Volume 32 Number 29 • November 13, 2021
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The Weekly News Source for Wyoming’s Ranchers, Farmers and AgriBusiness Community • www.wylr.net
A Look Inside Oil royalties in Wyoming hit high numbers in 1922.page A12 Fertilizer prices and other inputs rise.................... age A15 Winter bull management tips shared......................... page B3 New tool developed to track drought...................... page B11
Quick Bits Harvest Report
According to the Wyoming Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, corn harvested for grain was behind schedule at 47% the week ending Nov. 7, compared to 88% complete last year and the fiveyear average of 62%. For the same time, hay and roughage supplies were rated 22% very short, 45% short and 33% adequate, compared to 21% very short, 40% short, 38% adequate and 1% surplus.
Meat Prices
EPA takes steps to reduce methane pollution, oil and gas states react On Nov. 2, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new protections to reduce pollution from the oil and natural gas industry. The proposed new Clean Air Act rule – which includes reductions from existing sources
– is supposed to sharply reduce methane emissions. This action from EPA was prompted by President Biden’s Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan says, “As global leaders convene at this pivotal moment in Glasgow for the 26th Conference of Parties, it is now abundantly clear that America is back and leading by example in confronting
the climate crisis with bold ambition. With this historic action, EPA is addressing existing sources from the oil and natural gas industry nationwide, in addition to updating rules for new sources, to ensure robust Please see EPA on page A16
Common Ground Approach Senators combine components of previous bills to introduce Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act As the Cattle Contract Library Act of 2021 passed the U.S. House, and the Senate added measures to maintain the public availability of the library, a group of U.S. Senators have combined previous legislation in the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act, which was introduced on Nov. 9. U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley
(R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the bill with the goal of enhancing price discovery and transparency, create a library of formula contracts and expedite the reporting of average carcass size to the public. “Robust price discovery ensures all members of the beef supply
chain – cow/calf producers, feeders, packers and consumers – can be successful,” says Sen. Fischer, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “The foundation of price discovery in the cattle market is negotiated cash sales. Our compromise proposal takes regional differences into account and ensures Please see ACT on page A8
Retail meat prices continued to climb in October according to the meat price spread, released Nov. 10 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. Pork retail prices continued to rise, with October marking the seventh consecutive month for a record price at $4.82 per pound, up 17.9% from last year. Retail chicken composite price was $2.17 per pound, up 8.8% from last year and marking the fourth consecutive month of record prices. Eggs rose 29.3% from last year to $1.82 per dozen, and milk increased 8.4% from a year ago to $3.66 per gallon.
NSIP Sale
The first National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP) Influenced Commercial Ewe Sale will be Jan. 26, 2022, and NSIP is looking for consignors. NSIP handles performance records for its members and translates them into estimated breeding values, which is a measure of tracking heritable traits. The sale is open to all consignors who have ewes out of NSIP sires, and will be held online through Willoughby Sales. For more information, visit nsip.org.
Petition
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) officially closed the petition regarding R-CALF and the beef checkoff, as petition signatures were not recorded or received by AMS by the Nov. 3 deadline. In 2020, R-CALF filed a lawsuit alleging the U.S. Department of Agriculture violated the Administrative Procedures Act when it entered into Memorandums of Understanding with Qualified State Beef Councils.
Averi Hales photo
WGFD biologist explains wasting diseases Casper – Justin Binfet, wildlife management coordinator with Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) provides an update on chronic wasting disease (CWD) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) affecting Wyoming wildlife. Chronic wasting disease CWD is a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, or prion disease, and is essentially a mutated or misfolding protein found in the central nervous system, explained Binfet. This disease causes adjacent proteins to misfold and ultimately causes the death of cells. “It’s a disease that spreads throughout the nervous system and ultimately the brain,” said Binfet. “Unfortunately, CWD is always fatal, resulting in death of the animal.” He noted there are similar prion diseases – fatal brain diseases which can affect livestock, and even humans, such as mad cow disease, scrapie disease in sheep or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. Please see DISEASE on page A7
Heavy feeders raise concerns In a recent UNL BeefWatch podcast, dated Nov. 4, University of NebraskaLincoln (UNL) Livestock Market Risk Management Economist Elliot Dennis discusses heavier feeder cattle placements amid meat processing plant concerns. During the podcast, Dennis highlights several key factors driving the fed cattle market. Factors affecting the market Dennis notes two major factors currently affecting the market are COVID-19 regulations and price of corn. “We know that just like the flu, COVID-19 tends to spike during the winter months and unfortunately, this is when people are wanting to go out and eat,” says Dennis. “As we saw through last year, restaurants started to shut down
Wildlife diseases
and hamper food service demands.” Reactions to COVID19 measures will continue to have a large impact on meat demand. Current data suggests cattle should continue to be placed further into the future to react to the impact on meat demands, Dennis explains. “A good example is in the October Live Cattle Contract, in which cattle were trading at about $122 per hundredweight (cwt), and the April 2022 contract was trading at $136 per cwt,” Dennis shares. “This means producers should continue to try to place animals to hit the April market.” The second factor which affects the outcome of the fed cattle market is the price of corn. According to Dennis, “Kansas State University Please see MARKET on page A5
FWS assesses gray wolf delisting under ESA In September, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) shared substantial evidence had been presented to delist the gray wolf population from the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) due to recovery. These findings initiated a 12-month status review and analysis to determine whether the delisting will be warranted. Factors affecting gray wolves In regards to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), there are five factors to be assessed in making a listing determination, including: present or threatened destruction, medication or curtailment of its habitat or range; overutilization for
commercial, recreational, scientific or education purposes; disease or predation; inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; and other natural or man-made factors affecting its continued existence. Substantial evidence indicates human-caused mortality caused by overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific or education purposes, the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms and new regulations, which may be inadequate to address the potential threat. “Montana and Idaho include approximately 75 percent of gray wolves in a
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Please see WOLVES on page A14