LMD Apr 13

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

– JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL APRIL 15, 2013 • www. aaalivestock . com

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Digest A Volume 55 • No. 4

by Lee Pitts

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A bumble bee is faster than a John Deere tractor.

Donkey Days

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When we started publishing the Digest we shared an office and staff with Allan and one of our writers became Allan’s wife: the lovely and talented Jody.

One night at a dinner party I asked Allan about his grazing ideas, which were revolutionary at the time. He said to take one donkey and let him graze on the same piece of ground for 365 days straight. That is 365 donkey days. What you’d end up with is an overgrazed pasture with trails permanently etched into the land. Now take 365 donkeys and let them graze on that same piece of land for only one day.

That too equals 365 donkey days. But instead of an overgrazed pasture you’d have a thriving grass community because the donkey’s hooves cut the crust of the land allowing water to go into the soil instead of running off, and the litter they left would act as compost and fertilizer. Such a simple concept and yet no one had thought it through the way Allan had.

The Talk Of His Life Allan and Jody are still busy with their Africa Center for Holistic Management in Zimbabwe and the Savory Institute in Boulder. Allan still consults and gives speeches all over the world but I don’t think he has ever given a speech as important as the one he gave on February 27 in Long Beach, California, at a speech-fest known as TED. TED is a nonprofit started in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three

worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Hence the name, TED. Some of the world’s most important and famous people have spoken at its two annual conferences. These conferences bring together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes or less.

There are now 1,400 TED Talks and 32,000 completed translations available to everyone, thanks to 200 volunteer

translators who have translated those talks in 40 languages. TED Talks have been viewed more than one billion times, but none was as important as Allan’s talk, “How to Green the Desert and Reverse Climate Change.”

News Flash: The World Isn’t Flat Allan had the high-IQ-crowd’s attention from the get-go when he said, “The most massive tsunami, perfect storm, is bearing down on us.” He wasn’t talking about the Cyprus economy or the dearth of good TV shows, but what is commonly called desertification. It’s a six syllable word for land that is turning to desert and Allen says it’s happening to two-thirds of the world’s grasslands. It is this tsunami that is accelerating climate change, causing mass starvation and social revolution.

If you didn’t know Allan, at first his talk might have sounded continued on page two

Vatican a heavyweight supporter of GM crops JOHN RIGOLIZZO, JR., TRUTH ABOUT TRADE & TECHNOLOGY, WESTERNFARMPRESS.COM

s Catholic cardinals selected Pope Francis in Rome on recently, we watched an ancient church at its most medieval: obedient to tradition, cloaked in secrecy, and waiting for white smoke. The papal conclave appears positively anti-modern.

Yet in another sense, the Vatican stands in the vanguard of science and technology. It’s one of the world’s strongest supporters of genetically modified crops.

Many of us are still trying to learn about the new pontiff. We know a few things already. He is not only a man of faith, but also science – a chemist, by training. He’s from Argentina, whose farmers rely heavily on GM crops. And he professes a concern for the poor, who have the most to gain from 21st-century food production.

Farmers of all religious persuasions should take comfort from these views. “He will be able to better understand the Latin American continent – not only the poverty and the exclusion, but also

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by LEE PITTS

Life As A Cornjerker

Wouldn’t That Be Something? f someone were to ask me to name the most influential person in the livestock industry during my lifetime I would say it’s the man whose picture we put on the first page of our first edition of the Livestock Market Digest 30 years ago: Allan Savory.

Riding Herd

the wealth of these lands,” said Eugenio Lira, secretary-general of the Mexican Episcopal Conference, according to the Wall Street Journal.

I’m a cradle Catholic. Maybe you’ve heard our inside joke: I didn’t choose it; I was forced into it.

Growing up, I went to Catholic school. I’ve given my own kids a Catholic education, at least when I could afford it – and when I couldn’t, I’ve regretted the result. Our family eats fish on Fridays, even when it’s not Lent.

Catholicism has been an essential part of my life.

And that’s why I was so heartened several years ago to learn of my church’s stance on GM food.

In 2009, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which advises the Holy See on scientific questions, organized a conference on farm biotechnology. It soon came out with a ringing endorsement: “There is a moral imperative to make the benefits of genetically engineered technology available on a larger scale to poor and vulnerable populations who want them, and on terms that will enable them to raise their standards of living,

fter a five year, five billion dollar study professors and government researchers have found that our sensitive youth are being severely damaged by a previously unrecognized danger to our society: the school mascot.

Students who are banana slugs or hippopotamuses seem to be particularly impaired socially.

Okay, so I made that whole paragraph up. But doesn’t it sound like something our government would waste money on and professors would spend months mulling over? Don’t be surprised, or say I didn’t warn you, when sometime in the near future someone will pen an article in the New York Trying Times or the San Francisco Hippie Chronicle that says we are damaging the psyche of our nation’s young people by referring to them as River Rats, Polka Dots and Plowboys. I wouldn’t be surprised to read that a student who was a noble Polar Bear, like the kids at the Frost High School in Texas, has a distinct advantage in life over someone who was a Hutto Hippo.

In high school I was Cardinal despite the fact that there wasn’t a cardinal of the avian or Catholic variety within 100 miles. My wife was a Saint and she can say the same thing about her home town. In college I was a Mustang and the only one within a day’s drive of my school was a statue. It’s no wonder I ended up just like a Nevada mustang: distant, feral, lightly built and unwanted.

I wouldn’t be surprised to find that I’m also highly inbred. I blame being a Mustang for any failures in my life.

Sending your kid to a school with a dopey mascot is like naming your kid Percival. (With apologies and condolences to any Percy people.) The problem is these names were usually chosen decades ago and they do not take into account the sensitive nature of today’s youth. Who can continued on page five

continued on page seven

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Livestock Market Digest

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April 15, 2013

Something like any another diatribe against ranchers. “Now we all know that desertification is caused by livestock, mostly cattle, sheep and goats, overgrazing the plants, leaving the soil bare and giving off methane,” Allan said.

“Almost everybody knows this, from nobel laureates to golf caddies, or was taught it, as I was.”

Then Allan shows one of many slides of African wasteland and continued, “Now, the environments like you see here, dusty environments in Africa where I grew up, and I loved wildlife, and so I grew up hating livestock because of the damage they were doing. And then my university education as an ecologist reinforced my beliefs. Well, I have news for you. We were once just as certain that the world was flat.

We were wrong then, and we are wrong again. And I want to invite you now to come along on my journey of reeducation and discovery.”

Killing Elephants

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“When I was a young man, a young biologist in Africa, I was involved in setting aside marvelous areas as future national parks,” spoke Allan. “Now no sooner did we remove the hunting, drum-beating people to protect the animals, then the land began to deteriorate. Now, no livestock were involved, but suspecting that we had too many elephants now, I did the research and I proved we had too many, and I recommended that we would have to reduce their numbers and bring them down to a level that the land could sustain.

Now, that was a terrible decision for me to have to make, and it was political dynamite, frankly.

So our government formed a team of experts to evaluate my research. They did. They agreed with me, and over the following years, we shot 40,000 elephants to try to stop the damage. And it got worse, not better. Loving elephants as I do, that was the saddest and greatest blunder of my life, and I will carry that to my grave. One good thing did come out of it. It made me absolutely determined to devote my life to finding solutions.

“When I came to the United States, I got a shock, to find national parks desertifying as badly as anything in Africa.”

Then Allan shows one of many slides showing extreme desertification, like the barren, dry landscapes we’re familiar with in Africa. Except this one was in an American National Park!

“There’d been no livestock on this land for over 70 years,” says Allan. “And I found that American scientists had no explanation for this except that it is arid and natural. So I then began looking at all the research plots I could over the whole of the Western United States where cattle had been removed to prove that it would stop desertification, but I found the opposite.” Allan was told the damage was due to “unknown processes.”

Allan’s TED speech was not a

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doom and gloomer we are used to hearing from scientists who want more money to study something to death. Instead, Allan said, “I have for you a very simple message that offers more hope than you can imagine.”

The Best Slide Show Ever “When I first realized that we had no option as scientists but to use much-vilified livestock to address climate change and desertification, I was faced with a real dilemma,” recalls Allan.

“How were we to do it? We’d had 10,000 years of extremely knowledgeable pastoralists bunching and moving their animals, but they had created the great manmade deserts of the world. Then we’d had 100 years of modern rain science, and that had accelerated desertification, as we first discovered in Africa and then confirmed in the United States, and as you see in this picture of land managed by the federal government. Clearly more was needed than bunching and moving the animals, and humans, over thousands of years, had never been able to deal with nature’s complexity. But we biologists and ecologists had never tackled anything as complex as this. So rather than reinvent the wheel, I began studying other professions to see if anybody had. And I found there were planning techniques that I could take and adapt to our biological need, and from those I developed what we call holistic management and planned grazing, a planning process, and that does address all of nature’s complexity and our social, environmental, economic complexity.”

Allan Savory has taken thousands of photos to prove that his concepts work and he has made believers out of kings and queens, dictators, government bureaucrats and ranchers on every continent except Antarctica. If a typical picture truly does say a thousand words then the photos that Allan showed the TED crowd were enough to fill a library. There was one of land close to land that Allan manages in Zimbabwe. It had just come through four months of very good rains but almost all of that rain had evaporated from the soil surface. Their river was dry despite the rain just having ended, and there were 150,000 people in the area on almost permanent food aid. “Now let’s go to our land nearby on the same day, with the same rainfall, and look at that,” said Allan. “Our river is flowing and healthy and clean.

The production of grass, shrubs, trees, wildlife, everything is now more productive, and we have virtually no fear of dry years. And we did that by increasing the cattle and goats 400 percent, planning the grazing to mimic nature and integrate them with all the elephants, buffalo, giraffe and other animals that we have. But before we began, our land looked like that. This site was continued on page three

April 15, 2013

Something bare and eroding for over 30 years regardless of what rain we got.”

The Other Sequester The slide show continued offering positive proof, in the Karoo Desert in South Africa, in Mexico, in the Tihamah Desert in the coastal plain of Arabia and one of the hottest places on earth, and yes, in the United States. The TED crowd ooohed and aaahed with every photo.

“You’re told over and over, repeatedly, that desertification is only occurring in arid and semiarid areas of the world, and that tall grasslands like this one in high rainfall are of no consequence. But if you do not look at grasslands but look down into them, you find that most of the soil in that grassland that you’ve just seen is bare and covered with a crust of algae, leading to increased runoff and evaporation. That is the cancer of desertification that we do not recognize till its terminal form.

“Because the fate of water and carbon are tied to soil organic matter, when we damage soils, you give off carbon. Carbon goes back to the atmosphere.” Allan says that if we could make all that carbon sequester itself, back into the soil where it belongs, we’d go a long way in mitigating any effects of man-made greenhouse gases.

“Clearly, we have never understood what is causing desertification, which has destroyed many civilizations and now threatens us globally,” said

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

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Allan. “Take one square meter of soil and make it bare like this is down here, and I promise you, you will find it much colder at dawn and much hotter at midday than that same piece of ground if it’s just covered with litter, plant litter. You have changed the micro climate.

Now, by the time you are doing that and increasing greatly the percentage of bare ground on more than half the world’s land, you are changing macroclimate.

But we have just simply not understood why was it beginning to happen 10,000 years ago?

Why has it accelerated lately?

We had no understanding of that.

“What we had failed to understand was that these seasonal humidity environments of the world, the soil and the vegetation developed with very large numbers of grazing animals, and that these grazing animals developed with ferocious pack-hunting predators. Now, the main defense against pack-hunting predators is to get into herds, and the larger the herd, the safer the individuals. Now, large herds dung and urinate all over their own food, and they have to keep moving, and it was that movement that prevented the overgrazing of plants, while the periodic trampling ensured good cover of the soil.”

According to Allan, “If a grassland does not decay biologically, it shifts to oxidation, which is a very slow process, and this smothers and kills grasses, leading to a shift to woody vegeta-

tion and bare soil, releasing carbon. To prevent that, we have traditionally used fire. But fire also leaves the soil bare, releasing carbon, and worse than that, burning one hectare of grassland gives off more, and more damaging, pollutants than 6,000 cars.

And we are burning in Africa, every single year, more than one billion hectares of grasslands, and almost nobody is talking about it.

“Now, looking at this grassland of ours that has gone dry, what could we do to keep that healthy? And bear in mind, I’m talking of most of the world’s land now. We cannot reduce animal numbers to rest it more without causing desertification and climate change. We cannot burn it without causing desertification and climate change. What are we going to do? There is only one option, I’ll repeat to you, only one option left to climatologists and scientists, and that is to do the unthinkable, and to use livestock, bunched and moving, as a proxy for former herds and predators, and mimic nature.

There is no other alternative left to mankind.

“I remind you that I am talking about most of the world’s land here that controls our fate, including the most violent region of the world, where only animals can feed people from about 95 percent of the land. What we are doing globally is causing climate change as much as, I believe, fossil fuels, and maybe more than fossil fuels. But worse than that, it is causing hunger, poverty, violence, social breakdown and war, and as I am talking to you, millions of men, women and chil-

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dren are suffering and dying.

And if this continues, we are unlikely to be able to stop the climate changing, even after we have eliminated the use of fossil fuels.

“I believe I’ve shown you how we can work with nature at very low cost to reverse all this. We are already doing so on about 15 million hectares on five continents, and people who understand far more about carbon than I do calculate that, if we do what I am showing you, we can take enough carbon out of the atmosphere and safely store it in the grassland soils for thousands of years, and if we just do that on about half the world’s grasslands that I’ve shown you, we can take

us back to pre-industrial levels, while feeding people. I can think of almost nothing that offers more hope for our planet, for your children, and their children, and all of humanity.”

As the TED crowd rose as one in their praise the thought occurred to me that instead of being blamed for the cause of global warming, ranchers would be the heroes, sequestering carbon with their cattle. We could answer the global warming fanatics that the world does not need fewer cows, it needs more.

Wouldn’t that be something? We can, you know, merely by following the path trod before us by millions of bison, 365 donkeys and one man from Africa.

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April 15, 2013

U.S. Supreme Court Grants Review of Plan By Forest Service to Manage Sierra Nevada

BY ROBERT C. COOK, DAILY ENVIRONMENT REPORT™

he U.S. Supreme Court agreed March 18 to review a long-running battle over a 2004 management plan for 11 national forests in California’s Sierra Nevada Range (U.S. Forest Service v. Pacific Rivers Council, U.S., No. 12-623, 3/18/13).

The Forest Service had sought review of a February 2012 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that was reaffirmed by the court in June. The appeals court held that the Forest Service failed to adequately evaluate the management plan’s impact on fish species.

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Increased Logging, Increased Grazing Under Plan The petition for Supreme Court review comes in a 2005 lawsuit filed by the Pacific Rivers Council challenging an updated forest plan that covers 11.5 million acres. The plan called for increased logging and eased requirements for

grazing permits.

Federal attorneys representing the Forest Service asked three questions in their petition to the court: ■ whether the Pacific Rivers Council had standing to sue when it failed to establish that any updated elements of the plan posed an imminent threat of harm to any of its members, ■ whether the challenge was ripe because the plaintiff failed to identify any site-specific project that would be authorized by the updated plan, and ■ the National Environmental Policy Act requires an analysis of every type of environmental effect for amendments to the plan when any project authorized under the plan would require a separate environmental analysis.

The Ninth Circuit panel held the Forest Service did not take a “hard look” at the effects of the 2004 amendments on fish, as required by NEPA. In its March 18 order, the U.S. Supreme Court also granted the motion by the Public Lands Council and

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to file a brief as friend of the court.

Argument Anticipated Before June 30 The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments in the case before the end of its term in June.

An affidavit attached to court pleadings stated that members of the Pacific Rivers Council are “harmed” by the current management direction of Sierra Nevada National forests. Bob Anderson, chairman of the board of Pacific Rivers Council, stated in the affidavit that he had witnessed dramatic declines in species such as salmon and steelhead due to harmful past management practices.

Anderson stated that the 2004 framework “builds on the mistakes of the past.”

“Curtailed fishing and recreational opportunities due to the loss of native species such as bull trout and salmon have also injured me,” Anderson swore in his affidavit.

The Ninth Circuit opinion

was written by William A. Fletcher and joined by Stephen Reinhardt.

The dissent was by Judge N.R. Smith, who said, “I would appropriately defer to the Forest Service’s reasonable decision and affirm.”

Attorneys for the U.S. Forest Service included Donald B. Verrilli Jr., solicitor general, and Justice Department attorneys Ignacia S. Moreno, Edwin S. Kneedler, Sarah E. Harrington, Andrew C. Mergen, Jennifer Scheller Neumann, and Barclay Samford.

Ramona E. Romero, general counsel of the Department of Agriculture, also participated.

Attorneys on the brief in opposition were James A. Feldman, Stephanos Bibas, and Nancy Bregstein Gordon, of the University of Pennsylvania Law School Supreme Court Clinic.

Additional attorneys on the brief in opposition were Scott L. Nelson, of Public Citizen Litigation Group, Washington and Brian Gaffney, of Lippe Gaffney Wagner LLP, San Francisco, Calif.

San Angelo Packing closes – 200 laid off quarter of 2013 is nearly gone, with rainfall well below normal again for San Angelo and the Concho Valley, and the drought has claimed another victim, this time a large and long established firm and its hundreds of employees.

San Angelo Packing Co. Inc., a cattle slaughtering and meat processing plant at 1809 N. Bell St., closed recently because of severe drought conditions and a lack of livestock supply, said John C. Sims, a trustee on the company’s board of directors.

“There was some hope that there will be some increase (head of cattle) at the first of the year, but that didn’t materialize. We couldn’t find the cows and the numbers to keep it going,” said Sims, who oversees the estate that owns all the stock in San Angelo Packing.

“It’s closing not because of economic losses, it was going to mount up in the future. We just couldn’t get enough (cattle) to get the plant (workers) pay,” he said. "The plant has plenty of assets, though. They did not want to use up the equity in the company.”

The closure resulted in approxi-

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mately 200 employees being laid off, Sims said.

Texas Workforce Solutions will hold a rapid response program for the approximately 200 displaced workers at 9 a.m. April 4 at the packing plant on Bell Street, informing them what their options are now that they are unemployed, said Cathy Ballard, planning director at the Concho Valley Workforce Development Board.

“We’ll tell them what benefits are available to them. We’ll work with the employees to get them into another job,” she said. “Right now, the job postings are double from what they were a year ago. There’s all kinds of jobs avail-

able. When you have something like the oil industry open up the way it has it opens up all sorts of jobs in a lot of industry sectors.”

Until recently, the company was processing anywhere from 350 to 400 cattle daily, Sims said. Before the drought became severe in 2011, he said the plant would easily slaughter 700 head of cattle daily.

As of March 27, only a trace of rain has fallen this month in San Angelo, and 1.82 inches for the year, significantly lower than the average of 3.56 inches, according to weather statistics from the National Weather Service.

Last year to this point San Angelo had recorded 7.16 inches of rain.

“Last year ranchers saw their herds cut in half, and now are seeing them cut into thirds,” Sims said. “This kind of problem is happening all around Texas. Just the other day north of here they closed a plant that had 2,000 employees. The drought is too much.”

San Angelo Packing Co. had been in business since 1983, and was locally owned by Jimmy Stokes. The business has stayed in the family since Stokes died in 2001.

USDA-Developed Vaccine for Wild Horses & Burros Gains EPA Registration he U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services’ (WS) National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) announced in mid February that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted regulatory approval for the use of GonaConTM - Equine immunocontraceptive vaccine (GonaCon) in adult female wild or feral horses and burros. GonaCon was developed by NWRC scientists and is the first single-shot, multiyear wildlife contraceptive for use in mammals.

“Since 2009, GonaCon has been available for use in female white-tailed deer. We are pleased to be able to expand the vaccine’s application to include wild horses and burros,” said NWRC Director Larry Clark. “This nonlethal tool will provide another option to wildlife managers working to reduce overabundant wild horse and burro populations in the United States.”

Overpopulation of wild horses and burros is a significant concern in the United States, as these animals can overgraze native plant species and compete with livestock and local wildlife for food and habitat. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) estimates that approximately 37,300 wild horses and burros (about 31,500 horses and 5,800 burros) are roaming on BLM-managed rangelands in 10 Western states.

The estimated current free-roaming population exceeds by nearly 11,000 the number that the BLM has determined can exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses. Current management options are limited with the majority of actions involving the removal of horses and burros from the range and either offering them for adoption or holding them indefinitely in captivity. The BLM estimates there are more than 49,000 wild horses and burros off of BLM-managed lands that are fed and cared for at shortterm corrals and long-term pastures.

The GonaCon-Equine vaccine stimulates the production of antibodies that bind to the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in an animal’s body.

GnRH signals the production of sex hormones (e.g., estrogen, progesterone and testosterone).

By binding to GnRH, the antibodies reduce GnRH’s ability to stimulate the release of these sex hormones. All sexual activity is decreased, and animals remain in a nonreproductive state as long as a sufficient level of antibody activity is present. The product can be delivered by hand injection, jab stick, or darting.

GonaCon-Equine is registered as a restricted-use pesticide, and all users must be certified pesti-

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Riding Herd blame a kid for hiding in the house playing video games all day when he or she has to face this cruel world as a Cornjerker, Papermaker, Banana Slug, or as a member of the Fighting Okra.

(All real mascots, by the way.)

And do you know how hard it is to find attractive cheerleaders when across their sweater it reads Blobs, Whales, Witches or Hogs?

I don’t know how my friends who went to the University of Idaho managed to make a success of their lives after wearing clashing school colors of gold and silver and being called Vandals for four years. (Or six or eight years in some cases).

That’s right, their school colors are the poorly contrasting silver and gold and their mascot is a Vandal, who is someone who goes around destroying property. So I say, turn loose any University of Idaho graduates who are guests of penal institutions for where else would you expect a Vandal without any sense of color coordination to end up?

A good name should be carefully chosen and yet far too many of our mascots were evidently chosen by committees of masochists who like to inflict

Vaccine

cide applicators or persons under their direct supervision. Only USDA-WS and Veterinary Services, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Department of Defense, Federally recognized Indian Tribes, State agencies responsible for wild or feral horse and burro management, public and private wild horse sanctuaries, or persons working under their authority can use it. In order for GonaCon to be used in any given State, it must also be registered with the State’s pesticide registration authority.

Additionally, users are encouraged to contact their State fish and game/natural resource agency to determine specific State require-

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

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pain on others. If you think I’m kidding how would you like to go through life as one of the following real mascots: Midget, Horned Frog, Saluki, Blue Bob, Super Squirrel, Unicorn, Shucker, Billiken, Pretzel, Hillbilly, Criminal, Hay Baler, Appleknocker, Maniac, Conch, Nimrod, Kewpie, Swather, Troller, Atom Smasher, Ladybug, Potter, Zip, Caveman, Scalawag, Carp, Anteater, Blossom, Lambkin, Bunny, Cobbler, Cheesemaker, Sponger, Thunder Duck or my all time favorite, a Lincoln High School Alice.

Need I say more? I think I’ve made my point.

In these sensitive and politically correct times in which we find ourselves living I think it’s time to change all our names and mascots to something less violent that would reflect our far more thoughtful and compassionate nature. Rather than reading in the newspaper that the Blue Bobs clobbered the Nimrods wouldn’t you rather read, “The Petite Syrahs played the Bichon Frises to a draw in a battle of cellar dwellers last Friday night.” Oh, it gives me goose bumps just thinking of all the possibilities.

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ments. The vaccine is currently manufactured by NWRC; however, the WS program is interested in licensing the vaccine to a private manufacturer.

Future NWRC research with GonaCon will likely involve studies to support expanded registration to other species (e.g., prairie dogs and feral dogs) and aid in preventing the transmission of wildlife diseases.

WS-NWRC is the Federal institution devoted to resolving problems caused by the interaction of wild animals and society. The center applies scientific expertise to the development of practical methods to resolve these problems and to maintain the quality of the environments shared with wildlife.

Lawsuit Launched to Save Endangered Southwestern Songbird From Habitat Destruction Caused by Invasive Beetles he Center for Biological Diversity and Maricopa Audubon filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture and APHIS, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, over their failure to safeguard an endangered native songbird from the impacts of the agency’s deliberate release of an exotic beetle that is destroying the bird’s habitat in parts of Utah, Arizona and Nevada.

In 2005, despite songbird biologists’ concern for the safety of endangered southwestern willow flycatchers, APHIS released imported Asian beetles into the western United States outside of flycatcher range to help control invasive streamside tamarisk trees.

The tamarisk-defoliating leaf beetle is now invading the nesting areas of southwestern willow flycatchers in southern Utah, Nevada, and northern and western Arizona. If the beetle spreads farther without mitigation, it could seriously threaten the flycatcher’s survival. APHIS promised mitigation if its release of the beetles went

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awry, but has not taken the steps necessary — including planting native willows and cottonwoods to replace dying tamarisk — to help the endangered flycatchers.

“APHIS refuses to clean up its own mess now that its introduction of an exotic, invasive biocontrol agent has gone haywire,” said the Center’s Dr. Robin Silver.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was also included in the notice of intent to sue for failing to protect the flycatcher as required by the Endangered Species Act; another federal agency, the Bureau of Reclamation, was included because its plans to protect the flycatcher in western Arizona are no longer sufficient due to the spread of the beetles. The notice clears the way for litigation against these agencies if they fail to initiate protective actions within 60 days.

Flycatchers frequently nest where tamarisk has displaced native cottonwood and willow trees. A quarter of the birds’ territories are found in areas dominated by tamarisk, and about half are found in areas of mixed

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tamarisk and native trees.

“APHIS needs to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service to develop and pay for an emergent plan to ensure that native species provide alternative habitat for the highly endangered flycatcher,” said Maricopa Audubon President Mark Larson.

APHIS released the tamarisk-defoliating leaf beetle with an agreement that no beetles would be released within 200 miles of flycatcher habitat or within 300 miles of documented flycatcher breeding areas, and that the beetles could not become established within the range of the flycatcher. Both of these agreements were broken.

In July 2006 APHIS introduced the beetles directly into flycatcher-nesting areas along the Virgin River in southern Utah. The beetles have now spread into nesting areas in southern Utah, Nevada, and northern and western Arizona.

Attorney Eric Glitzenstein of Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal represents the Center and Maricopa Audubon in this matter.

FARMINGTON

April 15, 2013

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Livestock Market Digest

Page 6

April 15, 2013

Red Angus – A Package Deal

BY CALLIE GNATKOWSKI-GIBSON

gentle disposition, strong carcass traits and maternal strength make an attractive package, especially when combined with the distinctive red color of the Red Angus breed. Commercial and purebred producers alike across the Southwest are finding that these cattle, are an asset.

Red Angus producers are backed by the Red Angus Association of America (RAAA), which maintains the breed registry, extensive genetic and EPD information, and works hard to develop programs to promote the breed and help market Red Angus cattle.

New this year are multi-breed EPDs, developed in cooperation with the American Simmental Association. Starting this fall, EPDs will be using the same data set, and on the same multi-breed base and scale for growth and carcass EPDs. This will allow cattlemen to directly compare growth and carcass EPDs across the two breeds, as well as registered hybrids and composite seedstock.

“The result of this collaboration is genetic predictions based on the world’s largest multi-breed dataset with over 10 million animal records,” said Larry Keenan, RAAA director of breed improve-

A

ment, “which provides users of Red Angus and Simmental genetics the industry’s most reliable genetic predictions.”

In addition, the RAAA has expanded its feeder calf certification program (FCCP), designed to help Red Angus producers market their calves by providing source, age and genetic verification. The new Allied Access program, focused on helping commercial operators, provides a new level, allowing producers to enroll calves that are less than fifty percent Red Angus.

History of Success Red Angus have been a good fit for Wayne and Anita Reams of Lazy Way Bar Ranch, twelve miles north of Hobbs in eastern New Mexico. The couple got started in the commercial cattle business in 1984, then started getting interested in the Red Angus in 1994, Anita said.

They bought their first registered bull in 1995, then bought a few registered mamas. “We were raising some nice calves, but not getting near the price for our commercial calves as we were for the purebred Red Angus calves.

Finally, we decided to sell the commercial cows and go to straight Red Angus.”

One of the best things about the breed is their gentle nature.

“Their disposition is just great.

When they calve, you can go right up to them in the pasture, check the cow and calf for any problems, and ear tag the calf with no trouble,” she said. “I think they are the best animals people could have. You have to respect them, but if you do, the animals won’t hurt you.”

She also cites their hardiness, which was put to the test this year. Due to problems with their irrigation well, the family lost their hay crop this summer. “We have fed them what hay we could find, and the cattle have done really well considering the horrible drought. They are having to get out there and scrounge, and I am amazed at how well they have done.”

Wayne, 79, and Anita, 75, have sold both bulls and heifers over the years and are now gradually trying to get out of the

business. At one time, they held a production sale with a neighbor, but today sell animals private treaty, from the ranch. “We enjoy the cattle, but it is quite a lot of work and we don’t have any help,” she explained.

They recently sold ten bred cows to a couple who are just getting started in the cattle business, and are sharing their knowledge and experience, as well. “They call and ask for advice, and we are glad to help.

It just takes experience. I am sure there are some things that haven’t happened to us, but you never know, you just have to take it day by day,” Anita said.

“You’ll learn the hard way sometimes, but you’ll learn.”

“It’s a good thing we sold those cows when we did,” she continued. “They called to let us know that they already have three bull calves on the ground,

and if those calves had been born here, I don’t know if I would have been able to let them go.”

The Reams have bred their cattle for low birth weights.

They bought one of their herd bulls, Matchmaker, in Colorado, and have been really pleased with the low birth weight calves he producers. “We don’t want to be out there in the middle of the night checking cows and pulling calves, and we don’t want our customers to have any problems.”

“Our cattle are like family. It has been a pleasure to have the Red Angus,” Anita concluded.

Building Their Numbers Gary and Rhetta Good, of Slash T Cattle Company, started out with Red Angus continued on page seven

Judge rules for Utah county in fight over roads crossing federal tracts

BY SCOTT STREATER, E&E REPORTER

federal district judge in Utah ruled in late March that a dozen dirt roads – including four running through Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument – may remain open to the public in a decision hailed by the state as a major victory.

The 121-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups was in response to a 2008 lawsuit

by Kane County in southern Utah that sought to keep open to the public 15 roads crisscrossing 89 miles of federal land in Utah.

At issue are claimed rights-ofway easements on the 15 roads under a Civil War-era mining law known as Revised Statute 2477, which allows state and local governments to file such claims for the purpose of providing access to mining and homestead claims.

Congress repealed the 1866 law when it adopted the Federal Land Policy and Management Act in 1976, which today governs lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and grants the agency ownership of roads that cross federal land.

However, roads built and maintained by state or local governments across unreserved lands before the enactment of the 1976 act remain covered by R.S. 2477.

Utah and its counties have long argued that roads are crucial conduits for residents and that they should not have to obtain permission for motorized access or to perform maintenance or upgrades.

Waddoups ruled that the 12 roads in question were “historic” and that Kane County did have a

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valid claim under R.S. 2477.

“These rulings clearly show these historic public roads have and will continue to belong to the people of Utah,” Utah Attorney General John Swallow (R) said in a statement. The state of Utah joined the Kane County lawsuit in 2010.

“This is the first of many anticipated legal victories that will confirm that the federal government’s refusal to recognize these roads as state and county roads is not legally justified,” Swallow said. “The federal government’s refusal has damaged the economy and put motorists at risk because the state and counties were unable to conduct routine maintenance to repair their own roads.”

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) hinted that the Kane County ruling could help open up thousands of miles of dirt roads and trails crossing federal land that the state and numerous counties maintain should remain accessible to the public.

“This victory clearly demonstrates that Utah’s historic public roads belong to the people of Utah,” Herbert said in a statement. “We now hope this ruling motivates all stakeholders to work together to resolve our other public road cases.”

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which had tried to intervene in the lawsuit but was granted only friend of the court status, said it wasn’t surprised by the ruling after attending the hearings before Waddoups.

“It seemed pretty clear where the judge was headed,” said Steve Bloch, a SUWA attorney in Salt Lake City.

Bloch said he is “very confident” the Justice Department will appeal to the 10th U.S. Cir-

cuit Court of Appeals.

Bloch said he’s more concerned with the roughly 30 lawsuits filed by the state and 22 counties that claim 14,000 rights of way covering 35,000 miles of dirt roads and trails, even stream bottoms, across public land.

“Taken together, this tsunami of litigation threatens several national parks and monuments as well as iconic Utah wilderness landscapes,” he said.

The issue is an important one for the Obama administration as well as for some members of Congress.

A coalition of 44 House Democrats and one Republican last summer sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar urging his agency to vigorously fight Utah’s attempt to claim state control over the thousands of roads crisscrossing federal lands (E&ENews PM, July 26, 2012).

Similar cases in other parts of the country have ended in the federal government’s favor.

Last summer, Judge Anthony Ishii of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California dismissed the last of a state county’s claims to four roads running through Death Valley National Park (Greenwire, June 7, 2012).

That same month, San Bernardino County in Southern California agreed in a settlement with Interior to grant sole authority over a series of contested public roads running through the Mojave National Preserve to the National Park Service (E&ENews PM, June 8, 2012).

The county originally claimed rights-of-way easements on 14 roads through the national preserve under R.S. 2477.

Streater writes from Colorado Springs, Colo.

April 15, 2013

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

Red Angus cross commercial cattle in 2002.

Over the years, the operation has gradually transitioned to a purebred Red Angus operation.

For many years, the Goods ran yearlings on their ranch 40 miles south of Ft. Sumner, between Ft. Sumner and Elida.

After their sons grew up and moved away, leaving the couple with a lot less help for the cattle operation, the Goods started looking at other options. In 2002, they purchased 328 composite cows – Red Angus/Hereford/Shorthorn – from the Padlock Ranch in Sheridan, Wyoming, getting out of the yearling business and into the cow business, Gary explained.

“It was a good choice, we have really enjoyed the cattle.”

He was very pleased with both the cows and their offspring. “I really liked the cows’ disposition, fertility, and size.

Longevity is another thing, they served me well for a long time.”

Pastures are rolling sand hills and mesquite country, and the Red Angus do pretty well, Gary noted. “This is more cow country than yearling country, which is another reason we switched. The cattle scatter out well and utilize the pasture.”

The ongoing drought has been a big factor in helping the Goods move to a purebred Red Angus herd. “Last year, we got rid of the last of the composite

continued from page six

said, there is not too much difference between Red and Black Angus, he just likes the red color. The Red Angus Association of America (RAAA) has really promoted the breed, and the calves sell well. Next year, he plans to start enrolling his calves in the RAAA’s feeder calf certification program. When it comes time to market the calves, they will be RAAA certified and source and age verified.

Gary and his father also have a yearling operation in Lea County, and his father has a cow/calf operation in Elida. “We market our calves commercially in the fall. So far, we have not fed any out, but I wouldn’t be opposed to it. I think they would feed out and grade really well.”

Vatican improve their health, and protect their environment.”

Ever since I started growing biotech crops more than a decade ago, I’ve believed much the same thing. I saw the outstanding benefits of these plants with my own eyes: All of sudden, we were able to produce more food on less land. This was great for farmers, consumers, and conservation.

Moral weight The advantages of GM crops seemed, for lack of a better word, miraculous.

They were certainly a blessing.

As we produced an abundance of food, we became better able to help the needy here in New Jersey. A group of us formed Farmers Against Hunger. Biotech crops gave us a powerful new tool to generate surplus food and turn it into meals for our neighbors.

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences understood the possibilities.

Although its report didn’t amount to an official church teaching, it gave moral weight to the case for GM crops.

“We urge those who oppose or are skeptical about the use of genetically engineered crop varieties and the application of modern genetics generally to evaluate carefully the science, and the demonstrable harm caused by withholding this proven technology from those who need it most,” said the academy.

Texas Tech Wins Houston Meat Judging for the Ninth Consecutive Year exas Tech University’s meat judging team walked away with first place honors March 3 at the Houston Livestock Show’s Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest. This is the ninth consecutive year the Red Raiders have won the competition in Houston.

Eleven universities competed for the title. Texas Tech’s black team finished first and posted a total score of 4,199 points. They were followed by the Red Raider’s red team in second. Oklahoma State University, Texas A&M University and Kansas State University finished third through fifth, respectively.

The Texas Tech teams won the beef grading, beef judging, lamb judging, overall beef, specifications and placings divisions.

“I’m very proud of the commitment of these students this spring,” said Mark Miller, Horn Professor and San Antonio Livestock Show Distinguished Chair in Meat Science. “We are very blessed to have such a large and deeply competitive team this year.”

Individually, the Red Raiders dominated as well, securing eight out of 10 high individual overall spots.

Austin Langemeier, a sophomore from Marion was top high individual; Colton Campbell, a sophomore from Artesia, N.M., was second; Kylan Carson, a sophomore

T

cows. We have been through several years of drought, and have had to cut our cow herd back a lot.”

Gary has continued to build his Red Angus herd, focusing on bloodlines with strong Beckton genetics. For the past three years, he has purchased bred heifers from southeastern Colorado, and his Red Angus bulls have come from Marshall McGinley in Las Cruces and R.A. Brown of Throckmorton, Texas. This year, he saved 26 heifer calves as replacements, and is running them on irrigated pasture in Ft. Sumner. Although Gary has not yet done any crossbreeding with the Red Angus, he said he has considered it.

When it comes down to it, he

continued from page one

Vatican City may be tiny in size – at 110 acres, it’s smaller than my farm – but it’s also a sovereign state. In Europe, no government has a more advanced and charitable view of how to defeat hunger and malnutrition.

Not that the Vatican has a lot of competition. The European Union’s disapproval of GM crops is both ignorant and tragic. It’s bad enough that farmers in France, Italy, and Poland can’t grow GM crops the way we do in the United States and throughout the Western hemisphere. It’s even worse that European attitudes still shape the policies of many former European colonies, especially in Africa.

Because of Europe’s unscientific views, many developing nations have refused to adopt the hunger-fighting, life-saving tools of biotechnology. As a result, people who have the most to gain are undernourished or starving.

The Roman Catholic Church often comes under harsh criticism for its throwback ways. I still remember when our church held Sunday Mass in Latin.

When it comes to the technology of food production, however, the Vatican remains true to its oldest principles while also standing at the forefront of science.

Let’s hope Pope Francis shares this humane vision – and that Europe and the rest of the world join biotechnology’s growing

flock.

John Rigolizzo, Jr. is a fifth generation farmer, raising fresh vegetables and field corn in southern New Jersey. The family farm produces for retail and wholesale markets. John is a volunteer board member of Truth About Trade & Technology (www.truthabouttrade.org).

Page 7

from Olton was third; Nick Hardcastle, a junior from Wheeler was fourth; Clayton Krause, a junior from New Braunfels finished sixth; Greg Howard, a junior from Bremen, Kan., was awarded seventh; Kassandra Ognoskie, a sophomore from Orting, Wash., was ninth, and Bailey Joe Pennington, a sophomore from Sonora was 10th.

Additional team members include Brittany Blum, a sophomore from Howe; Taelar Childers, a sophomore from Nevada; Colton Coker, a sophomore from Roby; Aaron Faulkner, a junior from Lenapah, Okla.; Trey Garza, a sophomore from Edinburg; Mallory Jones, a sophomore from Anson; Kirby Kennedy, a sophomore from Lampasas; Kristen Knight, a sophomore from Shallowater; Jacob Mikel, a junior from Vicky, Mo.; Tyler Neuman, a sophomore from Hondo; Luke Sellers, a junior from Denver City; Christy Woerner, a sophomore from Fredericksburg, and William Wunderlich, a sophomore from Fredericksburg.

The team is coached by graduate student Loni Woolley along with Miller.

This was the last contest of the spring for the 2013 team.

Next fall they will compete at four more contests. The team will also host contests and workouts this spring and summer at Texas Tech for 4-H and FFA students from across the United States.

Livestock Market Digest

Page 8

April 15, 2013

Replacement Heifers: “Managing Expectations” BRUCE B. CARPENTER ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND EXTENSION LIVESTOCK SPECIALIST,TEXAS A&M AGRILIFE EXTENSION, FT. STOCKTON

Introduction hether purchased or raised, the value of replacement females is at record levels. Investment in a replacement female understandably comes with expectations for certain performance and financial returns. The example below was adapted from a recent article by Dr Harlan Hughes. As shown below, the biggest expense is when you decide to keep a heifer at weaning – with the expectation that she will become pregnant next spring. The biggest opportunity for management is in that following period. Of course, for a heifer that has cost $1355 to get to her first pregnancy, expectations will continue for her future productivity as a brood cow. Management given to yearlings and two-yearolds will determine their performance as mature cows.

W

The Heifer Enterprise It may be helpful to conceptualize, or manage, the replacement heifer enterprise within the context of “Strategic Planning.” This well known model for business planning consists of three components which are developed from the top-down, and implemented from the bottom-up.

1.“Strategic goals”: These are typically long-term. i.e. Why am I doing this? Will I raise or purchase replacements? Etc. 2. “Tactical goals”: These are things that must happen year-in, year-out for strategic goals to be met. They may include targets for production such as pregnancy rate or conception patterns, type of early breeding program, etc.

Other examples might include identifying the type of replacements to be purchased, or the kind(s) of bulls to be used.

3. “Operational activities”: These are activities that happen daily, weekly or seasonally in order for long-term plans and goals to be realized. They might include things like feeding (how much and how often), checkweighing animals for target weights or average daily gain, obtaining reproductive tract scores, scoring animals for body condition, estrous synchronization, implementation of pasture and forage monitoring, and perhaps most important - contingency plans and readjustments.

The remainder of this discussion will focus on operational activities and how they relate to given targets for production (tactical goals) in the replacement heifer enterprise.

Key Points Both first and second calf heifers have higher nutrient requirements than do mature cows and management systems must account for this. Furthermore, the overall productivity for all ages of heifers is substantially

lower than for mature cows.

These factors interact to make the replacement heifer enterprise the most expensive of all beef enterprises on most ranches. However, because these animals represent a large part of the genetic future of the beef herd, and because properly developed heifers usually go on to make good, productive cows, extra care and attention is certainly warranted.

■ At weaning, select the oldest, heavier (within breed type) heifers; and / or those born in the first 2/3 of the calving season.

■ Manage them to gain 0.5 to 1.5 pounds per day from weaning to first breeding. This allows them to be at 60-65 percent of expected mature weight at 12 - 16 months of age.

■ If possible, consider breeding yearling heifers 30 days before the mature cow herd.

■ Feed and manage yearlings, two-year-olds, and mature cows separately.

■ Likewise, keep the financial information on these groups separate. This allows each management group to be evaluated for strengths and weaknesses.

Feeding Heifers to Reach Biological End-Points A long-recommended procedure for developing yearling heifers to insure that a high percentage have reached puberty by first breeding exposure, has been to use actual weaning weights to select replacements. In addition, it is recommended to select heifers that are born in the first 60 days of the calving season.

This allows managers to begin with animals that are physiologically more mature. Keep about 20 percent in excess of what the anticipated replacement rate is.

Establish a target weight for first breeding. This is generally recommended to be 60-65 percent of expected mature weight. Some Nebraska research has indicated that this target may (in certain cases) be slightly lower. This will be discussed later. Second, establish a target age (12 - 16 months according to breed type). Calculate needed average daily gain.

Check-weigh animals individually during the growth phase.

Remember that averages, or averages on group weigh-ups can be misleading since a large number of heifers may weigh below the group average. Research in Montana, New Mexico and Nebraska indicates that rate of weight gain, i.e. constant or stepped (start low and end high) appears to be unimportant, so long as heifers end up meeting their target weight.

Information on weight gain can be used in several ways. First, it will indicate if heifers are growing sufficiently and if not, then it will afford managers a chance to implement contingency plans.

For example, light-weight heifers can be sorted and fed separately, or sold to prevent further losses.

Also, information on weight gains can be used to plan anticipated calf crops, budgets, and cash flow. For example, weight gain data can give a rough idea of anticipated calf crops. That estimate could be 7-8 months ahead of information on calf crop projections derived from a postbreeding season pregnancy test.

For example, if all heifers reach target weight, then their calf crops would likely be in the 80 percent range; whereas, if only 70 percent reach target weight, then anticipated calf crops might be in the 50 to 60 percent range.

Planning budgets could be adjusted accordingly.

Nutrient Requirements. It is impossible to accurately supplement growing or pregnant yearlings along-side dry cows, lactating cows or lactating two-year-olds. All four classes of females have different nutrient requirements. For example, when lactating two-year-olds are compared to lactating cows, the cows actually require slightly more TOTAL crude protein and energy. But because mature cows are larger in body size, actual forage intake is higher. Consequently, they consume more total nutrients. Because of forage intake limitations, and additional requirements for growth, both two-year-olds, and growing and pregnant yearlings, need a more nutrient-dense, higher quality diet. Dry cows in early and mid gestation have the lowest requirements for diet quality. Clearly, the amount of forage should never be limiting for any class of beef animal.

Deficiencies in any nutrient

(water, minerals, vitamins, protein or energy) can limit production. Often, supplement costs can be reduced by managing the relationships between dietary protein and energy. Briefly, energy is critical for growth and the pubertal process in heifers, and under range and pasture conditions, forage typically supplies the bulk of energy in the diet. Yet during the winter supplementation period, it is protein that is most often the limiting nutrient in the grazing diet. Protein is required for growth and milk, but it is also required for rumen function. A 60-70 percent ruminally degradable protein supplement can stimulate forage intake and thus dietary energy. Supplemental energy can come from fat, or starch (grain), or digestible fiber.

Caution should be used with high starch supplements because they are capable of depressing forage intake and sometimes animal production. Often, high starch supplements are not as efficient or effective as supplements high in natural protein or digestible fiber.

Also, depending on the amount fed, high starch supplements should be provided more frequently: daily or every other day, as compared to once or twice per week for a high protein supplements.

Generally supplements high in non-protein nitrogen (NPN) are not as effective as natural protein supplements. This is due to a need for higher quality protein by heifers. NPN is best used in animals that may be only slightly protein deficient, and with low protein requirements (i.e. dry cows).

In order for protein supplements to work to increase forage intake, and thus dietary energy intake, it is imperative that there is an adequate supply of pasture forage (or hay). Cattle must be able to “fill up” daily. This requires eating about 2.5 percent of their body weight per day in roughage. There may be specific situations where forage quantity is, or will become limiting. In these cases, energy supplements may be used to extend or replace the forage supply (See McCollum). However, because of supplement efficiency and expense, these are typically short-term propositions.

The relationship of forage standing crop to protein and energy supplementation is clear.

Management of the forage standing crop through proper stocking rates will be a prime determinant of animal performance and supplemental feeding expenses. Also, moderate to light stocking under native range conditions, will allow animals more plant selectivity, meaning that a higher quality diet can be obtained. Again, this is something that replacement heifers require. In situations where hay is used as a winter supplement, the use of forage testing on hay can indicate what levels of continued on page nine

April 15, 2013

Heifers additional nutrients will need to be provided as a supplement.

Knowing this can control costs.

For example, a 6 percent crude protein hay would require twice as much actual protein in the supplement as a 12 percent crude protein hay.

Data from the NMSU Corona Research Center (Hawkins, et. al.) has demonstrated a beneficial effect of including by-pass (undegradable) protein as a percentage of the total protein in the development ration. A 50:50 degradable: undegradable protein ration was reported to enhance puberty and pregnancy in rangedeveloped heifers. Remember that degradable protein is still critical to maintaining and enhancing rumen function and forage intake.

Assessing forage Supply and Stocking Rate. Pastures, like cattle should be continually monitored.

Projecting animal demand as it relates to forage supply (until the next growth phase) can help animal performance by ensuring their supply of forage - or with planning for contingencies - like hay requirements for the period.

Assessment of pasture forage supplies should be done during times when forage will be dormant (winter, summer dry season, etc.).

This technique works best in environments where winter annuals are not abundant. Forage supply can be calculated with actual sampling techniques, which usually are the most accurate, or by visual estimates with a trained eye. Remember that under native range conditions, only about 25 percent of total standing forage production should be counted on for livestock use. This is because ½ should be left to protect soil and plants and 25 percent of what remains after that is unavailable to livestock. Some improved pastures may be grazed a little heavier, but never to the point where forage quantity limits animal dry matter requirements.

How Do You Know if Nutrient Requirements Are Being Met? Weight gain in growing heifers is the best indicator. Weight gain associated with pregnancy can sometimes obscure true growth.

So in pregnant heifers, body condition scoring is probably best.

Again, if body condition is poor or declining, then supplemental energy and/or protein will be required. Study “cow pies.”

Manure that is hard and “stacks up” may indicate a protein deficiency. Use of forage sampling can indicate diet quality. Similar procedures can be used with animal fecal analysis (NIRS; see GAN Lab). Always monitor body condition in all animals.

Rearing Strategies Performance among all beef enterprises - yearling, two-yearold, and mature cows, is interdependent. Early calving cows produce older, heavier heifers. Older, heavier heifers breed and calve early. If managed properly as twoyear-olds, they will go on to make productive, early calving brood cows.

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

ed. Heifers are subsequently given a RTS on 1 to 5 scale (RTS 12, not pubertal; RTS 3, almost pubertal; RTS 4, very likely pubertal; RTS 5, pubertal). At the same time that a RTS is conducted, heifers may be measured internally using a specialized instrument to determine internal pelvic area (height x width). While internal pelvic area by itself is not an accurate predictor of calving difficulty, it may be integrated with other techniques to reduce calving difficulty. These may include selection and use of light birth weight EPD bulls, and culling heifers with age-adjusted yearling pelvic areas less than 140 cm2.

continued from page eight

The Question of Target Breeding Weight. As mentioned, some recent research has suggested that due to past selection for early maturity in Bos tarus heifers, that it may be more efficient to develop them to a first breeding target weight of 55 percent of expected mature weight (vs. 60; Funston et. al.). These researchers also modeled a “maturity index score” to replace traditional “target weight”. Maturity Index (MI) was the result of considering the heifer’s: age in days, her prebreeding weight at start of breeding, her birth weight, her dams age, and what level of prebreeding nutrition she received (53 percent, 56 percent, 58 percent or 60 percent of average herd mature female wt). Not surprisingly MI was superior to any other predictor of maturity wt. The optimum MI was 61 percent of her actual mature wt, bred at 1.2 years and fed with the group that averaged only 53 percent of mature wt.

That is, as an individual in that low feed group, she would have converted at a more efficienct rate than her contemporaries.

However, beef heifers are developed in herds, not as individuals.

When evaluating profitability of the entire group, MI was an unsatisfactory predictor of herd profitability - which included feed cost and revenue (calves sold). Because when the whole group and associated costs were considered, there was too much variability within the group; with more risk of lost revenue when underfeeding light weight, immature heifers out of large dams and more risk of increased cost by overfeeding heavy weight mature heifers out of small dams (Stockton, et. al).

Thus, minimizing variability in age, weight and dam size would seem to be a key in overall profitability when developing and feeding heifers. Strategies to accomplish this are discussed below.

Controlled Breeding Seasons.

Efficient management, selection, and development require that cows and heifers be in controlled breeding and calving seasons of 90 days or less. Calving seasons longer that 80-90 days do not allow females to be on a true 12 month calving interval where they produce a calf every year. This is because pregnancy lasts 9 months, leaving only about 80 days in the calendar year for reproductive tract recovery and subsequent rebreeding. Controlled calving seasons will facilitate several things: ■ Uniform age groups to select and grow replacements from.

■ Accurate and economically efficient supplementation to meet the different nutrient requirements of the herd’s production cycles (dry animals, late pregnancy, lactation, etc.)

■ Marketing of uniform calf crops.

It is well known that lactating two-year-olds are very often difficult to rebreed. One technique that can be used to manage this is to initiate their first breeding 30

Page 9

days before the beginning of the regular breeding season for cows.

This affords first-calf heifers some extra time to recover and rebreed as still-growing two-year-olds.

Heifers that start out as early calvers have a much better chance of establishing themselves as early calvers for the rest of their productive lives. It is nearly impossible to “back-up” late calving heifers or cows.

Replacement Rates Will Affect Costs. An adequate reproductive rate in the cow herd becomes a key to minimizing replacement heifer needs. Many times replacement heifer needs are underestimated. Typical ranges are from 10 - 30 percent and are affected by death loss and culling rate.

Cows will be culled for nonbreeding, unsoundness, age, etc.

For example (adapted; Fuentz, 1995), a herd with an 84 percent pregnancy rate, 3 percent annual death loss and other normal culling would require 80 percent of all heifers born to be kept as replacements; whereas with a 94 percent pregnancy rate, 1 percent death loss, and other normal culling, only 39 percent of the heifer calf crop would be needed as replacements.

Proper management and development of heifers will ensure their own reproductive

performance and minimizes the numbers needed for replacements. Hence, costs are minimized.

Heifer Tests and Other Specialized Development Programs. Sometimes forage conditions and/or management limitations do not facilitate proper heifer development. In these cases, management may look to “off-ranch” heifer development programs based on either concentrate feeds or forages. If these development programs are structured properly, opportunities will exist to evaluate heifers in contemporary groups (heifer tests) in order to identify superior genetics for gain and/or other benchmarks for development. The importance of weight gain has been discussed. Other benchmarks that may be evaluated include reproductive tract score (RTS) and internal pelvic area. These measurements, while well-correlated with body weight, may add additional insight into pubertal status and the selection process. Both procedures require an experienced and qualified person. For RTS, heifers are palpated per rectum. Ovaries are evaluated for overall size and for the presence of structures (follicles, corpora lutea) which would indicate ovarian activity. Similarly, the size and tone of the uterus is evaluat-

Breeding Strategies Calving difficulty (dystocia) can never be completely eliminated because some cases are due to incorrect posture or presentation of the calf at the time of delivery.

However, dystocia can be managed and greatly reduced by using the right kind of bulls on first-calf heifers. The most successful way to reduce calving difficulty in heifers is to breed them to bulls with high accuracy EPDs for low birth weight.

If EPDs for birth weight are not available, then select bulls based on breed type: use a small breed of bull on heifers of a larger breed type. Often Longhorn, Jersey or Corriente bulls are used because of inherently low birth weights. Realize that calves sired by these breeds will likely be discounted at sale time because of light muscle, bone, or color patterns.

Simply using a small bull (within the same breed type as the heifer), or young bulls, will not reduce calving problems.

What about diet and dystocia?

Occasionally some producers have reported high birth weights and calving difficulty in heifers grazing wheat pasture for long continued on page ten

Livestock Market Digest

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Heifers periods. Research examining excess dietary protein and its effects on birth weight is fairly inconclusive. Still, if this is a concern in your operation, you might consider removing heifers from wheat two to three months before calving. Of course, they will need to continue to receive high quality nutrition in order to calve in proper body condition. Conversely, there is a good amount of research that indicates that restricting diet quality (protein or energy) will not significantly lower calf birth weight. In most cases, it will cause more dystocia because heifers calve in a weakened and unthrifty condition.

References: Fuentz, D.M., 1995. The costs of raising replacement heifers and the value of purchased versusraised replacements. Cattlemen’s Satellite Short Course. Session #11.

Funston, R. N. and G. H. Deutscher. 2004. Comparison of target breeding weight and breeding date for replacement beef heifers and effects on subsequent reproduction and calf

continued from page nine performance. J. Anim. Sci. 82:3094-3099.

GAN Lab (Grazing Animal Nutrition Laboratory) http:/cnrt.tamu.edu/ganlab Hawkins, D. E., M. K. Petersen, M. G. Thomas, J. E. Sawyer, and R. C. Waterman. 2000. Can beef heifers and young postpartum cows be physiologically and nutritionally manipulated to optimize reproductive efficiency? Proc. Am. Soc. Anim. Sci., 1999. Available at: http://www.asas.org/symposia/9899proc/092 8.pdf . Accessed March 2, 2010.

Hawkins, D. E., K. K. Kane, S. Cox, and M. K. Petersen. 2008. Low versus high input development of replacement heifers. Proceedings Corona Range and Livestock Research Center Day. Available at: Field http://coronasc.nmsu.edu/documents/hhawki ns-hiefer-input-crlrc-08.pdf Stockton, M.C. Wilson, R.K. and R.N. Funston.

2012 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report. P 43.

Texas A&M AgriLife publications can be accessed at: https://agrilifebookstore.org/ Hanselka, W. and McGinty A. How Much Forage Do You Have? AgriLife Pub B-1646.

Hanselka, W. and McGinty. Photo Guide to Forage Supplies on Texas Rangelands. AgriLife Pub L-5476.

McCollum, T., Supplementation Strategies for Beef Cattle. AgriLife Pub B-1614.

Cattlemen’s Boot Camp Set for North Dakota State University Cattlemen’s Boot Camp is set for June 25-26 at North Dakota State University, Fargo, N.D. The educational event is a 1 ½ day session cohosted by North Dakota State University, the American Angus AssociationŽ, and the Angus Foundation and is open to all seed stock and commercial cattle producers.

The future of the beef industry, quality and yield grade, and range management are a few of the topics that will be discussed by North Dakota State University faculty and American Angus Association staff. A tour of the Beef Cattle Research Center and Ekre Ranch is also scheduled dur-

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ing the event.

The $75 registration covers all meals and educational materials. Enrollment is limited, so register by June 10 to ensure your space in the Boot Camp. Area hotels are: Candlewood Suites, 701/2358200; Homewood Suites, 701/235-3150; and Days Inn, 701/232-0000.

For more information or to register, contact the American Angus Association at 816/383-5100 or go to www.angus.org. Cattlemen’s Boot Camps are just one of several educational events planned by the American Angus Association and funded by the Angus Foundation, which supports education, youth and research.

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‘Horse Whisperer’ Curt Pate to speak at New Mexico Indian Livestock Days in May he largest Native American livestock producer conference in the nation will have a special attraction this year.

Curt Pate, a Montana cowboy who consulted on the 1998 Robert Redford film The Horse Whisperer, will be presenting a session on horse sense at the New Mexico Indian Livestock Days, May 14-16 at the Route 66 Casino and Hotel in Albuquerque.

The annual conference conducted by New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service provides researchbased information to livestock producers to help improve profitability of their herds. “We are excited to have Curt Pate presenting his methods of handling livestock,� said Kathy Landers, McKinley County Extension agricultural agent and coordinator of the conference. “He will be conducting two sessions on Wednesday, May 15, during our outdoor track.�

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Pate will present a morning and an afternoon session on livestock handling methods used 100 years ago. His goal is to teach modern ranchers to think like cattle and use low-stress methods of handling livestock.

Due to limited seating for Pate’s program, the first 150 participants to register will receive passes to the session.

This year’s conference is expanding its session offerings by having three tracks of workshops on the second day. There will be an indoor, outdoor and home economics track that will give a wider variety of information.

The conference will begin at 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, with a general session where participants will receive an update on the various U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, as well as a presentation on ranch bookkeeping and budgeting followed with a roundtable discussion of questions from the audience.

Wednesday, May 15, will be a full day of presentations

beginning at 8 a.m. Attendees will select workshops from the three tracks.

Workshop sessions will include alternative feeds and drought management, the latest information about animal reproduction, how to produce quality meat, cattle handling, and a report on the wild horse roundups being conducted in the Navajo Nation.

During the home economics track of workshops, NMSU Extension home economists will discuss food safety and food preservation through home canning and drying.

The final day of the conference will be from 8 a.m. to noon Thursday, May 16. The general session will include a wrap-up of previous sessions by the presenters, a marketing roundtable discussion with members of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association, and a presentation on the New Mexico Youth Ranch Management Camp and the US Beef Academy by former campers.

Colorado Leopold Conservation Award Goes To Visintainer Sheep Co. he Sand County Foundation, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, and Peabody Energy are proud to name the Visintainer Sheep Co., Craig, Colorado. as the recipient of the 2013 Leopold Conservation Award in Colorado.

Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the award recognizes private landowner achievement in voluntary conservation, and is presented annually.

The Visintainers will receive $10,000 and a crystal depicting Aldo Leopold at the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association Annual Convention on June 17 in Breckenridge.

Visintainer Sheep Co. is a sheep and cattle ranch in Moffat County. Dean Visintainer and his son Gary jointly run the operation, where concern for the land has always been essential to their management.

Across generations, the Visintainers have continually adapted to a changing environment and economy by moving away from

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production-based management to “forage-based� management aimed at improved range health.

This critical change in philosophy, coupled with decades of monitoring and observation, has led to the diversification of livestock to both sheep and cattle; while keeping a key emphasis on wildlife species, including deer, elk, pronghorn, greater sage grouse, and Columbian sharptailed grouse. Today, their ranch is a true refuge for many wildlife species. “The Visintainers are clearly committed to innovation and testing of practices that further improve stewardship of natural resources under their care,� said Brent Haglund, president, Sand County Foundation. “This family exemplifies what it means to be leaders in conservation.�

T. Wright Dickinson, President of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, said, “The Visintainer family coexists with nature in one of the most challenging environments in Colorado to produce food and fiber for families across the state and nation. This miracle of agriculture and conservation

doesn't happen on its own; but requires tending of the herds, soil, and water through the lens of sustainability.�

The Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation. It inspires landowners through these examples and provides a visible forum where farmers, ranchers and other private landowners are recognized as conservation leaders. In his influential 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac, Leopold called for an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage, which he called “an evolutionary possibility and an ecological necessity.�

Award applicants are judged based on their demonstration of improved resource conditions, innovation, long-term commitment to stewardship, sustained economic viability, community and civic leadership, and multiple use benefits.

The Leopold Conservation Award is possible thanks to generous contributions from Peabody Energy and The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

California’s Green Jobs: Where Did They Go? reen jobs were supposed to be the next big thing. On the campaign trail, President Obama promised to create 5 million new green-collar jobs. But where the rest of the nation has rejected all or most of these proposals, California has embraced them all. Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out well, says Conn Carroll in the Washington Examiner.

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MARKET

April 15, 2013

â– California embraced the capand-trade, renewable electricity mandates and high-speed rail proposals that the rest of the country rejected. â– Since adopting these policies, California now has the highest gas prices in the country at an average of $4.15 per gallon, more than 40 cents above the national average of $3.74. â– Clean-air rules and environ-

mental regulations that have driven the number of refineries down suggest gas prices will continue to rise.

California’s electricity prices are also 39 percent higher than the national average and expected to rise when the state’s renewable energy mandate kicks in, which requires 30 percent of electricity continued on page fourteen

April 15, 2013

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

Page 11

Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and NACo Renew Public Lands Management Partnership he Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Forest Service (FS) and the National Association of Counties (NACo) have officially renewed their longstanding partnership that allows them to tackle public lands issues across boundaries.

By signing the Memorandum of Understanding, the BLM and FS recognize the important role counties play in locally based decision-making and the need to emphasize a landscape-level approach across local, state and federal boundaries.

The agreement, signed March 3, establishes a frame-

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work for the Bureau, the Forest Service and NACo to work cooperatively to address fire, weed management, planning and other areas of common concern, as well as seek creative solutions to issues impacting local communities such as recreation, grazing, wild horses and burros and energy development.

It ensures that broad lines of communication are opened to county officials to contribute to federal land management initiatives and policies. At a national and local level, the groups will collaborate to proactively address potential conflicts and achieve results that benefit each organization.

“Counties are key partners on-the-ground in the successful management of public lands,” BLM Principal Deputy Director Neil Kornze said. “The BLM values the spirit of partnership, goodwill and cooperation we have enjoyed in this longstanding relationship.”

“It’s essential that we continue our strong, productive partnership with the National Association of Counties,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. “We appreciate the association’s interest and participation in the wide variety of land management issues we face every day on forests and grasslands across the country.”

NACo President Chris

Rodgers said he is pleased that our federal partners recognize the unique role and perspective counties play in the management of public lands.

“This agreement strengthens our intergovernmental relationships and ensures that county officials have input on federal decisions affecting counties and communities.”

The BLM is a federal agency that manages approximately 245 million acres of public land, primarily in the West, and 700 million acres of federal mineral resources. In addition, the BLM is responsible for managing public lands scattered throughout the 31 states bordering on, and east of the Mississippi River. The agency’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of these public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Why would I want to entangle myself in another agreement with the government?

BY DOUG BURGER, ROSWELL BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

his question arises every time the government introduces a new program. It’s a good question and one that deserves a good answer, particularly at a time when the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed to list a species under the Endangered Species Act. We’re talking about the lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) and conservation agreements. We’re also talking about how to protect the investment in your ranch if the FWS decides to list the chicken later this year. You can protect your ranch by voluntarily entering into a conservation agreement, and here is the good news, all it will cost you is the time it takes to enroll your property.

Here is how it works. A rancher can enroll their private and State land in a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA).

They can also enroll any public land on their ranch in a Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA). By voluntarily entering into these agreements, you, as the participating rancher, receive either assurances or a high degree of certainty that you management actions can continue without interruption if the Lesser Prairie Chicken is listed.

To receive the insurance policy, you have to voluntarily agree to do some things in the management of your ranch. Things like: ■ Provide escape ramps in all open water sources and trenches for chickens ■ Install, or allow the installation of, fence makers along fences that cross through occupied habitat within 2 miles of an active lek ■ Improve or maintain lands as suitable LPC habitat for the duration of the agreement ■ Adhere to rangeland and grazing stipulations required by the BLM’s 2008 Resource Management Plan Amendment at a minimum for ranch operations The above bulleted items are

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included in a Certificate of Inclusion that you would sign when you enroll your ranch in a CCAA. These items are already approved by the FWS, so if they decide to list the bird as threatened, the FWS will leave you alone as long as you are living up to your end of the agreement. You won’t have to go through consultation with the FWS to make a change at your ranch.

This is a plus because consultation can take anywhere from two to 12 months, depending on the workload at the FWS. The CCAA acts like an insurance policy similar to what many people have on the vehicles and homes. In this case, the insurance protects you from the red tape of consultation under the Endangered Species Act. The premium is paid by managing the ranch as agreed to in the Certificate of Inclusion.

“Sounds too good to be true,” you say. “What do I have to give up?” By voluntarily signing the Certificate of Inclusion there are a three management options you would agree to forego. They are: ■ No leasing of lands to wind power development (including any appurtenant turbine towers, roads, fences, or power lines) ■ No leasing any lands to oil and gas development (including roads, fences, or power lines), where the private land holder has discretion (owns the minerals) ■ No conversion to crop production (sodbusting) or development as part of maintaining existing LPC habitat Did I mention the CCAAs are voluntary agreements? Entering into a CCAA and signing the Certificate of Inclusion is the landowner’s choice to make. Similarly, unenrolling in a CCAA is always the option of the rancher as well.

By enrolling in a CCAA you agree to let biologists from the FWS, the NM Department of Game and Fish, or the Center for Excellence for Hazardous Materials Management (CEHMM) come to your ranch to look for LPCs, monitor LPC populations

and habitat, and monitor compliance with the conservation agreement.

They won’t show up unannounced.

They will contact you first before they go on to your property. And any information they collect about LPCs on your ranch will be withheld from the general public. Keep in mind enrolling your private property does not give the general public the right to count LPCs, watch LPCs, camp, or anything else without your express permission.

If you are still reading then you haven’t been scared off. Thirty-nine of your fellow ranchers have already taken advantage of the opportunity to enroll their properties in southeast New Mexico. You might know some of them and they would probably be glad to talk to you about their experi-

ence with the CCAA/CCA program.

Some of you might be wondering who or what CEHMM is.

CEHMM is a non-profit organization based in Carlsbad, NM who holds the CCA/CCAA permit from FWS. At their website (www.cehmm.org) you can click on “Conservation” and learn more about CCAAs. You can also read an example of a Certificate of Inclusion at the site as well.

Your opportunity to enroll in the program won’t last forever. The FWS is scheduled to make the decision whether or not to list the bird in September 2013. If the FWS decides to list the bird, the opportunity to enroll will likely be closed. continued on page sixteen

The Forest Service is a land and resource management agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for managing and protecting approximately 193 million acres of public lands. The Forest Service provides leadership in the management of the Nation’s state and private forests, forest research, and international assistance for the protection and sound management of the world’s forest resources.

National Association of Counties is a national organization that represents county governments in the United States. Founded in 1935, NACo provides essential services to the nation’s 3,069 counties. NACo advances issues with a unified voice before the federal government, improves the public's understanding of county government, assists counties in finding and sharing innovative solutions through education and research, and provides value-added services to save counties and taxpayers money.

Livestock Market Digest

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April 15, 2013

The Myth of America’s Cowboy Capitalism Mesalands Rodeo Team dominates in Arizona he Mesalands Community College’s Rodeo Team had their first rodeo of the spring season recently at Cochise College in Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. The Women’s Team won the Team Championship Title and earned 466 points. The Men’s Team was named Men’s Reserve Champions earning 457 points. The Women’s Team is currently first in the Grand Canyon Region and Men’s Team is in second place.

“This is a good way to start off the spring season for the Mesalands Rodeo Team!” said C.J. Aragon, Mesalands Intercollegiate Rodeo Coach.

During last weekend’s rodeo competition, Sophomore Macy Fuller, Wittman, Arizona had a captivating rodeo performance.

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She was crowned once again, the Women’s All-Around Champion and Goat Tying Champion. Fuller also took second in breakaway roping and sixth in team roping with Daniel Baeza from Chihuahua, Mexico.

Fellow teammate Betty Jo Pack from Aztec, New Mexico brought home her first championship title of the season in Breakaway Roping last weekend.

Sophomore Christian Stremler, Winnemucca, Nevada represented the Men’s Team well in Arizona. Stremler won the Championship Title in Saddle Bronc Riding. Sophomore Adriano Long, Dilkon, Arizona electrified the bull riding event and clinched the championship title.

merica has long been the home of the starving entrepreneur and die-hard capitalist. To the outside world, America’s rugged individualism extends to the U.S. economy, which is free of government interference. However, this view of “cowboy capitalism” is false, say Thomas A. Hemphill, an associate professor at the University of Michigan Flint, and Mark Perry, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a professor of economics at the University of Michigan Flint.

American businesses face an enormous burden in complying with federal regulation.

■ The Federal Register, which contains all proposed rules and regulations, has grown more than 2,848 percent since its first volume.

■ More proposed rules now have an expected economic impact of at least $100 million and spending by regulatory agencies increased more than 1,700

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percent in the last 50 years.

■ Regulatory agencies employed 283,615 people in 2012, demonstrating the expanse of regulation.

Government subsidies to firms and industries, referred to as “corporate welfare,” reduce free market competition and lower barriers to entry.

■ State and local governments offer up to $80.4 billion in business subsidies each year.

■ Forty-eight companies have received more than $100 million in state grants since 2007.

Despite its cowboy capitalist reputation, the United States has a higher corporate income tax rate than the rest of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which includes most developed countries in the world. Indeed, the U.S. income tax rate in 2012 was 39.2 percent, which is almost 14 percentage points higher than the simple average corporate tax rate of 25.4 percent for the other

34 countries in the OECD. Moreover, the United States has gone from among the most economically free countries in the world in the 1980s and 1990s to the 10th most free country in 2013. Based on regulation, openness to international trade, property rights and the rule of law and the size of government, America ranks 8.5 points below the average for free countries in the Heritage Foundation’s Economic Freedom Index.

Taking these factors into account, it seems that the perception of America as a heavily capitalist nation and economy is misguided. In the future, significant policy reforms, reducing the size of government, overhauling the tax system, transforming costly entitlement programs and streamlining regulations will all be necessary to promote a more capitalist market economy.

Source: Thomas Hemphill and Mark Perry, “Myths of American ‘Cowboy Capitalism,’” The American, March 4, 2013.

Federal Department of Whimsy April 1, 2025 Headline: Wine and Cheese Banned from American Diets he presidentially appointed Director of Taste has declared the selling and/or dispensing of all fermented beverages derived from the fruit of the vine is to be prohibited in the United States. In addition, certain varieties of cheese whose aroma has been defined as “too stinky” by the Sniff Committee, are also banned from manufacture or importation in the U.S. These new regulations are part of a continuing effort by ‘those who know best’ operating through the Department of Whimsy. They base their regulations on the premise that you can always find someone who is offended by someone else’s behavior or taste.

It started innocently enough with the separating of cigarette smokers to the back of airplanes.

The requirement of content labels on baked and canned goods followed. Then no smoking in airports, no sugar in soda pop. Then no soda pop in schools, then no soda pop in cities! Then the banning of baked goods, desserts, and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream in schools, then cities, then the nation.

Twinkies, rich pastries and

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CinnaBuns were banned because they were declared to be harmful to some. Fish caught in the wild were banned because of possible mercury content and farm-raised fish were banned due to possible salmon abuse.

The battle goes on. The Animal Rights Loonies have been trying for years to ban the eating of horsemeat. They also are seeking the Department of Sensitivity to prevent the use of horses for fun or profit. The ownership of house pets are next on their agenda.

The 9th District Court of Appeals intends to make California “WINE FREE in ’33.” They also are considering banning the consumption or use of sugar, domestically raised livestock, tobacco and firearms. Their reasoning has something to do with climate change. There is a proposition on the next state ballot to ban climate change!

To no one’s surprise the use of marijuana has been excluded from “Ban Fever.” Their concern is the negative effect on Mexico’s economy. Many border state citizens are now supported by their relatives in Mexico sending them money made in the drug

trade.

As these strict, new regulations continue to get more and more bizarre, there is a blatant backlash sweeping the country.

In California, the Union of Farm Workers is protesting the Sacramento Abolitionists who have declared manual labor a Crime.

But all this bodes well for the state of Nebraska who has fenced out animal rights extremists, anyone appointed by the Federal government, and welcomes anybody willing to work.

Where all this government intervention will take us is anyone’s guess. There appear to be people who appoint themselves kings, dictators, masters, allknowing wise men who really believe they know what is best for you, for your own good. They are sincere. They suffer from one of two delusional syndromes. For the appointed ones it is the Purchasing Agent Syndrome, who derives power from someone else’s status. For the elected it is the Oprah Syndrome, sometimes called the Columnist Syndrome, that says because you are popular you really must know what you are talking about.

Pop the cork, Dork.

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

April 15, 2013

Page 13

Outcry grows over feral hog damage across US LOGAN HAWKES AND

New Mexico Initiative

RON SMITH,

While USDA has been active in monitoring and working with states to help control feral swine populations, until now an all out federal effort to eradicate feral swine hasn’t been launched, and for good reason. The cost of attempting to eradicate the estimated two million feral swine in Texas, for example, would require a massive budget, larger perhaps than the entire budget for the State Department of Agriculture, and even then success would be difficult if not impossible given the numbers.

But that may not be true in New Mexico where feral swine are a relatively small though escalating problem. Population numbers are low, though growing rapidly.

“We think we have a pretty good shot at eradication of the feral swine population of New Mexico, says Alan May, State Director for USDA Wildlife Services in Albuquerque. “We don’t have the large numbers they do in Texas. “If we act early, we think we may be able to prevent an awfully lot of economic, environmental and public health problems associated with feral swine.”

May said that while eradication efforts would be concentrated to three specific areas where feral swine populations are the greatest, the undertaking of a comprehensive program involving trapping and hunting feral swine is a massive undertaking and would require local, state and federal participation.

After talking with various officials and private property owners in the three designated areas where swine problems are developing, officials representing the Mescalero Apache Indian Tribe and the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, and various state and county officials petitioned USDA Under Secretary Edward Avalos for federal support of an initiative to declare war against the wild pig population of the state.

“Working through (USDA) Wildlife Services in New Mexico, the partners in this initiative asked for funding of a pilot project for addressing control methods of the feral swine problem there. USDA agreed to put $1 million into the project, but local partners are putting in $300,000 of their own, including in-kind services to expedite this initiative,” Under Secretary Avalos told Southwest Farm Press.

Avalos says New Mexico is the first state to tackle a comprehensive statewide project to eradicate the feral swine population and says he believes there is a good chance the program will be successful. He says with eradication as the objective, even a substantial reduction in feral swine numbers would represent a major success in helping the state minimize negative effects of the invasive species.

The three areas of concern in New Mexico include the middle

SOUTHWEST FARM PRESS WESTERNFARMPRESS.COM

hen Shakespeare penned his now famous Julius Caesarin 1599, he knew very little about the New World and what strange creatures may have roamed its regions. But Russian boars and wild nefarious hogs did trample the English countryside at the time, though his famous “Cry Havoc and let loose the dogs of war” phrase gleaned from the pages of the play had nothing to do with swine or the Americas.

But 400 years later there’s an outcry all across the New World about feral swine that are growing in numbers radically, as is the damage and trouble they are causing on farms and ranches in at least 38 of the 50 states.

The feral swine problem is arguably worse in Texas than in other states; in the Lone Star State feral swine populations have been estimated to exceed two million and cause an estimated $59 million in damages to private and public land each year ($1.5 billion nationwide). And worse, both population numbers and the amount of damage are growing every year.

According to Texas A&M officials, feral hogs are opportunistic omnivores, meaning they feed on plant and animal matter in addition to being able to play the role of a scavenger.

They are largely indiscriminant in their feeding habits and eat both vertebrate and invertebrate animals. Most of their diet is believed to be composed of vegetation, including crops. Small hogs may eat approximately five percent of their body weight daily — larger hogs an estimated three percent of body weight.

In addition to destroying crop land, they are notorious for wallowing-out watering holes, which may cause other animals to avoid these areas. During times of drought, however, all animals are often obliged to water from these areas. Infected pigs can spread parasites and diseases through both direct contact and by contaminating drinking water.

In addition, the feral hog population is a potential reservoir for numerous diseases and parasites that threaten livestock and deer.

Feral pig populations are known to harbor diseases and parasites which can easily be transmitted to these species.

In Texas, and other states plagued the most by large feral swine populations, notably California and Florida, millions in public and private funds have been spent through the years in an effort to manage the problem. But as the problem escalates, so does the need for greater resources to fight them.

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Rio Grande Valley because of the large amount of irrigated agriculture subject to damage, the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation near Ruidoso because the U.S. Forest Service is already doing some eradication work and on the reservation is a potential risk to water quality because of the large number of fresh water springs, and the Southeastern part of New Mexico from the Pecos River east to the Texas State line where feral swine populations are growing.

Avalos says the pilot program will run through the end of this fiscal year, which ends in September, but local officials hope to seek additional funding to keep the project going.

In response to a question about the use of toxicants to control feral swine populations, a practice that is growing in popularity in Australia, Avalos says the use of toxicants in the U.S. is against the law. But he says as part of their ongoing feral swine research, they have been in contact with a private Australian company that is promoting the use of sodium nitrate for eradication.

Toxicants “We’re looking at all methods of feral swine management and the use of toxicants is one that deserves our scrutiny. But keep in mind, the process of testing through field trials on such things is extensive and it would be a number of years before approval could be secured from EPA and other agencies to use it commercially in the environment,” Avalos said.

Dr. Tyler Campbell, USDA/ APHIS/ NWRC in Gainesville, Florida, who has dedicated eight years to the study and research of feral swine in the U.S., says sodium nitrate may be a good choice for controlling swine populations in the wild.

“Sodium nitrate is commonly used to cure hams and sausage and used as a human food preservative, which might make it easier to pass rigorous EPA standards before approval is given for its use. The Australian company is Animal Control Technologies and they own the patent. We are working with them in developing feeder systems that are species specific for use with feral swine,” he said.

A feeder known as the “Hog Hopper” has two vertical doors that pigs can learn to push up to access the toxicant. Trials in the U.S. so far have been positive and Campbell says they may seek experimental use permits from EPA to conduct more comprehensive trials, but that could take up to two years before testing could be expanded.

Campbell works at USDA’s

National Wildlife Research Lab, which is leading the way in feral swine research. So far 37 trials with the feeder have been conducted, but additional testing will be required before EPA would consider authorizing commercial use.

“We must make certain that only feral swine are targeted and other wildlife is protected when using any type of system of this nature, and that’s simply going to take time,” he added.

The New Mexico Initiative will use only traps and aerial hunting to lower feral swine numbers in the three designated areas.

Numbers are high Just across the state line, rural property owners in Texas are reporting feral swine in the across the state are increasingly becoming a major problem and economic concern.

Many Texas farmers say feral hogs have become their worst pest problem. Large numbers of pigs routinely destroy cropland, pollute stock tanks and streams and tear up pastureland.

“We need a solution,” said Erik Akins, a Northeast Texas grain farmer near Van Alstyne.

“We need technology.” He said traps are not enough to control the population. “And it’s hard to get them to go into traps.”

Jay Norman, Wolfe City, Texas, said he began to see more feral hogs after Christmas than he’d seen all year. “I’ve seen bunches of 25 or more and they all look exactly alike.”

“We didn’t see many at all last summer,” added Pat Fallon.

“Lately, the worst problems have been in our fields closer to town.”

“We don’t see them for awhile and then we let our

guard down,” said Kenneth Griffin, who farms near Gunter, Texas.

Chico Light says the problem has become severe. “I’ve seen as many as 40 or 50 in a group,” he said. “They’re getting into everything, even wheat fields. They are worse every year.”

Farmers would like to see new approaches to a problem that continues to get worse.

Sterilization should be considered, Akins said. They also would not rule out toxins, which are currently illegal, and would support research on sodium nitrate and the experimental hopper.

“We need a solution,” Light said.

Farmers hope that efforts in New Mexico and elsewhere at least point to potential solutions.

While total eradication of the New Mexico feral swine population may be a lofty goal, participants in the New Mexico Feral Swine Eradication Team say they are not wasting any time. May says six new federal employees were recently hired to work with the program and a team of researchers has already studied the areas where eradication efforts will take place to identify the best locations for traps and hunting expeditions.

“The sooner we get started the better success we will have,” May said.

In the meantime, neighboring officials in Arizona, Oklahoma and Colorado say they will keep an eye on how the program develops in New Mexico — in hopes of being able to initiate their own management and control programs to fight the ever growing problems associated with feral swine.

Livestock Market Digest

Page 14

April 15, 2013

Summer Management of Replacement Ewe Lambs

BY SCOTT P. GREINER, DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL & POULTRY SCIENCES, VIRGINIA TECH

uccessful development, breeding, and lambing of ewe lambs is one of most important tasks of the shepherd. Summer is a critical time for the development of replacement ewe lambs as they make the transition from weaning to members of the breeding flock. Proper management of replacement ewe lambs during this time is critical to their future productivity and profitability.

In most breeding systems, replacement ewe lambs will be generated from within the flock. Therefore, attention to maternal traits in the rams siring potential replacements is critical. Additionally, preference should be given to crossbred ewe lambs. Crossbred

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animals have two major advantages over straightbred animals: 1) Crossbred animals exhibit heterosis (hybrid vigor), and 2) Crossbred animals combine the strengths of the breeds used to form the cross (breed complimentarity). Crossbred females are superior to straightbreds for reproductive performance due to advantages received from heterosis. Crossbred ewes exhibit significant advantages in fertility, prolificacy, and lamb survival resulting in advantages of up to 18 percent in pounds of lamb weaned per ewe exposed compared to straightbred ewes.

From the existing pool of potential replacements, the following are important considerations for selection: 1) Performance Record: Ewe lambs should be retained from highly productive dams. Identifying these dams through a record-keeping system is therefore the first step in identifying

potential replacements. Dams that lamb early in the lambing season, produce multiple births, and excel in pounds of lamb weaned (reflective of milking ability) are the best candidates to produce replacements. In the absence of such records, identifying maternal potential in ewe lambs based solely on visual appraisal is difficult.

2) Age: Preference should be given to ewe lambs born early in the lambing season (first 50 days). These ewe lambs are more likely to reach puberty earlier, breed, and lamb in a timely fashion as yearlings. Older ewe lambs are also more likely to reach target body weight by their first breeding season than young ewe lambs, and this coupled with age enhance their ability to breed as ewe lambs.

3) Conformation/Soundness: Structural soundness and mouth soundness are critical for longevity. Additionally, ewes

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parasite management program is also crucial for optimum gains.

The following table presents nutrient requirements for growing ewe lambs. The table demonstrates the dramatic differences in requirements for ewe lambs at different body weights and stages of development (requirements assume 180 pound mature weight). Older, heavier ewe lambs grazing native pastures of adequate quality will require little supplementation to continue growth and maintain optimum body condition (condition score of 3 on 5-point scale). However, smaller ewe lambs have a higher requirement for both energy and protein. The highest quality pastures available should be utilized for development of these ewe lambs, and grain supplementation may be needed depending on forage quality, rainfall, and other factors. The anticipated breeding date is also important, as ewe lambs to be exposed in early fall need to reach puberty and be on a positive plane of nutrition going into the breeding season. This is more difficult to accomplish for early fall breeding, as typically forage quality during late summer is compromised as a result of lower rainfall and high temperatures. Conversely, as fall arrives and environmental factors change, forage growth and forage quality typically improve.

Therefore, close attention to forage quality and quantity, age and weight of ewe lambs, and desired breeding date need to be considered in the construction of a proper nutrition program for developing ewe lambs.

Daily Nutrient Requirements of Ewe Lambs (prebreeding)a

aValues adopted from National Research Council for Sheep, 6th Ed.

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with adequate body capacity and muscling, and those which tend to be “easy keepers” are preferred.

Nutrition from birth to first lambing has an influence on the lifetime productivity of the ewe.

Ewe lambs should be in production by the time they are 12 to 14 months of age, as ewes that lamb first as yearlings rather than two year-olds have higher lifetime production. As a guide, ewe lambs should be targeted to reach 70 percent of their mature weight at breeding.

Therefore, most ewe lambs should weight 100-150 pounds at breeding. To accomplish this under most management scenarios, ewe lambs should be identified, and then managed as a separate group from the mature breeding flock as well as market lambs.

Winter born ewe lambs generally have early rapid growth resulting from creep feeding and grain diets prior to forage availability. Winter born ewe lambs that will be kept for flock replacements should be prevented from becoming excessively fat. Excess fat deposition has been shown to reduce future milk production. Development of these winter-born ewe lambs is best accomplished through pasture grazing and additional grain supplementation as needed to enhance gains.

Early and late spring born lambs traditionally are developed primarily through foragebased systems.

Potential replacements should be identified and weaned so they may be properly grown and managed.

These ewe lambs may need to receive supplemental grain (.51.5 lb./head/day) to achieve daily gains needed to reach target body weight prior to breeding.

The amount of supplement needed will vary with forage quality and availability, as well as anticipated breeding date. As forage quality and availability declines during the summer, supplemental grain feeding may become necessary if breeding dates are early. Shearing of replacement ewes will enhance growth rates during the hot summer months. An effective

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Jobs be derived from renewable sources. The renewable mandate is estimated to raise prices another 13 percent. One industry official estimates that 59 percent of all renewable energy contracts signed by utility companies paid above-market prices for their renewable energy.

■ While Obama’s cap-andtrade proposal failed, California’s cap-and-trade punishes businesses and manufacturers, costing them an estimated $1 billion a year.

■ Despite these energy reforms, the Wall Street Journal reports that starting in 2015, Cali-

continued from page ten

fornians will face rolling blackouts due to the loss of conventional power plants and the variable nature of wind and solar energy.

■ And the jobs? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fewer than 2,500 green jobs have been created in California since 2010.

■ To put that in perspective, California has added more than 556,000 total jobs since the end of the recession in 2009.

Source: Conn Carroll, “California in Crisis: Golden State’s Green Jobs Bust,” Washington Examiner, February 27, 2013.

April 15, 2013

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

A Cowboy Job Interview

BY ED ASHURST

first heard about the job from old Bill who had been running the outfit for a dozen or so years. Bill had been well paid, and being prudent in his investments had accumulated enough wealth to retire, an event he was looking forward to. He had notified several cowboys around the country who, in his estimation, were capable of taking his place. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I was among that bunch, and an interview had been arranged.

The owner of the outfit had built himself a mansion on a rocky promontory overlooking a spring that produced several hundred gallons of water a minute. The real headquarters of this 1000 cow outfit lay a dozen miles north, and beings the vast supply of water was not used for anything more than watering a few cows I was confused why a man would build a home so far from the center of all the cow work. Perhaps he liked the view, and perhaps cow work was the farthest thing from his mind.

We were supposed to arrive at 10:00 a.m. which would provide time to talk business, and then our prospective employer would provide lunch. We were ushered into the interior of the well-appointed home which boasted of brass light fixtures and a wood stove imported from England. The ranch owner was a wealthy professional who had been introduced into the cow business through inheritance. She, like the brass light fixtures and stove, was an English import and was cool but friendly. He was cool.

While my wife and the lady of the house visited and talked of preparing the midday meal the doctor and I retired to the parlor to talk business.

I was prepared to give evidence of all my accomplishments as a cowboy, cowman, and all-around managerial candidate. He, with the appearance of one whose veins contain ice water, gazed at me for some moments without speaking. I held my peace and at last he spoke, “Have you ever overhauled a diesel engine?”

I had been prepared to tell him of the broncs I had busted and the wild cows I had roped. I could brag about working for the likes of Whistles Mills, John Andrews, Jim Miller, and Bill Howell. I had watched the sun rise over the top of Mount Hope and go down on the Painted Desert but the plain truth was, no, I had never overhauled a diesel engine!

For two hours I was grilled repeatedly about engines, the square root of seventeen, and my ability to communicate with government bureaucracies like the U. S. Forest Service and the NRCS. At no time did a question arise about my knowledge of gathering cattle, working cattle, the cattle industry as a whole, or the cow market in particular. There was no mention of cattle pedigrees, heterosis, estrus, or the available protein and vitamin A in Northern Arizona forbs during a typical January at 6000 feet elevation.

Nobody who owned a hospital would hire a cat skinner to manage it. I couldn’t help but wonder why a rancher would hire a mechanic to run the ranch. I was becoming

I

apprehensive about my test score; in other words, I knew I was failing.

Finally the ladies announced that lunch was ready. Knowing the wellappointed kitchen had among other necessities an imported wood stove I envisioned a feast: big fluffy baking powder biscuits with gravy along side, a big dose of pounded and floured round steak came to my mind, and then maybe some peach cobbler cooked in the oven of the famous English stove, with some hot black cowboy coffee to wash it all down.

We entered the dining area, which was cold, and I noticed a decorative flower pot on the English stove. No fire there. And then I caught my first glimpse of the table, four china plates and four glasses of water. In the middle of the table was a platter of slabs of some cut of meat that was more gristle than muscle.

The meat was cold which I learned is what cold cuts are supposed to be.

There was a jar of Best Foods mayonnaise and another plate which held a quantity of sliced tomatoes.

To round all this out was a stack of sliced bread which rested on another vessel of imported china. The bread was holsum, as in Holsum brand. I saw the plastic wrapper it came in resting on the kitchen counter. I was so ignorant of modern ranch management practices I didn’t know tasteless bread like Holsum was allowed on cow outfits.

We sat down and I was careful to not rest my elbows on the table.

Food was passed around and I took a portion of that which was available.

I was patient and in time observed what our hosts intended to do with their victuals, and as a result of my craftiness I began making a sandwich as if I knew what I was doing. I applied a great deal of mayonnaise which I figured would be the only ingredient containing that quality known as taste. I also applied several slices of tomato on top of the slab of cold rare meat which being quite large hung over the edge of the china. Before making a lid with a second slice of Holsum I considered putting some salt and pepper on top of the central ingredients. But when I considered the appearance of the shakers, which looked like Fabergé eggs, I knew that would be hopeless.

The implements containing these spices were of the type that have holes so small that no kernel of pepper or salt can escape. I thought about taking the lid off but realized that would be inappropriate.

What happened next will forever be branded into the inner sanctums of my ego, paralyzing my confidence, and laying waste my ability to calculate the future: I lifted the sandwich with its slab of gristle and took a large bite. I instantly realized my forty-year-old incisors would not cut through and allow me to separate that which was in from that which was out. I hesitated knowing it wasn’t the time to be hasty. I glanced around and could tell everyone was trying to ignore me. I would act decisively biting down with all my strength, and then with one great tearing motion would separate that portion of slab that was in my mouth.

Swiftness as well as strength

would be needed, and so with one great motion I pulled downward with two hands and bit solidly into the cold cut. Trying to be a gentleman, I had, upon entering the house several hours earlier, deposited my sombrero on a hat rack by the door.

I so missed it at this point in time, because being unable to hide

Page 15

behind the wide brim, I could tell everyone was now staring at me. My hands held two slices of Holsum, which were well lubricated with an ample supply of Best Foods mayonnaise and several slices of tomato. A large slab of beef hung downward out of my mouth looking a great deal like a Peterbuilt mud flap that

had been riveted to my lower lip.

In a moment of time I caught a brief sparkle originating from the imported brass light fixtures and reflected on the tomato juice amidst the Holsum my hands held. It was like a revelation or epiphany of sorts and suddenly I knew that I was not going to get the job.

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Livestock Market Digest

Page 16

April 15, 2013

When Animal Rights Activists Launch a Sting, Animal Agriculture Businesses Can Fight Back LeClairRyan attorney offers ‘best practices’ for farmers targeted by PETA, other groups nimal rights activists are increasingly targeting animal agricultural businesses, such as dairy, swine and poultry farmers, with undercover video stings designed to generate maximum media attention, warns LeClairRyan shareholder David L. Cook in a two-part “Dairy Management & the Law” series in the February and March 2013 editions of Dairy Business magazine. But agri-businesses can take proactive steps to exclude infiltrators in the first place, he says; and if there is a breach, companies can take legal and other steps to fight back.

“Since 2005, more than two dozen undercover videos have been released in more than 10 states relating to animal agriculture,” explains Cook, who represents major dairy and other agricultural businesses throughout the Northeast from his base in the national law firm’s Rochester office. “These operations use shock and sensationalism to gain media coverage and, ultimately, impact public opinion and disrupt markets.”

Groups such as the Humane Society of the United States, Mercy for Animals, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and Farm Sanctuary have conducted undercover operations targeting the dairy and other industries, he says.

A good defense starts with the hiring process according to Cook, who notes that a resume without animal agriculture experience could signal that an applicant is an undercover plant. “It is perfectly appropriate and legal to ask in an employment interview or on an application if a prospective employee is a member of or supports animal rights organizations,” he writes. “In addition, agricultural employers should require all employees to sign a non-disclosure and confidentiality agreement which includes a prohibition against taking or distributing photographs or video of any aspect of their employment.”

Violators should be dismissed, he adds, pointing out that in most states, an employee may be fired for any reason other than race, national origin,

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Why There are several people you can contact about the CCAA/CCA program and how to enroll. You can contact CEHMM via email at www.info@cehmm.org or call them at 575/885-3700. Doug Lynn and his staff would be happy to talk to you about CCAAs. At the Bureau of Land Management’s Roswell Office, contact Howard Parman at 575/6270212 or via email at hparman@blm.gov. If you want to

age, gender, or sexual orientation. Dairy operations should also be protected with security and surveillance systems, and employees should report coworkers who are making videos, taking pictures or otherwise deviating from established policies and principles related to animal health and safety, he notes.

If a company is nonetheless targeted by an undercover operation or the subject of a media report, an attorney should interview all employees who have had any kind of contact with the undercover employee and/or may have been filmed or recorded, writes Cook.

“Immediately contact your vet and ensure that all your records are up to date and can be provided to law enforcement, if necessary,” he counsels, noting that the burden of proof is on the government to prove that a criminal act has been committed, and that an intent to cause harm and actual harm have both occurred. “Do not wait for law enforcement to contact you,” Cook says, adding that the accused company’s lawyer should establish a relationship with the prosecutor and advise that they will cooperate with the investigation and respond to media inquiries.

“By proactively dealing with law enforcement, you may be able to demonstrate that no violation of the animal cruelty laws has taken place, avoiding prosecution altogether,” Cook writes.

“Generally, most dairy operations will be able to show they are following generally accepted farming practices and, as a result, there is no intent to cause harm. Sadly, most targeted dairy operations have failed to grasp these key principles, resulting in a public perception that the targeted dairy farm is at fault, because it has given into the demands of the activists or prosecution.”

But some recent cases offer hope. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) launched an undercover operation against Ringling Bros., but ended up paying $9.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought against it by the circus after it was discovered

continued from page eleven

talk to an FWS staffer about CCAAs, contact Ty Allen at 575/234-5978 or via email at ty_allen@fws.gov.

Like any good businessman, you want to protect your investment. The CCAA/CCA program is a tool to accomplish your goals. Contact the people listed above. It will be worth your time.

Source: Roswell, New Mexico Bureau of Land Management

the key witness for the animal rights plaintiffs was paid by the ASPCA and, therefore, not credible, he notes. (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals v. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, 03-02006, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia)

“The take-home point is that in the face of a crisis brought on by an undercover operation, do not panic and succumb to activist pressure,” Cook writes, adding that in addition to taking sensible precautions, “The standards for prosecution are high and may not be met.”

About LeClairRyan – LeClairRyan provides business counsel and client representation in corporate law and litigation. With offices in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C., the firm has approximately 350 attorneys representing a wide variety of clients throughout the nation. For more information about LeClairRyan, visit www.leclairryan.com.

Nevada climate, environmental data network to inform research, community limate data from 13 geospatial monitoring stations across the Great Basin are being made available to researchers, educators and the public by a group of researchers from the Nevada System of Higher Education. They have developed the long-term climate monitoring network specifically designed to measure variations in climate change and are now working to broaden the network’s reach to include the all types of hazard monitoring in the region.

“This would be a Nevadabased environmental hazards data and information network,” said Scott Mensing, a professor of geography at the University of Nevada, Reno and one of the project’s principal investigators. “Anyone in the state could have access to it. It would be for all the people in Nevada.”

What Mensing and his colleagues from the University of Nevada, Reno, the Desert Research Institute (DRI) and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) envision is an information and data network that would incorporate the already robust climate monitoring network they created as part of a $15 million National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) awarded to NSHE in 2008.

“We’re moving into the sustainability phase, looking to keep this going for the next 10 years and on into the future,” Mensing said. “It’s decades of data that are important for research, education and infrastruture planning.”

The researchers established the permanent monitoring stations to quantify the daily, seasonal and annual variability of climate that occurs from basin valleys to mountain tops of the Great Basin. Data gathered from the stations have the capability of being used to help scientists better understand the Great Basin’s

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responses to climate change, as well as measure changes that affect water availability, carbon sequestration and biological diversity. The effort is called the “Nevada ClimateEcohydrology Assessment Network” (NevCAN).

The stations are equipped with rain gauges, runoff collectors, soil sensors, ultrasonic snow depth sensors, wind direction and speed sensors, tree growth sensors, internet cameras and other measuring equipment. All the data are streamed to a central server where it is then immediately available for a wide variety of research and education. Information is publicly available for download to any person or group that seeks to use it for any purpose, be it research, education, agriculture, community planning, personal interest, or otherwise.

“This project provides the opportunity to have long-term monitoring abilities in a region that is not well-monitored and over elevation gradients. I don’t know of another place where this is done,” said Thomas Piechota, interim vice president for research and dean of the graduate college at UNLV who served as one of the project’s principal investigators.

“One of the things that was very obvious to us at the beginning of this project was that there were individuals and small groups of people throughout the three NSHE institutions that were interested in climate research, but there was no concerted effort to develop a statewide capability to do climate change research,” added Nick Lancaster, a research professor in earth and ecosystem sciences at DRI and one of the project’s leads. “One of our original intentions was to create a statewide or a virtual center for climate change research.

In an upcoming article published in the science journal Eos, a publication of the American Geophysical Union,

the NSHE team describes the design and structure of the network, summarizes some first-year data that demonstrate the potential to address compelling science and management questions, and encourages creative research collaborations among scientists and stakeholders.

The NSHE team, led by Project Director Gayle Dana with more than 25 researchers from across the three campuses, is working on creating partnerships with a number of other environmental data networks, programs and agencies in Nevada for wildland fire, flood, droughts and earthquake monitoring.

“We need to make this effort much more proactive,” Mensing said. “These are the types of environmental hazards that, once they hit you, can inflict terrible damage to a region. If we can pull all the information that is out there ahead of time, it will give stakeholders time to plan, before the next big event hits.

Good, science-based planning data can help individuals and local governments make the proper disaster preparations ahead of time that can save these stakeholders millions of dollars.”

He said the effort has positioned the state of Nevada as a prime climate change data destination, which will strengthen the state’s reputation for research and innovation.

“The information network we’ve built allows us or anyone in the state or out of the state to design environmental research studies that can be truly innovative,” he said. “It will help support groundbreaking research and help attract more research funding to our state. It’s a rich data source that is available to anyone, and we are encouraging those within the scientific community to take advantage of this valuable new resource for studying climate variability and climate change impacts.”