Riding Herd
“The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it.”
by LEE PITTS
– JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL
January 15, 2017 • www.aaalivestock.com
Volume 59 • No. 1
A Faults Alarm
My Forgotten Country T BY LEE PITTS
You can’t live a positive life with a negative mind.
T
here’s an old joke about a man and wife and their six girls. Both parents desperately wanted a boy and decided to try one last time. (This was before sonograms took all the mystery out of a baby’s sex.) To their astonishment the seventh time was lucky and they finally had a bouncing baby boy. When the father was asked who the baby looked like he replied, “I don’t know. We haven’t looked at his face yet.” I was reminded of that joke the morning after Donald Trump was elected President. Most of us in agriculture were so elated that Hillary got beat that we hadn’t given much thought as to what a Trump presidency would mean for agriculture.
NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING
City Versus Country Bias alert! In the race between two New Yorkers I voted for Trump primarily because had Hillary been elected our founding fathers would’ve never recognized the great country they founded. With all the baggage Hillary would’ve brought with her it would have been Watergate to the power of infinity. I had a feeling Trump might win because I didn’t think American voters were that stupid. It turns out a majority of them were, but once again the brilliance of our founding fathers shone through and Trump won in the electoral college. This is how it should be. We simply can’t have idiots on both coasts running roughshod over 95 percent of our land. It’s easy to see who put Trump in the White House. There are 3,141 counties in the USA. Trump won
3,084 of them and Clinton won 57. The disparity was evident even in their home state. Trump won 46 of the 62 counties in the state of New York, Clinton won 16. Clinton received well over 2 million more votes than Trump in New York City alone, which was nearly enough to win the national popular vote. The five counties that make up New York city consists of 319 square miles. There are 3,797,000 square miles in the U.S. Do we really want the folks who inhabit 319 square miles to dictate what happens in the other 3,796,681? As weird as it may sound, rural America elected the New York city slicker. Trump won in 1,299 rural counties with 85 percent of the
vote. Hillary won nearly 90 percent of urban counties. It was a clear case of the city versus the country. As for how ranchers voted, I saw one poll that showed 75 percent of ranchers voted for Trump. It’s fair to say that Trump owes us. After all the hoopla at dodging a big Hillary bullet it’s fair to ask now, what kind of President will Trump be for rural America? Full of Themselves Let’s not forget who Donald Trump is. He was born and raised in the concrete jungle of Manhattan. Granted, I don’t know too many New Yorkers but everyone I’ve met thinks the world revives around New York City. A Big Ap-
ple dweller’s concept of the West is Wyoming County, which happens to still be in the state of New York. A New Yorker’s idea of the West is Buffalo. The city, not the animal. They seem to think we couldn’t get by without their generosity and their guidance. Andy Rooney said, “New York is the cultural center of mankind.” They are a bit full of themselves. New York may control the Dow and our hemlines but they’d shrivel up and die without our food. Yet I heard little talk about agriculture in either Trump’s or Clinton’s campaign. I know Trump has been to California to visit one of his golf courses but he didn’t campaign here. If he’d spent any time at all here he’d know that the 11 million undocumented workers he wants to deport are picking our crops, mowing our lawns, raising our kids and cleaning up our messes. If he is successful in deporting them it will cripple the agricultural economy of the west. Don’t get me wrong, I hope
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Bears Ears and the Ecologically Noble Savage BY BRIAN SEASHOLES POLICY ANALYST, REASON, DAILY CALLER
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y designating the Bears Ears National Monument, which encompasses 1.35 million acres in southeast Utah, President Obama is unfortunately perpetuating the myth of the ecologically noble savage. Central to the myth is stereotyping Native Americans, as living in perfect harmony with nature, in order to support political and intellectual agendas. While the term “ecologically noble savage” may sound odd, even insensitive, it has been in use in academic literature for twenty-five years. It also has a great deal of relevance to the designation of Bears Ears National Monument at the behest of, and with major financial backing from, environmental pressure groups. “As with earlier noble savage proponents…environmentalists simply add an academic riff to the pop construction of American Indian as primitive savior,” asserts Sandy Grande, then a professor at Colby College. “We [environmentalists] admire Indians so long as they appear to remain what we imagine them and desire them to be: ecologically noble savages symbolizing a better way of life than we ourselves find it practical to live,” O. Douglas Schwarz, at the time an independent scholar and member of New Hampshire Audubon, stated. “The current typification of Indian as ecologically noble savage
serves several functions and the following ‘creative and polemical needs’ of white society” according to Grande, including “to fragment the Indian community by introducing the quandary of identity politics.” White-dominated environmental pressure groups use of Native Americans’ race to pursue their agendas, such as Bears Ears, is disturbing. “Since those involved in the environmental movement are overwhelmingly white, I argue that they too have been vulnerable to this same unconscious desire for an uncomplicated, Disney-fied existence [for Native Americans],” Grande notes. “The presumed power of whites to define ‘Indian-ness’ is an integral component of modern racist attitudes towards Native American peoples.” Regrettably, these troubling issues raised by Grande and Schwarz underpin the process by which Bears Ears was designated a National Monument. While proponents of Bears Ears portray the designation campaign as led by Native Americans, in truth it was created and led by white-dominated groups that used certain Native Americans, whom they portrayed as ecologically noble, as their fronts. The public face of this campaign was the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, which consists of the Hopi, Navajo, Uintah and Ouray Ute, Ute Mountain continued on page four
here’s an unwritten rule of nature that says when two species share the same territory the weaker one will sooner or later leave or be run off. This is called “competitive exclusion” by educated people who want to show how smart they are. Basically, it’s nature’s way to keep everything where it belongs. It’s why Texans have rattlesnakes, fire ants and spiny brush, why Wyoming has wind, and why New Mexico has red and green chilies. If you can’t take the heat... feel free to get out of the kitchen. I’m a fifth generation Californian and we’re famous for two natural disasters: earthquakes and liberals. In the case of some people who lived nearby, competitive exclusion is working just fine in keeping the riff-raff out and eliminating poor breeding stock. I don’t know where they came from but when these liberals moved close by they thought they’d discovered paradise. It didn’t take long before it started losing its charm. I can pinpoint exactly when the luster started wearing off: about ten o’clock one morning when we had a baby earthquake. It was nothing really, and I probably wouldn’t even have noticed if the doors to my shop hadn’t rattled off their hinges. When you’ve lived through as many earthquakes as I have, 6.0 on the Richter scale is no big deal. A faults alarm, you might say. I hardly looked up from my leatherwork. But from a quarter mile away I heard this terrible scream and my new neighbor lady was running out of her house in her curlers and pajamas looking like she’d just seen a ghost. She ran over to my place seeking protection and yelled “THAT WAS AN AN EARTHQUAKE!” “Nah,” I replied. “Not really. That was just a tremor.” “But my refrigerator was walking across the kitchen floor!” she replied and for a moment there I thought she was going to have “a movement” herself if she didn’t calm down. I tried to calm continued on page four
www.LeePittsbooks.com
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Livestock Market Digest
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Trump does build his wall so that my friends in the Borderlands can feel more secure in their homes and their ranches are no longer used as a super-highway for illegal drugs, contraband and folks from Central America who only want our welfare. Trump may feel that voters have given him a mandate to kick the illegals out of our country, but if he understood the West he’d know we all want the illegals gone, unless it happens to be our gardener, the man who picks our strawberries in Santa Maria, the one who builds our house in Phoenix, or the Mexican woman who debones our beef in Greeley. I hope that somehow Trump gets the message that what we need, in addition to a wall, is a more farmer-friendly foreign worker system to replace the mess of bureaucratic red tape we have now. But who amongst his closest advisors will tell him that?
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ing the west any favors. Mad Dog Mattis is certainly a great pick, unlike his name, the Mad Dog is a brilliant intellectual but I doubt he’ll have much to say about farmers and ranchers from his post as Defense Secretary. And Montana’s Ryan Zinke, a former Navy Seal and political upand-comer, may be of little help either. As Secretary of the Interior he may, in fact, hurt us.
In Trump’s cabinet an entire part of America has gone missing. Half of it to be precise.
Where Are The Westerners I worry about the West. I’m writing this story as 2016 comes to an end. At this point Trump has selected almost everyone for his cabinet except the Secretary of Agriculture. I hope it’s not a case of Trump forgetting that he needed one. Or if the city slicker forgot about us entirely. Are agriculture and the West afterthoughts, I wonder? Don’t get me wrong, I think Trump made some excellent cabinet picks. But where are the westerners? In Trump’s cabinet an entire part of America has gone missing. Half of it, to be more precise. Here are Trump’s cabinet picks and where the nominees where living before they made the commute to Washington D.C. Pence, Indiana; Tillerson, Texas; Perry, Texas; Mnuchin, New York; Zinke, Montana; Sessions, Alabama; Ross, New Jersey; Puzder, Tennessee; Price, Georgia; Carson, Florida; Chao, Kentucky; Mattis, Washington; DeVos, Michigan; Kelly, Massasschusetts,; Priebus, Wisconsin; Haley, South Carolina; Pruitt, Oklahoma; Mulvaney, South Carolina; McMahon, Connecticut, and so on. See a trend? By my count two people in Trump’s cabinet, or 11 percent are from the west. I don’t count Texas or Oklahoma as being in the West, although they definitely are western. For one thing, they are geographically in the middle, and they have little in common with New Mexico, Idaho, Colorado, California, Alaska or Nevada which contain vast amounts of public land. Only two percent of Texas is public land, ranking them 47th out of 50 in land owned by the feds. Only 2.29 percent of Oklahoma is owned by the feds, ranking them 45th. This compares to more than half the land in my West being public land. They can’t possibly know how it feels to be completely controlled by aliens in DC. More bad news: the two westerners in the cabinet won’t be do-
Thanks Junior In selecting Zinke as Interior Secretary Trump relied not on the advice of someone who lives out here, but on the advice of his son, Donald Trump Jr. who shares Ryan Zinke’s enthusiasm for hunting. There’s nothing wrong with hunting, most ranchers enjoy it, but should that be the over-riding criteria in selecting the person at the controls of the Interior Department? I was hoping for someone who was passionate about multiple-use, or shared the enthusiasm for the growing movement in the West to return more land to the states for them to manage. You can forget that idea. Zinke resigned as a delegate to the GOP’s convention because the GOP platform called for a transfer of federally owned lands back to the states. It’s fair to say that position is favored by most western Republicans. But Trump and his avid hunter son oppose it. Said Zinke at a June Congressional hearing, “The federal government needs to do a much better job of managing our resources, but the sale or transfer of our land is an extreme proposal, and I won’t tolerate it.” Zinke is a former Navy SEAL who saw combat in Iraq. In his first term in the House he was the only Republican to support preservation of the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund and opposed transferring the management of federal lands to states’ control. While in Washington he drove a Prius, stood up for clean air and water and took the enviros side on climate science. He earned a rare co-endorsement from the Conservation Voters, has called climate change a national security issue, and co-signed a letter to Congress in 2010 urging passage of stronger climate change legislation. According to reports, Trump’s children have urged their father to seize broadly on environmental conservation as a “defining issue for his presidency.” Trump himself said on a stump speech in North Carolina, “Honoring the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt—believe it or not, one of our great environmentalists—we’ll also be able to preserve and protect our natural resources for the next generation, including protecting land and anglers and hunters and all of those who enjoy the outdoors like my sons Don and Eric.” Keep in mind that Roosevelt locked up more than 230,000,000 acres under federal ownership. More worrisome is the idea that in ruling over the West Trump is go-
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January 15, 2017
Livestock Market Digest
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FORGOTTEN COUNTRY
The Secretary of Corn I’m a son of the far west, a fifth generation Californian, born and bred. And while I’m certainly not happy about the state’s ever-expanding liberal tendencies, I am proud to live in the largest agricultural state in the nation. I grew up riding shotgun in my father’s Kenworth and I was mesmerized by all the crops growing along the highways. I passed the long, boring, monotonous miles trying to identify all the crops that passed us by. Keep in mind, we’re not like the midwest where a field has a good chance of either being corn or soybeans, We grow over 400 different crops out here and we lead the nation in the production of something like 270 of them. Everything from almonds to zucchini, from A to Z. Over a third of the country’s vegetables and two-thirds of the country’s fruits and nuts are grown in California and in 2015 California’s farms and ranches produced over $47 billion ing to rely on the advice of his kids. Donald Trump Jr. said in an interview , “I know he’s going to trust me with a lot of these issues, and I know that I’m personally going to be involved. I can be the very, very loud voice in his ear, you know, on a lot of these issues.” He also said, “I understand these issues. It’s something I’m passionate about. No one gets it more than us.” Trump Junior’s vast knowledge of the West, by the way, was gained by tending bar in Colorado for 18 months. But wait, it gets worse. Remember when Trump visited with Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio in Trump Tower and many wondered what that was all about? It was on the advice of his daughter Ivanka who is a big believer in the climate change religion that Gore preaches. It’s rumored that she and her husband have been house-hunting in D.C. so that she could be closer to her father when he wants her advice. (Some have even suggested that Ivanka will be the real First Lady.) Close family friends say she has a heavy influence on her father and has expressed a desire to work on policy issues of personal importance to her. And climate change is near the top of her list. Reigning In The EPA So far I’ haven’t seen one person wearing a cowboy hat go to the top of Trump Tower. While ag may be a second thought, the hard hats of the oil industry seems to have taken over the cabinet. Arguably, the third most powerful person in this country’s government, the Secretary of State, was CEO of Exxon/Mobil in his former life and Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma’s Attorney General who’s been nominated to head the EPA, made a career in the oil patch. He’s been a champion of the oil and gas industry his entire career. Rick Perry, also from Texas is also a big supporter of the fossil fuel industry. Pruitt must be a great pick to lead the EPA because Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club said, “Having Scott Pruitt in charge of the EPA is like putting an arsonist in charge of fighting fires.” Anyone the Sierra Club hates is okay with me. The best news is that with Pruitt running the EPA it’s fair to say that WOTUS, the legislation that would have given the EPA control over every puddle of water in the country, will be thrown into
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in crops and livestock . That was down 17 percent from the previous year, largely because the bureaucrats decided to send much of the San Joaquin Valley’s irrigation water out to sea in an effort to save fairy shrimp. California ag could definitely use a closely connected friend in Washington DC these days but we’re too far away from the seat of power. Like the rancher’s wife, we’re too often taken for granted. I was wondering, do I just have a chip on my shoulder. To cure my curiosity I went back in history to learn more about our Ag Secretaries. I found that while Iowa has had six Secretaries of Ag, California has had two. The same as Minnesota. If you include the other cornbelt states it gets ridiculous. The corn growers have had a lock on the position since the very beginning. A more apt description would be Secretary of Corn. And Food Stamps. We can’t forget Food Stamps. But that’s a whole other story for another day. Don’t get me started.
the round file where it belongs. What About The West? Trump seems to have either had a hard time finding a Secretary of Agriculture or he didn’t think it all that important. In the early going Trump was able find a cabinet member who was a brain surgeon, a founder of World Wrestling Entertainment and an Energy Secretary who said when he ran for President that one of the first things he’d do would be to eliminate the Department of Energy. But I see no real cowboys in Trump’s cabinet. I really do think Trump will be good for our country but I don’t have high hopes for what a Trump Presidency will mean for farmers and ranchers. I hope I’m wrong but I see no one in DC or New York who will speak for the Basque sheepherders in Bakersfield, the dairymen of Weld County, or BLM ranchers in Battle Mountain. I see
no one who will tell Trump about the havoc done by wild horses, or the fires that burn out of control as if the feds are trying to burn us out. Trump may indeed drain the swamp and build the wall but how does that help farmers get their fruit picked? If Trump Senior listens to Trump Junior there will be more wilderness for hunters, but fewer mountain meadows for cows and sheep. If he doesn’t do something drastic soon the public lands rancher in the West will be a thing of the past anyway, their future ravaged by wolves and strangled in red tape. So, what does the future hold for the West in a Trump presidency? Don’t get your hopes up. It just depends on who has Trump’s ear; fellow Eastern billionaires and lucky rich kids who won the genetic lottery, or the folks who actually live out here in my forgotten country.
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Livestock Market Digest
Scholarships Available to Allied Users of Angus Genetics
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oung people who use Angus genetics in their commercial cattle breeding program or whose parents use Angus genetics are eligible for one of three $1,000 Allied Angus Breeders scholarships from the Angus Foundation. Emphasis is placed on applicants’ knowledge of the cattle industry and their perspective of the Angus breed. “Providing outstanding young people with scholarship dollars toward their higher educations is one of the key tenets of the Angus Foundation mission,” says Milford Jenkins, Angus Foundation president. “There are so many young people in the commercial beef cat-
tle industry who are connected to Angus genetics, it just makes sense for the Angus Foundation to support their continued involvement in the industry.” Scholarship applications are available online at www.angusfoundation.org, and are due May 1. Applicants must be a graduating high school senior or enrolled at a junior college, four-year college/university or other accredited institution and have a minimum 2.0 GPA. Recipients are announced in July. Applicants or their parents/ guardians must currently be a member of the American Angus Association or have an affiliate member code and the applicant or their parent/guardian
must have transferred or been transferred an Angus registration paper in the last 36 months (on or after May 1, 2014). The scholarship is applicable to any field of study. (Applicants having received or applied for Angus Foundation undergraduate scholarships using our standard general application this year or in past years will not be considered for this scholarship.) In 2016, the Angus Foundation awarded more than $212,000 in undergraduate and graduate student scholarships to more than 50 students. For more information, please contact Jenkins at 816383-5100 or mjenkins@angusfoundation.org.
PLF Suit Prods Feds to Recognize Black-Capped Vireo’s Recovery
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rodded by years of legal action by Pacific Legal Foundation, federal officials finally acknowledged the good news that the black-capped vireo, a small songbird in Texas and Oklahoma, has recovered to the point that it can be removed from Endangered Species Act (ESA) coverage. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s (FWS) welcome but overdue proposal to delist the bird comes after a decade of stalling. It was back in 2007 that government scientists first concluded that the black-capped vireo should no longer be classified as “endangered.” However, regulators did nothing, and after five years of their obstinance, PLF filed a formal petition demanding that they implement their scientists’ recommendations or provide a good reason why they were not doing so. When this petition was ignored, PLF was forced to file a formal lawsuit, in 2013, asking the courts to force the agency to do its job. Now, under the continued pressure of that litigation, FWS has belatedly taken the step that science and the law have long mandated, and formally proposed removing the Black-capped vireo from ESA regulatory oversight.
“The government’s announcement is a victory not just for the black-capped vireo, but also for PLF’s dogged insistence that environmental regulators must be accountable,” said PLF Senior Staff Attorney Tony Francois. “Moreover, it provides hope for relief for landowners who are subject to the unjustified regulatory restrictions imposed for a species that no longer needs the protection.” Indeed, in litigating against the government’s foot-dragging, PLF represented the Texas Farm Bureau and other farm and ranch organizations throughout the Southwest. “It is unfortunate that, too often, it takes legal action to force environmental regulators to abide by the law,” said Francois. “When the regulators are too inert or agenda-driven to do their job on their own, PLF is committed to force compliance by taking them to court. By doing so, we are standing up for responsible environmental protection, the rights of the regulated public, and the rule of law.” More information on the case, New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association v. Jewell, is available at: www.pacificlegal.org.
January 15, 2017
EARS Ute, and Zuni Governments. Yet the coalition members live tens or hundreds of miles from the Bears Ears. While most in the media uncritically anointed the Inter-Tribal Coalition as the grassroots voice of all Native Americans, some took a harder look. The driving force behind Bears Ears “wasn’t a group of Native American tribal leaders from the Four Corners, but board members from an increasingly successful conservation organization [the Conservation Lands Foundation] who met in San Francisco,” in October 2014 to flesh-out the designation campaign, according to Amy Joi O’Donoghue of the Deseret News. The other key to the Bears Ears designation campaign was funding. The Hewlett Foundation ($9.02 billion in assets) and Packard Foundation ($7.0 billion in assets) provided $20 million to various groups, and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation chipped part of a $15.6 million grant for various issues, which included Bears Ears. With the organizational structure and funding in place, the Bears Ears designation campaign was all set. Yet, “On its website the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition describes how the coalition was founded in July 2015 by the leaders of five tribes”, which was nine months after the crucial Conservation Lands Foundation meeting in San Francisco, Amy Joi O’Donoghue notes. “The coalition’s formation, however, was written about months earlier in a rock climbing magazine, which listed Friends of Cedar Mesa, the Conservation Lands Foundation, the Grand Canyon Trust and Utah Dine’ Bikeyah as groups that had ‘banded to-
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gether’” adds O’Donoghue. Matt Anderson of the Sutherland Institute in Utah aptly calls this “an AstroTurf campaign because it’s fake grassroots.” Rebecca Benally, San Juan County Commissioner, provides a devastating critique of the designation of Bears Ears, which incorporates many of the points made by Sandy Grande and O. Douglas Schwarz about the ecologically noble savage. “As a Diné/Navajo woman, a resident of San Juan County and Commissioner, I speak in behalf of my constituents—the Grassroots Utah Navajos,” Benally stated. “We strongly oppose the Bears Ears National Monument designation in San Juan County on our sacred and spiritual grounds.” Also, “Environmental groups have used the divide and conquer tactics among the Utah Navajos and other Native American tribes” according to Benally. “We do not agree with Native American tribes outside of Utah cutting deals with environmental groups.” She adds, “While we recognize the allure of deep-pocketed environmental groups with their promises and potential jobs on a Native American Advisory Council, we reject the notion that groups outside of San Juan County should dictate the future of these lands or pretend to speak for us and have our best interest. We can speak for ourselves. Environmental groups, do not insult our intelligence.” Benally and other Native Americans in San Juan County have good reason to fear the designation of Bears Ears will be economically and culturally devastating. They point out that in the decades following the 1924 designation of the Wupatki National Monument in Arizona, the National Park Service, at the behest of environmental groups, began to restrict herding sheep and ownership of private land that was included in the monument. “By 2014, what was once a thriving community of hundreds of Navajo had become a series of abandoned homesteads and home to a single Navajo elderly woman,” according to Benally. The Navajo of San Juan County fear the same fate, and that gradually their traditional uses of what is now the Bears Ears National Monument will be curtailed, including hunting, performing religious ceremonies, grazing livestock, visiting ancestors’ graves, and gathering firewood to heat homes (which is essential because many people live near or under the poverty line), pinyon nuts for food, and plants for traditional medicine. The designation of Bears Ears National Monument continues a long, dishonorable history of white-dominated culture exploiting Native Americans for political gain. And if history is any guide, the Native Americans adjacent to Bears Ears have to fear the erosion of their culture, economic well-being and way of life because of the monument.
January 15, 2017
Livestock Market Digest
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EPA, Ag Groups Prevail in Mississippi River Basin Case BY TOM JOHNSTON MEATINGPLACE.COM
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n mid-December, a federal court tossed a lawsuit by environmental groups that sought to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to impose stricter nutrient standards on farmers in the Mississippi River Basin, according to court documents. Intervenors in the case, in-
cluding the National Pork Producers Council and numerous state pork councils, called the court’s decision a victory for agriculture. The lawsuit, filed in Louisiana’s Eastern District in March 2012, would have imposed stringent regulations on the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous that could be in the world’s second-largest river basin. Runoff from hog farms,
RIDING HERD her nerves, “You know there could be a few aftershocks.” My new neighbor overreacted and wouldn’t go back into her house and when it got dark I went over to warn her about the mountain lions that prowled the neighborhood at night looking for something to eat. She ran back into her house as fast as she had run out of it that morning. Poor thing probably didn’t sleep a wink. The next time I heard her she was screaming, “I just saw a rattlesnake in my back yard!” “Yeah, they like to eat the rats around here,” I said. “If you kill any rattlers would you save their skins for me as I make knife sheaths out of them.” She looked at me like I ate children or something. The very next day there was a “For Sale” sign in front of the house they hadn’t lived in a month. I swear it’s true. Later I saw a realtor friend and asked why my fraidy-cat neighbors had moved and my friend mentioned the earthquake, the rattlers and the rats, but the last straw she said was “a neighbor who brings wild animals into his house. I will not live next to a bunch of hillbillies who share their home with livestock,” my former neighbor supposedly said. I guessed she was talking about yours truly. She must have been referring to the calf with scours we brought home from the ranch to treat and take care of. I don’t know where my ex-neighbor moved but I’d guess it was North Dakota because it’s the only state in America that has never had an earthquake. If she is living there my North Dakota friends will know because on the first “brisk” day she’ll be the one wearing 14 heavy jackets, three pair of long johns, her teeth will be chattering and she’ll be screaming, “IT’S 20 BELOW ZERO. HOW DO YOU PEOPLE LIVE HERE?” If you do see her tell her it’s probably good she left California because we recently had a pretty good little shaker. It even had me worried when I tried to get out of my house and the front door kept moving. Even the rattlesnakes left their underground homes. Yeah, it’s probably for the best that she got out when
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she did. wwwLeePittsbooks.com
for example, contributes to the load. The lawsuit piggybacked on a petition the environmental groups sent EPA in 2008 asking the agency to draw up a regulation for the entire, 2 millionsquare-mile basin. The EPA declined the petition, saying that rather than invoking its federal rulemaking authority the more practical and effective means to address the issue was to continue working with the 31 affected states to develop and oversee their own regulations. The federal Clean Water Act gives states responsibility for such pollution control, although
in a similar case involving the Chesapeake Bay the agency did establish standards regulating mostly farm and agricultural storm water runoff. Ag groups lost their challenge in that case. In the more recent case involving the Mississippi River Basin, the plaintiffs argued that the federal law required the EPA to determine whether to promulgate a regulation based on scientific data that they say show that current controls are not working, and the agency’s refusal to do so violates the law. But the court sided with the EPA, saying that the agency’s explanation for not regulating
were “grounded in the statute” in that the statute is “by design a states-in-the-first-instance regulatory scheme,” even if the data were to show that that approach isn’t working. In his order, U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey wrote, “Presumably, there is a point in time at which the agency will hve abused its great discretion by refusing to conced that the current approach — albeit one of first choice under the CWA — is simply not going to work. But for now, plaintiffs have not demonstrated that EPA’s assessment was arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law.”
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Livestock Market Digest
January 15, 2017
The Facts About the Dakota Access Pipeline That Protesters Don’t Want You to Know REP. KEVIN CRAMER / THE DAILY SIGNAL
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or more than three months, thousands of protesters, most of them from out of state, illegally camped on federal land in Morton County, North Dakota, to oppose the construction of a legally permitted oil pipeline project that is 85 percent complete. The celebrities, political activists, and anti-oil extremists who are blocking the pipeline’s progress are doing so based on highly charged emotions rather than actual facts on the ground. This 1,172-mile Dakota Access pipeline will deliver as many as 570,000 barrels of oil a day from northwestern North Dakota through South Dakota
and Iowa to connect to existing pipelines in Illinois. It will do this job far more safely than the current method of transporting it by 750 rail cars a day. The protesters say they object to the pipeline’s being close to the water intake of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. However, this should be of no concern as it will sit approximately 92 feet below the riverbed, with increased pipe thickness and control valves at both ends of the crossing to reduce the risk of an incident, which is already low. Just like the companies that run the 10 other fossil-fuel pipelines crossing the Missouri River upstream of Standing Rock, Energy Transfer Partners—the primary funder of this pipeline—is
taking all necessary precautions to ensure that the pipeline does not leak.
Standing Rock will soon have a new water intake. But even if there were a risk, Standing Rock will soon have a new water intake that is nearing completion much further downstream near Mobridge, South Dakota. From the outset of this process, Standing Rock Sioux leaders have refused to sit down and meet with either the Army
Corps of Engineers or the pipeline company. The Army Corps consulted with 55 Native American tribes at least 389 times, after which they proposed 140 variations of the route to avoid culturally sensitive areas in North Dakota. The logical time for Standing Rock tribal leaders to share their concerns would have been at these meetings, not now when construction is already near completion. The original pipeline was always planned for south of Bismarck, despite false claims that it was originally planned for north of Bismarck and later moved, thus creating a greater environmental danger to the Standing Rock Sioux. The real reasons for not pur-
suing the northern route were that the pipeline would have affected an additional 165 acres of land, 48 extra miles of previously undisturbed field areas, and an additional 33 waterbodies. It would also have crossed zones marked by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration as “high consequence” areas, and would have been 11 miles longer than the preferred and current route. North Dakotans have respected the rights of these individuals to protest the pipeline, but they have gone beyond civil protesting. Though these protesters claim to be gathered for peaceful prayer and meditation, law enforcement has been forced to arrest more than 400 in response to several unlawful incidents, including trespassing on and damaging private land, chaining themselves to equipment, burning tires and fields, damaging cars and a bridge, harassing residents of nearby farms and ranches, and killing and butchering livestock. There was even at least one reported incident where gun shots were fired at police. The recent vandalization of graves in a Bismarck cemetery and the unconscionable graffiti marking on the North Dakota column at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., are examples of how the protesters’ actions do not match their claims of peaceful demonstration. Equally disturbing is the meddling by the Obama administration in trying to block this legally permitted project through executive policymaking. This has encouraged more civil disobedience, threatened the safety of local residents, and placed an onerous financial burden on local law enforcement— with no offer of federal reimbursement for these increasing costs. All that remains for the pipeline project to be completed is for the Army Corps of Engineers to issue a final easement to cross the Missouri River at Lake Oahe. With no legal reason remaining to not issue it, I am confident the Trump administration will do what’s right if it’s not settled before President Donald Trump takes office. The simple fact is that our nation will continue to produce and consume oil, and pipelines are the safest and most efficient way to transport it. Legally permitted infrastructure projects must be allowed to proceed without threat of improper governmental meddling. The rule of law matters. We cannot allow lawless mobs to obstruct projects that have met all legal requirements to proceed. Rep. Kevin Cramer is the U.S. representative for North Dakota’s at-large district. He serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
January 15, 2017
Livestock Market Digest
Page 7
Judge Halts Logging On State Forest In Oregon BY DAVID STEVES / WWW.OPB.ORG
A
federal judge in Eugene has ordered a pair of Oregon timber companies not to log on a former section of state forest near the south coast. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken told Scott Timber Company and Roseburg Forest Products to halt further work on a parcel called Benson Ridge in the Elliott State Forest. Her in late December in response to a bid to stop logging by three conservation groups: Cascade Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Audubon Society of Portland. They contend logging will destroy forty-nine acres of old-growth and mature
forest that provides habitat for a rare seabird called the marbled murrelet. The bird is protected as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Judge Aiken’s injunction will remain until the resolution of a lawsuit seeking to permanently block logging on Benson Ridge. The parcel was part of the Elliott State Forest until 2014, when Oregon sold it. The state is in the midst of selling the rest of the Elliott State Forest. Officials say it’s necessary because environmental lawsuits have limited logging and prevented the state from generating enough money to manage the land and produce revenue for schools.
Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Scamming Cattle Marketing Agency
T
ony Eugene Lyon, 52, Perrin, Texas pleaded guilty November 4 to a federal charge of wire fraud after being arrested in July 2015 for scamming a Nebraska based cattle marketing agency. Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Special Ranger John Bradshaw led the investigation along with TSCRA Special Ranger Wayne Goodman and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent Frank Super. Bradshaw said the cattle marketing agency had received an order from the victim to buy some steers in 2015. The agency contacted Lyon to supply the steers. After the victim wrote a $798,000 check to the mar-
keting agency, Lyon received a check from the agency for $791,000. The victim then went to Lyon’s property in Perrin, Texas to look at the steers, and it was decided that the cattle would be turned out on a wheat pasture and Lyon would take care of them until they could be shipped to the victim. When the victim returned later in 2015 to check on the steers, Lyon told him he didn’t have the steers anymore because he had to sell them to take care of some prior obligations. Lyon pleaded guilty to wire fraud and will owe $5.1 million in restitution to the cattle marketing agency and the victim. He will be sentenced in the upcoming months.
Conservation groups say Aiken’s ruling strengthens their argument that the Elliott should not be sold and that if it is sold to a timber company, it should be held to stringent federal environmental laws. “This demonstrates the incredible cynicism that underpins the state’s efforts to sell the Elliott off to private timber interests,” said Audubon conservation director Bob Sallinger. “Not only does it put fish and wildlife species at risk and eliminated use for future generations, but it also is predicated on those private timber companies returning to the illegal logging practices that the state was forced to abandon.” Last year the Oregon Land Board
voted unanimously to sell the forest and use the proceeds to benefit the Common School Fund. The sole bid from Lone Rock Timber and Cow Creek Band described plans for public access under their ownership but did not specify how much. It left open the possibility that the new owners might charge fees for access. The most recent development came last week, when Gov. Kate Brown, an Oregon Land Board member, called for an extension and for the state to generate $100 million by selling bonds, which could help reduce the sales price for the Elliott and increase the chances that conservationists could buy the land and protect it from logging.
Page 8
Livestock Market Digest
The View FROM THE BACK SIDE
Get Out Of The Way BY BARRY DENTON
Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this column are the views of the author, not necessarily those of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, the New Mexico Wool Growers, Inc. or the New Mexico Stockman.
I
am sure you can feel it in your town, but Donald Trump’s victory has already had a positive impact on America and it is catching on! The stock market is going nuts, manufacturing companies are reconsidering about leaving the country, and foreign governments are worried. This victory is a mandate for change controlled by the people and not the politicians. I think most of us took a sigh of relief because we showed our inept
politicians that the citizens, still control the country. I cannot credit the Republican Party with this victory because the majority of Republican politicians were against it initially. This is truly a great illustration of the spinelessness of many Republican politicians. These sheep that were afraid to stand up to President Obama and the Democrats have fallen right into line under our new President Elect Trump. Stop and think about it. Trump’s only message was to stop putting up with worthless elected officials. The majority of Americans felt the same way. They did not vote for Mr. Trump because he was a Republican. They voted for him because he was the anti Republican, the anti Democrat, and the anti
politician. He convinced America that we the people still knew much more about what was right for the country than the posturing politicians. One of the biggest casualties of this election will be political correctness. Mr. Trump has done a good job of destroying much of it already. This cancer that has permeated America is an anti freedom mantra. Freedom of speech is the bedrock of our American system. When you take that away from the people, they will have no freedom left. That is precisely what the political correctness movement had set out to do. The Democrat Party was heralding socialism after how many years of this country fighting against it? It just did not make any sense. One thing we know about having free speech is that we hear plenty of speech that we do not need, but that is a minor consequence of freedom. The Democrat Party is famous for saying that you can not legislate religion, but they do think we should regulate politeness. This entire conversation is absurd. To top it all off, the transgender bathroom issue is even more ludicrous. In most of the rural areas I am in, if someone with the wrong equipment goes into the wrong bathroom
January 15, 2017 they will probably be hauled back out. I do not care if it is a law or not. There is something terribly wrong with a male in a woman’s bathroom. Whoever came up with these rules and put them into place must have a degenerative mind. The day the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) is renegotiated or eliminated would be a great thing for the small business person of this country. You will see a resurgence of the family farm and family ranch as soon as you see a slow down in the importation of foreign cattle. It would be nice if the rancher got a much bigger share of the beef that he sells. This might be asking too much because big agri-business may shut it down, but can you imagine beef labeled in the grocery store? You would actually have a choice of which country that you want to buy your meat from. Perhaps foreign beef would become more expensive and less desirable. Those are just a few ideas that might actually make your life easier if we could regain some of our sovereignty. Enforcing our boundaries and having an orderly influx of foreign workers might keep wages better for the farm worker or ranch hand.
If ranchers started doing well again, it would have the trickle down effect for their workers. I may be charging at windmills here, but I think the elimination of NAFTA would have many positive results for the small farmer and rancher. Traditionally small businesses have never been considered in trade deals. If we make enough noise perhaps we could be in the future. At this point, the president elect has not chosen his Secretary of Agriculture yet, but looking at the list of possibilities this could come out in our favor. Scott Pruitt, Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency looks very promising. Mr. Pruitt has been the leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda, suing them repeatedly on behalf of companies that want to put people to work. Since when are government agencies supposed to be activists? They should only be serving the people that pay their salaries. Just think, we still pay their salaries even when they dump poison in the Animas River and then do not admit they made a colossal blunder. My hope would be that with Mr. Pruitt we could save more ranchers and less climate changers. It does not matter which agency you choose, they all need less regulations. That policy does look like it will be implemented across the board. Government needs to get out of the way of the rancher, miner, manufacturer, etc. so we can make a living once again. Consider if someone could actually clean up government waste such as welfare and other freeloader policies. Our taxes would drop considerably and our lives would greatly improve. The United States citizens deserve another chance at prosperity after having it taken away from them. I am looking forward to going into a governcontinued on page eleven
January 15, 2017
Livestock Market Digest
Market Digest
Livestock
REAL ESTATE GUIDE
Page 9
Socorro Plaza Realty
Bottari Realty
Donald Brown
775/752-3040 • 775/752-0952 • www.bottarirealty.com
505-507-2915 cell 505-838-0095 fax
549 Acre Farm/Ranch in Elko County, Nevada This property is located approx.. 15 miles South of Wells, Nevada on US. Hwy 93. It has 249 acres of water righted lands being served by one full two wiper pivots. Price: $825,000.
On the Plaza
Qualifying Broker
#5 Plaza PO Box 1903 Socorro, NM 87801 www.socorroplazarealty.com dbrown@socorroplazarealty.com
Paul Bottari, Broker
Moll Farm in Diamond Valley, Eureka County Nevada with reduced price of $650,000. This farm has older water rights. It has two pivots covering 213 acres. Borders BLM and private. No close neighbors. Two homes, one being rented. Ruby Valley Ranch in Elko County, Nevada. 622 acres with surface and underground water rights. Borders the forest at the foot of the Ruby Mountains. Price: $950,000.
We have other farms, ranches and land for sale. Give us a call!
Missouri Land Sales NEW LISTING! - 80 ACRES - 60 ACRES HAYABLE, LIVE WATER, LOCATION, LOCATION. Only 8 miles west of Norwood, 3 miles east of Mansfield, 1/4 mile off Hwy 60. Well maintained 3 bed, 1 1/2 bath, 1432 sq. ft. brick/vinyl home, nestled under the trees. Full basement (partially finished), John Deere Room. This is your farm! MLS#60059808
Bottari Realty
139 Acres - 7 AC stocked lake; hunting retreat. Beautiful 2 BR, 1 BA log cabin. Only 35+ miles northeast of Springfield. MLS# 60031816.
Coletta Ray 575-799-9600
Exit Clovis Realty
205 E Llano Estacado Blvd, Suite B Clovis, NM. 88101 575-762-4200 (office) 575-762-4999 (fax) www.ClovisRealEstateSales.com
www.bottarirealty.com
Bar M Real Estate
HeAdquArters West Ltd. ST. JOHN’S OFFICE: TRAEGEN KNIGHT
P.O. Box 1980 St. John’s, AZ 85936 www.headquarterswest.com
SCOTT MCNALLY
928/524-3740 Fax 928/563-7004 Cell 602/228-3494 info@headquarterswest.com
www.ranchesnm.com 575/622-5867 575/420-1237
Filling your real estate needs in Arizona
Ranch Sales & Appraisals
Cell: 417/839-5096 1-800/743-0336 MURNEY ASSOC., REALTORS SPRINGFIELD, MO 65804
SOLD
Land for sale 320 Acres Several Small Acreages Several Country Homes with Small Acreages
Nevada Farms & raNch PrOPerTY
PAUL McGILLIARD
174 acres M/L. MAJOR PRICE REDUCTION! Now only $1200 per acre. Cattle, horses, hunting retreat. Live water year round spring-crawdad creek. 30+ ac open, more land could be opened with brush hogging. Good fencing, 2 miles from S&H fish pay fishing ponds. 8 miles east of Ava on Hwy. 76. MLS# 60029427
Paul Bottari, Broker
775/752-3040
See all my listings at: paulmcgilliard.murney.com
Fallon-Cortese Land
MAJOR PRICE REDUCTION: GREAT INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY CLOSE TO SPRINGFIELD. El Rancho Truck Plaza. MLS #11402704; Midwest Truck Stop MLS #11402703; Owner retiring. Go to murney.com, enter MLS #, CHECK THEM OUT!!!
NEW MEXICO P.O. Box 447 Fort Sumner, NM 88119 575.355.2855 office 575.355.7611 fax 575.760.3818 cell nick@ranchseller.com www.ranchseller.com
Terrell Land and Livestock Co. 575-447-6041
Tye Terrell, selling ranches since 1972
We know New Mexico and New Mexico needs.
tyecterrell@yahoo.com Los Lunas, NM
TEXAS & OKLA. FARMS & RANCHES
521 West Second St. • Portales, NM 88130
• 100 acres, Kaufman County TX, Long County Rd frontage, city water, excellent grass. $3750 per acre.
575-226-0671 or 575-226-0672 fax
Buena Vista Realty
Qualifying Broker: A.H. (Jack) Merrick 575-760-7521 www.buenavista-nm.com
Serving Willcox, Cochise & Pearce Arizona
LLC
“We will go the extra mile for you”.
Arizona Ranch For Sale Seven Lazy E Ranch
30 miles SE of Willcox. Elevation 4300 ‘ MSL. 1335 Acres Deeded, 2197 State Lease 80 Acres BLM Lease. 3 wells, electric, gas. 8 pastures have water Includes nearby custom Sante Fe Style house $1,995,885.00 MLS 21608523 Rick Frank, Designated Broker
520-403-3903
• 240 acres, Recreation, hunting and fishing. Nice apartment, 25 miles from Dallas Court House. $3250 per acre. • 270 acre, Mitchell County, Texas ranch. Investors dream; excellent cash flow. Rock formation being crushed and sold; wind turbans, some minerals. Irrigation water developed, crop & cattle, modest improvements. Just off I-20. Price reduced to $1.6 Million. • 40 acre, 2 homes, nice barn, corral, 30 miles out of Dallas. $415,000.
Joe Priest Real Estate
1-800/671-4548
joepriestre.net • joepriestre@earthlink.com
For advertising information contact RANDY SUMMERS at 505/243-9515
Scott Land co. Ranch & Farm Real Estate
1301 Front Street, Dimmitt, TX 79027 Ben G. Scott – Broker Krystal M. Nelson, CO/NM Qualifying Broker 800-933-9698 day/eve. www.scottlandcompany.com • www.texascrp.com
n LAND AUCTION – 2,082 ac. +/-, w/beautiful home, huge, state-of-the-art shop/barn, sprinklers & wells, click on LandAuctionTexas.Com for auction info, auctioneer#13507. n UTE LAKE SUBDIVISION – beautiful, new custom built home, 5,046 +/- sq. ft. on 3.230 ac. +/-, 4 bdrm., 3 ½ bath & an attached two car garage. n CLOUD CROFT NM AREA - Chaves/Otero Co. – 25,665 +/- ac., 1,320 +/- deeded, 4,024 +/- State, 15,000 +/- BLM, 5,321 +/- Forest, permitted for 580 au’s year-round, well watered, good headquarters, very nice updated home, excellent pens & out buildings. n CANYON VIEW RANCH – 1,542 deeded ac. +/- just out of Clayton, NM, beautiful, good country, well watered, volcanic rock mining operation offers addtl. income, on pvmt. n RED WING RANCH - Harding Co., NM – 1,280 ac. +/-, scenic, native grass land, no cattle in 13 yrs. Call for details. n IMA HWY. – Quay Co. 960 ac. +/- of grassland in the House, NM area – information being processed! n NM STATE LEASE – Union Co. – buy the improvements & irr. equip. on the property & lease a NM State Leased section, 640 ac. +/-, w/nice home, landscaped yard w/matured trees, nice shop, cattle pens & pivot sprinklers. n MELROSE, NM – easy access just off of Hwy. 60 - 1,840 ac. +/- well located, watered w/windmills & dirt tanks, easy drive out of Clovis, NM. n STEAD, NM - Union Co, NM – located at the confluence of the Pinabetes/Tramperos Creeks, year round live water, beautiful country w/super improvements & livestock watering facilities, 4,650 deeded, 3,357 State Lease, one irr. well with ¼ mi. pivot sprinkler for supplemental feed, excellent access via pvmt. & all weather roads. PRICE REDUCED CONSIDERABLY! n LAKE VIEW RANCH – San Miguel Co., NM - 9,135 total ac.+/-, w/6,670 ac. +- deeded, 320 ac. +/- BLM, 40 ac. +/State Lease, 2,106 ac. +/- “FREE USE”, well improved, just
off pvmt. on co. road., a neighboring ranch may be added for additional acreage! n LINCOLN/SOCORRO., NM – 37.65 sections +/- Central NM ranch w/good, useable improvements & water, some irrigation w/2 pivot sprinklers, on pvmt. w/all-weather road, 13,322 ac.+/- Deeded, 8,457 ac. +/- BLM Lease, 2,320 ac. +/- State Lease. n FOR SALE OR LEASE - 30,000 HD. FEED YARD – Southeast Texas Panhandle, close to Texas & Kansas packers. Call or email for details!!!! n WALKING G ARENA – Castro Co. – 6.65 ac. +/-, located just on the edge of town, a 120’ X 350’ rodeo arena, ten 12’ X 40’ horse stalls. Electric hook-up for RV & trailers. Large concrete slab for dances, auctions, etc., on pvmt. n ARGENTINA….PLEASE CALL FOR DETAILS on 176,000 ac. +/- (WE CAN DIVIDE into tracts of 1,500 acres or more) of choice land which can be cleared for soybeans & corn, some cleared & seeded to improved grasses for grazing of thousands of mother cows, some still in the brush waiting to be cleared. n AIRPORT DRIVE – Tucumcari, NM – Choice 160 ac. +/-, on pvmt. w/beautiful home, roping arena, steel pens & 139.5 ac. +/- of water rights. n BIRD HUNTERS HAVEN - Quay Co., NM – 276.22 ac. +/-, in easy driving distance of Ute & Conchas Lakes, all in native grass w/home, barns, good fences, well watered, on pvmt. n CLAYTON, NM – 2600 sq. ft. home, 4 bdrm., 2 bath, 2 living areas, located on 20 ac. +/- in Mountain View Estates, on city water. n SELLER VERY MOTIVATED to buy or trade for ranch or farmland properties between Dallas & Houston, TX. For sale Pontotoc/Coal Co., OK – three good, solid ranches just out of Ada in close proximity, one to the other (one owner -779 ac. +/-, 1,370 ac. +/-, 974 ac. +/-), good, useable improvements, on pvmt. or good all-weather roads.
Please view our websites 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.
Page 10
Livestock Market Digest
January 15, 2017
IRS Scrutinizes Land-Donation Syndicates Yielding Big Tax Breaks Investor solicitations for deals promise to turn $100,000 into $400,000 or more in tax deductions
g•u•i•d•e angus
Bradley 3 Ranch Ltd. www.bradley3ranch.com
Annual Bull Sale: February 11, 2017
at the Ranch NE of Estelline, TX Ranch-Raised ANGUS Bulls for Ranchers Since 1955
M.L. Bradley 806/888-1062 Fax: 806/888-1010 • Cell: 940/585-6471
BEEFMASTER
HEREFORD
Registered Polled Herefords Bulls & Heifers
Cañones Route P.O. Abiquiu, N.M. 87510
FOR SALE AT THE FARM
MANUEL SALAZAR P.O. Box 867 Española, N.M. 87532
575/638-5434 RED ANGUS
A SOURCE FOR PROVEN SUPERIOR RED ANGUS GENETICS 14298 N. Atkins Rd., Lodi, CA 95240
209/727-3335
BRANGUS
RED ANGUS
Phillips
RED ANGUS
Spring & Yearlings For Sale
R.L. Robbs 520/384-3654 4995 Arzberger Rd. Willcox, Arizona 85643 Willcox, AZ
CECIL FELKINS • 209/274-4338 Email: CWCOWBOY@ATT.NET 5500 BUENA VISTA RD. IONE, CA 95640
CLASSIFIEDS Bulls, Cows, Pairs, Bred Heifers and Replacement Heifers for Sale www.RanchWorldAds.com
KADDATZ
Auctioneering and Farm Equipment Sales New and used tractors, equipment, and parts. Salvage yard, combines, tractors, hay equipment and all types of equipment parts. ORDER PARTS ONLINE.
www.kaddatzequipment.com • 254/582-3000
Wanted: Ranch to lease in south central New Mexico. 200 to 400 cow capacity year around with good improvements and good water. Three to five year lease with the option to buy. Wanting to relocate from southern Colorado. Stroh Ranch/Dave Stroh 719-738-3111 719-568-5570 cell
To place a classified ad, contact RANDY SUMMERS at 505/243-9515 or by email randy@ aaalivestock.com
BY RICHARD RUBIN, WWW.WSJ.COM
T
he IRS is clamping down on a tax-avoidance technique that turns charitable land-conservation donations into moneymaking opportunities. Investor solicitations for what are known as syndicated conservation easements promise to turn $100,000 into $400,000 or more in tax deductions, making them attractive to households in the top tax bracket. In one publicly-documented Tennessee deal, a restaurateur’s $35,000 investment became about $53,000 within months, subsidized by U.S. taxpayers. Interviews and public documents suggest more than 100 such deals likely have taken place—with each transaction often saving many individual investors tens of thousands of dollars or more. Such transactions are popular in Georgia and neighboring states, where teams of investment advisers, lawyers, appraisers and land trusts leverage land-rights donations into business deals offering speedy profits. They say such transactions protect land and efficiently spread tax deductions, from landowners who don’t have enough income to use them to taxpayers who do. http://video.unrulymedia. com/native/opt-out-icon2.png The syndicates’ recent growth and professionalization alarm many tax lawyers and land trusts, who say the transactions rely on inflated appraisals and sell tax breaks reminiscent of abusive 1980s tax shelters.
The Trump Transition To combat the tactic, the Internal Revenue Service last week labeled the most aggressive deals as “listed transactions,” requiring syndicators and taxpayers to red-flag their tax returns for deals since 2009. That is creating uncertainty this week for transactions structured to meet the year-end tax deadline. Syndicated conservation easements remain legal, but the IRS notice flagged deals with a deduction-to-investment ratio of 2.5 to 1 or more as questionable tax-avoidance techniques that its auditors will challenge. The agency can deny tax deductions, impose penalties on appraisers for overstating land values and penalize people who don’t report their involvement as much as $100,000. “It’s going to make anybody engaging in this think twice,” said Tim Lindstrom, a Virginia tax lawyer critical of syndicated easements. Charitable contributions aren’t supposed to be profitable for donors, said Mr. Lindstrom,
who has reviewed deals for clients and told them they could succeed if they are willing to bet they won’t get audited. “They have no idea what the property is,” he said. “They are being sold on a deal in which they can invest a dollar and get $5 in tax deductions.” Syndicated deals represent the latest challenge for conservation easements, which have endured repeated IRS scrutiny over inflated appraisals, weak cases for conservation and technical foot-faults. Congress made an expansion of the break permanent last year and ignored limits proposed by the Obama administration. Established nonprofits have been trying to distance themselves from syndicators, who have sprung up partly to monetize land that developers bought before property values collapsed during the 2007-2009 recession. “The IRS has taken an important first step in stopping donations structured to give donors back more than they give,” said Andrew Bowman, president of the Land Trust Alliance, a trade group. A Treasury Department spokeswoman said the government’s move would “support” the partnerships as one way to preserve land “while preventing bad actors from receiving an artificially inflated tax deduction.” Ron Levitt, an Alabama attorney who defends easement donations against audits, called the IRS action a holiday-season “stink bomb” requiring people to disclose information the government already largely has. “This is as close as you can get to treating people like they’re criminals, and these people are not criminals,” Mr. Levitt said. “It’s sort of like going squirrel hunting with an elephant gun.” For decades, typical conservation easements have been a popular tax-saving strategy for wealthy landowners, including President-elect Donald Trump. He has used the break at least four times, including a 2005 promise not to build houses on a New Jersey golf course he owns, yielding him up to $39.1 million in deductions, according to local records. Ordinary conservation easements work like this: A landowner whose property contains important ecological features donates an easement to a nonprofit land trust, permanently restricting development. An appraiser estimates the value before and after the restrictions. The landowner counts the diminution in value as a charitable contribution and takes a deduction. The breaks are more valuable to top-bracket taxpayers, who are able to maximize them. Enter syndicators, who have created a mini-industry by scouting properties, assembling deals, and pitching investors on multitiered structures, sometimes
through private placement of securities. “It’s ‘here’s the package, here’s the appraisal, here’s the opinion letter, here’s the LLC agreement, send us a check,’ ” said Steve Small, a Massachusetts lawyer specializing in conservation easements. “The trick, the key, to all of these is an inflated appraisal.” In Georgia, some syndicators argued for appraising land like a functioning quarry and not like undeveloped property requiring permitting and rezoning, according to the state. Another Georgia deal offered investors a deduction worth $438,596 for a $100,000 investment—exactly what’s needed to yield a 100% return in the top state and federal tax brackets. Another Georgia deal relied on an appraisal comparing property without sewer access to land with sewer lines, causing “serious concerns” for Georgia officials checking eligibility for a state tax credit. The IRS action last week is unfair, arbitrary and overly broad, and the next administration and Congress should review it, said Randy Bampfield, legal committee co-chair of Partnership for Conservation, an industry group formed in August as the IRS was scrutinizing syndicators. “Partnerships provide an important source of private funding to finance needed conservation projects, especially when the current owner is landrich but cash-poor and might otherwise be forced to sell to a developer,” he said. Syndicated deals are usually secret, but a pending Securities and Exchange Commission case placed rare details, documents and communications into the public record. The SEC case is about how the transaction was structured, not the tax law itself. Documents show a Charlotte, N.C., accountant, Ed Lloyd, working with Shawn Hooks, a Georgia woman who works with Firehouse Subs restaurants. She had the yearend problem most business people want and hate: Increasing income and a potentially hefty tax bill. A co-worker connected Ms. Hooks with Mr. Lloyd, who peddled a solution he pitched to other clients. Make a $35,000 “contribution into the land trust,” he told Ms. Hooks in an email, and reap enough deductions to save $53,000 in taxes. Five days after e-mails with Mr. Lloyd, Ms. Hooks’s “contribution” bought part of a Wyoming LLC investing in a deal called Piney Cumberland, involving land in rural Van Buren County, in Tennessee. To justify a donation exceeding $10 million on a 440-acre parcel, the 2012 plan envisioned a maximum use of 116 residential lots, in a county whose population rose by 169 between continued on page 11
January 15, 2017
Livestock Market Digest
Baxter BLACK ON THE EDGE OF COMMON SENSE www.baxterblack.com
Tell Me How It Was The little kid sat on his knee And looked up with stars in his eyes He said, “Granddaddy, tell me again How it was when you were my size.” The old man remembered with care And the memories flooded his mind. He said, “It was wild and free in the west But that was before your time I had me a little blue roan And son, he could run like the wind. And right over there where the parking lot is we raced and always would win. Where they put up the State Valley Bank The Indians would camp on the site And the very first antelope herd that I saw Was right at the new signal light And down by the furniture store Where every week they have a sale The Overland stage at the end of each week Would come by and drop off the mail. And, oh, I remember the time When Buffalo Bill all alone Caught up with the Daltons and they shot it out It was down by the savings and loan. And Grandma, may she rest in peace Would wait for me down by the strand And finally, one day, I gave her a ring That spot’s now a hamburger stand. Asphalt and pavement now run Over all of my boyhood days People need people and out west they came But I don’t begrudge’m their ways Oh, yes, it was different back then And everything’s changed so it seems But deep in my heart I miss it sometimes So I have to go back in my dreams.” www.baxterblack.com
Page 11
GET OUT
continued from page eight
ment agency when they tell you they would like to work with you and help you solve a problem. Don’t fall for this popular vote movement. These people want to eliminate the Electoral College and elect the president via the popular vote. Number one the Electoral College gives every rural person that votes influence in the election. If you eliminate it, New York City, Los An-
geles, and Miami will be electing the presidents. We are still a republic and not a true democracy, meaning that we elect representatives to elect our president. Yes, we need government, but there is no reason it cannot be much better than it has been the last twenty years. If the government gets out of our way, we can have a much more fruitful life.
IRS 2000 and 2015. Several local real-estate agents said the valuation of over $20,000 an acre sounded extraordinarily high. “I don’t know what it would be unless they found gold,” said agent Tom Foster of nearby McMinnville, Tenn. Mr. Levitt, whose firm helped structure the transaction, said he didn’t recall details of the deal but added that valuations
continued from page ten
aren’t always black and white. Rick Sharpless, Mr. Lloyd’s attorney, said as far as he knows, the IRS never challenged any easement his client was involved in. Ms. Hooks didn’t respond to an opportunity to comment for this article. Bill Clabough, executive director of the Foothills Land Conservancy, which accepted that easement, said his group
doesn’t second-guess appraisals and instead focuses on analyzing conservation benefits and enforcing the easement. In this instance, he said, it was “a great piece of property” with a beautiful creek. Ms. Hooks got the tax break she sought. In an affidavit, she said was “very satisfied” with Mr. Lloyd and made another conservation easement investment the next year.
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Livestock Market Digest
Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Ryan Zinke and the future of The West
The Zinke Zone
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isappointment. Relief. Near elation. Disappointment. Those are the gamut of my emotions with Donald Trump winning the Republican nomination for President, Trump winning the general election and Trump nominating Ryan Zinke for Secretary of Interior. Let me explain. The political stars were lining up for a tremendous historical moment – the transfer of significant amounts of federal land to the states. With the issue on the front burner and Republican
control of all three branches of government, one could see the light at the end of a dark, dark tunnel. Then the Republicans nominated the only candidate in the primary who opposed such a transfer, thus the disappointment. However, relief was still felt with Trump’s victory in the general election. I’m not sure the West, as we know it, would have survived eight years of Hillary, or a total of sixteen years of environmental onslaught. Surprisingly, with word leaking to the press that U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers would be nominated for Secretary of Interior, came near elation. She was a supporter of the transfer of lands, having cosponsored legislation to transfer lands already identified by the Bureau of Land Management for disposal. The smile was quickly wiped from my face when the actual
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nominee was U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, an avowed opponent of such a transfer. So much so that he actually resigned his position on the Republican Platform Committee because it contained the following statement: The federal government owns or controls over 640 million acres of land in the United States, most of which is in the West. These are public lands, and the public should have access to them for appropriate activities like hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting. Federal ownership or management of land also places an economic burden on counties and local communities in terms of lost revenue to pay for things such as schools, police, and emergency services. It is absurd to think that all that acreage must remain under the absentee ownership or management of official Washington. Congress shall immediately pass universal legislation providing for a timely and orderly mechanism requiring the federal government to convey certain federally controlled public lands to states. We call upon all national and state leaders and representatives to exert their utmost power and influence to urge the transfer of those lands, identified in the review process, to all willing states for the benefit of the states and the nation as a whole. The residents of state and local communities know best how to protect the land where they work and live. They practice boots-onthe-ground conservation in their states every day. Notice the statement refers to only “certain” federal lands. That’s because most proposals would leave all military posts and Native American reservations in federal hands, along with all National Parks, Monuments, Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas. And yet, he resigned. Notice also the statement refers to “willing” states. The transfers would only occur in those states who wanted the transfer to happen. If Zinke’s home state of Montana preferred the lands remain federal, then no transfer would occur.
January 15, 2017 And yet, he resigned, denying that opportunity to other states. Notice also the statement contains the Jeffersonian-influenced language that “state and local communities know best how to protect the land where they work and live.” Zinke must think otherwise, as he resigned. The DC Deep Thinkers have an ally.
Conservative Conservationist? In April of 2016, Zinke authored an opinion piece for the Billings Gazette titled A Conservative Case For Conservation. Therein he opined: Being a conservative and being a conservationist are not mutually exclusive. It’s conservative principles that drive my commitment to conservation… Party leaders and I don’t always see eye-to-eye on conservation issues, but they always know where I stand. Selling off our public lands is a non-starter. I’ve voted against budget resolutions and bucked party leadership on more than a couple occasions to defend our lands. Zinke says it is “conservative principles” that drive his conservation. Please show me the conservative principle that says we should have a government large enough to control almost one out of every three acres in our country. Show me the conservative principle that endorses central planning by the feds over state, local and private planning. Furthermore, Zinke has supported legislation to permanently fund the Land & Water Conservation fund (for federal land acquisition). I’m waiting to see the conservative principle that calls for expanding the size and influence of the central government.
Shot down by hunters If one seeks to determine why Trump has adopted this policy and nominated someone like Zinke, one is invariably led to Donald Trump, Jr. Trump, Jr. is a long-time member of the NRA, is the youngest person ever voted into the Boone & Crockett Club, and has hunted all over the
world. His father, now the President, has said his son would make a great Secretary of Interior. “The big joke at Christmas this year was that the only job in government that I would want is with the Department of Interior,” Trump Jr. told Wide Open Spaces. “I understand these issues. It’s something I’m passionate about. I will be the very loud voice about these issues in my father’s ear. No one gets it more than us.” Trump, Jr. opposes the transfer of lands, just as do the elite hunting organizations, and a source from the Interior transition team told CNN “balancing the Trump siblings’ natural inclinations toward conservation has been a key factor in the search for someone to run the Interior Department.” I recall that not long after receiving my appointment to the Dept. of Interior the NRA called and invited me to have lunch with them. There had been some controversy over using BLM lands for shooting ranges during the Carter administration, and I figured that would be their main concern. There are two things about that lunch meeting I vividly remember. First, I wasn’t all that impressed with the wild rice and some kind of duck that was served up. And second, the first issue they brought up was not shooting ranges, but what could be done about livestock grazing that was harming wildlife habitat all over the West. These hook and bullet boys are not our friends. They support Wilderness, the Endangered Species Act, and continued federal retention and control of natural resources. Their idea of multiple use is to have multiple hunting seasons on their special, preserved, federal lands. The irony here is that Trump was portrayed as an outsider who would shake up “the establishment.” When it comes to Interior, he has instead reached out to the Republican old guard and handed them the keys to the castle.
Trump tinker toys Why do I put so much emphasis on the land transfer issue? Because I believe it is our only chance to keep these lands productive and of value to local communities and the West in general. The current model of federal ownership, control and management will be most influenced by groups with the most membership, the most money, the largest law firms, and the most offices in D.C. And that, my friends, ain’t the cowboys. Instead of a major change on the range, we can look forward to four years of tinkering. Tinkering with the grazing regulations, with the policy manuals, and possibly some of the Executive Orders. There will be calls for more “collaboration”, for solutions that involve “all stakeholders” and other such nonsense. No major changes, and nothing that can’t be changed by the next administration. continued on page 13
January 15, 2017
Livestock Market Digest
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Stunning New Data Indicates El Nino Drove Record Highs in Global Temperatures BY DAVID ROSE FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
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lobal average temperatures over land have plummeted by more than 1C since the middle of this year – their biggest and steepest fall on record. The news comes amid mounting evidence that the recent run of world record high temperatures is about to end. The fall, revealed by Nasa satellite measurements of the lower atmosphere, has been caused by the end of El Nino – the warming of surface waters in a vast area of the Pacific west of Central America. Some scientists, including Dr Gavin Schmidt, head of Nasa’s climate division, have claimed that the recent highs were mainly the result of long-term global warming. Others have argued that the records were caused by El Nino, a complex natural phenomenon that takes place every few years, and has nothing to do with greenhouse gas emissions by humans. The new fall in temperatures suggests they were right. Big El Ninos always have an immense impact on world weather, triggering higher than normal temperatures over huge swathes of the world. The 201516 El Nino was probably the strongest since accurate measurements began, with the water up to 3C warmer than usual. It has now been replaced by a La Nina event – when the water in the same Pacific region turns colder than normal. This also has worldwide impacts, driving temperatures down rather than up.
The satellite measurements over land respond quickly to El Nino and La Nina. Temperatures over the sea are also falling, but not as fast, because the sea retains heat for longer. This means it is possible that by some yardsticks, 2016 will be declared as hot as 2015 or even slightly hotter – because El Nino did not vanish until the middle of the year. But it is almost certain that next year, large falls will also be measured over the oceans, and by weather station thermometers on the surface of the planet – exactly as happened after the end of the last very strong El Nino in 1998. If so, some experts will be forced to eat their words. Last year, Dr Schmidt said 2015 would have been a record hot year even without El Nino. ‘The reason why this is such a warm record year is because of the long-term underlying trend, the cumulative effect of the long-term warming trend of our Earth,’ he said. This was ‘mainly caused’ by the emission of greenhouse gases by humans. Dr Schmidt also denied that there was any ‘pause’ or ‘hiatus’ in global warming between the 1998 and 2015 El Ninos. But on its website home page yesterday, Nasa featured a new study which said there was a hiatus in global warming before the recent El Nino, and discussed why this was so. Last night Dr Schmidt had not returned a request for comment.
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lion (about £1.4 billion) climate research budget. Other experts have also disputed Dr Schmidt’s claims. Professor Judith Curry, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and president of the Climate Forecast Applications Network, said yesterday: ‘I disagree with Gavin. The record warm years of 2015 and 2016 were primarily caused by the super El Nino.’ The slowdown in warming was, she added, real, and all the evidence suggested that since 1998, the rate of global warm-
Global average temperatures over land have plummeted by more than 1C
Scholarships Available to Allied Users of Angus Genetics oung people who use Angus genetics in their commercial cattle breeding program or whose parents use Angus genetics are eligible for one of three $1,000 Allied Angus Breeders scholarships from the Angus Foundation. Emphasis is placed on applicants’ knowledge of the cattle industry and their perspective of the Angus breed. “Providing outstanding young people with scholarship dollars toward their higher educations is one of the key tenets of the Angus Foundation mission,” says Milford Jenkins, Angus Foundation president. “There are so many young people in the commercial beef cattle industry who are connected to Angus genetics, it just makes sense for the Angus Foundation to support their continued involvement in the industry.” Scholarship applications are available online at www.angusfoundation.org, and are due May 1. Applicants must be a graduating high school senior or enrolled at a junior college,
However, both his own position, and his Nasa division, may be in jeopardy. US President-elect Donald Trump is an
four-year college/university or other accredited institution and have a minimum 2.0 GPA. Recipients are announced in July. Applicants or their parents/ guardians must currently be a member of the American Angus Association or have an affiliate member code and the applicant or their parent/guardian must have transferred or been transferred an Angus registration paper in the last 36 months (on or after May 1, 2014). The scholarship is applicable to any field of study. (Applicants having received or applied for Angus Foundation undergraduate scholarships using our standard general application this year or in past years will not be considered for this scholarship.) In 2016, the Angus Foundation awarded more than $212,000 in undergraduate and graduate student scholarships to more than 50 students. For more information, please contact Jenkins at 816-3835100 or mjenkins@angusfoundation.org.
avowed climate change sceptic, who once claimed it was a hoax invented by China. Last week, Mr Trump’s science adviser Bob Walker said he was likely to axe Nasa’s $1.9 bil-
ing has been much slower than predicted by computer models – about 1C per century. David Whitehouse, a scientist who works with Lord Lawson’s sceptic Global Warming Policy Foundation, said the massive fall in temperatures following the end of El Nino meant the warming hiatus or slowdown may be coming back. ‘According to the satellites, the late 2016 temperatures are returning to the levels they were at after the 1998 El Nino. The data clearly shows El Nino for what it was – a shortterm weather event,’ he said.
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Livestock Market Digest
January 15, 2017
Comedienne Amy Schumer buys back her father’s farm BY DIEGO FLAMMINI, ASSISTANT EDITOR, NORTH AMERICAN CONTENT, FARMS.COM
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ith Christmas just a few days away, standup comedienne and actress Amy Schumer gave her father an early gift by purchasing the farm he owned during her childhood. “Today I bought my father’s farm back,” she wrote on Instagram after sharing a photo of her giving her father, Gordon, the news. According to her biography, Schumer’s father operated a baby furniture company in New York
City before being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when Amy was 12. As a result of his condition, the family business went bankrupt, forcing the family to leave the farm behind. After sharing the news of her purchase. Schumer posted a childhood video of herself running through a field. “Video from the farm when I was running away in the cornfield and my dad was taunting me because I wanted him to come with me,” she wrote on Instagram. “We lost the farm when we lost everything else. But today I got to buy it back for him.
Scientists Stunned By Development Of New Hybrid BY BRENDAN KELLY WWW.AMERICANOW.COM
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ccording to the Economist, interbreeding between wolves, coyotes, and dogs has led to the rise of a new hybrid, which scientists are calling the “coywolf.” The number of coywolves already in existence, and the hybrid animals’s powerful DNA, has left the scientific community stunned. As the Economist notes, interbreeding between different animal species generally leads to offspring weaker than its parents. This is not the case with coy wolves, however. As the population of wolves has gradually declined in North America, some wolves have had to look outside their own species to reproduce.
Meanwhile, forest clearance has caused coyotes to move from their habitats in the prairies into the forest. These changes have led to a large increase in the interbreeding of wolves and coyotes. Roland Kays of North Carolina State University believes that the number coywolves is likely in the millions. The coywolf’s genes are a combination of some of each species’ strongest traits, creating offspring potentially greater than the sum of its parts. The DNA of a coywolf, according to Newsiosity, is roughly twothirds coyote, one-fourth wolf, and one-tenth dog. Coywolves have more muscle, faster legs, and larger jaws than purebred coyotes. They are more willing to hunt in for-
ests than purebreds, which results from the fact that wolves prefer to hunt in the forest. This means that the coywolf is skilled at hunting in both open terrain and wooded areas. The hybrid has over the last decade spread across eastern North America, including some urban areas, and continues to spread southeast. Scientists are debating whether the coywolf has fully evolved into a distinct species. Some scientists argue that, because coywolves continue to breed with wolves and dogs, they are not yet a separate species. Others argue that, because coywolves have diverged genetically and morphologically from their ancestors, they may meet the requirements for classification as a distinct species.
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Dixon Farms We have been buying bulls from the Elkington sale for years. There bulls are very gentle and sound. We have never had an issue with health or longevity. The have deeply improved the genetics of our herd for steers that will sell and heifer you want to keep. Overall the whole buying experience is honest and worth your bottom lines time. Buy one, get a dog for free! Paul Dixon Judy Ranch Elkington Polled Herefords have made a positive impact on our cowherd. When we sorted our replacement heifers, most of the Hereford cross calves retained were sired by Elkington Bulls. There are high volume, deep ribbed females that will make moderate-framed, easy fleshing cows that we appreciate in our family operation. We plan to add more Elkington Bulls this year. Judy Ranch Blackfoot, ID.
Apply for Angus Summer Internships
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ach summer, the American Angus Association invites college students to gain real-world knowledge and hands-on skills by serving as an intern for the nation’s largest beef breed organization. The 10-week, paid internship programs offer three students the chance to gain experience in the beef cattle industry. The member-driven organization provides internship opportunities through the events and education department, communications and public relations, and the Angus Journal editorial team. Application details are outlined below, and all materials must be received by Feb. 6, 2017. A summer intern joining the Association’s events and education department can expect to play a significant role in planning and executing youth events hosted by the National Junior Angus Association (NJAA). The selected intern will assist with preparations, communications and correspondence for junior shows and events. Applicants should consider themselves a self-starter, detail-oriented and an outgoing individual who has the ability to work well with others. Livestock and event planning experience is a plus, but not required. Travel to the 2017 National Junior Angus Show (NJAS), Leaders Engaged in Angus Development (LEAD) Conference, and other shows and events is expected. To apply, send a cover letter, résumé and references to Chelsey Smith, events and education assistant director, American Angus Association, 3201 Frederick Ave., Saint Joseph, MO 64506, or email csmith@angus.org. College students with a passion for agricultural communications would make an excellent addition to Angus Media’s communications
team. From print stories to television scripts, and photography to graphic design, the summer intern will experience all facets of communications for the American Angus Association. Applicants should have strong writing and design skills, in addition to having completed coursework in news and feature writing, editing and design. Experience in photography, video and social media is an asset in this fast-paced internship. To apply, send a cover letter, résumé, references and writing samples to Jena McRell, digital editor, Angus Media, 3201 Frederick Ave., Saint Joseph, MO 64506. For more information, contact McRell at 816/383-5100 or jmcrell@angus.media. Working closely with the communications intern on the Angus Media team, the Angus Journal offers a college junior or senior the opportunity to be part of its editorial team for the summer. The writing-intensive internship offers the selected intern an opportunity to participate in producing various publications, including the Angus Journal, the Angus Journal Digital, the Angus Beef Bulletin, the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA, the Angus Journal Daily, editorial websites, and social media efforts. The internship will be flexible enough to tailor to the strengths and needs of the intern, but many duties can be expected. Experience in news and feature writing, editing and photography are strongly suggested. To apply, send a cover letter, résumé and writing samples to Shauna Hermel, Angus Journal editor, 3201 Frederick Ave., Saint Joseph, MO 64506. For more information, contact Hermel at 816/383-5270 or shermel@angus.media.
January 15, 2017
Livestock Market Digest
Page 15
Feds Release Latest Funding for Wolf, Rancher Programs BY LAURA PASKUS NMPOLITICALREPORT.COM
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he U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its latest round of funding to help ranchers affected by or living near wolves in December. Nationwide, the grants amount to $900,000. Onethird of that money will go toward projects in Arizona and New Mexico. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wolf Livestock Demonstration Grant Program offers two types of matching, competitive grants to states and tribes. One compensates livestock owners when wolves are proven to have killed their animals. The other helps fund projects to prevent those conflicts from happening in the first place. The initiative was created through the 2009 Wolf Livestock Loss Mitigation Act, introduced by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. The funding, about a million dollars each year, comes out of the federal agency’s species recovery budget. Mexican gray wolves were hunted, poisoned and trapped out of existence in the southwestern United States by the 1970s. After about two decades of planning, in 1998 the agency and its state and tribal partners released 11 animals they’d raised in captivity into the Gila National Forest. By 2015, the number grew to about 100 wolves living within the 4.4 million acre recovery area, which includes parts of New Mexico and Arizona. The population, which was supposed to have reached 100 by 2006, has faced a number of challenges—including from a relatively small number of ranchers and local officials who remain vocally opposed to the wolf reintroduction program. Four of six Coronado Pack wolf pups are prepared for transport to the Sevilleta
Wolf Management Facility in New Mexico on May 15, 2014. Meanwhile, some ranchers and landowners are working with biologists and environmental groups to try and reduce conflict between cattle and wolves. In 2011, the Fish and Wildlife Service convened the Mexican Wolf/Livestock Coexistence Council, which includes ranchers and state agencies from New Mexico and Arizona as well as environmental groups, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), counties and the San Carlos Apache and White Mountain Apache tribes. The goal is to support ranchers, their livelihoods and traditions—and also support a self-sustaining wild wolf population. In 2014, the council released a “coexistence plan,” which focuses on solving livestock/wolf conflicts. “We’re trying to get away from problems associated with post-mortem compensation”—and reimbursing livestock owners for dead sheep or cattle—”and move toward a system that rewards people for success,” said Craig Miller, senior southwest representative with Defenders of Wildlife, and a member of the council. For 12 years, that non-profit organization managed a program that compensated ranchers for livestock losses due to wolf predation. “We learned about midway through that we should focus attention further upstream,” he said. Over the past three years, Defenders of Wildlife has spent an average of $100,000 a year in matching funds on incentive programs. Along with money from the non-profit Mexican Wolf Fund, and in-kind donations from livestock owners, they have leveraged the additional federal money, which is then distributed by states
and tribes. In-kind donations can include things like materials and the use of equipment, horses and vehicles. “We’ve both got skin in the game,” Miller said, and everyone’s putting forth a “good faith effort to reduce the conflicts.” Some of the strategies being used and explored include keeping livestock within electrified fence hung with red flagging (also called “turbo fladry”) that discourages wolves, consolidating livestock during calving season, using range riders, reducing the presence of things like carcasses and afterbirth that attract wolves, using guardian dogs (versus herding dogs) to protect livestock and using scare tools like automated lights and alarms. When a wolf is proven to have preyed upon livestock, it is “removed” from the wild. Sometimes the animal is killed, while other times the problem wolves are hunted and placed in captivity. If prevention measures don’t work—or if livestock owners don’t use them—people whose animals are proven to have been killed by wolves can apply for compensation through the Fish and Wildlife Service’s demonstration grant program. Livestock owners can also apply for payments from the USDA’s Livestock Indemnification Program, which was created by the 2014 Farm Bill. At the end of 2015, the recovery program estimated there were 97 wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. Updated population information for 2016 will be released in February. In September, an alpha female from the Sheepherders Baseball Park Pack was found dead. The agency also investigated seven depredation reports in October, confirming four wolf-caused cow deaths in Catron County that month.
575-760-7263
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Livestock Market Digest
January 15, 2017