NMS May 2024

NEW MEXICO STOCKMAN

P.O. Box 7127, Albuquerque, NM 87194

505-243-9515 Fax: 505-349-3060

E-mail: caren@aaalivestock.com

Official publication of ...

n New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association nmcga20@gmail.com

P.O. Box 850, Moriarty NM 87035 Office: 505.247.0584 , Fax: 505.842.1766

Physical Location: 809 First Street, Moriarty NM 87035 President, Bronson Corn n New Mexico Wool Growers, Inc. nmwgi@nmagriculture.org

P.O. Box 850, Moriarty NM 87035 Office: 505.247.0584 , Fax: 505.842.1766

Physical Location 809 First Street, Moriarty NM 87035 President, Antonio Manzanares

n New Mexico Federal Lands Council newmexicofederallandscouncil@gmail.com 3417 Avenida Charada NW, Albuquerque, NM 87107

President, Ty Bays

EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING

Publisher: Caren Cowan

Publisher Emeritus: Chuck Stocks

Advertising Representatives: Chris Martinez Melinda Martinez

Contributing Editors: Carol Wilson Callie Gnatkowski-Gibson Howard Hutchinson Lee Pitts

PRODUCTION

Production Coordinator: Carol Pendleton

Editorial & Advertising Design: Kristy Hinds

ADVERTISING SALES

Chris Martinez at 505-243-9515 or chris@aaalivestock.com

New Mexico Stockman (USPS 381-580)

is published monthly by Caren Cowan, P.O. Box 7127 Albuquerque, NM 87194

Subscription price: 1 year hard copy and digital access $50, Digital access $30 Single issue price $10, Directory price $30 Subscriptions are non-refundable and may be purchased at www.aaalivestock.com

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to New Mexico Stockman, P.O. Box 7127, Albuquerque, NM 87194. Periodicals Postage paid at Albuquerque, New Mexico, and additional mailing offices. Copyright© 2015 by New Mexico Stockman. Material may not be used without permission of the publisher. Deadline for editorial and advertising copy, changes and cancellations is the 10th of the month preceding publication. Advertising rates on request.

28 Convention

32 States Embrace Climate Action Plans Under the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by Don Titus, ACSC, shared with the American Policy Center

EPA Threatens Locally Produced Beef

Source: The Malone Institute

36 Fewer Cattle But More in Feedlots by Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, Cow-Calf Corner

41 As Solar Capacity Grows, Some of America’s Most Productive Farmland is At Risk by P.J. Huffstutter & Christopher Walljasper, Reuters

44 Gray Wolf Trapped in Colorado Was from Great Lakes Population, Feds Confirm by Dac Collins, Outdoor Life

46 “Good” Food Purchasing Group Has Deep Ties to Animal & Environmental Extremism

Source: Protect The Harvest

58 APHIS Bolsters Animal Disease Traceability in the US

62 New Mexico High School Rodeo Association –Mia Castagnetto Story and photo by Julie Carter

63 Ute Lake Camp Meeting

64 Do You Need Windmill Repair? Source dispaninc.com

65 New Mexico Rodeo Association Secretary Janice Aragon Story and photo by Julie Carter

Thank You!

To all who helped make our 20th annual sale a huge success! From our neighbors down the road to producers from around the world, we are grateful to everyone for their interest in the Red Doc program. We work incredibly hard to provide the most dependable cattle to go work in your herds. If you haven’t had a chance to visit the farm, we welcome visitors any time throughout the year! We are family run in all aspects of our operation and would love to show you around. Our casa es su casa.

Lot 2A - $30,000 Juan Henderson & Dr. Jaqueline Henderson-Otero

Lot 56 - High Selling Bull - $28,000 Sadler Ranch

Lot 211 - High Selling Female - $22,000 Diamond T Ranch - Nate & Felicia Thomson

Perry Cattle Ranch, Logan Perry

LL Bar Ranch & Buck Island Ranch, Laurent Lollis

by Bronson Corn NMCGA President PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Bronson Corn President Roswell

Tom Paterson President-Elect Luna

Dave Kenneke NW Vice President Cimarron

Jeff Decker SE Vice President Lovington

Roy Farr SW Vice President Datil

Cliff Copeland NE Vice President Nara Visa

Becky King-Spindle Vice President at Large Moriarty

Shacey Sullivan Secretary/Treasurer Peralta

Loren Patterson

Immediate Past President Corona

Randell Major Past President

Ihave been blessed to travel to all four corners of the state in the last few months and I am proud to say that we live in an extremely beautiful and unique state. You can go from dry desert lands in the southeast to mountain ranges with live water in the southwest, to beautiful rolling hills of the northeast, and the combination of all in the northwest.

People in the livestock industry have got to be the most resilient group of individuals around. What other Group of individuals will willingly work 15-plus hours a day for breakeven pay, and be happy to do it? I would say that list is pretty short. I firmly believed that God put each and every one of us on earth for a reason, and there’s a reason that less than two percent of the population is involved in production agriculture. The reason why that number is less than two is because the other 98 percent can’t fathom how we manage to take care of everything that we do on a day-to-day basis, work through the droughts, poor markets, all the breakdowns, and all of the blood, sweat, and tears, simply because we love it. So I want to applaud each and every one of you for keeping your heads up, and keeping the next generation of ranchers involved!

That being said, since we are less than two percent of the population, we have to stay engaged. We are the minority in the United States, and if we don’t stand together and let our voices be heard, then we will lose everything! Ways that you can stay involved is by coming to our meetings and learning about our issues, but the way that you stay engaged is by voting. I don’t care who you vote for, I just care that you vote! I have had too many conversations with people who are complaining about certain issues being shoved down our throats, then whenever I asked if they voted they said no. My answer to them is quite simple, if you didn’t vote I don’t want to hear your complaints.

Whenever you are headed to town to go vote, call your neighbor, call your friends and family, tell them to go vote. This is the way we can make the difference, if you are happy with the way things are going then keep on keeping on, but if you’re like me and dissatisfied with the way that ranchers are being treated, then let’s all do what we can to make a difference for the next generation.

I have had some people ask me in the last few days what I believe the three biggest things affecting agriculture right now are, and that’s a hard thing to answer but this is what I told them. The first thing that is affecting agriculture is the policies pushing back on us making the cost of living so high that we can’t sustain. The second thing is that there is a push from governments around the world to pull land out of production agriculture and pay them in the name of conservation.

But the biggest thing I believe that is pushing agriculture back is that most of us have fought tirelessly to keep our operations alive, and our kids see it, they see the struggles that we face day in and day out and they decide that this is not the life for them. So let’s do our part to try to make this way of life something that our children want to come back to. Let’s show the world that we are proud to be the ones producing the food that sustains themselves and their families!

God Bless You and Your Family, and “Y’all Have A Good’en”

Bronson Corn, NMCGA President

by Caren Cowan, Publisher New Mexico Stockman

A Little Good News to Start

US-Mexico border rancher George Allen Kelly, 75, won’t be facing more murder charges. Kelly was accused of killing an illegal alien on his ranch on January 30, 2023.

He reported to the County Sheriff’s office seeing groups of individuals armed with rifles and backpacks on his Santa Cruz County, Arizona property before firing warning shots in the air. He later found a body against a mesquite tree a hundred yards from his house. Kelly was arrested for first-degree murder and placed under a $1,000,000 bond.

Until late April 2024 Kelly described his life as a nightmare. Immediately after the alleged shooting, his friends and neighbors set up multiple GoFundMe pages to assist with legal expenses. Shortly thereafter GoFundMe refused to allow money to be raised on its site for Kelly and refunded the money to donors.

Not to be deterred those folks found another avenue for fund raising and generated over $400,000 to help on the Christian fundraising website GiveSendGo.

In late April the judge in the case declared a mistrial when the jury, by a 7 to 1 vote against conviction, was unable to reach a verdict. That was followed by an announcement from Santa Cruz County prosecutors

that charges would not be refiled. It has been alleged by Kelly’s legal team that the prosecution cost taxpayers more than $1,000,000. Such is the life on the US-Mexico border. More life in the West…

Cochise County, Arizona ranchers were stunned to learn on April 30, 2024 that the

on page 15 >>

US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) had released a pair of Mexican wolves on the Bill McDonald ranch in the far southeast corner of the county near the New Mexico border. Clearly this release had been in the works for some time without notice to ranchers throughout the county. Wolves have strayed into the county in the past but have been hazed out quickly.

As a reminder, local wolf sightings should be reported to the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office Ranch Patrol Officers: Cody Essary, 520-559-7382 or Jesse Mitchell, 520-353-5664.

The following info is from the USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service:

You May:

Ї Harass a wolf without injuring it, and report this within 7 days.

Ї Kill or injure a wolf in the act of killing your livestock on private or tribal lands, and report it within 24 hours.

Ї Kill, injure or harass a wolf in the defense of human life, and report it within 24 hours.

Under the current rules, you may not:

Ї Kill a wolf in the act of injuring livestock on public lands.

Ї Kill a wolf feeding on dead livestock.

Ї Kill a wolf just because it is near your property.

Ї Kill a wolf in the act of injuring your pet.

Ї Enter official enclosures or rendezvous sites (where there is denning behavior).

Ї Shoot a wolf just because you thought it was a coyote or something else.

Take of endangered species will be investigated by FWS Law Enforcement. It is work noting that the area is also critical habitat for the jaguar.

BLM Conservation Rule

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued its new Conservation Rule for comment in April 2023. The Final Rule was released on April 18, 2024.

While the voluminous rule is still being studied, it is clear that there will lots of litigation filed in multiple jurisdictions in the West. There will be more on this in the coming months.

In anticipation of the final rule, Representative John Curtis (R-UT) introduced HR 3397, the Western Economic Security Act (WEST Act) in May, 2023. The bill was voted on by the US House of Representatives on April 30, 2024 and passed on a vote of 212 to 202. The vote was by partisan.

Sadly, although lip service is given by some, the entire New Mexico House Delega-

tion voted against the bill. With elections not far away, it is time to pay attention to how our members of Congress are voting.

The bill will move on to the US Senate, but there may not be much likelihood that the Senate will take it up in this Congress.

Animal ID

USDA APHIS finalized it rule on animal disease traceability regulations for certain cattle and bison in late April. The rule came out in mid-January 2023 with final comments due in April 2023.

This rule is the culmination of goals established by USDA to increase traceability, one of the best protections against disease outbreaks, and enhances a rule finalized in

2013 for the official identification of livestock and documentation for certain interstate movements of livestock, according to APHIS.

The final rule applies to all sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age or older, all dairy cattle, cattle and bison of any age used for rodeo or recreation events, and cattle or bison of any age used for shows or exhibitions.

On the funding front for animal ID, after the passage of the Agriculture Appropriations bill earlier this year, it was learned that the measure contains $15 million for animal ID. However, the funds were not earmarked for a specific project(s). Work is being done in Congress to prevent the spending of these funds.

JINGLE JANGLE

Speaking of Neighbors…

Last month we got a visit from some of our neighbors. It was our pleasure to host the ANCW Region VI Meeting in Las Cruces on April 11-12. Cattlewomen from Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah all gathered for a packed two days of presentations, meetings, hands-on beef education lessons to take home, and we capped it all off with a tour of the meat lab and feed mill at NMSU’s College of ACES. And the weather was just about as beautiful as it could get for spring in New Mexico!

I have to admit — it was my first Region meeting. I was so impressed by the caliber of ladies who joined us! Each of them is passionate about the beef industry and our way of life. Young and mature alike, we all were on the same page about where we are and where we need to go to continue supporting ranchers and farmers in their pursuit of beef production and stewardship. We learned how social media interactions can help with that, how to expand our thinking and partnerships with our state Beef Councils, how to value our members and the time they commit to our organizations, and how new technology can be of assistance for things like fences (or lack of fences).

We had a great set of workshops on how we can help educate youth and adults alike about the nutritional value of beef, and how ranching is a sustainable industry through stewardship. Our panel discussion gave us a chance to laugh at some of the “worst advice ever given”, and we also learned how to plan for the future of our operations through careful and diligent succession planning. And to showcase the new facilities at NMSU was encouraging as the college is really working to teach and expand their reach. Not to mention that our Beef Ambassadors shined a bright light on the future of agricul-

ture by being there.

I can honestly say I think we all left Las Cruces a little brighter and more encouraged than when we arrived. The opportunity to network with new friends and catch up with old ones was just icing on the cake. I would be remiss though, if I didn’t give a huge THANK YOU to our sponsors! Your support really helped make our meeting shine. To our Planning Committee– you knocked it out of the park and were amazing hosts. To our speakers– you left a lasting impression that gave us something to go home and work on. To our attendees– thanks for coming! We truly hope you enjoyed your time in New Mexico!      ▫

Yucca CowBelles and Wool Growers met Tuesday March 26, 2024 in the home of Carol Gutierrez in Mayhill, to cut out brands for the Brand Quilt that Carol makes every year to raffle off at the Eddy County Fair. There were 10 members attending. After cutting out all the brands and enjoying refreshments, President Joan Kincaid called the meeting to order. Carol Gutierrez led prayer and Kathi Hendricks read the CowBelle Creed. MaryKay McCollum reported new name tags are ordered and will be mailed. The cost was 486.00 plus shipping. Joan shared a report on the Quilt Show that was in the Artesia newspaper. Michelle Brown attended and said it was very nice. Carol’s quilt was featured in the article. Her weather quilt records the weather history of Elk NM. The Artesia Quilt group meets once a week and they make lap quilts for residents in the nursing home. Everyone brought New Mexico themed items to fill a tote bag for the Region VI meeting in April. Everyone shared what they have been doing the past month and plans for Easter etc. Meeting adjourned. After the meeting lunch was enjoyed together at Mayhill Café and a shopping spree at Rustic Luck. Respectfully submitted by Tina Kincaid Secretary

The Powderhorn CattleWomen met in the Beverly Carter home in Fort Sumner with Beverly Overton and Kelsey McCollum as hostesses on April 11, 2024, with eight members present and one guest. Vice-President Judy called the meeting to order and lead the Invocation, Pledge, and Creed. Mary read the minutes and they were approved. Carol gave the Treasurers report and it was accepted. Old Business– Scholarship Committee reported that they had not received an application as of today. New Business–Woman’s Club will have their hamburger fry for the honor students on May 6th. Group will provide the beef. Friends of the Library

Auction– It was decided to donate two packages of cocktail napkins to the auction. Sarah will contact Nancy Phelps to get CowBelle Dinner napkins. Group decided to purchase a case of Dinner napkins. BBQ– The ladies decided using the Large Hamburger buns for the $10 plate and Smaller Hamburger Buns for the small plate and charge $7 for the small plate. Courtesy cards were sent to Yetta Bidigain and a get well to Ann Sleep. The meeting was adjourned at 11 a.m. Sarah Fitzgerald from the Beef Council gave a very interesting program on the Beef Checkoff Dollars. All enjoyed a lunch of Chalupa burritos. Mary McClain Sec.

Mesilla Valley CowBelles held their meeting virtually and submitted a scholarship nominee after a final vote at the previous meeting. The group provided several door prize items and two baskets for the ANCW Region VI meeting filled with a variety of donated New Mexico products. Three of the members attended the conference; it was very well attended and enjoyed by all! Great job New Mexico CowBelle Officers and others! Erica Garcia invited ladies to the Women of ACES Sigma Alpha Tea Party on NMSU campus. This group has helped with many Ag Days and Ag Explorer activities. Submitted by Janet Witte

New Mexico CowBelles: Thank you to all who have submitted their news to Jingle Jangle. As a reminder, please send minutes and/or newsletters to Jingle Jangle, Janet Witte, 1860 Foxboro Ct., Las Cruces, NM 88007 or email: janetwitte@msn.com by the 14th of every month. Have a great year!      ▫

The Darnells Continue a 131-Year-Old Family Tradition of Raising Good-Doin’ Hereford Cattle Jim, Sue, Jeep, Meghan & Jake Darnell

TEXAS/NEW MEXICO RANCH 5 Paseo De Paz Lane, El Paso, TX 79932 Jim 915-479-5299 Sue 915-549-2534

Email: barjbarherefords@aol.com

OKLAHOMA RANCH Woods County, Oklahoma

USDA Issues New Testing Requirements for Dairy Cattle Amid Bird Flu Outbreak

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued new mandates aimed at limiting the spread of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (HPAI) H5N1 virus recently discovered in some dairy cattle, including in New Mexico.

HPAI is a contagious viral disease, typically found in wild birds, and is highly fatal to domestic poultry. While HPAI causes less severe illness in dairy cattle, the disease remains a concern for livestock and humans who come into contact with infected animals.

Beginning Monday, April 29, 2024, a Federal Order will be enacted to monitor and better understand the extent of the HPAI virus and continue efforts to reduce its spread. The Federal Order will require the following measures:

Mandatory Testing for Interstate Movement of Dairy Cattle

Ї Prior to interstate movement, dairy cattle are required to receive a negative test for Influenza A virus at an approved National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) laboratory;

Ї Owners of herds in which dairy cattle test positive for interstate movement will be required to provide epidemiological information, including animal movement tracing;

Ї Dairy cattle moving between states must meet condition criteria specified by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

These steps are required immediately for lactating dairy cattle. Requirements for other classes of dairy cattle will be based on scientific factors concerning the virus and its evolving risk. For complete interstate movement requirements, visit the APHIS website.

Mandatory Reporting

Ї Laboratories and state veterinarians must report positive Influenza A nucleic acid detection diagnostic results (e.g. PCR or genetic sequencing) in livestock to APHIS;

Ї Laboratories and state veterinarians must report positing Influenza A serology diagnostic results in livestock

to APHIS.

Samples submitted to an approved NAHLN laboratory are typically returned in one to three days. APHIS will cover the cost of mandatory testing at all NAHLN laboratories.

As of April 25, USDA has confirmed the presence of HPAI at 33 dairy cattle facilities in eight states, including New Mexico. USDA has also confirmed that the same HPAI virus genotype detected in dairy cattle has also been found at eight poultry facilities in five states, including in New Mexico.

The New Mexico Department of Agriculture, the New Mexico Livestock Board, the New Mexico Department of Health –working in conjunction with other state and federal agencies and members of the agriculture industry – activated the New Mexico Agriculture and Livestock Incident Response Team (NM-ALIRT) in March. To date, NM-ALIRT remains active and is diligently working with all impacted parties.      ▫

BEEF NUTRITION INSIGHTS AT NM COWBELLES REGION 6 ANCW MEETING

The NM CowBelles hosted the Region 6 American National CattleWomen Inc. (ANCW) Meeting in Las Cruces on the NMSU Campus last month. NM Beef Council Registered Dietician, Kate Schulz, shared valuable insights and research related to beef consumption. In a world where nutrition information can be overwhelming, she emphasized the importance of clarity in the current nutrition landscape, which can confuse even seasoned healthcare professionals. With a focus on protein—specifically beef—Schulz explained how beef, with its rich protein content, plays a vital role in nourishing our bodies across all life stages—from infancy to aging. Beef provides essential micronutrients like iron, zinc, choline, and B vitamins. Whether it’s a tender steak or a hearty stew, beef’s versatility makes it a beloved choice in a variety of dietary patterns.

The Beef Checkoff continues to work educating medical professionals and consumers about lean beef, sharing the definition of “lean beef” and its impact on health. Backed by nearly 20 research studies, lean beef can be

part of a healthy eating pattern. The session included exciting results from the Beef Checkoff “Strong Minds Strong Bodies” campaign directed at physicians. Post campaign results indicate a whopping 91% of physicians either recommended or intend to recommend beef for school-aged children. The campaign’s impact was evident, emphasizing beef’s role in supporting growing minds and bodies.

Closing the session, Schulz discussed the upcoming Fuel for Success banquet scheduled for NMSU student athletes in the Fall semester. She also introduced the Sports Nutrition Game Plan, developed by the Texas Beef Council, which is a free program targeting high school student athletes, coaches, trainers, and parents. Each component focuses on proper nutrition principles, sports-specific guidance, and the essential role of beef in fueling training, performance, and recovery. NMBC also plans to introduce this program to NM high school athletes in the next school year. 

ANCW ATTENDEES LEARN ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE BEEF CULINARY ARTS PROGRAMS

Patty Waid, NM Beef Council Beef Foodservice and Education Consultant, presented a program entitled “NMBC Introducing Beef Education into High School and College Culinary Classrooms” as part of the American National Cattlewomen’s Region VI Conference. Cattlewomen from New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, California, Wyoming and Texas attended the conference and learned about NMBC partnerships with culinary programs at NMSU, CNM, and high schools in New Mexico.

Patty provided an in-depth look as to how classes are planned with an emphasis on content, presenters, and an up-close, personal format to include students in all aspects of the class. Beef industry information is introduced to the students on production from “Gate to Plate”. The cattlewomen were able to see a behind the scenes look at how to plan these beef classes while working with faculty, chefs, students, and program professionals to offer a solid Beef program as part of the student’s semester coursework. 

ANNUAL CHEF ARTIST

DINNER

The New Mexico Beef Council was thrilled to sponsor the New Mexico State University’s School of Hotel Restaurant Tourism Management’s annual dinner held in the beautiful La Quinta Ballroom at Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm in Albuquerque. This exclusive event for one hundred guests included a tour of the farm, opening reception and silent auction topped off by an incredible five-course meal featuring beef short ribs. Each course was paired with an excellent selection from a New Mexico winery. The dinner is a required element of the HRTM curriculum where the students help prepare and serve the dinner. 

Patty Waid presents to an enthusiastic crowd at the ANCW conference.

NMBC Registered Dietician, Kate Shulz, addresses ANCW Region VI attendees using easy-to-understand infographics.

NMBC SPOTLIGHTED AT NEW MEXICO ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS

The New Mexico Beef Council sponsored an enlightening education session during the New Mexico Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (NMAND) Annual Meeting, which was held virtually last month. The session, titled “Strengthening Your Voice and Amplifying Your Reach in the Nutrition Community,” provided valuable insights for dietitians and dietetic interns.

Joseph Lippold, MAL, RYT, TI-CPT, and Tony Castillo, MS, RD, LDN, led the session, offering participants an engaging opportunity to connect virtually and expand their professional networks. As the world continues to adapt to virtual interactions, this session emphasized the importance of building connections and fostering collaboration within the nutrition community.

Lippold and Castillo highlighted specific resources available through the New Mexico Beef Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). These resources empower dietitians by providing access to cutting-edge information and research related to beef nutrition.

THE TWO PROFESSIONALS FOCUSED ON TWO KEY TOOLS:

1. Beef Nutrition Education Hub: This comprehensive resource equips dietitians with evidence-based information on the nutritional benefits of beef. From protein content to cooking tips, the hub serves as a valuable reference for professionals seeking to educate their clients and patients.

2. Beef Aficionados: Designed specifically for dietitians, Beef Aficionados offers the latest updates on beef research, culinary trends, and industry news. Whether you’re exploring new recipes or staying informed about sustainability practices, this platform supports dietitians in their quest to promote balanced and healthy diets.

By fostering connections and providing access to relevant resources, the New Mexico Beef Council and NCBA contribute to the professional growth of dietitians. As the field of nutrition evolves, these collaborative efforts ensure that dietitians remain well-informed and equipped to serve their communities effectively. 

NMBC R.D. MEETS WITH NMSU DIETETIC STUDENTS

The NMSU Human Nutrition and Dietetics Sciences program welcomed New Mexico Beef Council’s Kate Schulz, registered dietitian, to an interactive session with dietetic undergraduate students and interns. Schulz’s presentation focused on her personal and professional career path as a dietitian working closely with the NMBC. She emphasized the importance of nutrition education and the role of beef in a balanced diet. Her passion for promoting health and wellness inspired students to consider the diverse paths within the field of nutrition and dietetics.

During the session, Schulz delved into the latest research on beef consumption and its impact on heart health. She highlighted the nutritional benefits of lean beef, dispelling common misconceptions and shared evidence-based insights emphasizing the role of protein, vitamins, and minerals found in beef. The NMBC provided a beef lunch for the 25 students and faculty as she discussed dietary choices, recipes, and the joys of cooking with beef. In addition, students received water bottles, beef recipe booklets and other goodies from NMBC as appreciation for the students’ participation. Professor O’Donnel thanked Kate for making herself accessible to the students in the future, to further discuss internship opportunities, career paths, or beef-related questions. The collaboration between NMSU and the NMBC continues to foster knowledge, passion, love for wholesome food, and serves as a reminder that dietitians play a vital role in shaping healthier lives, one plate at a time. 

May 4

Shiprock

Marathon

Shiprock, NM

May 13-14

Dairy Consortium

Clovis, NM

May 15-17

Indian Livestock Days

Albuquerque

May 19-25

US Beef Academy Corona Ranch, NM

May 22-24

USMEF Spring Conference

Kansas City, MO

UPCOMING EVENTS

June 6-8

Dairy Producers of NM Meeting Ruidoso, NM

June 9-11

NM CattleGrower’s Summer Meeting Ruidoso, NM

DIRECTORS:

CHAIRPERSON

Cole Gardner (Producer) 575-910-8952

VICE CHAIRPERSON

2023-2024

DIRECTORS

Kimberly Stone (Producer) 202-812-0219

SECRETARY

Marjorie Lantana (Producer) 505-860-5859

June 9-14

Youth Ranch

Management Camp CS Ranch, NM

June 29

94Rock Backyard BEEF Grilling Competition

Albuquerque, NM

NMBC DIRECTORS:

Joe Chavez (Feeder) 505-486-3228

Sarah Fitzgerald (Feeder) 830-739-3450

Belinda Lavender (Purebred Producer) 505-714-3094

Justin Knight (Producer) 505-490-3455

TBA

July 8-11

NCBA Summer Business Meeting

San Diego, CA

July 16-19

NM Farm & Livestock Bureau Summer Meeting Ruidoso, NM

Nancy Phelps (Producer) 575-740-0957

Joel Van Dam (Dairy Representative) 575-714-3244

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Dina Chacon-Reitzel 505-841-9407

BEEF BOARD DIRECTOR

Boe Lopez (Feeder) 505-469-9055

FEDERATION DIRECTOR

Cole Gardner (Producer) 575-910-8952

USMEF DIRECTOR

Kenneth McKenzie (Producer) 575-760-3260

NMBC’s registered dietitian, Kate Schulz, presents beef information to NMSU students.

ROSWELL LIVESTOCK AUCTION SALES, INC. & ROSWELL LIVESTOCK AUCTION TRUCKING, INC.

900 North Garden · P.O. Box 2041

Roswell, New Mexico 88201

575-622-5580

www.roswelllivestockauction.com

CATTLE SALES: MONDAYS • HORSE SALES

BENNY WOOTON CELL 575-626-4754

SMILEY WOOTON CELL 575-626-6253

Producers hauling cattle to Roswell Livestock New Mexico Receiving Stations need to call our toll-free number for a Transportation Permit number before leaving home. The Hauling Permit number 1-800-748-1541 is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Trucks are available 7 days a week / 24 hours a day

Roswell livestock Auction Receiving stAtions

ATTENTION RECEIVNG STATION CUSTOMERS, To be able to schedule trucking, all cattle need to be permitted by 1:00 p.m.

LORDSBURG, NM

20 Bar Livestock Highway #90 at NM #3 – East side of highway. Receiving cattle for transport 2nd & 4th Sunday of each month. Smiley Wooton, 575-622-5580 office, 575626-6253 cell.

PECOS, TX

Jason Heritage is now receiving cattle every Sunday. For information to unload contact Jason Heritage 575-8409544 or Smiley Wooton 575-626-6253. Receiving cattle every Sunday.

VAN HORN, TX

800 West 2nd, 5 blocks west of Courthouse. Bob Kinford, 432/284-1553. Receiving cattle 1st & 3rd Sundays.

MORIARTY, NM

Two blocks east and one block south of Tillery Chevrolet. Smiley Wooton 575-622-5580 office, 575-626-6253 mobile. Receiving cattle every Sunday

SAN ANTONIO, NM

River Cattle Co. Nine miles east of San Antonio on U.S. 380. Receiving cattle for transport 2nd & 4th Sunday of each month. Michael Taylor 575-418-7398.

NEW RECEIVING STATION ANTHONY, NM

923 Cox Farm Road, Anthony, NM 88021. Receiving Cattle 2nd & 4th Sunday of each month. Call in advance for details & consignments. Smiley Wooton 575-626-6253 office 575-6225580. Genea Caldwell – 575-543-5736

by Chris Scott, meatingplace.com

To help scientists uncover new clues on how the deadly highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) spreads, the USDA has provided genetic sequences of the virus.

In total, the agency released 239 genetic sequences of H5N1 virus from dairy cows, poultry and wild birds to help researchers figure out how the virus is now able to infect bovines, and how it is spreading in dairy herds.

The data from USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will speed up the research that scientists are conducting to ultimately protect dairy cows and humans, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota. Their previous efforts were limited by the few genetic sequences received from Iowa State University, while the APHIS data will include H5N1 virus sequences from blackbirds, cats, cattle, chickens, grackle, geese and racoons and will be available on a rolling basis.

Meanwhile, recent confirmations of HPAI cases among poultry in Michigan and New Mexico, along with bovine influenza A virus (BIAV) cases in dairy cattle in eight U.S. states, prompted USDA agencies to consider the use of vaccines in those animals. APHIS has announced that the development, efficacy and production and vaccination costs will be reviewed with potential developers of any potential vaccine program.

Young, Beginning & Small American Farmers &

Ranchers Get Support

Agriculture lender American AgCredit has created a new role that will focus on supporting young, beginning and small farmers and ranchers.

Jason Runyan will serve as the Mission Programs Manager for the fifth largest Farm Credit cooperative, ensuring that American AgCredit is responsive to the credit needs of all types of agricultural producers.

“The average age of a farmer in the U.S. today is over 57 years old,” Runyan said. “Young, beginning and small farmers and ranchers are paramount to the continued success of American agriculture and our nation’s food security.”

American AgCredit provides short-term, interest-free funds to FFA and 4-H students involved in animal projects, and specialty lending programs for young, beginning and small farmers and ranchers.

After the Farm Credit of New Mexico and American AgCredit merger in October of 2023, the newly combined cooperative funded a $10 million endowment to provide grants and direct funds to New Mexico agricultural organizations that support the next generation

of farmers and ranchers.

“Firmly rooted in American AgCredit’s core values is an unwavering commitment to the communities where we work and live,” Runyan said. “The Rural Roots Endowment will support the next generation of farmers and ranchers – like FFA, 4-H, junior livestock, and scholarships – as well as protect New Mexico agriculture, fight hunger in New Mexico, and continue ag education in New Mexico.

Last year, American AgCredit invested nearly $1.4 million in donations, sponsorships, scholarships, volunteer hours and special programs focused on young and beginning farmers and feeding people.

Growing up on his family’s ranch operation in eastern New Mexico, Runyan has a strong agricultural background. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science and master’s degree in Agriculture Business from New Mexico State University, he brings 10 years of Farm Credit experience with him to the role, including experience in credit underwriting, capital markets, and business development.

USDA Designates New Mexico as Drought National Disaster Area

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Visack notified New Mexico

Governor Michelle Lujan Grishman on March 25, 2024 that all 33 of the state’s counties have been designated as primary natural disaster areas due to the recent drought.

The Secretarial disaster designation makes ranchers and farmers in the primary counties eligible to be considered for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loan assistance, provided eligibility requirements are met. Ranchers and farmers have eight months from

the date of the Secretarial disaster designation to apply for emergency loans.

The FSA considers each emergency loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of production losses and the security and repayment ability of the operator.

Contiguous counties in Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah also qualify for the assistance.

For more information please contact your local FSA office.

The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Cookies always seem to be a favorite on ranches and farms. Even if they crumble. From toddlers to grand-folks, everyone loves cookies. I believe they are one of the original on-the-go snacks. I think at brandings, gatherings, any type of “crew” work it is hard to beat having cookies to hand out. I’ve made lots of cookies in my life, I usually made quick ones when my kids were growing up, the kind you can just drop on the sheet and throw in the oven with little muss or fuss.

Occasionally life calls for something a

little fancier, maybe with frosting and sprinkles. Maybe for a special occasion, holiday or bake sale. Something that has a fine crumb and melts in your mouth and looks inviting, too. This will put those round, decorated sugar cookies in the grocery store bakery to shame.

This recipe is old and I don’t think the original intentions of it was for a fancy cookie. I got it from an old neighbor and friend who said their grandmother always made these for the threshing crew. That alone will tell you it is pretty darn old, going back to the days when a whole crew was required to do the work one man and machine can do in a fraction of the time nowadays. This is a tested by time favorite recipe. I often cut this recipe in half since I rarely bake for a bake sale or have that many mouths to feed. If you do have a bake sale coming up these usually sell very well. Since they are pretty and oversized, they’re also a great money maker.

Cookie Ingredients

4 cups of all purpose flour

2 tsps. baking powder

2 tsps. salt

1 cup shortening

½ cup butter

2 cups white sugar

3 or 4 eggs

2 tsps. of flavoring, your choice of vanilla or lemon

Directions

Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium size bowl, set aside

In a large bowl, cream the shortening, butter and sugar together, add the eggs and flavoring, mix well

Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until you have a soft and barely able to handle dough. You may not need all the flour mixture and you may have to add additional flour. You want it soft enough that you can barely handle it.

Place in the refrigerator and chill for 15 to 30 minutes.

Turn the oven onto 350 degrees

On a floured board roll out the dough 1/4 to ½ inch thick. These cookies are somewhat cake-like, you don’t want this rolled thin. Cut into circles, I use a large water or tea glass to cut these. I don’t recommend using fancy shapes since this soft dough doesn’t hold shapes well. They are almost cake-like.

Place on a greased cookie sheet, don’t crowd. They will spread a bit and puff up.

Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the edges are barely beginning to show golden brown, you want them soft.

Remove from sheet after a couple of minutes and allow to cool.

Icing Ingredients

In a large bowl place:

½ cup shortening

½ cup butter (use all shortening if you want white icing)

Gradually add up to 4 cups of powdered sugar

Stir in 1 tsp. of flavoring and 2 tsps. of milk. Add food coloring if desired. Place a large dollop of the icing in the center of the cookie and swirl to the edge. Add sprinkles or candies if desired. A favorite is to use vanilla in both cookies and icing and finish the cookies with pink icing and red cinnamon candies.

Interior Department Announces Expansion of National Wildlife Refuges in Three States

The US Department of the Interior has announced the expansion of four existing national wildlife refuges, creating “voluntary” conservation of up to 1.13 million acres of wildlife habitat in New Mexico, North Carolina and Texas.

Investing in and expanding the National Wildlife Refuge System, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, furthers the Biden-Harris administration’s work to support community-driven efforts to conserve and restore the nation’s lands and waters through the America the Beautiful initiative. Under Secretary Haaland’s leadership, the Department has also established four new Refuges that will help conserve important fish and wildlife habitat,

support working lands, and expand opportunities for outdoor recreation.

“The National Wildlife Refuge System and the tremendous work of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service play an invaluable role in providing vital habitat for wildlife species, offering outdoor recreation access to the public, and bolstering climate resilience across the country,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “By recognizing that nature is one of our best allies in addressing the climate crisis, today’s expansion of our Refuge System helps advance our locally led vision to conserve and protect our treasured outdoor spaces for current and future generations.”

“Today’s announcements are the culmination of longstanding partnerships with states, conservation partners and local communities to conserve and restore vital landscapes that are important to all of us and numerous fish and wildlife species,” said Service Director Martha Williams. “By working with our partners including Tribes and private landowners, the Service will conserve important habitat that supports recreation and working lands, protects species, addresses the biodiversity crisis and builds resilience in the face of climate change.”

The Service works with willing property

owners to expand refuge boundaries through fee title or voluntary easement acquisitions. The new expansion areas include:

Ї Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge (NC) may now conserve up to 287,000 acres of floodplain habitat along a 137-mile stretch of the Roanoke River from Weldon to the Albemarle Sound, to support rare and at-risk species like the Atlantic sturgeon, cerulean and Swainson’s warbers, bald eagles and migratory waterfowl. The refuge was established in 1991 to protect the forests in the Roanoke River floodplain, considered to be the largest intact, and least disturbed, bottomland forest ecosystem remaining in the mid-Atlantic region.

Ї Aransas and Big Boggy National Wildlife Refuges (TX) may now conserve up to 150,000 additional acres of habitat in the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes ecoregion of Texas to support whooping crane, Eastern black rail, Attwater’s prairie chicken, mottled duck and other wintering waterfowl. Established in 1937, Aransas NWR serves as a refuge and breeding ground and for migratory birds and other wildlife and is best known as the

wintering home of the last wild flock of endangered whooping cranes.

Establishing in 1983 and designated an Internationally Significant Shorebird Site by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, Big Boggy NWR is a stronghold for the threatened eastern black rail and provides seasonal and year-round habitat for large populations of waterfowl, wading birds, waterbirds, and shorebirds.

Ї Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge (NM and TX) may now conserve up to 700,000 acres of habitat in the Southern High Plains along the Texas-New Mexico border to support sandhill crane, pronghorn and lesser prairie chicken, as well as a full suite of other wildlife that rely on the grasslands, playa wetlands and saline lake habitats of the Central Grasslands.

Established in 1935, the refuge is the oldest national wildlife refuge in Texas and is best known for hosting one of the largest concentrations of lesser sandhill cranes in North America. The four final Land Protection Plans for these expansions were developed through public processes and informed by input from

local landowners, Tribal leaders, state wildlife agencies, and other stakeholders. The Plans outline land protection priorities for these refuges that will inform the Service’s interest in acquiring parcels from landowners who are willing to sell property (fee-title) or property rights (conservation easements or cooperative agreements) through purchase or donation.

The Service develops Land Protection Plans to fully evaluate the establishment of new refuges as well as expansions to existing refuges. The approved expansion boundaries, which guide future refuge acquisitions, include priority areas where conservation efforts will have the highest anticipated benefit to wildlife and habitat. These priorities all contribute to fulfilling the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Under the Biden-Harris administration, the Service has added over 500,000 acres through “willing” seller land acquisition and conservation easements. With today’s expansions, this Administration has approved the potential to acquire more than 1.6 million acres in fee-title and easements across the Refuge System.      ▫

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New Mexico Wool Growers Convention Schedule

SUNDAY, JUNE

12:00 noon — Les Davis & Bud Eppers Memorial Golf Tournament, The Links 6:00 pm — Welcome Reception, MCM Elegante

MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2024

3:00 pm — New Mexico Sheep & Goat Council Meeting, Ruidoso Convention Center

4:00 pm — New Mexico Wool Grower Inc. Meeting, Ruidoso Convention Center 6:30 pm — Awards Dinner & Dance

We all have choices He loves to hear your voice. May your life be enriched with praises to Him, The problem solver NOT the problem. Have a great time sharing at the convention

Debbie Jones

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the...

N.M. WOOL GROWERS ANNUAL MEETING

June 9-11

Ruidoso Convention Center Antonio & Molly Manzanares Shepherd’s Lamb • Tierra Wools

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N.M. Wool Growers Summer Convention

June 9-11 • Ruidoso

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2024 NEW MEXICO WOOL GROWERS CONVENTION

JUNE 9-11

The Casabonne Family

Joan, David, Marc, Tammy, Cole

Hall-Gnatkowski, Ancho NM

by Frank Dubois

Are You a Target of Biden’s 30x30?

Recall that Biden issued Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad”, and that Section 216 of that order tasked federal agencies to protect 30 percent of our nation’s land and water areas by 2030. This will be quite a task as their figures indicate only 12 percent of our lands are currently protected. It has started, and it appears the 2024 elections are playing a major part in this.

Secretary of Interior Haaland recently announced the expansion of four National Wildlife Refuges for a total of 1.13 million acres:

Ї Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge (NC) may now conserve up to 287,000

Ї Aransas and Big Boggy National Wildlife Refuges (TX) 150,000 acres

Ї Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge (NM and TX) 700,000 acres.

Interior assures us that each of the four Land Protection Plans “were developed through public processes and informed by input from local landowners, Tribal leaders, state wildlife agencies, and other stakeholders. The Plans outline land protection priorities for these refuges that will inform the Service’s interest in acquiring parcels from landowners who are willing to sell property (fee-title) or property rights (conservation easements or cooperative agreements) through purchase or donation.”

Then we have the Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. The Biden

administration has just finalized their so-called “conservation” rule or to be more technically correct The Conservation and Landscape Health Rule. BLM says the rule is needed to put conservation on an equal footing with mining, timber and grazing, while critics say it moves away from multiple use by giving priority to conservation.

“By putting its thumb on the scales to strongly favor conservation over other uses, this rule will obstruct responsible domestic mining projects and compound permitting challenges, further deepening our already grave foreign mineral import reliance,” says the National Mining Association.

The NCBA says the final rule runs counter to the agency’s multiple use mandate under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA). The rule, says the NCBA, “rearranges agency priorities” and places “an outsized focus on the use of restrictive Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) designations that have compromised land and water health across the West.” The result is “a framework that gives the BLM more restrictive land management” which will produce “increased conflict on the landscape.”

You know times are getting bad when cowboys start talking about “landscapes.”

The types of conservation addressed in this rule are protection and restoration. On the restore side of things, there were differences of opinion on whether livestock grazing can be one of the methods used for restoration purposes.

I’ll just let the BLM explain this for you:

“Some commenters argued that managed grazing can in fact achieve land health standards and that specific practices, such as targeted grazing, have been used to create fire breaks, manage invasive species, and promote land health. Other commenters argued that livestock grazing is incompatible with restoration and that grazing should be eliminated in areas undergoing restoration.”

“This rule is not establishing or revising regulations governing the BLM’s grazing program and does not contemplate using or not using grazing as a land health management tool. As previously discussed, conservation takes many forms on public lands, including in the ways grazing and many other uses are carried out. This rule focuses on conservation as a land use within the multiple use framework and develops the toolbox for conservation use that enables some of the many conservation strategies the agency employs to steward the public lands for multiple use and sustained yield. Grazing as a management tool may fit within these strategies.”

Now isn’t that perfectly clear to you? Do you now have a better understanding of how this rule may affect your allotment?

It really doesn’t matter what you or I think. What counts is the opinion of the powers that be. John Podesta, the White House climate change hit man says, “Today’s final rule from the Department of the Interior is a huge win for ensuring balance on our public lands, helping them withstand the challenges of climate change and environmental threats like invasive species, and making sure they continue to provide services to the American people for decades to come.”

The other thing you need to watch out for is “resilience.” The BLM claims that they cannot manage an area for multiple use and sustained yield unless it is resilient. Ride or drive around your place and see if it is resilient. Don’t know what that means? You best be finding out.

Then we have the national monuments.

Nine months ago Biden traveled to Arizona to designate the 917,000-acre Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni National Monument, the fifth one of his Presidency. And now we learn a coalition of enviros has presented an

800,000 signature petition to Biden and Secretary Haaland urging them, before this year’s election, to use their authority in the Antiquities Act to designate additional areas in seven states: California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Illinois and Maryland.

Notice that New Mexico is not mentioned and that I have previously written of the enviro effort to establish a 245,000-acre Mimbres Peaks National Monument in the Deming area. Let’s combine that with an action just taken by Secretary Haaland. On April 18 she used her authority to withdraw 4200 acres near Placitas. According to an

Interior press release, this Public Land Order 7940, “protects, preserves, and promotes the scenic integrity, cultural importance, recreational values and wildlife habitat connectivity of the lands and surrounding area.” This leads me to ask about the Mimbres proposal, “Why has no President or Secretary of Interior of either political party, in all these years felt this area needed this amount of protection?” They didn’t care enough about it to even do a simple withdrawal like Haaland did for Placitas?

I will close by reiterating my astonishment that enviros and other supposed proponents of democracy continue to

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support the Antiquities Act. There is no requirement for public input prior to a monument being designated. Whether or not the public has a chance to comment is completely at the discretion of the President. There is also no requirement to weigh the environmental consequences of such designation. NEPA doesn’t kick in until after the monument is designated.

One person, the President, can designate however many acres he wants without limitation, without public input and without considering the environmental impact of his action.

Giving one person that kind of control over 640 million acres does not sound like democracy to me.

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 ▫

States Embrace Climate Action Plans Under the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

by Dan Titus, ACSC, shared with the American Policy Center from his Agenda 21 article

On September 20, 2023, the Biden administration met at the Sustainable Development Summit in New York with the goal of recommitting to the [United Nations] 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals—SDGs. A White House fact sheet stated, “The United States is committed to the full implementation of 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, at home and abroad… At their core, the SDGs seek to:

Ї Expand economic opportunity – This

Cattlemens Livestock

means public-private partnerships, which is crony capitalism. In this scheme there are winners and losers, where profits are privatized and losses are socialized on the backs of middleclass Americans.

Ї Advance social justice – This means placating and advancing people based on their skin color. At its core it is discriminatory.

Ї Promote good governance – This skirts our elected form of government and injects unelected special interest initiatives into our lives, where no one gets to vote.

Ї Ensure no one is left behind – This means catering to protected classes and minorities in order to create “capacity building” for initiatives and redistributive wealth schemes. Under Diversity and Inclusion (DEI), these classes are awarded “equity” and “inclusion” based on their skin color.

In a Ping-Pong game of executive orders, President Obama put the federal agencies into the SDGs; President Trump got SDGs out; President Biden put them back in during the first week of his administration. Congress has done nothing to reel them in. Biden sent an envoy to California to study what the state has done with its radical climate bills in order to put the ideas to work in the $1.2 trillion dollar Infrastructure Bill and the $720 billion dollar Inflation Reduction Act. In order to “incentivize” states, the federal government offers grants for voluntary, nonbinding, United Nations SDGs. In other words, states don’t have to do this; however, they sell out for the money.

In order to take advantage of bribe money called grants, States have inserted themselves into California-style climate action plans to reduce arbitrary greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). People can no longer say, “It’s just happening in California.” You are California…

According to the EPA, “States submitted climate action plans under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. In 2023, under the first phase of the $5 billion program, EPA made a total of $250 million in grants available to states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 80 MSAs, four territories, and over 200 Tribes and Tribal consortia to develop ambitious climate action plans that address greenhouse gas emissions. 45 states are now covered by a climate action plan. 5 states: Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, South Dakota and Wyoming decided not to participate.”

There’s capitalism; everything else is collectivism

Sustainability is collectivism: It’s a worldview where free individuals must give up their rights and private property for the collective good; where everyone is equal—equally poor. It is antithetical to the United States Constitution; therefore, it is unconstitutional. Even though it’s voluntary, that does not stop its implementation by the government.

Sustainability can be defined as artificial scarcity under the guise of conservation. Its goal is transformation through control of society by behavior modification and social engineering. It is using less of everything: Less food, less energy, less choice, less water, less mobility and less freedom.

At its core, its rationing, all contrived by unelected agencies, boards, bodies, commissions, nonprofit corporations, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and Indian tribes. This ‘governance’ is designed to replace our representative form of ‘government’ by turning elected public officials into to rubber stamps, installing prepackaged solutions, for problems that don’t exist.

Once climate actions plans become law or have ordinances attached to them, property owners will have a difficult time unwinding them. Ordinances are now being drafted in the city of Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Rancho Cucamonga,

California:

A Climate Action Plan (CAP) Case Study

CAPs are being accomplished at the state and local level. For example, the city of Rancho Cucamonga, California has added a CAP to its comprehensive General Plan Update as a “companion”. Now, the city is drafting administrative ordinances to it. See the article titled, Climate Change: Rancho Cucamonga Proposing Questionable “Mandatory” Tax & Fees on Residential and Commercial Property, which was predicated on a letter sent to the city council contesting ordinances for the CAP.

How to push back: Steps to review and critique a CAP

1. Download the city CAP www.cityofrc.us/sites/default/files/202202/Final%20CAP%20and%20 Appendices_Adopeted%20 December%202021. pdf?mc_cid=416839eee1&mc_ eid=39d4a4b242

2. Download the letter to the city council denoting page references to the CAP

for comparison. iagenda21.com/ wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ACSCLetter-to-RC-City-Council-6-20-2023RC-Budget-Adoption-Final. pdf?mc_cid=416839eee1&mc_ eid=39d4a4b242

3. Find your “EPA” State CAP and/or city/ county CAP, download it and start your critique using the example above. Your city/county CAP will be at their website. www.epa.gov/inflationreduction-act/ priority-climate-action-plans-statesmsas-tribes-and-territories?mc_ cid=416839eee1&mc_eid=39d4a4b242 Google your city/county name and the words, “Climate Action Plan”.

4. Send or deliver your CAP critique to your local state representative and demand to know how it got into the state and tell them to get rid of it because it surrenders everyone’s property rights, protected by the Constitution, to the United Nations. If you email, be sure to confirm that the recipient received the message. Type at the top of the page “please confirm receipt of this email and distribution.”

Friday, June 7

As you do your review, consider these questions:

Ї Are Climate Action Plans (CAPs) mandatory?

Ї Are Green House Reductions (GHG) mandatory?

Ї Are ordinances in CAPs mandatory? Answers: NO, NO and NO…

Dan Titus is affiliated with the American Coalition for Sustainable Communities (ACSC). Their mission is sustaining representative government; not governance, by collectivist-oriented unelected agencies and commissions.

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June 7-8, 2024

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EPA Threatens Locally Produced Beef

Source:

The Malone Institute

On January 23, 2024, under Biden Administration guidance, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a new rule that will bring 3,879 meat and poultry products (MPP) processing facilities under their jurisdiction.

This was swiftly followed by an abbreviated comment period which closed on March 25, 2024, and then immediate implementation of the rule change. All justified by wastewater levels of Nitrogen and Phosphorus coming from animal meat processing, mirroring the WEF agenda to minimize Nitrogen runoff from European farms which has sparked the widespread farmer protests throughout the European Union.

The new rule involves a major shift in the technology-based effluent limitations guidelines and standards (ELGs) for the meat and poultry industry, threatening their livelihoods by forcing them to add water filtration systems to their facilities.

What does this mean to small meat processing facilities? It’s been reported that the initial cost to install a water filtration system bringing them into compliance be $300,000 to $400,000 with a minimum of $100,000 annual maintenance. This would force many small meat processing facilities to shutter their doors.

It is also a direct attack on the buy local foods movement. If local meat producers no longer have a nearby facility to process the meat, they will no longer be able to provide their product direct to the customer at food markets or online.

The EPA initially promulgated the MPP ELGs in 1974 and amended them in 2004. Currently, they only apply to approximately 150 of the 5,055 MPP facilities in the industry. But, in the EPA’s Benefit Cost Analysis, they state that “EPA estimates the regulatory options potentially affect 3,879 MPP facilities.”

Accordingly, the history of EPA’s regulation of MPP effluent guidelines and

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ANIMAL & RANGE SCIENCES

The Department of Animal & Range Sciences is part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences

Department of Animal & Range Sciences is part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences

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standards has never extended beyond direct discharge facilities and this rule significantly expands their regulatory overreach.

The Kansas Natural Resource Coalition (KNRC) filed comments opposing the proposed rule and was joined by other county coalitions and American Stewards of Liberty. KNRC, an organization of 30 Kansas counties, states these proposed rules will “regulate indirect discharge facilities” that “departs from constitutional and statutory authority” significantly altering the balance between state and federal powers.

They also state that the proposal “gives priority to environmental justice goals and emphasizes ecological benefits, but the EPA jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act is not based on ecological importance or environmental justice.”

Demonstrating that the “comment period” was mere window dressing to meet formal federal comment requirements, immediately on March 25, 2024 the EPA jammed through a finalized version of its devastating new interpretation of the Clean Water Act, which it has titled “Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Meat and Poultry Products Point Source Category.”

Clearly this is another case of aggressive, arbitrary and capricious EPA regulatory overreach, directly analogous to the recent Supreme Court case West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, 597 U.S. 697 (2022), a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court relating to the Clean Air Act, and the extent to which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can regulate carbon dioxide emissions related to climate change.

• The Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center (The College Ranch) –64,000 acre ranch just outside of Las Cruces

• The Corona Range & Livestock Research Center – 28,000 acre ranch & facilities in Corona, NM

• Student organizations, including a Block & Bridle Club, Pre-Vet Club, Range Club, Horsemen’s Association, Therapeutic Riding Club, & Judging Teams

• Clayton Research Center hosts research on shipping protocols, particularly evaluating the health and performance of newly received cattle, and nutrition and management from feedlot to slaughter

Dr. John Campbell –575/646-6180 / Dr. Dennis hallford –575-646-2515

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According to the EPA, after months of study and testing to look for bacteria, viruses and so on, what they actually found in the wastewater of processing facilities was Nitrogen and Phosphorus. Two of the fundamental elements which all living things are composed of (Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus).

As a result, The EPA has decided that the entire meat industry - from slaughtering beef to poultry, marinas to packaging - must now retrofit current facilities with lagoons and biomass dissipates to turn “nutrients” into C02 and methane in order to prevent these “pollutants” from entering local water supplies.

The EPA anticipates these new rules will, at least, result in the closure of 16 processing facilities across the country at a time when our country’s meat producers are already struggling to survive due to bottlenecks in

USDA certified facilities. However, on the high side EPA estimates include an impact range of up to 845 processing facilities.

The EPA acknowledges (via the Federal Register) that this rule change will have far-reaching impacts up and down the supply chain from consumer prices to producer losses.

A press release was just put out by a consortium of protein producers who have said this will cost “millions more than the EPA’s highest estimates and result in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.”

It gets worse

Facilities can bypass these new regulations by drastically reducing their weekly/ annual pounds processed. However, the US population continues to grow (largely due to immigration) at a rate that we’re currently incapable of feeding with record low volumes of meat production. Reducing pounds processed will have sizable impacts upon food security, as will further closures, and supply chain disruptions. These issues have now risen to the point of being a national security threat.

Problems in the rule change

The rule change fails to provide clarity or funding to local water treatment facilities for testing or range of acceptable levels of runoff, and in my opinion over-steps federal authority (WOTUS jurisdiction) by dictating local water rights. Especially as the EPA acknowledges most water used in processing is from a well source, or privately owned water source.

Ї The rules fail to account for foreign inputs, and actually incentivize domestic closures, prioritizing imported meat products in a manner conducive to the monopolistic multinational conglomerate beef producers who are not US based. This, at a time when the US has gradually become a net importer yet facing critical infrastructure collapses, such as Key Bridge.

Ї The rules specify 17 species of endangered animals that may become affected by the salt residues (a byproduct of the process they want used to turn biomass into gas), as these salts flow “downstream” from processing facilities. This is bogus language to attempt to establish jurisdictional standing, as the rules do not differentiate between facilities that are near navigable waters vs facilities that have private water rights.

However, for those who do comply, as opposed to reducing production, they’ll be left open and vulnerable to future lawsuits from environmental activists over endangered species. These lawsuits have historically become costly, with states eventually caving to the demands made, as evidenced by the Oregon Dept of Forestry v Cascadia in filing after filing - Spotted Owl to CoHo Salmonresulting in the drastic reduction of privately owned timber lands and logging contracts. Ї The rules currently allow for the off-gassing of the biomass as it becomes C02 and methane, but say nothing about future carbon taxes, or financial burdens that may be incurred due to the additional carbon outputs via the new carbon credit/taxes the Biden Administration created via the Commodities Credit Corporation. Oregon, California and Washington have already instituted state versions of Cap and Trade legislation e.g. requiring companies to purchase these carbon credits in order to remain in business.

Aside from the massive overreach in relation to non-navigable waters of the US, typically locally regulated, or an authority reserved to the states to regulate, these new rule changes have the potential to negatively

impact our food supply for years to come.

Congressmen Ron Estes, Kansas, and Eric Burlison, Missouri, have proposed H.R 7079, the “BEEF ACT” (formally known as H.R.7079 - Banning EPA’s Encroachment on Facilities Act), as a means of prohibiting the EPA from using its deferential authority (Chevron doctrine) to interpret the Clean Water Act. However, this legislation currently has a one percent chance of being enacted, and only a four percent chance of passing out of the House Committee on Transportation.

In parallel to direct legislative action, there is clearly a need to mount a legal challenge to this action, one which can build upon the precedent established by West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, which should benefit from the anticipated Supreme Court action to overturn the Chevron Deference legal precedent which currently enables this type of regulatory overreach.

Fewer Cattle But More in Feedlots

by Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist

The April cattle on feed report pegs feedlot inventories at 11.82 million head, up 1.49 percent from one year ago. Feedlot inventories continue to be stubbornly slow to decline despite declining cattle numbers. The latest report included the quarterly breakdown of feedlot inventories by gender. The number of steers on feed April 1 was 7.266 million head, up 1.7 percent year over year and the heifers on feed inventory was 4.555 million head, up 1.1 percent from last year. Heifers made up 38.5 percent of total feedlot inventories, down from 39.7 percent in January. While the heifer percentage in feedlots remains above the average of the past ten years, the decline from January to April is an encouraging sign that heifer feeding is perhaps slowing. During rapid herd expansion in 2015-2017, the heifer percentage of feedlot inventories dropped below 34 percent and averaged below 33 percent for ten consecutive quarters, i.e. two and onehalf years. Heifer feeding is expected to decrease significantly more in the coming

months.

Feedlot placements in March were down 12.3 percent year over year, a larger decrease than expected. In fact, feedlot placements have been declining for many months in response to decreased feeder cattle supplies.

Figure 1 shows that average monthly feedlot placements (12 month moving average) in March were at the lowest level since April 2017. Total placements in the last six months (October-March), which would account for the bulk of cattle currently in feedlots, is down 2.3 percent from the same period one year ago.

FIBERGLASS TANKS

How, then, can feedlot inventories be above year earlier levels as they have been for the last seven months? The answer is that feedlot marketing rates have fallen even faster than placement rates. Fewer cattle are staying in feedlots longer. In the latest cattle on feed report, March marketings were down 13.7 percent year over year, with monthly marketings just 14.4 percent of the March 1 feedlot inventory. Figure 2 shows the average (12 month moving average) feedlot marketings as a percentage of cattle on feed. Average feedlot marketings in March were 15.4 percent of feedlot inventories for the past twelve months, below 15.5 percent for the first time in data back to 1997.

Feedlots have an incentive to keep inventories as close to capacity as possible. One way is to slow down the turnover rate effectively making fewer cattle turn into larger inventories. The result is more days on feed and heavier carcass weights. Steer carcass weights have averaged 25 pounds heavier year over year for the past four weeks, with heifer carcasses over 21 pounds heavier. There are limits to how much feedlots can slow marketings, but feedlots are expected to push carcass weights as far as possible in the coming months. Feedlot inventories are expected to decline in the next few months despite feedlot actions to delay the inevitable.      ▫

What’s In Your Pockets?

You can tell a lot about people by what’s in their pockets. You might find a horseshoe nail in a farrier’s pocket, a pipe that doesn’t smell like tobacco in a doper’s, a duck call in a hunter’s vest, throwing rocks in a juvenile delinquent’s and an assortment of buckles, snaps and latigo in the apron pocket of a saddlemaker. The back-pocket-wallet of a Hell’s Angel will be hooked with a chain but it’s the plethora of unmarked thousand dollar bills in the pockets of a Congressman that ought to be more securely tied down. Easy come, easy go.

When I was flying all over the country my favorite way to pass the time was to sit next to the X-ray machine where TSA employees asked flyers to empty their pockets. In small town airports like Redding and Redmond I took a seat on the other side of a glass wall and observed. It was like looking through people’s trash, only legal.

It would make a great TV show. Host Samuel L. Jackson would ask contestants, “What’s in your pockets?” And then a celebrity panel would then guess what they did for a living.

Ranchers were always easy to identify by the alfalfa leaves and stems that fell out of their pockets onto the conveyor belt. In the front pocket of their long sleeved shirt you’d find a file of auction market cards chronicling their livestock purchases dating back 17 years. There’d also be a stub pencil, tally book, reading glasses in a soft case, scraps of paper, toothpick, a four-year-old speeding ticket, Maalox or Tums, a blue scour bolus and nary a sign of coin or cash. All their liquid assets were tied up in cows. Surprisingly I rarely saw a rancher pull out a comb, probably because most ranchers, if they had any experience at all, had lost most of their hair.

It was easy to tell the ranchers from the cowboys because of what was NOT in the cowboy’s pockets. There’d be no keys because you don’t need a key to start a horse, they rarely owned a home and cowboys usually don’t need a key to access their gold, cash, or will in their safe deposit box because they don’t have any of those things. The only thing they owned that would set off the alarms would be a can of Copenhagen, a pair of wire cutters on their belt and a trophy buckle they won at a ranch rodeo for cow mugging. You’d also find a thick stack of lottery tickets which is the only way a cowboy is gonna get rich and buy his own spread.

I was always amazed at what people no longer carried. As a teenager I always had at least two necessities in the pockets of my jeans: a pocket watch with my name engraved on the back and a three-bladed Case knife, both of which were rights of passage when I was young. When the day came when you bought your first knife you became a man. Nowadays, if you flash either of those things in an airport you’ll be body slammed to the ground by security cops and arrested for being a terrorist. They’d think your knife was a weapon and your pocket watch was some sort of timing device, which it really was. Fewer and fewer people carry or wear

watches these days because they get the time, and everything else, from their smartphones.

If you observe a modern young person you’ll see they have more pockets than ever and their backpacks runneth over. In many respects they are like turtles in that they carry everything they own with them.

Besides watches and knives, another product category that must have taken a beating with the rise of smartphones is Cross pens. They used to be handed out by corporations to good customers or employees marking 30 years of service. Many a graduate were honored to receive a Cross matching gold filled pen and pencil set. Not any more though as cell phones, iPads and laptops have rendered pens, pencils, and notepads redundant pieces of ancient technology. Although I’d like to see the technology buffs try to cut a steak at a bull sale barbecue with their smartphone, or castrate a bull calf with an iPad.

by Lee Pitts

by Don Bullis, New Mexico Author donbullis@msn.com

Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Augustus Monroe Dudley (1925-1910), sometimes referred to simply as N.A.M. Dudley, had a high-profile role in New Mexico’s Lincoln County War, although it was not to be envied.

Dudley was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the 10th United States Infantry in 1855 and while his military career would generally be considered successful, he benefited greatly by having friends in high office, apparently in both the military and on the civilian side of things. He was court-martialed three times, and even when convicted he was given light, insignificant sentences. The third of his trials resulted from foray into the Lincoln County war.

In that case, as commander of nearby Fort Stanton, Dudley engaged his troops in the Five Days Battle in the town of Lincoln (July 15-19, 1878) which was the major engagement

Col. N.A.M. Dudley:

Contentious to a Fault

of the Lincoln County disorder. Members of the McSween faction were forted-up inside McSween’s house. They were opposed by members of the Murphy-Dolan faction led by Sheriff George Peppin, a stone mason by trade appointed to the job, not elected, and sometimes referred to as the “quasi-sheriff.”

On July 19 Dudley led a troop of 60 cavalrymen—including an array of officers in rank from lieutenant to lieutenant colonel— armed with a Gatling gun and a mountain howitzer into town.1 While he alleged that he did so to protect “women and children” it was clear to all that his intervention was on the side of the Murphy-Dolan-Riley faction, and the tide turned very quickly against the Tunsdall-McSween-Chisum bunch. By that evening Alexander McSween was dead, as were three of his men (Harvey Morris, Francisco Zamora and Vicente Romero) and the survivors, including Billy the Kid, were in

flight.2

It is fair to note that military personnel did not actively participate in the violence by firing on the McSween house. Their very presence was enough to intimidate the defenders and put them to flight.

As a matter of law, such military action by Dudley was prohibited under the posse comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.§ 1385) which had gone into effect a month before, on June 18, 1878. Assistant Adjutant General in Washington, D. C., R. C. Drum, issued General Order No. 49 on that date which directed the attention of all military officers to its provisions; one of which was that military personnel could not be used in civil matters without the express authority of the President of the United States, obtained through normal military channels.

Dudley therefore faced a military board of inquiry which began on May 25, 1879, and

carried on for six weeks. One of the charges against him was disobedience of orders having to with the posse comitatus law. He answered this charge by stating that one of his soldiers, while carrying a communiqué between Sheriff Peppin and himself, was fired upon by members of the McSween group; and thus military intervention was called for. There is little historical support for that and what there is suggests that if indeed a shot was fired, it probably came from the sheriff’s posse, and not from the McSween house.

Other charges alleged that Dudley entered into a conspiracy to assist the Murphy-Dolan-Riley faction against the Tunstall-McSween-Chisum group; that he allowed the McSween house to be burned to the ground; that he failed to protect women and children; that he cast aspersions on the character of Susan McSween; and that he had to do with the publication of newspaper articles reflecting badly on Governor Lew Wallace’s policies. The findings of the board were entirely in Dudley’s favor. He also successfully defended himself against civil suits and criminal charges filed against him as a result of the Lincoln intervention. He asserted that his legal troubles cost him $5,000 in legal fees.

Historian Robert Utley described Dudley thus: “Behind [his] imposing façade…lurked a man whose … professional dedication consistently fell victim to a small intellect and huge vanity. He suffered from muddled thought and bad judgment, the result of mediocre endowments impaired by years of dissipation. He got drunk often, and whiskey more or less influenced most of his actions. He compensated…with pomposity, bellicosity, petty despotism, and an extraordinary aptitude for contention.”

Not everyone found fault with the colonel, however. The New Mexican observed on August 10, 1878: “By recent advices from Lincoln county we learn that during the recent troubles there, Gen. [sic] Dudley acting with his usual promptitude and humanity, transferred his command from Fort Stanton to the seat of difficulty that he might the better protect women and children and the rights of non-belligerents. While acting strictly as noncombatants, his

command exercised the moral force which is not always acquired by arms. It is fortunate for the people of Lincoln that in this turbulent condition of their affairs they are blessed with an officer whose intelligence and honest zeal saves them in their utmost need, and violates no law or obligation civil or military. All honor to Gen. Dudley! may [sic] he long be permitted to serve his country and people.”

His career continued until his retirement in 1889, after which he was promoted to brigadier general on the retired list. His

grave is marked with an impressive monument at Arlington National Cemetery.

1 Another source reported that Dudley’s contingent was made up of one company each of cavalry and infantry.

2 Some historians consider this the end of the Lincoln County War; that is, that it lasted only from February 18—when John Tunsdall was murdered—until July 19—when Alexander McSween was killed; all of this in 1878. Others hold that the Lincoln County War lasted from February 18, 1878 to July 14, 1881, when Billy the Kid was killed at Fort Sumner. ▫

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As Solar Capacity Grows, Some of America’s Most Productive Farmland is At Risk

By P.J. Huffstutter and Christopher Walljasper, Reuters

Dave Duttlinger’s first thought when he saw a dense band of yellowish-brown dust smearing the sky above his Indiana farm was: I warned them this would happen.

About 445 acres of his fields near Wheatfield, Indiana, are covered in solar panels and related machinery – land that in April 2019 Duttlinger leased to Dunns Bridge Solar LLC, for one of the largest solar developments in the Midwest.

On that blustery spring afternoon in 2022, Duttlinger said, his phone rang with questions from frustrated neighbors: Why is dust from your farm inside my truck? Inside my house? Who should I call to clean it up?

According to Duttlinger’s solar lease, reviewed by Reuters, Dunns Bridge said it would use “commercially reasonable efforts to minimize any damage to and disturbance

of growing crops and crop land caused by its construction activities” outside the project site and “not remove topsoil” from the property itself. Still, subcontractors graded Duttlinger’s fields to assist the building of roads and installation of posts and panels, he said, despite his warnings that it could make the land more vulnerable to erosion.

Crews reshaped the landscape, spreading fine sand across large stretches of rich topsoil, Duttlinger said. When Reuters visited his farm last year and this spring, much of the land beneath the panels was covered in yellow-brown sand, where no plants grew.

“I’ll never be able to grow anything on that field again,” the farmer said. About onethird of his approximately 1,200-acre farm – where his family grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa for cattle – has been leased.

The Dunns Bridge Solar project is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC, the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from wind and solar. Duttlinger said when he approached NextEra about the damage to his land, the company said it would review any remedial work needed at the end of its contract in 2073, as per the terms of the agreement.

NextEra declined to comment on the matter or on what future commitments it made to Duttlinger, and Reuters could not

independently confirm them. Project developer Orion Renewable Energy Group LLC directed questions to NextEra.

The solar industry is pushing into the U.S. Midwest, drawn by cheaper land rents, access to electric transmission, and a wealth of federal and state incentives. The region also has what solar needs: wide-open fields.

A renewable energy boom risks damaging some of America’s richest soils in key farming states like Indiana, according to a Reuters analysis of federal, state and local data; hundreds of pages of court records; and interviews with more than 100 energy and soil scientists, agricultural economists, farmers and farmland owners, and local, state and federal lawmakers.

Some of Duttlinger’s farm, including parts now covered in solar panels, is on land classified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as the most productive for growing crops, according to a Reuters analysis.

For landowners like Duttlinger, the promise of profits is appealing. Solar leases in Indiana and surrounding states can offer $900 to $1,500 an acre per year in land rents, with annual rate increases, according to a Reuters review of solar leases and interviews with four solar project developers. In comparison, farmland rent in top corn and

soybean producers Indiana, Illinois and Iowa averaged about $251 per acre in 2023, USDA data shows.

Farmland Partners Inc, a publicly traded farmland real estate investment trust (REIT) has leased about 9,000 acres nationwide to solar firms. Much of that ground is highly productive, said Executive Chairman Paul Pittman.

“Do I think it’s the best use of that land? Probably not. But our investors would kill us if we didn’t pursue this,” he said.

Some renewable energy developers said not all leases become solar projects. Some are designing their sites to make it possible to grow crops between panels, while others, like Doral Renewables LLC, said they use livestock to graze around the panels as part of their land management. Developers also argue that in the Midwest, where more than one-third of the U.S. corn crop is used for

sections of land, also can lead to significant erosion and major runoff of sediment into waterways without proper remediation, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department.

Solar development comes amid increasing competition for land: In 2023, there were 76.2 million - or nearly eight percent - fewer acres in farms than in 1997, USDA data shows, as farmland is converted for residential, commercial and industrial use.

In response to Reuters’ findings, USDA said that urban sprawl and development are currently bigger contributors to farmland loss than solar, citing reports from the Department of Energy and agency-funded research.

Building On Prime Cropland

No one knows how much cropland nationwide is currently under solar panels

some way with large-scale, ground-based solar panel sites they had identified as of 2021.

The total power capacity of the solar operations tracked in the data set represents over 60 gigawatts of electric power capacity. In the following two years, solar capacity has nearly tripled, according to a December 2023 report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie.

To better understand future land-use patterns, Reuters analyzed federal government data to identify cropland that USDA classified as prime, unique, or of local or statewide importance. Reuters also reviewed more than 2,000 pages of solar-related documents filed at local county recorders’ offices in a small sample of four Midwestern counties – Pulaski, Starke and Jasper counties in Indiana, and Columbia County in Wisconsin.

The counties, representing an area of land slightly bigger than the state of Delaware, are where some of the nation’s largest projects are being developed or built. The sample is not necessarily representative of the broader United States but gives an idea of the potential impact of solar projects in farm-heavy

Reuters found the percentage of these counties’ most productive cropland secured by solar and energy companies as of end of 2022 was as follows: 12 percent in Pulaski, 9 percent in Starke, 4 percent in Jasper and 5

Jerry Hatfield, former director of USDA Agricultural Research Service’s National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment, said Reuters’ findings in the four

“It’s not the number of acres converting to solar,” he said. “It’s the quality of the land coming out of production, and what that means for local economies, state economies and the country’s future abilities for crop

More than a dozen agronomists, as well as renewable energy researchers and other experts consulted by Reuters, said the approach to measuring solar’s impact was fair. The news agency also shared its findings with six solar developers and energy firms working in these counties. Three said Reuters’ sample size was too small, and the range of findings too wide, to be a fair portrayal of industry siting and construction

By 2050, to meet the Biden Administration’s decarbonization targets, the U.S. will need up to 1,570 gigawatts of electric energy

While the land needed for ground-based solar development to achieve this goal won’t be even by state, it is not expected to exceed 5 percent of any state’s land area, except the smallest state of Rhode Island, where it could reach 6.5 percent, by 2050, according to the Energy Department’s Solar Futures Study, published in 2021.

Researchers at American Farmland Trust, a non-profit farmland protection organization which champions what it calls Smart Solar, forecast last year that 83 percent of new solar energy development in the U.S. will be on farm and ranchland, unless current government policies changed. Nearly half would be on the nation’s best land for producing food, fiber, and other crops, they warned.

Fuel Debate

Five renewable developers and solar energy firms interviewed by Reuters counter that the industry’s use of farmland is too small to impact domestic food production overall and should be balanced with the need to decarbonize the U.S. energy market in the face of climate change.

Doral Renewables, the developer behind the $1.5 billion Mammoth Solar project in Pulaski and Starke counties, does not consider corn or soybean yields in its siting decisions.

Instead, the company looks at the land’s topography, zoning and closeness to an electrical grid or substation – and tries to avoid wooded areas, ditches and environmentally sensitive areas, said Nick Cohen, Doral’s president and CEO.

Shifting corn acres for solar? “I don’t see it as replacing something that is vital to our society,” Cohen said. Solar can make farmland “more productive from an economic perspective,” he added.

Indiana farmer Norm Welker says he got a better deal leasing 60 percent of his farmland to Mammoth than he would have growing corn, with prices dipping to threeyear lows this year.

“We’ve got mounds of corn, we’re below the cost of production, and right now, if you’re renting land to grow corn – you’re losing money,” Welker said. “This way, my economic circumstances are very good.”

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Reporting by P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago, Columbia County, Wisconsin, and Jasper, Starke and Pulaski Counties, Indiana. Reporting by Christopher Walljasper in Chicago; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Claudia Parsons      ▫

Gray Wolf Trapped in Colorado Was from Great Lakes Population, Feds Confirm

by Dac Collins, Outdoor Life

On April 3 a rancher in Elbert County found an animal resembling a wolf in a coyote trap on private land, according to a recent article in The Fence Post. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson confirmed in an email to Outdoor Life that “this animal is a gray wolf from the Great Lakes population.”

The USFWS was notified of the discovery by Colorado Parks and Wildlife after the rancher reported it to a CPW wildlife officer. That officer coordinated with the federal agency to collect tissue samples and send them to a lab for DNA analysis. The lab results revealed that the animal in question was a gray wolf from the Great Lakes population, which is genetically distinct from the gray wolf population of the Northern Rockies.

“This is not a wolf from the ten recently released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in December 2023,” the USFWS spokesperson told Outdoor Life. He added that the federal agency was working with CPW to investigate the discovery, as gray wolves in the Great Lakes population — unlike wolves in the Northern Rockies — remain under federal protections as an ESA-listed species.

The wolf was an 84-pound male, and it was caught by a trapper in a legal leg-hold trap that had been set for coyotes, according to The Fence Post. Body grip devices, foothold traps, and cable device traps are prohibited in Colorado, but landowners who are eligible for a 30-day agricultural trapping exemption can still use these devices, according to state regulations. The USFWS has not released a cause of death or any other details as part of its open investigation.

Even more puzzling is how a wolf from the Great Lakes region ended up in Elbert County, which lies in eastern Colorado not far from the heavily populated Front Range. Elbert County butts up against El Paso County, where Colorado Springs is located. The county seat of Kiowa is less than 50 miles southeast of Denver and roughly 25 miles east of Interstate 25.

The Fence Post reports that the wolf did

not have a GPS tracking collar or show any signs that a collar had been removed, and CPW’s wolf activity map does not show any of the state’s known wolves passing through the county in recent months. An unnamed neighboring rancher told The Fence Post he thought the wolf could have been someone’s pet, but there is currently no other evidence supporting this theory.

It is possible that the wolf made it all the way from the Great Lakes to Elbert County on its own. Gray wolves are known to roam, and in 2023, researchers tracked a collared wolf from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula that traveled more than 4,000 miles over an 18-month period.

Minnesota is home to the highest number of gray wolves in the region, with an estimated population of more than 2,500. A map from 2018 shows that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has observed wolf packs as far south as Anoka County. That county is located not quite 900 miles as the crow flies from Elbert County, Colorado.

by Barry Denton

We Want America Back!

After we finished working horses the other day there was a bunch of us sitting around the barn discussing horses, cattle, ropes, bits, training methods etc. When we had finished our cowboy bull-session we started on the evil that has highjacked our country.

Some of us were veterans that had been to Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Part of our group had traveled extensively in the United States and other countries for work.

Finally, the last part of our group had stayed in the same area and worked most of their lives. Our group included Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. With all the different backgrounds and experiences, we have had one thing that brought us together and that was horses.

If you took horses out of the equation, we had all grown up respecting God, family, and country. Naturally, we were all wondering why those three vital tenets of life in America were trying to be erased.

There are a host of other items they are trying to do the same thing with, such as responsibility, the work ethic, and honesty. Maintaining the last six items are the most important responsibility that you have as an American citizen.

Funny thing, but our little horse group agreed on all these items. We might not agree on the best way to train a horse, but the consensus was that we all agreed on how we ought to live.

For instance, let’s talk about God for a minute. Like it or not this country was founded on Judeo-Christian values. One of our most important founders Patrick Henry of Virginia stated, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!” Because of these very things we have freedom of religion. Without them it would

not exist. Any American citizen can worship how they want to.

It seems that over the last 60 years or so there has been a movement to destroy families. The evil forces at work like to encourage divorce, abortion, and having the government raise your children. It is blatantly evident that destroying the family unit has been high on the priority list.

I would like to focus on good citizenship for a minute and a little of what it entails. Because we learn from history, it should not be rewritten or eliminated from our public schools or public venues.

Monuments and statues of historical figures should never be desecrated. Flying the American flag, teaching school children what it stands for, and flag etiquette should be taught to each and every one.

The daily reciting of, “The Pledge Of Allegiance” should be restored to the American classroom.

Being in politics has become a very dishonorable profession and as a result most candidates are the “worst” America has to

offer. While I agree that a handful work at their job honestly, the vast majority enjoy the power and try to advance it any way the can. One way they try to gain power is via political persecution. Previously it was always a tool reserved for dictatorships, but it is very prevalent in the corrupt political arena today. Some of our present leaders rank right up there with Castro, Stalin, and Mussolini.

Presently there is a war on American Agriculture from our own government. How did a bunch of flag waving, hardworking, tax paying, loyal citizens become the targets of evil? You may want to set up an appointment with your favorite New Mexico, Arizona, or California governors to discuss this matter.

American farmers, ranchers, horse trainers, cowboys, cowgirls, veterinarians, horseshoers, cow trimmers, haulers, etc. all deserve a much better America than what we are getting.

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“Good” Food Purchasing Group Has Deep Ties to Animal and Environmental Extremism

Source: Protect The Harvest

Food choice is a basic freedom enjoyed by Americans. Yet, it has been under threat for decades by animal and environmental extremists who vilify traditional agriculture, especially animal agriculture, in pursuit of their mission to impose misguided ideologies on the citizenry. Nevertheless, demand for the unequaled flavor and nutrition of animal-derived products remains strong. A 2023 Gallup Consumption Habits poll revealed only four percent of the U.S. population are vegetarians, and merely one percent are vegans.

Despite the incessant, crusade-like campaigning by this fanatic minority, it’s clear that meat, dairy products, and eggs remain preferred components of most American diets. Sadly, there are certain subsets of our population whose food choices are systematically being restricted, replaced with meals that align with the animal and environmental extremist agendas.

In 2011, the Good Food Purchasing

Program (GFPP) was founded in Los Angeles. It has since been embraced by 45 institutions, including schools, prisons, hospitals, and municipal cafeterias in numerous cities nationwide. The program is designed to “shift institutional food purchases” to align with “core values.” Two of these values are “animal welfare” and “environmental sustainability,” which already exist as basic principles in American agriculture and have for generations. GFPP’s iteration of acceptable foods is a dangerous, virtue-signaling reinvention of established national dietary guidelines. GFPP misrepresents its mission with the predictable utilization of feel-good language and mainstream talking points to disguise the subversive and authoritarian nature of its program.

Redefining “Animal Welfare” for Ideological Purposes

In the realm of animal welfare, GFPP purchases from suppliers that are focused on meeting animals’ physical, mental, and behavioral needs throughout their lives, which is aligned with existing American agriculture operations. However, when GFPP’s animal extremist ties are revealed, it’s clear that its definition of these needs has more to do with the animal rights of anthropomorphic Hollywood productions than scientifically sound, fact-based animal welfare and husbandry practices.

While GFPP does source some animal products, its website states the group strives

to “reduce total animal weight of animal products sourced to reduce number of animal lives per meal served.”

GFPP Aligns with Environmental Extremist-Backed Criteria

Regarding environmental sustainability, the program purchases from suppliers that reduce or eliminate the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, improve soil health and carbon sequestration, reduce fossil fuel energy inputs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce carbon and water footprints, protect water resources, and reduce or eliminate single-use plastics and other resource-intensive packaging. They list a number of preferred certifications for their various suppliers, ranging from “wildlife friendly” to “food justice certified.”

To offset the increased expense of meeting these criteria, GFPP focuses on “shifting toward local producers to reduce travel and storage cost of perishables, or redesigning menus to reduce more expensive meat purchases by substituting produce and alternative proteins.”

Cattle rancher Shad Sullivan summed up this so-called “sustainability” in a February 2024 FOX Business segment: “Sustainability is nothing more than production and consumption control.”

“Control” is a common goal among extremist groups.

“Power of Procurement” Used as Social Engineering Tool

GFPP states that it utilizes the “power of procurement to create a transparent and equitable food system that prioritizes the health and well-being of people, animals, and the environment.” Listed among GFPP’s national partners are groups such as the ASPCA, Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), Farm Forward, and Friends of the Earth. Its “generous” supporters include the United States Department of Agriculture (our tax dollars) and the globalist Rockefeller Foundation.

A biased, agenda-driven and factually questionable study issued by the Rockefeller Foundation found Americans spend $1.1 trillion on food annually, but the actual alleged cost to our society is three times that dollar amount due to rising health care costs, climate change, and biodiversity loss.

GFPP marches in lockstep with animal and environmental extremism, which coincidentally aligns perfectly with the current globalist agenda. In 2014, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, stated:

“Governments have few sources of leverage

over increasingly globalized food systems – but public procurement is one of them. When sourcing food for schools, hospitals and public administrations, governments have a rare opportunity to support more nutritious diets and more sustainable food systems in one fell swoop.”

GFPP Has Well-Established Ties to Extremism

The push to adopt GFPP in various cities is primarily led by animal and environmental extremists. This has been ushered in without input from, or a vote by, citizens. A glaring example of this was San Francisco’s implementation of GFPP in 2020, which was championed by the local animal extremist group Compassionate Bay. Noteworthy is the city’s GFPP manifesto listing the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) as a national partner. OCM is not about competitive markets – it’s about restricting competitive markets to achieve its ideological, social engineering, and virtue-signaling goals. As one might expect, Compassionate Bay parrots the deliberately inflammatory and inaccurate “factory farming” label commonly used by extremists to malign modern farms, ranches, and animal feeding operations. “Truth” is not a Compassionate Bay core competency.

Compassionate Bay’s website states:

“We started with one goal: to facilitate passing animal and environmentally friendly legislation in the state of California. We are a grassroots group of volunteers dedicated to seeing political change that addresses factory farming and the climate crisis.”

They boast of being part of a cabal that successfully passed the state’s 2019 fur ban and led the coalition of climate organizations and animal rights groups that pushed for San Francisco to adopt GFPP. Further, they state:

“Inspired by SF’s Good Food Purchasing Program, in the summer of 2021 we successfully lobbied the Berkeley City Council to pass a resolution to cut their spending on animal products by 50 percent by 2024 with an end goal of 100 percent.”

Warped Ideology Fuels Effort to Eliminate Essential Component of Safe, Nutritious, Affordable, Accessible Food Supply Chain

Protect The Harvest has previously written about a coalition of extremist groups working to ban concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Sonoma County. Compassionate Bay is among them, together with Farm Sanctuary, Social Compassion in Legislation, In Defense of Animals, and Direct Action Everywhere (DxE). Interest-

ingly, also listed as a supporter is the environmental extremist group Western Watersheds Project (WWP), which primarily targets western ranchers who utilize federally managed public lands to graze livestock.

The coalition has until the beginning of March 2024 to collect 30,000 signatures from Sonoma County voters. If the signatures are collected, they will be submitted to the County for verification. If verified, the Board of Supervisors could pass the ordinance, which would then appear on the November 2024 ballot.

Extremists Apply the Term “CAFO” to Non-Agricultural Organizations

Feedlots have long been a target of the animal extremist movement. However, it is important to note they are applying the term to operations other than animal agricultural facilities. This is an example of the agenda to eliminate any form of human/animal interaction. For extremists, criteria for a CAFO has been distorted beyond regulatory and industry definitions. Extremists include small operations with all types of animals in the “CAFO” category. These groups admit in a footnote that small operations have never been a CAFO by regulatory definition, but can be designated so on a case-by-case basis by an extremist group. Basically, if these loons want to target an operation for any reason, they could. Their definition even encompasses horse facilities, with a small “CAFO” being anything fewer than 150 horses.

The Compassionate Bay website states: “But this ordinance is not merely symbolic.

You might be surprised to hear that there is, in fact, a CAFO in Berkeley: Golden Gate Fields horse racing track. The stables at this track confine upwards of 1,200 horses, many of whom are in stalls for 20+ hours a day.”

Ahead of the proposed measure’s signature-collecting deadline, Golden Gate Fields announced its closure in July 2023. Owners stated their racing operations would be consolidated in southern California. Golden Gate Fields opened in 1941.

Vigilance and Engagement – More Important Than Ever

Programs such as GFPP are being adopted across the nation, usually without the benefit of a vote by “we the people.” Other examples of this scenario include the C40 Cities initiative and vegan lunches forced on New York City public school students. Currently, these initiatives tend to be confined to larger, urban, liberally run cities. However, groups such as GFPP have the potential to infiltrate medium and smaller cities, spreading their disinformation, rhetoric and propaganda to rural parts of the nation.

These groups are relentless in their attempts to alter America’s food production and consumption to satisfy their unquenchable thirst for control. We stand for freedom of choice and A Free and Fed America™. We urge Americans to become better informed about how the food we eat is produced and why it is important for the United States to remain food-independent, improve food security for those in need, and support the hard-working farmers and ranchers who keep us fed with safe, nutritious, affordable, accessible, and plentiful food.

STEEL BUILDINGS

Windmill, Inc.

New

New Mexico Distributor for Aermotor Windmills

575/835-1630 • Fax: 575/838-4536 Lemitar, N.M. • williamswindmill@live.com

STEEL BUILDINGS FOR SALE

SKAARER BRANGUS

Willcox,

PASTURE OR RANCH LEASE NEEDED

www.scottlandcompany.com

5:00 a.m./10:00 p.m.

RANCH & FARM REAL ESTATE

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

■ HEART OF CATTLE COUNTRY – Clayton, NM area –8,858.63+/- Deeded, 1,003.34+/- Leased purchased acres, 160+/- ac. State Lease, watered by a large spring, numerous wells & pipeline w/a large income stream from CO2 production, new grasslands CRP program, wind lease & possibility of carbon sequestering income in addition to income from livestock production & hunting.

■ CONSIDER TRADE FOR HOME IN THE AMARIILO, TEXAS AREA – Clayton, NM area – 80 acres deeded w/large, nice mobile home in good condition, secluded yet accessible in Harding Co., NM.

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

■ UNION CO., NM – Just out of Clayton, NM, 2 sections +/- located on pvmt. complete with two ½ mile +/- sprinklers & irrigation wells w/an addtl. large feedyard & one section of land irrigated by four ¼ mile sprinklers & irrigation wells. Two sections or the feedyard w/irrigated section can be purchased together or separately.

THE SAND CAMP RANCH

(PRICE REDUCED) The Sand Camp Ranch is a quality desert ranch with an excellent grass cover and above average improvements. Located in southern Chaves County east of the productive Pecos River Valley. The ranch is comprised of 2,380 +/- deeded acres, 6,074 NM State Lease Acres, 23,653 Federal BLM Lease Acres and 480 acres Uncontrolled, 32,107 +/- total acres (50.17 Sections). Grazing Capacity set by a Section 3 BLM grazing permit at 405 Animal Units Yearlong. The ranch is watered by five primary wells and an extensive pipeline system. This ranch is ready to go, no deferred maintenance. Price: $3,672,000. This one of the better ranches in the area. It is nicely improved and well-watered. You won’t find anything comparable for the price. Call or email for a brochure and an appointment to come take a look.

EIGHT MILE DRAW LAND

740

± Acres of unimproved native grassland located four miles west of Roswell in the Six Mile Hill area with frontage along U.S. Highway 70/380. This parcel is fenced on three sides and adjoins 120 acres of additional land that may be purchased. Great investment. $600 per acre.

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

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

■ KB RANCH - Kenney Co., TX – KB Ranch is a low fenced 802 +/- acre property that is surrounded by large ranches. The ranch has abundant whitetail and is also populated with turkey, dove, quail, hogs and varmint species. Axis are in the area and have been occasionally seen. The ranch lies approximately 9 miles south of Bracketville on TX 131 and is accessed by all weather Standart Road.

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

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

■ GREER CO., OK – Choice 480 ac. tract of choice farmland located just south & east Mangum, OK. Please call for details!

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

SUBSTANITAL WATER RIGHTS

CATTLE, ELK, MULE DEER, ANTELOPE

18,601± TOTAL ACRES - 6,750± DEEDED ACRES SIERRA COUNTY, NM - $7,850,000

RANCHES/FARMS

*AUCTION* 472+/-Acre Organic Apple Orchard offered in 5 Tracts

PENDING

Tract 1 – 158+/- Acre with approximately 131 ac of trees, 24,075+/- s.f. of apple processing facilities, cold storage, retail center, two homes, & wells.

Tract 2 – Spacious 3 BR, 2 Bath residence on 1.7+/- Acre

Tract 3 – 6 6+/- Acre with approximately 59 acre of trees, and new well.

Tract 4 – 145 +/- Acre, with approximately 125 acre of trees, mfg home, and well.

Tract 5 – 100+/- Acre, with approximately 96 acre of trees and well.

Auction to be held April 4, 2024, Online and live. Don’t miss the opportunity to own all or part of this great property. Contact Paul Ramirez for auction details and Harry Owens for property details.

*NEW* Farm - Apache Grove, AZ – 335+/- total acres along the scenic Gila River. 120+/acres of decreed water rights. Pivot and pastures planted in Bermuda. Owner runs 150 head. One bedroom apartment over garage/office, 30’ x 150’steel barn, plus smaller steel barn, shop/feed room/ tack room, excellent corrals, with squeeze chute, calf table and scale. Must see! $2.5M

*REDUCED* 1883.45+/Acres, McNeal, AZ – Frontier Roads. Good access, 2 registered wells, dirt tanks, fully fenced. Current owner runs 80+/- head seasonally $941,725 Reduced to $847,552 Call Paul Ramirez 520-241-3333.

150+/- Acre Farm, Willcox, AZ – 120 Acre full circle pivot with two wells. Ideal location for hay, pecans, pistachios, wine grape cultivation or other crops. Good water, productive soil. Convenient access to I-10.

$525,000

*PENDING* 305+/- Acres of Land on Ash Creek Pearce, AZ –Excellent potential for agricultural development, qualifies for organic farming, cleared of Mesquites in 2010, good prospect for pecans, wine grapes, corn, cotton, hay. FAA approved landing strip, two domestic wells, fenced and cross fenced. Ask about the solar options available with this property. $457,000

*SOLD* 98+/- Deeded Acre Farm, Bonita, AZ – Great farm in a picture-perfect setting! Two small pivots with 35 acres of water rights. 3 BR, 2 BA Shultz mfg home; 3-sided hay/machine shed, 1,560+/- s.f. shop, hay shed, Connex box, nice set of guardrail and steel corrals with crowding tub, squeeze and scale. 250 gpm irrigation

well with 20 HP motor and 13,500+/- gallons of storage. Runs about 40 head of cattle.

$750,000

*SOLD* 200-300 Head Cattle Ranch, Marana, AZ – 112.8 +/- Deeded ac; 150+/- ac of pasture, 3,700+/- ac of sublease, 14 +/- ac of farm fields, HQ on State Land. 2nd mfg home on deeded. 2 sets of good steel pipe corrals $1.9M

HORSE PROPERTIES/LAND

*SOLD * ONLIN E AUCTION , Pearce, AZ - Four offerings located in the grasslands at the foot of the beautiful Dragoon Mountains. Sold prior to Auction Lot 1 featured stunning, custom 3 BD, 2 BA territorial style home on 5.5 +/-. Sold Prior to Auction Lots 3, and 4 included 3 vacant, 1+ acre land parcels for a total of 3+/- acres each. Sold at Auction Lot 2 – 3- 1+/- acre lots for a total of 3+/- acres.

SOLD

■ BERRENDA CREEK RANCH — 231 AYL, 51± section cattle ranch — Hillsboro, NM. 32,870± total acres, 120± deeded acres, 23,646± acres of BLM, 9104± acres of NM state land, 12 wells, 9 dirt tanks, 1 spring, 3 pastures, 165,000 gallons of water storage. Priced at $1,432,200

■ SMITH RANCH — 19.28± section cattle ranch plus 335± acre farm located in Road Forks, N.M. The ranch has 12,343± total acres, 3721± deeded, 2400± acres of NM state land, 6222± acres of BLM, 154 AYL headquarters has mnfctrd homes, shed row barns (equipment/commodity storage), corrals, cattle chute. The north farm has 163± acres (149 +/- is fallow), the south farm has 173± acres, seller retains a “life estate”. Ranch has been in the same family since 1905. Priced at $2,300,000

SOLD

0.14+/- Acre Building Lot, Maricopa, AZ – A great opportunity to own a corner lot in the desirable community of Tortosa. Ideal for a small builder or buyer wishing to build their dream custom home. One of only two lots available in the area, the other lot is adjoining this one. Utilities to the lot, back block wall in place.

$110,000

■ CAPROCK MOUNTAIN/VAN METER RANCHES Lordsburg, NM 546 AYL cowcalf operation consists of two adjoining BLM allotments totaling 75 +/- Sections 48,178 +/Total acres 3,445 +/- deeded acres 34,452 +/acres of BLM, 10,281 +/- acres of state land the carrying capacity is 546 AYL plus 5 horses w/ two separate headquarters w/barns & corrals, facilities included, silencer cattle chute, scales, semi-load chute & multiple pens with feed bunks, 40’ x 60’ barn plus a commodity barn 9 wells; 5 electric submersibles, 3 solar wells, one windmill, one spring & 12 dirt tanks, 100,000 gallons of water storage 26 miles of pipeline that connects to each well 12 pastures & 5 traps, 5 sets of working corrals strategically placed on the ranches. Black Angus & black baldy running age cows, Angus bulls, bred replacement heifers & equipment was negotiated. Sale Price Undisclosed.

REDUCED! ! Double U Ranch in Tombstone, Arizona – The historic Double U Ranch located at the foothills of the scenic Dragoon Mountains near Tombstone, Arizona in Cochise County. The Double U Ranch consists of 6,315 contiguous acres of deeded land and a 2,320 acre Arizona State Land grazing lease. With incredibly beautiful views and vistas, this working cattle ranch has excellent feed, plentiful water and gentle terrain with good fences, roads and range improvements. The Double U is easy to manage resulting in a profitable operation on one of the largest contiguous deeded land parcels in the state of Arizona. Exterior fences are locked, limiting access and protecting the livestock operation while creating excellent mule deer and white tail deer habitat unspoiled by public impacts. In addition to other small game species, remarkably all three types of quail, (Gambel, Mearnes and Scaled) are plentiful on the ranch. Offered at $9.2 million, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a working cattle ranch on one of the largest remaining contiguous acres of private land in the rapidly growing State of Arizona.

SOLD! – FX Ranch in Dewey, Arizona – With a carrying capacity of 250 CYL, the FX offers an opportunity to raise quality cattle close to all amenities and near the desirable communities of Prescott and Sedona. The headquarters parcel consists of over 12 acres with a beautiful log home, a managers house, a barn and corrals. Located south of Dewey-Humboldt on Highway 69 the headquarters is approximately 20 miles from downtown Prescott and 40 miles from Sedona. The headquarters enjoys a four season, mild climate at 4500 feet in elevation. Cattle and brand included. $2,690,000

! RK Ranch in Prescott, Arizona – The RK Ranch is a smaller working cattle ranch located approximately 25 miles north of Prescott, Arizona. The ranch is currently carrying 25 CYL. The RK Ranch encompasses approximately +/-6,736 total grazing acres supporting up to 45 CYL. With 110 deeded acres surrounded by USFS this little ranch is truly a gem of a gentleman’s ranch. Equipment and cattle included. $2,200,000

! Randall Ranch in Ash Fork, Arizona – This well watered, working cattle ranch includes 85.88 deeded, non-contiguous acres, 5,749 leased acres from the State of Arizona and 12,000 acres of adverse grazing. The current owner operates a cow-calf operation. The ranch historically runs 250 mother cows producing high quality Angus calves with weaning weights between 500 to 550 pounds. Cattle available!

$1,250,000

!Broken Horn D Ranch in Prescott, Arizona – The Broken Horn D Ranch provides a unique turnkey opportunity to own a remarkable cattle ranch/ beef business property nestled in the picturesque Williamson Valley, Arizona. This distinctive offering is the perfect balance between seclusion and accessibility. With 77 acres of deeded land including 50 acres irrigated pasture, state and private leases this ranch runs 130-180 cattle. Equipment and cattle included.

$3,389,000

UNDER CONTRACT! Triangle C Ranch in Reserve, New Mexico – This working cattle ranch is located east of Reserve, New Mexico in prime grazing lands. Carrying 625 CYL the ranch is located in gentle, rolling grasslands consisting of 2,320 +/- deeded acres, a private lease and a 25,055 acre BLM grazing allotment. Many improvements including two homes, bunk house, hangar, air strip, large shops and working facilities.

$4,895,000

UNDER CONTRACT! Cottonwood Springs Ranch in Red Rock, New Mexico – The Cottonwood Springs is a beautiful, high desert working cattle ranch located approximately 28 miles north of Lordsburg, New Mexico in Grant County. With a carrying capacity of +/-250 CYL, the ranch is well improved with two homes, shop, corrals, interior and exterior fences, working cattle facilities and exceptional water improvements. $2,550,000

SOLD! Partridge Creek Ranch in Ash Fork, Arizona– 85,000+\- acres of strong grazing allowing for 800 animal units year round. 420 acres of deeded land, 480 Arizona state lease, remainder secured by deeded grazing rights. $4,200,000

DOUBLE BAR R RANCH, NOGALES, AZ — 110 deeded, w/12,224 NF

O’NEILL LAND, llc

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

Grazing land, runs 380 yearlong, Great improvements, high rain area. Priced at $3,500,000

TYLER RANCH/FARM

SOLD SOLD

—

York Az, 544 deeded with 173 irrigated, along with 14,000 state and Blm lease land. 300 head mother cows yearlong. Priced @$2,300,000

I have many qualified Buyers looking for Ranches. Give me a call If you are looking to Buy or Sell a Ranch or Farm in Southwestern NM or Southern AZ give us a call ...

Sam Hubbell, Qualifying Broker 520-609-2546

This incredible farm and ranch property is a unique gem with custom updates and luxurious amenities. This customupdated home includes a kitchen with granite countertops, a large island, double ovens, a gas cooktop, custom cabinetry with its open floor concept, and custom cabinetry and lighting throughout the house. And if this wasn’t enough, there’s also a newly renovated apartment for your family or guests to enjoy! This farm and ranch property is convenient and practical, with multiple barns and outbuildings. You’ll also have access to an irrigation pivot system, approximately 47.8 acres of water rights, and around 13.5 acres of pecan trees. Don’t miss this once-in-alifetime opportunity to own a truly remarkable property!

Ashley White (505) 360- 9819 www.verderealtors.com

MAXWELL FARM, 140+/- deeded acres with 103.75 +/- irrigable acres of Class A water shares. Property has a domestic water meter also utilized for livestock. Currently a flood irrigation system but would suit installing a pivot. Property is bounded on the south with SHW 505 and the west with Rufuge Rd, on the east with the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge.

county road on rear of property as well. Presented “ASIS” New Survey, $4,000,000 $3,800,000

CONTRACT PENDING CONTRACT

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

$320,000

MIAMI DREAM, 14.70 +/deeded acres. Approx 1,583 sq ft 2 bedroom 1 bath home. Real country living with barn wood siding, porches, recent remodel for remote workspace. Irrigation and horse facilities, 57 Wampler St., Miami, NM $370,000 $345,000

BAR LAZY 7 RANCH, Colfax County, Moreno Valley 594.38 +/- deeded acres, accessed off blacktop between Eagle Nest and Angel Fire. Historic headquarters. Currently used as summer grazing, pond and trees accessed off

MAXWELL, 408.90 +/- Deeded Acres. 143.05 Irrigable Acres/ Shares with TL pivot covering approximately 80 acres, with balance dry land. Property has one water meter used for livestock, but could support a home as well. There are two troughs located in the middle of the property. Electricity for pivot is back toward the middle of the property as well. Property has highway frontage on NM 505 and Highline Rd, a County Rd. Back up to Maxwell Wildlife area. Colfax County, NM.$599,000

r M

SCOTT MCNALLY www ranchesnm com

575/622-5867

575/420-1237

Ranch Sales & Appraisals

Buyers are looking for a ranch. If you have a ranch to sell, give me a call.

Lifetime rancher who is familiar with federal land management policies

SIDWELL FARM & RANCH REALTY, LLC

Tom Sidwell, Qualifying Broker 6237 State Highway 209, Tucumcari, NM 88401 • 575-403-6903 tom@sidwellfarmandranch.com • www.sidwellfarmandranch.com

James Sammons III

Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma & Missouri Broker 214.701.1970

jamessammons.com

jsammons@briggsfreeman.com

3131 Turtle Creek Blvd. | 4th Floor Dallas, Texas 75219

Terrell land & livesTock company

575/447-6041

Tye C. Terrell, Jr. P.O. Box 3188, Los Lunas, NM 87031

We Know New Mexico Selling NM ranches for close to 50 Years

37485 HIGHWAY 126, JEMEZ SPRINGS, NM 87025

Lucky to live in the mountains ... then you’re lucky enough!! This incredible property in the Jemez Mountains with Custom Cabin and TWO bonus cabins will have most everything on your MUST HAVE List!

The main house has 1868 sq feet of lovely living space with an open-concept great room that showcases beautiful flagstone floors, natural log walls, knotty-pine ceilings and a wall of windows that invite the breathtaking views of the Jemez Mountains indoors. The spacious primary suite offers a walk-in closet and a luxurious master bath complete with a soaking tub and separate shower. Upstairs, a versatile loft can serve as a home office, reading nook, or additional bedroom. The well-appointed kitchen and laundry room/storage area ensures convenience and functionality. A 157 sq ft. bonus room adjacent to the kitchen provides flexibility as a bedroom or pantry. Every nook and cranny of this cabin is appropriately used for ample storage top to bottom and is meticulously maintained.

Situated on 3.08 acres encompassing two lots, there is plenty of room to spread out. The two additional cabins provide generously sized studio workspaces and a versatile guest house. Whether you’re looking for short-term vacation rentals, extended stays, or rustic retreats for hunting or fishing excursions, these cabins offer endless potential. For storage & hobbies, the 16X20 garage provides ample space.

The property borders Santa Fe National Forest making it your BIG BACK YARD! Enjoy the Hot Springs, Valles Caldera, Hiking, Skiing, Mountain Biking; the accessibility to outdoor recreation is endless! A true outdoor 4 season adventure to create many years of lifetime memories. Only 45 minutes to Los Alamos, 1.5 hours to Albuquerque and 1.25 hours to Santa Fe. Call Misty Stacy with Jemez Homes and Land at (575) 829-3758 for more information. $1,000,000.00

APHIS Bolsters Animal Disease Traceability in the US

On April 26, by amending and strengthening its animal disease traceability regulations for certain cattle and bison, the United States Department of Agri-

SABINOSO RANCH LAND

320 deeded acres, live water, wildlife, connects to Sabinoso Wilderness east of Las Vegas. Possible 1900+ ac grazing for lease to go with. 640 acre native pasture, access by private road.

culture’s (USDA) Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is putting in place the technology, tools, and processes to help quickly pinpoint and respond to costly foreign animal diseases.

“Rapid traceability in a disease outbreak will not only limit how long farms are quarantined, keep more animals from getting sick, and help ranchers and farmers get back to selling their products more quickly – but will help keep our markets open,” said Dr. Michael Watson, APHIS Administrator.

One of the most significant benefits of the rule for farmers and ranchers will be the enhanced ability of the United States to limit impacts of animal disease outbreaks to certain regions, which is the key to maintaining our foreign markets.

By being able to readily prove disease-free status in non-affected regions of the United States, we will be able to request foreign trading partners recognize disease-free regions or zones instead of cutting off trade for the entire country.

Traceability of animals is necessary to establish these disease-free zones and facilitate reestablishment of foreign and domestic market access with minimum delay in the wake of an animal disease event.

This rule is the culmination of goals

established by USDA to increase traceability, one of the best protections against disease outbreaks, and enhances a rule finalized in 2013 for the official identification of livestock and documentation for certain interstate movements of livestock.

USDA is committed to implementing a modern animal disease traceability system that tracks animals from birth to slaughter using affordable technology that allows for quick tracing of sick and exposed animals to stop disease spread. USDA will continue to provide tags to producers free of charge to jumpstart efforts to enable the fastest possible response to a foreign animal disease. For information on how to obtain these free tags, please see APHIS’ Animal Disease Traceability webpage.

The final rule applies to all sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months of age or older, all dairy cattle, cattle and bison of any age used for rodeo or recreation events, and cattle or bison of any age used for shows or exhibitions.

The rule requires official eartags to be visually and electronically readable for official use for interstate movement of certain cattle and bison, and revises and clarifies certain record requirements related to cattle.

A Message from the New Mexico Federal Lands Council

3417 Avenida Charada NW, Albuquerque, NM 87107

Ty Bays President / 575.590.7578

newmexicofederallandscouncil@gmail.com

There is never any lack of issues on federal and state trust lands in New Mexico. The New Mexico Federal Lands Council (NMFLC) works to address them.

At our April meeting in Socorro we were pleased to be joined by former Congresswoman Yvette Herrell, and via zoom by U.S. House of Representatives Committee on

Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman.

Westerman addressed those assembled on many issues facing his Committee including consideration of Endangered Species Act revisions, the Bureau of Land Management Final Conservation Health Rule that had been released just prior to the meeting, monument designations, US Forest Service

JOIN TODAY!

(USFS) cattle slaughter in the Gila National Forest, Wild & Scenic Rivers and more.

The NMFLC briefed the Chairman on additional issues facing federal lands users in New Mexico. Those included the fact that the cause of the 2022 Black Fire in the Gila has never been disclosed. The fire burned well over 300,000 acres. Floods following the fire destroyed land well beyond the scope of the fire. The NMFLC will be requesting an investigation of the origin of the fire and the dispersal of funds to non-governmental organizations for rehabilitation.

An additional issue discussed at the meeting and with the Chairman was the notice from the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) that range riders are sought to gather stray cattle. Ranchers in the area report that the VCNP has taken down border fences that keep the cattle out of the Preserve.

Russell Johnson, Deming, gave a presentation on the proposed monument designations and the group passed a resolution in support of the effort to stop the designations.

The Gila National Forest will be celebrating the 100 years of Wilderness in June in Silver City. The NMFLC will share a booth with the Grant County Soil & Water Conservation District.

We invite you to join the NMFLC as we continue to work on these issues and those that are coming down the road.

Sincerely

Ty Bays,President ▫

INGREDIENTS

Country-Fried Steak Bites:

1 lb Beef Strip Steak, Boneless

1 c buttermilk

1 egg

1 c all-purpose flour

1 TB cornstarch

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground

CountryFried Strip Steak Bites with

Hot Sauce White Gravy

black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 cup canola oil

Hot Sauce

White Gravy: 1 c whole milk

PREPARATION:

Step 1:

Cut the steak, across the grain into ½ inch thick rectangular pieces. Whisk together the buttermilk and egg and place in a bowl. Add the steak pieces to the buttermilk and egg to soak.

Step 2:

Combine the flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika in a small bowl. Reserve 1 tablespoon of it for the gravy, but the remaining amount will serve as the steak piece coating.

Step 3:

Place a cast iron or heavy fry pan on the stove over medium high heat. Add canola oil and bring the oil up to 350°F. While the oil is coming to temperature, remove individual steak pieces from the buttermilk, shaking off

excess buttermilk, and then put each piece into the flour dredge, again shaking off excess flour. Place the steak pieces on a plate. When the oil is at temperature, carefully add the steak pieces to the pan and fry for one minute per side, or two minutes total. Remove pieces and place on a couple of sheets of paper towel.

Cooking Tip: Drain pieces on paper towels after frying.

Nutrition information per serving, 4: 407 Calories; 139.5 Calories from fat; 15.5g Total Fat (5 g Saturated Fat; 0.4 g Trans Fat; 2.3 g Polyunsaturated Fat; 7.2 g Monounsaturated Fat;) 127 mg Cholesterol; 797 mg Sodium; 33 g Total Carbohydrate; 1.1 g Dietary Fiber; 6.1 g Total Sugars; 32 g Protein; 0 g Added Sugars; 167 mg Calcium; 4.7 mg Iron; 548 mg Potassium; 1.1 mcg Vitamin D; 0.8 mg Riboflavin; 12.9 mg NE Niacin; 0.7 mg Vitamin B6; 4 mcg Vitamin B12; 387 mg Phosphorus; 4.5 mg Zinc; 39.5 mcg Selenium; 115.7 mg Choline.

Nutrition Tip: This recipe is an excellent source of Protein, Iron, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Phosphorus, Zinc, Selenium, and Choline; and a good source of Calcium, and Potassium.

Rodeo Roundup

New Mexico High School Rodeo Association –Mia Castagnetto

By Julie Carter

Mia Castagnetto is a senior at Magdalena High School where she is winding down a season in her life that defines her unstoppable determination in spite of significant setbacks and challenges. Her July 5th birthdate perhaps explains the firecracker within this petite 17-year-old.

Growing up in youth rodeo competitions, she always loved barrels the most, but found she was also good at poles, so when she got to high school rodeo, she kept that as a second event. A knee injury kept her from goat tying. Mia finished her junior year 7th in the NMHSRA barrel racing standings, after qualifying in the top 10 at the State Finals and making the short-go. As a sophomore, she had qualified for the National High School Rodeo Finals in barrels but fell just short of making a return trip.

Calling Lemitar, home, Mia has been a member of FFA and a livestock exhibitor since the 8th grade. She started out with hogs

and goats and then moved on to lambs and steers. “I’ve showed rabbits and chickens, I’ve done it all,” she laughs. Last year was her final in the showring, finishing after many project hours with two steers, a lamb, three goats and three hogs. Projects start early in the year during rodeo season so juggling school, livestock projects, arena practice and enough daylight hours is always the challenge.

“Last summer, I won Grand Champion with one steer named Whisper.” She also received the buckle for Champion Homebred Goat, who was nameless. “One year I named all my animals and I got too attached, so I stopped naming them. My steer this year was the only one with a name,” she explained. Mia’s rodeo life took a hard turn last summer when she lost her amazing black mare, Royal. She had run Royal since her 8th grade year. “When we got her, she still needed some training, so my mom worked with her first. My freshman year is when we

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In 2022 Jayde Martinez won the Santa Fe County NMCGA Heritage Buckle contest. She was recommended by Jacinda Price who was president of the Cowbelles 2021-22. The Prices live and work on Bonanza Ranch. Jayde’s father recently took over a huge grazing lease in the Santa Fe Forest. This is a young family making ranching work. She has a sister Aspen. The girls are multi talented and have done some movie work too.

really clicked,” Mia said. They were a solid team through the end of Mia’s junior year but Royal had injured a knee that would ultimately require surgery.

In July, she lost Royal post-surgery while she was still in recovery. The devastation of that loss still brings Mia to tears, but like a true competitor, she climbed on her back-up horse, Moonshine, and rodeoed through this past fall. Her other horse, a chestnut mare Latte, will get the call for her first spring rodeo at Lovington. “She’s a lot like Royal was, that’s the reason that I click with her. She has a lot of power and will,” she said. “It’s still hard, but I am excited.”

“My mom has played a major part in my rodeo career,” Mia says of Heather Castagnetto. “She’s the one that brought horses into my life and taught me everything I know.” Mia’s older sister Savannah also rodeoed for a couple years along with Mia until graduating. Her younger brother Daymen (also her dad’s name) is a 7th grader, livestock exhibitor and is learning to rope.

Savannah says Mia is determined and stubborn in a good way. “She refuses to let anything affect her when she has set in her sights on something. She doesn’t get too far into her head. She’s a very compassionate person that loves animals, loves helping. She has a really soft heart.”

Mia, although spending her senior year in all honor classes, says she is not a “school person.” She thinks she’s headed to college after high school for a business or radiology degree, but still hasn’t decided if she’ll college rodeo. She has no shortage of work ethic, currently employed at three part-time jobs around her school and rodeo schedule.

Giving a nod to her “other rodeo moms,” Brenda Cain, Sage Faulkner and Jaclyn Greenwood-Martinez, she says her favorite part of the sport of rodeo is, “the friends and family that come along with it. It’s one big family.”      ▫

Mia on Royal.

Ute Lake Camp Meeting

Ute Lake State Park, in Northeastern New Mexico just west of Logan, will be the site for the 14th Annual Ute Lake Camp Meeting, May 29th through June 1, 2024

The annual Camp is located three miles west of Logan on highway 540 S. Loop in the State Park. The Camp theme is “That they might be with Him!”

The Ute Lake Camp Meeting evolved from the legacy of the Mesa Redondo Cowboy Camp Meeting which began in 1978 and met for 19 years on the BOWEFARMER ranch, located south of Tucumcari, then relocated to Curry Co. Fairgrounds in 1997. Then the meeting met for ten years at Ned Hauk Park North of Clovis. Camp was inactive for 2008 and 2009. 2010 saw the Camp name and location changed to Ute Lake Camp Meeting.

Daily Schedule is as follows:

Coffee available at the “Snack Shack” 6am

Breakfast 7am

Discipleship 9:30am

Morning Worship 10:45 am

Lunch 12:30 pm

Prayer time 4:30pm

Supper 5:30pm

Evening Worship 7pm

“Campfire Fellowship” after evening Service till 10 pm

The Camp is supported by donations and there is no charge for any of the meals or other activities.

Camp Pastor is Mark McAfee from Por-

tales. Music and Worship leader is James Golden, Farmington. Pat Scarth will lead discipleship. The Youth Pastor who will provide daily activities for youth in grades 6th through 12th will be announced. The children’s ministry will be led by Destanee Scioli for 4yr. olds through 5th grade in the Children’s Tent for their services during adult services at 9:30am, 10:45am, and 7pm.

Ute Lake Camp Meeting is a member of Ranchmen’s Camp Meeting Association in the Southwest. The RCMSW is an interdenominational outreach and currently includes four Camps in two states during the summer circuit. It provides “A Christian

Camping Experience For All Ages!”

The public is invited to come for a single service, a day or for the entire time. If you are camping, you will need a reservation. Please call Joe Garrett at 575-309-9065 to make a reservation

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION FIND US ON FACEBOOK OR CONTACT: Nathan Windsor, Chairman 575-607-7010, Donna Avent, Secretary 575-403-4427, Mary Caye Judd 575-403-7122 djud@plateautel.net, Maureen McGinn 575-420-7554 aservant4him@dfn.com      ▫

Do You Need Windmill Repair?

Source: dispaininc.com

Whether you’re supplying an irrigation system, providing for livestock, or simply filling a storage tank, a windmill is the ideal way to draw water up

from an underground aquifer. Windmills are the original “green” technology, using the wind—which we have in abundance—to get all manner of jobs done.

If you have a windmill to provide pumping power for your water well, you’re free from reliance on the power grid, and you aren’t paying outrageous electric bills no matter how much water you pump. But as simple as a windmill is, it is still a piece of technology. Like anything mechanical, a windmill accumulates wear and tear over time. Sudden problems or damage can occur. How can you tell if you need windmill

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Signs

that your windmill requires repair

If you notice any of the following concerns it’s time for maintenance or repair.

Visible Damage: This is the most obvious indicator that repairs are necessary. If you can see damage to any part of the windmill, either from gradual deterioration or from something sudden such as being hit with storm debris, don’t ignore it. Make or get the repairs you need before the problem worsens.

Sounds: If the windmill makes any unexpected noise such as screeching or clunking, it’s struggling with an issue that needs to be corrected. It may be an alignment issue causing components to grind against one another.

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Movement: Your windmill should spin freely and smoothly. If it’s off-kilter, tipping one way or another, or if it is getting caught or stuck, it won’t be accomplishing the task of pumping your water as well as it should be. It will also be causing a lot of strain for the system overall.

Performance: If you’re not achieving the result you expect and are wondering why you’re having water problems, you should your windmill checked over. It’s possible that a simple windmill repair could save you from all kinds of bother and inconvenience.

The importance of prompt repair

When something goes wrong with your windmill, it’s crucial that you address it as soon as you realize there’s a problem. It’s all too easy for a minor concern to turn into a massive problem requiring much more extensive repairs. It’s even possible for something seemingly small to spiral into so much damage that your windmill needs to be replaced.

For example, your windmill was designed and built to handle a great deal of force and pressure—from the wind, from the torque of the turning motion, and from the weight of itself. But it was made to handle force in specific directions. When something is out of alignment, extreme force can be applied in ways the windmill was not designed to withstand, and wear and tear will accumulate quickly.

Don’t let a minor problem get any worse.

NMRA State Secretary

Janice Aragon

by Julie Carter

For the better part of 20 years, Janice Aragon has served as the New Mexico Rodeo Association’s (NMRA) State Secretary. This is her final season with the association as she is retiring after this year’s State Finals in October.

Janice moved to New Mexico from her home state of Montana where she met Dave Aragon while he was attending college in Dillion, Montana on a wrestling scholarship. Dave was from Belen so after they married, they moved to Silver City where Dave had a job and Janice finished school.

It was after marrying Dave that Janice first started rodeoing. Her background was only that she had ridden and competed in 4-H timed events as a child. She already had plenty of athletic ability, having been a sought-after track star in Montana including ending up 4th in the nation in the quarter mile. Janice said her competitive nature and athleticism was based on knowing “you didn’t have to be the best, you just had to have a brain and a work ethic.”

This kind, savvy gal put in plenty of rodeo area time long before she took up keeping the books for NMRA. She has been a breakaway roper, team roper, barrel racer and hazed steers for her steer wrestling sons when they high school rodeoed.

She’s left-handed and at the request of Dave, she had to learn to rope right-handed so she didn’t “mess up the calf roping horses.” Her rodeo career’s longevity led to her competing at four Senior National Barrel Races.

Dave and Janice raised two sons, Jake (Chief Credit Officer of Legacy Farm Credit) and C.J. (Rodeo Coach at Sul Ross State University). When Janice and Dave both retired from teaching in New Mexico, they decided to follow their sons to Texas so they would be closer to their families, especially the three grandkids (Jake’s two boys Jaden and Jaxon and C.J.’s daughter Lauren) Sadly, after 49+ years of marriage, Dave passed away in 2021.

When Janice first took the reins of the NMRA office in 2004, she filled both the State Secretary and Central Entry Secretary positions. She did that for seven to eight years along with working a full-time job.

“It was a lot,” she said, “But it actually made sense. You knew who the members were, you knew the contractors, the commit-

tees. So much easier to keep track of things. But I was glad when they hired someone for the Central Entry job.” She has worked for six different NMRA presidents over the past two decades.

With her hands-on connection to regional rodeo in New Mexico, Janice has some candid opinions about what has changed in rodeo and the NMRA.

“The biggest, it’s hard for the association and the committees right now in New Mexico to get sponsorships. Youth and standalone specialty events have expanded so much, if sponsors have to make a choice, they’ll help the kids. There is only so much money to go around.” An echoing lament is how hard Covid hurt rodeo. “So many that used to support rodeo either went out of business, or were forced into serious financial situations, where they just can’t help now,” Janice said.

Janice taught Kindergarten and College (“about the same thing,” she said with a laugh) and many grades in between, along with art, special ed, shop, and coached volleyball. She has a Master’s in Reading and Literacy and worked as a Reading Coach to teachers. She also has a degree in art which led to her hobbies of making blue jean quilts, stained glass wall hangings (rodeo events)

and many other creative endeavors.

“I’m going to miss the people and the connections I had with everyone in the NMRA,” she said. “But I have some purpose in life now in another direction. I have one bang-up barrel horse waiting for me to get my knees heeled up and my granddaughter in Alpine, Lauren, 9, is competing in rodeo. I plan to be her number one cheerleader.”      ▫

Janice with one of her stained glass creations

Clovis

Results

NMHSRA APRIL 5-7, 2024

All Around Cowboy Tate White

All Around Cowgirl Clair Biebelle

Bull Riding Noah Gonzales

Saddle Bronc Kaden Miranda

Tie Down Gunnar Tipton

Steer Wrestling Tydon Tsosie

Team Roping Lyvan Gonzalez/ Cason Hatley

Barrels Harlee Barela

Pole Bending Clair Biebelle

Goat Tying Wacy Trujilllo

Breakaway Kassidy Lightfoot

Girls Cutting Addison Kinser

Boys Cutting Justin Anaya

THOMPSON RANCH Rodeo Roundup

Reined Cow Horse

Dacian Montoya/Ellie Powell

Light Rifle Rody Mack

Trap Shooting Lane Helmer

NMJHSRA

Boys All Around Tyan Gonzales

Girls All Around Teagan Trujillo

Steer Bareback Catch Roberts/Tate West

Steer Saddle Bronc Tate West

Bull Riding Lane Valenzuela

Tiedown Tyan Gonzales

Chute Dogging Trip Saulsberry

Team Roping Tyan Gonzales/Joe Cortese

Girls Breakaway Kynlee Cramblet

Girls Goat Tying Teagan Trujillo

Pole Bending Channing Robinson

Barrel Racing Kady Osburn

Boys Breakaway Trigg Rathjen

Ribbon Roping Haxton Haynes/ Kai Presley

Boys Goat Tying Rayce Griggs

Light Rifle Macklee Cain

GALLUP, APRIL 26-28 FARMINGTON, MAY 10-12

STATE FINALS IN LOVINGTON MAY 24-2 6 ▫

Baylee Nunn

Danli Valdez

Gryder Tipton

Paislee Foster

Lane Valenzuela

Walker Dennis & Treydon Gonzales

Hayslee Fair

Pike Ketcham

Dawson Mathis

Magdelena Hazle

Morgan Parra

Kayden Sherburne

BETTER BECAUSE THEIR SIRES & GRANDSIRES ARE GRAU RANCH BRED

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Here’s wHat some of our customers are saying about grau rancH bred bulls...

Mike Harriet, Datil, NM

“We kept our weaned calves a few months after weaning and sold them weighing 800 +lbs. They kept on growing. We couldn’t even get our other calves to weigh much over 600lbs as yearlings!”

Lance Bussard, Lipscomb TX

“I knew Grau bulls were making a difference all these years, but I didn’t know how much. So this year I weighed the Charolais calves separately and they weighed 99 lbs on average more than the other calves. We probably wouldn’t still be ranching if it wasn’t for the Grau Ranch bulls.”

Irvin Boyd, Eunice, NM

Said the first bull he bought from Grau Ranch was the best bull he’s ever owned.

These kinds of calves weigh more and bring more money than the others.

Bunks Feed

Hobbs, NM

Jim Selman • 575-397-1228

Case & Co. Tucumcari, NM

Luke Haller • 575-403-8566

Cowboy’s Corner

Lovington, NM

Wayne Banks • 575-396-5663

Creighton’s at The Fort Fort Sumner, NM

Garland Creighton, 575-760-6149

Creighton’s Town & Country Portales, NM

Garland Creighton, 575-356-3665

Dickinson Implement Co. Tucumcari, NM

Dwight Haller, 575-461-2740

Double D Animal Nutrition

Artesia, NM

Don Spearman • 575-302-9280

Lincoln County Mercantile Capitan, NM

Rance Rogers, 575-354-4260

One Stop Feed, Inc. Clovis, NM

Austin Hale • 575-762-3997

Purina Animal Nutrition

Eastern NM

Steve Swift, 575-760-3112

Purina Animal Nutrition Western NM

Joram Robbs, 520-576-8011

Roswell Livestock & Farm Supply

Roswell, NM 575-622-9164