LMD June 2022

Riding Herd Saying things that need to be said.

June 15, 2022 • www.aaalivestock.com

Volume 64 • No. 6

Cowboy Checkers LEE PITTS

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s a kid I frequently played checkers with my genius older brother who graduated #3 in his class from West Point and then went to MIT. Needless to say, I NEVER beat my brother. The only concession I insisted upon was that I got the red checkers, red being my favorite color. It’s a lot like ranchers who still insist on raising red cattle when they know that blacks almost always “win.”

A statistician or theorist might conclude that I lost because I chose red and that if I really wanted to win I should have chosen the black checkers. But I didn’t lose at checkers because I chose red, I got beat because my brother is smarter than me.

According to a recent survey of feedlot managers we are witnessing the same phenomenon in the cattle business. Research confirms that black-hided feeder cattle generally receive premiums ranging from $1.80 to more than $4 per cwt compared to other hide-color lots sold at auction. But is hide color really a reliable measure of an animal’s worth? According to a vast majority of feedlot managers determining the merits of a fatted calf by the outer one-eighth of an inch of hide is a poor way to determine the value of a carcass.

Full Disclosure

NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING

First of all, I should admit my bias. Angus breeders should know that I’m not “taking a shot at them” in this story. Every Grand Champion steer I owned came from a registered Angus ranch and when I invested in my first breeding stock I bought

registered Angus cattle. Keep in mind that this was at a time when Angus cattle were definitely NOT the hot item they are today. Later my commercial cow herd would be largely Angus. So, Angus breeders, be

Red Angus CEO Tom Brink, “was to gather information, opinions and attitudes about how cattle feeders view the emphasis on color in the feeder cattle and calf market.” There were 252 respondents and 85

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

patient with me and read all the way to the end and you’ll realize that the Black Angus breed will also be better off if we move away from hide color as a way of establishing value.

Who’s Who? Beginning in October 2021 and finishing in February of this year, the Red Angus Association surveyed cattle feeders and other beef industry participants via phone and email and asked them to respond to eight simple statements. “The objective of the survey,” according to the

percent of the total were cattle feeders. The others were order buyers, auction managers or industry experts. The combined feeding capacity they own and/ or manage exceeds 5.4 million head, representing between 35 percent and 40 percent of the industry’s aggregate capacity.

Feedlots ranged in size from 1,000 to over 100,000 head and the average feedlot size was 28,130 head.

The survey data that was gathered was then analyzed by Tom Brink, CEO, Red Angus Association, Dr. Elliott Dennis,

Saving the Last Cattle Drive: Victory at Last!

SOURCE: MOUNTAIN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION

T

he ranchers and cowboys who ride Wyoming’s Upper Green River Drift offer a living connection to the history of the West. But several radical environmentalist groups and their lawyers tried to shut down America’s most historic remaining cattle drive. They filed a lawsuit in federal court (Center for Biological Diversity v. Haaland), hoping to ban ranchers from this historic range land.

On May 17, 2022 United States District Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal dismissed the case. As a result, these hard-working ranchers ride with the knowledge that their next cattle drive is on the horizon.

The Green River Drift cattle drive takes place every year on one of the most storied and dramatic landscapes of the American West.

On the very edge of the Continental Divide, it unfolds like a scene from one of Hollywood’s classic Westerns. There, among the high desert mesas of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, cowboys drive several thousand head of cattle back to their ranches, over some of the most splendid country there ever was.

The route and manner of the cattle drive are largely unchanged since the 1800’s, and it is operated by the descendants of the families of continued on page 4

Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Dr. Derrell Peel, Charles Breedlove Professor of Agribusiness, Oklahoma State University and Dr. Ted Schroeder, University Distinguished Professor, Kansas State University. All are highly respected in the livestock industry.

And The Survey Says...

The survey made eight simple statements and then asked those responding whether they agreed or disagreed. The first statement was: “Hide color significantly affects prices paid for different groups of U.S. feeder cattle.” A whopping 95 percent said they agreed, two percent said they were unsure and the remaining three percent said they disagreed.

Statement #2: “Black-hided feeder cattle and calves frequently bring a higher price than non-black-hided cattle of equal weight, quality, sex and health history.” Again, a whopping majority (94 percent) agreed, three percent were unsure and three percent disagreed.

Statement #3” “Black-hided feeder cattle are superior to noncontinued on page 2 black cattle of equal weight, sex

Ukraine Crisis Reveals the Folly of Organic Farming As food prices skyrocket, the world needs to admit it can’t live without modern, efficient agriculture.

BY BJORN LOMBORG / WALL STREET JOURNAL

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he energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine disabused many politicians of the notion that the world could make a swift transition to green energy powered by solar, wind and wishful thinking. As food prices skyrocket and the conflict threatens a global food crisis, we need to face another unpopular reality: Organic farming is ineffective, land hungry and very expensive, and it would leave billions hungry if it were embraced world-wide.

For years, politicians and the chattering classes have argued that organic farming is the responsible way to feed the world. The European Union pushed last year for members roughly to triple organic farming by 2030. Influential nonprofits have long promoted organic farming to developing nations, causing fragile countries like Sri Lanka to invest in such methods. In the West, many consumers have been won over: About half the population of Germany believes that organic farming can fight global hunger.

The rise in food prices—buoyed by incontinued on page 4

by LEE PITTS

Losing Ground

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ver since I subscribed to my first livestock periodical at the age of 15, my favorite section to read has always been the ranch real estate ads because to me, dirt is the secret to prosperity and happiness.

Land is a much better investment than cattle because land doesn’t run away or die from anaplasmosis.

I’ve always dreamed of owning my own ranch, one that would pencil out and could be paid for with the cattle I raised. Alas, I’m 70 years old and the only land I’ve ever owned is under my house and on the bottom of my boots. Along the way I used up a lot of Ticonderoga #2 pencils trying to find a place that would pay for itself.

I used a variety of formulas to find a ranch that would “pencil,” such as the ranch should be worth twice the value of the cattle it would carry. The only place I ever found that penciled out was in the Malpais borderlands that would starve a saguaro cactus to death. It was also on the Mexican border and I’m glad I didn’t pull the trigger on that deal because it’s now a jumping-off point for illegal aliens and drug smugglers. No wonder it was what’s known in the trade as “an oleo ranch”... a cheap spread.

Okay, I admit I did place a couple parameters that made it harder to find a place of my own. Although I absolutely love places like Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska, I’m a bit of a weenie and could never survive their winters. I also didn’t want a public lands ranch because that would mean I’d have the government for a landlord and I’d rather be boiled alive, have recurring kidney stones, or be kicked in the groin, than to have that band of misfits, crooks, weirdos, freaks and screwballs in Washington DC have such control over me.

By the way, according to the infamous western figure, Tom Horn, being kicked in the groin is one way to gain ground. “You want some land,” he asked, “I’ll kick you in the @#$%& and you’ll have a couple achers.” (At the age of 43 Horn acquired his own plot of ground in Boulder, Colorado, after he was hung for allegedly killing a kid.)

continued on page 3

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Livestock Market Digest

June 15, 2022

COWBOY

Our greatest tradition is innovation.

Justin Ware

continued from page 1

and health history.” Three quarters of respondents agreed, 12 percent were unsure and the remaining 13 percent disagreed. Similar perspectives were found across feedlot size and feedlot location.

Statement #4: “During the past 25 years, emphasis on black-hided animals has helped the beef industry advance in a positive direction relative to overall feeder cattle quality and value.” Seventy three percent agreed, 17 percent were unsure and 10 percent disagreed. Feedlots located in the Northern Plains agreed less with this statement (68 percent) compared to those located in the Southern Plains (77 percent).

Statement #5: “For the beef industry to continue improving its overall cattle quality and value, hide color must remain an important price-determining factor in the U.S. feeder cattle market.” Here is the first indication that picking cattle by their color (or checkers because they’re red) may not be the most intelligent way to do business in the future. Seventy-one percent DISAGREED with this statement, 18 percent were unsure and only 11 percent agreed. In other words, the cattle feeders are not satisfied with the status quo of continuing to pick cattle by their color.

In responding to these answers the economists said, “Hide color is not considered a useful indicator that the beef industry can depend upon for continued improvement in feeder cattle quality and value. This sentiment was similar across feedlot location and geography.”

Statement #6: “For the beef industry to continue improving its overall cattle quality and value, hide color should be replaced with more objective genetic criteria as a key price-determining factor(s) in the U.S. feeder cattle market.” Ninety-two percent of the cattle feeders surveyed agreed with this statement, six percent were unsure and only two percent disagreed, indicating that selection by hide color will not be the way we do business in the future.

Statement #7: “Use of specific genetic or genomic information on groups of feeder cattle would be preferable to hide color as an important price determinant in the feeder cattle market.” Eightyeight percent agreed with this statement while only 3 percent disagreed.

Finally, statement #8 was, “Specific genetic or genomic information on groups of feeder cattle more strongly correlates to actual feeding and carcass results than does hide color.” Ninety three percent agreed with this statement, 6.6 percent were unsure and only four-tenths of one percent disagreed.

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One constant amongst the cattle feeders was that they were “quick to credit the Certified Angus Beef program, along with various marketing efforts by the American Angus Association, for the favorable impact and beef quality mindset their work brought to the industry. Beef demand is better today, and cattle quality has improved significantly over time, because of Certified Angus Beef and the ripple effect it created throughout the beef business,” said the cattle feeders. “Almost every black calf born in the U.S., whether it contains Angus influence or not, has the potential to qualify for Certified Angus Beef, or similar programs requiring a black hide for initial eligibility.”

Special programs, like CAB, are a subject that Tom Brink, CEO of the Red Angus Association and author of the study, knows a lot about because he spent 14 years in the cattle feeding business in various leadership positions at JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding and ContiBeef. He also served as President and COO of J & F Oklahoma Holdings, Inc., the cattle ownership sister company to Five Rivers. Brink has overseen feeder cattle procurement and risk management for a cattle-feeding business that handled over 1.6 million head per year. In September 2013, Brink used his years of experience and knowledge to start Top Dollar Angus, which is a certification program for commercial feeder cattle focused exclusively on Angus and Red Angus-based cattle with top 25 percent growth and carcass traits.

Back to the survey: “Cattle feeders and other survey respondents believe the current hide-color emphasis has endured past its point of greatest value and needs to be replaced. They seek a more objective market. A market that establishes prices with little or no influence from hide color. They want valuation and pricing decisions based on value-oriented, objectively-determined attributes, such as genetic potential for growth, efficiency and carcass performance.

“Cattle performance, efficiency and carcass quality have little or nothing to do with the color of an animal’s hide. Good, mediocre and poor cattle come in all colors and combinations of colors, which makes predicting outcomes based on the animal’s color difficult at best,” said those surveyed. “We cannot stay focused on superficial traits while the world around us, including our competitors, measure and improve real value attributes in their products every day. It is time to move beyond hide color. The time has come to change the way we value cattle at the fundamental market interface between ranchers and feedlots.”

Spray Painted Black “Weaning and health status will obviously remain critically important in the future,” according to the survey, “as will flesh condition, implant history and program qualification (Natural, NHTC, GAP, Beef C.A.R.E and others). However, when it comes to using hide color and what color attempts to predict, respondents are ready to move on.”

A Kansas feedlot manager commented, “Black cattle are not even black Angus anymore.” One feeder said he gets a lot of “spray painted blacks.” That’s why focusing on hide color could be an impediment to the industry’s future. “The point here is there cannot be an undistracted focus on improving traits of real value with hide color playing an influential role in price discovery. Market signals about the importance of such traits becomes mixed with noise and static concerning the essentialness of color. The result is a partially obscured market signal that slows the industry’s genetic progress and may reduce advances in other value-creating characteristics as

June 15, 2022 well.”

Another cattle feeder participant responded, “Going in the direction of genetics would be beneficial to producers and cattle feeders. It would open doors for both.” Speaking from the consumer’s point of view, an Oklahoma cattle feeder said, “No one cares about the color of the hide when they’re eating a steak.”

According to the survey, “DNA-based information to aid production and marketing of feeder cattle will continue to advance, likely becoming routinely feasible, and may reduce the reliance on phenotypic characteristics such as hide color in determining cattle value. Commercial enterprises have recognized this potential and introduced products and programs to quantify this information ($Beef, Top Dollar Angus®, Angus Link® GMS, Igenity Beef® scores, Inherit and others). These tests rely on Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs), $Indexes and/or genomics. Further genetic testing will likely first enhance and then move beyond EPDs as well as phenotypic characteristics.”

When cattle feeders were asked what kind of cattle they like to buy in the past they have answered, “predictable.” But predictability is elusive and an ongoing challenge. How a given group of feeder cattle will perform in the feedlot and carcass-wise is hard to project, especially when hide color and limited other information is all that is available. One Texas cattle feeder summarized this thought, when he said, “All black means anymore is black.”

Hide color is not acceptably predictive.

Sticks And Stones For this writer the most fascinating part of the survey was the section that included comments received from the feedlot managers. Some will make you snicker but the majority should make you think.

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Packers are too biased toward black hided cattle.

It’s the CAB premium

Livestock Market Digest that drives it.

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We get no assurance at all with hide color. Blacks are not blacks anymore.

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A black hide does not mean a $#&@*?! thing.

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Hide color has more influence on price than it should have. It’s hurt us with health.

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Not all black cattle are equal. Black does not mean Angus.

There’s been so much emphasis on carcass merit that health has suffered.

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There’s been an over-emphasis on black and an under emphasis on quality.

We have lost some hybrid vigor and health to get a hide color.

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Hide color has helped the industry, but now it should become about genetics.

Blacks can’t handle the heat like the reds and Chars.

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Some blacks are so mongrelized it may affect the consumer’s eating experience.

There’s three months out of the year when I’d rather not feed a black one.

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It’s about a lot more than hide color. Just the other day I had a set of blacks grade 50 percent Choice and a set of Mexican Char crosses that went 70 percent Choice.

Blacks can’t take the summertime down here.

Hurts their conversions.

Red crosses are more adaptable..

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We may have pushed carcass genetics to the point of hurting health. Don’t forget about health, it has gotten worse in the past 5 to 10 years.

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I do pay more for black, but genetics only play one part. Condition, age, vaccination, group size also play as big of an impact as genetics.

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Quality grade is what’s essential.

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There is too much of this “they’re all black” stuff. I want to know what I’m actually buying.

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We try to buy 75 percent black because we sell on the grid. It’s not right, but it is what it is.

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CAB is being watered down with inclusion of black anythings.

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Cheater blacks are not where it’s at.

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Lots of black cattle piggy-backing on CAB. Many are not that great; some not worth a flip.

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Big strides in genetics have been made. Health is getting worse.

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We see health issues with the long-day blacks. Not as much with the crosses.

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We’ve created some sorry blacks along the way. Genomics will sort it out in the future.

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We can get cattle to grade.

The future is going to be about increased feed efficiency.

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HERD

continued from page 1

My last restriction on buying a ranch was that I didn’t want to have to mollycoddle and babysit a bunch of hunters, fishermen, dudes or dudettes just to make ends meet. No Air BNB’s or “glamping” for me.

Of course, I could have taken the easy way out and married a rancher’s daughter and I have noticed that the more land a rancher owns the prettier his daughter is, but I couldn’t help it that the only woman I’ve ever loved was just as land poor as me.

I suppose the real reason I never bought a ranch was because of all the ranchers I’ve met over the years I’d say about 90 percent of them were rich but broke. Poor but loaded. Busted but wealthy. They might have a net worth of ten million dollars but didn’t have two nickels to rub together because it was all tied up in their ranch. They are land-locked into a path of poverty. A ranch couple might only vacation once a year and that’s when they go to Cheyenne or Winnemucca for a video sale to watch their calves sell.

Some people say that all land is good for is holding the world

A New Game Even the black Angus breed will be better off when we move beyond hide color because the strengths of the Angus breed will become even more pronounced and feedlot managers will be able to buy with confidence that what they are buying are real Angus and not “spray painted blacks.”

In the beginning of this story I tried to create an analogy between red and black checkers with what is going on in the cattle business. But it is clear after reading this survey that we aren’t playing checkers anymore as the cattle business has become more of a chess game.

(I never beat my brother at that either.)

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What Is The Best Advertising Value In Western Livestock Industry?

together but I think it’s the best store of value there is. Certainly better than Bitcoin. So I’ve continued to dream about ranches in never-ever-land from seven to $775 million and in the meantime they’re getting more and more out of my price range.

The price of ranch land in Texas went up 29 percent last year alone! Astute land-grabbing tech billionaires like Bill Gates and John Malone are fueling the rise.

In hindsight, I should have just bought a place because I doubt that ranch land has ever penciled out. Even when Florida sold for 17 cents an acre or when we paid Mexico 34 cents an acre for Arizona and New Mexico, I bet you’d break a bunch of pencils trying to find a way to make it pay with cattle.

Meanwhile, all I’ve been doing is losing ground. www.LeePittsbooks.com

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Page 4 continued from page 1

homesteaded the area and began the cattle drive in the 19th century.

The Green River Drift is the oldest continuously used cattle drive in Wyoming, if not the entire country. It has a special cultural importance. So much so that it is officially recognized as a “Traditional Cultural Property” on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only Traditional Cultural Property devoted to ranching and Western stock raising culture.

Mountain States Legal Foundation filed and was granted a motion to intervene in the case in order to defend the rights of these American ranchers to access federal land, as they have for generations, and to protect the legacy of the people who built the West.

MSLF attorneys are fighting to ensure America’s most storied cattle drive lives on Against all evidence of this long history, radical environmentalist groups filed a lawsuit, falsely claiming that these grazing practices, which have been practiced soundly for well over a century, will

harm grizzly bear populations clude the Upper Green Rivin violation of the Endangered er Cattle Association and the Species Act. Wyoming Stock Growers AssoIn reality, grizzly populations ciation, as well as several famin the region have recovered to ily ranches: The Price Cattle the extent that Fish & Wild- Ranch, Murdock Land & Livelife Service officials have twice stock Co., and Sommers Ranch, recommended that the Greater LLC. Yellowstone Grizzly be removed Love for the land is close to from the endangered species the heart of these ranchers. The list, most recently in 2017. And “land ethic” is a part of this histhere is no evidence that the toric way of life. So it comes as cattle drive harms grizzly pop- no surprise that the Sommers ulations.

Ranch won the Leopold ConThe only thing that was en- servation Award in 2012 for dangered there is the ability of their remarkable stewardship of ranchers to earn a living—along Wyoming’s Upper Green River with a critically important piece Valley. of our nation’s history.

These families have cared for Our clients in this case in- the land far longer and far bet-

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Livestock Market Digest

cont from page 1

creased fertilizer, energy and transport costs—amid the conflict in Ukraine has exposed inherent flaws in the argument for organic farming. Because organic agriculture shirks many of the scientific advancements that have allowed farmers to increase crop yields, it’s inherently less efficient than conventional farming. Research has conclusively shown that organic farming produces less food per acre than conventional agriculture. Moreover, organic farming rotates fields in and out of use more often than conventional farming, which can rely on synthetic fertilizer and pesticides to maintain fertility and keep away pests.

Taking this and the lower production in a given field into account, organic farming produces between 29 percent and 44 percent less food than conventional methods. It therefore requires as much as 78 percent more land than conventional agriculture and the food produced costs 50 percent more— all while generating no measurable increase in human health or animal welfare.

This higher cost is untenable in developing nations, and it was irresponsible for activists in wealthy economies to push inefficient farming methods on them. Nowhere is this tragedy more obvious than Sri Lanka, where the imposition of organics has been calamitous. President Mahinda Rajapaksa ran for election in 2019 promising a transition to organic food production. This policy produced nothing but misery. The eschewing of fertilizer caused rice production to drop by 20 percent in the first six months after the switch to organic farming was implemented. Last winter, farmers predicted that tea yields could fall by as much as 40 percent. Food prices rose; the cost of vegetables quintupled. Protests finally forced Sri Lanka mostly to give up its or-

June 15, 2022 ter than any agency or activist has. The Green River Drift provides 124 years of evidence that ranchers are the real conservationists.

Despite Wyoming ranchers’ long, documented record as faithful stewards of the land, there are radical environmentalists who have decided they will never stop their legal attacks until all public lands ranching is destroyed in this country. This lawsuit is only the latest of their efforts to harm ranchers.

These ranchers are the folks who put food on Americans’ tables. We must do all we can to defend them. And we must also preserve this important part of

our cultural history.

MSLF’s faithful supporters stand beside our clients, including Charles Price of the Price Ranch, Albert Sommers of the Sommers Ranch, and Jeannie Lockwood of Murdock Land & Livestock, defending them from the environmental extremists’ attack.

Ranchers have a right to make a living off the land, as they have for generations.

MSLF attorneys are fighting to make sure the Forest Service’s decision to authorize grazing in this region is upheld and America’s most storied cattle drive lives on.

ganic foray this past winter, too late to rescue much of this year’s crop.

Sri Lanka’s example underscores the irresponsibility of organics. Organic farming rejects synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, but there is currently far from enough organic nitrogen to feed the world. It turns out that synthetic nitrogen is directly responsible for feeding four billion people, more than half the world’s population.

Wealthy consumers can take the related price increases, but many poor households in the developing world spend more than half their income on food.

Every one percent hike in food prices tips another 10 million people into global poverty. Advocating for global organics implicitly means suggesting that billions should forgo food.

It is easier to ignore these inconvenient details when food shortages aren’t in the headlines, but the war in Ukraine has put world hunger on everyone’s mind. Russia and Ukraine normally provide more than a quarter of the world’s exported wheat and significant supplies of corn, vegetable oil and barley.

Almost a third of global potash, a potassium-rich product crucial for plant growth, comes from Russia and Belarus and most is likely subject to sanctions. Russia also produces eight percent of the world’s nitrogen, the price of which had already more than tripled over the two years before the invasion. Most nitrogen is made from fossil fuels, and many factories have had to stop production as the pandemic and climate policies have raised the price of nonrenewable energy.

And it doesn’t help food prices that the costs of transport have more than doubled since the pandemic began.

The result will be devastation.

Rising fertilizer prices could decrease rice yields by 10 percent in the next season, leading to a drop in food production equivalent to what could feed half a

billion people.

Policy makers and nonprofits must urgently focus on ways to produce more food for the world’s poorest at less cost. Genetic engineering, better pest management and more irrigation would go a long way toward increasing yields. Ramping up the production of artificial fertilizer, as well as considering removing regulation that makes its fossil-fuel inputs more expensive, will also help. These simple, common-sense approaches can curb price hikes, avoid hunger and even help the environment.

Agriculture already uses 40 percentof the ice-free land on the earth. Increasing its efficiency will allow us to keep more land wild and natural.

It’s time to let go of this self-indulgent obsession with organics and focus on scientific and effective approaches that can feed the planet.

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Bjorn Lomborg is president of the Copenhagen Consensus and Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. His latest book is “False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet.”

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Livestock Market Digest

SGBI Honors Hall of Fame Inductees

S

anta Gertrudis Breeders International (SGBI) hosted its 2022 Annual Meeting in April in Lexington, Kentucky. Honoring the SGBI Hall of Fame inductees is always a highlight of the annual event. This year’s inductees, who were recognized for their contributions to SGBI and the Santa Gertrudis breed, were Hoover Case, Dr. Porter Rodgers and Diana Ruiz.

Hoover Case For 30-plus years, Hoover Case of Marshfield, MO, has been the voice on the block for the Santa Gertrudis breed. His distinctive chant, pleasant personality and occasional admonishments to the ol’ boys who come up one bid short have made him a favorite with Santa Gertrudis breeders from coast to coast.

Case has dedicated most of his life to auctioneering purebred cattle. His father, Willis Case, founded the Case Auction Company in 1939. Willis’ knowledge of farm real estate along with his farm equipment and livestock knowledge helped establish Case Auction Company as the farm real estate specialists in southern Missouri.

However, it was in 1966 when 16-year-old Case stepped into the sale ring with his Charolais heifer at the American Royal Charolais Sale that he knew he wanted a career as an auctioneer; but not just an auctioneer, he wanted to be a purebred livestock auctioneer.

Following graduation from Missouri State University in 1970, Case joined his father as a partner in Case Auction Company, launching the purebred livestock sales division. Over the years, Case Auction Services evolved into a nationally recognized company, providing marketing, auctioneering and sale management services for purebred livestock operations across the United Sates.

A life-threating bout with bacterial meningitis in 1993 left Case paralyzed, but it did not dampen his desire to market seedstock, especially purebred Santa Gertrudis cattle.

Case became heavily involved with the breed, selling high-profile events including the King Ranch 150th Anniversary Sale, Briggs Ranches sales and the Alabama Connection Sale. He has sold Santa Gertrudis sales, big and small, working to get the most for the seller, all the while making sure each bidder had an equal opportunity to purchase the animal of their choice.

In addition to marketing Santa Gertrudis cattle, Case has supported numerous breed events and activities and is quick to share the breed’s successes with cattlemen nationwide. Hoover and his wife, Susan, continue to operate Case Real Estate in Marshfield, Mo. In 2020, The Livestock Marketeers, a fraternity of livestock fieldmen, auctioneers and sale managers, inducted Case into their Hall of Fame during the organization’s 55th Annual Banquet.

A Hall of Fame Livestock Auctioneer deserves recognition from a breed he has served so well over the years. Late last year, the Santa Gertrudis Breeders International Board of Directors named Hoover Case

as an inductee into the Santa Gertrudis Breeders International Hall of Fame, recognizing him for his years of service to the breed and its members.

Dr. Porter Rodgers Porter Rodgers, M.D., Santa Gertrudis herd No. 517, understood the importance of breeding cattle that fit the industry and was an early proponent of measuring, collecting and submitting performance data.

During his tenure as SGBI pres-

378 offspring in the herdbook.

Joining Winrock Farms, J.B. Hunt and Pat Reeves, Rodgers Farm was part of the successful Razorback Classic Sale that quickly became a premier sale event. The sale also served as the foundation for numerous field days and educational events that provided Rodgers with a platform to spread his message of profitable performance.

Elected SGBI president in 1983, Rodgers took a leave of absence from his success-

Clockwise from top: Hoover Case; Dr. Porter Rodgers: Diana Ruiz. .

ident (1983-1985), the association laid the foundation for the breed’s first expected progeny differences (EPDs).

Rodgers’ operation, located in McRae, AR, consisted of a purebred herd numbering 300 head and 300 commercial females. Rodgers utilized the performance information collected on the purebred herd to improve the commercial operation and vice versa. He regularly sent cattle to the feedlot, studied the performance results and made breeding decisions based on those results, confirming the cattle being produced on his operation performed for all members of the beef industry.

Not only did Rodgers stress the importance of profitable performance domestically, but he also shared his performance-based message with breeders from Argentina, Brazil and South Africa.

In addition to Rodgers’ focus on performance, his herd’s success in the show ring attracted the attention of Santa Gertrudis breeders worldwide. A notable female, Stretch’s Toot-Toot 39/4, calved in January 1984, remains one of the breed’s most decorated show animals. The Rodgers Farm bull St. Nick 183/3 had an extremely successful show career, was an early growth trait leader and became one of the breed’s more prolific sires during the 1980s, placing

ful medical practice in Searcy, AR, and traveled extensively, promoting Santa Gertrudis cattle.

During his tenure as president, Rodgers and his wife, Carol, attended field days, shows and sales across the United States, as well as the Santa Gertrudis World Congress. In 1983 alone, he attended 13 SGBI point shows. Always a supporter of youth activities, Rodgers made sure his farm gates were always open for junior exhibitors traveling to and from shows. His pleasant personality, combined with his love for the breed, made Rodgers an extremely popular president. His drive, leadership and vision resulted in extraordinary growth for the association.

His passion for Santa Gertrudis cattle was infectious and, in 1983, registrations increased by 3,000 head.

SGBI Board member, association president, breed ambassador and visionary are just a few of the words that describe Dr. Porter Rodgers. Recognizing his impact on the breed and association, Dr. Porter Rodgers has been named a member of the Santa Gertrudis Breeders International Hall of Fame.

Diana Ruiz Four decades ago, life looked a little different than it does today. For example, SGBI didn’t have its own computer. Also back then, genetic selection using expected progeny differences (EPDs) was in its infancy and had not yet experienced widespread implementation. Yes,

Page 5 things were done a little differently 43 years ago, but, through it all, one constant for the association and its loyal Santa Gertrudis breeders has been Diana Ruiz, SGBI registration and member services specialist.

Ruiz joined SGBI as a key punch operator in 1978. Since SGBI didn’t have its own computer in those days, she would enter information such as new cattle registrations or transfers on a cassette tape before taking it to a local company in downtown Kingsville to be processed.

Over the years, Ruiz has worn many hats at the association. Through it all, the highlight has been building relationships with breeders from coast to coast.

“I have made numerous lifelong friends through past and present employees and our wonderful membership,” she says. “I am so grateful to have been a part of this association for as long as I have.”

When you’ve been around Santa Gertrudis breeders as

long as Ruiz, you have a frontrow seat to watch as families grow and the next generation of breeders become association leaders.

“Another highlight is to see these young breeders, for example, Wes McDaniel and Yancey Strait, who started out as juniors, ended up on the SGBI Board and then as SGBI presidents, and now their children are showing,” she shares.

With decades of experience, Ruiz is the go-to person at the association, and SGBI members are quick to sing her praises.

“Diana’s loyalty to the SGBI

family is second-to-none,” says Gene Kubecka, Wendt Ranches, Bay City, TX. “If there is an issue and you want to get the correct answer, Diana is the person at the SGBI office with the knowledge to get it figured out.”

Delmo Payne, Grandview Farms, Hamilton, AL, shares similar sentiments as he reflects on his experiences working with Ruiz since 1986.

“Since I was a new purebred breeder in the ‘80s, Diana quickly became my go-to girl,” Payne shares. “I am sure I had many stupid questions in the old days, but after talking with Diana, I felt perfectly comfortable that the issue would be handled, and she never made me feel uncomfortable. Many breeders across the country feel the same way.”

Ruiz has worked with eight executive directors during her career; most recently with Webb Fields who joined the association as executive director in 2020.

“Initially, it was a real comfort for me coming on board knowing that I had someone with 40-plus years of institutional knowledge on staff,” Fields says. “Diana has served as a real security blanket for me and a resource no matter the situation as she has served in about every role over the years and seen just about every situation you can image.”

It’s certain that things look different at SGBI now than they did 43 years ago: SGBI now has more than one computer in its office, EPDs have become standard, and association staff and leadership have come and gone.

But through all the ups and downs, Ruiz has served the association and its members with excellence (and a smile), and for that SGBI and its members are forever grateful.

In recognition of her longtime service and countless contributions to the association and its members, Diana Ruiz has been named a member of the Santa Gertrudis Breeders International Hall of Fame.

▫

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June 15, 2022

Page 6

Livestock Market Digest

Locking Up Forests For Carbon Storage Not So Clear Cut

BY NICK SMITH / HEALTHY FORESTS HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

O

f the 193 million acres of National Forest System (NFS) lands, less than half (45 percent) are unreserved and available for forest management and timber harvest.

The rest are either permanently set aside as Congressionally-designated wilderness areas or national monuments or are “inventoried roadless areas” where management is prohibitive.

For a coalition of anti-forestry groups, that 45 percent is too much. They are pressuring the Biden Administration to effectively ban logging on NFS lands under the guise of protecting “old and mature forests” even though there are not any universally or scientifically-accepted definitions of what “old” or “mature” trees are.

According to the coalition’s web site, these forests are “essential to removing climate pollution and storing carbon, safeguarding wildlife, and providing clean drinking water for our communities.” Considering that more than half of NFS lands is already off-limits, would simply “letting trees grow” truly achieve that vision?

Forests are dynamic, not static, ecosystems. Such a policy means we would walk away from our national forests and hope insects, disease, mortality, and catastrophic wildfires don’t destroy the resources, wildlife, and communities we’re trying to protect.

We’ve already seen the results of what happens when we don’t manage our forests. Between 1952 and 2016, timber harvest has decreased 80 percent, while net growth has decreased 46 percent, and tree mortality has increased more than 223 percent!

When it comes to climate change, researchers are finding that simply walking away from the forest is not so clear cut.

California has lost 1.1 million metric tons of stored carbon to drought, wildfires and invasive pests between 2018 and 2019 alone. Researchers at UC Berkeley found that current climate projections will require a significant reduction in tree density for forests to be considered “resilient” to intense disturbances such as droughts and wildfires.

They say California may need to revise its forest carbon policy because forests in the future will likely not serve as major carbon sinks without intervention.

“It would take more stewardship, more prescribed burning, more proactive mechanical restoration treatments, and more managed wildfire in remote areas to keep fuel hazards down and maintain the ability of those forests to survive wildfire and other processes,” said Scott Stephens, professor of fire science. “But without intervention and maintenance, we will continue to experience terrible wildfires and their impacts.”

Simply letting trees grow may not help wildlife either.

Researchers at the University of Vermont recently found that managing only for mature stands of trees fails to provide critical habitat for sensitive wildlife species. They call for a mosaic of diverse forest habitats, or patchwork, as a way of creating a resilient landscape that is better adapted to climate change.

“Wildlife that require early successional habitats in the Northeast include nearly 90 different kinds of birds, mammals, reptiles, and insects, many of which are ‘species of greatest conservation need,’” said Jim Oehler, Wildlife Habitat Program supervisor for New Hampshire’s Fish and Game Department. “Strategic, carefully planned and carried out forest management is critical to restoring and maintaining healthy populations of these species, particularly in light of climate change.”

This, in combination with a mix of wildlife habitat across the landscape, would compensate for the trade-off of not pursuing maximum carbon storage, these researchers say.

There is also science to suggest that although large trees sequester carbon at a faster rate than small trees on an individual basis, their contribution to carbon sequestration rates is smaller on an area basis. In other words, an acre of young, fast-growing trees is capable of sequestering more carbon than an acre of old, slow-growing trees in any given timeframe.

Given the science, if the solution to climate change is to maximize the carbon sequestration capacity of our nation’s forests, we should pursue policies that encourage the sustainable harvest of trees, the storage of their carbon in wood products, and the replanting of young trees in their place.

We don’t have to stand by as tree mortality, wildfires and carbon emissions increase. Rather than setting aside more public land from forest management, a better option is to maintain the cycle of forestry- the continuous planting, growing and harvesting- that results in net zero carbon emissions and discourages the conversion of forests to non-forests.

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June 15, 2022

McKendree Five Myths Hired to of Civil Serve as Forfeiture Office Operations very year, federCoordinator al, state, and local

BY DAN GREENBERG / COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

T

he American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) is excited to announce the addition of Margo McKendree to the AGA team as office operations coordinator.

McKendree, a native of Lincoln, Nebraska, is a graduate of University of Nebraska at Kearney, and holds a Bachelor of Science in organizational and relational communications, a degree she plans to put to work for AGA. “As I was reading the job description of the Association’s needs, I felt like my experience and education fit well – I felt like I really had the opportunity to help fill those needs,” she says. “I am already learning new things every day and that is exciting.”

In her office operations coordinator role, McKendree will organize and process accounts payable and accounts receivable, assist members and AGA stakeholders with the AGA online registry, and assist the executive director in administrative tasks.

When she isn’t helping the AGA office, McKendree enjoys traveling and exploring nearby states.

“Margo brings a wealth of experience in office administration, and she will be a complimentary fit to the skilled staff at the AGA,” says Megan Slater, AGA executive director. “We are excited to have her join the team as we move forward serving Gelbvieh and Balancer® stakeholders in today’s modern beef industry.”

E

government agents take—and permanently keep—billions of dollars of Americans’ property through civil forfeiture. The practice of civil forfeiture is deeply embedded in the nation’s economic and political system. It creates significant benefits for interest groups within government, such as policy makers, police officers, and prosecutors. Forfeiture reduces the taxes that policy makers would otherwise have to levy and captures funds for public safety budgets that law enforcement officials would otherwise have to pursue through legislative appropriations.

There is a fundamental tension between the government’s use of civil forfeiture and the rights of its citizens. Civil forfeiture allows police officers to seize property, and that seizure only requires probable cause for law enforcement officers to claim that the seized property is related to a crime. Prosecutors then can shift the ownership of the property to the government through litigation in civil court, even if the property owner never faced criminal conviction or even criminal charges. The danger that civil forfeiture poses to property rights and due process raises large questions about its legitimacy and fairness.

Civil forfeiture has also generated a mythology that functions as a justification for its use. It consists of a set of myths about civil forfeiture that are irreconcilable with basic facts.

These myths are as follows:

■■

Cash seizures, which become forfeitures, typically consist of hundreds of thousands of dollars;

■■

When property is seized, the owner has access to the courts to recover it;

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2022 LMA Annual Convention & WLAC to be hosted in Indiana

S

hipshewana Auction, Inc., Shipshewana, Indiana, will host the 2022 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC) on Saturday, June 11. The 58th annual WLAC will take place in conjunction with the Livestock Marketing Association’s (LMA) Annual Convention.

A total of 31 semi-finalist auctioneers will compete in the contest comprised of an auctioneering and interview portion. The auctioneering contest will take place during a live sale, where contestants will sell cattle to actual bidders in the seats. Additionally, because of the important,

high-profile role, each WLAC semi-finalist must clearly establish and demonstrate their knowledge of the livestock marketing industry in an interview competition.

Contestants who qualified to compete are Zach Ballard, Presho, SD; Andy Baumeister, Goldthwaite, TX; Neil Bouray, Webber, KS.; Justin Dodson, Welch, OK; Eric Drees, Caldwell, ID; Dean Edge, Rimbey, Alberta; Will Epperly, Dunlap, IA; Brandon Frey, Diagonal, IA; Joshua Garcia, Goliad, TX; Philip Gilstrap, Pendleton, SC; Steve Goedert, Dillon, MT; Brandon Hamel, Natoma, KS; Michael Imbrogno, Turlock, CA; Marcus Kent, Dunnellon, FL; Lynn Langvardt, Chapman, KS; Kyle Layman, North Platte, NE; Wade Leist, Boyne City, MI; Jacob Massey, Petersburg, TN; Justin Mebane, Bakersfield, CA; Daniel Mitchell, Cumberland, OH; Sixto Paiz, Portales, NM; Ross Parks, New Concord, OH; Jake Parnell, Sacramento, CA; Chris

■■

Seizure and forfeiture take place in accord with due process of law;

■■

Our justice system requires high standards of proof of wrongdoing for seizures and forfeitures to occur; and

■■

The injustices caused by civil forfeiture can be addressed by requiring a conviction in criminal court as a prerequisite to forfeiture litigation in civil court.

These statements do not describe reality; they obscure it. These five false narratives undergird an unjust status quo that leaves property owners unprotected and defenseless. This report aims to set the record straight. The available data and evidence demonstrate the reality of five very different propositions about civil forfeiture:

■■

A typical cash seizure and forfeiture ranges from several hundred dollars to a little over $1,000;

■■

When property is seized, the extraordinarily high rate of default judgments in forfeiture cases demonstrates that, in fact, property owners have little access to the courts;

■■

As seizure and forfeiture are practiced today, they cannot be squared with the due process of law;

■■

Seizure and forfeiture regularly occur without any evidence of wrongdoing presented in court; and

■■

The injustices caused by civil forfeiture are largely unaffected by conviction prerequisites in forfeiture statutes.

In short, there appears to be little substantial knowledge— among policy makers, the media, and the public—of the nature, context, and consequences of civil forfeiture.

A more sophisticated understanding of the nature and operations of seizure and forfeiture could lead to significant reform of their most negative aspects.

▫

Pinard, Swainsboro, GA; Jack Riggs, Glenns Ferry, ID; Jeff Showalter, Broadway, VA; Barrett Simon, Rosalia, KS; Dustin Smith, Jay, OK; Andrew Sylvester, Wamego, KS; Curtis Wetovick, Fullerton, NE; Tim Yoder, Montezuma, GA. Reigning World Livestock Auctioneer Champion, Chuck Bradley will be in attendance, along with many other past World Livestock Auctioneer Champions. Each will sell cattle during the Parade of Champions, a portion of the WLAC sale between the semi-finalist and finalist rounds.

Members of the 2021 Leadership in Livestock Marketing Seminar class will also be present at the event.

▫

June 15, 2022

Livestock Market Digest

REAL ESTATE GUIDE

SOCOR PLAZA RE

40

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erTY

y.com

mitt, TX 79027 Scott - Broker lifying Broker am/10:00pm company.com

R SMALL!

uadalupe Co., eded & 519 anch on both g flow daily) mner; wildlife, buyer looking New Mexico

RANCH & FARM REAL ESTATE

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

■ MCALISTER RANCH – located NE of Melrose, NM, 3,360 ac. (320 ac. +/- Deeded =/-, 3,040 ac. +/- NM State Lease), home, barn & pens, good, solid, cattle country for yearlings or cow/calf operation or a combination of both.

Livestock Market Digest ■ PRICE REDUCED! CEDARVALE, NM – 7,113 acre ranch (5,152 ac. +/- Deeded – 1,961 ac. +/State Lease) well fenced & watered w/good pens, new barn.

■ 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.

■ ELK CANYON RANCH#2 – Harding Co., NM – 3,880 ac. -/+, older home, cattle pens, hunting/cattle ranch. Please call for details!

■ TEXAS PANHANDLE – Let’s look at this 6,000 hd. permitted feedyard w/953 ac. +/-, a recently remodeled owner’s home, 2 residences for employee housing, addtl. home on 6 ac., 5 pivot sprinkler irr. circles, truck scale, cattle scale, excellent perimeter fencing, located on pavement & all weather road, currently in full operation.

■ 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 your own getaway home.

■ UNION CO., NM – 2,091.72 ac. (1,771.72 Deeded, 320 ac. -/+ State Lease), well watered w/ three521 wells,West two sets of steel Second St.pens.

• Portales, NM 88130 ■ EAST EDGE OF FT. SUMNER, NM – a 900 hd.

575-226-0671 or 575-226-0672 fax grow yard w/immaculate 7.32 ac. +/-, a beautiful home, & other Buena improvements w/a long line of Vista Realty equipment included, on pvmt.

Qualifying Broker: ■ FLAGG 3¼ SECTIONS – Castro Co., TX – 2,080 Merrick acres +/-, 3A.H. - ½(Jack) mile pivots, 1 -575-760-7521 ¼ mile pivot, 25 www.buenavista-nm.com wells, will subdivide.

The owner is willing to lease and continue operating this farm.

■ CASTRO CO 1610 ACRES – 4 ¼ mile pivots, 2 ½ mile pivots, 31 wells, will subdivide. The owner is willing to lease and continue operating this farm.

■ SUNNYSIDE, TEXAS – 160 ac. +/- equipped w/center pivot sprinkler systems & wells, fenced on • 83w/permanent acre woodfencing, homeideal withforbarns, three sides a farming/ grazing meadows operation, two in native two andcorners woods.

Frontsgrass, State corners CRP, county road on two sides.

Rd. $545,000 ■ DALLAM CO, TX – 1,216.63 ac. +/- of CRP/ ranchland w/irrigation, re-development potential, wells & pipelines already in place.

Ranger Eastland ■ LET’S• 160 LOOKacre at these two choice 80 acreCo, tracts of dryland located in close proximity one to the other in $560,000 Wilbarger County near Vernon, Texas.

■ SUPER OPPORTUNITY! One of the best steak houses in the nation just out of Amarillo & Canyon • 270 TX., acrestate-of-the-art Mitchell County, Texasw/ at Umbarger, bldg., turn-key complete facilities.

Bottari Realty Page 7 Paul Bottari, Broker

Selling residential, farm, ranch, commercial and relocating properties.

Selling residential, farm, COLETTA RAY ranch, commercial and Pioneer Realty 1304 relocating Pile Street, Clovis, NM 88101 properties.

On the Plaza

& QualifyingPrOPerTY Broker raNch Donald Brown

575-799-9600 Direct COLETTA RAY 575.935.9680 Office Pioneer Realty 575.935.9680 1304 Pile Street, Clovis,Fax NM 88101 coletta@plateautel.net 575-799-9600 Direct www.clovisrealestatesales.com 575.935.9680 Office 575.935.9680 Fax coletta@plateautel.net www.clovisrealestatesales.com

505-507-2915 cell www.bottarirealty.com 505-838-0095 fax

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

Advertise to AG LOANS Cattlemen AGLAND LAND LOANS AsLow Low 3% and Ranchers!

As AsAs 4.5% OPWKCAP 2.9% OPWKCAP 2.9%

INTEREST RATESAS AS LOW 3% INTEREST RATES LOW ASAS 4.5% Payments Scheduledon on2525 Years Payments Scheduled Years

Joe Stubblefield & Associates 13830 Western St., Amarillo, TX 806/622-3482 • cell 806/674-2062 joes3@suddenlink.net Michael Perez Associates CallVisa, NM • 575/403-7970 Nara

505-243-9515

for more information

TEXAS & OKLA. FARMS & RANCHES

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.

775/752-3040 SOCORRO PLAZA REALTY Nevada Farms

521 West Second St., Portales, NM 88130

575-226-0671 www.buenavista-nm.com

Rural Properties around NM or the listing agent Call Buena Vista Realty Portales, at 575-226-0671 Lori Bohm 575-760-9847, or Melody 1242 NM 480 - Nice home on 59.7 acres,Sandberg grass 575-825-1291.

Many good pictures on MLS or www.buenavista-nm.com 427 S Rrd P 1/2 Large nice home, lots of barns 694.9 ACRE RANCH IN ROOSEVELT CO NM 1931 S Rrd B24+ has ac total new 5 1694 Spipe Rrdcorners 4, Great home, barns, cattle pens, location wire, steel post, etc, pipe corrals, POND, nice ranch house with 2 good 2344 S Rrd K east of Dora, NM, great - Near wind farms water wells, some CRP time remains $665,000 All properties excellent homes & can have horses, etc.

FARM LAND IN ROOSEVELT CO NM 2550 S. Rrd 6 159.8 ac some See these andtoother properties CRP remains, eligible re-inroll if newat www.buenavista-nm.com program $120,000 — See details on www.buenavista-nm.com

www.ranchesnm.com 575-226-0671 or 575-226-0672 fax 575/622-5867 575/420-1237

Buena Vista Realty

Qualifying Broker: Ranch Sales575-760-7521 & Appraisals A.H. (Jack) Merrick www.buenavista-nm.com

AG LAND LOANS As Low As 3.5% OPWKCAP 3.5%

INTEREST RATES AS LOW AS 3.5% Payments Scheduled on 25 Years

A SOURCE FOR PROVEN SUPERIOR Joe Stubblefield & Associates REDWestern ANGUS 13830 St., Amarillo, TX 806/622-3482 • cell 806/674-2062 GENETICS

joes3@suddenlink.net Michael Perez Associates 14298 N. Nara Atkins Rd., Lodi, CA 95240 Visa, NM • 575-403-7970

209/727-3335

270 AC Miticelle Co., TX 1 mi off I-20, 6 Elect, Trurans Rock Formation Irrigation Well and Sprinkler. All Bring Case, Modest Home & Barns Price $2.2 million 270 AC Pine Timber & Hunting, Anderson Co., TX Co. Rd. Frontage, Small Lakes $7,250 Per Acre

Joe Priest Real Estate

1-800/671-4548

joepriestre.net • joepriestRE@gmail.com

UNIQUE COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITY IN MT. GROVE! Three addresses including large retail building (105 W., 9600 SF built in 1995) (107 W. 11th, 13000 SG built in 2000); single family home (1103 N Main, 874 SF with 378 SQ unfinished basement built in 1940s) This is the last commercial corner of this size in the city and on MO95 (1.45 acres) so it is perfect for a bigger user who needs access and visibility. Nearby national/ regional businesses including Dollar Tree, Legacy Bank, Taco Bell, McDonalds, Fresenius Dialysis. It is also suitable for any retail business who wants additional income from warehouse and house. The warehouse has a drive-in garage door; and the big building has a dock for second story loading. This has been part of a family-owned business for decades and is currently operating as an antique/collectible store with high quality items. Owner’s inventory is for sale separately in private negotiations. Shown by appointment only after business hours. MLS#60199328

521 West Second St. • Portales, NM 88130

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

Buena Vista Realty

521 West Second St. • Portales, NM 88130

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

SOLD

• 840 Immaculate, Hunt Co,20TX.miles northwest of the small community of Elida. Acreage includes 4,700 Mexico approximately Ranch. Pastures, 40 tanks, and +/- deeded acres, 640 acres NM State Lease acres and 320 of Uncontrolled acres. Livestock water is lakes. Beautiful home, barns, provided three wellsSome and approximately four miles ofCALIFORNIA pipeline. The ranchRANCH is fencedPROPERTY into four pastures NORTHERN and otherby improvements.

31 years in the ranch business - see www.ranch-lands.com for videos & brochures and one small trap. AllGrazing minerals, game galore. for $1.35capacity is estimated to be 80-100 AUYL. This place has had excellent DUANE since & DIXIE McGARVA RANCH: acres Likely, with about 600+ acre gravity a flood summer last year.

It’sapprox. as985good as itCA.gets, come take look or million. rains and has not been stocked 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 call for a brochure. Price: $1,620,000 expansion to pivot irrigated alfalfa if desired. Plus BLM permit for 540 AU is fenced into 4 fields on about

COWBOY DRAW Joe Priest Real Estate RANCH Excellent small cattle ranch located in southeastern New 18,000 acres only 7 miles away. REDUCED ASKING PRICE - $3,125,000

BEAVER CREEK RANCH: about 82,000 acres - with 2,700 deeded acres plus contiguous USFS & BLM

permits for of 450 pair; 580+- acres pasture, and meadowcounty from Beaverline.

Creek water rights and Mexico approximately 50 miles northwest Roswell onirrigated the alfalfa, Chaves/Lincoln 7,455 total one irrigation well. 3 homes, 2 hay barns, 4 feedlots each w/ 250 ton barns, 2 large reservoirs, can run up to 500-600 cowsfederal YEAR ROUND. PRICE - $5,400,000. for 151 animal units acres with 2,600 deeded with the balance BLMREDUCED leaseASKING acres.

Permitted joepriestre.net • joepriestre@earthlink.com BEARunits CREEK on RANCH: Approx. 1,278 acresnonrenewable winter range ground andbasis. recreationalWatered property. Located on Bear yearlong with an additional 30 animal a temporary with two Creek and accessed from South Cow Creek Valley Road. Should be great hunting for deer, wild turkey, wild pigs, quail &Two ownerlarger states goodopen trout fishing in Bear Creek.

Deeded accessthe easement thru neighbor wells and several miles of water pipeline. draws run through ranch that ranches. provide No improvements & very private inside the ranch.

Now only $700 peris acreopen - $894,600 overflow areas to enhance grazing. The terrain and rolling with good turf. The ranch has had good summer rains with no cattle sinceBILL last WRIGHT, spring. The SHASTA ranch is inLAND excellent condition.INC. Call for a SERVICES, 530-941-8100 • DRE# 00963490 • www.ranch-lands.com brochure and come take a look. Price: $1,350,000

U N DEARCT CONTR

y limits of Roswell, NM. Six total acres ved with a 2, 200 square foot residence,

SCOTT MCNALLY

521 West Second St. • Portales, NM 88130

As Low As 198 AC Fanninco, TX OPWKCAP Good Country Rd. Frontage, INTEREST RATES A Rural Water, Electricity, 35 mi NE of Dallas, SO of Bonnam $20,000 Per Acre

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

DOUGLASS RANCH A quality ranch property located in northeastern Chaves County, New

1-800/671-4548

Bar M Real Estate

TEXAS & OKLA. FARMS & RANCHES AG LAND

See these Properties with details at www.buenavista-nm.com or call agent for info

Scott McNally, Qualifying Broker ch that has been owned and operated Bar M Real Estate, LLC s southeast of Corona, NM in Lincoln M Lease Acres and 2,240 NM State P.O. Box 428,P.O.Roswell, Box 145, Cimarron, NM 8771488202 • 575/376-2341 • Fax: 575/376-2347 NM land@swranches.com • www.swranches.com UYL. Water provided by five wells and Cell: 575-420-1237 corrals. The ranch had a good summerOffice: 575-622-5867 CHICO CREEK RANCH, Colfax County, NM. NEW LISTING. CIMARRON ON THE RIVER, Colfax County, NM. 7.338 +/6,404.26 +/Total Acres, Located approximately 10 miles east of deeded acres with 4.040 acre-feet per annum out of the www.ranchesnm.com for a brochure or view on my website. Website: Springer New Mexico. 3,692.60 +/- deeded acres with balance Maxwell-Clutton Ditch. Custom country-chic 2,094 +/- sq ft

R

116 Plaz PO Box 19 Socorro, NM www.socorroplaza dbrown@socorropla

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

980 ac. +/past, land lays e of Hwy. 54. on Co., NM – and w/statey remodeled in very good n pvmt. . +/- heavily listing r livestockagent w/ 75-825-1291. ences etc., on ta-nm.com e front gate. ic ac. +/- on d by Lincoln in Pines & ed meadow Penasco. This uild a legacy

4 ac. irr., on exico, adjoins l.

POTENTIAL xline Special,

Qualifying B

505-507-29 505-838-00

O’NEILL LAND, llc

in state lease. Excellent grass and water. Two plus miles of the Chico Creek meandering through the center of the property.

Additional wells and dirt tanks. Nice historic head quarters privately located with shade trees and excellent views of the property. Shipping pens in central portion of property. $2,837,318

home. Owns both sides of river in places. Horse/cow/chicken/ vegetable garden/greenhouse/orchard set up. Country living at it’s finest, in town, but in a world of your own. Very special on river. Appointment only. $650,000.

O’NEILL Buena Vista Realty LAND, llc P.O. Box 145, Cimarron, NM 87714 • 575/376-2341 • Fax: 575/376-2347 land@swranches.com • www.swranches.com

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

CIMARRON PASTURE, 6.26± deeded acres. $139,000. Sold separately, 3.1116± acres irrigated off 1870 Maxwell-Clutton Ditch. $45,000.

Water meter, well. 3 phase power. Next to Cimarron River.

SOLD

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

opportunity, house, big shop and office buildings, easy view off Hwy TO SACRAMENTO 64. Formerly known as “The Porch.”

HWY 4 STOCKTON $295,000

SALE

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Livestock Market Digest

Biden’s Most Preposterous Lie Is Too Much Even For The Washington Post

BY FRANCIS MENTON / WWW.MANHATTANCONTRARIAN.COM

W

hen President Biden talks, there may or may not be any connection between what he says and the real world. Yes, you need to give every politician some leeway, since most of what any politician says will fall in the

about a third of total energy consumption), you obviously need full backup from some dispatchable source, almost always fossil fuels, to make your electricity grid work. That means that you will come to have two fully redundant electricity generation systems, when previous-

California’s electricity production from the wind and sun in 2020 was still only about a third, according to a February 2022 Report from the California Energy Commission. Thus California has not yet even begun to confront the challenge of phasing out fossil fuel production and trying to back up its electricity grid with batteries — that will occur when the percentage of electricity from intermittent renewables gets past 50%. But note that dotted red line near the bottom of the chart: the 41 states with “low penetration” of wind and solar generation only had rate increases of 9.5% between 2008 and 2021.

After declining gradually for decades, Australia’s consumer electricity prices have about

June 15, 2022 ily’s annual utility bills by $500 and accelerate our transition from energy produced by autocrats.

That line finally got the Washington Post’s “fact checker,” Glenn Kessler, on the job.

Kessler’s June 2 piece has the headline “Biden’s fantastical claim of $500 in annual utility savings.” Kessler started by tracking down a White House transcript of the meeting that Biden held in February with the group of utility executives.

There was no mention at all of a supposed $500 projected saving in “annual utility bills”: But when we located the transcript of Biden’s conversation with utility executives on Feb. 9, we found no reference to $500 in utility savings. The

Here is the chart for California.

general realm of political exaggeration or hyperbole. But even within the disreputable category of politicians, Biden can take the lack of connection with reality to a whole new level.

You may have your own favorite among Biden’s preposterous statements. For me, the very most preposterous is one that he has been making repeatedly for the past several months, namely that his energy plans, including expansion of wind and solar electricity generation together with fossil fuel suppression, will save American families the very specific amount of $500 per year each. This claim has popped up in multiple places and multiple formulations.

One example came in the State of the Union speech back in March, where Biden said, “Let’s cut energy costs for families an average of $500 a year by combatting climate change.”

It’s just not possible for anyone who thinks about the subject for even a few minutes to believe that building more and more wind and solar generation facilities as our primary sources of energy will do anything other than vastly increase the costs of energy for the American people. Even in the early phases of the process, where wind and solar generation are well less than half of electricity generation (and electricity is then only

ly you had only one to produce the same amount of electricity.

Two fully redundant systems can’t possibly be cheaper than just one. Then, if you insist on phasing out the fossil fuel backup and replacing it with battery or some other storage, you have to add the cost of that storage to the mix. Readers here know that the cost of backing up wind and solar electricity generation with battery storage is truly monumental, potentially a large multiple of the entire U.S. GDP. For more on that subject, see some of my prior posts, for example here and here.

And this is not just a question of models and projections that can be debated. As more and more wind and solar generation facilities have been added to the electrical grid in various places, the inevitable dramatic rise in cost to the consumer has in fact occurred. Steven Hayward at PowerLine in a post on Wednesday reproduces graphs showing the results for two of the most enthusiastic adopters of the wind and sun for electricity, California and Australia.

As California has added more and more wind and solar generation, its electricity rates to the consumer have followed a sharply increasing pattern, up some 58.3% from 2008 to 2021.

Even after adding all that renewable capacity, the percent of

And here’s the chart for Australia:

doubled since 2005. The doubling coincides with the rapid addition of new wind and solar generation facilities since that time. And as with California, Australia’s generation from the intermittent renewables remains well below 50% of electricity generation, meaning that again the vast cost increases inherent in phasing out fossil fuel backup have not yet begun to hit to any significant degree.

Similar patterns of electricity prices soaring as renewable generation increases can be found in other places with high penetration of renewables, for example Germany and Denmark.

With these data and plenty more like them out there, Biden continues to double down on his assertion of the supposed $500 per family per year “savings” from his plan for green energy transition. In a an oped published in the Wall Street Journal on May 30, Biden put it this way: A dozen CEOs of America’s largest utility companies told me earlier this year that my plan would reduce the average fam-

figure was also not mentioned in the White House readout of the meeting.

When Kessler asked the White House for the source of Biden’s number, he was then referred to a report of something called Rhodium Group that projected an approximate $500 per household saving by 2030 not from lower utility bills, but largely from consumers switching to electric cars. Putting aside for a moment whether consumers switching to electric cars could save anybody any money as the government strives to destroy the electrical grid, Kessler points to these obvious flaws in Biden’s statement: But he didn’t hear that [$500 figure] from utility executives.

And the report he is citing is not about household utility-bill savings. Most of the claimed savings comes from the reduced cost of driving. And the estimate is for 2030 — when he would no longer be president, even if he served a second term.

Kessler then awards Biden four Pinocchios. And that’s without even figuring out that Biden’s plan to add more wind and solar to the grid is guaranteed to make electricity prices soar.

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BLM Purchases 35,000 Acres of Land SW of Casper

BY ELLEN FIKE, COWBOY STATE DAILY

T

he Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced a pur chase of more than 35,000 acres of land south of Casper, Wyoming, which will provide “endless” recreational opportunities for Wyoming residents and visitors alike, a bureau spokesman told Cowboy State Daily on Friday.

The nonprofit Conservation Fund funded the purchase of the 35,670-acre Marton family ranch, which stretches through Natrona and Carbon counties, bureau spokesman Tyson Finnicum told Cowboy State Daily.

“This acquisition is part of an ongoing, strategic effort by the BLM to enhance public access to the North Platte River and surrounding areas,’ Finnicum said. “As an agency, the BLM is committed to increasing opportunities for recreation and expanding access to public lands and waters.”

The private land is located around 25 miles southwest of Casper, just east of the Alcova Reservoir and stretches from the North Platte River south into Carbon County.

With this purchase, the public will now be able to access 30,000 acres of existing BLM-managed lands and 10,000 acres of state-managed lands that were formerly inaccessible due to being privately owned.

Now there is a 75,000 acre contiguous block of public land, allowing outdoor recreationalists to take full advantage of Wyoming’s beauty, Finnicum said.

“Putting a 75,000-acre intact chunk of public land on the map and eight miles of additional access to the North Platte River is a huge win for the American public,” he said. “Not only for the endless recreation opportunities it provides for residents and visitors but for economic and conservation benefits as well.”

He added the land acquisition would add to the “menu” of things to do in Natrona County and provide more opportunities for the tourism and recreation industry statewide.

Plus, the land supports habitats for multiple big game species, the greater sage-grouse and eagles, so the purchase will allow BLM to continue to manage the property as a landscape, not unlike how the Marton family did previously.

Finnicum said the money to purchase the land came from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which gave a $21 million appropriation last year to purchase the Marton ranch in its entirety.

He added that the LWCF is largely funded by offshore oil and gas revenue.

“Money from the LWCF goes to a variety of programs to support recreation and conservation, from building city parks, to protecting historic and cultural sites, to providing public access to rivers and lakes,” Finnicum said.

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June 15, 2022

Livestock Market Digest

Energy Officials Issue ‘Sobering’ Warning About Widespread Summer Blackouts Triggered by Closure of Fossil Fuel Plants

BY JACK DAVIS / WESTERN JOURNAL

B

lackouts could hit much of America’s Midwest and West this summer, according to a risk assessment from the North American Electric Reliability Corp.

“It’s a pretty sobering report, and it’s clear the risks are spreading,” John Moura, director of reliability assessment and performance analysis for the regulatory body, said in a news briefing, according to Bloomberg.

“I certainly do think it’s our most cautionary tale here,” he said.

One of the issues is that in the rush to shutter plants powered by fossil fuels, energy providers have not made up for that capacity loss with other forms of energy.

“The pace of our grid transformation is out of sync” with what consumers need, Moura said.

“We see this risk widening, more resources retiring at an accelerated pace,” he said, according to the Washington Examiner.

In the Midwest, Americans will face a power crunch because generating capacity is down 2.3 percent from a year ago. However, demand is expected to be high as Americans try to resume their pre-pandemic lifestyles.

A heat wave or low wind speeds that limit what wind farms can produce could trigger issues for power companies.

Further interruptions are expected as aging coal-fired power plants that are being called upon to produce more electricity break down more often, Moura said.

He cited the example of gas-fired plants in Texas that recently shut down during a heat wave. @NERC_Official 2022 Summer Reliability Assessment warns that several parts of North America are at elevated or high risk of energy shortfalls this summer due to predicted above-normal temperatures and drought conditions.

The report said a drought affecting the West could have a direct impact on power production by limiting what hydroelectric dams might produce.

Other issues are man-made, including supply chain snags that are delaying solar energy projects in the Southwest and the completion of vital transmission lines.

Forbes Editor-in-chief Steve Forbes said policy failures are part of the problem.

“The problem isn’t that we’ll be experiencing an unforeseeable surge in electricity; it’s that bad government policies have created shortages,” he wrote Thursday on Forbes.

“Chief among these are the mandates that utilities use more and more so-called renewable sources of energy — primarily from windmills and solar panels — while pressuring them to shut down fossil-fuel-fired generating plants and to decommission nuclear facilities,” Forbes wrote.

“The trouble is that alternative energy sources are expensive and pose their own serious environmental hazards. And they are not replacing the output of power that those closed traditional facilities produced,” he said.

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Ag Groups Call For Withdrawal of Solicitor General’s Supreme Court Brief on Glyphosate

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n a letter to President Biden, 54 agricultural groups expressed grave concern with a recent amicus brief submitted by the U.S. Solicitor General to the Supreme Court advising the court against taking up a case regarding pesticide labels. The groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Cotton Council, and the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, called on the president to swiftly withdraw the brief. They warned the new policy would set a dangerous precedent that threatens the science-based regulatory process. The groups are worried that this new policy, along with having environmental impacts, could ultimately hinder the ability of U.S. farmers to help meet growing global food needs intensified by the invasion of Ukraine.

In the May 10 brief, the Solicitor General advised the court against taking up a case concerning whether state pesticide labels can conflict with federal labels.

Brad Doyle, soy farmer from Arkansas and president of the American Soybean Association, stated, “Federal law is clear that pesticide labels cannot be false or misleading. Allowing states to require health warnings contrary to decades of sound science is beyond disturbing and obviously not in line with federal law. I and other farmers are concerned this new policy will open the floodgate to a patchwork of state labels that will undermine grower access to safe, effective pesticides needed to farm productively and sustainably.”

At question is whether the state of California can require a cancer warning label for the popular herbicide glyphosate when thousands of studies, decades of robust scientific consensus, and numerous global regulatory bodies—including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—agree the herbicide is not a carcinogen.

The new position expressed by the Solicitor General is a stunning reversal from previous, bipartisan administrative policy. The brief asserts federal law and regulations do not prevent states from imposing their own labeling requirements, even if those labels run counter to federal findings.

“Supplying wheat to the world is more important than ever given the unprecedented times with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Together, Russia and Ukraine make up one-third of the world’s wheat exports, and the disruptions we are seeing will certainly impact food supply,” said National Association

Page 9 of Wheat Growers President and Washington wheat farmer, Nicole Berg. “Aside from the war, U.S. wheat growers are experiencing extreme weather conditions threatening the quality of their crops this year. 75 percent of the winter wheat production in the U.S. is in a severe drought. NAWG is concerned this new policy would undermine access to safe and effective crop protection tools that play a critical role in helping feed the world.”

AFBF President Zippy Duval said, “Farmers utilize science-backed crop protection tools on their farms to produce safe, nutritious food. Allowing labels that conflict with existing conclusions and EPA studies will add to a greater misunderstanding of the crucial role pesticides play in enabling farmers to grow healthy, affordable food for America’s families.”

Nate Hultgren, sugarbeet farmer from Minnesota and president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association said, “Farmers can’t meet consumers’ food security needs and

help address climate change if the safe crop protection products we use and desperately need are undermined by the states. Allowing states to supersede federal pesticide labeling requirements will create massive uncertainty, confusion and add to significant supply chain disruptions.”

“In the coming months, farmers will have to work even harder to address worldwide food shortages, and a patchwork of state regulations will jeopardize access to the critical farm supplies they need,” said National Corn Growers Association President Chris Edgington. “We hope the Biden administration will reverse its position on this issue.”

The groups call on President Biden to withdraw the brief.

They also encourage the president to consult with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to better understand the implications of this decision for science-based regulation, as well as food security and environmental sustainability.

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Page 10

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Native Capture Gun

magine if you will the tale of a gun. It’s a Springfield Model 1873 carbine which was issued in 1874 through the Springfield Armory. A gun that was issued to a member of the Seventh Cavalry. A carbine that, as it turned out, was carried into battle on June 25th, 1876 in Montana—at the battle of the Little Bighorn!

On that fateful summer day in 1876, every member of Custer’s Seventh Cavalry fell at the hands of the Native American warriors. It was one of the worst losses the United States Army ever suffered. The

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June 15, 2022

must have meant quite a bit to High Eagle, because even after it became unusable, he kept the weapon.

High Eagle lived a long life and in 1951, for the 75th anniversary of the battle of Little Bighorn, Life Magazine did an article in which High Eagle was mentioned as being one of the last surviving participants of the battle. There is even a photo of him in the article. He is also mentioned in the Book, Sitting Bull - Champion of the Sioux by Stanley Vestal. High Eagle was well-known as being one of the last authentic Sioux warriors living into modern times.

Through circumstances unknown to us, High Eagle became close to a man named William Fowler. The story handed down through the years is that High Eagle helped raise Mr. Fowler. What we do know is that after High Eagle passed on to the Happy Hunting Grounds, Mr. Fowler

ber range of weapons issued to Custer‘s Seventh Calvary.

Other serial numbers very close to his gun were being historically linked to the battle.

Further research revealed that the Native American named High Eagle was in fact at the Little Bighorn and then the research began on who High Eagle was. Imagine his delight and surprise as each piece of the puzzle was uncovered!

Given the serial number of the carbine and a ton of other circumstantial evidence he found out about the weapon, Dick Harmon and Dr. Douglas Scott were able to put two and two together and conclude this very gun had been a Native captured gun from the battle and had wound up with High Eagle! They were able to re-connect the story for the first time in many years!

Dick Harmon kept the gun until the year 2000 when he sold it to a man named Ken Stasiak, who has kept it in his

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soldier who carried this weapon, just like all other members under Custer’s charge, did not survive. Here is what has been found out about our gun over the years.

The carbine in this tale was picked up from the battlefield by a Native American warrior and spirited away as a spoil of war. The Native American warrior who wound up with this gun was named High Eagle.

A member of the Sioux tribe, and only about 14 at the time.

High Eagle was later noted by historians as a well-documented participant in the battle.

High Eagle is also historically linked to the Sitting Bull arrest during the Ghost Dance uprising at Pine Ridge and also Wounded Knee.

High Eagle obviously cherished this gun as is evident by its tacked decorations and well-worn appearance. It even has a small “H” tacked into the stock using brass nails. It also has an old repair using wire and tacks to strengthen the wrist area of the stock, a standard Native American style “fix” in the 1800s. It is very much a “Native” looking gun from the period.

At some point, after the advent of smokeless powder in 1895, somebody put a smokeless powder cartridge in this gun and tried to use it—causing an explosion which blew off the breechblock and rear sight! Most of the brass casing is still lodged in the barrel (the brass casing being a good indicator this accident happened later as copper casings would have been used around the time of the battle). The gun

inherited the carbine.

Mr. William Fowler subsequently passed away and in 1965, the weapon was purchased at his estate sale by a school teacher and collector named Gary Holtus. Gary was told by the local Sheriff at the sale that Mr Fowler had been close to an old Sioux Warrior named High Eagle and the gun had belonged to High Eagle (no connection to the Little Bighorn was mentioned at the time that we know of).

Gary Holtus never bothered to find out any further information on High Eagle and he kept the weapon until 1970, when he sold it to a man named Dick Harmon.

The history of the Custer battle connection and who High Eagle had been, faded with the passage of time. Both Mr. Holtus and Mr. Harmon were just happy to add a Native American used and decorated weapon to their collections, neither realizing at the time what a piece of history they possessed.

As it turned out, in 1984, Dr. Douglas Scott who was then head of the Rocky Mountain Division, Midwest Archeological Center of the National Park Service, asked Dick Harmon to join him as the firearms expert for the archeological project at the Little Bighorn battlefield, as Dick was a noted historical firearms expert.

While doing research about the incident, Dick Harmon was shocked to realize the gun he had bought all those years earlier fell into the serial num-

collection for the last 22 years.

Ken has been a good steward of the carbine and kept all of the documentation and provenance together with it—which amounts to a good bit.

Now, Ken is ready to offer this Historical weapon to somebody else. Some lucky person will have the opportunity, for the first time in over two decades, to become the new curator of this gun. And, the new buyer will only be the fifth person to own the gun since High Eagle wound up with it after the battle all those years ago! A stack of letters and documentation/evidence comes with the purchase.

Western Trading Post is proud to offer this historical Springfield Trapdoor Carbine for auction on June 18th, 2022 during the “Advanced Collector’s Auction.” Who knows, maybe you could be the one to carry the tale of this gun forward!

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June 15, 2022

Livestock Market Digest

30 x 30 Not the Answer

Are You a The View “Woke ” Yet? W FROM THE BACK SIDE

BY JERRY G. SCHICKEDANZ, LINEBERY POLICY CENTER FOR NATURAL RESOURCES DEAN EMERITUS, NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY

M

assive and catastrophic wildfires in New Mexico dominate the headlines in the newspapers and on TV newscasts.

The Calf Canyon-Hermit Peak fire in the Santa Fe National Forest and Pecos Wilderness is the state’s largest in fire history.

The Black fire in the Aldo Leopold Wilderness is increasing by tens of thousands of acres daily with very little containment.

Hundreds of homes have been destroyed. History, dreams and livelihoods have gone up in smoke West wide wildfire statistics have shown that the fires are getting larger in acreage with fewer fires per year since 1985.

Accusations have been quickly pointed at climate change and or a mega drought in New Mexico as being the causes and mismanagement is never considered. A common solution of government and environmental groups is to lockup more land under the guise of conservation. Environmental groups are calling for more protection of lands to counter climate change and federal government proposes to protect 30 percent of the land and water in the United States by the year 2030. The New Mexico Governor evens supports protecting 50 percent of the land and water by 2050.

I do not support the protection (non-use) of more land under a 30 x 30 banner because that is not a solution to what is needed. Let’s look at some of the root causes of the wildfires in the western United States.

In 1947 a small black bear was rescued from a wildfire near Capitan, New Mexico, and went on to become Smokey the Bear. He advocated on the nationwide campaign “Only you can prevent forest fires.” This was a very effective strategy to fight all forest fires, but has cast a negative public perception on fire in the forests, whatever the cause.

Congress then passed the Wilderness Act of 1964 to preserve and protect pristine land from the people. There were to be no roads, no commercial activity, no motorized vehicles, no logging and in some areas no grazing by livestock. This nonuse, no management has produced a tinder box for intense wildfires. The Black Fire started in the wilderness and has been largely unchecked.

The Endangered Species Act was passed in 1974. Its goal was to protect species threatened or endangered from going extinct and to develop a recovery plan to aid in the continued existence of the species. When a species is designated to be protected, critical habitat is determined, and any activity that may harm the species is prohibited. After the Spotted Owl was listed to be protected, commercial logging was prohibited on most forests and the timber industry was lost in New Mexico.

These legislative actions, policies, regulations and judicial mandates have contributed to

conditions for the west to burn and it will continue until there is no more forests to burn unless something is changed.

The timber industry should be given the opportunity to be revived. They should be able to harvest trees that will thin the forest and reduce the extreme fire potential. This would also contribute to the local economies and provide healthy fire resilient forests.

The Endangered Species Act should be revisited and look for common sense ways to protect the endangered species and prevent the need to list new species without total exclusion of activities surrounding them. How many Mexican Spotted Owls or Mexican Wolves have died due to these wildfires? How much habitat for these species and many unlisted species has been destroyed by uncontrollable wildfires? Maybe we should look at incentivizing landowners and managers to provide habitat and of all wildlife species instead of making them a liability.

American ingenuity could provide ways to increase the species and their habitat if allowed.

There is a need to review the prescribed burn prescriptions to make sure they are followed and not allow someone to light the match when conditions do not dictate that it is safe. Make the federal government liable for not following their own rules and endangering humans, natural resources, and our American heritage. Proper use of prescribed fires can be very useful and effective tool in reducing the fuel loads and wildfire dangers in our forests and communities.

Enforce the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and require that an Environment Impact Statement (EIS) be conducted on the 30 x 30 plan to reveal the impacts that will occur if 30-50 percent of the nation’s land is put in a protected state. An EIS is required on any major federal action and allows for public input, this should be no exception.

We may or may not stop climate change, but it is imperative we look at new ways to deal with flawed legislation and policy and how to live in harmony with the conditions that occur and not be faced with the threat of more destructive wildfires.

▫

ith “woke” stupidity being the new norm in America I thought I would just check in with you ranchers and farmers to see if there was anything unusual going on at your place.

I was just curious to see if you have any bulls that are pregnant or lactating? It seems that certain elements of society are telling us that men can become pregnant, so my guess is that bulls are next. Is any of your livestock gender binary? If this is the case your business may be doomed. You will never be able to keep track of who you are breeding to whom and for what.

The phrase “a piece of meat” may take on a whole new meaning in the beef business. Have you started raising any “fake cattle” yet for the upcoming “fake meat” trend?

In Oregon this past week Kate Brown known as “America’s Worst Governor” signed the “Menstrual Dignity Act” which requires boys’ restrooms in schools to have “menstrual products” placed in them. The citizens of Oregon are going along with this. The legislators and their governor that signed the bill should be thrown out for “stupidity” if nothing else. This item does not need to be up for debate, it needs to be thrown out. If you read further the act “affirms the right of menstrual dignity for transgender, intersex, nonbinary, and two spirit students by addressing the challenges that some students have managing menstruation. I’m sorry folks, but this is just so ludicrous.

If you are a parent that sends your child to a public school in Oregon, I pity you. This nonsense needs to stop. This is more proof that many of the worst Americans are becoming politicians, but why are we tolerating it? Stop and think folks, this is a Marxist movement and remember we live in the United States which used to be the “land of opportunity”.

Let us not lose that.

Have you read your latest copy of Scientific American lately? At one time the articles were fact-based studies on a variety of agricultural subjects from growing crops to dealing with weather conditions. However, that is no longer the case.

Social justice fabrication prevails in nearly every article written. I’m not even going to cite one here as an example because as you know, it is full of examples. Do not even try to read their opinion articles.

Instead of helping American agriculture they are presenting woke agendas. I am astounded by the lack of truth in the articles. One thing that I have realized in talking to well educated people that claim they are “woke” is that they feel they are on a righteous crusade. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I’m not sure where this all started, but I am sure it is planned. Look at how many years our great American institutions have been under attack.

Extreme leftists and have been trying hard to tear apart the fabric of our society for all my life. You know how your body is constantly working to stave off infection and disease every day.

America is in that same position but is losing some ground rather quickly. The fact that the extreme leftists are trying hard to rewrite history, destroy the alpha male, and to eliminate Christianity.

This country was founded on, and our strength comes from our Judeo-Christian values. The fact that we are a nation at all, is a complete miracle. You must remember that America has given more opportunities to more people than any other single nation in the history of the world. We need to stay focused and eliminate this latest cancer on America known as “wokeism.”

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Page 11

Merck Animal Health Donates $500,000 to Texas A&M Texas A&M Receives Funds for New Animal Science Reproduction and Biotechnology Center

M

erck Animal Health, known as MSD Animal Health outside the United States and Canada, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA (NYSE:MRK), today announced a $500,000 donation to Texas A&M University for its new Animal Science Reproduction and Biotechnology Center.

The new animal science center, expected to be completed in 2023, includes research labs, educational spaces, animal handling areas along with dedicated research lab space for emerging technologies and practices for both academic and industry partner use.

“We’re grateful for Merck Animal Health’s support in assisting to build this new stateof-the-art facility,” said Cliff Lamb, Ph.D., director for Texas A&M AgriLife Research and former head of the Department of Animal Science. “This facility will advance ruminant health by identifying and developing new and innovative technologies associated with reproduction and genetic sciences and allow us to apply it to the sustainability of livestock systems.”

Merck Animal Health has a long-standing relationship with Texas A&M and has provided funding and support for veterinary scholarships, internships, and research and development projects at the university.

“New technology and therapy research is important to veterinarians and producers in helping to advance sustainable livestock production systems,” said Todd Bilby, Ph.D., dairy technical services director, Merck Animal Health. “Merck Animal Health and Texas A&M share a commitment to advancing the health of animals through innovative science and research-driven solutions.”

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Page 12

Livestock Market Digest

June 15, 2022

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