LMD Jan 24

Riding Herd Saying things that need to be said.

January 15, 2024 • www.aaalivestock.com

Volume 66 • No. 1

Crooked Cowboys LEE PITTS

S

cottish syndicates of yesteryear helped jump start the western cattle industry by defrauding their overseas investors by using a highly inflated book count that never matched the actual number of cattle on western ranges.

And it seems the American cattle industry has been plagued by the problem of “ghost cattle” ever since. As you shall read in this story, we are still cursed by the problem today. don’t know why the cattle business is prone to such flimflams, ruses and stings.

Perhaps it’s because outside investors, who wouldn’t know the difference between a Hereford and a heifer, just liked the idea of being called “cattlemen,” even though the closest they’d ever come to a cow is eating a steak. Here’s a nostalgic look back at just a few of the biggest con games that I’d nominate to be included in the first class of the Cowboy Hall of Shame.

Inventing Cows

NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING

When I started in this business 50 years ago the industry was all atwitter with talk of an outfit called Black Watch Farms of Fiskill Plains, New York. I kept an article, from the New York Times no less, about Black Watch who filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1970. Black Watch bred Angus cattle, and was half owned by the Bermec Corporation and half owned by the State Mutual Life Assurance Company of America, common-

ly referred to as State Mutual.

Black Watch promised investors that they were buying specific cattle that really did exist, the problem was Black Watch might sell the same animal to four or five different investors who were under the distinct impression that they were the sole owner of the animal. And Black Watch did this with thousands of cattle.

Under Black Watch’s care, these animals increased and multiplied far beyond their biological potential. Black Watch also charged their investors

what did the investors get out of the deal? According to the New York Times these passive investors hoped for gains in the form of tax avoidance and high resale prices for their animals.

But in the final analysis they got nothing...nada...zip! Not only were their write-offs disallowed by the IRS, the investors discovered, much to their chagrin, that the cows they owned were supposedly owned by countless others! In the aftermath I remember several comical stories of investors showing up at Black Watch on the same day to see their cows and the alleged hurry-up jobs to change out the ear tags to reflect the different “owners.”

B l a c k Watch wasn’t the only one playing such shell games at the time but it was the most visible because of the involvement of State Mutual, who claimed

“It don’t take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.” monthly fees for taking care and feeding the animals. But

Setting the Agenda for Freedom’s Comeback

BY TOM DEWEESE / AMERICAN POLICY CENTER

F

or more than 100 years the free market economy of the United States has been used to prop up the failures of socialism throughout the world. Over-taxed Americans have been forced to pay for it through foreign aid schemes and leftist pretend charity cartels.

Armed with plundered American capital, global looters have had free rein to pillage some of the naturally richest nations in the world, now destroyed by socialism. Yet, all the while the socialists were gleefully accepting the cash to finance their failures, Americans were derided for being so rich. Now, many see America as the last source of funds for the plunder. When the lights go out in America’s once shining abundance of freedom and riches, what will these locusts have left but darkness?

Years ago, someone said to me, “One day freedom may rush to our shores from somewhere else.” It’s possible that the first drops of such a flood have begun.

Shockwaves are rushing through the international Deep State. It seems there are cracks opening in their well-planned drive for global control. The cause? Javier Milei, a limited government, free enterprise candidate was just elected president of Argentina and news reports tell us, “The red caste is shaking.”

For decades Argentina has been controlled by the same cabal that has set its sights on

that they were duped just like all the other “owners.”

Too Good To Be True Now let’s fast forward from the 70’s to the latest beef Ponzi scheme that so far has cost investors $191 million! According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), an outfit called Agridime and its founders, Josh Link and Jed Wood, promised to buy cattle and fatten them out while making outlandish profits, but in reality, they never bought enough cattle to make such profits possible. According to the SEC, Josh Link, 30, of Gilbert, Arizona, and Jed Wood, 62, of Fort Worth, Texas, established Agridime LLC in 2017 as a vehicle for cattle investments, claiming to offer annual returns as high as 32%! t all sounded so simple when the salesmen explained it. For $2,000, an investor purchased the right to a single head of cattle, which Agridime would fatten and then pay out the 32% profit after the animal was continued on page 2

global control. Beginning with Juan Peron and his wife Evita, continuing with the regional influence of communist Fidel Castro, and ultimately the strong, destructive influence of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Argentina has suffered all the usual socialist casualties to freedom.

President-elect Milei declared, “We want to be the moral beacon of the continent. We want to be the defenders of freedom…” He has called socialist leaders, “trash” and “human excrement,” and said, “Now, Argentina’s administration will be an ally to the U.S. and Israel administrations, to Europe, and to free countries.

We’ll no longer see Argentina’s foreign service siding with dictators.”

Most exciting for freedom lovers around the world, who have hungered for a revolutionary voice of reason, Milei, sounding much like Ronald Reagan, stated, “The state is not the solution, the state is the problem.” Then he announced his proposal to eliminate eleven of the nineteen federal agencies. These include the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development; the Ministry of Women, Gender, and Diversity; and the Ministry of Education, which he called “the Ministry of Indoctrination.”

The people of Argentina, facing over 159 percent inflation, have spoken as they rallied, demonstrated, and turned out at the polls, shaking the globalist foundations as they delivered 55.7 percent of the votes to Milei. There is joy amid the rusting structure of a once free society.

But caution must be added to firm determination for success.

Now Milei faces his greatest challenge as he takes office on December 10th and challenges the entrenched globalist political establishment.

Like Donald Trump in 2016, he’s new to the office and is the direct target of the all-powerful cabal which has no intention of surrendering power. As we have seen with Trump, no stone continued on page 4

by LEE PITTS

A Different Breed

I

usually try to avoid touchy subjects but in this case, I thought I’d take a chance that you’ll read the entire piece before sending a nasty letter about me to the editor.

This touchy subject deals with how some families deal with the dividing up of the spoils after a relative’s death.

Or in some cases, even BEFORE the relative assumes room temperature.

While it is generally considered unethical and greedy to start dividing up the spoils of another person’s life while that person is still alive, I have seen it happen three times in my life. I’m not proud of the fact that two of the three times involved my own family.

My great-grandparents on my mother’s side were my last relatives who could be considered uppercrusters. I was fortunate to have known my great-grandparents and I distinctly remember them driving their big black Cadillac out to our house for family gatherings. My great-grandfather was Chief of our volunteer fire department and Mayor, based mainly on the fact that he gave out the biggest candy bars in town on Halloween.

The big family secret that has remained unspoken until now was that my great-grandmother had to be committed to an insane asylum at the end of her life.

She had barely been whisked out the door of her mansion on a hill when all the relatives descended to see what they could grab. Even at a young age I found their behavior disgusting. It was the same story after one of my aunts got cancer and was still living in her beautiful home when a relative, who shall go nameless, wasted no time in moving in and claiming it all for herself while my aunt was still alive!

The third instance was when I observed what happened when a rancher I knew was stored away in a rest home just so his son could hold a dispersal sale of all his father’s cattle, which the son always hated. He disliked his father’s cattle because while everyone else in the county had black-hided cattle, his father had an English breed that was red, white or a combination of the two that was last in favor during the Truman administration.

continued on page 3

Page 2

Livestock Market Digest

January 15, 2024

CROOKED

lit Yes.

slaughtered. n its sales pitches Agridime supposedly told investors on Facebook and on its own website, “We know it sounds too good to be true.” According to the SEC that was about the only true thing Agridime told their investors. This was a true Ponzi scheme as new money was used to pay off the older investors.

The SEC said that Link and Wood and other salespeople also collected 10% sales commissions for every dollar they brought in which amounted to $11 million paid to Link, his wife, Wood and others. In all, the pair are accused of duping 2,100 investors in 15 states out of $191 million.

The SEC said the company owed $147 million in principal and interest payments as of September 2023, yet had only $1.5 million in the bank!

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Let’s now update you on a con the Digest reported on in great detail last year involving Cody Easterday who is now is serving an 11-year prison sentence on wire fraud charges, after pleading guilty to operating a $244 million ghost-cattle scheme. The reason this con game got so much attention was because it wasn’t ignorant urbanites who got cheated but a Fortune 500 company...Tyson Fresh Meats! This was another instance where Easterday promised to buy cattle and feed them out for Tyson but in fact Tyson was charged for 222,000 cattle that existed only on paper!

These were the very definition of “ghost cattle.”

We wondered how this sham could be pulled on a huge, supposedly sophisticated company that is the world’s second-largest animal protein producer, and the biggest in North America that produces one of every five pounds of chicken, pork and beef consumed in the United States. Was Tyson so poorly run that they continued to pay the feed bill on 222,000 phantom cattle? n this case Cody Easterday was trying to cover his losses in the futures markets and you have to admit, it took considerable nerve to try to swindle Tyson. Eventually, it all caught up to him and Easterday was sentenced to 11 years in prison for wire fraud charges in October 2022. Easterday also was ordered to pay the money back to Tyson.

As the Cody Easterday story played out the company was forced to unload assets which included Easterday Farm’s valuable farm ground along the Columbia River which attracted bidders like Bill Gates and the Church of Latter-Day Saints.

Where Are They Now? Another big case that the Digest reported on in-depth was the order-buying business Eastern Livestock. The reason this case drew such interest was because Eastern was the largest order buying service in the nation and its founder and former CEO, Tommy Gibson, was well known in the cattle auction community. There was widespread shock amongst several auction yard owners at the time who were owed massive sums and later it was rumored that if the government regulators hadn’t gotten involved there would have been enough

money to pay everyone. But instead, the lawyers and the feds allegedly ended up with the money. We have no way of verifying if that rumor was true, but we do know it was a fact that Gibson was buried hip deep in a check-kiting scheme that had been going on for years.

The simplest explanation of check-kiting is if someone writes a check at the grocery store over the purchase amount to get cash back, but doesn’t actually have the money in the bank to cover the check. This is also called “floating” checks, or using the float as unauthorized credit. Usually, the person kiting the checks keeps at least two accounts at multiple banks and pays off one with the other hoping the regulators don’t catch up with their scheme. To make a long story short, Eastern Livestock bought cattle from their cattle customers with non-existent funds.

For their role in the check kiting business Thomas Gibson and his CEO, Michael McDonald, were each sentenced to federal prison in 2013 for mail fraud. The U.S. attorney handling the case stated that “Eastern caused the loss of millions of dollars to hundreds of businesses and individuals, including approximately 200 sellers of cattle located in Kentucky, who did business with Eastern Livestock in 2010.”

A Killer Deal Despite the old adage that “crime doesn’t pay,” we can cite several instances where it paid quite well, thank you very much. Just consider the case of McClain Feeders of Benton, Kentucky and their benefactor, Rabo Agrifinance. According to Rabo, McClain and his two Texas feedyards engaged in a fraud that drained its bank accounts and cleared out tens of thousands of cattle from the feedyards, leaving Rabo with roughly $50.6 million in unpaid loans. Rabo’s court filings said McClain may have sold or transferred nearly 78,000 cattle without paying on their loans.

According to court records Rabo began their business with McClain by issuing a $332,500 real-estate loan to him in May 2018, which grew to a line of credit of $54 million in three short years. When loan payments were missed Rabo staff conducted an audit of McClain’s cattle operations and found 7,481 head in Texas and 3,094 head in Kentucky for a total of 10,575 head. Rabo stated in bankruptcy court that the bank staff could not verify the whereabouts of more than $33 million for more than 20,000 head that the McClain feedyards had sold.

We bring up this case because it had an interesting side note because it also brought a state cattlemen’s organizations into the fray. Along with the usual bankers and CPA’s, Rabo wanted authority to examine records for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA), stating that TSCRA “oversaw, authorized and assisted with the removal by various third parties of thousands of head of cattle from the Hereford and Friona feedyards in the weeks leading up to the bankruptcy filing.” Rabo said that “special rangers” from the TSCRA removed more than 3,000 cattle from the McClain feedyards in Hereford and Friona over a three-day time period.

n response TRCSA stated, “TSCRA special rangers assisted in an inspection report for cattle moved from these locations at the request of cattle owners. We are not involved in the investigations; this case is under the jurisdiction of the FBI.” When the dust settled at least 27 different cattle feeders, companies and individuals in Texas may have some claim to cattle that had been held at the Hereford and Friona feedlots. Rabo listed more than 100 people overall that may have information on the movement of cattle from the feedyards, including two TRCSA special rangers. Dozens of cattle feeders and ranchers in Kentucky and Texas were listed as potential creditors, as well as producers in Mississippi, Oklahoma, Ohio and Alberta, Canada.

On second thought, maybe crime doesn’t pay.... McClain committed suicide at age 52, as his cattle kingdom collapsed around him.

Where’s The Cash? am very familiar, as are most elderly ranchers in America, with this last example of cowboy corruption, a massive fraud scheme that resulted in losses exceeding $100 million for thousands of investors from more than 40 states. Hoyt and Sons had lots of visibility in the industry because Hoyt claimed to be the largest Shorthorn breeding operation in the country and the Hoyt brothers were

Livestock Market Digest well known ranchers throughout the West as they consigned their bulls to all-breed bull sales and leased their bulls to commercial cattlemen all over the country.

Walter J. Hoyt III was the money man behind Hoyt and Sons and he began soliciting investors over 50 years ago. Hoyt and Sons were major advertisers in most of the leading cattlemen’s publications which may have had something to do with the silence concerning their illegal operations.

Walter J. Hoyt III told investors that they could shelter income from taxes by purchasing interests in Hoyt livestock. He prepared tax returns claiming large deductions that flowed through to investors and initially resulted in substantial tax refunds.

As was the case with most cattle corruption, Hoyt’s operation did not own anywhere near the thousands of cattle that Hoyt claimed, and the livestock owned were far less valuable than Hoyt represented.

They established the value of their cattle based on what a few consignments brought at auction and those of us involved in auctioning their cattle scratched our heads when we’d be selling bulls near the end of a sale for $1,250 and then a Shorthorn bull from Hoyt’s might pop up and fetch $4,500. That number was then used to value all their cattle. To make the Hoyt herd appear larger, Walter Hoyt III came up with book entries that were so unreliable that in some

cases the records showed calves giving birth to their mothers.

Hoyt created out of thin air more than 270 entities that made it difficult for investors and the IRS to find out what was really going on. Hoyt also created over 100 syndicated cattle limited partnership tax shelters which suddenly appeared, disappeared or changed names.

Coming full circle, Hoyt used the same template that Black Watch used 50 years ago by creating on paper 38,000 cows out of thin air, each of which generated millions in deductible expenses allocated to limited partners all over the country.

Needless to say, Hoyt investors didn’t shed a tear when Hoyt was sentenced in June, 2001, to more than 19 years in prison in the largest financial fraud case ever prosecuted in Oregon. A jury convicted Hoyt of conspiracy, mail fraud, bankruptcy fraud, money laundering and multiple counts of bankruptcy fraud. Walter J. Hoyt III died in a federal prison on September 6, 2007, but before he died he signed a memorandum admitting that $103 million worth of illegitimate deductions to about 5,000 limited partners, were illegal, which left them holding the bag for millions of dollars in IRS taxes and penalties.

Despite a rigorous investigation, the many millions of dollars that Hoyt gathered up were “lost” or were not “recoverable.”

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Page 3

DIFFERENT

from page 1

Because his father refused to change, the son always felt that others in the community looked down their noses at him. As a child his classmates wouldn’t sit with him in the cafeteria and never chose him to play on their side in dodgeball. Later in life he hung his head in shame when he went to the feedstore and he wore a disguise to attend a county cattleman’s meeting or a neighbor’s branding.

Based on the fact that his father was still breeding these out-of-favor perfectly wonderful cattle it was easy for the son to have his father committed to the nut house. Even before the father got comfortable in his new digs the son dispersed the entire herd, but not at the local sale barn but at one 300 miles away so the neighbors wouldn’t see them and make fun of him.

(Also, because he knew the distant auction market had a much more active slaughter market which is where he expected all his father’s cows would end up.) The son was so ashamed he wouldn’t let the sale barn owner use his name in the advertising for the sale.

Then the son stocked the ranch with black cattle and before you knew it he was asked to join Rotary, a banker even waved at him and for the first time in forever he took the wife out to dinner in a public place.

A video rep even dropped by, gave him two new ball caps and a calendar and said he’d be

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January 15, 2024

proud to rep his cattle on an upcoming sale, showing his cattle to a nationwide audience. The son even put up a new ranch sign. He had finally gained respectability.

I’ve always wondered how the son felt when his father’s cattle were bought at exorbitant prices by a single rancher who bred them using AI to bulls who’d sired multiple Grand Champions. And then he sold the offspring of the old man’s cattle for as much as 20 times the amount the son was getting for his respectable cattle.

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Page 4

Livestock Market Digest

AGENDA

from page 1

will be left unturned, no tactic is out of the question in stopping this interloper from succeeding in his promises to the people.

Milei appears to be a dedicated freedom fighter, well prepared for the fight. Time will tell if he succeeds.

But freedom advocates in the United States must take heart in what has been achieved in Argentina. For it represents a growing mood as many citizens, internationally and nationally, have finally felt the blunt forces of tyranny and are fed up with the corruption of those in power. Now is not the time for Americans or citizens of other nations to look down in defeat, but to take heart that tyranny, rather than growing, may be starting to crumble. Let me give you some recent examples right here in the U.S. I’ve already reported on the developments in Iowa and South Dakota where local citizens succeeded in blocking powerful corporations and NGOs from taking their property for the idiotic carbon capture pipeline. Many said it couldn’t be stopped, but the local farmers refused to be intimidated, and forced the state legislatures to take action on their behalf. It’s a great start in the national plight of farmers.

As China plots a determined drive to buy and control vast amounts of American land,

unchecked by the U.S. Government, Arkansas became the first nation to pass a law to block it. More states are considering such legislation. Texas Congressman Chip Roy has offered legislation in Congress to ban China’s land drive nationwide. It’s called, “Securing American Land from Foreign Interferences Act” (H.R. 344).

Finally, some in Congress are starting to stand for American sovereignty and independence, in defiance of the drive for global governance! Meanwhile, local citizens in the tiny rural community, Pataskala, Ohio, are rising up to stop a Chinese company from building a massive plant to build solar panels. Others are rising up in Michigan and Illinois for the same purpose in their areas. Stopping China is a growing movement.

Tennessee has become the second state, behind Alabama, to pass significant legislation to ban enforcement of Agenda 21 policy in state legislation. More states are looking into similar legislation. This could lead to the ultimate death of the Green New Deal and the Great Reset.

In a direct blow to the climate change agenda, which is determined to replace oil, gas and any reliable energy source with worthless wind and solar, a major campaign is underway to block this threat to society.

CFACT, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, is leading efforts along the East

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Coast to stop the construction of offshore wind turbines. And it’s working. CFACT has revealed the hypocrisy of the radical environmental movement that spreads propaganda about saving endangered whales, yet they support the offshore wind turbines that have resulted in a disturbing amount of whales washing up dead on beaches.

As a result, CFACT launched the STOP WINDMILLS SAVE WHALES campaign. In recent months more than one third of the offshore windmill projects supported by the Biden administration have been stopped.

As many believe that the Republican Party is a lost cause, a major victory for the forces of freedom was achieved in the recent election in the state of Louisiana where every single elected statewide office fell to the Republicans. These included Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Treasurer, Secretary of State, and Commissioner of Agriculture. In addition, Republicans hold a 2/3rds super majority in both the House and Senate.

In addition, in Oklahoma at the national convention of the National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW), a few dedicated activists showed what can be done when determination and principle are employed.

As the organization prepared resolutions to be considered at the convention, two vital resolutions were blocked for con-

January 15, 2024 sideration by the NFRW president. One dealt with men’s and women’s sports and the other defined what a woman is. When the president refused to include them, 4 brave, smart women prepared ahead of the convention for a floor fight. They had a platform; they were determined; and they worked together. They won. Their victory has now inspired others to run against their leadership in state conventions, and 99 percent have been successful.

Meanwhile, common citizens across the nation are making their feelings felt against the WOKE corporations which are working to enforce radical change in our culture. Bud Lite beer, once number one in the nation, has dropped to number 14; the movie Sound of Freedom, exposing the horrible details of child trafficking, has become the most successful film of the year; the country song, “Try This In a Small Town” became number one on the charts; Disney has lost over $900M on their last eight movie releases; and electric vehicles, promoted as the replacement of gas-powered vehicles, have crashed and burned in the market.

All of this shows that the time has come for local activists to take action at home. As I have told my audiences across the country, we are not outnumbered – we are out-organized.

It’s time to fix that. People are ready for our solutions.

I’ve been teaching citizens across the nation to build Freedom Pods in their communities.

Too many lack the confidence to get started. Here are a few suggestions to get the ball rolling.

Keep it simple. Work against school district tax increases; demand protection of property rights; get your county council to cut county money to outside agencies; get your people to run for several county boards and make sure to sit on special committees when citizen input is required. Above all, get your people on the local Board of Elections! Be heard! Be consistent. And keep it direct and simple.

Juan Milei is now President of Argentina. He intends to lead his people to protect property rights, free markets and smash the Great Reset power cabal in his country. Incredibly, I’ve also just received this news, hardright firebrand Geert Wilders has just been elected Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

He is known as the “Dutch Donald Trump.”

If Donald Trump can find a way to assure honest ballot counting and is elected, more shock waves will rush through the entire world. The Great Reset will be splintered. Break the back of the global power elite and other nations will respond.

More freedom leaders will be elected. You can feel it in the air.

The whole world is watching and waiting. Now is the time.

▫

Federal Judge Sides with Osage Nation, Orders Removal of 84 Wind Turbines

BY ROBERT BRYCE

T

he Osage Nation won a massive ruling in Tulsa federal court on Wednesday that requires Enel to dismantle a 150-megawatt wind project it built in Osage County despite the tribe’s repeated objections.

The tribe’s fight against Romebased Enel began in 2011 and is the longest-running legal battle over wind energy in American history.

As reported by Curtis Killman in the Tulsa World on Thursday, the ruling grants the United States, the Osage Nation, and Osage Minerals Council permanent injunctive relief via “ejectment of the wind turbine farm for continuing trespass.”

The decision by U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Jennifer Choe-Graves is the culmination of 12 years of litigation that pitted the tribe and federal authorities against Enel.

During the construction of the project, the company illegally mined rock owned by the tribe, and it continued to do so even after being ordered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to stop.

Instead of halting work, the company sped up construction.

Enel must now remove the 84 turbines that it built on 8,400 acres of the Tallgrass Prairie located between Pawhuska and Fairfax. Removing the turbines will cost Enel some $300 million.

Under the Osage Allotment Act of 1906, the tribe owns the rights to the minerals beneath the land it bought from the Cherokee Nation in the late 1800s. Those mineral rights include oil, natural gas, and the rocks that Enel mined and crushed for the wind project.

By mining without permission,

the company violated the tribe’s sovereignty. Choe-Graves concluded that Enel “failed to acquire a mining lease during or after construction, as well as after issuance of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision holding that a mining lease was required” in 2017. She continued, saying the company’s “past and continued refusal to obtain a lease constitutes interference with the sovereignty of the Osage Nation and is sufficient to constitute irreparable injury.”

The court victory comes at the same time that the Osage Nation is getting massive media attention due to the October release of Martin Scorsese’s epic film, Killers Of The Flower Moon, which is still being shown in theaters. Last week, Richard Brody, the film critic at the New Yorker, declared that Killers is the best movie of 2023. The movie is also racking up accolades and nominations for numerous awards. For instance, Lily Gladstone, who stars in the film as Mollie Burkhart, has been nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress.

Judge Choe-Graves’ decision is a huge win for tribal members like Tommy Daniels, who have long pushed for the removal of the wind turbines. “If I had the power, boom!, they’d be gone,” Daniels said in an interview I did with him last year in Fairfax.

Daniels is one of the last fullblood Osages. The wind project “kills birds, like eagles, I don’t like that,” he added.

Daniels and other Osage tribal members opposed the project because of its potential intrusion on sacred burial sites, as well as the 420-foot-high turbines’ deadly impact on eagles. In 2021, I interviewed Joe

Conner, a tribal member and publisher of The Fairfax Chief.

Conner, who passed away on September 12, 2023, told me, “Many tribal members have objections because of the fear of damaging the environment, sacred birds, particularly eagles, that would be caught up in the turbine blades.”

The interviews with Daniels, Conner, and other tribal members are featured in my upcoming docuseries, Juice: Power, Politics, And The Grid. That fivepart docuseries, directed by my colleague, Tyson Culver, will be released on YouTube beginning January 31, 2024. (The docuseries includes more than 30 interviews with top thought leaders.

Tyson has done an amazing job putting the episodes together.

More details to come in early January.)

By thrashing Enel in court, the Osage tribe not only stands to collect millions of dollars in damages and the removal of the loathsome turbines, it also has handed Big Wind the biggest public relations debacle in its history. It’s not just that the wind industry lost; it lost to a Native American tribe. That’s a particularly bad look when it comes to the branding of wind energy as “clean,” “green,” “sustainable,” and, of course, “renewable.”

The tribe’s victory will be costly for Enel. But it’s also an embarrassing loss for Big Wind and its allies. For years, big business, big banks, big law firms, academics from elite universities, and big NGOs, have been siding with the wind industry as it tried to steamroll rural landowners and governments. Further, while the industry has dealt with scattered instances where a handful of wind turbines have continued on page 5

January 15, 2024

Livestock Market Digest

Federal Government Holds Off on Plans for a High Peaks Refuge

M

aine lawmakers and residents of the region have pushed back on the proposal for months, arguing that such federal oversight is unneeded.

By Tim Cebula / Press Herald The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) has paused its plan to designate part of the High Peaks region in western Maine as a national wildlife refuge, after hearing from concerned local residents and some of Maine’s federal lawmakers who have argued that the region is already well managed locally.

The federal government had been considering making between 5,000 and 15,000 acres in the High Peaks into a refuge since the spring. The FWS held a series of “scoping sessions” to gather public input in May and June in Rangeley, Farmington, Carrabassett Valley and the Sugarloaf ski resort.

The “High Peaks” target, formerly known as the western Maine “lakes” region in the 1988 NPCA promotion for new National Parks, was instigated

by Audubon and other environ-

OSAGE

from page 4

been torn down due to opposition, such as the removal of two turbines last year in Falmouth, Massachusetts, it has never faced a loss of this magnitude.

Getting rid of two wind turbines in Falmouth can be ignored. Removing 84 turbines?

That is unprecedented.

The Osage tribe’s victory over Enel provides more proof of the increasing opposition to wind energy from rural residents all over the world. Earlier this month, a French court ordered a wind project in southern France to be dismantled. That project faced years of complaints from residents about noise pollution.

(More on that in a future Substack.) Indeed, the Osage tribe’s victory shows — yet again — that all across rural America, local people are fighting to preserve their neighborhoods against the landscape-, viewshed-, and wildlife-destroying impact of massive wind turbines. That is particularly true for members of the Osage tribe, who believe in the sacredness of the place where the earth meets the sky.

The extent of rural resistance to Big Wind and Big Solar is evident in the Renewable Rejection Database. Since 2015, there have been 417 rejections or restrictions of wind energy in the U.S. and those rejections have occurred from Maine to Hawaii. So far this year, there have been 50 rejections or restrictions of wind energy and 68 solar rejections. Actually, come to think of it, Wednesday’s court ruling brings the total to 51 rejections of wind energy in 2023.

The tribe’s court victory shows that Killers Of The Flower Moon is not ancient history.

Scorsese’s film, (it’s terrific, by

mental pressure group activists collaborating with FWS, according to many locals In August, U.S. Senator. Angus King and Susan Collins and Representative Jared Golden sent a letter to the FWS outlining their concerns about the plan for the refuge, citing local opposition as well.

“It is clear to us that this project does not have sufficient public support from the local communities which may be directly impacted by the proposal,” the letter stated. “Without local buy-in, the creation of a refuge unit in the region would have a diminished chance of success and would not serve the goals of the USFWS.” The lawmakers asserted that the land doesn’t need federal oversight to be protected.

“To be clear, this region and its residents – like much of Maine – have a strong history of protecting the land and depending on it for their livelihood. Residents take great pride in the natural character of the High Peaks area,” they wrote, noting that nearly one-third of the 200,000 High Peaks acres under review are already conserved through local or state efforts.

“In short, this region has a long tradition of tending to its own conservation needs; the imposition of a new federal enclave would serve nei-

the way), based on the remarkable book of the same name by David Grann, shows, in sometimes-too-graphic detail, how outsiders took advantage of the Osage tribe and its oil wealth by murdering dozens of tribal members. But the effort to exploit the tribe’s minerals didn’t end in the 1920s. It continues to this day.

In its pursuit of the wind project, Enel displayed a staggering amount of arrogance and greed. It repeatedly ignored the federal government’s warnings that it must not violate the tribe’s mineral rights. Why was Enel in a rush? The answer is obvious. Just as Bill Hale (the “King of the Osage Hills”), his nephew, Earnest Burkhart, and many other whites conspired to murder wealthy Osage tribal members during the Reign of Terror a century ago, Enel did it for the money.

By ignoring the tribe and attempting to take its minerals, Enel aimed to collect tens of millions of dollars in federal tax credits. As Conner explained it, Enel “completely dismissed us as anything they needed to take seriously.” He continued, saying the Italian company was among “a long line of exploiters, if you will, who decided this is something they can do, and not have to pay much for, and make, you know, lots and lots of money.”

In 2011, according to an article by Benny Polacca of the Osage News, the superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Pawhuska wrote a letter to the tribe four days after the Osage County Board of Adjustment approved a variance request for the wind project. The BIA official warned that the project “may have to be removed or relocated” if it interferes with the tribe’s mineral estate.

▫

Page 5

The View

ther the local communities nor the values such a project would seek to advance,” their letter read.

FROM THE BACK SIDE

In a letter dated December 15, a FWS official responded to the lawmakers that “the Service has decided to pause its planning efforts to consider authorizing a new refuge in the High Peaks Region. This pause will provide further opportunity to better understand what role, if any, the Service could play to better support local conservation needs.”

FWS received more than 300 emails and letters from local residents since their public forums in the region, according to the letter. They noted that the land under consideration is the state’s largest expanse of high-elevation forest, containing plenty of flora and fauna “of conservation concern.”

▫

Advertise to Cattleman in the Livestock Market Digest

Eat Lots More Beef

BY BARRY DENTON

One of my favorite quotes from Thomas Jefferson is: “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.”

Nothing has changed folks except there are several left-wing people that want you to believe that it has.

The Special Presidential Envoy For Climate John Kerry recently stated, “A lot of people have no clue that agriculture contributes about 33 percent of all the emissions of the world.”

Granted there are over two hundred years between the two quotes, but isn’t mankind supposed to progress as time goes on?

Since Mr. Jefferson was a farmer and has the background and credentials to verify his statement, what experience does John Kerry have with farming to back up his statement?

I did quite a bit of research on Mr. Kerry, and I cannot find any record of him ever being a farmer. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say he got his information from science.

Science is a wonderful and necessary thing, but much of it is so corrupted by the self-interest of a few. It’s common knowledge that science follows money. I don’t think anyone was paying Mr. Jefferson for what he said. Also, it is not very hard to figure out whose statement is correct.

At the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall came up with this observation: “We need to eat less meat. We need to stop land being used for cattle and growing grain for the billions of animals we keep in our intensive farms. And then, finally, we cannot, we cannot hide away from human population growth; because, you know, it underlies so many of the other problems—all these things we talk about wouldn’t be a problem if there were, if there was the size of population that there was 500 years ago.”

What is she suggesting here? To me, she wants to blame my cows for an imaginary climate change and kill off a few billion people so the elite few can live in harmony with their chimpanzees.

It sounds ridiculous, but if I were a well-known scientist such as Jane Goodall, I’d keep my thoughts to myself. Doesn’t she know that all my cows are vegan?

She also remarked how chimpanzees have such individual personalities. Damn, she needs to go out on our land and live with our cattle.

She would soon find out that they also have individual personalities just like the chimpanzees. Besides that, she would find out that cattle have their own communities and rank. They even have a babysitting system here in the west where it takes a cow traveling a couple of miles a day to eat.

I guarantee I can teach this Ol ‘chimpanzee lady quite a few things about life that she has no clue on. Besides, I think Longhorn cattle blech the least of any breed, so I intend to hire a scientist to prove that theory.

Now in all seriousness I will go out on a limb and invite Mr. Kerry, Jane Goodall, The Pope, The Sierra Club, Greenpeace, anyone that just attended The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change recently in Dubai UAE, and even hapless Al Gore himself to come and stay with me here on the ranch for a month.

I promise you and them, they will have a much better understanding of the REAL world when they leave the Barry Denton Cowboy Environment Rodeo.

I know they will be enjoying their steaks!

▫

Power of Angus.

Radale Tiner,

Regional Manager

New Mexico Texas

A reliable business partner is difficult to come by. Contact Radale Tiner to locate Angus genetics, select marketing options tailored to your needs, and to access American Angus Association® programs and services. Put the business breed to work for you.

Contact Regional Manager Radale Tiner: Cell: 979-492-2663 rtiner@angus.org

3201 Frederick Ave. | St. Joseph, MO 64506 816-383-5100 | www.ANGUS.org © 2022-2023 American Angus Association

Page 6

Livestock Market Digest

In the Recently Published Column “The Uses and Abuses of Federal Land”, Perry Pendley writes:

BY JIM OLSON

...I

t comes as a surprise to most Americans that the federal government owns nearly one-third of the nation’s land mass, in excess of 640 million acres. (It also owns 1.7 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), but that is another story.) Most know of the National Park Service in the Department of the Interior and its 80 million acres of parks, preserves, reserves, monuments, memorials, historic sites, battlefields, and recreation areas, in every state. Many Americans may be familiar with the 141 national forests, managed by the U.S. Forest Service from the Department of Agriculture, spread across 43 states

and 193 million acres. Less known is the Fish & Wildlife Service, also in Interior, and the 89 million acres of its National Wildlife Refuge System in all fifty states. Few Americans outside the West, however, are aware of the Bureau of Land Management, the original “BLM,” another Interior agency, which manages 245 million acres, mostly in the eleven western states and Alaska.

Those agencies manage 95 percent of federal land.

Most of the rest is held by the Department of Defense: 11 million acres by its departments and 12 million acres by the Army Corps of Engineers, dating to 1775, for the 456 lakes it manages for water control and recreation in 43 states. Numerous other

federal agencies manage the residual federal land holdings.

Pendley then does his usual superb job in describing the current distribution of those lands, the legislative language on “multiple use” and “sustained yield”, followed by succinct observations on how the Reagan, Clinton, Obama, and Trump administrations managed those lands and proclaims the Biden administration is managing these lands by ignoring the law and the courts. Concerning Biden, he concludes by saying: To date, no one can stop him. Not Congress, which is deadlocked. Not the federal courts, which .he ignores.

Not even, given his response to its rulings, the Supreme Court itself.

Pendley and I were col-

January 15, 2024 leagues at the Dept. of Interior and you can see his breadth of knowledge and that he pulls no punches when it comes to federal lands policy. He also mentions some land designations and that gives me the opportunity to comment on something that has been bugging me for quite awhile.

Pendley writes that, “Congress recognized that other federal lands were special and should be set aside”, then mentioning Wilderness, Wild & Scenic Rivers, and the Endangered Species Act. However, I caution you to beware the politician, public official or environmental lobbyist who claims these designations are necessary to protect your access to these lands.

Why? Because it is just the opposite.

Each one those statutes mentioned is an Act of EXCLUSION. Their primary purpose of these statutes is to exclude humans from some areas and to exclude certain human activities in the remainder.

Some definitions of exclude: Oxford – deny (someone) ac-

Southwest Hide-A-Way 11.2 Acres of Paradise for Man & Beast

023 Great Room views down to River

with windows to pastures

028 Hall Bath with window to pastures

PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES (c) …there shall be no commercial enterprise and no permanent road within any wilderness area designated by this Act and…there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such area.

▫

019 Open Concept Living

008 Horses like it too!

031 1 of 3 Bedrooms – views to pastures

008 Horses like it too!

020 Family meals

015 Circular driveway by Horse Barn to Home

028 Hall Bath with window to pastures

015 Circular driveway by Horse Barn to Home

anch Driveway over irrigation ditch

Of special interest here is Section 4 which lists all the prohibited items. Here is an edited for brevity version:

Frank DuBois was the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003, is the author of a blog: The Westerner (www.thewesterner. blogspot.com) and is the founder of The DuBois Rodeo Scholarship and The DuBois Western Heritage Foundation

■ 8-Stall Horse Barn with automatic waterers, 7 pastures, arena

■ All fencing is 2 3/8" oil pipe with RedBrand no-climb wire, 3 working all Bath with custom stone wells with water at 28' and 8 acres of irrigation rights

A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain...

That is quite a list. All of those either exclude your presence or place severe limitations on what you can do while there.

Your access will be less than what is was before.

■ Bordered on one side by constantly following river

■ Picturesque home with nature ffice with windows to pastures views from every window; 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, huge fireplace, office, 018 Great Room Cozyspacious Fires all Winter mud room second to none

cess to or bar (someone) from a place, group, or privilege.

Cambridge – to prevent someone or something from entering a place or taking part in an activity.

Merriman-Webster – to prevent or restrict the entrance of – to bar from participation, consideration, or inclusion – to expel or bar especially from a place or position previously occupied A good example would be 1964 Wilderness Act. That act defines Wilderness:

025 Verde River

029 8 Stall Powder River Horse Barn

020 Circular Driveway to Home and around pasture

Northern New Mexico 009 Verde River Stockman’s Annual Meeting

N

orthern NM S t o c k m a n ’s Annual meeting will be held 009 Verde River 029Saturday 8 Stall Powder River Horse Barn January 13, 2024, from 8-4 pm at the Rio Arriba Rural Event Center in Abiquiu, NM. Membership/Registration is $20.00 or $25 if paying by Credit Card. Refreshments and lunch will be provided.

Please share this email with friends.

Any questions please call Amanda

Bennavides with NMSU Extension at 030 Verde River 505-685-4523 or Carlos Salazar at 505685-4541 or 505-927-9818.

▫

011 Custom Stone Shower window toward River 003 Mud Room Laundry window toward River

Bath with custom stone

For inquiries call 505.263.2015 028 Horse Barn near the River

028 Horse Barn near the River

025 Verde River

007 Pasture near river after Spring Rains

031 1 of 3 Bedrooms – views to pastures

007 Pasture near river after Spring R

030 Verde River

January 15, 2024

Livestock Market Digest

REAL ESTATE GUIDE

www.scottlandcompany.com

Ben G. Scott – Broker Krystal M. Nelson – NM QB 800-933-9698 5:00 a.m./10:00 p.m.

er

40

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y.com

itt, TX 79027 Scott - Broker ifying Broker am/10:00pm ompany.com

R SMALL!

adalupe Co., eded & 519 nch on both flow daily) ner; wildlife, uyer looking New Mexico

We need listings on all types of ag properties large or small!

■ YESO EAST RANCH – De Baca Co., NM - Hwy. 60 frontage. 6,307± deeded, 1,556± State Lease and 40± uncontrolled acres. Terrain is gently rolling with good grass and is divided into three pastures. Wildlife includes antelope, some mule deer, quail, etc. The ranch has good improvements (including home) convenient access and has been well managed.

■ VAUGHAN RIVER RANCH – 11,628.76 ac. +/- deeded - a scenic, live water ranch on the Pecos River south of Ft. Market Sumner,Livestock New Mexico. Excellent example ofDigest a southwestern cattle ranch with wildlife to boot all within minutes of the convenience of town. Call us to take a look!

■ CLAPHAM SCHOOL HOME – 4,450 sq ft home +/located on a beautiful 10-acre tract southwest of Clayton, New Mexico, just one-half mile south off the Thomas Highway w/a new well and septic system. The Pinabetes Creek, just steps away, is a magnet for wildlife including deer, elk and many water fowl.

■ UNION CO., NM – This 1,966 +/- acre ranch located just south of Clayton, New Mexico is in some of the most sought-after grazing land in the Continental U.S.A. The ranch will be excellent for a yearling operation, with high quality grass, good fences and water.

■ KB RANCH - Kenney Co., TX – KB Ranch is a low fenced 802 +/- acre property that is surrounded by large ranches. The ranch has abundant whitetail and is also populated with turkey, dove, quail, hogs and varmint species.

Axis are in the area and have been occasionally seen. The ranch lies approximately 9 miles south of Bracketville on TX 131 and is accessed by all weather Standart Road.

■ COLFAX COUNTY NM GETAWAY – 1,482.90 ac.+/grassland (1,193.59 ac. +/- Deeded, 289.31 ac. State Lease), great location near all types of mountain recreation.

■ ANGUS, NM – 250 +/- acres with over a 1/2 mile of NM 48 frontage. Elevations from 6,800 to 7,200 feet. Two springs along a creek. Ideal for future development or build 521 West Second St. • Portales, NM 88130 your own getaway home.

575-226-0671 orBig575-226-0672 fax ■ PECOS CO. – 637 ac., water, State Classified Minerals.

■ CARSON CO., TX – 640 ac. +/- 5 mi. N of Panhandle on TX 207.333 ac. +/under 3 center pivot systems. One Qualifying Broker: well produces 800(Jack) GPM. Permanent perimeter and cross A.H. Merrick 575-760-7521 fencing. www.buenavista-nm.com ■ CLAYTON, NM – 3 bdrm/2.5 bath really nice manufactured home w/ porches etc. located on 80 ac. with 2 almost new metal barns/shops/garages with automatic roll-up doors & water supplied from the City of Clayton.

■ CLAYTON, NM. – 44 acres located approx. 2 miles south of Clayton, NM on Hwy 87 on the east side of the highway. This property has about ½ mile of highway frontage and would be great for residential housing, commercial development or addtl. RV development (adjoins the 16.75 ac. RV park).

■ CLAYTON, NM – a 16.75 ac. RV park located approximately 2 mi. south of Clayton on the east side of Hwy. 87 with 34 RV spaces, water supplied from the City of Clayton, a domestic well to provide water for a pond on the property with an office and men’s and women’s restrooms and showers. 44 acres may be purchased adjoining this property for additional development.

980 ac. +/ast, land lays e of Hwy. 54. n Co., NM – and w/stateremodeled n very good n pvmt. +/- heavily isting livestockagent w/ 75-825-1291. nces etc., on ea-nm.com front gate. c ac. +/- on

by Lincoln in Pines & ed meadow enasco. This uild a legacy

ac. irr., on xico, adjoins .

POTENTIAL xline Special,

+/- w/water & a beautiful 3 bathrooms, tal shop.

Bottari Realty

RANCH & FARM REAL ESTATE

ATE GUIDE

alty

Page 7

AG LAND LOANS As Low As 6% OPWKCAP 6%

INTEREST RATES AS LOW AS 6% Payments Scheduled on 25 Years

Selling residential, farm, ranch, commercial and relocating Joe Stubblefield properties. & Associates 13830 Western St., Amarillo, TX COLETTA RAY Pioneer Realty 806/622-3482 • cell 806/674-2062 1304 Pile Street, Clovis, NM 88101 575-799-9600 Direct joes3@suddenlink.net 575.935.9680 Office Michael Perez Associates 575.935.9680 Fax Nara Visa, NM • 575-403-7970 coletta@plateautel.net

• 83 acre wood home with barns, meadows and woods. Fronts State Rd. $545,000 • 160 acre Ranger Eastland Co, $560,000

775/752-3040 ■ PECAN FARM — 116 +/- total acres; 64.65 +/- acres of mature pecan trees under drip irrigation with 291 acre feet of fully adjudicated water rights, the pecan orchard is isolated (no pesticides). Located in the foothills of the Black Range Mountains with a historic adobe home, large barn, shop, and studio.

Page Requires a minimum of labor since the7drip system automatically irrigates and fertilizes.

Annual revenues of $150-200k. Gbps fiber optic internet. The home was the stage coach stop of Lake Valley. This site was the original townsite of Lake Valley. The adobe home is a spacious 2,048 sq ft w/ 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, wood stove, 2 car carport. The studio is 948 sq ft w/a living room, kitchen, one bedroom On the Plaza one bath.

SOCORRO PLAZA REALTY

521 West Second St. • Portales, NM 88130

575-226-0671 or 575-226-0672 fax

Buena Vista Realty

www.bottarirealty.com

Qualifying Broker: A.H. (Jack) Merrick 575-760-7521 www.buenavista-nm.com

www.clovisrealestatesales.com

SCOTT MCNALLY www.ranchesnm.com 575/622-5867 575/420-1237

23,646± acres of BLM, 9104± acres of NM state land, 12 wells, 9 dirt tanks, 2 springs, 3 pastures, 165,000 gallons of water storage.

Priced at $1,432,200

Ranch Sales & Appraisals

AG LOANS AGLAND LAND LOANS

■ SMITH RANCH — 19.28± section cattle AsLow Lowacre 3% As AsAs 4.5% ranch plus 335± farm located in Road 2.9% Forks, OPWKCAP N.M. The ranch has 12,343± total OPWKCAP 2.9% acres, 3721± deeded, 2400± acres of NM INTEREST RATES AS LOW AS 3% INTEREST RATES LOW 4.5% state land, Scheduled 6222± AS acres of25AS BLM, 154 AYL Payments Scheduled on 25 Years Payments on Years headquarters has mnfctrd homes, shed row barns (equipment/commodity storage), corrals, cattle chute. The north farm has 163± acres (149 +/- is fallow), the south farm has 173± acres, seller retains a “life estate”. Ranch has been in Stubblefield the same family since 1905. Priced at Joe & Associates $2,300,000 13830 Western St., Amarillo, TX

UNDER CONTRACT

806/622-3482 • cell 806/674-2062 joes3@suddenlink.net Michael Perez Associates Nara Visa, NM • 575/403-7970

521 West Second St., Portales, NM 88130

MAJOR PRICE REDUCTION – CALL PAUL FOR DETAILS 575-226-0671

10 Acres of commercial property, incredible highway visibility and access from either east or west www.buenavista-nm.com directions on Hwy 60, 3 miles East of Garden Inn Truck Plaza and 4 miles west of Willow Springs.

Natural gas may beRural available on site. LOCATION PLUS! This property Properties around Portales, NMis well suited for many types of businesses (Restaurant, Retail, Motel, Business of any kind!) A MUST SEE PROPERTY.

1242 NM 480 - Nice home on 59.7 acres, grass 427 S Rrd P 1/2 - Large nice home, lots of barns 24+ ac See all my listings at: paulmcgilliard.murney.com 1694 S Rrd 4, Great home, barns, cattle pens, location Paul McGilliard, Broker Associate 2344 S Rrd K east of Dora, great/ -Commercial Near wind farms ResidentialNM, / Farms/Ranches 417-839-5096 or 800-743-0336 All properties excellent homes & can have horses, etc.

MLS#11402703

575-226-0

B

A.H. (J ww

AS PROV R

14298 N.

2

Serving all of Southern, Arizona Call Buena Vista Realty at 575-226-0671 or the listing agent Land, Farms, Homes, Country Estates, Commercial Lori Bohm 575-760-9847, or Melody Sandberg 575-825-1291.

National Advertising – Local Expertise Many good pictures on MLS or www.buenavista-nm.com

SOME OF OUR OFFERINGS • Custom Home on 36+ acre estate in Dragoon Mountain Ranch • 36+ acre homesites in St David, AZ • 80 Acre Farm land with 16” Irrigation Well in Willcox, AZ • Custom Home on 4+ acres in Cochise, AZ • 40 acre off grid land in Portal, AZ

See these and other properties at www.buenavista-nm.com United Country Real Estate | Arizona Life Homes and Land 520-403-3903 Arizonahomesandlandsales.com Rick Frank, Designated Broker • 520-403-3903

SOLD

O’NEILL LAND, llc

THE SAND CAMP RANCH (PRICE REDUCED) The Sand Camp Ranch is a quality

desert ranch with an excellent grass cover and above average improvements. Located in • 840 Immaculate, Co, TX. east of the productive Pecos River Valley. The ranch is comprised of southern ChavesHuntCounty Ranch. Pastures, 40 tanks,acres, and 6,074 NM State Lease Acres, 23,653 Federal BLM Lease Acres 2,380 +/- deeded lakes. Beautiful home, barns, and 480 acres Uncontrolled, 32,107 +/- total acres (50.17 Sections).

Grazing Capacity set NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RANCH PROPERTY and other improvements. Some 31 years in the ranch business - see www.ranch-lands.com for videos & brochures byminerals, a Section 3 BLM game galore.

All forgrazing $1.35 permit at 405 Animal Units Yearlong. The ranch is watered by DUANE & DIXIE McGARVA RANCH: approx. 985 acres Likely, CA. with about 600+ acre gravity flood million. five primary wells and an extensive pipeline system. This ranch is ready to go, no deferred irrigated pastures PLUS private 542 AU BLM permit. About 425 acres so of the irrigated are level to flood excellent pastures with balance good flood irrigated pastures. NO PUMPING COST! Dryland is perfect for maintenance. Price: $3,672,000.

Thisto pivotone ofalfalfatheif desired. better ranches is nicely expansion irrigated Plus BLM permit for 540in AU isthe fencedarea. into 4 fieldsIton about 18,000 acres only 7 miles away. REDUCED ASKING PRICE - $3,125,000 improved andReal well-watered. won’t find anything comparable for the price. Call or email Joe Priest Estate You BEAVER CREEK RANCH: about 82,000 acres - with 2,700 deeded acres plus contiguous USFS & BLM for a brochure and an appointmentpermitstoforcome takeacresairrigated look.alfalfa, pasture, and meadow from Beaver Creek water rights and 450 pair; 580+one irrigation well. 3 homes, 2 hay barns, 4 feedlots each w/ 250 ton barns, 2 large reservoirs, can run up to 500-600 cows YEAR ROUND. REDUCED ASKING PRICE - $5,400,000.

joepriestre.net • joepriestre@earthlink.com EIGHT MILE DRAW LAND 740 ± Acres of unimproved native grassland BEAR CREEK RANCH: Approx. 1,278 acres winter range ground and recreational property. Located on Bear

SouthHill Cow Creek Road. Should be great hunting for deer, wild turkey, wild located four miles west of RoswellCreek inandtheaccessed SixfromMile areaValleywith frontage along U.S. Highway pigs, quail & owner states good trout fishing in Bear Creek. Deeded access easement thru neighbor ranches. & very private the ranch. 120 acres of additional land that 70/380. This parcel is fenced onNoNowimprovements three sides andinside adjoins only $700 per acre - $894,600 may be purchased. Great investment. $600 per acre.

P.O. Box 145, Cimarron, NM 87714 • 575/376-2341 • Fax: 575/376-2347 land@swranches.com • www.swranches.com

MIAMI DREAM, 14.70 +/deeded acres. Approx 1,583 sq ft 2 bedroom 1 bath home. Real country living with barn wood siding, porches, recent remodel for remote workspace. Irrigation and horse facilities, 57 Wampler St., Miami, NM $370,000 $350,000

BAR LAZY 7 RANCH, Colfax County, Moreno Valley 594.38 +/- deeded acres, accessed off blacktop between Eagle Nest and Angel Fire. Historic headquarters.

Currently used as summer grazing, pond and trees accessed off county road on rear of property as well. Presented “ASIS” New Survey, $4,000,000 $3,800,000 CIMARRON BUSINESS, Frontage opportunity, house, big shop and office buildings, easy view off Hwy 64. Formerly known as “The Porch.” $295,000

SPRINGER VIEW, 29.70 +/deeded acres. Large house being remodeled, shop, trees, old irrigation pond. All back off highway with great southern aspect. 311 Hwy 56, Colfax County. $209,000 $205,000

CONTRACT PENDING

MAXWELL, 408.90 +/- Deeded Acres. 143.05 Irrigable Acres/ Shares with TL pivot covering approximately 80 acres, with balance dry land. Property has one water meter used for livestock, but could support a home as well. There are two troughs located in the middle of the property.

Electricity for pivot is back toward the middle of the property as well.

Property has highway frontage on NM 505 and Highline Rd, a County Rd. Back up to Maxwell Wildlife area. Colfax County, NM.$599,000

BILL WRIGHT, SHASTA LAND SERVICES, INC.

575-226-0671 or 575-226-0672 fax

Buena Vista Realty

Qualifying Broker: A.H. (Jack) Merrick 575-760-7521 www.buenavista-nm.com

O’NEILL LAND, llc land@swranches.com • www.swranches.com

CHICO CREEK RANCH, Colfax County, NM. NEW LISTING. 6,404.26 +/- Total Acres, Located approximately 10 miles east of Springer New Mexico. 3,692.60 +/- deeded acres with balance

CIMARRON ON THE RIVER, Colfax County, NM. 7.338 +/deeded acres with 4.040 acre-feet per annum out of the Maxwell-Clutton Ditch. Custom country-chic 2,094 +/- sq ft

521 West Second St. • Portales, NM 88130

575-226-0671 or 575-226-0672 fax

E

E

CONTRACT PENDING

521 West Second St. • Portales, NM 88130

530-941-8100 • DRE# 00963490 • www.ranch-lands.com Scott McNally, Qualifying Broker Bar M Real Estate, LLC ch that has been owned and operated P.O. Box 428, Roswell, NM 88202 s southeast of Corona, NM in Lincoln Office: 575-622-5867 Cell: 575-420-1237 M Lease Acres and 2,240 NM State Website: www.ranchesnm.com P.O. Box 145, Cimarron, NM 87714 • 575/376-2341 • Fax: 575/376-2347

UYL. Water provided by five wells and corrals. The ranch had a good summer for a brochure or view on my website.

521 West Se

Bar M Real Estate

■ 250 Donald MUSTANG,Brown VADO, NM — 75 +/Qualifying Broker mature Pecan Trees located on 5 +/- acres with EBID505-507-2915 ditch water & under ground cellwater rights, community water, natural gas & electricity in 505-838-0095 fax Priced at the street, great mountain views.

116 Plaza $200,000

• 270 acre Mitchell County, Texas ranch. Investors dream; excellent cash flow. Rock formation being crushed and sold; wind turbans, some minerals. Irrigation water developed, crop & cattle, modest improvements. Just off I-20. Price reduced to $1.25 million.

1-800/671-4548

Nevada Farms & raNch PrOPerTY

PO Box 1903 ■ BERRENDA CREEK RANCH — 231 AYL, Socorro, NM 87801 51±www.socorroplazarealty.com section cattle ranch — Hillsboro, NM. 32,870± total acres, 120± deeded acres, dbrown@socorroplazarealty.com

Buena Vista Realty

TEXAS & OKLA. FARMS & RANCHES

Paul Bottari, Broker

CON W

C

Page 8

Livestock Market Digest

Italy Pioneers Ban on LabGrown Meat SOURCE: PROTECT THE HARVEST

I

taly recently made history by becoming the first European Union nation to officially ban the production and sale of lab-grown or cultivated meat, sparking a global debate about the intersection of tradition, innovation and the future of food. The legislation, enacted in November 2023, restricts the cultivation of meat in laboratory bioreactors and places limitations on the use of labels describing and marketing plant-based protein as meat.

As one might expect, the Italian government’s action has been met with support and criticism. Italy’s Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida proudly declared the nation’s commitment to preserving its rich food traditions while protecting its farmers. The law, viewed as protectionist by some, aims to safeguard the age-old relationship between food, land and the human work that has characterized Italy for millennia. Lollobrigida stressed the need to protect workers, agricultural entrepreneurs, and citizens who have the right to “eat well.”

One of the key motivations behind the ban appears to be the desire to shield Italy’s traditional agricultural sector from

competition with high-tech alternatives. Italian farmers, who lobbied intensively for the ban, see it as a means to eliminate their high-tech competitors in the cultivated meat industry.

This protectionist stance has sparked discussions on whether such measures hinder technological innovation or represent a legitimate effort to preserve cultural heritage.

In contrast to Italy’s approach, some countries, including the United States, are actively exploring and encouraging the development of labgrown meat technology. Singapore currently stands as the only country where people are consuming cell-based meat, and the USDA and FDA in the United States have approved two types of cell-based chicken.

The global conversation surrounding alternative proteins has intensified in recent years, with lab-grown meat purporting to represent a potential solution to issues such as environmental sustainability, resource efficiency, and animal welfare. However, the Italian government’s ban raises questions about the balance between embracing technological advancements and preserving cultural and agricultural traditions.

Critics argue that Italy’s ban

may hinder the growth of its nascent cultivated meat industry, depriving the country of potential economic and environmental benefits. The global trend toward exploring alternative protein sources suggests that many countries believe labgrown meat is a viable and sustainable option for the future.

Italy’s concerns about safeguarding its culinary and agricultural heritage distinguish its approach from that of other nations. While food safety is a paramount issue for many regulators, Italy’s decision seems to be driven more by the desire to maintain its distinctive food culture.

As Italy’s ban sets a precedent in the EU, the global debate continues over the future of food. The clash between tradition and innovation in Italy’s decision highlights the complex considerations governments, food producers and consumers face in navigating the evolving “protein” landscape.

The coming years will likely see increased scrutiny of alternative protein sources, with countries weighing the potential benefits of technological innovation against the preservation of cultural and agricultural traditions. The ethics and science will be an ongoing debate. Ultimately, the marketplace (consumers) should be the determining factor between freedom of choice and governmental mandates.

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January 15, 2024

Animal Extremist Group Crusades For Denver 2024 Ballot Measure Targeting Sheep Processing

BY JACLYN DE CANDIO FOR PROTECT THE HARVEST

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ufficient petition signatures were recently gathered by animal rights extremist group Pro-Animal Future, then submitted to the Denver Clerk and Recorder.

The signatures support a “citizen-led” initiative to ban a longtime Denver sheep processing facility via a 2024 ballot initiative. This effort marks yet another concerning example of animal extremists using ballot initiatives to bring their agenda to a public vote.

Denver residents will vote on the following: “Shall the voters of the City and County of Denver adopt an ordinance prohibiting slaughterhouses, and, in connection, beginning January 1, 2026, prohibiting the construction, maintenance, or use of slaughterhouses within the City; and requiring the City to prioritize residents whose employment is affected by the ordinance in workforce training or employment assistance programs.”

A Strategic Target This ballot measure was specifically designed to target Superior Farms, one of the largest sheep and lamb processing facilities in the nation, which harvests 500,000 animals annually. As a niche industry comprised of small-scale farmers, forcibly closing the Denver plant would be a devastating and unnecessary blow. It is Denver’s only animal processing facility, so Pro-Animal Future’s target is clear.

Superior Farms has a 70-year history with 170 employee-owners, and processes much of the lamb that makes its way directly to dinner tables each year. Processing takes place at the farm’s USDA inspected Denver facility. The potential passage of this ballot measure would cost the city of Denver $70 million to compensate Superior Farms for the forced closure.

Such a forced closure would have a significant detrimental impact on American sheep processing. The entire industry would feel the repercussions and likely reduce production, create strain on other parts of the food chain, and most likely result in increased food prices.

Preying on Voter Emotion and Lack of Knowledge Pro-Animal Future was created by Pax Fauna, an extremist group that specifically “studies…public attitudes regarding the use of animals for food, and the narratives that can increase support for pro-animal initiatives.” It also receives funds from the Phauna Foundation and boasts “numerous small donations” that fuels the group’s agenda.

Pro-Animal Future member Alaina Sigler stated in an article she penned for Westword: “Sheep and other animals are individuals with emotionally rich lives. My friends and I aim to aid in community health, bring about animal freedom and establish environmentally just spaces.”

She directs her readers’ attention to a 2019 report titled “Intelligence, complexity and individuality in sheep,” published in an extremist “journal” called Animal Sentience. It is authored by animal rights extremists with backgrounds in neuroscience, communications, and journalism, not farming, food science, nutrition, animal husbandry, or other relevant curriculum.

It’s also worth noting that Pro-Animal Future claims its ballot measure will prioritize current processing plant employees by giving them access to job training to transition to “green industries,” yet offers no clarification regarding what those industries or jobs are, names of employers, locations, wages, and benefits or other important information.

In recent years, animal rights extremist groups have poured tens of millions of dollars into ballot measure/initiative campaigns that pray upon the emotions of voters while distorting the truth and spreading disinformation to achieve goals they cannot otherwise achieve through courts, legislation, regulation, and other means. While pursuing their vegan agenda, the animal rights extremist groups spend very little on actually aiding animals in need. Instead, these groups focus their efforts on trying to force Americans to conform to a lifestyle the majority of people and voters do not support.

Now is the time to spread awareness on this critical ballot measure as it heads to Colorado voters in 2024. Follow Protect The Harvest and spread the word as we continue to follow this story while promoting and defending A Free and Fed America™.

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January 15, 2024

Livestock Market Digest

Biden Admin Unveils String of Eco Regulations in Latest Appliance Crackdown Targeting Fridges, Freezers SOURCE: FOX NEWS

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he Biden administration unveiled environmental regulations in late December targeting multiple popular home and commercial appliances in an action that will impact millions of Americans, but which federal officials said would help curb carbon emissions.

The Department of Energy (DOE) both finalized new energy efficiency standards for residential refrigerators and freezers, and proposed standards for commercial fans and blowers.

Overall, the agency said the actions would eliminate 420 million metric tons of “dangerous carbon dioxide emissions” over the next three decades and save households and businesses $5 billion a year on utility bills.

“Today’s announcement is a testament to the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to lowering utility costs for working families, which is helping to simultaneously strengthen energy independence and combat the climate crisis,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.

“DOE will continue to move quickly in 2024 — together with our industry partners and stakeholders — to update and strengthen outdated energy efficiency standards, which is critical to innovation, more consumer options, and healthier communities,” she continued.

DOE’s standards for refrigerators and freezers will be implemented between 2029 and 2030, and mark the first update to standards impacting those appliances in more than a decade. According to the announcement, the updated standards, which will take less efficient but cheaper models off the market, will in 30 years remove the amount of emissions generated by the combined annual emissions of 12.7 million homes.

And the standards targeting fans and blowers are the first-ever federal regulations targeting those appliances. DOE said that proposal “follows the lead” of efficiency standards established by California and will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 318 million metric tons in the next 30 years.

“Refrigerator standard are much like dishwashers and clothes washers, where there’ve

been so many standards over the decades that we’re either at the point of diminishing returns or negative returns,” Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday. “And there is a tendency for the agency’s own analysis to inflate the benefits.”

“Consumers are perfectly capable of making these decisions on their own, including consumers who want to buy extra efficient refrigerators or other models,” he continued. “What these standards do is they force that choice on everyone, whether it makes sense for them or not.

And we know from history that, in some cases, these standards raise the upfront cost more than you’re likely to earn back in the form of energy savings.”

In addition to potentially increasing upfront costs for consumers purchasing new appliances, Lieberman said the new efficiency standards may harm product performance. For example, he said new standards for dishwashers have led to cycles taking as much as twice as long to finish.

According to DOE, meanwhile, the standards mean the administration proposed or finalized a grand total of 30 such regulations in 2023 as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and “underscore the administration’s commitment to tackling the climate crisis.” The agency projects that its regulations introduced since early 2021 will provide nearly $1 trillion in consumer savings and curb emissions by 2.5 billion metric tons.

DOE also pledged to continue moving forward with more such regulations in 2024.

Experts, including Lieberman, have repeatedly warned over the last 12 months that the Biden administration’s energy efficiency actions will ultimately harm consumers and drive prices higher since manufacturers will be forced to adopt newer technologies to achieve the standards.

In April, Lieberman led a comment letter alongside more than 15 other consumer organizations, arguing DOE’s efficiency standards for stovetops proposed in February “almost certainly compromise some of

the features that gas stove users want, and all for the sake of saving an insignificant amount of energy.” According to the agency’s analysis, those standards would effectively ban half of all available stoves.

In the months after DOE released its proposed stovetop regulations, it proposed regulations in February for clothes washers and refrigerators that it said would reduce emissions by 233 million metric tons; finalized standards for air conditioners in March; proposed regulations cracking down on dishwashers in May; issued a proposal targeting water heaters in July; and proposed standards for furnaces in September.

“They are trying to reshape the place that you live to make it look like the home they would like you to live in,” O.H. Skinner, the Alliance For Consumers’ executive director, told Fox News Digital in October. “They’re really trying to impose what are progressive preferences from places in coastal enclaves and make it so that everyone has to live like that. And that affects you every day.”

“What’s crucial is to understand this administration isn’t just tweaking regulations.

They’re doing things that effectively ban whole categories of things that exist on the market,” Skinner continued. “Almost all of these decisions, as you work through it, are influenced by the overall climate agenda and the green agenda and the desire for us to change our lives.”

Environmentalists have long argued in favor of appliance and energy efficiency regulations given their high use of electricity and natural gas. Green energy groups have called for the electrification of homes and businesses, reducing reliance on natural gas and simultaneously replacing current fossil fuel-fired power with alternatives like wind and solar.

According to federal data, the commercial and residential sector accounts for 30% of total end-use carbon emissions in the U.S., the largest share of any sector including industry, transportation and agriculture.

Original article source: Biden admin unveils string of eco regulations in latest appliance crackdown targeting fridges, freezers

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Page 9

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Livestock Market Digest

Secret Biden Administration Deals Are Being Made to Remove Large Dams in the Pacific Northwest to Increase Salmon Numbers

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or more than half-a-century, four Lower Snake River dams in southeastern Washington State have been a source of renewable hydroelectric power and, more recently, controversy and litigation. Environmental extremist groups and some Native American tribal entities claim the dams’ effect on wild salmon migration merits the removal or breaching of the dams for the purposes of “racial and environmental justice.”

To date, the ongoing battle has largely resulted in a costly stalemate, and the dams have remained, providing electric power to much of the region.

Secret Negotiations between Extremists and the U.S. Government In November 2023, it was revealed that opponents of the dams have been negotiating in secret with the Biden administration, pushing a scheme to remove the dams while leaving all other stakeholders entirely out of the process. Environmental extremist groups currently involved in a lawsuit against the federal government regarding these dams agreed to pause litigation if a “jointly developed package of actions and commitments” is approved by December 15, 2023.

Earthjustice is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, representing a coalition of special interest extremist groups, notably including the National Wildlife Federation and the now radical Sierra Club. The lawsuit also has support from some Native American tribes and coalitions.

With zero regard for other concerns and points of view, these groups are narrowly focused on the movement and habitats of wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest, even though salmon are not endangered globally.

The environmental crusaders blatantly ignore the devastating

dam breaching or removal effects would have to the region’s economy, food security, energy security, and, ironically, based on the environmental extremists’ own standards, the overall environment itself.

Dams Are Critical for the Region’s Renewable Electricity and Agriculture The Lower Granite, Ice Harbor, Little Goose, and Lower Monumental dams were built in the 1960s and 1970s by the Army Corps of Engineers between Pasco, Washington, and Lewiston, Idaho. Their main purpose was to ensure the Snake River was passable for barges navigating the river to and from the Lewiston, Idaho, seaport.

The Port of Lewiston is the farthest inland seaport on the west coast, located 465 miles from the Pacific Ocean, and is a vital transportation artery for the regional economy.

Agriculture is one of Washington’s core industries. The state is the nation’s number one producer of apples, blueberries, hops, pears, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries, although volumetrically, wheat is one of the state’s largest agricultural exports. Washington is the fourth largest wheat producer in the United States, behind only North Dakota, Kansas, and Montana. Over two million acres of wheat were harvested in Washington in 2023, amounting to 113 million bushels. One bushel of wheat weighs about 60 pounds, and according to the National Association of Wheat Growers, “a bushel of wheat yields 42 one-and-a-half-pound commercial loaves of white bread or about 90 one-pound loaves of whole wheat bread.”

The dam-enhanced river system facilitates transporting approximately 60 percent of Washington’s annual wheat crop, and 10 percent of all wheat exported by the United States. Without

river transport, wheat producers would be forced to rely on trucks and trains, which are ironically fueled by the carbon-based energy that environmental extremists have demonized. A semitruck can haul around 1,000 bushels of wheat. Therefore, based on most recent statistics, not accounting for miles or hours hauled, it would take approximately 113,000 semi-loads annually to replace river barge transportation of Washington’s wheat.

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Market Analyst Michael Anderson explained: “The rivers can move more volume at once, with greater fuel efficiency. One barge can carry the same amount of wheat as 35 rail cars or 134 trucks. A barge tow can carry more than one 100unit (railcar) train or 538 trucks. And one barge can move a ton of wheat 647 miles per gallon while a truck can only move a ton of wheat 145 miles per gallon.”

Renewable, Clean, Reliable Hydroelectric Power While the primary purpose of the dams was to enable river transport, the dams have also provided clean, reliable, renewable hydroelectric energy to millions of customers since being constructed. According to the NW Energy Coalition, on average, the four dams produce about 1,000 megawatts (MW) of power throughout the year.

However, they can produce as much as 2,200 MW during peak energy demand. One megawatt equals one million watts or 1,000 kilowatts, which is roughly enough electricity to supply a total of 800,000 homes.

It is estimated the removal of the dams would cost up to $2.6 billion dollars, not including the cost of replacing the energy they produce.

Empty, Expensive Promises of Energy Replacement In the back-room scheming of the Biden administration and dam opponents, the administration has indicated that the federal government would work to construct new “clean” energy infrastructure to compensate for the loss of energy that removal of the dams would cause, but cost estimates are vague. The potential transportation disrup-

January 15, 2024 tion, cost and adverse environmental impact from eliminating the dams has been ignored by the negotiating parties.

An article in Ag Proud-Idaho stated that the cost to replace the energy produced by the four dams would be $12 billion, and that’s based on using technology that does not yet exist.

Estimates indicate that the actual cost with the utilization of current technology would be a whopping $77 billion dollars, none of which would be shouldered by Earthjustice, the Sierra Club, or National Wildlife Federation. The cost would fall on taxpayers/electricity ratepayers.

Additionally, data indicates that replacing hydroelectric power generated by the dams with natural gas generation would increase carbon emissions by as much as 2.6 million metric tons per year, which is equals the output of 421,000 passenger cars, something Biden administration “climate czar” John Kerry should be concerned about, and oppose.

According to Northwest River Partners, “the cost to replace lower Snake River dams’ capacity and energy while maintaining system reliability with natural gas would be $274 million to $372 million per year.”

“Fishy” Business In a March 2023 speech, President Biden rationalized removal of the dams in order to “bring healthy and abundant salmon runs back to the Columbia River system.”

Each year, wild salmon enter the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean and swim hundreds of miles upstream to spawn in the Snake River and some of its smaller tributaries.

Spawning occurs at different times of the year, depending on salmon species. Washington rivers have six different species of salmon: Chinook, Coho, pink, chum, Atlantic, and sockeye.

According to the United States Geological Survey: “Certain populations of sockeye, Coho, Chinook and Atlantic salmon are listed as endangered. Sockeye salmon from the Snake River system are probably the most endangered salmon. Coho salmon in the lower Columbia River may already be extinct. Salmon are not

endangered worldwide. For example, most populations in Alaska are healthy.”

Since the construction of the four dams in question, the federal government has spent $17 billion to support salmon populations and the fishing industry, constructing infrastructure including hatcheries that raise Chinook and Coho salmon, as well as enhancements to the dams, such as fish ladders, to improve the success of wild salmon migration. Collectively, the survival rate of steelhead and salmon migrating over the dams is above 90 percent.

Thus, it stands to reason the state of Washington has thriving commercial and recreational fishing industries. Washington has the largest system of salmon hatcheries in the world, with over 100 state, federal, and tribal facilities. Combined, these hatcheries generate more than 200 million fish each year, and produce the majority of all salmon caught in Washington.

State operated hatcheries alone account for approximately $70 million in total personal annual income from fishing.

With literally millions of salmon in the river system, a process was devised to identify hatchery raised fish, which are marked by clipping the adipose fin on hatchery raised Chinook or Coho salmon. This allows anglers to discern if a catch can be kept or released. Washington has a complex set of rules governing salmon fishing, including catch limits and species-specific required release of wild salmon in certain seasons and areas.

Salmon are Central to Native American Culture, but at What Cost?

According to an article from Tacoma news outlet, the News Tribune, a 2021 survey showed that 313,633 people in Washington identified as all or part Native, accounting for 4.1 percent of the total population.

Salmon are sacred to Pacific Northwest tribes, and are honored as one of the First Foods in tribal ceremonies. The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission website states: “In 1855, the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Yakama and Warm Springs tribes signed a treaty with the United States government to reserve, forever, their right to fish at all of their usual and accustomed places.”

Nevertheless, there is some disagreement in Native communities about the role of hatchery raised salmon in their culture.

On one hand, some maintain that hatchery fish are “treaty fish,” while others feel that, regardless of plentiful hatchery raised salmon in the river system, reduced populations of wild salmon create a “food justice” issue.

Further, while some Native entities have aligned with environmental extremists as a means to an end in their quest for dam removal, others appreciate the importance of hatcheries to their continued cultural preservation, and recognize the reality of the environmental extremist movement.

Lisa Wilson is a Lummi Indian Business Council member.

In 2021, she wrote: “There is no single known instance of a wild salmon or steelhead population going continued on page 11

January 15, 2024

SECRET BIDEN

Livestock Market Digest from pg 10

extinct while a local hatchery was producing the same stock. Meanwhile, several hundred unique West Coast populations have gone extinct in places where there are no local hatcheries.

There is no legal ground to challenge our hatchery programs, and yet we face the constant threat of litigation. Some organizations masquerade as conservation groups, seeking donations to help salmon recovery, then spend money on lawsuits against our treaty rights.

To make matters worse, we find ourselves having to compete for funding with these groups as tribes fight to solve a problem we didn’t create – to recover the fisheries that were promised to us in treaties.

If conservation groups really want to help recover salmon, they should invest time and money toward protecting and restoring habitat.

In the meantime, they should advocate for the hatcheries that provide sustainable numbers of salmon.”

In 2011 and 2014, during the Obama administration, two dams constructed in the early 1900s on Washington’s Elwha River were removed, mainly for the sake of salmon migration.

It was, to date, the largest dam removal in U.S. history. This begs the question: how much is enough?

The cultural significance of salmon to Native Americans is undeniable, but whether or not the migration of wild salmon will take precedence over the food and energy needs of the population as a whole remains to be seen. However, it is abundantly clear that salmon, which we reiterate are not endangered on a global level, are simply another pawn in the anti-human environmental extremist movement to deconstruct hundreds of years of human progress.

Idaho rancher and columnist Gus Brackett wrote in Ag Proud-Idaho: “In our drive to return ecosystems to their natural state, I have one reminder for our society: Nature can be very ugly. The natural world will spread its ugliness with the indifferent glee of a Yellowstone bison tossing an international tourist across a field. That is the thrill of nature; it is a chance to hone our prehistoric instincts from a time when everything around us would bite, sting, fight, poison or devour us.

Yes, nature is ugly, and that was why our forefathers worked so hard to tame nature. They eliminated threats we encounter daily.

They also tamed climatological threats like flooding, drought and famine, but it required dams on rivers.

We should be reluctant to remove these modern marvels. We should craft public policy that appreciates the society-enhancing advancements of the last 150 years.

We can listen to the ideas of environmentalists, but don’t implement their ridiculous public policy.”

At Protect The Harvest we believe in clean air, clean water, conserving nature’s beauty, geographic diversity, properly stewarding the nation’s resourc-

es, and properly providing for flora, fauna, and people. We also believe in A Free and Fed America™ in which backroom federal government deals to achieve ideological goals without input from “we the people” is considered a dereliction of the federal government’s duty and obligation to represent all Americans.

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Page 11

By-Product Value COURTESY OF LIVESTOCK MARKETING INFORMATION CENTER & FEEDLOT MAGAZINE

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ver the last two months, by-product values for steers, cows, and hogs have been trending generally lower. This year, the steer hide and offal value started around $14 per cwt and moved below $13 per cwt by the end of June. In July, the steer hide and offal value began to trend higher, reaching about $13.70 per cwt by late-September, but the value has moderated lower over the last two months. Last week’s steer hide and offal value was $11.89 per cwt, down $2.43 per cwt, or 17 percent, from the same week last year. Recent lower trend in the steer

hide and offal value is due to lower values for livers (-30 percent), tripe (-16 percent), tongues (-32 percent), and tallow (-31 percent).

During 2023, the cow by-product value has tracked below 2022 levels except for a few weeks in April and May. The highest value for the year was $13.94 per cwt in mid-October. Since that point, the cow by-product value has moved lower. Last week’s cow by-product value was $12.54 per cwt, a decrease of $1.40 per cwt, or down 11 percent, over the last two months. The lower cow by-product value is due to lower values for bonemeal, which was 376 per cwt last week, compared to $443 per cwt in early October. Over the last two months, values for scalded tripe have fallen 24 percent while the value for honeycomb tripe was down 42 percent. Since early October, the value for bonemeal has fallen 43 percent.

The hog by-product value remained relatively flat from April through September with values ranging from $5.15 to $5.38 per cwt, averaging $5.26 per cwt. During October, the hog by-product value increased from $5.20 per cwt at the start of the month to $5.37 per cwt by the end of the month. The hog by-product value continued to move higher during November, and by the end of the month, the value had reached $5.54 per cwt, the highest value since late January. Over the last three weeks, the hog by-product value has fallen $0.25 per cwt (-4.5 percent). The value of bonemeal has been a factor pressuring the hog by-product lower as those values have gone from $450 per cwt in November to last week’s value of $364 per cwt, a decline of 19 percent in less than five weeks.

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Livestock Market Digest

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