Western Ag Life Magazine - Summer 2019

SUMMER 2019

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FARMING THE LAND OF LITTLE RAIN ARTICLE BY JOEL JOHNSON PHOTOS BY AJO SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, ALEXANDER MEMORIAL FARM AND GABRIEL VEGA ~

Every ecosystem is ultimately defined by its limits. In the dense understory of tropical rainforests, plants are shaped by their need to shed moisture and compete for light. In the artic tundra, only the most resilient organisms can eke out a living in the presence of permafrost.

And in the Desert Southwest, the region Mary Austin famously dubbed “The Land of Little Rain,” life is shaped by the presence—and much more, the absence—of water.

Of course, you might never arrive at this conclusion simply by observing modern life in the Sonoran Desert. An aerial view of Southern Arizona is peppered with green fields, green lawns, and bright swimming pools, even in the heat of summer—a beautiful warning that in the last hundred years, farmers alone have removed more fossil groundwater than had previously been pumped from aquifers over the entirety of human history. News of the recently signed drought contingency plan is perhaps the only reminder many of us receive that desert life as we know it is dependent upon the infrastructure of hundreds of miles of underground pipes that usher the Colorado River to our fingertips.

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However, this extravagance wasn’t always the norm. Gabriel Vega, Farm Manager of the San Xavier Co-op Farm south of Tucson, AZ reminds that alongside the now dry banks of the Santa Cruz River, “O’odham from this area, were [once] able to use the river to irrigate their crops.

They would build channels and essentially flood irrigate. Other O’odham traditionally would use the rain and they would use dryland agricultural methods for their crops.”

Ethnobiologist Gary Nabhan writes in Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land that he was “both humbled and surprised to learn that as late as the 1970s, desert-dwelling Native Americans such as the San Xavier O’odham of Arizona were using as little as 50 gallons of water a day to meet their basic needs, while residents in nearby Phoenix were consuming as much as 300 gallons a day, including their flood-irrigation of lawns and filling of swimming pools.” The reality is “newcomers to the desert are likely to consume four to six times the water that traditional desert dwellers have historically consumed.” This excessive use of precious water resources, Nabhan argues, “has therefore become an environmental and social justice issue.”

The Tohono O’odham agreed. As Tucson grew and developed in the 1960’s, overtaxing both the Santa Cruz River and the underground reservoirs, the aquifers grew so dry that the San Xavier community was unable to irrigate. “The San Xavier District,” Vega explains, “alongside the federal government, sued the City of Tucson and there was a settlement agreement titled the Southern Arizona Water Rights Settlement Act.” Passed by congress in 1982, the act utilized the Central Arizona Project pipeline to restore water to the San Xavier community.

Though water access has been secured, the resource is not something the San Xavier community takes lightly. In addition to growing alfalfa and hay products, the San Xavier Co-op Farm also cultivates a range of traditional, drought-adapted foods such as tepary beans, Tohono O’odham 60-day corn, O’odham yellow-meated watermelon, O’odham peas, and Tohono O’odham squash, all of which Vega says, have received increased interest since Tucson received the UNESCO City of Gastronomy designation.

Some of the farm’s most important (and water-wise) work has been preserving interest in the wild, native foods the Sonoran Desert has to offer. “Within our landscape, we incorporate these wild plants that

“WE’RE STRONG IN TRADITION AND CULTURE AND WE’RE HERE TO KEEP THESE FOODS ALIVE AND TO FEED THE COMMUNITY WITH THESE FOODS THAT HAVE SUSTAINED THEM FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS,” - GABRIEL VEGA, FARM MANAGER OF THE SAN XAVIER CO-OP FARM have been harvested for thousands of years,” Vega explains. “This farm—agriculture in this specific community—has existed for over 2,000 years. So this is a traditionally and historically agricultural community that extends many generations. That’s why [it is so important] the water act that was passed was able to bring water back to this community and irrigation has continued to exist.”

As a means of both education and economic development, the San Xavier Cooperative Association Wild Foods Community Harvest Program offers free workshops to members of the Tohono O’odham Nation and sister tribes (non-tribal members can participate for a fee). Participants are taught how to harvest, process, and prepare cholla buds, mesquite beans, and prickly pear—all of which can then be sold to the farm for by-the-pound payment.

In addition to hay crops and traditional foods, the co-op farm also includes 70 acres of heritage grains, White Sonora and Pima Club wheat, and a fruit orchard containing quinces, pomegranates, grapes, and figs introduced by early Spanish immigrants. The farm’s nursery, which uses compost generated on-site in partnership with the University of Arizona’s Compost Cats, offers desert residents access to locally adapted plants that yield food, fiber, medicine, and art.

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“We’re strong in tradition and culture and we’re here to keep these foods alive and to feed the community with these foods that have sustained them for thousands of years,” Vega says. A diet of desert foods like mesquite flour and cholla buds has been shown to help regulate blood sugar levels, providing a form of relief for those dealing with diabetes. Vega also points out that as little as two tablespoons of cholla buds provide the equivalent calcium content of a full glass of milk.

“One of our main goals is to curb the health issues that the community has from not eating the way they used to eat. So [by] reintroducing these foods, cooking these foods for the community…we exist for the community and help the community in that fashion.”

The co-op farm is not alone in seeking to restore traditional desert foods to southwestern fields and tables. Just over 25 years ago, Terrol Johnson co-founded Tohono O’odham Community Action (TOCA) to promote and preserve traditional desert foods and farming practices.

“When we first started, we couldn’t get a lot of the traditional foods, so we wanted to start a garden,” Johnson explains. “But the idea was also because a lot of people on the reservation were dealing with diabetes—getting diabetes, and then dying as a result of complications from diabetes. We also realized that a lot of young people were being affected with diabetes.”

Though there were support programs available, they didn’t incorporate traditional foods. They “weren’t culturally relevant to [our] area.” Johnson says. “So we thought, well, we got to start educating people about our own culture and our own foods. And that’s how we started the farming.”

At its peak, TOCA operated a 100-acre farm using traditional O’odham dry farming techniques. Though TOCA recently dissolved to allow Terrol and others to focus on other forms of art, education, and activism, Terrol’s brother, Noland Johnson, still manages the 14-acre Alexander Pancho Memorial Farm that TOCA helped start on the Johnson’s traditional family land. The site “was actually my grandfather’s and his grandfather’s and father’s traditional farming land. So we basically just revitalized it,” Johnson says.

Amazingly the 14-acre farm, which yields Tohono O’odham varieties of peas, corn, and squash, requires no supplemental irrigation. Every drop of water is supplied by monsoons and winter rains—some of it directly, in-season, and the rest stored in three catchments, huge holes in the ground which capture and store runoff (natural clay in the soil prevents the catchment supply from draining).

Though to modern agriculturalists, farming without supplemental irrigation might seem extraordinary, for Johnson “this is a method that our ancestors had done for hundreds and hundreds of years and it was just a matter of learning from the elders and watching other farming experts do that—which were our grandfathers and our greatPG. 6 :: SUMMER 2019

grandfathers.”

Observing the desert and getting to know its tendencies is the first step when employing traditional dry farming methods. It’s all about “learning how to walk up the streams and finding which way the water flows, when a certain amount of water comes down or rain comes down and channeling with natural dams and foliage to get it to flow to our direction,” Johnson says. “It’s just a matter of really watching the environment, the landscape, and knowing which way the water will flow and how to get it to divert to our fields.”

Gary Nabhan points out that in addition to capturing free water, floodwater and runoff farming also delivers organic material in the form of composted, nitrogen-rich leaf litter from mesquites and palo verdes, as well as beneficial microorganisms which can inoculate crop fields. “Depending on the size and condition of your property and its surrounding watershed,” Nabhan writes, “imagine how waterharvesting designs—from one-tenth acre rain gardens to 50-acre floodwater fields—can heal wounded places, and nourish them back to a condition where they are capable of producing food from both wild and cultivated plants.” Restoring and supporting the ecological connections of southwestern landscapes yields a host of interconnected benefits.

Terrol Johnson and his colleagues at TOCA and the Alexander

Memorial Farm have seen similar benefits from reviving cultural and community connections to the land. Farmers who were trained at TOCA have gone on to work at the San Xavier Co-op Farm, start their own nonprofits, and make careers out of cooking and preparing traditional foods.

“When we started this over 25 years ago, we were the only ones doing it, starting with young kids and working in the schools,” Johnson reflects. “Working with the schools at a very young age we got people interested in it, and then over the years, the kids we worked with 25 years ago are now adults and some of them are still continuing to harvest on their own [and] also teach.”

One of the most exciting outcomes is that “a lot of the schools now try to incorporate traditional foods into their lunch programs, but also other programs on the reservation, like Meals on Wheels and other programs that provide food for their clients really try to incorporate a lot of traditional foods into their menus,” Johnson says. “So the results [from what] we’ve been doing, this kind of work for the 25 years, have really paid off and really have been beneficial to the community.”

Following the 1887 General Allotment Act, the San Xavier District of the O’odham Nation was the only district to be divided by the federal government into individual allotments. Roughly a century later, the formation of the San Xavier Co-op farm was a rejection of imposed, divisive individuality (an independence that cannot be sustained within the limits of the desert ecosystem) and a step towards restoring both ecological and communal relationships.

Community has always been the key to desert life. The physical and ecological diversity on display at San Xavier Co-op and the Alexander Memorial Farm reminds us that no organism has ever been able to thrive here in isolation. As plant guilds and nurse plants shield their young from the summer heat, as water and microbial life flood from the mountains onto eager fields, and as communities restore their connections to each other, their food, and the earth they call home, life is revitalized in the Land of Little Rain.

SEASONED TEPARY BEANS Pick up a copy of Savvy Southwest Cooking from Janet E. Taylor to incorporate native grains into your meals and check out “From The Kitchen” on page 12 for a bright summer salad using Janet’s Recipe of Seasoned Tepary Beans INGREDIENTS: 2 cups tepary 8 cups water 1 handful fresh epazote leaves or fresh oregano, chopped or 1 heaping tablespoon dry oregano, crushed 1–2 whole chipotle chiles, toasted or not 1 whole onion, cut in half 1 bay leaf, broken 1 garlic bulb, cloves crushed with knife blade, peeled and chopped 2 teaspoons cumin 1 tablespoon smoked salt PG. 7 :: SUMMER 2019

Pick though beans and remove any rocks. Place beans in bowl with 8 cups of water and soak overnight. Pour off water and rinse. Place beans in appropriate size pot and cover with 3 or 4 inches of water and set over high heat. When beans start to boil, turn them to medium. Remove any foam that forms on top of water. Turn to low, add all other ingredients except salt, and simmer until beans are somewhat soft, maybe an hour.

Add salt and continue to cook for a couple hours or until a good texture for bean salad is achieved. For softer beans to be mashed or used in soup, allow to cook until a softer texture is achieved (may take a couple hours).

WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 7

WESTERN READS

BY AARON DOWNEY

There is a new style of history book in which the author examines the past from the reference point of a number of significant items. One fascinating entry in that vein is The History of FlyFishing in Fifty Flies, by Ian Whitelaw.

Whether for sport, hobby, or putting food on the table, fly-fishing has been around for centuries, and Whitelaw packs this book with detail to delight beginner and pro anglers alike. It starts with the flies themselves—such as the Stewart Black Spider, the Copper John Nymph, and Ally’s Shrimp—all beautifully rendered by Julie Spyropoulos, and goes from there.

Primates and canines get along about as well as any two species on Earth can, yet we humans lose a lot in translation when communicating with our dogs. The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs,

by Patricia B. McConnell, shows us how we can be better dog communicators and therefore better owners, trainers, and companions. McConnell examines our dogs’ behaviors—and our own—through her experience as an Applied Animal Behaviorist and a sheep rancher.

We had a lot of spring rain this year, and that makes for an amazing wildflower season. Meg Quinn’s enduring favorite, Wildflowers of the Desert Southwest, highlights eighty color-coded desert area wildflowers in a slim, affordable package. If you miss the beauties this year, get a head start on next year!

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Speaking of rain, The Sunhat, by author Jennifer Ward and illustrator Stephanie Roth Sisson, is a charming twist to the classic tale, The Mitten. As a sudden monsoon appears, young Rosa’s red hat blows off in the wind and magically accommodates all the desert animals seeking shelter from the summer storm.

And finally, I present the Little Lamb Finger Puppet Book, a simple board book with a finger puppet that stretches through a hole in the middle, and thus through every “page,” because, hey, your cute kid deserves cute things.

Treasure Chest BOOKS

Visit us at www.rionuevo.com

Aaron Downey is the managing editor at Rio Nuevo Publishers, a division of Treasure Chest Books. We create compelling, visually exciting, award-winning books about the people, places, and things that make the West so distinctive.

Pictured Left to Right: Udon McSpadden, Katee McSpadden, Case McSpadden, Eric McSpadden, Wyatt Shannon

SMITH FORD

sixth generation ranching family understand the role vehicles play in agriculture The McSpadden family has been in the car business for three generations. With the understanding of hard work, determination and will power, it only makes sense to be cattle ranchers as well. Eric and Katee McSpadden, along with their children, own and operate Smith Ford in Lordsburg, New Mexico while also running two ranches just outside of Lordsburg. Combining cattle and cars just makes sense in the Mcspadden minds, as Katee is a 6th generation rancher, on both sides of her family; her parents and Aunts still run cattle on the same ranch as her great great grandfather. While Eric is the 3rd generation to run car dealerships, as his dad still operates McSpadden Ford in Globe, Arizona which has been in their family for nearly 50 years.

A combined understanding of what ranchers and farmers need for a vehicle to work and what they want has proved successful for the McSpadden family, outfitting customers in custom built trucks for nearly fifty years between McSpadden and Smith Ford. Eric and Katee have won the coveted President’s Award two years in a row, an award given only to the Ford dealers who strive to be the best in customer service and satisfaction. With the customers in the driver’s seat, designing a vehicle continues to get easier, when a vehicle is ordered, the customer has the ability to customize everything from interior style to exterior.

No matter your location, either Arizona or New Mexico, both Smith and McSpadden Ford have you covered with up fitting your truck with a Ranch Hand Bumper, Grill Guard or steps to better suite your personal style and needs. Smith Ford also has a custom fabrication shop that builds and installs Bradford Built beds that are made for the person

who works out of their trucks, whether rancher, farmer, veterinarian, mine engineer or just someone that appreciates a flatbed; there is something for everyone.

With a customer base largely coming from the small communities in southwest New Mexico and eastern Arizona, Eric and Katee believe it is important to support these families as much as possible. It is a common practice in small towns and the agricultural industry to shop small and local, and that goes along with the car business as well. Eric and Katee are recognized and welcomed faces at the local county fairs, FFA banquets, sporting events and at the rodeo arena supporting the children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren of customers. One thing that the McSpaddens really enjoy doing is purchasing the show animals at the many county fairs in both Arizona and New Mexico, just to turn around and use the meat to feed not only their family, but their twenty employees and their families, giving back one hundred percent. The McSpadden family appreciates being busy within their community, with their four children competing in rodeo, baseball and gymnastics.

Eric says it best, “No Funny Business! We want a relationship with you, as the customer. ” Be sure to think of the McSpadden family when you need a new ranch truck.

Bryan Runyan of Runyan Construction WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 9

Gene Peacock and Jimmy Craig Shipping cattle from The Pump Stallion Pens, Elmdale, KS, 2004

THE BALLAD OF DIAMOND JIM ARTICLE BY CORBITT WALL

It’s Tuesday at the Kingsville Livestock Auction in west-central Missouri, Jimmy Craig is sitting left-center three rows up in his regular seat (nobody but Jimmy sits in that seat during the feeder cattle auction). It’s early spring and this particular salebarn has a nice offering of locally raised short-yearling feedlot replacement steers and heifers along with many consignments of highly-soughtafter lightweight fall-born calves. Altogether, there are around 3000 head on hand to be sold to the highest bidder. Well over half of these feeder cattle will be black-hided which is commensurate with current demand, while the balance is mostly smoky Charolais crossbreds with black noses and/or solid reds.

Jimmy Craig is in his “happy place” and many of the cattle for sale are right in his “wheelhouse” as he is a professional cattle order buyer and makes his living procuring groups of cattle as to kind, quality, quantity, and price specifications. His main customer PG. 10 :: SUMMER 2019

is a large commercial family feedlot operation based in Nebraska that has a reputation for buying the best performing feeder cattle available. Seasonally, Jimmy will also have orders to purchase lightweight calves and stocker cattle to graze the vast pastures of the Flint Hills region in east-central Kansas. Most of these cattle will again be purchased by Mr. Craig when they come off those pastures in the summer and early-fall.

Jimmy admits that he loves the schedule he’s worked for the last 40 plus years, buying cattle in Missouri salebarns late fall through

early spring and then shipping country strings in his beloved Flint Hills in the summer and early fall. He’s always been a proud Kansan since he was a boy in the early 50’s growing up in what are now the Kansas City suburbs, going to horse and mule auctions with his grandfather. Soon after high school graduation, Jimmy took a job in the Kansas City Stockyards in 1965 with Wilson, Flynn, Laws Livestock Commission. Folks around the Stockyards immediately took a liking to Jimmy, quickly recognizing his eye for livestock and the fact that the afternoon at the Golden Ox Saloon was more fun when he was at their table.

The Army draft came calling in 1968 and Jimmy Craig was more than happy to oblige.

Had it not been for his stint in the Army, Jimmy would have never met Becky. They were arranged on a blind date when Jimmy was stationed at Fort Carson, CO. After his obligation to his country was fulfilled, Jimmy Color Photo: Jimmy Craig at the Potter Pens, Cassoday, KS, 1991

could not return to Kansas City without the love of his life who would eventually bless him with a daughter (Jenny) and a son (Joe).

By the early 70’s, the Kansas City Stockyards had started to dwindle but it would last for another twenty years. In 1972, Jimmy went to work with a large order buying firm and began traveling country salebarns from central Iowa down to the Southwest Regional Stockyards in Springfield, MO. He more than tripled his $500 per month salary, but soon got an opportunity to become a partner in another order buying firm. He moved his family to Salina, KS, and began working auctions and direct trade areas through central Kansas and down into north Texas. His earlier training at the Golden Ox helped him down in Texas, but

the Texas boys made an impression on Jimmy too. From that point on, he has rarely been seen without his trademark pristine cowboy hat, starched monogrammed shirts, dress boots, maybe a little bling on his fingers, and a stylish wild rag if there’s a chill in the air. He also never passes on a shapely blue roan steer when one is available.

Little else has changed in Jimmy Craig’s story over the last forty years. Of course, there’s been ups and downs and market fluctuations. Jimmy has made and lost several fortunes, the losses mostly from a result of him investing in the wheel of which his expertise is just a cog. He once farmed on hillsides in Stanley, KS, that is now bustling Overland Park and once produced the World-Famous

Jimmy Craig’s Bull Ropin’, a popular range cattle roping event in Salina, KS. He will tell you, “Life isn’t so much as where you’ve been as who you’ve been there with”. Jimmy still enjoys his work and has been known to bark out his assessment of a challenger’s mental capacity following the bidding competition on a set of cattle, only to offer him a handshake and a steak dinner after the sale. He’s known for his generosity and most of his friends have received gifts from Jimmy that reflect his personality as a western preservationist.

And his summarization?...”Good Judgement comes from Experience, a lotta that comes from Bad Judgement”

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Desert Tepary Bean & Verdolagas Salad Our arid desert offers up a cornucopia of nutritionally dense plants—beans, fruits, vegetables, and nuts—to turn into palate-pleasing recipes. Tender young prickly pear cactus paddles (nopalitos) are picked in the spring. After summer rains, purslane (verdolagas) appear. Either adds a deliciously interesting flavor and crunch to desert tepary bean salad. These dietary staples of indigenous peoples of the southwest are still free for the picking in many backyards, while select vendors at farmers’ markets sell the beans and vegetables, and CSAs often include nopalitos in spring and verdolagas in summer shares. Serve with meat or poultry or serve as a main dish by mixing in ancient grains.

INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup finely chopped red onion 2 garlic cloves, run through garlic press or minced Zest from one Key lime or other lime 2 tablespoons Key lime or other lime juice 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon, crushed to release flavor 2 tablespoons fresh thyme or lemon thyme leaves 1–3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1½–2 cups cooked and rinsed tepary beans, cooled (not available canned) or sub black or pinto beans 1–1½ cups chiffonade-cut basil or lemon basil or cilantro (whatever is in season) 1–2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes 2 cups purslane petals with a few chopped stems 1 roasted and peeled or fresh red bell pepper, chopped 1 roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped poblano chile Optional: add 1 cup of cooked ancient grains—einkorn berries, or Arizona’s Hayden Mills’ white Sonora wheat or faro (emmer) berries that have been tossed in 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil ½ teaspoon of smoked sea salt Freshly ground pepper ¼–½ cup feta goat cheese, crumbled 1 Haas avocado, chopped 2 tablespoons pine nuts

COMBINE INGREDIENTS:

Mix together onions, garlic, lime zest, lime juice, oregano, thyme, and 2 tablespoons of oil. Soak for 5 minutes to tame a strong onion flavor. Then toss mixture with all other ingredients (add optional ancient grains) except for goat cheese, avocado, and pine nuts. Taste and add additional oil as needed. Sprinkle with cheese, avocado, and pine nuts. Splash a little lime juice over avocado and serve at room temperature.

Recipe & Photo Courtesy of Savvy Southwest Cooking

Janet Taylor, author of The Healthy Southwest Table and Savvy Southwest Cooking, teaches healthy cooking classes to young children in Tucson, and is an Heirloom Farmers’ Market board member.

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FOUR WING SALTBUSH ARTICLE & PHOTO BY PATINA THOMPSON

Chances are, if you have a desert pasture, you’re likely to have a community of four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) shrubs, which serve as a great browsing source for livestock.

Both the scientific name and common names are a perfect description of its outward qualities. The Genus name ‘Atriplex’ means herbs and shrubs, while the species name ‘canescens’ means grayish-white or hoary, a reference to the color of the leaves. The “fourwing” name refers to the seed, that has four paper-like wings in a perfect “x” shape. The saltbush descriptor denotes the soils in which the shrub is commonly found.

Four-wing saltbush is a member of the Chenopodiaceae (aka Goosefoot) family, many of which are considered weeds; like russian thistle, pigweed, and kochia, but the cultivated cousins are sugar beets, spinach and swiss chard. It’s also referred to as wingscale, chamiza, buckwheat shrub or salt sage.

The large wings of the seed facilitate dispersion by the wind, tumbling away from the mother plant. Four-wings grow in most

of the Western U.S. to Mexico from 3,000 to 8,000 feet in elevation, and is the most widely distributed saltbush. The shrub grows an average of two to three feet tall and in a wide range of soils from clays to sands. It does well in soils with high lime content, and soils with heavy saline-alkali areas, but is not an indicator of these conditions. The plant is found in desert flats, gravelly washes, mesas, ridges, slopes, and even on sand dunes.

Reproduction in these plants is dioecious, the Latin word for “two homes.” Male and female flowers are found on separate plants (mostly). But the plants are known to switch their floral arrangements from monoecious to dioecious and back again! The shrubs bloom from mid-spring to mid-summer.

Native Americans of the Southwest were known to harvest the leaves and seeds for food, either raw or cooked. Seeds were cooked like oatmeal and said to be a good source of the natural B vitamin, niacin. Ground-up seeds were mixed with sugar and water for a drink called pinole. In Zuni tribes, handfuls of

the male blossoms were crushed and mixed with a little water to create a soap for washing or treating ant bites, suggesting the plant contains a soap-like compound, saponin.

Infusion of the twigs and leaves created a yellow dye used by the Navajos.

Four-wing saltbush is an important browse plant for wildlife and livestock. Deer, rabbits and pronghorn feed on the leaves, and quail use the shrub for cover, roosting and as a food source. Small rodents use the shrub’s protection for burrows. This is a very nutritious plant for grazing livestock; it has a good rating for sheep and goats, fair for cattle, and poor for horses. It is well adapted to winter use, when its rating changes from fair to good. The seed crop is extremely nutritious and eaten so extensively by livestock that a deferred grazing system should be used to produce the maximum forage yield for livestock.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Contributor Patina Thompson earned a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife, Watershed and Rangeland Resources from the University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. She works in the agriculture insurance field.

She is a wife, mother, rancher, hunter, photographer and conservationist in southeastern Arizona.

WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 13

Pulling on Loose Rein, Heeler; Brent Cole ©Richard Collins

NORDFORK BRANDING: EASIER ON CALVES & COWBOYS

EXCERPTED FROM "COWBOY IS A VERB: NOTES FROM A MODERN-DAY RANCHER" BY RICHARD COLLINS. COPYRIGHT © 2019 BY UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA PRESS. EXCERPTED BY PERMISSION OF UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS EXCERPT MAY BE REPRODUCED OR REPRINTED WITHOUT PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER. PHOTOS BY RICHARD COLLINS AND JAY DUSARD.

“What’s the final calf count?” I asked Ian. “Two hundred and sixty six,” he replied, folding his tally book. It was a little past eleven at the branding corrals and the bright sunlight had Jay Dusard grumbling about too much contrast. “We sure could have used some cloud cover,” lamented the photographer. The ground crew had opened the gate and the branded calves were scampering back into the pasture to mother-up.

“Let’s see. You started branding three hours and fifteen minutes ago,” I said, whipping out my cell phone. “That makes it forty four seconds per calf.”

“Does that include the time we took getting in the second draft of calves?” Manuel asked. Manuel Murrietta was the foreman for Sands Ranch division of Ian Tomlinson’s Vera Earl Ranches that sprawled over 150,000 acres of southern Arizona’s high desert grasslands and ran 2500 cows.

‘Yep,” I replied. “That’s from start to finish.”

“It helps to have three heelers and good ground crews.” Ian replied.

“Especially when one roper is Harvey Jacobs,” I allowed. “Any southpaw who heels that good ought to be banned from the rodeo.

Except when he’s partnered up with me.”

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“I got some good shots of Manuel and Harvey while the light was tolerable,” Jay added. He had seen and photographed dozens of brandings from Sonora to British Columbia, but today he was seeing the Nordfork in use for the first time.

In 1999, I stumbled onto the Nordfork on a horse-buying trip to the Reeves ranch near Eagle Butte, South Dakota. Every fall, Dean and Jim Reeves had a sale of three-year-olds raised on their Cheyenne River country. Every spring Jim branded 7500 calves, all dragged to the fire on horseback.

“That’s a lot of calves,” I said. “You must have a big ground crew.”

“Big enough, but we also use Nordforks,” Jim replied.

“What’s a Nordfork?” I asked.

Jim reached in the back of his pickup and pulled out a metal frame that looked like two skeletal toilet seats, hinged in the middle and made from half inch diameter rod. One end tapered smoothly into a V with a two-foot-long handle welded to the apex. The other end was a broader V that opened wide to let the calf’s head pass through. The two Vs were hinged together in the middle. A fifteen foot long rope, broken by bungee cord, attached the broad V to a heavy spike hammered in the ground.

“As the heeler drags the calf past the Nordfork, the ground man drops the broad V over the calf’s head and follows it up until the small V catches the calf behind the ears and the rope tightens up. The heeler then faces and holds his dallies while the ground crew goes to work.

When you’re finished, the heeler throws slack at the same time as the ground man lifts up the handle and the calf jumps free,” Jim concluded.

“So, those four horses I just bought from you must savvy the Nordfork.

I’d better take a couple of these gadgets home,” I said. Later on, the internet led me to Idaho rancher Nord Hill, who in 1991, fabricated and tested his “idea,” and has been producing them ever since.

Back home, Manuel and I took the Nordforks to Bob Hudson’s Vaca Ranch. Bob bordered my outfit on the south, at the edge of the storied San Rafael valley. We unloaded our horses at daylight and spread out over the holding pasture where Bob and his vaqueros had gathered the pairs the day before. The cows seemed to know the drill, and began bawling up their calves. We moved them into a big net-wire trap, and set up two Nordforks. Fernando Valenzuela, his son Gerardo, and Manuel, were the designated heelers, while the rest of us became the ground crew.

Bob kept the cows in with the calves during branding to reduce the stress of sorting and allow the calves to mother up immediately after branding. Even so, the mixture of cows with calves, branded and unbranded, made catching two heels more challenging, and Bob wanted the best heelers on horseback. Fernando rode a rangy roan gelding to the edge of the herd, softly swinging a sixty foot rawhide riata. He eased up to a calf and picked up two hind feet, took his dallies and towed it to the Nordfork. During that whole day, I never saw him miss a set of doubles or get in a hurry.

Gerardo and Manuel also roped, using their nylon twines. With three heelers, we had a hard time on the ground keeping up with the ropers. Now and then, one roper would have a calf heeled and on the ground, and had to wait for an empty Nordfork. I had seen these two cowboys win more than their share of fast go-rounds at the rodeos, but today they moved at a deliberate speed, schooling their young horses on how to pull and face up.

Two hours later we rode to the barn with Bob singing the praises of the Nordfork. “I have worn out my knees holding them Hereford calves down for dehorning. Now the Nordfork holds them for me.”

The Nordfork is a labor-saving tool that reduces the stress on both cattle and cowboys. On most days, branding is finished in the morning before it gets hot. On the Vera Earl Ranches, Ian and Manuel disallow any catch that’s not two hind feet, virtually eliminating injuries to calves and cowboys. With the Nordfork and heeler holding the rope tight against the bungee cord the calf can be easily rolled over to put the brand on the correct side. Also, the calf is immobilized and stays

Manuel Murrieta Schooling the Blue Stud ©Jay Dusard

Heeler, Ian Thomlinson ©Richard Collins WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 15

quiet for branding, vaccination and castration.

Nordforks are also portable. They can be set up in small branding traps in remote pastures. The whole herd does not have to be gathered to a central processing location with squeeze chutes. On smaller ranches in the Canelo Hills like mine, this saved a five-mile cattle drive with small calves over rugged country.

Finally, the heel and drag to the Nordfork is a tool for developing young horses and young cowboys. The requirement for doubles forces the heeler to be precise with both the loop and the position of the horse. They learn to move calmly through the herd and set up a calf for a good throw instead of charging at cattle swinging a loop like a windmill in a hurricane. The roper learns what a good throw looks like, how to dally to the horn and move off easy-like.

With the Nordfork set in the middle of the corral, a young horse learns to pull without panicking. Properly done, the Nordfork setter calls out when the rope comes tight. This gives the horse and heeler a cue for the face-up, and avoids hitting the calf hard against bungee cord and ground stake.

After a while, most horses anticipate the face as the rope tightens, and sets the inside hind leg for a quick pivot.

On Ian Tomlinson’s ranches, every hand gets a turn roping.

This makes for a happy and productive branding crew. The younger cowboys have two ace heelers and horsemen in Manuel Murrietta and Harvey Jacobs as role models.

Manuel is a four-time winner of Sonoita’s prestigious ranch horse competition, riding horses he raised and trained.

This branding season, he is riding a three-year-old Blue Valentine colt that may have promise.

“He’s a looker, but I want to see how much bottom and brains he’s got before I breed my mares to him,” Manuel declared.

Richard Collins is a rancher and writer from Sonoita, Arizona. His 2015 book, Riding behind the Padre was voted a Top Ten Book of the Southwest and winner of the best political-multicultural book by the Arizona-New Mexico Book Association. His new book Cowboy is a Verb: Notes of a Modern-day Rancher will be released fall of 2019 by the University of Nevada Press.

Ian Thomlinson Setting Nordfork ©Richard Collins PG. 16 :: SUMMER 2019

Jay Dusard has photographed cowboys and horses from Canada to Mexico. A 1981 Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography led to his acclaimed first book, The North American Cowboy: A Portrait. He lives near Douglas, Arizona.

WHAT STATUS QUO?

BY DEAN FISH, PH.D.

©Tina Thompson

Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to Western Ag Life Media, the author’s employer, organization, committee, other group or probably any reasonable thinking individual.

I would like to think that the era of complacency in the beef industry is over. In fact, I would like to attend a funeral for Mr. We Have Always Done It That Way and his brothers, Mr. It Won’t Work and Mr. It Doesn’t Pay (Rest in Peace, 2019). Hey, a fella can dream, can’t they?

Recently, I had the pleasure of holding a dear friend and one of the most intelligent, thoughtful and successful leaders in the beef industry hostage chute side while breeding cows. Since he couldn’t get away and no longer charges for his opinion by billable hours, I wanted to pick his brain about advances in the beef industry and how he saw the business unfolding in the future. This conversation led me to the conclusion that if a person is involved in the 2019 beef business and hopes to be relevant in the next few years, we need to focus on a few things. Some of these are easy, some are difficult.

Genetics: The United States beef industry has been a global leader in beef production for several years and the main reason is quality.

We produce the most flavorful, tender and best tasting product in the world. More and more of what we produce is starting to hit these targets because of the intense genetic selection pressure we have put on our cow herds. So, what is the next step? We need to continue to learn and keep abreast of the rapidly changing world of beef genomics and invest in those genetics that help us reach our targets to maintain this competitive advantage. My genetics professor would be shocked, based on my collegiate academic performance, that I am advocating studying in this arena. There are so many ways to get started, but I suggest looking at trade publications like Beef and Drover’s Journal for starters.

Marketing: Today’s consumer is shopping at the meat counter for much more than price. Study after study reveal factors that influence

buying decisions from a consumer standpoint. Are we taking advantage of this information? Probably not, in my opinion. There are many opportunities to capture extra dollars at the ranch gate by enrolling in a verification program or just getting credit for what you are already doing. Risk management is another domain that is underutilized by most smaller beef producers and there is a wealth of information available to research how to get started here.

Advocacy: The Internet has leveled the knowledge playing field.

Knowledge used to be centralized at universities, but now anyone can look anything up and become an “expert”. Seriously, there is a wealth of good stuff that can be found to improve our beef producing abilities. Along with that, social media has been a double-edged sword for the beef industry. It can show the worst of practices like overgrazing or animal abuse as well as be a tool for educating the public about what livestock producers do. I sometimes would chuckle at my friends’ posts showing the crew moving cattle. However, the more I study the comments that people share on these posts, the more I realize that he is doing the beef industry a great service by showing the proper care and handling of his cattle.

We need to give our good beef customers “permission” to feel good about choosing beef. We do it more efficiently and with more care than ever in our history. Let’s tell the story of our wholesome and nutritious product and thank people for choosing beef as their protein of choice.

These ideas that I shared with you are only the tip of the iceberg. A person can get overwhelmed, but we all need to start somewhere. I know I have a lot of work to do and I challenge you to do the same.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dean Fish-PhD has dedicated his life work to livestock production in the West. Growing up on ranches in southern Arizona, he participated in 4-H beef, livestock judging and leadership programs. He currently ranches and raises commercial Angus cattle and club calves in Santa Cruz County.

WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 17

CHALLENGING TRADITIONS, A SHEEP RANCHER’S HERITAGE

BY HEIDI CRNKOVIC Pictured above from Left to Right: Tripp & Jennifer Corn; Craig, Conner, Courtney, Jessica & Creed Cowden; Jennifer & Mike Corn; Barbara, Madison, Garrett and Bronson Corn.

“Do you know what is the greatest threat to the sheep industry?” Mike Corn asks from a seat in the building that houses Roswell Wool, the largest wool marketing firm in the United States. “Tradition.” Although keeping New Mexico’s sheep heritage alive has been one of Mike Corn’s passions, what has kept the Corn family at the forefront of the sheep and wool industry is a willingness to consistently challenge traditions with a combination of innovative business practices and classic techniques.

The family began their Westward trek in 1841, finally settling in the area that is now Roswell in 1878. Surviving Comanche, Kiowa and Apache raids and the Civil War, PG. 18 :: SUMMER 2019

the family eventually settled in the greater Roswell area, establishing irrigation systems, raising alfalfa and apple trees as well as sheep and cattle. While the Roswell area has seen a 90% decline in sheep populations, the Corn family now owns 40% of the sheep in the area. An unwavering dedication to the sheep business for nearly 140 years sees the 6th generation still working the original ranch headquarters. Mike and his wife Jennifer’s have three children and their son Bronson and his wife Barbara live and work on the family ranch with their son Garrett and daughter, Madison.

As ranch numbers declined, sheep predation significantly impacted sheep numbers during

the 20th century. In order to combat predation, many ranchers turned to guardian dogs. Mike has drastically decreased sheep predation through the use of a number of Akbash cross dogs that he now raises to protect his sheep.

He has found that in order to effectively guard his flock, a greater number of dogs than the industry standard has been necessary to diminish coyote predation. Another integral factor in their success has been the use of a higher intensity grazing programs similar to the Savory method that allows larger numbers of sheep to graze in fenced areas for shorter periods of time. The Corn family also utilizes a herdsman to bed down ewes at night, yet another strategy that protects their livestock,

but doesn’t require a full-time shepherd.

Mike’s personal herd consists of Merino wool sheep, while the majority of sheep in New Mexico are a Merino composite of Delaine and Rambouillet named a Debouillet which was developed by Amos Dee Jones of Roswell and Tatum, NM. Mike Corn was the 2018 New Mexico Wool Growers’ Inc. Sheepman of the Year, a past president of the New Mexico association and also the 2017-19 American Sheep Industry (ASI) President. One of his favorite projects has been the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP). The program is utilizing science-based measurements of heritable traits to develop and utilize Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs), which are similar to the Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) that the beef industry has been using for a while. The goal is to see producers using this information to produce more productive sheep with the use of more precise genetic

data. Improvement programs that encourage pregnancy testing and the tracking of individual animal performance have been integral in maintaining sheep numbers and success in the industry. Programs such as the Leading Edge program are providing groundbreaking information through the utilization of NSIP rams with EBVs alongside industry rams on ewes and tracking the performance of lambs through the feedlot.

The Wool Warehouse Company was originally purchased in 1992 and their second warehouse was purchased a few years later in 1994. Now, the two are combined as Roswell Wool, LLC with a second facility in Long Beach, California. Mike stresses the importance of a wool producer’s reputation and auctions wool in a similar fashion to the Australian auctions.

The warehouse grades, sells and stores wool from all over the Western United States. A grab sample is taken out of the bales, which provides a visual presentation of length and

color as well as a core sampling of every bale.

The choicer wools tend to stay in the United States, but Roswell Wool attracts buyers from all over the world.

The longevity of the Corn family in the sheep industry, and the forward-moving progress being made within that industry speak volumes of the dedication and hard work of those who continue to raise sheep in the arid Southwest. Despite changes in markets, landscape, and the need for nimble management, Mike Corn remains optimistic about the industry’s future. With a rifle focus on innovative and progressive management strategies, we can trust that the Corn family name will remain a pivotal part of the sheep business and the Roswell area’s history for generations to come.

Los Cordovas (vicinity), west of Taos, Taos County, New Mexico.

Sheep on a Spanish-American ranch. ©John Collier, 02/1943

WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 19

ARIZONA RANCH GEAR A STORY OF INDEPENDENCE & HIGH QUALITY CINCHES

BY TIFFANY SELCHOW PHOTOS BY JOLENE PHILLIPS

On the surface, the western lifestyle might just seem to be about the look: cowboy hats, pearl snap shirts, Wrangler jeans, and some boots.

But, we all know it’s about much more than that. It’s about working hard and getting the job done even when the odds continue to stack against you. It’s about independence: doing things for yourself instead of having to rely on someone else.

A necessity and some of that independent spirit became a passion and a business for Jolene Phillips who started creating her own cinches about two years ago. As she put it, “My husband needed a cinch, and I thought to myself, I could make him one!” A cinch for her husband turned into one for each of her four children and herself. After her product stood the test of time, sweat, and dirt, she started making them for friends and family and from there, her business, Arizona Ranch Gear was born.

Having grown up on a ranch in Utah and now ranching with her husband in Winkelman, Arizona, Jolene has always known a cinch is an essential part of the rig. It was only when she started making her own did she give it much thought. Research on the best product to use for her cinches led her to use one hundred percent Mohair, a yarn made from the wool of Angora goats. This material works well for a cinch in any climate but outshines competitors in the hot, dry, desert.

It’s soft and doesn’t stretch or shrink, something that might happen with wool blends or other synthetics. As Jolene mentioned, “Our horses are almost always sweaty, and the Mohair wicks the sweat away from their body, keeping them comfortable so they can continue to work.”

PG. 20 :: SUMMER 2019

Not only can a person purchase a high quality, hand made cinch from Jolene, but customization is also available. She enjoys adding personalization on her customer’s cinches, but a brand touches her heart. “There is something really cool about cinching up and seeing your brand on the side of your horse,” she explains. “It makes you feel proud.” Cactus is another specialty of hers including the iconic Saguaro.

Flowers and other designs are available, but really the customer’s imagination is the limit on what she can add.

A saddle is an essential piece of equipment for the rancher and once the perfect one is found you’d be hard pressed to pull that piece of leather away from its owner. Yet, without an excellent cinch to keep that thing strapped on to your horse, it’s not worth a whole lot unless you have outstanding balance! For many of you, we suggest ordering one from Jolene.

To order a customized cinch and learn how to measure your horse for the proper fit, head over to Instagram at Jolene’s handle @ azranchgear. A direct message is the way to get a hold of an order form which provides space for you to fill in details of what you want on your cinch, which buckle you’d like, length, and other information.

WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 21

PG. 22 :: SUMMER 2019

CATTLE NEWS:

ARIZONA HEREFORD & ARIZONA ANGUS ASSOCIATION

BY CINDY TIDWELL SHELTON

The Arizona Hereford Association was established in 1933 for the purpose of promoting the Hereford breed. The first president of the association was Tom Heady. The association is grateful to Mr. Heady and those fine men who followed him and served as officers of this organization over the past 82 years. During the history of the Arizona Hereford Association, there have been over 40 annual bull sales offering quality genetics to cattlemen across the Western United States. In addition, many Junior Field Days were conducted at several outstanding ranches across the state of Arizona.

Arizona Hereford breeders offer cattle to both commercial and registered operations that show strong fertility, manageable birth weights, mothering ability, hardiness, gentle temperament and efficient feed conversion. The Hereford breed is known as the “Efficiency Breed” and Hereford cattle have always excelled in tenderness, juiciness and palatability. For over 100 years, they have maintained their superiority in feed conversion and cost of gain.

The Arizona Angus Association initially began to organize in the 1990’s

PG. 26 :: SUMMER 2019

with the help of a fine breeder by the name of Larry Holland. After many starts and stops, the association was officially up and running

by October of 1999.

Arizona Angus members are breeders who offer quality genetics to both registered and commercial operations. For over 100 years the Angus breed has had established traits such as calving ease, marbling, strong maternal instincts and feed efficiency. The Arizona Angus Association began holding an annual bull sale in conjunction with Cattleman’s Weekend in Chino Valley, Arizona in the year 2000. This event offers buyers a quality set of Angus bulls for breeding programs.

The mission of both the Arizona Hereford Association and the Arizona Angus Association are to promote the Hereford and the Angus breeds respectively. We welcome all to join our associations and assist us in our promotion of the Hereford and/or Angus breed. A complete list of all who served as presidents to the associations can be found on our website at www.azherefordangus.org.

We would also like to thank the producers who participated in the 2019 Arizona Hereford & Angus bull sale! We would additionally like to thank each and every buyer who supported the Arizona producers by purchasing a bull in Chino Valley during Cattleman’s Weekend at Prescott Livestock Auction. 2019 Cattleman’s Weekend Results: Grand Champion Hereford bull pen was consigned by Mountain View Herefords of Elgin, AZ Grand Champion Angus bull pen was consigned by Lazy S ranch from Willcox, AZ. Reserve Champion Angus bull pen was consigned by Diamond K Angus from Springerville, AZ.

SAY A LITTLE PRAYER Heavenly Father I thank you for the privilege of being able to come before you with my needs my requests and my praise.

God I believe that you know what I need before I ask. I admit that oftentimes my needs seem to be overwhelming.

Remind me today that there is nothing impossible to you and that you will work all things for my good.

I bring to you my requests. Thank you that you are my healer for every sickness.

I pray for peace and wholeness in my mind and body. I pray for those I love who are struggling today and pray that you will guide them to understand and know you.

Lastly, I praise you for what have done, what you are doing in my life right now and that you have a plan for all my tomorrows.

In Jesus’ name, Amen Randy Helm Supervisor - Wild Horse Inmate Program Arizona Correctional Industries 1305 E. Butte Av Florence, Az 602-448-5019 WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 27

THE LIFE OF A RANCH WIFE

BY KATE SANCHEZ

We all know the lyrics of “Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys”.

What’s most amazing about this song is that everything that’s mentioned, those things perhaps thought to be some of the downfalls of these men, is exactly what makes us all fall for that baby who grew up to be one.

As I’ve written about before, I come from a place with few cowboys, if any at all. Upstate NY doesn’t boast a population of Wrangler or Levi wearing, straw hat sporting, pearl snap shirt type of men; not to say that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just fact. So, when I moved to Portales, NM over 10 years ago, I was not only in for a culture shock in terms of location but also because of how people treated one another, especially this breed of men who were around every corner.

I remember walking into the dorms on campus one afternoon, after a long tiring day of soccer practice (had I mentioned that I attended ENMU on a soccer scholarship?), and having a door held open for me, by someone my age, for the first time in my life. I thanked the gentleman, and he said “yes, ma’am”. Now, looking back I understand, that was an eye-opener moment to me which would only become more common in my life.

When I met my husband I quickly learned that manners and respect weren’t just a façade or tall tale about cowboys. Everything you read about them is pretty accurate, the songs that are written about them ring true in many instances, and when you hear someone say that they are a rare and dying breed, take heed to that.

Majority of the time, being men of few words, cowboys only say what they mean, but always mean what they say. Silence is golden to them, and if it’s not worth saying, they don’t bother. Often approaching life with reckless abandon, some might call them drifters, ruffians, or men with a “gypsy soul”; but they experience life in a way that very few ever can. When they rise before the sun every morning, they may not always know where they’re headed or what they’ll be doing; but you can guarantee that they’ll be breathing in the dust of their biggest dreams. Whether it’s on a wagon for spring works, or just out in the pasture on the land assigned to him, a culture of men has been developed like no other. They’re kind, light hearted, and often witty, but PG. 28 :: SUMMER 2019

level headed and realistic. They approach life one instance at a time, because they know if they do too much planning ahead that they’ll be two steps behind the rest of the day.

In a world where respect, honor, and dignity are becoming so lost, they continue to be time-honored traditions of these men. Not only do they tend to the land, the cattle, and horses and everything that goes with it; but they pay attention to detail, are courteous, and always punctual. I’ve been present more than a few instances when I’ve seen these men take the time out of their busy schedule to help a young child work on their roping skills. I’ve seen them gather up a newborn calf and pack it several miles on their trusty horse because it’s too weak to make it all the way with mama. I’ve been there when a young man, new to a ranch or operation, listens and takes advice from an elder, who shares his wisdom of the country and the cattle; how to work with a crew, and how to utilize the tools provided to the best of the newcomer’s abilities.

And I’ve been there in what could be the toughest of times for these men who seem so bullet-proof. When their best dog, and best friend of several years must be put down, or when a calf is lost in the middle of a snow storm. Perhaps it’s when their biggest role model, the one who has shaped them into the person they are, passes way, and the tears aren’t held back any longer. No matter the situation, I’ve been fortunate enough to see the cowboy in many different lights, and good or bad, the world could use more men like them.

It appears legend has it that a cowboy will never settle down, that he’ll be wild his whole life…. maybe only part of that is true. The same man who is compassionate about his job, the land and livestock will treat you that same way. He’ll be attentive, a nurturer and a provider.

You’ll be guaranteed lots of laughs, quite a few tears too; and while there may not be a white picket fence surrounding your front yard, your heart will be full. You’ll always know you’re loved by a cowboy… you’re loved by the very best. So, mamas, I plead to you: please let your babies grow up to be cowboys.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kate Sanchez is a freelance journalist based out of Matador, TX. She writes for several publications, most which are equine-related. She and her husband, Ben, have lived on the Matador Ranch for almost 4 years, where he holds a camp man position.

The couple has one daughter, Haven, who is one year old. Kate graduated from Eastern NM University with a degree in Journalism and minor in Agriculture in 2009.

©Mackenzie Kimbro

From Top Left: Youngster in cowboy costume watching the rodeo at the San Angelo Fat Stock Show, San Angelo, TX. ©Russell Lee, 03/1940 . Basilio Fermin Aja, Basilio Aja II holding Basilio Estevan Aja and Basilio Aja ©Lauren Maehling 04/2012. At the annual field day of the FSA (Farm Security Administration) farmworkers community, Yuma, AZ. ©Russell Lee, 03/1942 Canyon Kelly and her father Ty on the 6k6 in Greenlee County ©Gena Burris.

Colten Donaldson with his father Samuel at Thurber Division, Greaterville, AZ. Hayes and her father Jordan Selchow , ©Hazel Lights Photography. Opposite Page: Haven and her father Ben Sanchez ©Kate Sanchez.

Jim, Ken and Tom Chilton

ARIZONA FARMING & RANCHING HALL OF FAME

BY JANICE BRYSON

The twelfth annual Farming and Ranching Hall of Fame Honorees Dinner was held on March 2, 2019 at the historic Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park. The honorees selected between 2008 and 2019 represent the Navajo Nation to Douglas, Safford to Parker and all points in between.

Carole DeCosmo, author and historian, conceived the idea of a farm experience that would include an agricultural hall of fame. The Arizona Farming and Ranching Hall of Fame was founded in 2007 to preserve, present and honor the agricultural legacy of the farmers and ranchers in Arizona. The Hall of Fame Committee each year recognizes Honorees, five living and three posthumously, representing farming and ranching families, educators, businesses and the sciences that have created an enduring legacy for future generations.

A source of pride for the Hall of Fame are the books published every five years with the biographies and pictures of each honoree. Preserving the Legacy Volume I includes 2008-2012 honorees and Volume PG. 30 :: SUMMER 2019

II spans the years 2013-2017. Books can be ordered from www.Azfare. org if you do not find them at a museum gift shop in your area.

Posthumous honorees for 2019 included Delmar Dee John from the Buckeye/Gila Bend area who farmed cotton, alfalfa, barley and wheat and Ross Roberts, son of one of the early pioneer farm families in Palo Verde, who started his successful cattle business with 2 heifers. Also Karl Gaius Udall, Eagar, who had the reputation of being an honest man who spent his life furthering the interests of agriculture for his family and his community.

Everett Rhodes, Casa Grande, was honored for his contribution to agriculture as director of Project CENTRL, a rural leadership program, as well as his involvement working with FFA and 4-H. Other living honorees included Frank Auza, Flagstaff, one of his lasting contributions to the sheep industry was building the sheep bridge over the Verde River at Bloody Basin. Buckeye’s Perry Family established a

Picutred Above: Michael Wystrach, Kerry Nienstedt, Mike & Grace Wystrach, Amie Wystrach, Andrea & Ted Walker

cattle ranch at Cordes Junction in the 1880’s and descendants farmed in Phoenix, Kyrene and Buckeye.

Honoree Grace Townsend Wystrach, Elgin, personifies the belief that you can take a girl off the ranch but you can’t take the ranch out of the girl. Her parents Bob and Betty Townsend bought the Rain Valley Ranch near Sonoita in 1949 and their three daughters begin life on a cattle ranch. Grace was the sister who loved the ranch. The girls went to school in Elgin and later Grace headed to the University of Arizona where she was a member of Phi Beta Sorority as well as the Rodeo Club and Quadrille Team. Moving to Southern California after graduation, she taught school and met her future husband, Mike Wystrach, a pilot at El Toro Marine base. During his 17 year military career, the couple and their family would return to the ranch often to help with branding and shipping. In 1978 they returned to Sonoita with their six children to run the ranch for Grace’s father and start one of their own. The family got started in the registered Hereford business when their oldest daughter fell in love with a heifer she saw in Las Vegas.

Grace was honored by 4-H for her work with the organization and has been active in the Fair and Rodeo Association of Santa Cruz County.

Mike’s interests include operating their Sonoita Country Inn, the Steak Out Restaurant and Saloon as well as the Mercantile Deli.

Grace and her children take her cattle each year to shows from the West to the Midwest culminating with the American Hereford Association National Show. She also sells bulls at two Arizona sales each year.

Last but not least of the 2019 honorees is the Chilton Family, Arivaca and Tucson. Jim and wife Sue live at the Arivaca Ranch and brother Tom and wife Kathy reside at the Tucson Ranch. Tom’s son John, the sixth generation involved in Arizona agriculture, in the Owner/President of Handwerker-Winburne, Inc. where he is engaged in the cotton business in Arizona as well as international markets.

Jim and Tom’s father Ken was not only an educator; he and his wife Margaret began their life together on farms and ranches in Arizona.

During his ranching career he improved every ranch he purchased throughout his long life. He was named Cattleman of the Year in 1988 by the Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association.

Margaret’s family, the Cospers, drove cattle from Texas to Arizona in 1885 and were among the first settlers on the Blue River and in the Duncan area of eastern Arizona. Thomas Chilton and family arrived in Arizona from Oklahoma Indian Territory by covered wagon in 1898.

They settled on a farm and ranch now partially covered by Roosevelt Lake. After the construction of Roosevelt Dam, the family moved to the Duncan area where they farmed and ranched.

In 1979, Jim and Tom with their father Ken Sr. joined together to establish the Chilton Ranch and Cattle Company, a cow-calf ranching operation at the Diamond Bell west of Tucson. In 1987, Jim and Sue

with sons Ken and Tomas purchased a 50,000 acre ranch south of Arivaca expanding the family operation. Tom has been the managing partner for both ranches since the early 1990’s.

Both brothers have received numerous awards for their contribution to agriculture in Arizona. Jim was Rancher of the Year in 2002 and won the Arizona Farm Bureau Oscar. His wife Sue served on the Arizona Game and Fish Commission appointed by Governor Brewer and is currently serving appointed by Governor Ducey. Tom was recognized for his lifetime contribution to agriculture when the University of Arizona College of Agriculture granted Tom their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.

Nomination forms for the Hall of Fame are available at:

www.azfare.org.

The completed nomination form and all supporting material, i.e. biographical material, pictures, newspaper clippings, letters of recommendation, etc., must be received no later than Sept. 1, 2019 at:

P.O. Box 868 Glendale, AZ 85311 Grace Wystrach

WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 31

I LIVE THE WESTERN LIFEST YLE What is your occupation?

Professional Auctioneer specializing in competitive livestock and real estate auctions. I’ve had the good fortune to use the talents that God gave me – a great voice and good humor to glorify him along the way. The auction business has taken me across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Netherlands, Australia and South Africa.

Flashback to when you were 10 years old. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Being an auctioneer has been my passion for most of my life. I stayed focused and developed a career that I absolutely love. It wasn’t an easy road. Early on it kept me free of assets and time, however, now I am fortunate to have a schedule that I direct and the best clientele.

What are some causes you care about?

I am very dedicated to youth programs that involve livestock.

Stock shows have been a part of my life for over 40 years. Had it not been for these events, lessons learned and the relationships built, I would have been hard pressed to find a more real world model for what life brings. As a way of giving back, over the past five years I have donated high-end custom-made boots to various causes raising over $250,000 for charities.

How do you want people to remember you?

I want them to realize that without God in your life, the long term will be one out of making the sale forever, that’s the reason that I start every sale with a prayer. Although we are in a competitive industry, I want people to realize that our job as parents and leaders is not just to get to the backdrop but to teach our kids that the most important lesson is how to get to the Pearly Gates.

What do you think are the best skills that you bring to your job?

Quintessentially, my best skills are product knowledge and the ability to read the crowd. You can’t sell when you know nothing about the product and you can’t sell to a person that can’t relate you.

PG. 32 :: SPRING 2019

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS WITH C JASON SPENCE What publications do you regularly read?

What are you happiest doing, when you are not working?

Word of the Day from Bob Gass Ministries, Trade-A-Plane, Purple Circle, Showtimes and my favorite -- Western Ag Life!

Alone: The most calm and pristine time for me is an early morning flight in my Cessna 210 when the sun is peaking over the clouds with smooth air it is a rare opportunity to take in God’s works.

What is your greatest fear?

Whataburger and Blue Bell Ice Cream are both taken over by the government…it would be a sad, sad day in Texas.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Teddy Roosevelt. His writings are amazing and his life was certainly never boring. I had the opportunity to hold a pair of his spurs before they were purchased by the Smithsonian, it was one of the greatest days of my life. My favorite quote of his is, “Bodily vigor is good, and vigor of intellect is even better, but far above both is character”.

What’s a typical day for you?

Family: My two boys, Gage 15 and Spencer 7, have the most fun giving commentaries about life events, making up our own lyrics to songs and debating the rivalries between Texas Tech and Texas A&M. If it involves fly fishing, Gage is superior and rest of us “beat the water with our fish sticks,” is as one guide described us.

Why do you live the, #westernaglife? Ãnimo! from Spanish culture which translates to the “spirit that drives your passion”. My life is my career --- selling livestock and promoting youth, I couldn’t think of a more rewarding way to go thru life. I am not sitting behind a computer screen clicking, I am sitting behind a microphone selling to real people.

I am awake just after 5 am. I start the day by reading my daily devotional, the business reports and checking the markets next, I start with emails and then take my youngest to school.

Breakfast is quick and then it's off to office where I try to keep track of all of the projects. The key time for most calls is between 9 and 11, as I can catch most people regardless of time zones.

Lunch varies but is never the same, afterward I am back at the office trying to focus on upcoming sales. At 5 I try to pick Spencer up from school and we go to the barn so he can ride his horse, Smart Colonel (I really like that name) and then back to house for supper. Bedtime for Spencer and phone calls for me until 9 where I usually read until 10:30. It is hard to slow down mentally but anything over 6 hours rest is a win. I try to pray when I go to bed and when I awake.

Would you rather live on a farm or a ranch?

I have had to good fortune to live on both. This best to describe them: “They were hot, dry and dusty in the summer and cold, windy and dusty in the winter. I lived in the three different cities and they were all worse than living in the country”.

PG. 33 :: SUMMER 2019

WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 33

On April 16, 2019, President Donald Trump signed legislation directing the Secretary of the Interior to operate the Colorado River system in accordance with the Drought Contingency Plan agreements (“DCP”) approved by the seven states in the Colorado River basin. DCP is the latest addition to an extensive body of compacts, treaties, statutes, court decisions, rules, and agreements referred to as the “Law of the River,” which collectively govern our use of water from the Colorado River. In the Lower Basin (Arizona, California, and Nevada), DCP acts as an overlay on shortage sharing guidelines adopted in 2007 (referred to as the “2007 Guidelines”) and requires the states to take less water from the Colorado River in years during which the water level in Lake Mead falls below certain elevations.

The 2007 Guidelines and DCP are intended to address declining water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell due to drought conditions in the Colorado River basin that now have persisted for 19 years, leading to conditions in which the amount of water used by the basin states and Mexico consistently exceeds the amount of runoff that enters the system on an annual basis.

The water cuts required by DCP fall disproportionately on Central Arizona Project (“CAP”) water users due to a compromise deemed necessary to get congressional approval for the 1968 legislation that authorized the construction of CAP, which generally states that CAP will take shortages PG. 34 :: SUMMER 2019

before other existing users in the Lower Basin.

Within the CAP system, agricultural contractors have the lowest priority. The 2007 Guidelines and DCP require Arizona to leave in Lake Mead 512,000 acre-feet of its 2.8 million acre-foot Colorado River entitlement in years during which the water level in Lake Mead falls below 1075 feet and a “Tier 1” shortage is declared.

The end result is that, immediately upon the occurrence of the first level of shortage, the entire CAP agricultural water supply will be eliminated.

Central Arizona’s abundant sunshine, reliably warm weather, and infrequent rainfall create ideal conditions for a yearround growing season and high crop yields, so long as sufficient water is available for irrigation. Despite urbanization throughout central Arizona, Pinal County, sandwiched between the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan

areas, remains an agricultural powerhouse.

According to a December 2018 study prepared by the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Pinal County ranks in the top 2% of all U.S. counties in total agricultural sales, and ranks in the top 1% of all U.S. counties in cotton and cottonseed sales, milk sales, and cattle and calves. That study also showed that Pinal County agriculture punches above its weight in feeding residents in the surrounding metro areas, and contributed $2.3 billion in total sales to the county economy as of 2016.

CAP water constitutes a substantial portion of the irrigation water supply for central Arizona agriculture. Although Pinal County farmers historically relied primarily on groundwater pumped from private wells to irrigate individual farms, after the authorization of CAP, they formed irrigation districts and constructed modern, regional distribution systems designed specifically to distribute Colorado River water. Those farmers have continued to build on the efficiencies gained by constructing those distribution systems by adopting new irrigation and farming practices, and now have some of the most efficient irrigated agricultural systems in the west. Unfortunately, because those systems were designed to use Colorado River water from CAP, the abrupt loss of those water supplies during a shortage under DCP likely would take out of production 60% or more of the existing farmland in the irrigation districts immediately.

Arizona stakeholders developed a plan, however, to partially mitigate the potentially devastating impacts on central Arizona agriculture of the water cuts required by DCP. That plan makes available to irrigation districts a limited supply of CAP water if a shortage is declared in 2020, 2021, or 2022. Although the mitigation plan makes no CAP water available to irrigation districts beginning in 2023, the plan calls for funding to be made available to the districts to complete a significant infrastructure project that is intended to modernize their groundwater facilities, maintain distribution system and on-farm efficiencies, and maximize their ability to continue distributing irrigation water to existing farms to the extent possible in order to stave off the potential collapse of this important agricultural economy. The irrigation districts and other stakeholders have made significant progress in their plans to complete this infrastructure project, but have yet to secure firm sources of funding for almost 50% of the project costs as of the date of this article.

Although the President has signed the legislation necessary for the Secretary of the Interior to operate the Colorado River system in accordance with DCP, significant work remains to implement DCP in Arizona. Even if each element of Arizona’s DCP mitigation program proceeds as planned, the irrigation districts expect 30-40% of their current farmland to go out of production once a shortage is declared.

Notwithstanding above-average snowpack levels this winter, water levels in Lake Mead continue to skirt perilously close to the 1075 foot elevation that would trigger draconian water cuts for central Arizona agriculture.

Arizona cannot afford to lose this important sector of its economy, and it is imperative that we secure the rest of the funding necessary to complete the infrastructure project contemplated in the mitigation plan.

For more information about Arizona Farm & Ranch Group visit: www.azfarmranch.org, follow them on Facebook (Arizona Farm and Ranch Group), or Twitter @AZFarmRanch.

CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Steve Pierce, President/Chairman Stephen Brophy, Vice President Bill Sawyer, 2nd Vice President Cindy Shelton, Treasurer Steve Todd, Board Member Paul Orme, Board Member Tim Robinson, Board Member Bob Prosser, Board Member Tim Cooley, Board Member Les Heiden, Board Member Jim Webb, Board Member David Feenstra, Board Member Dan Thelander, Board Member Will Rousseau, Board Member Glenn Hickman, Board Member

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR (PICTURED LEFT): Dan Jones is a water and power attorney at the law firm of Salmon, Lewis & Weldon and represents irrigation districts, electrical districts, and farmers in central and southern Arizona. Dan is a 5th generation Arizona native who grew up farming cotton, silage corn, and alfalfa southeast of Phoenix.

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SEND RESUME TO: Paul Ramirez, Sales Director paul@ westernaglife.com or call (520) 241-3333 WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 35

CHANT BID CALLING SEMINAR ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY CELESTE SETTRINI

Students from Oregon, California and Colorado joined together for an intense 3 day training at the Turlock Livestock Auction Market for the Champions Chant Bid Calling Seminar. World Champion Livestock Auctioneers Ralph Wade and Max Olvera began the the Champions Chant 7 years ago to offer students the fundamentals of bid calling.

This year with the assistance of John Rodgers the team of three World Champions worked with students both individually and in groups honing the skills of those who had previous experience and bringing out the talents of those just trying for the first time.

Celeste Settrini, social media strategist provided a workshop for students, “ Going Once, Going Twice, Sold!, How to stand out in a crowd and sell yourself.” The upbeat presentation encouraged the budding auctioneers to make use of social media to get themselves out there.

Tips on social media content creation and the “ hows” to market yourself were the key takeaways of the workshop. Question and answer time brought inquiries on how to share thoughts on Auction Yard animal handling and the right way to answer questions from the curious public.

After the event Celeste helped students set up their own social media channels to promote and showcase their auction skills.

Each student then had the opportunity to sell in front of a live crowd with industry buyers in the seats. Students were videoed and then critiqued one on one by the World Champs. Some students had zero knowledge of creating a chant and by day two they were on the block PG. 36 :: SUMMER 2019

selling cows. It was fun to see the transformation and progression in just 24 hours. The youngest bid caller at 12 years old, Grace Haydn-Myer, of Oakdale, CA said that “My favorite part was all the time we got to practice on the block. We got to sell cattle during a real live auction and it was a blast.”

The Champions Chant has become a popular event among those interested in the auction profession. Whether you plan on selling livestock, cars, antiques or cakes there was help for everyone. Jim Glines, auctioneer from Santa Maria ,CA says “After several years of auctioneering, I discovered that my chant had picked up some bad habits and needed some enhancement. These gentlemen and their sales assistants cleaned up my chant and added some appropriate marketing terms to make my delivery more smooth, rhythmic, and easy for the bidding audience to understand.

You can bet that I will be attending future auction seminars put on by these two gentlemen as I continue to pursue perfection of my auction profession.’

Colonel Ralph Wade sums it up best, “ Always strive to make the best better , you can never stop learning. If you never lose sight of the shore you will never find new land. Your opportunities are only limited by your will to follow your dreams.”

No matter what level in your selling game there is something for everyone.

THE NEXT CHAMPIONS CHANT SEMINAR IS CURRENTLY BEING PLANNED FOR THE FALL OF 2019 IN TURLOCK, CA. FOR MORE INFORMATION FEEL FREE TO VISIT THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE...

CHAMPIONS CHANT. INFORMATION WILL BE SHARED AS TIME PROGRESSES AND CLOSER TO THE EVENT. DON’T MISS OUT !

WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 37

"A MAN OF WISDOM DELIGHTS IN WATER" - Confucius

BY: THOMAS K. KELLY PHOTOS BY: TINA THOMPSON

Water, is the matrix of life and the most common liquid on earth. We all tend to take water for granted in our daily lives - that is, unless you are a rancher or farmer. As you learn from your elementary education, it is estimated that more than 70% of the earth’s surface is water and that our bodies are made of approximately 60% water. This natural resource sustains our lives in many ways.

For livestock and crops, water is an essential requirement. Water grows feed, nourishes livestock and puts vital minerals into soil for crops. When contemplating buying or selling a ranch or farm, consideration of water rights may become an involved and complicated subject. Understanding which rights are conveyed is a necessary component of the sale.

PG. 38 :: SUMMER 2019

In the arid southwest, states compete for water. Given expanding populations, it is not a surprise that water is becoming the new “liquid gold” resulting in the creation of water ranches and driving the cost of land to new highs. Ranchers and farmers are finding it more difficult to own the lands they graze and grow farm.

When purchasing a ranch or farm property it is always recommended that you complete due diligence in verifying the water rights that transfer with the property. A summary of water rights include the following simplified definitions: Watercourse: A river or a stream - an external source of water; Riparian: On the banks of a body of water;

Riparian Doctrine: A water rule followed in many states (not Arizona nor New Mexico) providing that all properties on the banks of a water source have equal rights to use and enjoyment of the water; Prior Appropriation Doctrine: A rule that considers all water sources to be in initially owned by the state that can be appropriated to the use of a person through usage or permission from the state; Ground water: Water that is present within or underneath the ground; and Surface water: Water that collects on the surface of the ground, such as collected rain water.

The three most common issues regarding a landowners rights and duties involve the right of landowners to waters that are in watercourses (streams, rivers etc.) that border on the landowner’s property; the rights of landowners regarding ground or well water; and the right of landowners to use surface water, such as standing rainwater and melting snow or to divert such water. The states of Arizona and New Mexico allocate water rights much differently.

Arizona: In 1922, the states and the federal government created the Colorado River Compact, which divided the Colorado River Basin into the Upper (Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico) and Lower (Nevada, California, and Arizona) Basin; each basin receiving 7.5 million acre feet (MAF) of water rights entitlements. Based on the agreements of the 1928 Boulder Canyon Project Act, in the lower basin, Nevada, California, and Arizona are entitled to 0.3 MAF, 4.4 MAF, and 2.8 MAF respectively. As a result of Arizona vs California (1968), California

holds senior water right priority over Nevada and Arizona. The Upper Colorado River Basin Compact of 1948 defined the apportionment on a percentage basis: Colorado received 51.75%, New Mexico received 11.25%, Utah received 23%, and Wyoming received 14%.

The compact included a clause delivering 50,000 AF to Arizona. Mexico and the US signed the 1944 treaty to share waters of the Colorado and Rio Grande Rivers. As such, Mexico is entitled to 1.5 MAF per year, or lower during extraordinary drought conditions.

(Central Arizona Project website) https://www. cap-az.com/departments/planning/coloradoriver-programs/water-supply-and-water-rights Tributaries in the Colorado River Basin include the Verde, Salt, San Pedro, Gila and Bill Williams Rivers. Water use from these rivers in Arizona and New Mexico are subject to complex laws involving the doctrine of prior appropriation, the Colorado River Compact including Native American water rights and sometimes Arizona’s Groundwater Management Act. To protect and conserve its precious resource, Arizona passed The Groundwater Management Act of 1980. This law appropriating the use of groundwater was the first of its kind in the nation. The Act regulates the use of groundwater and outlawed irrigation on any new acres of farmland in specified areas and forced subdivisions in more populated areas to show a 100-year water supply before building, among other requirements. The act also opened the door for extensive disputes and litigation involving the use of water based on the hydrology of aquifers and rivers.

To determine if your property or a property you are considering purchasing is in an AMA or INA, whether it is subject to regulation by

the state or is subject to ongoing litigation, visit the Arizona Department of Water Resources at: https://new.azwater.gov.

New Mexico: Water rights in New Mexico are administered by the Office of the State Engineer. New Mexico water law has five basic tenets: 1. All the water in the state belongs to the public.

2. Only those with water rights may legally use water, and those rights are considered private property.

3. Older, or senior, water rights have priority. During dry years, senior rights holders would receive their full allotment of water, and junior owners’ use would be curtailed, although this has rarely been invoked.

4. Water must be put to “beneficial use,” which generally means irrigation or domestic, commercial and industrial uses. Water-right holders can change

the purpose of use or divert water from a different place if the State Engineer or a court determines it won’t impair other water rights, harm public welfare, or run counter to water conservation.

5. Owners can forfeit their water rights for non-use, under certain conditions, or for wasting water.

New Mexico Water Basics and An Introduction to Water Basics, the Business Water Task Force, 2010.

Historically, the most prudent water rights owners have filed “declarations” of their surface or groundwater rights with the State Engineer’s office. Verifying water rights in New Mexico is easier if the water rights have been adjudicated. However, the vast majority of water rights in New Mexico have not been adjudicated. Additionally, some have not even been permitted by the State Engineer.

Surface water rights developed before 1907 do not need a permit nor do groundwater rights developed before the State Engineer

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declared and took jurisdiction over the particular groundwater basin where the wells are located. The State Engineer’s automated system for identifying water rights is called the New Mexico Water Rights Reporting System. (Formerly called “W.A.T.E.R.S.”) When purchasing a ranch or farm in New Mexico verifying water rights can be challenging.

The state online file it is not always accurate or complete. Your best resource is the New Mexico State Engineer’s Office, http://www. ose.state.nm.us. Consulting with a water law expert is often required as part of a buyer’s due diligence during the purchase of a New Mexico agricultural property.

Knowing the importance of water to a rancher or farmer is simple. Determining authorized use of water in Arizona and New Mexico is complex. If interested in buying or selling an agricultural property in the southwest, this article should raise more questions than answers. An initial inquiry should be made to the Arizona Department of Water Resources or the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer. Additional resources are available on a local and state levels that provide education and assistance in answering questions regarding water in the southwest.

For additional information contact: Tamra Kelly@aglandssw.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Thomas K. Kelly is a retired attorney who now manages family cattle ranches and works with his wife, Tamra Kelly in her real estate business, Ag Lands Southwest which specializes in the sale of cattle ranches in Arizona and New Mexico.

PG. 40 :: SUMMER 2019

WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 41

A S W EET A DDIT ION TO ARIZ ON A A GRIC ULT URE ~

BY AMBER MORIN

A Sweet Addition to Arizona Agriculture “Life is short, make it sweet,” the lyrics from the Old Dominion song are what came to mind when I first heard about Capream Dairy, a goat dairy in Prescott, AZ. Why those lyrics?

Capream Dairy doesn’t just raise goats for milk. They are making gelato, which I had the privilege of tasting on location and I must admit that the mint was my favorite, even over

chocolate! To date, Capream Dairy is one of only a handful of goat dairies in the nation to make gelato and is the first in Arizona to do so.

The dairy is an entrepreneurial venture of three hard-working visionaries and friends Gary Carder, Gregory O’Reilly, and Gerald Rogers.

Gary first brought two goats to his Prescott property in 2009, but this story really begins in his childhood when he found out he was

not able to drink cow milk. His neighbors in Indiana had goats, so dairy wasn’t eliminated from his diet. However, it wasn’t until he tasted the milk from Swiss Oberhasli goats that he found the breed which produced the, “best tasting milk.” Gary raises the same breed on his farm today and selectively breeds the herd for their milk’s nutritional profile and flavor.

Capream’s goat milk is perfect for gelato

FIRST CLASS STAMP

PG. 42 :: SUMMER 2019

because it is naturally low in fat. Per the Food and Drug Administration’s guidelines, to use the label ice cream, frozen desserts must contain at least 10 percent butterfat and a typical ice cream usually has between 14-24 percent fat or more. Meanwhile, gelato includes only about 4 to 9 percent butterfat which is health sensitive and allows flavors to emerge more easily. Gary’s proprietary Oberhasli goats produce milk with about a 2.8 percent fat profile, making it ideal for gelato and consumer health. Capream milk also contains the A2 casein protein, which allows some people that struggle to digest cow milk to successfully enjoy goat dairy products such as Capream’s gelato. A2 milk, like Capream, is in is high global demand, as it is lactoseintolerant friendly and hypo-allergenic, so the prospects for growth are excellent!

Gregory O’Reilly came on the Capream scene a few years ago, and brings a wealth of experience in international agribusiness, environmental innovation, marketing, and scaling. As a venture development strategist for the company, he handles most of the business outreach and expansion. Gerald Rogers, in my view, might have the most fun job, as he is the chief creative in the kitchen.

He attended Penn State’s Ice Cream Short Course, which is the oldest, best-known, and largest educational program dealing with the science and technology of ice cream. The

Pictured left to right; Gary, Greg, Gerald

course covers everything from flavor, to quality control, sales, and management.

There were several things that stood out to me about all three of these men and their vision for their business growth and current management.

Like all good livestock managers, they put a high value on the breed of goat they have chosen and are very selective about the traits for which they are breeding. The team is acutely aware that their products are directly tied to the herd’s genetics and the quality of feed fed.

Secondly, they prioritize food safety, as all food producers should. They utilize the pasteurization process, and while raw milk is all the rage for some, product safety will not be jeopardized at

Capream Dairy. Third, they have an intense work ethic. All three team members help in every step of the dairy from feeding, milking, pasteurizing, product development, branding, product delivery and in-store demos.

Goat milk is one of the most widely consumed dairy products in the world, and Capream Dairy with their 180 head herd, hopes to help the U.S. join the rest of the world. As they continue to grow the herd and expand their business, they will be looking for reliable labor, financing sources and investment partners, efficient milking technologies and continual product development, although, their mint gelato will probably always be my favorite!

If you are wondering where you can find your own pint of Capream Dairy gelato, milk, or cheese, look no further than your local grocers in Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott, and Flagstaff.

Check Capream Dairy out at Capream.com for more details to find a store near you!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Amber Morin, Southeastern Arizona Rancher, Freelance Writer, and Arizona Farm Bureau Staff

WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 43

Our vison is: “The Arizona Cattle Growers’ Association (ACGA) is the trusted source of information and advocacy for Arizona’s beef producing families.” This vision goes far beyond the realm of encouraging ACGA members to seek out information and be an advocate for the industry. This vision gives ACGA members the information, tools, and representation needed to responsibly, sustainability, and profitably raise cattle.

Information: ACGA is a huge proponent of gathering and sharing information. The monthly publication of The Arizona Cattlelog, blog posts, website pages, email blasts, social media posts, and direct mailings focus on Arizona information and topics valued by membership. The information ranges from ranch spotlights, member spotlights, sustainability comments, to articles about progressively implementing practices to do our jobs better every day. All of which is available to members at their fingertips.

We, at the state office, are working every day to offer our members information needed to do their jobs better every day!

This theme is carried through Summer Convention. This year we will focus on “MOOOOving Forward”. The convention will emphasize preserving the ranching legacy while promoting the benefits of utilizing modern ranching practices to better ranching operations and the bottom line.

In addition, we will discuss transitioning from one generation to the next, utilizing social media to tell our stories, and programs to increase profits and the quality of the beef we are raising.

Our Convention registration is only $50.00 per person (including meals and fees for all three days). The value received for the cost will be outstanding! Be sure to be there – July 25th-27th at We-Ko-Pa Resort & Convention Center. Register online today at www.azcattlegrowers.org.

ACGA committees give membership the tools they need to take their operations to the next level and increase their bottom lines. In the last year, ACGA has welcomed many new committees, including Arizona Ranchers for Tomorrow (R for T) and the Traceability Committee.

PG. 44 :: SUMMER 2019

R for T provides young producers with unique educational opportunities that have a positive impact on their bottom lines, engages and inspires members and helps secure a future in the Arizona Beef Industry. R for T continuously hosts and facilitates various workshops, seminars and classes on industry related subjects. These subjects include: • Health • Animal Health • Environmental Health • Consumer Health • Advocacy • Informed Political Goals • Utilizing Media • Lobbying Efforts • Partnerships with Government Entities, Conservation Advocates, and User Groups • Profitability • Profitable Management Practices • Grant Writing • Financial Planning • Ranch Acquisition and Inheritance The next committee mentioned is the Traceability Committee. The drivers of today’s beef market are those who shop in the grocery stores around the country. Today most of those shoppers are millennials who are outpacing everyone else in numbers and buying power. This demographic is worried about the origin of the food they purchase.

They are curious to know more about the ranchers behind the meats they select. Along with the quality and price, today’s meat shoppers are concerned about how their meat was raised and where it was raised. Our consumers want to know the entire production story from pasture to plate. They not only want to know that the animal lived a happy, healthy life, but they want to know that the product is healthy and safe for their families. In the minds of customers, the definition

of “premium” has changed. It has moved away from fancy or gourmet associated with high prices to transparency in production, natural flavor and a local product. Because today’s shopper is greatly influenced by electronic information and communication, they are now the major force in determining the type of product that ranchers must produce.

Consequently, we at Cattle Growers’ believe the time has arrived to begin to explore a volunteer traceability system that can provide the transparency to meet today’s market demands. We have formed a working group to participate in designing a program operated by AGCA for Arizona cattle.

Representation: ACGA is a member driven organization. Members have the opportunity to participate in the policy making process during the Summer Convention.

These policies are what drive the organization through the next year.

Additionally, the final day of convention (July 27th) members will vote on the policies brought by committees, by-laws, and the 2019/2020 executive committee elections.

With these policies, ACGA represent you and your fellow Arizona ranchers at the State Capitol and in Washington. This has been a very productive session for Arizona Cattle Growers’. ACGA refined and helped correct many pieces of legislation that might have been hurtful to our members.

We also played an integral role in shaping the revised livestock regulations, recently approved by the Department of Agriculture. We have a unique opportunity given our strong relationship with Governor Ducey, the Department of Agriculture, State Land Office, and Legislative leadership to shape our priorities for next session and accomplish tasks vital to our industry.

Our vision continues to hold strong as ACGA members obtain the benefits of an ACGA member. Information, tools, and representation are key to responsibly, sustainability, and profitably raising cattle. Join ACGA today! www.azcattlegrowers.org.

©Sandra Walker

“OUR CONSUMERS WANT

TO KNOW THE ENTIRE PRODUCTION STORY FROM PASTURE TO PLATE.”

Jay Whetten WESTERN AG LIFE .COM :: PG 45

WESTERN TRADING POST TV REALITY SERIES SEASON 2 STARTS JUNE 2ND!

CASA GRANDE, AZ, May 10 — Western Trading Post TV, a weekly reality series filmed in Casa Grande, AZ at the Western Trading Post, will start its second season on June 2nd at 7:30 PM, EST. Season 1 was a huge success for the Cowboy Channel network. The Cowboy Channel is available in 30 million households nationwide. https://www.thecowboychannel.com Western Trading Post is located in the Historic District of Casa Grande, AZ. They deal in Western Americana and Native American collectibles and can trace their roots back to the late 1800s and Arizona Territorial days. Not only do they have a gallery with numerous collectible items available, they are also in the auction business.

Western Trading Post TV takes you through some of the antics that happens on a daily basis at the Post. There are modern-day cowboys, Native American Indians, pickers, collectors, tourists, traders, auction junkies and even a few outlaws and hustlers who stop by. They are all looking to make the best trade possible.

A model 1860 Henry rifle. 1940s, “One Armed Bandit” slot machines.

A hat once belonging to Dan Blocker (Hoss Cartwright). Chaps worn by Shania Twain on an album cover and in the video for her mega-hit “Any Man of Mine.” A plethora of antique and vintage turquoise jewelry and dozens of other great collectibles are just a few of the things you can expect to see during season 2.

Host and co-owner, Bobbi Jeen Olson, is a professional actress, model and stunt double who has appeared in many Western-themed projects and is a recognizable face of the Western Fashion industry. She maintains a strong passion for promoting the Western Way of Life.

PG. 46 :: SUMMER 2019

Her husband, Jim Olson (historian, published author and former professional rodeo cowboy), manages the day-to-day operations at the Trading Post. He has seen a little bit of everything over the years and not much gets by him! Bobbi’s mom, Betty Whiteley (AKA Grammy) is in charge of the sales floor and is a wealth of knowledge on jewelry, gemstones and old stuff. The Olson’s son, Rowdy James, is a teen-age charmer who loves the ladies and expects to take over the business some day. We’ll see. Together they manage this family owned and operated business.

The Olson’s are always in search of Western collectibles and old turquoise jewelry and you are invited to join them each week. You will glean a wealth of knowledge about Western Americana and collectibles and even get “helpful hints” on how to tell the good stuff from the— um, not so good stuff—as you follow along.

CONTACT WESTERN TRADING POST: Jim or Bobbi Jeen Olson Phone: 520-426-7702 Email: info@westerntradingpost.com or info@bobbijeen.com Western Trading Post TV Reality Series Season 2 Starts June 2nd!

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Cattle Market Summary - You Tube

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• Feeder Flash provides real time feeder cattle prices, reports and commentary. Watch on You Tube or if you would like to receiver our daily newsletter, please send an email to RobCookKC@gmail.com with subscribe in the subject line.

• Corbitt Wall is the Commercial Cattle Manager and Livestock Market Analyst fir DV Auction. A native of eastern New Mexico and west Texas, he operates a small stocker cattle operation with his three daughters.

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