LMD Mar 2017

Riding Herd

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

by LEE PITTS

– JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

March 15, 2017 • www.aaalivestock.com

Volume 59 • No. 3

She Said What?

Monuments To Themselves I A LEE PITTS

s I remember my high school government-studies class we have three branches of the federal government with a very definite delineation of powers. The legislative branch, Congress, has the power to pass bills and make rules.

The President, and his cabinet, is supposed to carry out the instructions of Congress. The President may veto bills but he can’t make laws, that is the job of Congress. The judicial branch is supposed to make sure the laws, foremost the Constitution, are obeyed.

So tell me, how can one man make multiple million-acre monuments to himself merely by the signing of his name? Isn’t that the job of Congress? And why does the judicial branch turn a blind eye to these unconstitutional acts?

Antiquated

NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING

Those of us who actually live in the West, as opposed to easterners who just want to tell us how to live, are well aware of all the tools the bureaucrats have to get rid of ranchers and private property owners. They can revoke long-held water rights and pile so many restrictions on public lands ranchers to make their deeded operations less valuable and uneconomical to operate. They can use wild horses to destroy the range so they have something to blame the denuded landscape on, oth-

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.

er than themselves. Or they can use wolves to kill cattle and generally ruin the ambience in cattle country. Any ranchers that survive those tests then has to worry about the Forest Service burning them out.

This is all part of not-so-secretive plan to remove ranchers and their livestock from the West. And we haven’t even mentioned vain Presidents who, with a simple signature, can lock up millions of acres in the West as monuments to themselves.

Like you, I’ve read for years about something called The Antiquities Act and how 16

Presidents have used it to create more than 140 National Monuments covering nearly 300 million acres, most of them in the West. Did you ever wonder what law gave the President the right to make laws? And why is this law called The Antiquities Act?

Much To His Dismay The Antiquities Act was passed in 1906 and since then only three presidents have NOT used it to lock up land: Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. By my count President Obama declared 34 National Monuments

which is one quarter of all Monuments. This included five in one day and two others in a day that locked up a good chunk of Utah and Nevada. Obama, trying to cement his legacy as “The Environmental President”, made the most Monuments of any President. According to the Washington Post he beat out the previous record holder, Franklin Roosevelt, by two.

Roosevelt took three terms to create his while Obama only had two terms, much to his dismay.

Obama did create some National Monuments in the East, mostly to commemorate African-American history, but the majority were like the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument that spans the border between California and Oregon. When Obama expanded the already huge Monument he said it was to increase the area’s continued on page two

Trump May Upend Carefully Laid Plans for Sage Grouse

BY SCOTT STREATER, E&E NEWS REPORTER

W

hen former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced that sweeping federal plans designed to save the greater sage grouse had been finalized less than a year and a half ago, she hailed it as an “epic conservation effort” that took years to complete.

The Republican governors of Nevada and Wyoming and the Democratic governors of Colorado and Montana stood next to Jewell at the September 2015 ceremony. She revealed that the mottled-brown bird would not be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act, in large part because of the federal plans.

But the election of President Trump just over a year later has federal and state officials, conservation groups, and others expecting big changes in how the plans are carried out — if they are ever fully implemented.

Trump has not publicly addressed the federal sage grouse plans. But Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), Trump’s nominee for Interior secretary, has been a vocal critic, comparing them at one time to Obamacare and saying he wants “state-driven solutions” for managing grouse.

Trump cannot simply dismiss the blueprints, which amended 98 Bureau of Land

Management and Forest Service land-use plans to incorporate protective measures covering nearly 70 million acres of sage grouse habitat in 10 Western states. Amending landuse plans requires a lengthy analysis and public comment period.

But some observers foresee the Interior and Agriculture departments reopening the land-use plan amendment process to revise the sage grouse plans — an effort that would take years and likely stretch well past Trump’s first term in office.

“Obviously, they could restart the planning process tomorrow,” said Sarah Greenberger, who as one of Jewell’s top counselors helped develop the plans.

In the short term, the Trump administration is expected to scale back implementation measures, observers say, initially by removing funding for grouse conservation efforts from the president’s fiscal 2018 budget request.

And the administration could curtail efforts defending lawsuits against the federal plans.

Congress is already moving to block the plans and give states more control.

House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) last month filed a bill, H.R. 527, that would give governors the authority continued on page five

remember learning early in life that humans should use all five of their senses, but darn it, mine don’t work any more. I’ve got cataracts on my eyes making the whole world cloudy, I’m going deaf from listening to too many loud auctioneers for 45 years, the feeling in the tips of my fingers has been destroyed by too much hot metal, and in the process of carving some skin cancer from my nose the Doc seemed to have also removed my smeller. My wife is disappointed I can still talk but I can’t get a word in edgewise.

I’m 65 going on 95.

The other afternoon I was trying to sneak in a nap because my belly ached and just when I was starting to enter la-la land I thought I heard my wife yell, “Where are (mumble, mumble) and what (mumble, mumble) you up to? You’re much (mumble, mumble) quiet.”

It always makes my wife nervous when she can’t hear me clanging about because she thinks I’m probably making a big mess she’ll have to clean up. Nine times out of ten she’s right, but not this time. I was a bit irritated at her for interfering with my beauty sleep so I yelled back, “I was trying to take a nap, thank you very much.”

Then I thought I heard her reply, “You can’t (mumble, mumble) a nap, it’s (mumble, mumble) in the afternoon!”

It was then that I realized that the noise was not emanating from the mouth of my beautiful bride but from my gastrointestinal tract. My stomach was growling. Big time. If I’d have recorded the gastro-music I’m sure it would have become a platinum selling rap song.

I was embarrassed to admit to my wife that I’d been carrying on a conversation with my innards but fortunately for me she’s starting to lose her senses too and she couldn’t hear me either.

Fearing ridicule, I still haven’t told her that my bowels frequently speak to me.

That same day my wife and I were reading the newspaper while we ate supper when, all of a sudden, I heard

continued on page four

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resilience to climate change.

Wow, a President with the power to change the weather, no less!

The largest National Monument is the 583,000 square mile Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and the smallest is the Father Millet Cross National Monument, which is 0.0074 acres in size. Obama’s Monuments to himself were MUCH, MUCH LARGER!

Stop The Looting!

Initially, the Antiquities Act did protect land that needed protecting. The first National Monument was Devils Tower National Monument and Teddy Roosevelt also used it to create the Grand Canyon National Monument. It was done for a good reason, which helps explain the name of the Act. The Antiquities Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by Teddy Roosevelt to create National Monuments to protect Native American ruins and artifacts on federal land.

Thus the name “The Antiquities Act”. At the time private collectors, grave diggers, and tourists were robbing graves, taking artifacts and digging for arrowheads and other treasures on federal land. (Which is generally what happens on land no one owns.) The goal of The Antiquities Act was to stop the looting. Congress gave the President this unConstitutional power so action could be taken immediately. Even back then it took Congress months and often years to create National Parks, but protection could be given immediately by passing The Antiquities Act. In hindsight, the Act never should have been passed because it set a precedence for all these hastily concocted Executive Orders by Presidents of both parties.

Read It For Yourself

CAREN COWAN............Publisher LEE PITTS.......................Executive Editor CHUCK STOCKS............Publisher Emeritus RANDY SUMMERS.........Sales Rep RON ARCHER................Sales Rep

MARGUERITE VENSEL..Office Manager JESSICA DECKER..........Special Assistance CHRISTINE CARTER......Graphic Designer

We now give you The Antiquities Act of 1906 in its entirety.

We couldn’t find where it gives the President any authority for power grabs to lock up the West. See if you can.

“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who shall appropriate, excavate, injure, or destroy any historic or prehistoric ruin or monument, or any object of antiquity, situated on lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States, without the permission of the Secretary of the Department of the Government having jurisdiction over the lands on which said antiquities are situated, shall, upon conviction, be fined in a sum of not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for a period of not more than ninety days, or shall suffer both fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

Section 2. That the President of the United States is hereby authorized, in his discretion,

continued from page one

to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be National Monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected: Provided, That when such objects are situated upon a tract covered by a bona fied unperfected claim or held in private ownership, the tract, or so much thereof as may be necessary for the proper care and management of the object, may be relinquished to the Government, and the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to accept the relinquishment of such tracts in behalf of the Government of the United States.

Sec. 3. That permits for the examination of ruins, the excavation of archaeological sites, and the gathering of objects of antiquity upon the lands under their respective jurisdictions may be granted by the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and War to institutions which the may deem properly qualified to conduct such examination, excavation, or gathering, subject to such rules and regulation as they may prescribe: Provided, That the examinations, excavations, and gatherings are undertaken for the benefit of reputable museums, universities, colleges, or other recognized scientific or educational institutions, with a view to increasing the knowledge of such objects, and that the gatherings shall be made for permanent preservation in public museums.

Sec. 4. That the Secretaries of the Departments aforesaid shall make and publish from time to time uniform rules and regulations for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act.” That’s the Antiquities Act in its entirety. Did you read anything anywhere that said Obama had the right to designate in the last hours of his Presidency more than 1.5 million acres for two new National Monuments, Bears Ears in Utah and Gold Butte in Nevada. The Bears Ears National Monument alone will take up 1.35 million acres, an area bigger than America’s first state: Delaware. Utah representative Jason Chaffetz called it “One of the biggest land grabs in the history of the United States.” Utah senior Senator, Orrin Hatch, called it, “An attack on an entire way of life” and an “astonishing and egregious abuse of executive power.”

In declaring them Monuments Obama said his actions would, “Protect places that a wide range of stakeholders all agree are worthy of protection.” continued on page four

March 15, 2017

Livestock Market Digest

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Livestock Market Digest

March 15, 2017

MONUMENTS The only problem is the “wide range of stakeholders” Obama spoke of don’t live there. They all live in Washington DC, New York, Boston, etc. Nevada’s attorney general, Adam Laxalt, called the designation a “unilateral land grab,” and said Obama’s decision was a “last-minute attempt to cement his environmental legacy by undermining local control of Nevada’s communities, and damaging our jobs and economy.”

Who Will Protect It From Its Protectors?

Did you read the part of The Act that said, “The size of the National Monuments should be confined to “THE SMALLEST AREA compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”

(Emphasis ours.)

Does the 1.35 million acre Bears Ears Monument or the proposed 2.5 million acre National Monument in eastern Oregon sound like the smallest area to you? Especially considering that the government

continued from page two

CAN NOT protect the 50% of the West it already owns. The Interior Department currently has a maintenance backlog approaching $20 billion, does it really need more to take care of? Instead of preserving more pristine spaces, so far the maintenance backlog has only produced, raging fires, environmental degradation, soil erosion, rivers full of mine tailings, and total mismanagement of the land.

Obama’s Monuments were already federal land under government control, so are the new designations to protect the land from its protectors? The law has been so abused that it became a favorite tool of special interest groups to turn the West into a Nature Disneyland for easterners to go on vacation. At the same time it is locking up land it is locking out any input from the folks who live and work in these places. Republican legislators called Obama’s National Monument designations what they really are: a “federal land grab” and pointed out that Monument designations

Obama made his way out the door presented no emergency and clearly fell under the responsibility of the legislative branch of our government; not the Executive Branch.

When Obama set aside Browns Canyon in the Arkansas River Valley he probably said something he didn’t mean to blurt out. He said he was making the Monument designation “To preserve a headwaters that is not only used for recreation but that is a valuable water source.” Aha, the President admitted he WAS NOT saving shards of Indian pottery or Civil War bullets, he was doing it to “protect a valuable water source.” Again, did you read any mention of water or water rights in the Antiquities Act? Representative Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs said it was just more of the same “top-down, big government land grab by the president that disenfranchises the concerned citizens in the Browns Canyon region.”

The Antiquities Act also

doesn’t mention protecting wildlife habitat or preventing extractive uses, like oil exploration and ranching. But that’s exactly what it’s being used for.

When the public thinks the government will allow more recreational use they are showing their naiveté. Or their ignorance.

Who Knows What’s Best?

While city slickers may think that opportunities for rafting, hiking, backpacking, hunting, fishing, and camping will be enhanced with a National Monument designation that has hardly been the case. Many of of President Clinton’s monument designations prohibited the use of off-road vehicles while George W’s restricted fishing.

Past Presidents have placed additional restrictions on camping, rafting, fishing, forestry and grazing.

A more accurate picture is painted by a newspaper clipping I saved that ran in the Argus Observer of Ontario, Oregon years ago. In the article Commissioner Leland Polland said that the naming of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah resulted in dwindling school enrollment, the failure of the local school system and threatened the future of the town by destroying natural resources jobs. The land became a Monument over 20 years ago and the good and decent folks that are left there are still feeling the effects. It got so bad the county had to declare a state of financial emergency.

This all comes down to a very basic question: who knows what’s best for the land, the people who live there or bureaucrats in DC? Nicolas D. Loris in writing for the Heritage Foundation said, “Whether the issue is logging, recre-

RIDING HERD my wife gasp, “Why would she write such a thing?”

“Who?” I asked.

“J.K. Rowling,” she replied.

Now, in case you’ve been living in a cave the past 20 years, J.K. Rowling is a woman who became a billionaire by writing a series of books starring a dweeb named Harry Potter and something called Hogwarts.

(Hogs have warts? Who knew?)

It’s all witches, magic and make-believe lunacy that my wife and billions of other people loved. But not me. I tried to read one of her books and only lasted two pages and my wife made me sit through an entire Harry Potter movie with her and it was the longest 10 hours in my life. At least it felt like ten hours. Maybe it was only five.

“What did she say?” I asked, trying to pretend I cared.

“She wrote a new book and they made a movie out of it and she called it, “Great Breasts and Where to Find Them.” I spewed a mouthful of broth and gruel all over myself. I thought maybe my stomach was talking to me again and I didn’t hear

ation, conservation, or energy extraction, such decisions are most effectively made at the state and local level. State regulators and private land owners have the local knowledge and the proper incentives to promote economic growth while protecting their environment.

They understand site-specific challenges and can address concerns efficiently. They have the most to gain from proper management of natural resources and economic activity and the most to lose (including tax revenue) from mismanagement or mishandling of the environment. Land is a significant asset for a state, but that asset can become a liability if mishandled.”

Green special interest groups may claim the Antiquities Act benefits local economies but an empirical analysis done by professors from Utah State and Southern Utah University found no stimulus for local economies and, more likely, negative economic impacts.

Many of the people living on, in, or around Obama’s Monuments to himself are hoping that President Trump will reverse the former President’s designations. Past Supreme Court decisions suggest they won’t have much luck. At least one state has already filed a lawsuit to overturn the Bears Ears designation.

What the legislative branch of the government needs to do, while they still can, is take away any future President’s right to make a mockery of the Constitution by making Monuments to themselves. It’s time for the The Antiquities Act to be thrown on the ash heap of history as a good reminder of the brilliance of our founding fathers in only allowing Congress to pass laws. continued from page one

her correctly. “She called her book what?” I asked.

“There’s a review in the newspaper and it says, “Great Breasts and Where to Find Them.”

“Let me see that,” I said as I ripped the paper from her hands. I read the offending passage and then laughed the hardest I have since our ram Studly tried to breed our neighbors Saint Bernard. (You should have seen the look that dog gave Studly!)

“What are you laughing about?” my wife demanded.

“It seems your reading comprehension isn’t what it used to be. You added an ‘R” to the word Beast. The name of her book and movie is “Great Beasts And Where to Find Them.” Not Breasts.

This time it was her turn to rip the paper from my hands.

“Let me see that.”

I was kind of disappointed to tell you the truth. “Finally,” I said to my wife, “she wrote a book I might’ve read.” wwwLeePittsbooks.com

March 15, 2017

Livestock Market Digest

Page 5

SAGE GROUSE to bar any provisions in the federal plans that do not conform to state-approved grouse conservation strategies (Greenwire, Jan. 16).

Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) filed a companion bill, S. 273, earlier this month (E&E Daily, Feb. 3).

Western states are likewise pushing the new administration for greater flexibility in how the plans are implemented. Colorado, Utah and Wyoming want federal plans to more closely align with state grouse strategies on issues like mitigation and oil and gas leasing near sensitive grouse breeding grounds, called leks.

“I think we’re fairly hopeful that we can work with the new administration and new secretary of the Interior, when he’s confirmed, to maximize flexibility,” said John Swartout, a Republican who is a senior adviser to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) and a member of a federal-state sage grouse task force.

It’s not clear what specific steps Zinke might take as Interior secretary. Representatives with the Interior Department did not respond to a request to comment on this story.

Derrick Henry, a BLM spokesman, said the agency has not been told to change its approach to sage grouse management.

“Right now, we’re operating under the current [grouse management] plans,” Henry said.

But all the uncertainty has some of the principal architects of the federal plans concerned about the fate of the grouse.

Because sage grouse occupy such a vast range across most of the Great Plains, a rangewide

continued from page one

plan is needed to restore the bird and protect its habitat, said Greenberger, who is now vice president for conservation at the National Audubon Society.

The plans established primary habitat management areas and general habitat management areas where new oil and gas drilling, some large transmission line projects, and livestock grazing are prevented or limited. The plans focus conservation measures in specific areas that are most important to the grouse, while still allowing oil and gas and renewables development.

“This was an attempt to step in on the front end and do something strategic,” she said.

Greenberger said she understood there were going to be “growing pains” in implementing the plans.

“I think on the ground in the West, there are certainly some frustrations,” she said.

“But there also continues to be a sense that people were really working together for something important and trying to solve a problem in a very pragmatic way.”

She added: “If you unravel it, we’re going to be in court.”

‘Resolve and revise’ The federal grouse plans already face numerous legal challenges by a wide variety of groups, including the states of Utah and Nevada, the Western Energy Alliance, and North Dakota Petroleum Council, mining companies and several counties in Nevada.

If the Trump administration dismantles the federal plans, one of the first places the effort will show up is in the government’s defense of these law-

suits, according to legal experts.

While some have suggested the administration could order the Justice Department to quit defending the cases in court, that’s not likely, observers say, because each of the lawsuits challenges some aspect of the federal government’s ability to regulate activities on federal land.

“It would be very hard to take a position not to defend the cases that question your authority to manage federal lands,” said Nada Culver, senior counsel and director of the Wilderness Society’s BLM Action Center.

Instead, DOJ may work to settle the lawsuits, agreeing to make specific revisions to the grouse plans, perhaps by a certain deadline.

“I would think there would be a very good opportunity to talk in settlement negotiations between the plaintiffs and federal defendants, and to really listen and resolve and revise,” said Kent Holsinger, a Denver natural resources attorney who has represented the energy and agricultural industries in litigation involving sage grouse.

Pat Parenteau, senior counsel at the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic at the University of Vermont, agrees this is a plausible scenario.

But revising the plans would be complicated, he said.

That’s because they amended dozens of federal land-use plans, meaning Interior and USDA would have to open a new rulemaking process that would mandate additional studies and analysis, hearings and opportunities for the public to submit comments.

“You don’t just snap your

fingers and they’re gone,” Parenteau said.

Complicating matters is the fact that a number of environmental groups have intervened on the side of the Interior and Agriculture departments in a handful of the lawsuits.

While formal intervenors cannot block settlement agreements, they can review the terms and “object and argue to the court why the settlement cannot be approved,” Parenteau said.

“You can’t get away with a backroom deal without public scrutiny and comment,” he added.

The wild card in such a scenario is the Fish and Wildlife Service, which could always reverse course and list the bird for ESA protection, said Bob Keiter, a University of Utah law professor who specializes in natural resources and public lands.

“If the plans were substantially altered, that would open the door for a [ESA] listing, which most people, I think, believe would lead to more onerous protections for the bird,” Keiter said. “There are a lot of things for the agencies to consider before jumping off and trying to scrap the plans wholesale.”

States want ‘flexibility’ Western state leaders who want revisions to the federal plans say they’re positioned to make them happen with the Trump administration.

In Utah, the state wants more time for its grouse management strategy to work before the federal plans are fully implemented, said Braden Sheppard, legal counsel for Republican Gov. Gary Herbert’s Public Lands

Policy Coordinating Office.

Failing that, Sheppard said, the state wants to see the federal plans “significantly revised to allow for multiple-use on federal lands, or rescinded.”

Utah filed a federal lawsuit last year challenging the plans, arguing they undermine the state’s sage grouse conservation efforts (Greenwire, Feb. 5, 2016).

“We have worked really well with our federal partners to try and work within the plan,” Sheppard said. “However, it’s a one-size-fits-all decision, and it does not reflect the tremendous diversity of greater sage grouse habitat across the West and here in Utah.”

In Wyoming, which is home to nearly half the remaining grouse, the federal plan is modeled after the Cowboy State’s core sage grouse area approach adopted in 2008 that identified habitat where conservation is prioritized and development discouraged.

Gov. Matt Mead (R) has reaffirmed and expanded the state program through two subsequent executive orders, and he has expressed his support for the federal grouse plans.

Still, the federal blueprint includes some significant differences from the state plan, including the type of mitigation requirements when disturbances do take place inside core areas. For projects in portions of the state where there’s a checkerboard pattern of federal-state ownership, mitigation requirements can be different on parcels sitting side by side.

“Wyoming would welcome more flexibility to implement continued on page six

Page 6

Livestock Market Digest

March 15, 2017

New Mexico Sheepman Elected ASI President

M

ike Corn, Roswell, was elected President of the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI) on January 28 during the ASI Convention in Denver, Colorado.

“I am excited about serving as president, and looking forward to the coming months,” Corn said. “Representing over 80,000 sheep producers across the country is a huge task – I hope I am up to the job.”

Corn, a fourth-generation sheep producer, also coowns and manages Roswell Wool, marketing wool for sheep producers across the West. The Corn family has been ranching in the Roswell area for over 135 years.

Corn says that with all of the changes currently taking place in Washington, D.C., he has high hopes that sheep producers will soon feel some relief. “Going in, I feel confident that over the next couple of years, we are going to be able to put some of these issues that we have been struggling with behind us.”

The impacts lamb imports on domestic sheep producers are a big issue, he explained. Half of the lamb that is consumed in the United States is imported.

Often, lamb produced in other countries is imported and sold for half the price of domestic lamb - less than it costs American sheepmen to produce their end product. The lamb is brought in on a strong dollar, and sold in dollars, which allows importers to make even more profit when the dollars are converted back into their own currency.

“The President has said he would address trade, he has said he would look at the regulations put in place by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and

the associated red tape that affects industry, and we are looking forward to seeing those changes,” Corn noted.

Another big issue for ASI is the ongoing conflict in mountain states on U.S. Forest Service grazing leases, where domestic sheep numbers have been severely reduced because of potential impacts to the Bighorn Sheep populations – even though much of the science used in those decisions has been proven to be questionable, Corn pointed out.

Mandatory price reporting, and the associated impacts to the industry’s lamb insurance program, is another priority. “We are continuing to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on this,” he explained. “Lamb and sheep are the only species affected by mandatory price reporting where the majority of consumption is imported, which makes us unique in comparison to pork, beef and poultry.”

Corn is an active member and past president of the New Mexico Wool Growers, Inc. He is also active in the Chaves County Farm and Livestock Bureau, the New Mexico Hereford Association and the Chaves County Soil and Water Conservation District. Prior to being elected ASI President, he served two years as Secretary/Treasurer, represented Region VI (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Nevada) on ASI’s Executive Board and served as vice chair of ASI’s Resource Management Council. Corn also served as Chairman of ASI’s “Let’s Grow thru Change” Committee for several years. He is very proud of the committee’s efforts, which worked to inject over $1 million back into the sheep industry to help it grow

New American Sheep Industry President Mike Corn with his bride Jennifer.

through change.

He and his wife of 34 years, Jennifer, have three children and five grandchildren.

SAGE GROUSE

continued from page five

the governor’s core area sage grouse strategy,” said Mike McGrady, Mead’s policy adviser.

“We’d like to see the mitigation standards BLM’s applying better align with the core area strategy.”

Flexibility is also a buzzword in Colorado.

Swartout said the state supports the federal grouse plans.

“The goal is to try to make these plans work, and through implementation there’s lots of options to make these plans work,” he said.

But he said Colorado wants to see some changes, including allowing oil and gas development in some cases closer to leks than the federal plans allow.

Swartout said the federal strategy that the state worked out with BLM Colorado officials included a tiered-system approach to leasing near leks, where development is allowed as long as certain conditions were met for projects 3 miles from a lek, with different crite-

ria for projects 2 miles away and 1 mile away.

But when the draft plans were sent to BLM headquarters in Washington, Swartout said, the tiered system was removed.

“We look forward to having a dialogue with the new people,” he said.

Swartout said Zinke’s testimony during Senate confirmation hearings last month has state leaders feeling optimistic about the Trump administration’s plans for grouse management.

“He talks about appropriate balance. We need to get that balance right,” Swartout said.

“We actually are hopeful they’ll have a greater understanding of what states need to make this work.”

A ‘common goal,’ murky future Altering the plans, even in subtle ways, could lead to additional lawsuits from conservation groups to force the Trump

administration to carry out the already approved mandates.

“This was the biggest planning deal of my BLM career, and we got there with the states at the table,” said Steve Ellis, the former BLM deputy director who, before retiring last year, helped craft instruction memorandums directing agency field offices how to implement the plans.

“Did we always agree on all things? No,” he added. “But we all agreed on the common goal, and that was to avoid a listing of the greater sage grouse.”

Pulling away from the federal grouse plans is tantamount to pulling away from that goal, Ellis said.

“Priorities shift, but you still have to follow the plans in place or there are groups out there that will check you on that,” he said. “That’s where the judicial system comes in.”

In addition to lawsuits, environmentalists would likely start petitioning the Fish and Wild-

life Service to list other species in the sagebrush steppe ecosystem that the grouse and roughly 350 other species depend on.

“You start having other critters pop up with petitions for listing,” Ellis said.

If that happens, the dominoes will start to fall for an ESA listing of the sage grouse, he said, because the service must review the status of the bird every five years.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service is going to have to take another look to see if these plans and the implementation of these plans has made progress in turning the population declines around. Basically, are the regulatory mechanisms we put in place working?” Ellis said.

“That is something that, before you start dismantling the plans, you need to consider.”

The current status of the greater sage grouse is murky, at best, in part because grouse populations are cyclical and can change dramatically from year

“Profitable Real World Cattle”

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to year.

In Wyoming, for example, officials with the state Game and Fish Department, federal agencies, private consultants, and volunteers last year visited nearly 1,700 sage grouse leks and counted more than 42,300 male sage grouse.

Lek counts are good barometers of grouse health because most males in an area can be found at a lek during breeding season, allowing biologists to get accurate counts, said Tom Christiansen, sage grouse program coordinator for the Game and Fish Department.

The average number of male grouse per lek last year was up 16 percent compared with 2015, which was 66 percent higher than 2014.

But when biologists visited nesting sites in December, they measured what Christiansen described as “poor chick production” — a sure sign that “we are looking at a decrease in our lek counts this spring.”

The federal grouse plans include “triggers” for adaptive management techniques to kick in when grouse populations decline significantly.

That’s already happened in northwest Utah, where BLM this month announced it was alarmed about an isolated population of grouse that had suffered a “serious decline” in population (E&E News PM, Feb. 6).

“We are going to be arguing to the new administration that it’s in their best interest to keep their plans in place,” said Steve Holmer, vice president of policy for the American Bird Conservancy. “We don’t see a lot of room for them to maneuver and take the legs out from under this stool.”

March 15, 2017

Livestock Market Digest

A Rogue Agent A rogue agent, three trials, and hummingbird eggs, traveling tortoises and obese bumble bees

Y

ou may recall the extravagant demands made by BLM last year for the Burning Man event in Nevada. They sought, “trailers, flush toilets, washers and dryers and vanity mirrors.” Also included was a 24-hour, full-service kitchen with a menu of “10-ounce steaks, 18-ounce pork ribs, poultry, ham, fish, vegetables, potatoes, bread, salad bar with five toppings and three dressings and desserts.” And those desserts? They had to include “assorted ice cream flavors, Popsicles and ice cream sandwiches, as well as cakes, cookies, pies, cobblers, puddings and pastries.”

It turns out the agent-incharge for this BLM operation was one Dan Love, who was also the agent-in-charge for the Cliven Bundy fiasco in Nevada.

In late January the Inspector General’s office (OIG) for the Department of Interior released a report on abuse of authority and ethical breaches by a federal employee, whom we now know was Dan Love.

The OIG found the Supervisory Agent “violated Federal ethics rules when he used his influence with Burning Man officials to obtain three soldout tickets and special passes for his father, girlfriend, and a family friend.” In addition, they found that he “directed on-duty BLM law enforcement employees to drive and escort his family during the event with BLM-procured, all-terrain and utility type vehicles.”

The report also confirmed “the Supervisory Agent’s girlfriend stayed overnight with him in his BLM assigned trailer, contrary to restrictions in the operations plan for the event”, that he “violated Federal ethics regulations by having a subordinate employee make a hotel reservation for his guests”, and he misused his BLM official vehicle while hauling his girlfriend around the event.

Investigators said the agent called other employees and encouraged them not to cooperate. Investigators also said the agent used intimidation to discourage his co-workers from speaking with investigators, telling one: “You know, if you don’t side with me, grenades are going to go off and you’ll get hit.”

Then, on February 14 of this year the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee requested the OIG expand their

investigation into Mr. Love to include charges of destruction of federal records, witness tampering and obstruction of a Congressional investigation.

All this, and yet agent Love is reportedly to be the star witness for the feds in the Nevada standoff case.

Triple trials We’ve got three trials going on right now: The remaining defendants in the Malheur Wildlife Refuge takeover, the charges against Ammon Bundy’s attorney, and the first defendants in the Nevada standoff.

Of the remaining seven defendants in Malheur case, three have plead guilty to misdemeanor trespassing in exchange for other charges being dropped.

All three were sentenced to a one-year probation. At a pretrial hearing for the others, an interesting issue came up concerning warrants. It appears the arrest warrant for one defendant was dated a day after he was arrested. “We have a fundamental problem with the government’s reliance on the arrest warrant,” Judge Brown said. “It’s very curious to me that [FBI agents] all testified to an arrest warrant when there isn’t one,” stated Brown.

In the case of Ammon Bundy’s attorney, the judge has dropped one charge but has denied his request for a jury trial and ordered a bench trial instead.

Opening statements have been given in the trial of the initial defendants in the Nevada standoff case. The prosecutor painted a picture of outgunned and outmanned federal agents who had no choice but to release the cattle. The defense said the group did not venture to the cattle pens until after the Sheriff told them the feds were leaving. No conspiracy was involved they said. Prosecutors have asked the judge to narrow the focus of the trial to the day of the standoff, and to prohibit defense teams from referring to federal land policies.

Defense lawyers argued that if the government hopes to prove conspiracy, the jury has to hear what the defendants believe and why they went to the Bundy ranch.

We should know the verdicts in time for next month’s column.

Wolves up, ranchers down The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Ser-

vice has completed their annual survey for Mexican wolves, finding a minimum of 113 of the critters, as compared to 97 in 2015. Other findings were: There are a total of 21 packs, with a minimum of 50 wolves in New Mexico and 63 wolves in Arizona.

The 2016 minimum population count includes 50 wildborn pups that survived through the end of the year compared to 23 pups surviving in 2015.

Six wolf pups were cross-fostered in 2016. Three are known to be alive, one of which is radio collared.

The feds also reported there were 13 wolf mortalities last year, two of which occurred during the survey and 11 which are under investigation.

The numbers aren’t near so good for federal land ranchers.

The Coalition for Self-Government in the West has just released a new study titled Dusty Trails: The Erosion of Grazing in the American West. They took a look at the numbers for grazing administered by the Bureau of Land Management for the years 1949-2014.

During the 65-year period for the study, they found that AUMs authorized by the BLM declined from 14,572,272 to 7,160,432. The number of permittees suffered a similar decline, from 21,081 to 10,187.

They also have tables for individual states. For New Mexico, the number of authorized AUMs declined from 2,117,347 to 1,151,492, or 46 percent. The number of permittees has plunged from 4,030 to 1,399, a whopping decline of 65 percent.

I’m told the original figures were compiled by a career BLM employee, but the higher ups told him to not publish them. I wonder why?

Tortoise translocation In 2013 Congress added 88,000 acres to the Marine Air Corp’s Air Ground Combat Center. Problem is, this area is supposedly prime habitat for the endangered desert tortoise. The solution: the mil-

Page 7 itary will move, by helicopter, around 1,200 of those tortoises to BLM land outside the boundaries of the combat center. And the really good news it will only cost $50 million to complete the project.

Fat Bees It turns out the real Obesity Crisis is in bumblebees.

Within a few decades the rusty-patched bumblebee has declined by 90 percent, and recently became the first such critter to be listed under the Endangered Species Act. Pesticides? Climate Change?

Habitat Destruction? Not so fast say some research entomologists. They’ve discovered a parasitic fungus in drone bees, which slides down the throat to the gut. There the fungus swells in the soft tissue between the bumblebee’s organs until the drone grows so plump it can’t bend its abdomen to mate with the queen, and the colony eventually dies out.

Hummingbird eggs In the San Francisco bay area they have a $70 million bridge project underway.

About two dozen trees were to be removed to widen the freeway. But, the nest and an egg of an Anna’s hummingbird was discovered in one of the trees. That species is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the tree can’t be removed until the nest is empty. So here’s the situation created in our country by the DC Deep Thinkers. To further a project like the above, the government can condemn private property. They can take your home, your business, your property. But they can’t move a hummingbird egg.

Until next time, be a nuisance to the devil and don’t forget to check that cinch.

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

Page 8

Livestock Market Digest

March 15, 2017

Combating Internal Parasites through Genetic Selection: A New Strategy for any Region

I

ntestinal parasites don’t just plague sheep and goats in the warm, humid southern states.

“It’s a problem anywhere sheep are grass fed,” says Katherine Petersson, Associate Professor of Animal and Veterinary Science at the University of Rhode Island. “Here in the Northeast, parasites aren’t as much a problem as in the South, but we’re still losing animals and losing productivity.”

Petersson, in collaboration with Virginia Tech Parasitologist Anne Zajac, has been educating producers about parasite risks and methods of control.

“Our focus has been on promoting best management practices like pasture rotation, fecal egg count monitoring and using the FAMACHA© system to detect anemia resulting from infection by Haemonchus contortus, more commonly known as the barber pole or wire worm,” says Petersson, Producers in the region can access workshops and online training, but Petersson says she would like to take the effort further. With a $235,000 grant through the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, she has expanded her focus to educate producers on parasite susceptibility as a factor in breeding decisions.

“What we’ve found as we interact with producers is hardly anyone is taking parasite resistance into consideration when choosing breeding stock,” says Petersson. “With this grant, we want to highlight selective

breeding as a way to control internal parasites.”

To back up the university’s research and outreach programs, Petersson has enlisted the National Sheep Improvement Program. Natural resistance to parasite infestation is a heritable trait, and NSIP provides an Estimated Breeding Value (EBV) for fecal egg count (FEC).

“We want producers to understand the importance of breeding sheep that not only look good, but perform. And that means not losing productivity to parasites,” says Petersson.

“With NSIP they can make informed decisions.”

The Rhode Island program is an easy fit for NSIP. Program Director Rusty Burgett has already provided workshops in the region, with more to come.

“The EBVs offered by NSIP are focused around the economic drivers of sheep producers,” says Burgett. “Using them to decrease the parasite burden in a flock will certainly have an impact on productivity and profitability.”

FEC may not be the sole criteria for selecting breeding stock, but Petersson says it should be a consideration for anyone feeding sheep on grass.

Her program provides a twopronged approach. The grant includes $7,000 per year to cover the cost of processing fecal egg count samples at Virginia Tech.

Producers can submit two samples per animal, paying only the cost of shipping, in an effort to encourage producers to profile their breeding stock for parasite susceptibility.

Phase two of the plan is to promote NSIP as a tool for selective breeding. “The infrastructure is there to process and present the data. We just need to educate producers in how to use it,” says Petersson.

She says there are many reasons for producers to understand all available parasite control strategies. Aside from increasing productivity and efficiency, there’s pressure to decrease the use of chemical pesticides in food production. “De-wormers are very safe,” says Petersson,

Livestock

“but they are losing efficacy.”

For long-term results, breeding for parasite resistance makes sense. Breeding stock with a low fecal egg count EBV will produce progeny with less risk of infestation. Conversely, animals with a high fecal egg count EBV can be culled to eliminate the prospect of progeny with a high susceptibility.

However, Petersson says it is not as simple as looking at just one number: “It’s also important to buy seedstock raised in similar environmental conditions.”

Sheep that have not been on grass may have low fecal egg count numbers, but that number could be skewed by lack of exposure, or parasite-unfriendly environmental conditions. Producers need a clear picture of that animal’s potential performance on pasture.” That’s where EBVs come in as they estimate the genetic potential of an animal by accounting for the environmental differences.

Other production goals must be considered as well. Loin eye and depth, maternal characteristics, growth potential – make the basis for any breeding decision.

Petersson and Burgett want producers to add FEC to that list.

To make animals with good FEC EBVs more readily available, NSIP is sponsoring the first ever Eastern NSIP Sheep Sale at the Wayne County Fairgrounds in Wooster, Ohio, this coming August. Patterned after the popular Center of the Nation Sale held each July in Spencer, Iowa, the sale will not only feature breeding stock with

NSIP EBVs, but a full agenda of educational programming.

Petersson plans to be one of the presenters.

“The use of breeding stock with EBVs has increased dramatically the Midwest and Mountain West regions. Now it’s time to provide Eastern producers access to the most profitable genetics,” says Burgett. “There are several flocks in the region enrolled in NSIP and we want to help them get those genetics into the commercial sector and start making a difference. The Eastern NSIP sale will be a great way to do that, and to get some producer discussions going at the educational sessions. It will be a fun sale because we’ll have several different breeds and different selection goals, so there will be genetics fine-tuned for everyone available.”

“We want to raise the seedstock bar,” says Petersson, “as well as awareness of the parasite problem and possible solutions.

We don’t have the big flocks here like they do on the Western Range. We have a lot of smaller producers and a lot of small farms. But they’re still looking for sires. We hope by giving them the information they need and better access to the right animals, they can increase their productivity and profit.”

To find more information on the University of Rhode Island Northeast Small Ruminant Parasite Control program go to www.web.uri.edu/sheepngoat/ More information on NSIP can be found at www.nsip.org

Market Digest

REAL ESTATE GUIDE Bar M Real Estate

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

HeAdquArters West Ltd. ST. JOHN’S OFFICE: TRAEGEN KNIGHT

P.O. Box 1980 St. John’s, AZ 85936 www.headquarterswest.com 928/524-3740 Fax 928/563-7004 Cell 602/228-3494 info@headquarterswest.com

Filling your real estate needs in Arizona

Bottari Realty

Fallon-Cortese Land

Paul Bottari, Broker

NEW MEXICO

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

Socorro Plaza Realty On the Plaza

Donald Brown

Qualifying Broker

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

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

521 West Second St. • Portales, NM 88130

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

P.O. Box 447 Fort Sumner, NM 88119 575.355.2855 office 575.355.7611 fax 575.760.3818 cell

Buena Vista Realty

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

nick@ranchseller.com www.ranchseller.com

Missouri Land Sales NEW LISTING! - 80 ACRES - 60 ACRES HAYABLE, LIVE WATER, LOCATION, LOCATION. Only 8 miles west of Norwood, 3 miles east of Mansfield, 1/4 mile off Hwy 60. Well maintained 3 bed, 1 1/2 bath, 1432 sq. ft. brick/vinyl home, nestled under the trees. Full basement (partially finished), John Deere Room. This is your farm! MLS#60059808 139 Acres - 7 AC stocked lake; hunting retreat. Beautiful 2 BR, 1 BA log cabin. Only 35+ miles northeast of Springfield. MLS# 60031816.

See all my listings at: paulmcgilliard.murney.com

PAUL McGILLIARD

Cell: 417/839-5096 1-800/743-0336 MURNEY ASSOC., REALTORS SPRINGFIELD, MO 65804

114 Acres - MLS# 60053027 114 acres m/l 25 miles north of Springfield, live water, spacious 3600 sq ft custom built home state of art dog kennel; 2nd older home, many possibilities, needs updating HOBBY FARM Deluxe 30 acres, 3 bed, 3.5 bath 3100+ sq ft custom built, 1 owner home, Webster Co, Rogersville Schools, 13 miles from Springfield R/V drive through barn, horse barn, large hip roof barn, kennel, & small animal barn, year-round spring-fed creek. This farm has it ALL! MLS# 60043538

March 15, 2017

Livestock Market Digest

Page 9

For advertising information contact RANDY SUMMERS at 505/243-9515 521 West Second St. Portales, NM 88130 575-226-0671 www.buenavista-nm.com Jack Horton

Medical Springs, OR

541.761.9553

Rae H. Anderson 208.761.9553

For complete brochures:

agrilandsrealestate.com

NANCE – RHEA CREEK RANCH: Approximately 785 deeded acres – 32 acres water rights – 8 month’s seasonal grazing for 45-50 cow/calf pairs – fenced and X fenced – about 2,300 feet Rhea Creek through property – annual CRP payment of approximately $4,750 with 7 years remaining – high end 3 BR mfg. home, shop, barn, bunkhouse, feedlot and corrals – has had excellent care and management –$665,000.

TEXAS & OKLA. FARMS & RANCHES • 100 acres, Kaufman County TX, Long County Rd frontage, city water, excellent grass. $3750 per acre.

• 240 acres, Recreation, hunting and fishing. Nice apartment, 25 miles from Dallas Court House. $3250 per acre.

• 270 acre, Mitchell County, Texas ranch. Investors dream; excellent cash flow.

Rock formation being crushed and sold; wind turbans, some minerals. Irrigation water developed, crop & cattle, modest improvements. Just off I-20.

Price reduced to $1.6 Million.

• 40 acre, 2 homes, nice barn, corral, 30 miles out of Dallas. $415,000.

Joe Priest Real Estate

1-800/671-4548

joepriestre.net • joepriestre@earthlink.com

THORN CREEK: Approximately 4,070 deeded acres plus 80 acres landlocked BLM – 160 acre water right – free water – lifestyle investment including new home and outbuildings in 2014 – livestock, diversified wildlife & outdoor recreation – owner/agent - $4,000,000 – adjacent 9,500 acre (deeded/forest) grazing, wildlife is available.

Bottari Realty Paul Bottari, Broker

Portales, New Mexico

Portales, NM - Large Shop building & 8 RV storage, 1013 NM 236 Excellent Location, Condition, Access - Income Potential, has room for more additional RV units. Shop 4356 sq ft w/2 shop areas plus office - parts room & restrooom. Large 20 x 14 door plus walk-in on East side plus 12 by 14 door on south for smaller bay. Approx 2 acre Asking price $275,000 - You look, lets see if we can agree.

Also in Portales, NM - A shop building on approx .34 acres with 2 largedoors 12 ft. wide, 1 door 12 ft w/manual open, 1 door 12’ by 11’6”w/electric open, nice clean property zoned R-1.

1504 Elbe, priced at $59,500 Pictures of these properties on www.buenavista-nm.com Call Jack or any of our sales agents for a showing

775/752-3040

www.bottarirealty.com

Ranch Properties now available through Bottari & Associates Realty, Inc

Mason Mountain Ranch: Elko Country, Nevada: 3782 deeded acres plus small BLM permit. Summers up to 300 pair In the past. Recent improvements to stockwatering sources and new set of corrals. Landowner Elk Tag. $1,750,000.

Elko County 566 acre Organic Farm: this farm is located approx.. 15 miles South of Wells on the East side of US Hwy 93. There are 249 acres under three pivots, one full and two wipers. Price: $825,000.

Fish Creek Ranch -Eureka, Nevada: This ranch has 2,597 deeded acres of which approx.. 2000 have water rights out of Fish Creek and seeps. If you’re a farmer then you have full use of all the water in the Fish Creek system. If you’re into cattle then it’s a combination of pasture and hay for winter months for approx.. 300 hd. All on private lands. The ranch has 5 residences use them for family , business, educational uses, you decide. Multiple other shop and storage buildings. Price: $4,000,000.

Clover Valley Z Bar Ranch: 598+- deeded acres at the foot of the mountains and on paved state route. Approx. 150 acres with harvest and pasture surface water rights out of several streams. Four (4) homes from 1100 sq.ft to 6,320 sq.ft. 3 shops including 2 heated the larger being 5000 sq ft. Green house and gravity flow water system served by two wells that supplies water with and without power. A truly unique property. If you’re looking for a family ag property that can be self-sustaining or a corporate retreat this may be the one you’re looking for. Price: $2,400,000.

Scott Land co.

Ranch & Farm Real Estate

TURKEY TRACK RANCH – First time offering of one of the largest cattle ranches in NM. 253,000 total acres, 3000 AUYL, 30 wells and miles of pipeline, numerous earthen tanks. Stretches from the Pecos River to above the Caprock in Lea County. Operated with a headquarters and three cow camps. Price: $18,500,000.00 Call for a brochure.

GATO MOUNTAIN RANCH- 2,991 total acres in the Bent, NM area. Extensive improvements along with abundant wildlife. Paved access from U.S. 70. Suitable for corporate retreat or guest ranch. ($2,800,000.00) Take a look at this one.

FLORES CANYON RANCH – 3,290 total acres at Glencoe, NM. Ruidoso River runs through the southern tip of the ranch. Foothills of the Sacramento Mountains with fantastic views. Price; $3,000,000.00 DOUBLE L RANCH - Central NM, 10 miles west of Carrizozo, NM. 12,000 total acres; 175 AUYL, BLM Section 3 grazing permit; Water provided by 3 wells and buried pipeline. Improvements include house and pens. Price: $1,500,000.00.

RHODES FARM – Southeastern NM on the Pecos River east of Hagerman. Comprised of 480 total acres with 144 irrigated acres. Unique private drain water rights. Call for a Brochure. Price: $1,400,000.00 Scott McNally Bar M Real Estate, LLC P.O. Box 428 Roswell, NM 88202 Office: 575-622-5867 • Cell: 575-420-1237 www.ranchesnm.com

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

PUERTO DE LUNA, NM – 10,145 ac. +/- (7,665 deeded, 1,680 state & 800 BLM) state-of-the-art home, barns & pens, well watered, on all weather road.

G BAR FARM – Tuc., NM, 194 ac. +/-, well improved w/ home, barns, pens, 138.6 ac. Arch Hurley conservation district water rights, well suited for combination farm/livestock operation!

ABERCROMBIE RANCH – Huerfano Co., CO – 7,491 ac. +/- of choice grassland watered by wells & the Cucharas River, on pvmt., excellent owner financing!

UTE LAKE SUBDIVISION – beautiful, new custom built home, 5,046 +/- sq. ft. on 3.230 ac. +/-, 4 bdrm., 3 ½ bath & an attached two car garage.

CLOUD CROFT NM AREA - Chaves/Otero Co. – 25,665 +/ac., 1,320 +/- deeded, 4,024 +/- State, 15,000 +/- BLM, 5,321 +/- Forest, permitted for 580 au’s year-round, well watered, good headquarters, very nice updated home, excellent pens & out buildings.

CANYON VIEW RANCH – 1,542 deeded ac. +/- just out of Clayton, NM, beautiful, good country, well watered, volcanic rock mining operation offers addtl. income, on pvmt.

RED WING RANCH - Harding Co., NM – 1,280 ac. +/-, scenic, native grass land, no cattle in 13 yrs. Call for details.

COTTLE CO., TX – Pease River frontage, 1,357 ac. +/- of beautiful, rugged ranch property, numerous springs flowing into two creeks, excellent hunting, highway frontage.

NM STATE LEASE – Union Co. – buy the improvements & irr. equip. on the property & lease a NM State Leased section, 640 ac. +/-, w/nice home, landscaped yard w/matured trees, nice shop, cattle pens & pivot sprinklers.

MELROSE, NM - easy access just off of Hwy. 60 - 1,840 ac. +/- well located, watered w/windmills & dirt tanks, easy drive out of Clovis, NM. STEAD, NM - Union Co, NM – located at the confluence

of the Pinabetes/Tramperos Creeks, year round live water, beautiful country w/super improvements & livestock watering facilities, 4,650 deeded, 3,357 State Lease, one irr. well with ¼ mi. pivot sprinkler for supplemental feed, excellent access via pvmt. & all weather roads. PRICE REDUCED CONSIDERABLY! LAKE VIEW RANCH – San Miguel Co., NM - 9,135 total ac.+/-, w/6,670 ac. +- deeded, 320 ac. +/- BLM, 40 ac. +/State Lease, 2,106 ac. +/- “FREE USE”, well improved, just off pvmt. on co. road., a neighboring ranch may be added for additional acreage!

LINCOLN/SOCORRO., NM - 37.65 sections +/- Central NM ranch w/good, useable improvements & water, some irrigation w/2 pivot sprinklers, on pvmt. w/all-weather road, 13,322 ac.+/- Deeded, 8,457 ac. +/- BLM Lease, 2,320 ac. +/- State Lease.

CASTRO CO., TX - 102 +/- acre dairy w/home, east of Nazareth on Hwy. 86 w/a dairy capacity of up to 500.

ARGENTINA….PLEASE CALL FOR DETAILS on 176,000 ac. +/- (WE CAN DIVIDE into tracts of 1,500 acres or more) of choice land which can be cleared for soybeans & corn, some cleared & seeded to improved grasses for grazing of thousands of mother cows, some still in the brush waiting to be cleared.

BIRD HUNTERS HAVEN - Quay Co., NM - 276.22 ac. +/-, in easy driving distance of Ute & Conchas Lakes, all in native grass w/home, barns, good fences, well watered, on pvmt.

ATTN. TX LAND OWNERS – Seller of OK ranches is very motivated to buy or trade for ranch or farm land between Dallas & Houston/Coast area. For sale or trade Pontotoc/ Coal Co., OK – three good, solid ranches just out of Ada in close proximity, one to the other (one owner -779 ac. +/-, 1,370 ac. +/-, 974 ac. +/-), good useable improvements, on pvmt. or good all-weather roads.

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

Page 10

Livestock Market Digest

March 15, 2017

Impact of Dairy Industry on Beef Markets Cattle markets are adjusting to increasing beef production; dairy beef is significant.

BY LEE SCHULZ | IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION LIVESTOCK ECONOMIST FROM WALLACES FARMER

T

he dairy industry’s influence on total beef production is significant. Sometimes it’s complementary to beef markets. Other times it is counter to beef market adjustments. CattleFax beef audits for 2009 to 2013 show cull dairy cows and fed dairy cattle averaged about 20 percent of total U.S. beef

production. About two-thirds of the dairy beef came from fed dairy cattle.

In 2014 fed cattle prices surged on tight cattle supplies and strong beef demand. Ensuing record profits pulled cattle into feedlots. Feeding out dairy calves became attractive for many feedlots, boosting demand for dairy calves.

Feedlots pulled dairy calves away from the veal industry, accelerating the decades-long

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decline in U.S. veal production.

Essentially all U.S. veal production comes from dairy calves.

Eroding veal industry demand for dairy calves coincided with surging beef feedlot demand for those animals. Additionally, the national dairy cow herd was increasing, due in part we suspect, to the improved income opportunities to dairy producers in the form of feeder and fed cattle. These factors diverted dairy calves from the veal sector into feedlots.

Dairy calves are typically placed on feed at very light weights and stay in feedlots up to a year. This means that relatively large numbers of dairy calves impacted fed cattle markets in 2015. Using Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC) calculations, about 213,000 additional dairy calves were placed into U.S. feedlots in 2014 compared to 2013 (see the accompanying chart).

An additional 180,000 head of dairy calves entered feedlots in calendar year 2015 thereby, impacting fed cattle markets in 2016.

Feeder cattle placed at very light weights stay on feed longer and get counted on more of USDA’s monthly Cattle on Feed Reports. That complicates forecasting beef production from feedlot inventory counts.

Changing economics reverse trend Increased beef cattle inventories and lower prices in 2016 reversed the trend of a shrinking veal industry and the U.S. dairy herd providing more calves to the beef industry.

Nationally, beef cow numbers were up 3.5 percent in 2016.

The 2016 U.S. calf crop was 35.08 million head, up 2.9 percent from 2015.

The larger calf crop resulted in a 2.2 percent rise in estimated feeder cattle supplies on Jan. 1, 2017. For 2016, federally inspected calf slaughter was 479,800 head, which was 34,300 head above 2015. No additional (or approximately the same number) of dairy calves were placed into U.S. feedlots in 2016 as in 2015.

Dairy cattle normally sell at a significant discount to beef cattle. But market forces do impact the magnitude of the discount. From 2003 through 2007, average discounts were 5 percent for Choice steers and 9 percent for Select Steers.

The discount hovered between 23 percent and 37 percent for all weight classes of feeder cattle shown in the accompanying table. In 2008 and 2009, exceptional drought in the southern U.S. forced cattle liquidation.

More beef cattle temporarily coming on the market ramped up discounts for Holsteins compared to historical levels.

Drought again in 2011 and 2012 caused liquidation and temporarily hiked the supply of cattle, and discounts ramped up again, especially in feeder cattle.

In 2014 and 2015, discounts decreased noticeably on the heels of an extremely tight national beef supply and increased demand for any cattle to fill shackle and bunk space. With a relatively stable dairy herd in 2016, along with a growing na-

Advertise to Cattleman in the Livestock Market Digest!

tional beef cattle herd, these price discounts started to increase once again.

Dairy beef feels a squeeze So far in 2017, steep Holstein to beef steer price discounts exist. This is for not only fed cattle, but also feeder cattle.

This imbalance could persist for many months before other adjustments bring feeder and fed cattle Holstein to beef price discounts back into alignment with historical levels. Changes in the national dairy cattle herd will eventually have impacts on Holstein steer availability. As of Jan. 1, the dairy cow inventory was 9.35 million head, up only 0.4 percent from one year earlier.

The inventory of dairy replacements, at 4.75 million head, was down 1.2 percent from a year ago.

The impact of the dairy industry on beef production is always significant and has been larger than usual in the recent past due to low beef cattle numbers. Rising beef cattle inventories as the beef herd continues to rebuild will reduce this impact, along with relative price relationships, to more typical levels in the coming years.

March 15, 2017

Livestock Market Digest

Baxter BLACK ON THE EDGE OF C O M M O N SENSE www.baxterblack.com

Anything That Can Go Wrong

“B

y gosh, that’s a new twist,” thought Terry as he tightened his collar against the biting wind and stared at the heifer. She was trying to calve standing up! He eased up on her and dropped a loop over the horns.

She stood atop a swell on the high plains of eastern New Mexico. Terry reached her and tied 100 foot of polyethylene water skiing rope around her horns, as well. A safety line so he could at least get within 100 feet of her if she decided to take off in the 300

acre pasture.

Terry was unsuccessfully tugging on the calf’s protruding legs when his father-in-law cautiously drove up behind him.

“Got any O.B. chains?” asked Terry.

“Nope, but we could make a slip knot in that poly rope,” suggested Dad, owner of the ranch and resident wiseman.

Terry soon had the yellow plastic clothes line attached to the calf’s leg. The remainder of the poly rope lay coiled ominously behind these two obstetrical wizards. It snarled and gaped like a rhino trap.

“Lemme grab some gloves outta the pickup,” were Terry’s last vertical words.

He started toward the truck but stopped when he heard the sound of thundering hooves. He glanced back over his shoulder to see the heifer sprinting towards the Colorado border! He felt something move underfoot and looked down to discover his boot dead center in the discarded coils. A microsecond of his life flashed before his eyes just as the nest of yellow plastic snakes tightened around his ankle and jerked him off his feet!

Down the other side of the swell they sailed, Terry tobogganing like a 200-lb ham tied to a runaway buffalo! Dirt pounded up his pant legs as he scooted and

Page 11

skittered along trying to avoid straddling the brush and yucca that lay like land mines in the obstacle course!

Dad, ever the quick thinker, ran to the pickup and took up the chase! He had a plan. He raced alongside the dynamic duo and, at just the right moment, swerved between the heifer and Terry!

Folks. Pause here a moment and consider the possibilities. The pickup tire could have stopped on the rope. That, in fact, was the plan. But a cowboy’s fate works in mysterious ways and Murphey was waiting in the wings.

Dad did slam on the brakes but the rope flipped over the hood and slid down behind the black iron grill guard. Terry, too, came to a stop when his foot wedged between the headlight and the grill guard.

His boot came off and the heifer trotted on no worse for the wear.

As Terry stood at an angle emptying twenty pounds of New Mexico soil out of his boxer shorts, he pointed out the flaws in Dad’s plan.

“Well,” said Dad, “Heifers that good are hard to come by and you’re just my...well, heifers that good are hard to come by.” www.baxterblack.com

What Your Favorite Fast-Food Items Would Cost With $15 Minimum Wage

BY MELISSA QUINN / DAILY SIGNAL

F

or Americans hitting the drive-thru at their local McDonald’s, a $15-an-hour minimum wage could hit them in their wallets.

According to a January report released by James Sherk, a former research fellow in la-

bor economics at The Heritage Foundation, fast-food prices would rise by 38 percent under a $15-an-hour minimum wage and cause a 36 percent drop in employment.

Sherk’s research comes after several cities and states across the country voted to raise their minimum wages, with increases typically phased in over the next

five years.

Additionally, several Democrats have advocated a $15-anhour minimum wage at the federal level, as does Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who spoke about the need for an increase to the federal minimum wage while campaigning for president last year.

In his paper, Sherk said that raising the minimum wage would lead to higher labor costs for fast-food restaurants.

Restaurant owners operating on already slim profit margins would then need to raise their prices.

Those higher menu prices would have a direct impact on customers who frequent fastfood establishments.

News With A View & A Whole Lot More...

THE most effective advertising medium in ranching today!

I

Here’s how prices at some of the most popular fast-food restaurants would change with a $15-an-hour minimum wage.

f you have livestock, a product or service that stockmen and their families need, they will find out about it quickly if you advertise in the Digest.

Digest readers know value when they see it and they respond rapidly to a good offer.

Before you plan your advertising budget, think hard about how to stretch your dollars and where they are spent the most efficiently. Are you paying more to reach fewer qualified potential customers than you woud receive in the Digest? The Digest’s circulation is concentrated in the most important livestock producing states: Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Idaho, California, Oregon, Washington and Texas. The Digest caters to the most active readers in the livestock world - who ARE the buyers and sellers of livestock, the ones who show up and speak up. It is the ONLY place to get Lee Pitt’s perspective on the world and how we are going to thrive into the future.

To plan your advertising, contact Caren Cowan at: caren@aaalivestock.com or 505/243-9515, ext. 21

Page 12

Livestock Market Digest

The View FROM THE BACK SIDE

Hollywood Livestock Report

BY BARRY DENTON

S

teer and heifer calves were steady. Steer yearlings were $3-$7 higher. Heifer yearlings were steady. Packer cows were…oh damn, I forgot I was supposed to be writing an article.

My own title threw me off!

It remains difficult to refrain from thinking about cattle prices long enough to write something that livestock folks might actually read. I just figured if I prefaced each article with a market report some livestock person might continue reading it. If this tactic does not work, I may be mailing you free beer!

Here we are living on Barbwire Boulevard where the air is clean and the sunsets are spectacular. I find it quite peculiar that we ranchers have lived in the open spaces of the Wild West and kept it pretty much as it has been for the

last 100 and more years. We have not ruined it.

The city folks are still trying to tell us how to run things here in the West after they already ruined their outfit. We just cannot imagine living with smog, concrete, and thousands of strangers each day.

Have you been down Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in the last 20 years? The air will make you cry. When we take Rodeo Drive instead of high end shopping, we have Ma and Pa in the front of the pickup, the kids, the dogs, and the migrant workers are all in the back of the pickup. Instead of perusing ten thousand dollar gowns we will be watching steer trippers and bronc riders vying for the highest scores.

Now which would you rather do?

Speaking of scores, in 1960 the World Series was played between the New York Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pi-

rates. The exciting series went the full seven games. The games that the Yankees won were all blowouts such as 16 to 3, 12 to 0 etc. The games that the Pirates won were all squeakers such as 3 to 3, 6 to 4, and 9 to 10. In the series the Yankees scored fifty five runs to the Pirates twenty seven. As we all know despite the scores the rules are, that the team that wins the best out of seven games becomes the champion.

The Pirates won four games and thus won the 1960 World Series. It does not matter how many runs were scored, but how many games were won.

This is kind of like the recent presidential election. There seems to be an element in this country that thinks our President did not win the election, because he did not carry the popular vote. However, he won in the Electoral College which is the way you are supposed to win the election.

Remember that without the Electoral College a rural vote would never count. The entire country would be controlled by the large population centers such as New York City and Los Angeles. This recent election was won by Middle America. Afterward, disgruntled citizens started filing for recounts in several states. The only problem was that the recounts showed that Mr. Trump won by even larger margins, so after three states, they gave up their quest.

The disgruntled citizens

March 15, 2017 appear to have several spokespersons that live in Hollywood. During the recent Grammy Awards show Hollywood celebrities were allowed to vent their farcical views to the rest of the world. I do not know why anyone would value their convoluted opinions.

Never once did I call up Captain Kangaroo before I voted.

However, their agenda backfired on them when singer Joy Villa wore a red white and blue dress to the event with the slogan “Make America Great Again” sewn into it.

Miss Villa had a song on the charts at number 542 and it immediately shot to number three on the charts because of her political statement.

Thanks to Miss Villa for having the audacity to wear her dress to the Grammys! Something else I noticed about the Grammy’s was that, there did not seem to be any Syrian refugees filling the seats.

Now as you probably know Willie Nelson has been hosting the Farm Aid concert for many years to help impoverished farm families. Probably one of the better ideas he has ever had. I still wish someone would come up with something to aid the rancher. I don’t think western ranchers are the type to accept aid, as they would pass it on to someone who needed it more.

The good thing is that we ranchers do have the room to hold it. The more I got thinking about it, I realized it should be entitled Rancher’s Wife Aid.

After all they are the ones that probably suffer the most. Remember, before they married us they were ladies and girls.

After a few years they are still ladies and girls, but half cowboy as well. I would not wish that on any woman, although they handle it well.

In California there is a large movement to rid it of cattle, because they think it contributes to global warming and is bad for their environment.

The politicians are trying hard to regulate cow emissions.

This is just too ridiculous to write about. However, this might be good for Arizona and New Mexico. I do not think there are many Californians left that eat meat or wear real leather so the California bovines could be bought

by Arizona and New Mexico ranchers pretty cheap as they won’t have any other place to go with them.

We know that Oregon and Washington are mostly vegetarian so they will not want them. Of course, there will be problems after we bring them in, not unlike other Californians we have brought in previously. If those California bovines come in with their designer shades you can bet our native cattle will want them too. This could outweigh the savings on the purchase price.

I think we should probably have an immigration policy to only import so many. You do not want to flood the market.

Now do not forget, packer cows are $3 higher!

More Trees Than Ever Are Standing Dead in Colorado Forests Annual survey estimates there are 834 million standing-dead trees, threatening watersheds and worsening risk of ruinous fires

BY BRUCE FINLEY, THE DENVER POST

O

ne in 14 trees is dead in Colorado forests and the number of gray-brown standing-dead trees has increased 30 percent since 2010 to 834 million, the state’s annual survey has found.

The dying trees — largely the result of insect infestations —

can lead to large intense wildfires, such as the Beaver Creek fire in 2016 that burned 38,000 acres northwest of Walden, Colorado State Forest Service officials said in mid February as they unveiled the report.

They’re planning to warn state lawmakers that unhealthy forests and wildfires increasingly will affect people and water supplies. They distributed copies of

their Report on the Health of Colorado’s Forests in the state capitol. A Joint Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee hearing they hoped to attend was canceled.

“When so many trees die and large wildfires follow, our forests quickly turn from a carbon sink into a carbon source,” state forest service director Mike Lester said. “Beyond the implications for our atmosphere, forests in poor health have implications for our water supplies, public safety, wildlife and recreation opportunities.”

Yet trees also are regenerating in the forests, Lester said.

“That’s our new forest. Now, I would much rather have a new forest without 800 million dead trees standing all over it.”

Among the key findings: Colorado’s mountain pine beetle epidemic killed trees across 3.4 million acres The continuing spruce beetle epidemic has killed trees across 1.7 million acres About 80 percent of Colorado residents rely on forest watersheds for their municipal water supplies Climate models projecting statewide average temperature increases by 2.5 to 6.5 degrees before 2050 mean the risks of severe wildfires, insect infestations and droughts will worsen The increase in dead trees “is just another piece of evidence the climate is changing and that it is having dramatic impacts,” said Ted Zukoski, attorney for the environmental advocacy

group Earthjustice. “We need to take strong action to address it.”

State forest officials say they will urge lawmakers to continue robust efforts to restore forest health. They advocate increased work to protect watersheds and manage the risk of catastrophic wildfires. They propose to plant more seedling trees as part of restoration projects. They also favor increased monitoring of forest health including insect detection and responses.

Colorado Forest Service officials work in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, Denver Water, the Northern Water Conservancy District and Colorado Springs Utilities. They also work with communities statewide to develop wildfire protection plans.

March 15, 2017

Livestock Market Digest

Page 13

Don’t Leave Yer Slicker at the Wagon

I

grew up on the “Llano Estecado” (High Plains) of Eastern New Mexico and West Texas. We had a saying there that went something like this “Don’t leave yer slicker at the wagon when ya’ leave in the morning.” It was a common saying. “Don’t leave yer slicker at the wagon,” is just another way of saying, “be prepared for what may come about that day.” Because things can, and usually do, happen or change.

When you leave out in the morning, are you prepared for the day? Are you ready to meet unexpected challenges as they arise? The great Will Rogers said, “Common sense ain’t so common.”

Sometimes being prepared is just a matter of common sense. Stop and think for a minute before jumping off. A

whole bunch of life’s calamities could be thwarted with a little forethought.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Said one of our country’s greatest thinkers, Ben Franklin. This still holds true today.

“Don’t leave yer slicker at the wagon,” technically refers to being prepared for changing weather, but think about this.

Weather in Arizona is usually very predictable. They say the most over paid person in the state is a weather forecaster.

You can usually count on pretty fair conditions to be present.

However, this can sometimes lull people into a sense of complacency.

So what if things are mostly the same day-in, day-out.

You should still be prepared for what ever comes at you (I

mean this literally and metaphorically). By not being prepared, you are opening the door for possible trouble.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln This quote reminds me of an old story I heard as a kid.

It’s about a strong man who got a job as a woodcutter. On the first day of his new job, he went out with his brand new axe and cut down more trees than anyone else on the crew.

The boss praised him for his hard work and paid him a bonus as an incentive to keep it up.

However, the next day he only chopped as many trees as the other good woodcutters.

While he received his regular pay, there was no accolades

or bonus. The third day, he only chopped as much as the lower-end woodcutters. He resolved to work harder the rest of the week, he missed being on top.

On the forth day, he worked harder than ever, harder than even on the first day. But by day’s end, he had cut less wood than anyone else. On the fifth day, it was even worse. The boss grudgingly gave him a full-day’s pay.

On the sixth day, his output was so dismal, he was fired from the job. That Sunday, he lamented to the preacher about the turn of events. How he had gone from a hero to a zero in just a few days. He told about working so hard he almost worked himself to death towards the end of the week— only to fail just the same.

The preacher thought about it for a minute and asked, ”When was the last time you sharpened your axe?”

“Sharpen?” The man said.

“Why, I had no time to sharpen my axe. I was too busy trying to cut trees.” That ol’ sense of complacency had set in. He got into a groove and never thought about being prepared to meet the challenges of a new day.

Like John F. Kennedy said, “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” But how many of us wait till it’s raining to think about it. We are kind of like the woodcutter.

We fail to prepare till it’s too late.

I sincerely hope y’all have a great day — and remember, be prepared. Don’t leave yer slicker at the wagon.

New Mexico’s Van Dyke Assumes NACD Helm

B

rent Van Dyke, born and raised in Springer, New Mexico, was sworn in as the president of the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD), one of America’s largest conservation groups, at the organization’s 71st Annual Meeting.

The NACD Board of Directors elected Van Dyke to lead the member organization at NACD’s 2016 Annual Meeting. Van Dyke served one year as president-elect, and starting now, will serve two years as president.

“Brent knows conservation – he comes from the farm and understands

how important sustainable agriculture is to not only the American economy, but to people around the world,” NACD Immediate Past President Lee McDaniel said.

“Brent also understands that our work as the ‘Voice of Conservation’ includes engaging with our more non-traditional urban and tribal partners. He sees the need to broaden NACD’s base and intends to continue the policies established in my tenure to that do just that,” McDaniel continued.

Van Dyke and his wife Kim reside in Hobbs, New Mexico, where they run a

commercial and registered cattle operation. The Van Dykes also raise irrigated alfalfa and coastal Bermuda hay in Lea County, New Mexico, and cotton in Plains, Texas.

Prior to assuming the presidency, Van Dyke served as vice president of the New Mexico Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts from 2006 to 2009. He also served as chair on the Lea County Soil and Water Conservation District’s board of supervisors.

Van Dyke is a retired teacher and FFA advisor that worked for the State Department’s USAID for more than 15

In Need of a Hearing Aid

BY ED ASHURST

T

he crew was penning a very large herd of yearling steers at Rose Well. A large herd by most modern standards would be a thousand, but in this herd there were thousands with an S on the end. An open gate from the wheat pasture going into one of many corrals in the big set of shipping pens had been opened. There was no open gate at the other end of the corral into which the steers began to enter when the crew of ten men pushed them in close.

The steers filed in, and the filing took considerable time because of their great numbers, and the cowboys sat patiently watching as the corral began to fill.

Time went by and finally the slapping of heavy chaps with bridle reins and whooping and hollering and shouts of, “Go on cattle!” and “Hey Yah! Load ’em up!” began to commence.

The corral filled and then went beyond that and became crowded. The steers walked slowly through the narrow gate like gentle women cautiously entering a very crowded elevator whose occupants were rough looking men. “Hey Yupp! Get

the #@$%&**^() in there!” The last steer was finally pushed through the gate and it was closed with all of the cowhands inside. It was tight. Steers stuck their noses upward to suck in air. Several could be seen riding the rear ends of neighbors. The outside perimeter fences of the corral groaned from pressure of bulging cattle and created creaking sounds similar to what can be heard in the bowels of a great wooden ship that is holding back sea water that weighs sixty-four pounds per cubic foot.

Old Joe was a top hand who had lived through seventy-four winters, and without being told to, he ventured forth through the center of the tight herd with plans on reaching the opposite end of the corral and opening a gate going into the next corral. The going for Joe was slow because of the bulging mass of hoof, hair and hide. He pressed on knowing that he must not hurry and cause his horse to stumble and fall, which might result in him being trampled to death.

About the time he reached the middle of the herd, his friend old Oren hollered at him,

“Open a gate!” Joe paused and slowly, because of the rheumatism in his bones, turned backward in the saddle and hollered back. “What?”

“Open the gate!” The cattle were bawling and mooing.

“What’d ya say?”

years as a contract advisor for agricultural projects in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. He was first elected to represent NACD’s Southwest Region on the executive board in 2011.

“NACD is proud to announce Brent Van Dyke is taking over as president of the organization,” NACD CEO Jeremy Peters said. “Brent has served this organization for many years and we look forward to working with him to advance voluntary, locally-led conservation nationwide in his newest capacity.” www.stock.com

“Open a gate! Somethin’s going to get down and smother to death!”

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU! WHAT DID YOU SAY?” Oren cupped his hands next to his mouth like a megaphone and hollered. “Open a gate you sorry old #$@%^&*()!”

Joe turned his horse and cautiously rode back toward the crew that was still sitting on

their horses and pressed against the gate that they had entered.

When he got close to the men, he looked at the boss, who was a man with few opinions, and muttered to him, “I was only trying to open a #@$%^&*() gate!”

Page 14

Livestock Market Digest

March 15, 2017

Wild Wolf Population Again Growing

BY PETER ALESHIRE , EDITOR , PAYSON ROUNDUP

T

he number of Mexican gray wolves in the wild jumped to 113, a healthy increase from the 97 wolves counted in 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) reported recently.

The number of wolves in the wild had stagnated in the past two years, due to a large number of wolves killed mostly shot illegally. A worrisome 10 percent of the wolves in the wild were killed in 2016. That includes two wolves who died when biologists attempted to capture them.

The rise in wolf numbers came in the midst of the ongoing debate about whether to expand the territory in which the wolves roam and breed — and new rules on where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can release additional, captive-reared or relocated wolves.

The FWS has proposed expanding the reintroduction area from an area in Arizona and New Mexico centered on Alpine, Arizona to a new range that would include much of Northern Arizona and a big chunk of New Mexico.

In theory, the new rules could allow the introduction of

additional wolf packs in areas on the edge of Rim Country, like the Hellsgate Wilderness.

The Arizona Game & Fish Department (AZGFD) has opposed the federal plan to expand the reintroduction area and Arizona State Representative Bob Thorpe (R-Flagstaff) and others have introduced legislation attempting to bar federal wildlife reintroduction efforts in Arizona.

U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, chair of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, has also introduced legislation that would require the FWS to do more to collaborate with state and county governments to make sure the wolf reintroductions don’t have an impact on ranchers, wild game or recreation. AZDGF already consults with local agencies and reimburses ranchers for cattle killed by the wolves, but the legislation would set more restrictions, timelines and requirements.

The latest numbers demonstrate that after more than a decade of effort in the current reintroduction area, the number of wolves has stabilized, despite the regular loss of healthy, breeding-age wolves. Augmented by wolves bred in zoos and elsewhere all descended for the

last seven Mexican gray wolves in existence, the wolves in the wild are considered an “experimental population,” which gives wildlife managers more freedom to release, recapture and even kill wolves who become a problem by doing things like preying on cattle.

“We are encouraged by these numbers, but these 2016 results demonstrate we are still not out of the woods with this experimental population and its anticipated contribution to Mexican wolf recovery,” said FWS Southwest Regional Director Benjamin Tuggle. “Our goal is to achieve an average annual growth rate of 10 percent in the Mexican wolf population.

Although there was a one-year population decline in 2015, due in part to a high level of mortality and a lower pup survival rate, there are now more Mexican wolves in the wild in New Mexico and Arizona.”

In the spring of 2016, the managers of the program successfully fostered six genetically diverse pups from the captive breeding program into similarly aged litters of established packs in the wild. First introduced in 2014, cross-fostering provides a way to boost the reproduction rate of the existing wild wolves.

Pups raised by wild parents

have a much better chance of survival than pups raised in captivity. Last summer, a cross-fostered male wolf set out on his own and now travels with a female wolf. The cross-fostered female is now the breeding female in the Leopold Pack.

“The population is showing an increase in wild-born wolves and we expect the growth rates observed this year to continue into the future,” said Jim deVos, assistant director of wildlife management for the AZGFD. “The success of this program is due to our on-the-ground partnerships. We have every reason to believe that our efforts at reintroduction will continue to be successful.”

AZGFD and the FWS conducted the population survey from November through December of 2016 then did another aerial survey looking for the radio-collared wolves in January and February of 2017.

The 113 counted represents a minimum figure, since other, un-collared, wild wolves may have eluded observers.

The results from the aerial survey, coupled with the ground survey, confirmed: • The wolves travel in 21 packs, with a minimum of 50 wolves in New Mexico and 63 in Arizona.

• The 2016 minimum population count includes 50 wildborn pups that survived through the end of the year compared to 23 pups surviving in 2015.

• Of the six wolf pups were cross-fostered in 2016, at least three remain alive.

The 13 wolves that died in 2016 included two who died during last year’s count. Eleven of the deaths remain under investigation.

The Mexican wolf is the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America. Once common throughout portions of the southwestern United States and Mexico, hunters and ranchers exterminated the wolves in the wild by the 1970s. In 1977, the Fish and Wildlife Service launched a captive breeding program with seven Mexican wolves captured in the wild.

In 1998, Mexican wolves were released to the wild for the first time in Arizona and New Mexico within the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area.

The Mexican wolf recovery program is a partnership between the FWS, AZGFD, White Mountain Apache Tribe, USDA Forest Service and USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service — Wildlife Services, and several participating counties.

Gestation Length - Calves Now Arrive Sooner Than They Used To

BY RUSTY EVANS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY EXTENSION SERVICE / THELEAFCHRONICLE.COM

J

ustin Rhinehart, University of Tennessee beef specialist, shares some good information with us this week on gestation length in beef cattle: What is the gestation length of a cow? This question usually gets the answer of “it averages

283 days.” A better answer is “it can range from about 265 to as much as 295 days.” For breeds that have focused on low birthweight genetics for several generations, the average gestation length has shortened. But, there are several other factors that can shorten or lengthen gestation notwithstanding genetics.

Before considering those factors, it is important to learn

what actually triggers the calving process. Since the calf has to be fully developed and ready to thrive as soon as it is borne, a mechanism is built in to make sure the cow does not give birth too soon. One of the last systems to fully develop in a calf is the system that produces stress hormones (cortisol is one of those). It is believed that the fetus starts to run out of room in the cow’s uterus toward the end of the pregnancy. So, once the stress response system is fully developed, it releases those stress hormones that lead to many other changes that culminate in birth of the calf.

There are several factors known to affect the length of gestation in cattle. One of those is sex of the calf. On average, bull calves arrive later than heifer calves for cows bred on the same day. Calving season can also affect the length of pregnancies. Calves born in a conventional fall calving season (late August – October) generally arrive sooner than the same genetics would in a conventional spring (January – March) calving season. Some breeds and breed types are also known to have shorter or longer pregnancies than the overall average of 283 days.

With those (and several oth-

er) factors being the same, genetics of the sire and dam also influence the length of gestation.

Cattlemen have selected for low birthweight genetics for many generations now. With that, has come an associated selection for shorter gestation. If a bull sires pregnancies that are calved just a few days shorter, it can dramatically reduce the birthweight and improve calving ease. Fetal calves are gaining between 1 to 1.5 pounds per day at the end of a pregnancy. So, shortening that process to 276 days can result in as much as 10 pounds less birthweight compared to 283 days.

Bulls were actually selected for siring shorter pregnancies before calving ease was the focus. In an interesting article written by Heather Smith Thomas and published in the January 2014 edition of “Hereford World”, Buddy Westphal describes his search for bulls that sire shorter pregnancies. In that case, he was interested in shorter gestation so his cows would have longer to breed back and have a calf the same time the next year. He noted that when he was able to find bulls - from a Canadian research trial - that shortened gestation length, it also took care of most of his calving difficulties.

What is the moral of this sto-

ry? Don’t let the start of calving season catch you off guard.

For herds that have selected for low birthweight for several breeding seasons and retained replacement heifers with those genetics, it is not uncommon for calves to drop as early as two weeks before the calculated due dates. Using “curvebender” bulls (low birthweight but aggressive growth to weaning and yearling) through artificial insemination can result in calves being born three weeks earlier than the calculated due date from AI. In fact, many cattlemen report having all their calves from timed AI on the ground before the 283 day mark.

These early calves are usually fully developed and thrive even at an extremely low birthweight.

But, make sure to account for this on the calendar so someone will be ready to tag, weigh and process calves that get here sooner than expected; especially during cold and damp weather.

More than that, think about whether low birthweight genetics are a primary selection criteria for your goals. Certainly, having a live calf unassisted is extremely important. But, balancing that with other criteria like growth, reproductive performance and value to the feeder and packer is also important.

March 15, 2017

Livestock Market Digest

Page 15

Feeding Santa Gertrudis: Perception is Not Reality

BY JESSIE TOPP-BECKER, ASSISTANT EDITOR FOR SANTA GERTRUDIS USA

S

anta Gertrudis are well-known for their strong maternal traits and ability to adapt to harsh climates. Breeders of these Bos indicus-influenced cattle also know they excel as feeder calves; however, this is something many in the beef industry question.

Can Santa Gertrudis cattle gain as rapidly and efficiently as other breeds while still producing a high quality carcass? John Josserand, AzTx Cattle Company president, says they can.

Josserand has been feeding Santa Gertrudis cattle for nearly 20 years. During a typical year, AzTx Cattle Co. feeds Santa Gertrudis cattle for 8 to10 breeders at the feedyard in Hereford, Texas.

Although many in the beef industry question Santa Gertrudis’ performance in the feedyard, Josserand says perception is not reality.

“I know Santa Gertrudis cattle, and most eared cattle, over the course of my career have been somewhat behind from the standpoint of grade and other performance parameters. Our experience is that they grade in the middle, typically better than 50 percent,” Josserand says.

According to Josserand, Santa Gertrudis’ performance in the feedlot is largely dependent on two factors: management and genetics. In terms of feedlot performance, Josserand says Santa Gertrudis perform above average.

“We’ve had some Santa Gertrudis cattle that we’ve handled for some of these guys gain almost 4 pounds a day. Feed conversion ratio is certainly low-6, sometimes high-5.”

Santa Gertrudis are widely known for their disease resistance – a trait Josserand says is beneficial in the feedyard. “We have very few health problems.

There’s been many times that we haven’t lost a single calf. They are certainly above average with health.” Their docile temperament is another trait he appreciates. “Certainly one of the big advantages that we’ve noticed is temperament. The cattle are just really easy to handle, and they are gentle,” Josserand says.

Unlike other breeds of cattle, Santa Gertrudis thrive during the hot and humid summer months.

With summertime temperatures in Hereford often reaching above 100 degrees, this is especially important. “There’s no doubt that our Santa Gertrudis cattle are certainly summer-feeding cattle,” Josserand says. “They certainly withstand the heat and humidity, the stress of the summertime much better than many of the other breeds. They thrive in the summertime.”

When AzTx Cattle Co. first started feeding Santa Gertrudis cattle nearly two decades ago, there was a learning curve, especially in the area of marketing. “In the beginning there was a lot of resistance to pay the market price for Santa Gertrudis cattle,” Josserand explains. “As we’ve gotten to know our packer-buyers and they’ve gotten to know our cattle,

we’ve not had any trouble marketing our Santa Gertrudis cattle at the market or better on certain grids.”

Just as relationships were key to effectively marketing the cattle, relationships with Santa Gertrudis breeders have also been important. AzTx Cattle Co. has fed Santa Gertrudis cattle for Red Doc Farm for almost 20 years.

Josserand says the long-standing, transparent relationship between Red Doc Farm and AzTx Cattle Co. has allowed them to work together to make improvements to the cattle.

“We provide them with slaughter information on each animal.

By doing that, they’ve been able to take that information back to the ranch and implement management practices where they’ve

been able to breed for grade and other desirable feedyard traits, as well as improve performance in their heifers and bulls,” he says.

“That transparency and working together over the years has allowed them to produce an animal more suited for today’s consumers.”

Over the years there has been debate about the profitability of feeding Bos indicus-influenced cattle. Josserand says his many years of experience feeding Santa Gertrudis have shown him that eared cattle can and do excel in the feedyard. “I think the prejudice that most Bos indicus cattle have endured over the years is today unmerited. The Bos indicus cattle that we manage and feed, perform as well or better than any other cattle we handle.”

As an industry, Josserand has

witnessed all beef breeds working hard to improve their cattle in the last few decades. “Over the last 30 to 40 years, everyone has raised the bar. Somewhere in the industry there’s a fit for almost all cattle that we produce today.”

Santa Gertrudis is no exception to this.

“The Bos indicus breeders have raised the bar. The animals that they are producing are much improved, much better animals than what they were raising 20 years ago,” Josserand explains.

The improvements to Santa Gertrudis cattle are due in large part to the hard work of the associations and many dedicated breeders. “What I’ve found about people like Red Doc Farm and other Santa Gertrudis breeders is these guys have had to work hard and

maybe a little bit smarter than some of the other breeds. Their willingness to learn and to help and adapt is what sets them apart from some other breeds,” Josserand says.

When it comes to judging the performance of Santa Gertrudis in the feedyard, it’s important to get the facts. “Don’t discount any breed. Educate yourself with facts, not with perception. Don’t look at the old beliefs, the old prejudice that the industry might have,” Josserand says. If producers would put pre-conceived notions to the side, Josserand believes they would be surprised at what they find. “I think they would see that there’s a lot of merit in incorporating Santa Gertrudis genetics into their operations.”

Page 16

Livestock Market Digest

March 15, 2017

Animal Rights Group Claims Responsibility for Tainted Meat at Ideal Market

BY MITCHELL BYARS, STAFF WRITER / WWW.DAILYCAMERA.COM

A

n animal rights group has claimed responsibility for ruining about $1,000 worth of meat products at Ideal Market in Boulder, Colorado on February 26, 2017 after a teen protester placed flowers on top of raw lamb, pork and beef.

An unidentified man and a girl walked into Ideal Market, 1275 Alpine Ave., shortly after 6 p.m., according to Boulder police spokeswoman Shannon Cordingly.

Cordingly said the two sus-

pects “laid flowers on the slain animals residing in the butcher cabinet,” and filmed themselves chanting things such as, “Meat is murder!,” “This is not love!” and “Meat is not food!”

According to a police report, the flowers were “small, white carnations” and were placed directly on a variety of raw meats, including lamb, pork and beef.

The animal rights activist group Direct Action Everywhere sent out a press release identifying the teenager in the incident as Ateret Goldman, 15.

The Daily Camera normally doesn’t publish the names of

This is not love!” and “meat is not food!” juveniles but is in this case because her name was released by

the organization.

“All of us have compassion for animals when we are young,” said 15-year-old activist Ateret Goldman in a statement. “But as we grow up, we are taught to see them as things. We refuse to accept that, and by laying flowers on their bodies, we are trying to help people make the connection between those products and the violence that goes into them.”

In a video sent by the group, Goldman walked behind the meat counter and placed the flowers on the “aisles of bodies,” while saying, “This is not food, this is violence.”

Direct Action Everywhere disputed in the press release that Goldman ever said, “Meat is murder,” and she does not make that statement in the video.

One witness who was interviewed by police spoke to the Daily Camera about the incident, but only on condition of anonymity due to concerns about retaliation.

“We noticed this girl standing behind the meat counter shouting at the top of her voice,” the woman said. “We just kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Is this a web commercial?’ We didn’t even really understand what was happening.”

According to the report, the employee near the meat counter was told not to interact with the suspect.

“This poor young guy just has no idea what to do,” the woman told the Camera. “He was just trying to help a lady get some turkey sausage and this girl is next to him yelling, ‘Meat is murder!’ I felt sorry for that kid.”

The two suspects left the store on foot. The witness said she followed them for a short while before they split up and “headed into the night.”

The store cannot sell the meat due to the tampering, and Cordingly said the market’s loss is estimated to be more than $1,000.

Direct Action Everywhere has staged protests at a Dalai Lama appearance in Boulder and other Whole Foods locations.

“People are willing to spend extra money at Whole Foods because they care about animals, but if they knew what these farms were like, they would be horrified,” said Direct Action Everywhere Colorado organizer Aidan Cook in a statement. “We believe it is our duty to make people aware of these animals’ stories, to remind them that their choices have consequences for others.”

A manager at Ideal Market declined to comment on the incident, and officials from Whole Foods — which owns Ideal Market — did not return requests for comment.

Cordingly said that if the two suspects are identified, they could face criminal mischief charges.

The male suspect was described in the report as a white man in his early 20s with a thin and tall build, and with long blonde hair, a scruffy beard.

He was wearing glasses, a black beanie, blue jeans, a black backpack and dark tennis shoes at the time.

The female suspect was described as a white woman with a heavy-set build and short brown hair. She was described as wearing glasses, dark pants, a light blue T-shirt, a black backpack and grey tennis shoes.