted animal must remain in the United States until it is titled on its 1-year adoption anniversary, and the applicant must provide feed, water, a shelter and a pen that is, at the minimum, 400 sq. feet.

Just think of all the ways this little program will be abused!

If the program works it will be another disaster. That’s because it will cost the American taxpayer $50 million a year, swelling the BLM’s horse budget by 66 percent. Most wild horse advocacy groups hate the program as does most everyone else, including horse breeders in this country attempting to raise and sell quality, pedigreed livestock who must now compete with a government giveaway program.

Everyone seems to agree that the wild horse situation is one big hot mess. Ultimately, the answer must come from the folks who created this disaster in the first place: the U.S. Congress.

Enough said.

Livestock Market Digest

December 15, 2019

All Antibiotics for Livestock Will Soon Require a Vet’s Prescription SOURCE: AGRILIFE TODAY

P

roducers who need injectable antibiotics for their cattle won’t soon be able to just grab them at their local feed store or order them online.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service wants producers to be aware that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is continuing the phasing in of a law that requires a prescription for any antibiotic use in animals raised for human consumption, as well as for all companion animals.

Prescriptions, livestock and your vet A prescription is already required for most antibiotics delivered to livestock, and the remaining three categories of injectable antibiotics available over-the-counter will soon be joining the list of medically important antimicrobials that require a veterinarian’s prescription.

“It will cause a little bit of difficulty because producers who want and need to use antibiotics are going to have to work with their beef cattle or livestock veterinarians and develop a veterinary client-patient relationship in advance of any disease is-

sues,” said Joe Paschal, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension livestock specialist, Corpus Christi.

Paschal recommends producers should, if they haven’t already, develop a relationship with a local veterinarian to be prepared for these changes.

People should also be aware that these laws apply to companion animals like horses.

“This means that your veterinarian knows who you are, knows the kind of livestock you are raising and what you are doing with them, understands your management, and that you agree if they come out to diagnose an illness and use an antimicrobial to treat a disease or illness, you will follow their directions including dosage, duration and withdrawal,” he said.

FDA rules and regulations The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine stated a twoyear phase-in period would be allowed once the FDA Government Guidance document is finalized. A draft version is currently available online.

The FDA has had a law in place since 2017, which made most antibiotics administered to livestock by prescription only.

These new guidelines further extend the need for veterinar-

ian oversight by including the remaining injectable antibiotics.

“The amount of antibiotics used by agriculture has been dropping in recent years,” said Thomas Hairgrove, DVM, AgriLife Extension specialist, College Station. “The producers I’ve spoken with don’t seem concerned that these remaining injectables will now require a prescription too.”

After a peak in 2015, FDA studies show antibiotic use has declined. In 2017 alone, use of medically important antibiotics dropped 33%.

Tylosin, penicillin and tetracyclines are among some of the more popular antibiotics still available over the counter as injectables – for now. In 2018, the FDA published a five-year plan for phasing out all antibiotics without a veterinarian’s prescription. The plan should be fully implemented by 2023, although compliance is expected as soon as 2020.

Practicing good biosecurity “In the long run, practicing good biosecurity, correctly diagnosing illnesses and the proper prescription of the right antibiotic may help shorten the incident of the disease, improve the productivity or return of the

health of the animal, and reduce overall antibiotic use in livestock, pets and in humans,” said Paschal.

Since some antibiotics are used in both livestock and humans, the FDA’s concern is that antibiotic-resistant bacteria could develop more quickly from the widespread use of certain antibiotics that are medically important to humans – negatively affecting both humans and animals.

“Antibiotic resistance is not new, penicillin was discovered in the late 1920s and widely used in humans by the 1940s,” said Paschal. “By 1950, the first case of resistance was discovered in humans. This is a step in the right direction to protect these valuable compounds to prevent diseases.”

The greater the use of antibiotics, across all species, the greater the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria or “superbugs” that can develop.

“Although the percentage of antibiotics used in agriculture is declining, we want to continue to use them judiciously and intelligently,” said Hairgrove.

“Data shows ag is responding in a positive way, and I think our industry is doing a heck of a job.”

FAKE MEAT equivalent of just 1 percent of the total volume of meat sold in the U.S., according to Nielsen.

But some beef producers see an existential threat in the growth of meat-alternative makers like Beyond and Impossible Foods Inc. For a hint at the threat they face, they point to dairy farmers’ years-long losing battle against almond, soy and other imitation milks that have captured about 10 percent of sales, while consumption of traditional cows’ milk has declined.

“Anytime someone walks in the grocery store and makes a decision not to purchase our product and purchase another… we’ve lost a potential consumer,” said Jess Peterson, a cowboy-hat-sporting lobbyist for the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association who also raises cattle in Montana. “It’s a very small number, but it’s a number that can grow.”

Fast-food chains have raced

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to place meat alternatives on their menus. Burger King now sells an “Impossible Whopper,” White Castle has the “Impossible Slider” and Carl’s Jr., the “Beyond Famous Star.” Traditional meatpackers like Tyson Foods Inc., Hormel Foods Corp. and Smithfield Foods have developed their own meat mimics.

In September, the products got their biggest endorsement yet when burger giant McDonald’s Corp. announced it would test a Beyond-based sandwich in 28 restaurants in southwestern Ontario. It’s called the “P.L.T.”, short for plant, lettuce, tomato, and it’s retailing for 6.49 Canadian dollars ($4.88) in a trial running through the end of the year.

Plant-based food makers promote their burgers as healthier for consumers, with a fraction of the environmental impact that comes from raising, transporting and slaughtering cattle. Part of Impossible’s stated mission is to end all livestock production, which the Redwood City, Calif.-based company calls “a prehistoric and destructive technology.”

“The whole point of our product is not to be successful as a new product, but to be successful at the expense of the incum-

bent industry,” said Pat Brown, Impossible’s chief executive and founder. “Obviously the incumbent industry is going to do whatever it can to throw obstacles in our way.”

Among those obstacles is a campaign to sow doubts about the benefits of meat alternatives. The Center for Consumer Freedom, a Washington-based nonprofit that is partly funded by meat producers and other companies, in 2018 began a campaign to counter consumers’ belief that meat alternatives are healthier than regular meat, critiquing what it says are the products’ heavily processed nature and reliance on fillers and additives that contribute to obesity.

The group, which has previously campaigned against animal-rights activists and soda taxes, started by penning op-eds in local and national newspapers and meat-industry websites, questioning meat alternatives’ processing and ingredients.

Since July, it has bought ads in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, blasting meat-alternative products with slogans such as “fake meat, real chemicals.” And a post on the CCF’s website in

August highlighted a quiz that compared veggie-burger ingredients with those found in dog food.

The arguments over the ingredients in plant-based products are “silly,” said Jessica Almy, director of policy at the Good Food Institute, a Washington group promoting meat alternatives. Meat is also a processed product, as it contains all the food and medicine an animal took in before it was slaughtered, Ms. Almy said.

“Using scare tactics is a desperate attempt to stem the surging interest in these products,” she said.

Richard Berman, CCF’s executive director, said his group has also hired food-science labs to analyze potential health risks of meat alternatives, and plans to publicize the findings.

“I’m on offense,” Mr. Berman said. He declined to identify CCF’s funders.

In the spring of 2017, Kansas cattle producer Larry Kendig, a director of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, went to a series of regional farm shows to enlist ranchers’ support for a petition urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to more tightly regulate plant-based food labels.

RIDING HERD much money.”

Besides being stuck in the 19th century he was cheap too. I’d run into these types of people before.

They have the same mentality as multiple generations of farmers who have plowed around a stump in their field rather than take the time to dig it up, therefore saving future generations the headache of plowing around it. I call such people “never stumpers”. My parents were never stumpers. They’d say things like, “If that shirt was good enough for your brother to wear it’s good enough for you.”

Other never stumpers say things like: “We’ve only had red cattle on this place since my greatgreat grandaddy homesteaded the place and there will never be a black bull on this ranch.”

“We can’t buy a New Holland baler because we’re John Deere people.” Or vice versa.

continued from page one

“We’ve always sold to the same buyer off the ranch and we’ll never send them to an auction where more than one person could bid on them.”

“There’s good money in goats you say? Our family ran sheep off this place a century ago and they didn’t do it so you could run a bunch of smelly old goats.”

My all time favorite never-stumperism is, “Our family has always driven Fords and my pa would roll over in his grave if I ever bought a Chevy or a Dodge. He’d be twirling around faster than a fan if I ever bought a truck made in Japan.”

Personally, I refuse to admit that I’m a “never-stumper” and it’s merely a coincidence that all our vehicles have been GM’s.

WWW.LEEPITTSBOOKS.COM

December 15, 2019

Livestock Market Digest

Page 5

SD Senators Introduce Bill to Promote U.S.A. Labeling on Beef The full text of their letter is as follows:

BY AGDAILY REPORTERS OCTOBER 30, 2019

T

wo Republican Senators from South Dakota — Senators Mike Rounds and John Thune — took steps today to help ensure the integrity of American beef. They introduced the U.S. Beef Integrity Act, which would make certain that the “Product of the U.S.A.” label only goes to beef and beef products exclusively derived from one or more animals born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States.

Currently, the USDA’s Food Safety & Inspection Service does not require that beef be born, raised, and slaughtered in the U.S. in order to carry a “Product of the U.S.A.” label. This loophole allows beef from livestock born and raised in foreign countries to be labeled “Product of the U.S.A.” as long as the beef undergoes additional processing at a processing plant in the U.S. “Consumers deserve to know where their food is coming from,” said Rounds.

“When South Dakota families purchase beef labeled ‘Product of the U.S.A.,’ they should know with certainty that it is coming from one of our top-quality producers.

Today’s beef labeling rules are misleading and allow beef and beef products from cattle born, raised and slaughtered outside of the U.S. to be labeled as U.S. beef.

This must be fixed for both consumers and our hardworking producers.”

Additionally, Thune and Rounds wrote to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to offer support for administrative changes to the FSIS beef labeling requirements.

Dear Secretary Perdue: We write to express our support for the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association’s petition requesting the establishment of certain beef labeling requirements.

As you may know, concerns have been raised around the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the qualifications for labeling beef as a “Product of the U.S.A.” Specifically, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) does not currently require that beef be born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States in order to carry a “Product of the U.S.A.” label.

As a result, beef from cattle that are born, raised, and slaughtered in another country can be labeled “Product of the U.S.A.” so long as the beef undergoes additional processing in a USDA-inspected plant.

Our farmers and ranchers work hard to deliver the highest-quality and safest food products in the world. Americans recognize this, and they want to know where their food is coming from. Unfortunately, without clear parameters, the current “Product of the U.S.A.” label can be misleading to consumers and can result in imported beef being labeled as though it is of U.S. origin.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We look forward to your response.

BLM Targets Horse-Vehicle Collision Threat

BY SCOTT STREATER, E&E NEWS REPORTER

T

he Bureau of Land Management has released a 10-year plan for removing some wild horses and burros in southern Nevada that are crossing federal and state highways with increasing regularity, posing a safety concern.

The plan, outlined in an environmental assessment (EA) that’s now open for 30 days of public comment, through December 24, 2019, targets one of the often forgotten impacts of Nevada’s growing wild horse and burros herds pushing against the expanding Las Vegas metropolitan area.

The plan analyzes the impacts of regularly rounding up and removing excess wild horses and burros that wander outside the boundaries of federally designated herd management areas, posing a growing threat of colliding with vehicles.

BLM estimates there should be no more than 593 wild horses in the six herd management areas in the southern Nevada district, but there are an estimated 1,236.

Due to the growth of wild horse and burro herds, and the limited forage and water resources in the arid region, the animals are leaving the herd management areas. The result is “a growing population of wild horses and burros that are becoming accustomed to highways

and being around members of the public, as well as an increased potential for emergency removals due to lack of forage and water resources,” according to the EA. The animals are “continually coming on to and crossing the highways in many areas during the evenings or early mornings,” when motorists are less likely to be able to see them in time to stop.

These wild horses and burros can also become a “nuisance,” as their search for food and water prompts them to move “to private lands causing damage to sprinkler systems, gardens, lawns, and decor in rural residential areas as well as to agricultural fields,” the EA says.

Thus, the “public safety and highway nuisance gathers” plan is needed that will allow BLM to quickly gather and remove these animals, in an effort to both protect the public and the wild horses and burros protected under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, the bureau says.

There are more than 47,000 wild horses and burros roaming federal rangelands in Nevada — by far more than any other state.

But the report comes at a time when BLM is trying to develop strategies to reduce the more than 88,000 wild horses and burros on federal rangelands across the West. That figure is three times what regulators say the rangeland can handle with-

out causing damage to vegetation, soils and other resources.

BLM is under increasing pressure to do so, though the 10year plan outlined in today’s EA is not meant to address culling herd sizes to appropriate levels, only threats to public safety and private property.

The bureau is now several months late submitting a report that Congress requested earlier this year that’s supposed to outline specific strategies to reduce the growing herds, as well as estimate the costs associated with each one.

Meanwhile, the Interior Department is developing a new rule to “address wild horse and burro management challenges by adding regulatory tools that better reflect” BLM’s authority to regulate growing herds, according to a White House report last week outlining the Trump administration’s regulatory priorities (Greenwire, Nov. 20).

BLM acting chief William Perry Pendley has called the growing herd sizes an “existential threat” to federal rangelands, some of which have already been damaged past the point where they will ever recover, he has said.

Pendley’s characterization of the issue has drawn fire from wild horse advocates and other critics who note that he appears to overlook other sources of impact to rangelands, such as livestock grazing and oil and gas development.

NCBA Statement on Beef Labeling Practices

N

ational Cattlemen’s Beef Association Vice President, Government Affairs, Ethan Lane, released the following statement in response to a letter from U.S. Senators. John Thune (S.D.) and Mike Rounds (S.D.) regarding beef labeling practices: “NCBA understands that the practices alleged in the letter from Senator Rounds and Senator Thune are a concern to cattle producers and we share a commitment to clear and truthful labeling. In August, in response to a proposal brought forward by our grassroots members, NCBA formed a working group to examine the prevalence of the alleged mislabeling practices. We are in the process of gathering information related to current industry labeling practices so we can fully understand the scope of the issue as we identify solutions that work for the industry.

“In general, NCBA members are opposed to requesting additional government regulation on our industry. Until we understand the scope of labeling practices currently being utilized, any rush to regulate is an irresponsible step that can create unnecessary and burdensome government mandates. NCBA is actively seeking information on beef labeling practices.

“The creation of government policy or regulation is a complex process that requires a thorough understanding of the problem and the involvement of many stakeholders. As our industry is fully aware, any rush toward government regulation can create unintended consequences that take years to unwind.”

Managing Stocker Cattle for Profit

C

ow-calf producers, stocker operators and feedlot managers all have the same end goal in mind and that is to raise a high quality product profitably. Beef Cattle Institute experts Dr. Bob Larson, Dr. Dustin Pendell and Dr. Bob Weaber recently discussed ways to successfully raise stocker cattle.

To be profitable Larson, veterinary medicine professor, says, “Successful stocker operators do a good job of buying and selling the cattle, while keeping them healthy at an effective cost of gain.”

Stocker cattle are typically newly weaned calves that weigh between 300 and 800 pounds, and are developed in a forage-based system with some feed supplementation before moving to the feedlots for finishing.

Pendell, agricultural economist, advises that stocker operators buy the calves at a low price, watch the markets and target the calves for sale at a profit. He says, “There are a lot of considerations to include such as pricing inputs, output price and marketing strategies. Producers need to have a risk management strategy system when purchasing inputs and selling calves.”

Identifying appropriate feedstuffs is also key to a stocker operator’s success. “It is not just pricing feed on a per pound of feed basis, but looking at how much growth can come from that feed source,” says Larson. He adds, “Depending on the situation, I might desire a slower rate of gain with a forage-based diet because that is the cheapest cost of gain, or I might offer more supplementation to provide adequate nutrients for faster gain.”

Weaber, professor and cow-calf extension specialist, adds, “Following a higher rate of gain may also allow operators to meet a marketing window due to the seasonality of feeder calves.”

Page 6

Livestock Market Digest

The View

Enjoy America While You Still Can!

BY BARRY DENTON (The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association or this publication.)

I

nterestingly enough, we just returned with our horses from the 2019 American Quarter Horse Association Lucas Oil World Championship Show, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It’s always a great deal of work which turns into a great deal of fun as well.

It takes us one and a half days to get the horses to OKC. From our ranch the trip is almost exactly on 1,000 miles one way.

Now we have been making this trip for many years and are yet to get bored with it.

Yes, interstate highway I-40 could use some work, but it is still much easier to travel than it used to be. When we leave the ranch we travel north to I-40 and just stay on it until we reach the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds.

After you leave our ranch the land soon changes to juniper country on the way to Ashfork.

Then you see the Ponderosa Pines of Flagstaff. As you head east out of Flagstaff you come to the wide open, windy country of Winslow, Holbrook, and the Navajo Nation. Pretty soon you are crossing into New Mexico and the beautiful red rocks.

As you drive along towards Grants, you start seeing the black rock of lava flows. As you leave Tucumcari, the country opens up even more as you head to Amarillo, Texas where we stay the first night.

Generally, when we leave Amarillo the next morning and head to Oklahoma, the hills become gradual, rolling, and grassy, which makes good cattle country. I know most of you have made this same trip, but isn’t it great that it changes very little as time passes. There is a comfort to tradition and some things remaining virtually the same.

At the same time on this trip you will notice improvements along the way, and some things will not be as good. One year, we passed through an area that had just been struck by a tornado the week before. The remaining destruction was an education and I hope I never have to live through one of those.

It is always good to take a trip for adventure and learning. One of my favorite things about this trip are the people we meet along the way. We have to stop at truck stops, horse motels, café’s, and so on.

Normally, the people you encounter are good hardworking Americans that appreciate your business. They tend to be proud of their establishments and what they do. They renew your hope in America.

Probably the biggest thing we noticed on this year’s trip was the price of diesel fuel. It seemed to fluctuate between $2.70 and $2.95 per gallon. I remember very well when it was more than $4 per gallon, just a few short years ago when President Obama was in office.

Thank you President Trump for helping the oil industry in America get rolling again. In the west we are a very mobile society and have to drive long distances to accomplish our tasks.

Reasonable fuel prices are much appreciated.

There is something serious that I want to discuss with you, because it directly involves you and our America. When you have time go to your computer and look up United Nations

December 15, 2019 Agenda 21.

Don’t just read the convenient synopsis provided, but take the time to read the entire thing. It was written in 1992 and as you read you will realize that much of it has already been implemented in our America. In other words they have been implementing it in the agendas of our schools.

I know many people have to send their children to public school which is a crying shame these days. If you have any means at all, get them out of there. Next, you will need to work to get the globalist liberal agenda out of our schools.

They are trying hard to make the America we know and love to disappear.

The United Nations doesn’t want you to have property rights, raise your own food, or be self sufficient in any way. That is the reason for the constant attacks on rural America these last several years. Yes, those of us that are independent, work for ourselves, think for ourselves, and can sustain ourselves along with many others they would like to eliminate.

If you read the first part of their objectives, it sounds like they are saints, but if you read further you will see that they want to eliminate private enterprise and you all become subjects of the state. They only promote their agenda to save the world, such as ending poverty, educating everyone, and taking care of everyone.

It may sound good at first, but to accomplish this they want to end freedom. What reason is there to exist without free-

dom? These people are dangerous folks, read for yourself and find out. The implementation of Agenda 21 eliminates America as the land of the free!

That is the most valuable asset we have.

This is not just my opinion, United States Senator Ted Cruz of Texas contends that it will abolish golf courses, grazing pastures, and paved roads eventually. Tom DeWeese who heads the American Policy Center already sees Agenda 21 as being ultimately responsible for destructive forces in American society such as multiculturalism, same-sex marriages, and other cultural changes. Political commentator Glenn Beck also warns that Agenda 21 is part of a globalist plot to destroy our freedom loving communities. If only 10 percent of these opinions are true it is too much.

My suggestion is to look into this for yourself. Don’t get me wrong, I think America should always change and evolve for the better, but not for its own destruction. Have you ever noticed that whoever you elect seems to be more focused on telling you what you can’t do, instead of what you can do?

President Trump is the exception and they hate him for it. Stop and think about the now pardoned Hammonds ranching on the uranium that Hillary Clinton sold to the Ukrainians.

Don’t worry; the Clinton bad guys are worried about that as well.

There is no reason that we should we ever care about any agenda set by the United Nations.

Revolving Doors Save Energy The West’s Population Boom with energy lobbyists with whom he once worked. Their attorney said, Leads to Development Backlash ne of the largest and most “The public needs to know what

BY GREG WALCHER

BY SOPHIE QUINTON, STATELINE / ROUTEFIFTY.COM

C

olorado’s job growth has a downside.

Along the urban corridor where the Rocky Mountains meet the plains, home prices are climbing, luxury apartments are multiplying, and commuters are getting stuck in traffic. Parking spaces on some main streets and popular trailheads are jampacked.

Now some locals, frustrated with the pace of development, are trying to slow it down.

“Every place that you go, it’s overwhelmed by people, just like California,” said Daniel Hayes, a rental home manager based in Golden, Colorado, who has proposed a statewide ballot initiative to restrict new housing construction in most urban areas, which the Colorado Supreme Court has yet to approve for circulation. “Is that what we want?”

Anti-growth feeling is bubbling up in some Western communities — particularly in cities adding people and housing faster than the national average — even as city leaders and affordable housing advocates call for more homebuilding and downtown density to combat traffic and rising home prices.

In Boise, Idaho, a mayoral candidate this year called for building a wall around

the state to keep newcomers out (particularly wealthy Californians). Although that candidate didn’t advance to the runoff, managing growth remains a key question in local politics, said Charles Hunt, an assistant professor of political science at Boise State University.

“Regardless of where you stand on it,” he said, “the question of growth has been the fundamental policy question in the Treasure Valley over the last five years.”

In Salt Lake County, Utah, residents last year convinced their mayor to veto a huge apartment and townhome project. Utah added residents faster than any other state during the past decade, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and Salt Lake County’s population jumped by 12 percent.

And in tiny Elizabeth, Colorado, anti-growth activists are trying to recall all the town’s elected officials for approving development projects they fear will turn Elizabeth — population 1,416 — into the next Denver exurb boomtown. Over the past decade, more than 10,000 people moved to a nearby town, Parker, boosting its population by close to 23 percent.

To be sure, a nascent “yes in my backyard” movement has led to laws that promote further development in some states, such as Oregon’s new

law that allows duplexes to be built in lots zoned for single-family homes.

In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom last month signed legislation to speed up building-permit approval and stop local governments from limiting new home construction.

But proponents of such changes still must contend with not-in-my-backyard residents who fear the new laws will encourage more luxury apartments and pricey townhomes rather than truly affordable housing.

Pressure from some California residents and local leaders has hobbled another Democratic-led bill that would override local zoning to allow more housing construction near public transit and job hubs.

“Right now, what these bills are doing is — it’s not town planning, it’s town cramming,” said Keith Gurnee, a member of the board of directors of Livable California, a group that opposes the bill. Gurnee said his group wants local governments to retain zoning control.

While the backlash to growth is a national phenomenon, the trend may well be more prevalent in the West, said Megan Lawson, a researcher for Headwaters Economics in Bozeman, Montana. *This article originally appeared on Stateline.

O

powerful environmental industry groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRCD), has hired former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy as its new president. Although NRDC put out press releases, the hiring escaped the notice of nearly every reporter in the country. Perhaps it didn’t seem especially unusual, nor would it be, but for the feeding frenzy about such “conflicts of interest” in the current Administration.

A November 9 New York Times headline, “Interior Chief’s Lobbying Past Has Challenged the Agency’s Ethics Referees,” was repeated in news outlets across the country for two solid weeks. The article alleges that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt faces constant “conflict of interest” problems because he formerly worked for a law firm with clients who have an interest in Interior Department matters. We are supposed to be outraged that he and his former clients even sued the Interior Department on several occasions. Bernhardt had worked at the Interior Department before (as its top attorney), as well as on Capitol Hill, and that law firm hired him precisely because his expertise in those issues was valuable to clients. Would such a firm survive if it only hired attorneys with no experience in the issues their clients cared about?

Similarly, current EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is under constant attack from the environmental industry for the same “offense.” The Environmental Defense Fund calls him “a former coal lobbyist plagued by conflicts of interest.”

The Center for Biological Diversity, another giant environmental industry group, sued the EPA demanding records of Wheeler’s meetings

happened between Wheeler’s former employer and the environmental agency he’s now running into the ground. We seem to have another fox guarding the henhouse.”

These same environmental organizations, though, are filled with staffers and administrators who once worked for the Administration, including the EPA, Interior Department, and other federal agencies. This is not shocking, it is not illegal, and it is certainly not new.

Consider NRDC’s history with the EPA. The organization brags on its websites that it has sued the Administration dozens of times, especially the EPA. NRDC sued over EPA’s revision of toxic chemical rules, mercury guidelines, New York water standards, and pesticide classifications. It filed high-stakes lawsuits against EPA’s rollback of the Obama “clean power plan” to kill the coal industry, and the new interpretation of “Waters of the U.S.” Along with the Paris climate treaty, these were among the top priorities for Gina McCarthy when she was EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Air in Obama’s first term, and the top Administrator in his second. Will she now excuse herself from any involvement in such lawsuits because of her obvious “conflict of interest?” She certainly did not do so while working for the public.

McCarthy is a decent person who would otherwise not deserve such a loaded question, but for the fact that she now runs one of the most hypocritical organizations in Washington – on this specific issue.

Her personal experience should prompt NRDC to end its legal continued on page eight

December 15, 2019

Livestock Market Digest

Page 7

SOCORRO PLAZA REALTY On the Plaza

Donald Brown

Qualifying Broker

505-507-2915 cell 505-838-0095 fax

116 Plaza PO Box 1903 Socorro, NM 87801 www.socorroplazarealty.com dbrown@socorroplazarealty.com

REAL ESTATE GUIDE

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SCOTT MCNALLY www.ranchesnm.com 575/622-5867 575/420-1237 Ranch Sales & Appraisals

Scott Land co.

Ranch & Farm Real Estate

AG LOANS AGLAND LAND LOANS

Bottari Realty

AsLow LowAsAs 3% As 4.5% OPWKCAP 2.9% OPWKCAP 2.9%

Paul Bottari, Broker

775/752-3040 Nevada Farms & raNch PrOPerTY www.bottarirealty.com

1301 Front Street, Dimmitt, TX 79027 Ben G. Scott – Broker Krystal M Nelson –CO/NM QB#15892 800-933-9698 day/eve. www.scottlandcompany.com

WE NEED LISTINGS ON ALL TYPES OF AG PROPERTIES LARGE OR SMALL!

■ ELK RIDGE RANCH – Capulin, NM area, 100 hd. ■ TEXLINE SPECIAL – 472.4 ac. irr., on Dalhart/Clayton +/- herd of Elk seen on property from time-to-time, hwy. in New Mexico, adjoins the Grassland w/Organic 5,520 ac. +/- w/nice home, barns & pens, watered Potential. by wells & live water, no outside access through the ■ GRASSLAND W/ORGANIC POTENTIAL – Union Co., property. Brochure being prepared!

NM - adjoins the Texline Special, 927.45 ac. +/-, on pvmt.

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3,840.76 +/- ac. of choice NM grassland, remodeled ■ EAST EDGE OF FT. SUMNER, NM – immaculate home, virtually new working pens, well watered, 7.32 ac. +/- w/a beautiful home, a 900 hd. grow yard & on pvmt. other improvements w/a long line of equipment included, ■ UNION CO., NM – 955 ac. +/- w/excellent on pvmt. improvements for a stocker or cow/calf operation, ■ FT. SUMNER, NM –17 ac. +/- w/water rights currently modern ¼ mi. sprinkler, all-weather roads on three planted in alfalfa & a beautiful home built in 2007 w/3 sides, 374 ac. +/- CRP. bdrms., 3 bathrooms, an oversize a 24X50agent metal Call Buena Vista Realty at 575-226-0671 orgarage the &listing ■ UNION/HARDINGLori COUNTIES, – 7,951.18 shop. or Melody Sandberg 575-825-1291.

BohmNM 575-760-9847, ac. +/- of really good ranchMany land, wellgood wateredpictures by mills ■on PRICE REDUCED! WE CAN DIVIDE this Springfield, MLS or www.buenavista-nm.com & subs, on pvmt., home, barns & 2 sets of pens.

Co. 1,440 ac. farm & ranch as follows: an irrigated farm, ■ PECOS RIVER RANCH/Guadalupe Co., NM a 5,000 hd. fdyd. w/acreage & improvments & grassland/ – Scenic, 968 +/- ac. deeded & 519 +/- state lease CRP w/improvements. Please see our website for further acres, live water ranch on both sides of the Pecos River information. (strong flow daily) between Santa Rosa & Ft. Sumner; ■ LIITLE RIVER RANCH – Pottawatomie Co., OK –950 ac. wildlife, paired w/water & cattle for the buyer looking +/-, beautiful home, excellent facilities, highly productive, 40 for top tier assets in a rugged New Mexico ranch! mi. SE of Oklahoma City.

■ OTERO CO., NM – 120 scenic ac. +/- on the Rio ■ FREESTONE CO., TX – 931.49 ac. +/- w/a beautiful 13 Penasco is surrounded by Lincoln National Forest lands bdrm./13½ bath home, nice manager’s home, large party/ covered in Pines & opening up to a grass covered meeting house & numerous barns & out bldgs., virtually all meadow along 3,300 feet +/- of the Rio Penasco. This open country w/highly productive improved grasses, on property is an ideal location to build a legacy mountain pvmt. A “must see” property for corporate meeting place, getaway home. excellent opportunity for a bed & breakfast or for large family ■ LOGAN/NARA VISA, NM – 980 ac. +/- w/940.6 or the enterprising cattle producer to run a large number of ac. CRP, irrigated in the past, land lays good & is located cattle w/irrigation rights out of existing large lakes on the north side of Hwy. 54.

Please view our website for details on these properties, choice TX, NM & CO ranches (large & small), choice ranches in the high rainfall areas of OK, irr./dryland/CRP & commercial properties. We need your listings on any types of ag properties in TX., NM, OK & CO.

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TEXAS & OKLA. FARMS & RANCHES ONE OF TEXAS’ BEST - 840 ac, Hunt Co., TX. 20 miles to McKinney, 30 miles to Dallas, 8 miles to Greenville. Beautiful modern 4,000 sq ft home sets high on hiill with view to all of the ranch. 20 lakes and dirt tanks, excellent grass, barns, cattle pens, nice barn, apartment, 8 pastures.

All this 3.4 million. Owner ready to retire.

UNDER T C A R T CON

230 AC GAME & RETREAT that is a dream. Lakes, woods, meadows, game galore, 35 miles out of Dallas, Kaufman Co.

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Near Conchas and Ute Lakes - 1616 S Sixth St. 3 bdr, 1 full and a 3/4 bath 1600 sq. ft. home on a large lot in Tucumcari, drive thru carport with large yard, great neighborhood, near all schools and Mesa College.

Ute Lake - Logan, NM - 715 Fox Drive - 1/2 mile from boat ramp, fenced w/chain link. Nice 2 bdrm, 1 bath mobile home with sturdy carport on each side, and very nice deck on east side.

Lots of pictures of both properties on website

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M U R N E Y , ASSOCIATES, REALTORS® 1625 E. Primrose • Springfield, MO 65804 • murney.com • 823-2300

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Missouri Land Sales • A STUNNING HORSE FACILITY. Situated in a desirable area, Rogersville schools, beautiful 4,139 sq.ft home. 4 bdrms and 4 baths, a 7,200 sq. ft. indoor riding arena, 5 horses stalls expandable to 7 (12 x 12), a 72 x 12 walkway, 36 x 12 tack room, feed room, 72 x 24 hay loft, outdoor wash rack, 120 x 12 outside overhangs, individual fenced horse runs from stalls. Entire property is fenced annd cross fenced, 5 pastures and acreage for hay. This home has geo-thermal heating and cooling, as well as a full Generac backup generator, all set up.

Also included is a full sprinkler system on all floors of this home. Three fireplaces (one on each level). So much to offer, and quite unique to find something this well-built. A must-see property. MLS#60148628

SOLD

• WILL BE AUCTIONED OFF 10-18-2019. 240 Acres surveyed into small buildable tracts. Hunting retreat (lots of wildlife), recreational (build your dream home overlooking your lake & enjoy!) Then sell surveyed tracts off to finance your retirement/investment. Good roads thru surveyed acreage, only1+ miles from Hwy.60 (4-Lane Hwy). A tract of land this large, surveyed in small acreages rarely ever comes on the market! Owner may divide & sell 160 acres or 80 acres. This property is priced to sell! MLS 60128270.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

33 years in the ranch business – see www.ranch-lands.com for videos & brochures

DUANE & DIXIE McGARVA RANCH: approx. 985 acres Likely, CA. with about 600+ acre gravity flood irrigated pastures PLUS private 542 AU BLM permit. About 425 acres so of the irrigated are level to flood excellent pastures with balance good flood irrigated pastures. NO PUMPING COST! Dryland is perfect for expansion to pivot irrigated alfalfa if desired. Plus nearby BLM permit for 540 AU is fenced into 4 fields on about 18,000 acres - located only 7 miles away. - $3,125,000 BEAVER CREEK RANCH: about 82,000 acres - with 2,700 deeded acres plus contiguous USFS & BLM permits for 450 pair; 580+- acres irrigated alfalfa, pasture, and meadow from Beaver Creek water rights and one irrigation well. 3 homes, 2 hay barns, 4 feedlots each w/ 250 ton barns, 2 large reservoirs, can run up to 500-600 cows YEAR ROUND. $5,400,000 ROUND HOUSE RANCH: approx. 291 acres just outside Redding, CA. Adjudicated Water Rights from Oak Run Creek – about 45 acres flood irrigated & well set up fields & irrigation system. Springs plus 4 ponds. Like new Headquarters tucked in next to a pond and beautiful view overlooking the irrigated fields. Additional caretaker or rental house near ranch entrance, equipment shed, large shop. All like new. Reduced Asking Price $1,995,000

BILL WRIGHT, SHASTA LAND SERVICES, INC. 530-941-8100 • DRE# 00963490 • www.ranch-lands.com

THE 100 RANCH – If you are looking for a quality cattle ranch then the 100 Ranch is just what you need. The 100 Ranch is a scenic, well improved cattle ranch with stunning views of the nearby Sacramento and Jicarilla Mountains. Located approximately 30 miles northwest of Carrizozo, New Mexico on the Chupadera Mesa. The ranch is comprised of 15,931 deeded acres, 30,680 federal BLM lease acres and 9,208 NM State lease acres. The maximum grazing capacity of the ranch is listed at 1,200 A.U.Y.L. The ranch is fully operational, ready to turn out with no start up costs. Watered with six wells and an extensive pipeline system. Ample big game hunting on the ranch to include elk, mule deer, antelope and oryx. Access to the public land is limited with approximately 7,000 acres of private land gated and locked. The price includes all ranch vehicles and equipment.

The 100 Ranch has had just two owners since the 1940s. It is one of a kind. Co-listed with Mossy Oak Properties NM Ranch & Luxury, LLC. Price: $11,000,000 Call for a brochure or view on my website: www.ranchesnm.com COCHISE RANCH – Ranch property located just west of Roswell, NM along and adjacent to U.S. Highway 70/380 to Ruidoso, NM. Comprised of 6,607 deeded acres and 80 acres of NM State Lease acres. Water is provided by three solar wells and pipelines. Fenced into several pastures and small traps

suitable for a registered cattle operation. Improvements include two sets of pens, shop, and hay barn. Price: $2,500,000 Call for a brochure or view on my website: www.ranchesnm.com BLACKWATER DRAW RANCH – Nice well improved ranch property located just 15 minutes from downtown Roswell, NM along and south of U.S. Highway 70/380. Improvements include a custom designed rock home, guest house, Quonset Barn, barns, and a good set of pipe pens. Partitioned into two larger pastures and two smaller pastures. Acreage includes 2,185 deeded acres and 320 NM State Lease acres. The Blackwater Draw Ranch is adjacent to the Cochise Ranch, the two may be combined very easily. Price: $1,350,000 Call for a brochure or view on my website: www.ranchesnm.com KELLEY PECAN ORCHARD – 10.2 acres with over 230 mature producing pecan trees located just west of Roswell, NM. Artesian water rights with one well supplies irrigation water through a newly installed sprinkler system to the orchard.

Improvements include a large 5,400 square foot two story colonial style residence that has been featured in Southern Living Magazine. This property is one of a kind. Call for an appointment to take a look or for a color brochure. Price: $975,000 Call for a brochure or view on my website: www.ranchesnm.com Scott McNally, Qualifying Broker Bar M Real Estate, LLC P.O. Box 428, Roswell, NM 88202 Office: 575-622-5867 Cell: 575-420-1237 www.ranchesnm.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

CHICO CREEK RANCH, Colfax County, NM. NEW LISTING. 6,404.26 +/- Total Acres, Located approximately 10 miles east of Springer New Mexico.

3,692.60 +/- deeded acres with balance in state lease. Excellent grass and water. Two plus miles of the Chico Creek meandering through the center of the property. Additional wells and dirt tanks. Nice historic head quarters privately located with shade trees and excellent views of the property. Shipping pens in central portion of property. $2,837,318 WAGON MOUND RANCH, Mora/Harding Counties, NM. 8,880.80 +/- Total Acres, a substantial holding with good mix of grazing land and broken country off rim into Canadian River. Has modern water system located 17 miles east of Wagon Mound off pavement then 3 miles on county road. Two bedroom historic house, once a stage stop. Wildlife include antelope, mule deer and some elk. $2,710,000 $2,440,000 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

CONTRACT P E N D IN G

FRENCH TRACT FARM, 491.55 +/- deeded acres, Colfax County, NM two pivots, some gated pipe, 371 irrigation shares in AVID, House, barn, close to exit 419 off I25 on HWY 58. All in one contiguous parcel with access on all sides. $700,000 RATON MILLION DOLLAR VIEW, Colfax County, NM. 97.68 +/- deeded acres in 2 parcels with excellent home, big shop, wildlife, a true million dollar view at the end of a private road. $489,000. Also listed with the house and one parcel for $375,000 MIAMI 20 ACRES, Colfax County, NM quality 2,715 sqft adobe home, barn, grounds, fruit trees and mature trees.

Extremely private setting. REDUCED $355,000. This is a must see. Also listed with same house with 10 +/- deeded acres for $310,000 MAXWELL 19.50 ACRES, Colfax County, NM quality extensive remodeled two bedroom, one bathroom home with water rights, outbuildings for livestock in NE NM. Great south facing porch for sipping iced tea cooling off at 6,000 ft elevation. Would make great summer getaway and winter ski base. $270,000 MORA COUNTY 160 +/- ACRES, 12 miles south east of Wagon Mound, remote, excellent solar well good mix of sub irrigated and range. Small cabin. $154,000

Page 8

Livestock Market Digest

Collectors Corner Becoming a Better Bidder Part 2

I

n last month’s column, we talked about live and phone bidding at an auction. Now let’s look at other bidding hints.

Absentee bidding is convenient and can generally be done in a couple of ways. One is to leave your maximum (or “max”) bid with the auction house ahead of time. The second is to go online and do it yourself (where that is offered). When buyers tell me they really want an item if it goes for a certain amount or less, I recommend leaving a max bid ahead of time, unless you can be at the auction in person. Even if you are watching the auction live on the internet, you are still at risk if trying to bid in real time as the auction is happening. Too many things can go wrong. The internet lag time can be 2 to 5 seconds (depending on yours and the auction houses internet speeds and various other factors). If you really want an item and are bidding online, leave a max bid ahead of time. That way, the computer system will bid on your behalf as necessary.

The system will not let you raise your own bid and does not start out at your max bid. It is a safe way for a bidder to say, “If that goes for $____ or less, I want to own it.” On most online bidding platforms such as iCollector or Invaulable, etc., the auctioneer has no way of knowing what your max bid is. They system hides that dollar amount. This assures the absentee bidder that they will only pay as much as necessary to win the item, unless someone else bids higher than their max bid.

In the past, I have heard a few bidders complain about leaving absentee, max bids, directly with an auction house.

Some say things like, “every time I leave a max bid, the item magically sells for my max bid,” or “I think the auctioneer uses my bid to run the price up,” or

a few other negative comments.

Let’s address that for a moment.

First off, there are definitely a few unscrupulous auctions that run people up if they know what you are willing to bid. But I would say that is the exception and not the norm. In that case, you have two choices. First is to not deal with that auction house any longer. Period. The second is to look at it this way, you were willing to give a certain amount for the item anyhow, so you got it for that amount. Great!

Count it as a blessing you won the item! That is a more positive outlook. But odds are, if the item went for your max bid, or close to it, that is because there are others out there who also know the value of the item and have put in bids similar to yours.

Aside from a few places that may use your absentee bid in a self serving manner, most auction houses are on the up-andup. At our auctions, people leave absentee, max bids, with us all the time. How we handle them is to assign them a bidder number and enter them into the computer clerking system. That way, just as if an online bidder was to do it, the system will bid on their behalf as necessary until they either win the item or it goes beyond their max bid.

Before computer automation, it was common to designate someone from the auction staff to proxy bid their behalf. I have seen places where the auctioneer also has a list and will audibly call the absentee bids as others bid against them. All of these work. We prefer the computer system to do it, then there is less room for human error or shenanigans. As I said, the “max” bid left ahead of time is the best way to get what you really want (short of attending live).

Now let’s address some of the most common questions (concerns) presented by bidders. The most common one I get from online bidders is, “I left

a max bid of $_____ and that is what it went for, but I did not get it.” This happens periodically in a live auction format. In a live auction, bids are accepted by the auctioneer as they come in. So, if you have the bid at $90 and the auctioneer is asking for $100 (and you left a $100 max bid), the computer does not let you raise your own bid (bid against yourself) and the auctioneer generally has no idea what your max bid is. So, if someone in the live audience crowd bids $100, the auctioneer acknowledges and accepts that bid. They are now winning at $100 (because it was their turn to bid). In this scenario, it was just bad luck their turn happened to fall on the same amount as your max bid. This kind of tie does not happen often, but when it does, it’s usually a “who’s turn was it” kind of thing (at live auctions, you generally do not raise your own bid, other bidders do).

If the auction is strictly online (like an online timed auction for example), then the computer system gives the bid to the earliest bidder who bid that amount. For example, if you left a $100 max bid and you now have the bid a $90 (assuming the increments are set at $10), then if someone else tries to bid $100, the computer will automatically accept your bid at $100 and reject theirs, giving them notice that someone else bid that amount already. But this does not work in live auctions, because the auctioneer is who is accepting the bids as they come in.

A strategy I have used to help avoid tie situations like this is to go online before the auction and see where the winning bid is at. Figure what your max bid is going to be and then count forward from where you are to see if that max bid would fall on someone else’s turn if bidding goes that far. For example, if the bid is now $10 and you are winning, but willing to bid up to $50, think like this: me $10, them $20: me $30, them $40: me $50! In this case, you win unless someone goes over $50.

However, you may be at risk if you left a $40 or a $60 bid because that amount probably will not fall on your turn. There are a couple of rare scenarios that could still go against you, but most of the time, this will work.

Another complaint heard from online bidders is they were trying to bid and it got sold for less than they were trying to bid.

Again, this goes back to the risk taken when trying to bid in real time online and waiting to bid.

December 15, 2019 There is the lag factor between what you are watching and what is actually happening in the live auction. This is usually the cause of your higher bid not getting accepted. If you really want to bid online in real time, my best advice is to bid early, right after the lot opens. Remember, it takes a few seconds for the bid to get to the auctioneer, so hesitation or a late bidding strategy, is your enemy in online live bidding.

Another thing to watch out for when bidding online is assuming you have the bid. Remember, you do not have the winning bid until the auctioneer acknowledges you have the winning bid. The screen in front of you may say you had the bid because you bid what was being asked for, but that computer is not the auctioneer. The auctioneer may accept another bid from another source. Most auctioneers go with who they see or hear first. So if you and other bidders or online platforms are bidding the same thing at the same time, the auctioneer acknowledges who one he sees or hears first and takes that bid, even though your screen may tell you for a moment that you had it. Beware of this, pay attention to whose bid the auctioneer has accepted. Again, this goes back to the risk of trying to bid in real time, online. If you bid early enough, the screen should adjust after a moment and let you know if you are “out,” because the clerk did not accept your bid. However, if it is too close to the closing of the lot, you may not get the notice in time.

Remember this, at pretty much any live auction, the auctioneer has final say. He is kind of like a referee. He calls it how he sees it and the decision is final. It is up to you to know where they are at and to get your bid presented in a timely manner. At our auction

DOORS “conflict” attacks on Administrators with whom it disagrees.

She is the embodiment of Washington’s oft-criticized “revolving door.” She has run state environmental agencies, an environmental program at Harvard, worked for a private equity firm with environmental investments (Pegasus Capital), been in and out of the EPA, and is now running one of the largest environmental groups, with activities directly connected to the EPA. That’s why it made sense for them to hire her. And in a future democratic Administration, she might well be expected to return to public service.

It is natural that when Administrations change, top officials go back to the private sector, and private sector leaders come into the new Administration. Because the party in power changes frequently, many leaders have moved in and out of federal agencies,

house, we have 2 internet platforms and a live crowd going all at once, so there are potentially bids coming in from 3 sources simultaneously. When the auctioneer accepts a bid, the others are “out.” So if iCollector (for example) said you were winning, but you didn’t, it was probably due to one of the scenarios listed above. Or it could have been a clerking error. Sometimes the clerk may hit the wrong button with your bid showing on it even thought the auctioneer took that amount from someone else (in which case the clerk should have hit the button next to the one with your bid on it, so you can see how easy it is to make a temporary error). Usually, this is noticed right away and they correct it. But for a minute, it might have shown you were winning by mistake. Humans do make errors after all, especially when you put a clerk in a high stress situation like a fast paced auction. That is why I say, the safest way to bid online is to leave max bids ahead of time. This way your bid shows up every time you are outbid, and it does so immediately, so you have a good chance of being recognized. The next best way to bid online is to bid early in the process. The later you bid in real time, the more risk you take of not getting your bid accepted in time. As mentioned, live auctions move rapidly.

Auctions can, and generally are, a fun experience where you can buy things at good prices.

We all enjoy them. However, if you want to become a better bidder, it is important to know the rules and various nuances of the game. In closing, if you really want an item, know the value, know what you are willing to give for it and bid early—but not foolishly.

Jim Olson © 2019, www.WesternTradingPost. com

continued from page six

and made a good living in private sector posts, where they trade on their expertise, and try to influence government on behalf of clients. It has always been that way, and always will be, because it is smart. Presidents are smart to appoint experienced executives, and private organizations are smart to hire leaders who know these agencies.

So enough crocodile tears about “ethical conflicts” plaguing current officials – who are influencing policy exactly the same way their opponents did when they were in power.

Elections have consequences, and people are in power with whom these groups disagree.

The proper forum for their argument is the next election, not the already overburdened courts.

An edited version of this column appeared in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel November 15, 2019.

For Advertising Information Please Call Randy at 505/850-8544

December 15, 2019

Livestock Market Digest

Page 9

Are You Protecting Calves From BRSV? This lesser-known respiratory disease can have major effects on their health.

Big temperature swings common during seasonal transitions can be stressful for cattle. That, combined with the stress of changing their environments, including weaning or mixing calves, opens the door for respiratory diseases to creep into your herd.

“Respiratory diseases tend to be more common in the fall, but we also see an uptick in them whenever animals experience stress, including in the summer when calves are put out on pasture,” says Joe Gillespie, veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim.

One respiratory disease that doesn’t get as much attention is bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV). It occurs roughly one-third as often as bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), but it can be more

serious than parainfluenza-3 (PI3), according to many experts.

“Infected animals could have permanent lung damage, and most will never gain as much weight as healthy animals.” — Joe Gillespie BRSV was first diagnosed in animals in the 1970s and comes from the same virus family as the human version, which causes similar symptoms in young children.

“In cattle it causes more morbidity than death,” Gillespie said. “It’s the long-term presence of the disease that can have serious financial impact on herd productivity. Infected cattle don’t eat much and don’t gain weight, and their immune system is compromised.”

complex can be significant.

Average daily gain (ADG) for cattle infected with these diseases can be reduced by one-quarter pound per day, notes Gillespie.1 In the case of BRSV, the viral infection also weakens the animal’s immune system, often allowing for a secondary bacterial infection resulting in pneumonia. The virus initially infects the upper respiratory tract, with an incubation period of three to five days. Early clinical signs include mild nasal and eye discharge, fever, increased respiratory rate, decreased feed and water intake, and coughing.

“Between the fifth and seventh days after infection, calves are usually really sick and running a high fever,” says Gillespie. “The biggest challenge with this disease is that once the animal is presenting clinical signs, it’s already weak-

Weakened immunity The economic effect of the bovine respiratory disease

ened.”

Antibiotics can be given to treat the secondary infection, but little can be done to treat BRSV, other than providing fluids with energy supplements.

“Infected animals could have permanent lung damage, and most will never gain as much weight as healthy animals,” he says.

Prevention is key Because BRSV is endemic to the United States, it’s everywhere, he notes. A good preventive care plan includes vaccinating both cows and calves.

“If a cow has been vaccinated and has good immunity to BRSV, she will pass it to the calf in the colostrum, which will help to protect the calf for the first few months until it develops its own immunity,” says Gillespie. “Vaccinating the calf at about 45 days of age allows

Environmental Group Sues USDA Over Predator Program STORIES, NORTHERNAG.NET

T

he WildEarth Guardians sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services in November 2019 over their predator control program. The environmental group sued in Missoula federal district court, seeking for an updated environmental analysis of the program, and for the agency to halt or curtail its predator management program until such a complete analysis is performed.

The group states in their press release “the number of carnivores killed has not varied significantly over the past three years, raising the question as to efficacy of lethal management in reducing population.” They also said in that release, “Over the course of the past three years, in Montana alone, Wildlife Services has reported killing more than 20,000 coyotes.”

ELM

Editor’s note: This article is from broadhead on behalf of Boehringer Ingelheim. 1 Smith RA. Impact of disease on feedlot performance: a review. J Anim Sci 1998;76:272274. 2 West K, Petrie L, et al. The efficacy of modified-live bovine respiratory syncytial virus vaccines in experimentally infected calves. Vaccine 2000;18(9-10):907-919

! w o N e b i r c s ub

This lawsuit comes just three months after the EPA announced they would reevaluate the use of M-44 devices to control wild animals that prey on livestock and other animals.

M-44s have been heavily protested by a variety of activist groups. The device uses bait on a spring powered ejector to propel a dose of sodium cyanide into an animal’s mouth. M-44s are heavily regulated by Wildlife Services but are a very efficient and humane tool to control predators, primarily coyotes.

Wild Earth Guardians look to pause effective depredation control tools like fixed wing aircraft and helicopters to aerially shoot predators, snares and leg hold traps along with the ever effective M-44 devices.

According to the complaint, Wildlife Services must use recent studies to thoroughly analyze the efficacy and environmental effects of the state’s animal damage control program.

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you to develop that immunity at a critical stage, providing protection before it gets exposed.”

Research shows that the calf’s immunity level improves and shows some protection already at four to five days after vaccination, but it typically takes 14 to 21 days for it to develop the full complement of immune cells, he adds.2 “Immune cells create memory to recognize diseases such as BRSV, but that memory weakens over time. So, you need to revaccinate calves again five to six months later, and cows annually to continue to protect them,” adds Gillespie.

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Page 10

Livestock Market Digest

Permanent Land Grabs

O

n November 19 it became official. Both major political parties endorse a forever expanding federal estate. Keep in mind the feds own 29 percent of all the land in the U.S. and 90 percent of what they own is in the Western States. In addition, the four federal land management agencies have a total of $19.3 billion in deferred maintenance.

In other words, they can’t maintain what they already own.

So what occurred on No-

vember 19? The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources passed a bill to permanently and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The bill, S. 1081, is titled “Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act”.

The real kicker here is the language which states, “shall be made available for expenditure, without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation.”

What does that language mean? Under current law dol-

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lars for federal land acquisition must compete annually with other federal programs. When Trump signs this bill into law, dollars for federal land acquisition will no longer have to compete - they will be on automatic pilot - $900 million each year must be spent on land acquisition.

What about programs to provide for our national defense?

They must still compete, which means Republicans place a higher priority on government acquisition of private property.

What about funding research to find a cure for cancer or certain childhood diseases?

They must still compete, which means Republicans place a higher priority on having less private property and more government owned and managed property than they do on the 600,000 people who die of cancer each year.

Well, what about the fact the feds can’t take care of the lands they already own and which have billions of dollars of deferred maintenance? The National Park Service alone has $12 billion in deferred maintenance which includes “bridges, tunnels, paved parking areas, paved roadways, buildings, housing, campgrounds, trails, waste water systems, water systems, unpaved roads, unpaved parking areas, utility systems, dams, constructed waterways, marinas, aviation systems, railroads, ships, monuments, fortifications, towers, interpretive media, and amphitheaters.”

What do the Republicans say about that? They have an answer: SPEND MORE MONEY! The same Senate committee on the same day approved S. 500, the “Restore Our Parks Act.” This bill would establish the “National Park Service Legacy Restoration Fund” and fill its coffers by taking “50 percent of all energy development revenues due and payable to the United States from oil, gas, coal, or alternative or renewable

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energy development on Federal land and water that would otherwise be credited, covered, or deposited as miscellaneous receipts under Federal law.” This bill also contains the non-compete language.

To summarize, Congress is taking 50 percent of the revenues from federal energy development and permanently dedicating it to the Land and Water Conservation Fund which is primarily used for land acquisition. Since the feds can’t take care of what they already have, Congress is taking the other 50 percent of energy development revenues and dedicating it to address the deferred maintenance of the National Park Service.

Will they raise your taxes to pay for this? Yes, but in a roundabout way. These funds were deposited in the U.S treasury, and were on the income side of the ledger. Now they will be spent on parking lots, towers, amphitheaters, etc., and will go on the spending side of the ledger and thereby increase our national debt. Congress must pay the interest on our national debt each year, and that is funded by taxpayer dollars. They count on you not noticing this roundabout way of dealing with your tax dollars.

So there you have it. Congress places a higher priority on federal land grabs and housing for Park Service employees than they do on our national defense or curing cancer.

Do you still think the enviros aren’t calling the shots on Capitol Hill?

Further, the Department of Interior recently disbanded their Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee. Why? Apparently because the advisory board, which was established by former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in 2017 and commonly known as the “Made in America” committee, had recommended privatizing campgrounds within national parks and allowing food trucks as a way to bring more money into the system.

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December 15, 2019

Remains of a Party (from the archives of Baxter’s former life)

W

e all have great memories of ‘the best party’.

I had a party. It lasted 48 hours. I lost my socks, my dignity, two days of my life, six ping-pong balls and four pounds. I broke my G-string, achieved a new “personal best” and learned to dog paddle in a bathtub full of beer.

The occasion for this all-out, climb the walls, cowboy shindig was in celebration of my new book. The party honored the world’s best cowboy cartoonists who contributed cartoons for the book. We gathered under one roof some of the most unique individuals in the world of Western philosophy and art. Every one of them is a crossbred maverick of the finest kind.

Jerry Palen from Cheyenne showed up and spent Friday night tryin’ to sell everybody a Shetland pony, sight unseen. The price went up Saturday after a phone call from his vet: it looked like the pony was gonna live.

In certain circles I am considered a pretty fair guitar picker (places like the 5th Amendment Bar and the Society for the Tone Deaf). But I was relegated to playin’ second fiddle by my brothers, Steve and Bob, Jim Schafer, and my new wife.

Under the right circumstances I can be co-

The enviros don’t want private money to keep the backlog from growing even larger because some recreationists might be “priced out of national treasures.” If private money is not used, then taxpayer money will be, and that means campers visits will be subsidized by others.

This all goes back to the fact the enviro/progressives want nothing “private” or “commercial” to occur on or with federal lands. And that includes not only private-run camping, but also livestock grazing, hunting, mining, oil & gas leasing, etc.

They want all things private to be excluded. That is their ultimate goal, that is nirvana for them, and after many years of effort and many dollars spent, they are slowly achieving their goal. The Trump administration has proven to be a bump in the road for them, but has not provided the U-turn that is needed.

Green New Deal A first try to enact Green New Deal proposals into legislation would overhaul 1 million public housing units to make them carbon neutral. Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have introduced the “Green New Deal for Public Housing Act” that would use seven grant programs to upgrade public housing to include organic grocery stores, onsite childcare, and community gardens. It would also provide bicycles and high-speed internet.

This gives me the opportunity to propose the DuBois New Deal. Instead of free bicycles and high-speed internet to each public housing unit, my plan would provide every bunkhouse with free ropes and fast horses.

Here’s wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a very Prosperous New Year.

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

erced into singin’ a few ditties (as Champ Gross would say, “He’ll sing to anyone who’ll listen”).

“First,” I said modestly, “Let Herb Mignery sing one.” He wound up singin’ all night to the delight of the crowd. Finally Herb said, “Let ol’ Bax sing one!” I did and everybody went to the bathroom.

I thought I could hold my own in story tellin’.

But then Dick Spencer started tellin’ about adobe submarines and his Indian relative. Running Bare. Pretty soon Ace Reid was spinnin’ yarns about Lady Bird, Slim Pickins, Hondo Crouch and his old Daddy who claimed to be the best cattle thief in Texas. Todd, Tink and Andy each had more wild cow tales to fill in the empty spaces. All in all, it was windier than a sack full of whistlin’ lips.

The only event left that I felt qualified in was drinkin’. But two Idaho renegades, Don Gill and Garry Penny were already walkin’ on the window ledges and abusing the potted plants so I conceded.

They came from all over, Don from Idaho, Radonna from Texas, and Jack from Greenly, Champ from Wyoming, Mike from Longmont and my Mother from New Mexico.

Bein’ amongst these kind of people was a blue ribbon treat. We did our best to make your own cowboy cartoonist feel special. But it’s hard ‘cause they’re all just plain common decent folks like most of us and won’t let you treat’em different. Besides, I have to pay for the carpet in Don Gill’s hotel room. Dick Spencer’s check bounced, Herb Mignery’s wife has a warrant out for my arrest, my brother Bob is changing his name, Jay Dusard is sending me his chiropractor’s bill, the pony I bought from Jerry Palen didn’t make it, and the ring Ace Reid sold me is turnin’ my finger green. www.baxterblack.com

December 15, 2019

Livestock Market Digest

Page 11

With Or Without Climate Change, California Will Burn, The Only Question Is: How Much?

CHUCK DEVORE, CONTRIBUTOR / TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION VP AND FORMER CALIFORNIA LEGISLATOR

C

alifornia is blessed—and cursed—with a Mediterranean climate. The Golden State features long stretches of dry, low-humidity weather, with infrequent thunderstorms (except in its desert regions). Most of the state’s precipitation falls during the winter months. Before the first big lateyear Pacific storm, California’s forests and coastal chaparral are often tinder-dry.

Richard Henry Dana Jr., in his book “Two Years Before the Mast” published in 1840, described the area around Los Angeles thus: “The only thing which diminishes its beauty is, that the hills have no large trees upon them, they having been all burnt by a great fire which swept them off about a dozen years before, and they had not yet grown up again.

The fire was described to me by an inhabitant, as having been a very terrible and magnificent sight. The air of the whole valley was so heated that the people were obliged to leave the town and take up their quarters for several days upon the beach.”

Today, of course, politicians blame climate change for the wildfires and the electrical blackouts aimed at preventing more fires, with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday declaring that “It’s more than just climate change. It’s about the failure of capitalism to address climate change.”

There are two things to unpack here: the climate change claim and the failure of capitalism claim.

California is seeing larger wildfires. But this was predicted 13 years ago by the Western Governors’ Association in their Biomass Task Force Report:

“…over time the fire-prone forests that were not thinned, burn in uncharacteristically destructive wildfires… …In the long term, leaving forests overgrown and prone to unnaturally destructive wildfires means there will be significantly less biomass on the ground, and more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.”

For a variety of reasons, government-mandated and subsidized wind and solar power won out in California over government-mandated biomass generators powered by wood waste from the timber industry.

The timber industry largely left.

And as a result, the fuel load in California’s northern forests has soared, and with it, the wildfire danger.

What isn’t harvested and cleaned up in a controlled, predictable manner is burned up in a chaotic manner—the only thing predictable about it is that it will certainly burn, sooner or later.

As for the failure of capitalism, California’s publicly regulated utilities are hardly examples of unfettered free markets.

Rather, they do exactly what the regulators appointed by the elected officials tell them to do.

Those politicians and regulators have told the utilities to dramatically boost wind and solar power—and they have. In 2012, PG&E asked regulators for a $4.84 billion electric rate hike to pay for powerline maintenance and upgrades. Regulators, worried over electrical prices that were already close to the nation’s highest, rejected the request, and eventually approved less than half that amount.

One can’t help but to wonder—if this rate hike were approved in 2012, might it have prevented 2018’s deadly Camp Fire, which started almost a year ago and killed 85 people while destroying nearly 19,000 homes, businesses and other

K-2 Sale Results

T

he high selling bull was Lot 1, K2 Knight 113 38F for $7500 to Pat Wade out of Lusk Wyoming, a long time repeat buyer.

The next high selling bull was lot 5, K2 Wy-

buildings? The fire was blamed on a nearly-100-year-old power line that should have been replaced 25 years ago.

Now, PG&E—in bankruptcy to shield itself from $30 billion in fire liabilities and under heavy criticism—is preventatively cutting the power on high-risk powerlines during periods of heavy winds.

These blackouts—the largest two hitting about 2 million people each time for a couple of days—have cost California businesses and consumers an estimated $5 billion in lost economic activity. As much as the requested rate hike might have cost had it been approved seven years ago.

As PG&E tries to catch up for years of neglect in trimming trees away from some 2,500 miles of high-priority powerlines, they’re running into another problem: They can’t find the experienced work crews.

This is because employment in the timber industry is half of what it was 20 years ago due to decades of federal and state environmental policies that have cut the Western region timber harvest in half.

Whether or not climate change is making California’s deadly outbreak of fire worse, the solution is the same—California must significantly ramp up forest management, which, if done in concert with increased logging, will be less costly to the taxpayer. At the same time, it must aggressively increase the use of proscribed burns, both in the north and in Southern California’s coastal chaparral. President Trump said as much last year, to great hoots of derision from California’s politicians and environmentalists.

California has slowly taken steps in this direction, in the last year of Democratic Governor Jerry Brown’s four terms in office and now Democratic

lee ET 714 33F, to Kiel Harding or Meridan, WY. The bulls averaged $3575.

The high selling set of females were the young cows 2-3’s, for $1750. Followed by the Brockle face AI bred heifers for $1725.

Average on all 154 heifers was $1560

Governor Gavin Newsom’s first year. But it is likely too little, too late. That has led PG&E CEO Bill Johnson to warn state regulators that blackouts could last

another 10 years.

Chuck DeVore is Vice President of National Initiatives at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

He was a California Assemblyman and is a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army Retired Reserve.

Burger King Gets More Than Bargained For… Restaurants Be Ware Burger King Sued by Vegans for Impossible Burger Contamination SOURCE: WWW.TMZ.COM

A

bunch of vegans are suing Burger King because they want to have their Impossible Burgers their way ... pristine, without any meat residue on the grill.

Phillip Williams just filed a class-action lawsuit, claiming the burger giant advertises the Impossible Burger as a vegan alternative to its meat burgers, yet they’re all cooked on the same grill.

Williams says his burger was contaminated by meat byproducts. He bought the burger in question in ATL. The lawsuit says Burger King has no disclosures on its menu that would notify a consumer prior to the purchase of the Impossible Whopper that it was cooked in a manner that would result in meat by-products on the burger.

He notes there have been numerous complaints posted online by outraged vegans.

Williams not only wants damages ... he wants the judge to order Burger King to stop cooking Impossible Burgers and the OG burgers on the same grill.

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Livestock Market Digest

December 15, 2019

From the staff of the Livestock Market Digest