LMD April 2021

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

– JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

April 15, 2021 • www.aaalivestock.com

Volume 63 • No. 4

The Golden Shovel

BY LEE PITTS

S

ometimes I don’t understand cattlemen. We howl and holler about corruption in Washington D.C. but say nothing about the incestuous relationship that exists between the NCBA and the checkoff. We criticize the good old boy lobbying that goes on in our nation’s Capitol but how about the influence the drug companies buy that continues to allow the use of beta agonists and hormones?

We complain that there is no transparency in the Biden administration’s disastrous border policies but if you want to know anything about the financial dealings about the NCBA you have to file Freedom of Information Requests that will then be totally ignored.

All President Biden gets from a complicit media are softball questions and he even whiffs at those. But when have you seen writers or reporters at the slick free beef magazines ask any tough questions about the checkoff or the NCBA? Let’s face it, the beef checkoff is just one more highly secretive and corrupt government operation and perhaps cowboys who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Digging Our Own Grave

NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING

The 2020 budget of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board projected they’d spend $40,900,000 and the NCBA would get $27,383,347 of it. That’s 67 percent by our calculations. And it’s even worse because several state beef councils gave extra money to the NCBA. Than the NCBA turns around and supports the Big Four packer’s agenda and lobbies against mandatory country of origin labeling and Packers & Stockyards Act

producers in the U.S. R CALF has until July 1, 2021 to gather the necessary signatures and is now in the final stage of gathering the required signatures.

If all this sounds familiar it’s because we’ve been here before.

In November, 1999, the Livestock Marketing Association delivered to the USDA nearly 146,000 signatures of producers who wanted a vote on the checkoff. Then Ag Secretary Glickman delayed for more than a year in starting the verification of the petitions and years, per capita beef consump- eventually ended up using a sigtion fell from 79.2 pounds per nature validation process virtuperson in 1985 to 54.1 pounds ally identical to the one used in per person in 2014. At the same the failed validation of the pork time poultry consumption grew checkoff referendum the previby 35 pounds per person, a 55 ous year.

In delivering the 127,927 percent increase.

And, oh, by the way, the signatures the LMA felt they poultry pluckers don’t have a had a good cushion but a referendum was never held because checkoff. an accounting firm ESTIMATFamiliar Territory ED that only 83,464 were valR CALF USA sprang up be- id. Sounds just as fishy as the cause of NCBA’s heist of the Presidential election we just checkoff and since its inception had, doesn’t it? Even the govhas been fighting for ranchers ernment’s own watchdog, the without any checkoff dollars. General Accounting Office They make their money the criticized USDA’s validation old fashioned way, they work process.

When a report was given to for it through dues and rollover calf auctions. On July 2 of last Glickman that came up with year R CALF began a petition 21 ways to improve all the drive requesting a nationwide checkoffs he agreed with all referendum on the termination 21 recomendations, including of the beef checkoff. The law holding mandatory producer says the Secretary of Ag has the referendums on all commodity authority to conduct a referen- checkoff programs, “at least evdum if requested by at least 10 ery five years.” Yet not a single percent of the number of cattle continued on page two

If you expect to follow the trail, you must do your sleepin’ in the winter. rules that would stop predatory market practices against ranchers. On nearly every important issue today the NCBA chooses to support packer policies at the expense of the cattlemen and packers don’t even pay into the checkoff and only four percent of cattlemen choose to join the NCBA. It’s easy to see, by paying into the beef checkoff cattlemen are digging their own grave and paying for the golden shovel to do so.

So how have ranchers done ever since NCBA stole the checkoff? We’ve lost half our cattle producers, beef consumption has declined by 30 percent, and the four largest meatpacking corporations now have a death grip on 82 percent of the market. At the same time the National Chicken Council says that during the first 29 years of the beef checkoff’s existence $2.2 billion was collected and spent. During those same 29

Cow Thieves’ Paradise

BY ED ASHURST

T

he brand laws in Arizona and the enforcement of them have collapsed. In the last several years, close to 3000 head of cattle have been stolen from at least 32 individuals. These are conservative numbers. The most recent and noted being the loss of over 400 cows, plus calves and bulls, from noted cowboy Milo Dewitt in Santa Cruz County, as well as an undetermined number from Robert Noon also in Santa Cruz County, and well over a hundred cows with calves from well-known attorney and judge, Tom Kelly, in Yavapai County.

The case of Milo’s missing cattle is a classic example of how these cases are being handled, or not being handled, depending on how you choose to describe them. Milo was told by an independent investigator who is assisting him in the investigation to file a complaint with the Santa Cruz County sheriff’s office. Deputy Pablo Camacho wrote the report. Since then Milo has phoned the sheriff’s office numerous times requesting information, but he has not been able to get any information from them.

He also notified Ron Hirsch, the local livestock brand inspector for the state of Arizona who is an employee of the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Ron filed a report. Then Milo, on February 24, drove to Casa Grande to meet with Manny Angulo the chief inves-

tigator for the Office of Special Investigations for the Department of Agriculture. At this meeting the investigator admitted to Milo that they were not working on the case. Apparently the sheriff’s office isn’t either.

There are good reasons for this collapse of the Arizona brand department and the increase of cattle theft. Some of these reasons are obvious while others are subtle. Here are some comparisons of the obvious: In 1984 there were 50 brand inspectors statewide, many of whom were old cowboys who knew what they were looking at. Onsite visual inspections were required by law for all cattle sales and movement out of state. Today much has changed.

According to the Arizona Department of Agriculture website: “When fully staffed, the Animal Services Division of the Department of Agriculture employs 20 livestock services field staff throughout the state of Arizona. Of this amount, nine are full time AZPOST certified officers, six are full time inspectors, and five are part-time inspectors”. I was recently told they are not fully staffed.

Let’s look at some comparisons with other states. Currently in Wyoming, there are 78 brand inspectors listed on the department’s website. Any cattle that are sold at the ranch or transported across county lines are required to have an onsite inspection by a state inspector.

All cattle leaving a feedlot are required to have an onsite inspection. There are no self-inspection books.

In Nevada the state is cut up into four regions. All cattle transported out of a region are continued on page four

by LEE PITTS

Vac’s And Non-Vac’s

W

ell aren’t I special?

You are now reading the words of a free man, liberated after a year in lockdown. Yes, I have officially had both shots of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine and my wife has released me to go to the hardware store.

It didn’t take long to discover that we still have a BIG problem. No, the process of getting the shot was not traumatic and, in fact, for a government program it was a very efficient operation. No, the problem developed when I reentered society for the first time in a year.

I was in the nail and screw aisle of the hardware store, minding my own business and checking out the washers, when I was accosted by a pony-tailed, tie-dyed member of the Vaccination Police. In a loud voice he announced to the entire store, “YOU AREN’T WEARING A MASK!” “How very observant of you,” I replied. “But I have had both shots of the vaccine!”

“But there’s still a 5% chance of you contracting COVID and spreading it to others!”

“And there’s a 95% chance of you being a busybody jerk,” I replied. “And by the way, I’d appreciate it if you’d maintain proper social distancing instead of getting in my face because I can tell you had pizza with anchovies for lunch.”

“If you don’t put a mask on right now I’m going to report you to the manager.”

“Go ahead,” I said, “he’s right over there in light bulbs. He’s the bald guy not wearing a mask either because he got the shots the same time I did. By the way, have you been vaccinated?”

“Absolutely not.” the hippy-dippy dude said. “I am ‘vaccine apprehensive’. I don’t believe in them.”

“Well, when you get deathly ill I hope you’re given the Andrew Cuomo treatment, only instead of being thrown into a home full of healthy but vulnerable old folks I think you ought to be sent to both the Senate and House chambers and Congressperson’s offices where you

continued on page four

Page 2

Livestock Market Digest

April 15, 2021

GOLDEN SHOVEL

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referendum has been held in the history of the beef checkoff, let alone one every five years.

The task force also called for greater government oversight of commodity research and promotion programs but instead there has been less. After all, the USDA gets paid with your checkoff dollars for “overseeing” all those commodity checkoff programs.

During the time the LMA was gathering signatures the Beef Board allocated more than $10 million in checkoff funds for “producer communications”, more commonly known as propaganda. The funds were not used to provide financial or factual information about the checkoff or the referendum process, but rather for ads illegally intended to support continuation of the checkoff. In the end cattle producers were left with fewer options for obtaining a referendum than are available under any other USDA commodity promotion program. In addition, every other commodity checkoff program had separated the policy organization from the non-political, promotional side... but not beef.

Dudley Butler, who was once a part of USDA’s inner circle and got to smell the stench of the swamp first hand said, “The NCBA has misappropriated producer money and the NCBA has helped defeat policy reforms that would have helped small producers.” He calls the checkoff an “illegal cattle tax”.

At the time Obama’s Ag Secretary was Tom Vilsack and Butler wrote to him stating, “Your lack of leadership has ensured that independent cattle producers will continue to be systematically pushed toward the slaughterhouse of vertical integration.”

Biden’s Ag Secretary is that very same Tom Vilsack!

Strike Three?

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paid for with checkoff dollars.

We can’t really know for sure the level of acceptance because the USDA has never allowed a referendum, or even a complete audit of the beef checkoff since its inception. EVER! If they were that confident they would have allowed a referendum after the LMA gathered the required signatures.

But there are other ways to tell if folks are happy with the self-imposed checkoff tax.

Many states have attempted to double the checkoff to two dollars per head. The most interesting effort to double the checkoff to two dollars took place in Missouri, one of the biggest cowcalf states. Missouri is probably home to more small independent cattleman than anywhere else. 8,480 Missouri cattlemen received ballots and 6,568 voted on whether the checkoff should be doubled. A total of 4,903 cattle raisers (74.67 percent) voted AGAINST doubling the checkoff, while 1,663 producers (25.33 percent) voted in favor.

If 70 percent of cattle producers support the current dollar per head checkoff why did 75 percent of them, in one of our largest cow/calf states, vote against doubling the checkoff? If one dollar was so good wouldn’t two dollars be twice as good?

The Rural Crises Center’s Tim Gibbons said this after the vote: “National beef consumption has fallen 32 percent and Missouri has lost 40 percent of its cattle producers and 90 percent of its hog producers since federal checkoff fees for cattle and pork were approved in 1985. These checkoff programs are not good for independent producers in our country, but instead have promoted the interests of multi-national meat packers and more and more are used for promoting foreign beef at the expense of U.S. producers.”

You may recall the first strike against cattlemen’s efforts to rein in the checkoff came when Can You Say, Thank You? the very courageous Charter I simply can’t understand family took their fight over the why more ranchers don’t supbeef checkoff all the way to the port R CALF. As I’ve menSupreme Court because they tioned previously, the two said that the First Amendment highest priced cattle markets prohibits the government from ranchers have enjoyed in the compelling individuals to subsi- past 40 years were directly due dize a private message when the to R CALF’s actions: stopping individuals disagree with that Canadian imports due to mad message. The only way the Beef cow and helping to get country Board and the NCBA saved the of origin labeling for a short pecheckoff was to claim the Beef riod. Now, it’s R CALF coming Checkoff was not a producer to the rescue again. controlled organization after all, It seems that the only isbut was actually a government sue that ranchers get riled up program run by the USDA. enough to do something about This, after telling beef produc- is country of origin labeling. ers from the get-go that it was Previously R CALF has gone to your program, not the govern- battle for ranchers in Montana ment’s. whose beef checkoff dollars at By a slim margin the Su- the state level were being used preme Court ruled the check- to fund an advertising campaign off was government speech and for fast food chain Wendy’s, in individuals don’t have a First order to promote a product Amendment right not to fund which could contain beef from government speech.

41 different countries. And the That was strike one. Strike primary contractor for the Beef two was the LMA’s failed effort Board, the NCBA, promotes to have a national referendum. the idea that “beef is beef, If R CALF’s effort to have a whether the cattle were born in referendum fails it will be strike Montana, Manitoba, or Mazatthree and the independent lán.” rancher will be “OUT!” The NCBA is in lockstep with the USDA whose regulaWhat Are They So Afraid Of? tions allow the use of a “Product We are constantly told that of USA” label on beef derived studies show that over 70 per- from imported cattle. A CBB cent of ranchers support the board member told me for every beef checkoff. Never mind that 600 pounds of beef imported those studies were bought and into this country the CBB gets continued on page three

April 15, 2021

Livestock Market Digest

GOLDEN SHOVEL a dollar, most of which ends up in NCBA’s hands. So NCBA employees would keep their outrageous salaries even if there wasn’t one American cattleman left on earth.

Says R CALF’s Bill Bullard, “”The Checkoff’s implied message that all beef is equal, regardless of where the cattle are born or how they are raised, harms U.S. farmers and ranchers and deceives U.S. citizens.

Despite what we know to be clear evidence about the high quality of beef raised by independent U.S. cattlemen, we are being taxed to promote a message that beef raised without the strict standards used by our members is the same as all other beef, a message we do not support and do not agree with.”

R CALF also was instrumental in knocking down legislation that would have required the use of radio frequency identification eartags on all adult cattle and bison moved in interstate commerce beginning January 1, 2023. They’ve tried to ram RFID down cattlemen’s throats twice now but R CALF stopped them both times.

The NCBA and CBB are fond of funding studies that

continued from page two

come to the conclusion, “Every dollar collected by the checkoff delivers $11.20 in return.” Blah, blah, blah. But that money doesn’t end up in the bank accounts of ranchers but rather in the packer’s coffers. In response to packers making anywhere from $350 to over a thousand dollars per carcass during the midst of the COVID crises the NCBA resisted any efforts to improve price discovery. Instead the NCBA proposed a voluntary plan, called the 75 percent Plan which sounded like it was written by the packers. R CALF’s CEO Bill Bullard said the entire plan defies logic and common sense. “This plan is much worse than if it simply enshrined the status quo. It’s a recipe for disaster for the U.S. cattle industry,” said Bullard.

The NCBA plan relies on economist Steven Koontz’s prediction that the nation’s broken cattle market will become robustly competitive if the largest beef packers purchase a total of 86,000 cattle each week from the competitive cash market.

But the NCBA plan requires the largest beef packers to only purchase 75 percent of that minimum number, or 64,500

cattle, during some, but not all weeks. Bullard said this means the targets in the NCBA plan will result in the packers purchasing far fewer cattle in the competitive price discovery market than they purchased on average during the past three years – a period when the U.S. cattle market demonstrated a complete and utter lack of competition.

Stop The Scam We hope we have at the very minimum convinced you to sign R CALF’s petition for a referendum. Just be sure you are a real rancher. These are the requirements to vote:

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Any cattle producer regardless of age who has owned, sold or purchased cattle from July 2, 2020 – July 1, 2021 is eligible to sign the petition.

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Any person younger than 18 years of age must have a parent or guardian cosign the petition.

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A person who signs the petition on behalf of a corporation or other entity must be authorized to do so. No proxy signature is permitted.

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Any individual member of a group, who is an eligible person separate from the group, may request a referendum separately.

73,900 signatures will be needed as a bare minimum and R CALF wants to far surpass that number so the USDA can’t totally disregard it like they did LMA’s petition drive. The petition is available for electronic signatures at https://form.jotform.com/201785981248062, or find yourself a paper copy of the form.

R CALF’s petition drive could be cattlemen’s last chance to remain independent. If it’s not successful it could be game over..

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Page 3

Why America’s Cattle Producers Should Sign the Petition for a Beef Checkoff Referendum 1. To Ensure Government Accountability: The 35-year-old Beef Checkoff Program is a government mandated assessment used to fund government speech and America’s cattle producers have never had the opportunity to hold the government accountable for its speech through an industrywide vote.

2. To Ensure the Needs of Today’s Cattle Producers Are Being Met: Today’s cattle industry is radically different than it was 35-years ago when the Beef Checkoff Program was put in place. Today there are fewer producers, fewer cattle, fewer feedlots, fewer sale barns, fewer packers, and more imports.

3. It’s the American Way: America’s representative democracy is founded on periodic voting. We vote for a new president every four years. This is the foundation for ensuring the government continues to be by and for its citizens. The same holds true for Beef Checkoff Program.

4. To Support American Cattle Producers, American Beef, and America: America has been weakened by long-term policies that promote offshoring of manufacturing, production, and jobs. The 35-year-old Beef Checkoff Program epitomizes those antiquated government policies that have weakened America and only through a referendum vote will that be changed.

5. To Equalize Power: When power falls into the hands of the few, it is nearly impossible to convince Congress to support the interests of the many – money and power are too great an obstacle. A vote by the many is the only effective way to rebalance the power and money accumulated by the few within America’s cattle and beef industries.

6. To Improve the Beef Checkoff Program: America’s cattle producers have tried for 20 years to improve the Beef Checkoff Program – to prohibit any lobbying group from receiving producer checkoff dollars, to allow America’s cattle producers to promote and market USA-produced beef, and to give U.S. cattle producers more say over the government’s checkoff speech. The government has made no effort to accommodate any of these improvements. A vote by America’s cattle producers could quickly change that.

7. To Guard Against Corruption: In 2010, after 25-years of the Beef Checkoff Program’s uninterrupted operation, an independent auditor discovered that hundreds of thousands of beef checkoff dollars were misspent during a small window of time, including for the unlawful purposes of paying lobbying-related costs, paying travel and vacation costs for spouses and children of beef checkoff employees, and paying for a beef checkoff employees continued on page four

Page 4

Livestock Market Digest

HERD might actually do some good.”

It became very clear to me at that point that we need to have some way to distinguish between the vac’s and nonvac’s the same way we do with cattle. Sure, I did get one of those little stickers that said, “I’ve been vaccinated” but it came off in the wash. And they could be easily counterfeited. I suppose the big black bruise on my upper arm is a sign of my vaccinated status but I’d have to wear a tank top for it to show and that’s not a good look for a guy named Pitts. Besides, they aren’t permanent as I’ve been told the bruises will go away in a couple months.

My first thought was we could hot-iron brand the vac’s on the forehead or cheek but that might lower the number of people getting the shots. Then from out of the blue I got a brilliant idea, as I often do. We should recruit cowboys who know how to give shots, tattoo and insert a brucellosis tag, and send them hither and yon to give the shots, tattoo the ears and insert the orange metal tag in the ear of the vac’s. I think it

continued from page one

would be an acceptable solution because most males are wearing an earring or two in their ears these days and women have long worn earrings. Of course, the cowboys might have to hog-tie the victims and it should take place in a sound-proof room or the screams might also be a deterrent.

With everyone being identified we could then discriminate and shun the nonvac’s like they do at auction markets by not allowing the non-vac’s to be transported across state lines. We could open up all restaurants again and the vac’s could eat inside and the non-vacs would be forced outside in the rain, sleet, snow and flies. Instead of smoking and non-smoking sections we’d have vac and non-vac sections and anyone without an orange tag in their ear would be denied entrance to the grocery store. To entice non-vac’s to get the shot we could give coupons for 10% off at dollar stores that are filled with Chinese-made products, which appear to be the only stores that will survive the China virus.

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WHY AMERICAS CATTLE ...

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time to attend a golf outing. This type of corruption can only be prevented if the checkoff program employees know they will be held accountable by a periodic referendum, so a referendum should really be held at least every 5 years.

8. To Balance the Interests Between American Cattle Producers and Beef/Cattle Importers: In 2020, American cattle producers payed about 93 percent of the annual cost of the Beef Checkoff Program while importers payed only about 7 percent. Yet, the importers receive equal benefits from the tens of millions of dollars raised under the mandatory Beef Checkoff Program. This is not equitable. If America’s producers pay the lion’s share of the Beef Checkoff Program’s annual revenues, they should receive the lion’s share of the benefits. Only with a referendum can this inequity be rebalanced.

9. To Prevent Further Consolidation/Vertical Integration of America’s Cattle Industry: Private organizations that receive producer checkoff dollars have actively supported the ongoing consolidation and vertical integration of America’s cattle industry. This includes lobbying Congress to prevent country of origin labels on beef and opposition to market reforms to restore lost competition in the U.S. fed cattle market. In short, they are using beef checkoff dollars to make the cattle industry function more like the hog and poultry industries than an independent industry that values robust competition, liberty, and freedom to operate as they see fit.

10.

To Promote Competition in America’s U.S. Cattle Industry: When the Beef Checkoff Program was implemented 35 years ago, there was considerable competition between beef packers and producer groups to win contracts for carrying out the purposes of the Beef Checkoff Program. However, about 10 years later, in 1996, the beef packers merged with the producer organization of the time.

This eliminated any meaningful competition for beef checkoff contracts and allowed the packers to gain disproportionate influence over who receives checkoff dollars and what they do with those dollars.

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April 15, 2021

COW THEIVES PARADISE required to have an onsite visual inspection made by a brand inspector. All cattle sales are required to have an onsite visual inspection by a brand inspector.

All cattle that leave the state are required to have an onsite visual inspection. All cattle leaving a feedlot are required to have an onsite visual inspection by a brand inspector. There are 6 brand inspectors in Elko County alone. There are no self-inspection books given out.

New Mexico is cut up into 26 districts, and all cattle leaving a district are required to have an onsite visual inspection, as well as all cattle that are sold or leaving the state, including cattle leaving a feedlot. There are no self-inspection books issued. Recently the state of New Mexico rescinded the self-inspection rule for dairy cattle, and they are now required to have a visual inspection. New Mexico has 58 full time brand inspectors and about the same number of part-time inspectors.

In Colorado a visual inspection done by a brand inspector is required to ship cattle out of a feetlot.

According to the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association’s website, the 30 rangers employed by the ranchers investigate 1000 agriculture crime cases annually and recover an average of $5 million in stolen cattle and assets annually.

This organization is funded by Texas cattle ranchers, and they work for the ranchers, and they get results.

The Arizona brand board works for politicians and is underfunded. Results are almost non-existent. In Arizona there hasn’t been $5 million worth of stolen livestock investigated, let alone recovered, by brand inspectors in the last 30 years.

Several years ago, independent agents from outside of Arizona started an investigation into the quagmire of theft and corruption originating in Arizona and overflowing into other states. This investigation has produced a huge volume of evidence that so far has been ignored by Arizona law-enforcement agencies.

Some facts are impossible to ignore. In 2019 Arizona brand inspector Natasja Robbins was accused of stealing a bull that she had actually raised herself.

She says she was framed. The case went to criminal court where it was thrown out, but because of the investigation, she lost her job. Buckeye-area resident Bruce Heiden who has been affiliated with the cattle industry and other agriculture endeavors since the 1960s said Natasja was terminated because, “She was doing a good job. She was guilty of catching a thief she wasn’t supposed to catch.” Harquahala rancher Jr. Bryan says, “She was the only good brand inspector we had.”

Longtime Arizona rancher and farmer Steve Bales says, “She was a very good inspector. I never had a problem with her. I wish the brand department hadn’t let her go.” Arlington rancher and well-known Arizona cowboy Huck Sandsness worked closely with Natasja on several cases in which they investigated suspected stolen livestock, but Natasja was told by the Phoenix office to ignore these cases.

Huck states that, “Natasja was a good honest inspector with a lot of common sense, but she was railroaded out of a job.”

Several major changes have been made in Arizona statutes and policy that actually promote livestock theft. The first and foremost of which is the non-range self-inspection book.

Non-range self-inspection enables anyone who has this type of permit to write their own transportation papers on cattle that then can be sold and even transported out of state without being looked at by any law enforcement official of any kind.

In October of last year, I phoned the Department of Agriculture in Phoenix and requested an application to be approved to have one of these books. They said they would send me the application. I have five witnesses of this. I don’t want a non-range book, nor do I believe in the process. In my opinion, it is an open invitation for illegal activity. By asking for the application in front of witnesses, including two brand inspectors, I proved that anyone can acquire one.

They are widely used.

Cattle held in feedlots are exempt from the same laws and statutes as range cattle and are not required to be inspected at the time of shipment by an Arizona brand inspector. A permit can be acquired from the state for a mere pittance that determines your corral to be a feedlot. The implications of this fact are obvious to any cowboy with a long rope and a barbed-wire corral.

Stolen cattle are being transported out of these feedlots, or sometimes using the non-range self-inspection book, from ranches in 48,000 pound loads going into Texas, Oklahoma, and as far east as cattle auctions in Arkansas, as well as west into Nevada and Texas. Anyone who understands the economics of the cattle industry knows you don’t haul cattle from Arizona to Arkansas sale barns unless you are trying to leave a cold trail that is hard to follow. There are several known thieves who own large semi cattle trucks and other equipment and the expertise to take advantage of these nefarious policies that are endorsed by the Arizona Department of Agriculture and the Arizona State Legislature. Virtually no one is ever stopped by any law enforcement agency in Arizona and asked to produce hauling papers.

On March 4, I phoned the Arizona Department of Agriculture’s secretary, Mark Killian, and asked him if he was aware of any ongoing investigations into cattle theft in Arizona. He said, “I’m not aware of any investigations at this time.” I then asked him if he had any plans on investigating cattle theft in the future, and he replied, “I’m out of the business of chasing rumors.” That ended our conversation.

On March 5, I received a call from Lt. Manny Angulo who is the chief investigator for the Department of Agriculture.

It was apparent to me that Lt. Angulo had been instructed by Secretary Killian to contact me.

I asked Mr. Angulo if he was investigating any cattle theft cases at the present time. He asked me why I wanted this information. I told him that I was writing an article for a major livestock publication. He said he needed to ask Secretary Killian if he could talk to me further, and we ended our conversation there. I never received another call from either Secretary Kil-

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lian or Lt. Angulo. Both of these calls are documented.

In the old days, anytime a cattle rancher in Arizona was going to sell cattle, a brand inspector would come and look at the cattle and make sure by observation of their brands that, indeed, the cattle to be sold actually belonged to the rancher wanting to sell them. This was an accepted and welcomed practice by all parties. In the last three weeks, I have sold and shipped nine semi loads of yearlings. The brand inspector who showed up did not look at any of the cattle but, instead, just asked what we wanted him to write on the hauling papers, and after the papers were written, he left. Another local rancher told me that this inspector does not come to his ranch when he ships cattle but, instead, asks for the information over the phone and then writes the papers and mails them without any onsite observation. These are not isolated cases. Ranchers in other parts of the state are taking pictures of cattle at their ranches on their Smart phones, and brand inspectors are writing papers based on these pictures and sending the ranchers papers without ever going to the site of shipment. These practices are endorsed by someone on a higher pay scale at the Phoenix office.

In his book The Vision of the Anointed, America’s greatest intellectual Thomas Sowell describes how politicians and self-congratulating leaders promote their personal agendas to the point that, “Evidence becomes irrelevant.” This is an accurate description of current events in Arizona. Evidence of theft, corruption and maleficence is overwhelming, and yet people who walk the halls at the state capitol ignore the message and try to discredit the messenger.

The bottom line is justice is not being served. I’ve been in the cattle business for over 50 years and most of the cowmen I’ve known cared nothing about the antics of the Arizona mafia or the politics in Phoenix. They simply want to ranch and enjoy the art of surviving in a very volatile but, at times, rewarding business and lifestyle. But things have changed in the last several years. Under the present conditions the victim has become the perpetrator. Because of recent changes made by the powers that be in the state capitol, the Arizona Brand Department has become completely dysfunctional. This isn’t the brand inspector’s fault. The problems originate in Phoenix.

The state of Arizona has become a literal cow thieves’ paradise, and these activities are now morphing into money laundering and trafficking of illegal drugs. This is widely known, but this type of activity in the cow business is ignored.

On March 5, I discussed these things with Chris Farrell who is affiliated with Judicial Watch in Washington D.C. Chris Farrell assured me that Judicial Watch has an ongoing investigation into the numerous cases of livestock theft, as well as corruption in the various state agencies in Arizona. Chris Farrell promised me that their agents were going to continue working on these issues in Arizona until justice is served and victims’ rights are restored.

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April 15, 2021

Livestock Market Digest

Electric Vehicle Subsidies & Other Fantasies

BY CRAIG RUCKER / FACT

E

lectric vehicles (EVs) are the future. Everyone will want one because they’re emission-free, ecologically responsible, and more affordable every year.

That’s why GM, Volvo, and other manufacturers will soon be making only EVs. Or so we’re told.

Some people have high disposable incomes and do most of their driving locally. For them buying an EV may be a viable choice.

Why do the rest of us need mandates and subsidies to “persuade” us to buy EVs, instead of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles? Who’s actually getting the subsidies – and who’s paying for them? What other costs and unintended consequences are hidden from view?

President Biden wants to require all new light/medium-duty vehicles sold by 2035 (or sooner) be EVs. Vice President Harris wants only ZEVs (zero-emission vehicles) on America’s roads by 2045. Various states have already passed or are considering similar laws. Some would ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2030.

A 2021 Tesla Model S Long Range can go 412 miles on a multi-hour charge; its MSRP is $80,000. A Model 3 costs around $42,000; the Model Y all-wheel-drive $58,000. Similar sticker-shock prices apply to other EV makes and models, putting them out of reach for most families. “Long range” models achieve that status by loading them down with expensive, heavy batteries and long charging times. Most electric vehicle ranges are far shorter.

To soften the blows to budgets and liberties, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants to spend $454 billion to build 500,000 new EV charging stations, replace U.S. government vehicles with EVs, and finance “cash for clunkers” rebates to help at least some families navigate this transportation transformation.

Politicians are being pressured to retain the $7,500 per car federal tax credit (and hefty state tax rebates) now scheduled to lapse once a manufacturer’s cumulative vehicle sales since 2009 reach 200,000. EV drivers also want other incentives perpetuated: free charging stations, access to HOV lanes for plug-ins with only the driver, and not having to pay gasoline taxes that finance the construction, maintenance, and repair of highways they drive on.

Not surprisingly, a 2015 study found the richest 20 percent of Americans received 90 percent of these generous EV subsidies. Lobbyists are clearly more valuable than engineers for EV manufacturers and drivers.

Under this Robin-Hood-in-reverse system, the subsidies are financed by taxpayers and generations of their descendants – including millions of working-class and minority families, most of which will never be able to afford an EV. Any cash for clunkers program will exacerbate the problem.

By enabling sufficiently wealthy families to trade fossil-fuel cars for EVs, it will result in millions of perfectly drivable cars and trucks that would have ended up in used car lots being crushed and melted instead.

The average cost of previously-owned ICE vehicles will increase by thousands of dollars, pricing even them out of reach for millions of lower-income families, which will be forced to buy pieces of junk or ride buses and subways jammed with people they hope won’t be carrying next-generation COVID. The United States will begin to look like Cuba, which still boasts legions of classic 1960s and ‘70s cars that are lovingly cared for and kept on the road with engines, brakes, and other parts scavenged from wrecks and even Soviet cars. But once the states and feds ban gasoline sales, even that will end.

Perhaps even more ironic and perverse, the “zero-emissions vehicle” moniker refers only to emissions in the USA – and only if the electricity required to charge and operate ZEVs comes from non-fossil-fuel power plants. Texans now know how well wind turbines and solar panels work when “runaway global warming” turns to record cold and snow.

With many politicians and environmentalists equally repulsed by nuclear and hydroelectric power, having any electricity source could soon become a recurrent challenge.

Zero-emission fantasies also ignore the essential role of fossil fuels in manufacturing ZEVs. From mining and processing the myriad metals and minerals for battery modules, wiring, drive trains and bodies, to actually making the components and finished vehicles, every step requires oil, natural gas, or coal.

Not in California or America perhaps, but elsewhere on Planet Earth, most often with Chinese companies in leading roles.

From commonplace iron, copper, aluminum, and petroleum-based plastics – to exotics like lithium, cobalt, and multiple rare earth elements – these materials are dug up and turned into “virtuous” EVs, wind turbines, and solar panels with little or no attention to child labor, fair wages, workplace safety, air, and water pollution, toxic and radioactive wastes, endangered species or mined land reclamation.

How long can we let our environment, working conditions, prosperity and efficient travel needs take a back seat to EV mythology?

▫

Mexico, Canada Embrace Coal

W

hile the Biden administration is rolling back policies implemented by former President Donald Trump to ensure American energy independence, with the new president working to reduce the production and use of fossil fuels, Mexico and Canada are following Trump’s example, expanding their domestic production and use of coal despite international climate commitments requiring the opposite.

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas halted out-of-state shipments of natural gas during the recent widespread power outages, including natural gas to Mexico, which resulted in limited power shortfalls there. This angered Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and strengthened his argument for moves he had made, even before Abbott’s decision, to expand the country’s use of domestic coal resources for energy.

Faced with a widespread power failure in December 2020, which left more than 10.3 million Mexicans without electricity, López Obrador blamed policies of the former government that increased the nation’s reliance on unreliable, intermittent renewable energy resources for electric power.

As The Guardian reports, López Obrador is simultaneously reopening coal mines, ex-

Sad News...

J

ack O. Porch, 79, Cuchillo, New Mexico passed away on April 5, 2021 at home. Jack was born in Jackson, Mississippi on October 21, 1941. His family moved to New Mexico when he was just a toddler. He graduated from Los Lunas High School and attended New Mexico State University.

Jack led a full life, starting his first job at the age of 16 for Sichler Farms. He then worked as a milk man delivering Albuquerque. He met Deana Haver and they were married on February 16, 1963. They had their first son, Pete, in 1964. Deana officially named the boy Jack Wesley. Jack said she could name him what she wanted but he was going to be Pete and so Pete he was.

The couple moved to Arizona in 1965 to manage the Kern County Land Company’s Little Boquillas Ranch in Fairbanks. The couple’s second son, Justin Paul, was born in 1970.

Tenneco purchased Kern County and Jack was promoted to the Company’s San Emilio Ranch near Bakersfield, California. In 1985, the Porches moved Valley Acres, California where they had a hay business until 1994 when the family moved to Cuchillo to be closer to Deana’s family. Jack had the

A version of this article appeared at Inside Sources

continued on page six

Page 5 panding oil and gas production, and reopening coal-fueled power plants while imposing limits on wind and solar power: “López Obrador … has unveiled plans to buy nearly 2 m[illion] tons of thermal coal from small producers …. He also plans to reactivate a pair of coalfired plants on the Texas border, which were being wound down as natural gas and renewables took a more prominent role in Mexico’s energy mix. …The populist president has promoted a vision of energy sovereignty, in which state-run bodies— the oil company Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE)—pump petroleum and generate electricity. Private players, which have heavily invested in clean energy, are relegated to a secondary role in López Obrador’s vision—while emissions and climate commitments are an afterthought.”

Meanwhile, Canada is moving to expand coal production in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s decision to rescind permits for the Keystone XL pipeline, in which Canada had invested heavily after the United States approved the project.

Biden’s move resulted in immediate unemployment for thousands of workers in the United States and Canada.

In Alberta, where the oil to be shipped through the pipeline was being produced, the provincial government “… rescinded [a restrictive] 1976 coal mining policy without public consultation, after spending months wooing Australian coal companies. It also reduced the corporate tax rate from 10 to 8 percent, axed provincial parks

in coal-rich areas, offered 1 percent royalties (Australia’s is a minimum of seven), and passed legislation to fast-track project approvals,” reports The Guardian. The provincial government approved the construction or expansion of six new coal mines in Alberta.

Media outlets have explicitly tied the province’s newfound embrace of coal to the decline in the fortunes of Alberta’s oil, with prices having been hit especially hard by the Keystone XL cancellation.

“It is all about the timing, particularly with the downturn with the oil sands sector,” said Steve Mallyon, former CEO of Riversdale, one of the affected mines, at a recent public speech.

“The long-term strategy for us is to really become a multi-mine producer in [Alberta].”

The Guardian notes, “Most indigenous groups in southern Alberta and politicians from nearby communities have backed the mine proposal for its potential economic benefits. ‘Piikani Nation proudly supports the Grassy Mountain Coal Project,’ wrote Chief Kiaayo Tamisoowo in a January 2019 letter. ‘We need economic development to bring further leadership, opportunities and prosperity to our people.’”

In Mexico and in parts of Canada, it appears concern about climate change and keeping climate commitments is taking a back seat to energy independence and providing well-paying jobs.

▫

SOURCE: The Guardian; The Guardian; Oil Price; Yahoo Finance

Page 6

Livestock Market Digest

Cattleman’s Weekend’s Successful 30th Year

C

attleman’s Weekend, Northern Arizona’s premier livestock event, celebrated its 30th anniversary on March 19 and 20, 2021. This year the event added a jackpot roping and a dance to the traditional trade show, Arizona Angus and Hereford associations annual bull sale, the All Breed Bull Sale, and the Arizona Ranch Remuda Sale The 44th annual Arizona Hereford Association Bull Sale awarded its Grand Champion and Reserve Champion bulls to Mountain View Hereford Ranch, Elgin, Arizona. Diamond K Angus Ranch, in Springerville, Arizona, received the Grand Champion Angus Bull award, and F6 Cattle Company was awarded the Reserve Champion Angus Bull in the 21st Annual Arizona Angus Association bull sale. Maid Rite Feeds represented

by David and Tina Thompson presented award buckles to the champion and reserve champion consignors.

Bob Mullion of Red River Farms, Blythe, California was awarded the Grand Champion Bull in the 33rd Annual All Breed Bull Sale for a Simangus bull. He was awarded a plaques and gift certificate from Animal Health Express, Tucson, Arizona.

The Arizona Hereford Association Bull sale averaged $3,750, while the Arizona Angus Association Bull Sale averaged $2,736. The All Breed Bull Sale averaged $1,409 a head.

A sorrel gelding, RO Big Time Chex, was named Champion Horse in the 23rd Annual Arizona Ranch Remuda Horse Sale. Champion Junior Horse was Deets, a perlino gelding trained and

April 15, 2021

Cheney Bill Would Open Markets for StateInspected Meat

BY SUSAN KELLY / MEATINGPLACE.COM

U.

S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) has introduced legislation that would allow state-inspected meat to be sold across state lines.

Cheney, the House Republican Conference Chair, said the Expanding Markets for State-Inspected Meat Processors Act would empower producers to meet increased demand for meat and access new markets, while boosting competition and giving Americans more meat choices.

“The economic ramifications of COVID-19 resulted in processing interruptions and decreases in the amount of meat getting to market, leading to shortages across the country. As we recover from the challenges posed by the pandemic, we must be doing everything possible to expand opportunities and open markets that will allow livestock producers to increase their economic activity,” Cheney said in a press release.

Twenty-seven states, including Wyoming, currently have inspection programs certified by USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS).

Cheney introduced similar legislation in 2020. The new bill is supported by the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, Wyoming Stock Growers Association, Wyoming Department of Agriculture and R-CALF USA. The congresswoman’s bill differs from another proposed act aimed at helping small processors that would increase USDA’s share of costs for state inspection programs and federal funding for the Cooperative Interstate Shipment program, which currently has only eight participating states. That bill, called the Strengthening Local Processing Act, was reintroduced in February in both the U.S. House and Senate and is endorsed by the American Association of Meat Processors.

Other efforts to boost small processors are being taken up at the state level.

▫

SAD NEWS

Grand Champion Hereford Bull in the 2021 Arizona Hereford Association Bull Sale went to Mountain View Hereford Ranch. Pictured from left to right are Cindy Tidwell Shelton, Arizona Hereford Assn. Secretary, David Thompson, Maid Rite Feeds, Amie Wystrach Allen, owner of the Mountain View Hereford Ranch, Tina Thompson, presenting the buckle donated by Maid Rite Feeds, and Barbara Jackson of Animal Health Express presenting a gift certificate.

Reserve Champion Angus Bull was consigned by F6 Cattle Company.

Pictured from left to right are Cindy Tidwell Shelton, Arizona Angus Assn.

Secretary, David Thompson from Maid Rite Feeds, the Jacob Feenstra family: Angela, Charlie, and Evelyn (Evie) and Tina Thompson presenting the buckled donated by Maid Rite Feeds and Barbara Jackson of Animal Health Express presentinga gift certificate.

Reserve Champion Hereford Bull was consigned by Mountain View Hereford Ranch. Pictured from left to right are Cindy Tidwell Shelton, Arizona Hereford Assn. Secretary, David Thompson, Maid Rite Feeds, Amie Wystrach Allen, owner of the Mountain View Hereford Ranch, Tina Thompson, presenting the buckle donated by Maid Rite Feeds, and Barbara Jackson of Animal Health Express presenting a gift certificate.

Grand Champion All Breed Bull went to a simangus bull consigned by Bob Mullion, Red River Farms, Blythe, California. Pictured from left to right are Cindy Tidwell Shelton, Bob Mullion, Red River Farms, and Barbara Jackson presenting a gift certificate to Animal Health Express, Tucson, Arizona.

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LING HAND RITY

Grand Champion Angus Bull in the 2021 Arizona Angus Assn. Bull Sale went to Diamond K Ranch. Pictured from left to right are Cindy Tidwell Shelton Arizona Angus Assn., David Thompson, Maid Rite Feeds, Kristen Knight and Lance Knight, owners of the Diamond K Ranch, Tina Thompson, presenting a buckle donated by Maid Rite Feeds, and Barbara Jackson, Animal Health Express.

Advertise to Cattleman in the Livestock Market Digest R PR IO

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:

▫

PAPE

$6,195.

The first annual jackpot roping boasted 179 teams. Winners of the #13 were Tanner Pritchard and Clinton Teller and the #10 incentive were Garrett Lefevbre and Clay Tyree.

All received silver award buckles donated by Prescott Livestock Auction and Active Construction.

Cattleman’s Weekend also hosted the first annual Yavapai County Fair Catch A Calf contest. Five 4-H members took home calves donated by local ranchers in a hugely successful event.

best garden in Sierra County. In 1996, he went to work for the Armendaris Ranch in Engle. He then moved on to Rock Canyon Marina in Elephant Butte.

Jack and his son Justin started hauling freight cross country until 2010 when Jack “retired” and went to work for Red Doc Farms both hauling cattle and managing range lands. He really retired in 2015.

Jack was preceded in death by his son Pete, his mother Pauline and his Aunt Katherine Moss. He is survived by his wife Deana, his son Justin and wife Christy, and “adopted” daughter Caren Cowan.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions to the Parkinson’s Foundation.

NEWS

consigned by Dustin Blair. Champion Senior Horse was Boomin Pistols, a bay gelding consigned by Logan and Josie Anderson. All received award buckles donated by A&R Excavating, Animal Health Express and Tri State Livestock. The horse sale averaged

continued from page five

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April 15, 2021

Livestock Market Digest

REAL ESTATE GUIDE

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230 SOCORRO ACRE GAME & RETREAT PLAZA REALTY that is a dream.

Lakes, woods, the Plaza meadows,Ongame galore, 35 miles Donald Brown out ofQualifying Dallas, Kaufman Broker County.

505-507-2915 cell @10,000 PA 505-838-0095 fax 116–Plaza 133 ACRES 24 Miles out of PO Box 1903 Socorro, NM 87801 $13,000 Dallas, ready to develop. www.socorroplazarealty.com dbrown@socorroplazarealty.com per acre 313 ACRES NORTH OF DALLAS AG LAND LOANS AGMAJOR LAND LOANS ON HIGHWAYS 121 & AsLow LowAsAs 3% As 4.5% 2.9% 69 – OPWKCAP Nice horse barn with living OPWKCAP 2.9% INTEREST RATESAS AS LOW AS 3% INTEREST RATES LOW 4.5% quarters. Scheduled $11,500 onon25AS Payments Scheduled 25 Years Payments Years 234 SHOW RANCH – 8,000.

Imaculate home, cattle show barn, Joe Stubblefield & Associates 2313830 milesWestern from Dallas $2.8MTX St., Amarillo,

SOLD SOLD

806/622-3482 • cell 806/674-2062 joes3@suddenlink.net Michael Perez Associates Nara Visa, NM • 575/403-7970

Joe Priest Real Estate

1-800/671-4548

521 West Second St., Portales, NM 88130

575-226-0671 www.buenavista-nm.com

Rural Properties around Portales, NM 1242 NM 480 - Nice home on 59.7 acres, grass 427 S Rrd P 1/2 - Large nice home, lots of barns 24+ ac 1694 S Rrd 4, Great home, barns, cattle pens, location 2344 S Rrd K east of Dora, NM, great - Near wind farms All properties excellent homes & can have horses, etc.

See these and other properties at www.buenavista-nm.com

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

AG LAND LOANS As Low As 3.5% OPWKCAP 3.5%

INTEREST RATES AS LOW AS 3.5% Payments Scheduled on 25 Years

Joe Stubblefield & Associates 13830 Western St., Amarillo, TX 806/622-3482 • cell 806/674-2062 joes3@suddenlink.net Michael Perez Associates Nara Visa, NM • 575-403-7970

521 West Second St. • Portales, NM 88130

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

Buena Vista Realty

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

Bottari Realty Paul Bottari, Broker

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

521 West Se

575-226-0

B

A.H. (J ww

Advertise to Cattlemen and Ranchers!

AS PROV R

Call

505-243-9515

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for more information

cash flow. Rock formation being crushed and sold; wind turbans, some minerals. Irrigation water developed, crop & cattle, modest improvements. Just off I-20. Price reduced to $1.25 million.

10 ACRES OF COMMERCIAL PROPERTY. Incredible highway visibility & access from either East or Call Buena Vista Realty atPlaza 575-226-0671 or the listingSprings. agent West directions on Hwy. 60, 3 miles East of El Rancho Truck & 4 miles West of Willow Lorisite.

Bohm 575-760-9847, MelodyisSandberg Natural gas may be available on LOCATION PLUS! Thisorproperty well suited 575-825-1291. for many types pictures MLS www.buenavista-nm.com of businesses. (Restaurant, Retail,Many Motel,good Business of anyon kind)!

A or Must See Property. MLS#11402703

CALDWELL • 840 Immaculate, Hunt Co,RANCH TX.

PRICE REDUCED First time offering of the Ranch. Pastures, and Caldwell Ranch40 tanks, comprised of a two noncontiguous tracts of native grass rangeland lakes. Beautiful home, barns, separated by landsSome belonging toNORTHERN other ownership.

Located approximately 20 miles CALIFORNIA RANCH PROPERTY and other improvements. minerals, game All for $1.35 northwest ofgalore. the small community of Elida, New Mexico in northeast Chaves County.

DUANE & DIXIE McGARVA RANCH: approx. 985 acres Likely, CA. with about 600+ acre gravity flood irrigated2.5 pastures miles PLUS privateapart 542 AU BLMas permit.

Aboutcrow 425 acres so of the irrigated are level toto floodboth Themillion. two tracts are approximately the flies.

Access excellent pastures with balance good flood irrigated pastures. NO PUMPING COST! Dryland is perfect for to pivot irrigated alfalfa if desired. Plus BLM permit for 540 AU is fenced into 4 fields on about tracts is good by maintained expansion Chaves Roadways. north tract, referred 18,000 acres onlyCounty 7 miles away. REDUCED ASKING PRICEThe - $3,125,000 Joe Priest Real Estate BEAVER CREEK RANCH: 82,000 acres - with 2,700 deeded acres plus± contiguous USFS & BLM to as the Cothern Place, is comprised of about approximately 2,500 deeded acres permits for 450 pair; 580+- acres irrigated alfalfa, pasture, and meadow from Beaver Creek water rights and one irrigation well.

3 homes, 2 hay barns, 4 feedlots each w/ 250 ton barns, 2 large reservoirs, can run up to that1-800/671-4548 is partially fenced with one tract,PRICEreferred 500-600well. cows YEARThe ROUND.south REDUCED ASKING - $5,400,000. to as the Rippee joepriestre.net • joepriestre@earthlink.com BEAR CREEK RANCH: Approx. 1,278 acres winter range groundand and recreational Located Lease on Bear Place, is comprised of approximately 4,700 deeded acres 640property.

State Creek and accessed from South Cow Creek Valley Road. Should be great hunting for deer, wild turkey, wild pigs, quail & owner states good trout fishing in Bear Creek. Deeded access easement thru neighbor ranches. fenced into three pastures, watered by two wells and pipelines. The two tracts are No improvements & very private inside the ranch.

Now only $700 per acre - $894,600 approximately 2.5 miles apart. Excellent year around cow country. Grazing capacity BILL WRIGHT, SHASTA LAND SERVICES, INC. per •deeded acre; $2,484,000. is estimated to be 130 AUYL. Priced at $370 $345 530-941-8100 • www.ranch-lands.com

y limits of Roswell, NM. Six total acres ved with a 2, 200 square foot residence,

Bar M Real Estate

joepriestre.net • joepriestre@earthlink.com

31 years in the ranch business - see www.ranch-lands.com for videos & brochures

DRE# 00963490

Scott McNally, Qualifying Broker ch that has been owned and operated s southeast of Corona, NM in Lincoln Bar M Real Estate, LLC M Lease Acres and 2,240 NM State Box 145, Cimarron, NM 8771488202 • 575/376-2341 • Fax: 575/376-2347 P.O. Box 428,P.O.Roswell, NM land@swranches.com • www.swranches.com UYL. Water provided by five wells and corrals. The ranch had a good summerOffice: 575-622-5867 CHICO CREEK RANCH, Colfax Cell: County, NM. 575-420-1237 NEW LISTING. CIMARRON ON THE RIVER, Colfax County, NM. 7.338 +/6,404.26 +/- Total Acres, Located approximately 10 miles east of deeded acres with 4.040 acre-feet per annum out of the for a brochure or view on my website. Website: www.ranchesnm.com Springer New Mexico. 3,692.60 +/- deeded acres with balance Maxwell-Clutton Ditch. Custom country-chic 2,094 +/- sq ft

R CT

Page 7

O’NEILL LAND, llc

in state lease. Excellent grass and water. Two plus miles of the Chico Creek meandering through the center of the property.

Additional wells and dirt tanks. Nice historic head quarters privately located with shade trees and excellent views of the property. Shipping pens in central portion of property. $2,837,318

home. Owns both sides of river in places. Horse/cow/chicken/ vegetable garden/greenhouse/orchard set up. Country living at it’s finest, in town, but in a world of your own. Very special on river. Appointment only. $650,000.

RATON MILLION DOLLAR VIEW, Colfax County, NM. 97.68

GREENFIELD TRADING POST. Available for sale at the corner of Hwy. 160 (Grand) & H Hwy. Newer tile floors, ADA bathrooms, outside storage tanks, 4 double side gas pumps. Owner reports a brisk business with sales around $1M last year. Store features a bait room for fishing at nearby Stockton Lake. Property has roll up garage door for easy storage of equipment and inventory. Vendor for popular Hunt Pizza with small eat-in area. Multiple coolers, coffee makers & shelving are included in sale. 2080 sf in store, 1120 sf for storage of inventory. This is an unbranded station. MLS# 60140876

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

WAGON MOUND PLACE, Mora County, NM 8.202 +/- deeded acres on western edge of I25/Wagon Mound has two homes, abundant water with one well, two springs and pond. Other outbuildings and many trees would suit many purposes. $190,000.

CONTRACT PENDING

RATON MILLION DOLLAR VIEW, Colfax County, NM. 97.68 +/- deeded acres in 2 parcels with excellent home, big shop, wildlife, a true million dollar view at the end of a private road. $489,000.

MIAMI 20 ACRES, Colfax County, NM quality 2,715 sqft adobe home, barn, grounds, fruit trees and mature trees. Extremely private setting. REDUCED $320,000. This is a must see.

CONTRACT PENDING

CIMARRON HIDDEN PLACE, Colfax County, NM. 1.66± deeded acres with a 2,304 sq ft home updated with recent remodels including large open kitchen vaulted tin ceiling, three bedrooms and two bathrooms, edge of town amazing views. $290,000 COLMOR-OCATE CREEK, Colfax and Mora County, NM 853 +/- deeded acres split by I25 and Ocate Creek.

Suit cattle operation, with some wildlife drawn to water holes in creek. $617,000 EAGLE NEST ESCAPE, Colfax County, NM. 78.42± deeded acres in off HWY 64 overlooking Eagle Nest Lake, private pond, two elk tags, 3 bedroom home with and large shop garage able to store your RV and big toys.

Improvements almost half a mile off highway. Truly an escape. $850,000

E

E

Page 8

Livestock Market Digest

The View FROM THE BACK SIDE

Scary

BY BARYY DENTON

(The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association or this publication.)

I

thought I had a great idea the other day. I think we should have a rule that a political candidate would have to take a test on the United States Constitution and pass it before they were allowed to run.

I realize that our representatives swear an oath, but how many of them keep it? I have seen in some instances that they do not even swear on a Bible anymore. I am astounded by the fools that get elected these days.

It was not too many years ago that we paid a quarter at the county fair to go into a tent to see these various freaks. Many of them have not figured out what the title “public servant” means either.

Perhaps they should write an essay on the meaning? They want our respect, but do not care to earn it. Unfortunately, most are just “power hungry.”

I know some good people in government, but there are not enough of them.

Fuel prices are rising rapidly whether you are on the farm or the freeway. It was reported in New Mexico last week that several stations along the freeway were simply out of fuel.

In New Mexico? New Mexico — that has more oil drilling on federal lands than any other state. Oh, could that have anything to do with our President Biden putting a halt to any further leases on federal land or closing down the Keystone Pipeline construction?

I noticed that the administration is blaming it on more people driving because some states lifted their COVID lockdowns. One thing about it when your fuel bill is higher, the cost of goods goes up like crazy. We are going to see inflation across the board. Isn’t it funny that fuel has been a bargain consumable the last few years and as soon as the new democrat administration

takes over it skyrockets?

The new administration does not want to see the United States as the number one oil producer in the world because these fools are worried about the world ending due to their imaginary global warming theory. It is theory only, and not fact, according to most forward-thinking scientists. Nothing has been proven, and none of their short term predictions have ever come true.

This has been a popular cause since the 1960s. I guess when they started out, they had to walk up and down the city streets wearing sandwich boards stating that, “The End Is Near”.

However, in today’s world we have much better communications. Do you realize that it has been over ten years since Al Gore and his movie, An Inconvenient Truth tried to scare everyone into thinking the world was going to end?

Darn, we are still here, how disappointed Mr. Gore must be. At least he has been consistent and wrong, which are important factors when promoting a hoax. However, according to voting, the majority of people are still scared and want the government to save them. Good grief, few realize that it is the over-reaching government that we need to be saved from.

Conservative censorship abounds in the United States today. During “Black History Month” Amazon takes down a documentary about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with a 99 percent audience approval rating. Figure that one out.

Last time I looked Mr. Thomas was black, an American Horatio Alger story, and a very impressive historical figure. Next cartoonist Bruce Tinsley said that his comic strip “Mallard Fillmore” was fired from Gannett Publications across the country because of two comic strips that made fun of President Biden’s policies.

In one of the strips Mr. Biden says “I hear what you the American people, want me

to do….kill fossil fuel jobs….. devalue American’s labor…. and help more transgender athletes beat the *@!# out of biological females. It sounds to me like the exact truth, which is not allowed in liberal circles any longer. That was also evidenced by Twitter taking down President Trump’s tweets.

Now the left is trying hard to control language and the words you use such as “illegal alien” or any other words that actually relate to truth. Also, you should notice that according to Joe Biden the “border crisis” is now called a “border challenge” with irregular crossings. His upcoming tax increases will be referred to as “revenue enhancements.”

Word and speech control is a Marxist tactic that we have seen used many times throughout history. Watch what you say or you could get slapped.

Some good things are happening as well. According to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall who is the policy chairman for the Republican Attorney’s General Association, “we are going to be prepared, with various states being able to initiate challenges” referring to President Biden’s barrage of executive orders.

Texas and Arizona have filed lawsuits against Mr. Biden’s order to halt deportations. Judge Drew Tipton halted the order last month.

According to Arizona attorney General Mark Brnovich, “blindly releasing thousands of people, including convicted criminals and those who may be spreading COVID-19 into our state, is both unconscionable and a violation of federal law.” Mr. Brnovich continued, “What you’re seeing is the left, the far left, is really trying to implement as many things as they can via the executive order process and then making the folks on the other side fight it out.”

The Western Energy Alliance has challenged the Biden Administration order that halts the oil and gas leases on federal land. They like their chances in court because of the multitude of conservative judges appointed by President Trump.

There are other lawsuits being brought regarding the federal funding of abortion, men competing in women’s sports, and extreme environmental issues.

Keep an eye on the case of the Hammond’s grazing lease being revoked in Oregon. It just never ends. Stay vigilant, support the right organizations that promote our western lifestyle and keep informed. We are in a fight for America as we know it.

▫

April 15, 2021

Angus Foundation Scholarship Applications Open Now

BY KAREN HILTBRAND, ANGUS COMMUNICATIONS

S

cholarship applications are now available for college students involved with the Angus breed. This past year, the Angus Foundation awarded more than $312,000 in scholarships in 2021 alone. The Angus Foundation offers scholarships to undergraduate, graduate and trade school students each year to help Angus youth achieve their educational goals and offset the continually rising costs of tuition at higher education institutions.

“Here at the Angus Foundation, we are committed to supporting our young people and assisting in ensuring they are able to pursue their educational goals,” said Thomas Marten, Angus Foundation executive director. “Thanks to the generous donors of the Angus Foundation, we are able to provide assistance to students as they carry the burden of the cost of higher education.”

Over the years, countless past junior Angus members have benefitted from the financial support of Angus Foundation-funded scholarships. Angus Foundation success stories have become more and more prevalent year after year. Last year was a true testament to the Angus family as past Angus Foundation recipients made an impact on society, both within and outside of the agricultural industry. Past recipients and Angus Foundation donors made a difference serving on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic in “From the Frontlines.”

“The Angus Foundation’s core mission of youth, education and research is so important to developing young people to come back into our breed, into our community and into our industry as a whole,” said Jara Settles, vice president of livestock mitigation at the Livestock Marketing Association and past scholarship recipient. “If we don’t invest in these young people and welcome them back in and give them truly viable opportunities in terms of education and professional growth, they might leave us.”

To see the stories and hear the success of past recipients, visit angus.org/foundation.

Undergraduate and Graduate Scholarships Applicants for undergraduate and graduate scholarships must have, at one time, been a member of the National Junior Angus Associationâ (NJAA) and currently be an active junior, regular or life member of the American Angus Associationâ.

The following documents are required to be considered for a 2021 undergraduate or graduate scholarship: the 2021 scholarship application; three letters of recommendation; a copy of current high school/college/university transcript; and the applicant’s Association member code.

Undergraduate and graduate scholarship applications, eligibility requirements and application guidelines can be found online at angus.org/foundation. Applications are due May 1, 2021.

Commercial Cattlemen Scholarship The Angus Foundation also will award three $1,500 scholarships to undergraduate students who use Angus genetics in a commercial cattle operation’s breeding program or whose parents use Angus genetics. Emphasis will be placed on appli-

April 15, 2021

Livestock Market Digest

cants’ knowledge of the cattle industry and perspective of the Angus breed.

The applicants or their parents/guardians must have transferred or been transferred an Angus registration paper in the last 36 months (on or after May 1, 2018) and must be considered commercial and not seedstock in their operation. The scholarship applies to any field of study. A separate application, from the general Foundation application, is required for the Commercial Cattlemen Scholarship. The application can be found on the Angus Foundation website.

Applicants having received or applied for Angus Foundation undergraduate scholarships, using our standard general application this year or in past years, will not be considered for this scholarship.

Certified Angus Beef®/National Junior Angus Association Scholarship Since 1990, the NJAA has teamed up with Certified Angus Beef® (CAB) LLC to help Angus youth pursue their higher education goals. The selected applicant will receive a $1,500 scholarship. A separate application from the Angus Foundation scholarship application is required for the CAB/NJAA scholarship. Requirements are similar to the general Angus Foundation scholarship; more details can be found on the application.

The application is available on the Angus Foundation website.

New– The John R. Mrotek Family Technical Education Scholarship Through the immense generosity and creativity of John R. Mrotek, Angus junior members pursuing a trade can secure scholarship funds to support their vocational training. Established in 2020 with a gift of transferred stock, John Mrotek created the John R. Mrotek Family Technical Education Scholarship Endowment Fund with the Angus Foundation to provide academic scholarships for Angus youth pursuing vocational training in career and technical programs, ranging from farm/ ranch management and precision agriculture to welding, diesel mechanics and veterinary technicians. Recipients of the John R. Mrotek Family Technical Education Scholarship should be enrolled or enrolling in a trade school and preference will be given to applicants from Virginia. Students can apply using the general undergraduate scholarship application found on the Angus Foundation website.

“We are so excited to have opportunities like the John R. Mrotek Family Technical Education Scholarship to serve every junior, no matter what their goals are,” Marten said. “This is the first Angus Foundation scholarship fund to specifically target trade schools and support vocational careers and students seeking a terminal, technical degree or certificate program.”

Irish Study Finds Many Alt-Meats Lacking in Protein

BY LISA M. KEEFE / MEATINGPLACE.COM

A

new research report by the Irish food and nutrition organization, safefood, has found that one in four vegetarian meat-substitute products such as vegetable burgers, sausages and mince cannot claim to be “a source of” or “high in” protein by European standards, the organization said in a news release. safefood was established by the Irish and British governments to address issues of food and nutrition across the island, which comprises two different countries.

This latest research looked at the nutritional content of 354 plant-based meat-substitute products on sale in supermar-

Page 9 kets across the island.

Of those, 28 percent fall below the benchmark of 12 percent of energy that comes from protein that would enable the products to be categorized as “a source of protein.” On the other hand, 49 percent of the products analyzed offered a percentage of energy from protein that was 20 percent or more, which qualified them to be labeled as “high in protein,” the study said.

The results across all the samples ranged from 0.9 percent to 30.6 percent of energy from protein, and averaged 10.7 percent, safefood said. Other nutritional considerations, such as sodium, fat and fiber content, similarly ranged widely by product.

Meanwhile, Irish consumers — as with consumers across the globe in alt-protein-rich markets — largely perceive the plantbased meat substitutes as more healthful than their conventional meat counterparts.

“There are some positives to these products; some are lower in fat and saturated fat than their meat equivalents while others are a source of fiber. But,

if people are considering these as a protein replacement, I would encourage them to check the label,” Dr. Catherine Conlon, director of Human Health & Nutrition with safefood.

“The reality is that these are processed foods and a bit of a mixed bag. If you are going to eat them, read the label and look for products that are a good source of protein and lower in saturated fat, sugar and salt.

There are lots of protein sources that you can choose from including meat, poultry, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts, tofu and chickpeas,” she pointed out.

When asked about meat-substitute products by safefood, more than one in three adults (34 percent) said they ate plantbased versions of burgers, sausages, chicken or fish. Of those who ate them, 41 percent said they ate them once a week or more frequently, while 7 percent ate them daily. Almost eight in 10 people (79 percent) who eat meat-substitute products did so once a month or more often.

▫

Since 1998, the Angus Foundation has awarded more than $3.5 million in undergraduate and graduate scholarships. For more information about the Angus Foundation or scholarships, visit angus.org/foundation.

▫

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Page 10

Livestock Market Digest

Haaland, Heinrich & Hikers

R

ep. Deb Haaland (D-NM), President Biden’s nominee to be the Secretary of Interior, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Born in Winslow, Arizona in 1960, Haaland is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo. Both parents were in the military, so she moved around quite a bit, attending thirteen different schools, until finally graduating from Highland High School in Albuquerque.

She enrolled at UNM where she earned a B.A. in English followed by a juris doctor from the UNM School of Law. Haaland served as Chairman of the Laguna Development Corporation and was active in President Obama’s reelection campaign. She served as Chairman of the New Mexico Democrat Party for two years and then won her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018. While in office, she has positioned herself as a left-wing progressive. Haaland has been placed as one of the top ten most liberal members in Con-

gress, which has led to the controversies of her nomination.

Leading the opposition to her nomination was Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.). Concerning her two-day hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Daines issued the following statement which I have edited for brevity:

■■

■■

Daines questioned Haaland on her views on wildlife management and about her own legislation providing federal protections of the grizzly bear in perpetuity. Haaland refused to commit to follow the science, delist the grizzly bear and return management back to the state.

Haaland dodged important questions about her anti-energy record including her opposition to fracking, pledge to keep fossil fuels in the ground, her opposition to fossil fuel infrastructure, call to ban pipelines and opposition to projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline.

Daines raised concerns with Haaland’s evasive responses that she will blindly follow President Biden and his anti-American energy agenda which has already abandoned Montana workers, killed

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Montana jobs, eliminated millions in revenue for Montana counties, and actually increases emissions…

■■

■■

Daines raised concerns and pressed Haaland on her stance on several land management and sportsmen issues, and opposition to trapping on public lands, in the context of her long record of opposing multiple use on public lands…

Daines raised concerns with her push to make it more difficult to mine in the U.S., forcing the U.S. to rely on countries with terrible human rights and environmental standards…

■■

Daines voted no on the committee and no on the full Senate motion to approve her nomination.

Daines said, “Representative Haaland has a hostile record toward made in America energy, natural resource development, and wildlife and land management. She has enthusiastically called for a ban on all new pipelines and is a leading cosponsor of the Green New Deal. I have serious concerns about how Rep. Haaland will use this position in ways that negatively impact the Montana way of life.”

During the floor debate, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo) took just one issue, the ban on fracking, and showed how that would impact her state: A University of Wyoming analysis found that Wyoming stands to lose nearly $13 billion in tax revenue if we don’t lift the Biden ban on new oil and gas leasing and drilling on Federal lands. To put this in context, $13 billion in tax revenue would educate 60,000 Wyoming students from kindergarten through high school graduation. It would fund the University of Wyoming for the next 59 years.

It would fund our public safety

April 15, 2021 and corrections budget for the next 68 years. And it would fund the Wyoming Department of Health for the next 26 years.

These are real numbers, and the Biden ban is having real consequences.

Yes, those are real consequences.

Compare that to what Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) said during the floor debate.

Heinrich says Haaland will lead Interior “to create more equitable access to our public lands, to stand for environmental justice, to find real solutions for the climate crisis, to protect wildlife and clean water, and support rural economic development.”

Note that Heinrich lists six items. Which one is dead last?

Rural economic development.

What is this “equitable access”? Is there inequity in access? If we turn to the Aspen Institute, they say yes. “Black, Indigenous, and people of color have been and continue to be left out of conversations about how public lands should be defined, who they should serve, and how they should be managed. This lack of representation in the policy decision-making process has meant that policies implemented only truly benefit a narrow and privileged group of people.” This can only be remedied, “by both inviting and creating space for those who have traditionally been excluded from the decision-making table.”

Part of this means they want more people to comment on whether or not grazing should occur in defined areas, on whether or not a ten-year grazing permit should be issued, and if issued, to have more comment on your allotment management plan. You “narrow” and “privileged” ranchers must adjust.

Equitable also contains the issue of fairness. Look at the rights you have as compared to hikers and birdwatchers. Is there an 1891 Hikers Reserve Act? No. Is there a Taylor Birdwatching Act of 1934? No. This is inequitable, or unfair. It can

Baxter BLACK ON THE EDGE OF COMMON SENSE

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Illinois Cowboy

“

Where were you born?”

The reporter asked one of my Colorado cowboy friends.

“Iowa,” he answered.

R.L. Robbs

“Iowa!” she said.

“Why did you move?”

520/384-3654

“Because it’s hard to be a cowboy in Iowa.”

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BEEFMASTER

210.732.3132 • beefmasters.org 118 W. BANDERA ROAD BOERNE, TX 78006

Well, it might be harder to be a cowboy in the Midwest but they’ve got a bunch of good ones anyway. No matter how much dependence modern cowmen place on man-made mechanical devices, there are times when nothin’ beats a good roper a’horseback.

Illinois is an anthill of bovine activity. They have an abundance of cow calf operations and the state has ranked in the top ten in numbers of cattle on feed. So a “loose cow” is not an unusual occur-

rence. That’s when a good cowboy comes in handy.

Dr. Matt has his veterinary clinic in one of the many small towns that dot the northwestern Illinois countryside. One afternoon he was processing a truckload of feeder steers in the back of his clinic.

Despite good help and good facilities, accidents can happen. A gate was left open and shornuf, one of the steers escaped. And, according to Rule #1 in the Guidebook of Loose Cattle, the steer headed straight for the center of town.

Matt leaped to his Toyota Batmobile and took up the chase as the girls in the office cheered him on and wished, not for the first time, they’d had a video camera.

The steer had the advantage. He was able to cut through lawns, across lots filled with farm implements, behind gas pumps and down sidewalks. He jaywalked with impunity.

He galloped into the bank drive-through, raised his tail to the pie-eyed teller and proceeded to circle the bank building. Matt careened into the drive-through hot on the trail. By using the parking lot

be resolved in two ways. Create new rights and legislative authority for the aggrieved parties, or remove the same from the current participants. You’re right, there is a third way. A bipartisan compromise will be reached whereby you give up certain rights while others acquire various rights, resulting in a more fair, balanced and equitable federal lands policy. Woke has come to the Wilderness.

Dos mass As I’m wrapping up this column two new items cross my desk.

First, it is being reported that Trump’s Secretary of Interior, David Bernhardt, snuck Senator Lisa Murkowski an “11thhour win” as he walked out the door. Bernhardt issued a memo to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service instructing them to move forward with the permitting of a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Alaska. Good move, but why couch it in such a way as to benefit Murkowski?

She voted to find Trump guilty in his impeachment trial and we are just now learning she is #2 on Trump’s hit list. Something seems terribly awry here.

Finally, a study was just released that identifies a mass of land the size of South Carolina in parts of Arizona and western New Mexico that could potentially support more than 150 jaguars in the future. The author says, “…this paper tries to set clear is that, yes, there’s definitely habitat for jaguars to repopulate the United States.”

My friends, you only have three things to fear: Progressives, RINOs, and large predatory animals. Or, are they all the same thing?

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

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

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and surrounding sidewalks, he was able to keep the steer circling the bank through the manicured lawn and decorative shrubbery.

Matt’s radio crackled, “Chet’s just pulled into the clinic, could you use some help?”

The steer broke for the high school. “Send him on,” Matt yelled, “we’re headed for the football field!”

The steer had slowed to a trot by the time Chet wheeled his pickup and trailer into the school parking lot. He unloaded his horse, grabbed his rope and mounted.

Matt said it was beautiful to watch. When Chet rode through the goal posts the steer was on the twenty-yard line and pickin’ up speed.

Chet’s horse was kickin’ up big divots and Chet was leaning forward like an outside linebacker. He sailed his loop and nailed the steer on the fifty-yard line. An amazing catch. The grandstands were empty. Nobody saw it but Matt, and he told me, with a faraway look in his eye, that to this day he can still hear the crowd.

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www.baxterblack.com

April 15, 2021

Livestock Market Digest

2021 Debruycker Charolais Bull Sale Results HIGH SELLING BULLS Lot 275 $20,000 Joe Cavender Jacksonville, TX; Sire: DC/ CRJ TANK E1 08 P 19 $16,000 Five Star Charolais Havre,MT; Sire: DC/JDJ PEGASUS D3330 P 134 $15,000 Carman Jackson, Inglis, MB; Sire: DC/MD SHARK F1366 P 194 $15,000 Joe Netz Lost Springs, WY; Sire: BHD Ares D146 P 132 $14,500 Foote Charolais Esther AB; Sire: DC/MD SHARK F1366 P 276 $13,000 Producers Live stock,Parshall,CO; Sire:DC/ CRJ TANK E108 P

VOLUME BUYERS 83 Bulls..... Wellman Ranch 41 Bulls..... Lance Mason 34 Bulls..... Ensign Ranch 32 Bulls..... NW Livestock Cattle Co. LLC 25 Bulls..... Dana Ranch Co. 20 Bulls..... UC Cattle Co. LLC 20 Bulls..... Raleigh King

Heirs’ property landowners SOURCE: USDA FARM SERVICE AGENCY | MARCH 2021

U

SDA recently launched a new website for producers to find information on heirs’ property.

Heirs’ property is family owned land that is jointly owned by descendants of a deceased person whose estate did not clear probate.

The descendants, or heirs, have the right to use the property, but they do not have a clear or marketable title to the property since the estate issues remain unresolved.

The 2018 Farm Bill authorized alternative documentation for heirs’ property operators to establish a farm number. A farm number is required to be eligible for many different USDA programs, including lending, disaster relief programs, and participation in county committees.

For more information visit farmers.gov/manage/HeirsPropertyLandowners.

Additional USDA Programs and Services USDA offers a variety of farm loan, risk management, disaster assistance, and conservation programs to support farmers, including heirs’ property landowners once they have a farm number.

USDA also has several special provisions and resources for heirs’ property landowners, including:

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Targeted funding through farm loans

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Crop insurance benefits

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Conservation program benefits

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BULLS SOLD TO 21 STATES, & CANADA AR, AZ, CO, GA, IA, ID, KS, KY, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, VA, WA, WY, & CANADA 82 Long Yearling Bulls @$5,490.85 590 Yearling Bulls @$4,445.76 Overall @672 Bulls @ $4,573.29

............................... @$5,571.43 12 MD BIG BEN C1290

............................... @$5,041.67 13 DC/CJC QUIGLEY E163 P ............................... @$4,895.83 13 MD ZHIVAGO D1268 P ............................... @$4,865.38 10 DC/BHD METABOSS E899 P.................................. @$4,800 7 DC/CJC DIABLO E191 ............................... @$4,678.57

TOP SELLING SIRE GROUPS

7 DC/BHD DUNKIRK E427 P/S.......................... @$4,571.43

13 DC/JDJ PEGASUS D3330 P ............................... @$6,937.50

12 DC/MD “YESSIRE” E3024 P............................. @$4,568.18

32 DC/MD SHARK F1366 P ............................... @$5,854.84

11 RS THE CHAIRMAN C709 .................................... @$4,425

46 DC/CRJ TANK E108 P ............................... @$5,853.26

15 DC/CJC ANDROGEOS D3152 P...................... @$4,400

37 BHD ARES D146 P ............................... @$5,743.06 11 DC/BHD ZORRO E2526 P/S ET.................... @$5,613.64 7 DC/BHD BIG TIME F44 ............................... @$5,571.43 7 JDJ TRANSACTION C3243

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Letter to the Editor Fellow Cattle Producers, The proclamation of a “Meatless Holiday” set for March 20

by Colorado Governor Polis was another attempt to denigrate the leading agriculture commodity in our state. Along with support of wolf introduction, appointing a vegan to a state veterinary board, and being a cheerleader for fake meat products, Colorado’s Governor has continued his relentless attack on not only beef producers (as well as other animal protein products) but the rural communities that rely on these commodities as an important part of their economies.

For many cattle producers there are other levels of frustration. The now 35 year old Beef Checkoff Act and Order that generates around $80 million annually is prohibited from expenditures that might be used to influence government action or policy. And certainly a Governor’s proclamation urging Colorado citizens to forego eating meat could be construed as such an action or policy. Additionally the Checkoff Act and Order is prohibited from pointing out the problems and shortcomings of “fake meat” products.

Together with it’s prohibition of promoting American beef raised by hard-working American ranchers, for many beef producers the Beef Checkoff program has become an outdated relic that serves little purpose for the onslaught of attacks facing the beef industry.

I would urge all cattle producers to visit www.CheckoffVote. com to learn more about the nation-wide effort to collect petition signatures to have a referendum vote on the Beef Checkoff.

Sincerely, Curt Werner President, Colorado Independent CattleGrowers Association

PETITION FOR REFERENDUM ON THE BEEF PROMOTION AND RESEARCH ORDER This petition is submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture for the purpose of calling a referendum and an up or down vote on the termination of the Beef Promotion and Research Order (7 U.S. Code §2901-2911 and 7 U.S. Code §7401). This petition specifically refers to the Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985. Title XVI, Subtitle A of the Food Security Act of 1985.

The Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985 states in Section 7(b) that “…the Secretary may conduct a referendum on the request of a representative group comprising 10 per centum or more of the number of cattle producers to determine whether cattle producers favor the termination or suspension of the order” (7 U.S.C. 2906(b)). This petition requests the termination of the order. The number of U.S. cattle producers will be determined according to the Guidelines to Petition the Secretary of Agriculture For a Referendum on the Beef Promotion and Research Order (June 2020), which states AMS will use the most recent census data. The most recent USDA census data (2017) reports 882,692 cattle producers, so a minimum of 88,269 eligible signatures are required to meet the 10% threshold.

This petition calling for a vote on the program shall be signed ONLY by cattle producers as defined by the eligibility criteria in the same Guidelines (see eligibility criteria below), and any signatory must supply ALL required information.

Eligibility Criteria • • • •

Any cattle producer regardless of age who has owned, sold or purchased cattle from July 2, 2020 - July 1, 2021 is eligible to sign the petition.

Any person younger than 18 years of age must have a parent or guardian co-sign the petition.

A person who signs the petition on behalf of a corporation or other entity must be authorized to do so. No proxy signature is permitted.

Any individual member of a group, who is an eligible person separate from the group, may request a referendum separately.

Petition Information Required by USDA • • • • • •

Full name of person or entity represented Signature and printed name (signature of parent or guardian of any person signing under the age of 18) Complete mailing address Daytime Telephone Number (home, business or cell) Email address (if available) Date petition was signed

Before signing this petition VERIFY THAT YOU MEET ALL ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA. The USDA will pool a statistical sample, and if selected you must be able to provide documentation that you owned, sold, or purchased cattle between July 2, 2020 and July 1, 2021.

CALLING FOR SUCH A REFERENDUM THE FOLLOWING CATTLE PRODUCERS SET OUR HAND TO THIS PETITION AS FOLLOWS:

(Up to 6 eligible cattle producers may sign petition. Feel free to make copies to share with as many other eligible cattle producers as possible.)

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Livestock Market Digest

Texas Lamb in High Demand

BY SUSAN KELLY / MEATINGPLACE.COM

T

exas lamb and goat meat is commanding high prices in a niche market driven by steady demand and limited supplies, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist.

“The lamb and goat markets are in another world as it relates to market conditions most Texas ag producers have been dealing with,” said Reid Redden, interim director of the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in San Angelo. The market has avoided supply chain bottlenecks and other difficulties most Texas producers faced, while travel restrictions during the pandemic likely boosted demand as families cooked more at home, Redden said in a recent report.

Prices reflect demand Demand from nontraditional ethnic consumers concentrated in major population centers around the state and nation has supported premium prices for Texas lamb, compared to the traditional restaurant and retail markets, Redden said.

Lambs are shipped live to markets where they are sold directly to consumers or harvested by ethnic processors and distributed to ethnic grocers and butcher shops. These nontraditional markets demand smaller, leaner lambs and pay a premium for them.

“The market has been strong for some time now, but prices continue to trend upward,” Redden said.

The majority of Texas lambs are smaller-framed sheep that typically weigh 40-80 pounds — and go to the ethnic consumers. In January, the base price for 60-lb. lightweight slaughter lambs was $3 per pound, up 70 cents per pound from this time last year, he said. Those lambs are selling $1 per pound over the five-year rolling average.

The traditional feeder market, which prefers larger framed lambs fed to 140 to 180 pounds and mimics the beef industry as far as processing and logistics, has become less common in Texas, Redden said.

Limited supply Lamb production is limited in the U.S. because few regions have the climate and production conditions that sheep perform well in.

Redden said Western parts of Texas are ecologically perfect for sheep. Native plant species include many varieties that sheep find palatable, and the arid conditions make controlling internal parasites easier.

A significant piece of the traditional U.S. lamb market is supplied by imports, which are one-third to half the cost of domestic lamb, but imported lamb appears to have less appeal to the ethnic market, he said.

Goat market ‘on fire’ Goat prices have continued to experience a price trajectory

April 15, 2021 similar to lamb, Redden said.

“The kid goat market is even brighter than lambs,” he said.

“The goat market has been on fire the last several years and getting better and better. Producers don’t understand it, but they’re just riding the wave as far as it will go.”

Unlike Texas’ lamb market, goats have never been part of the traditional meat production apparatus, Redden said. There are no big processing plants or packers, and production feeds non-traditional, primarily ethnic demand.

In January and February, goat prices fluctuated between $3.50 to $3.80 per pound, compared to a five-year average of $2.50 to $2.75 for the same time of season.

“There just aren’t enough goats to meet demand,” Redden said. “There’s interest in goat production because prices have been so good, but they are a lot of work, and I don’t predict large increases in goat production outside the state.”

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Petition for Referendum of the Beef Promotion and Research Order This petition is submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture for the purpose of calling a referendum and an up or down vote on the termination of the Beef Promotion and Research Order (7 U.S. Code §2901-2911 and 7 U.S. Code §7401). This petition specifically refers to the Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985. Title XVI, Subtitle A of the Food Security Act of 1985.

Before signing this petition VERIFY THAT YOU MEET ALL ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA. CALLING FOR SUCH A REFERENDUM THE FOLLOWING CATTLE PRODUCERS SET OUR HAND TO THIS PETITION AS FOLLOWS: Full Name (or Entity)

Complete Mailing Address

City

State

Day Time Phone Number

E-Mail (If Avaliable)

Date

Signature

Full Name (or Entity)

Complete Mailing Address

City

State

Day Time Phone Number

E-Mail (If Avaliable)

Date

Signature

Full Name (or Entity)

Complete Mailing Address

City

State

Day Time Phone Number

E-Mail (If Avaliable)

Date

Signature

Full Name (or Entity)

Complete Mailing Address

City

State

Day Time Phone Number

E-Mail (If Avaliable)

Date

Signature

Full Name (or Entity)

Complete Mailing Address

City

State

Day Time Phone Number

E-Mail (If Avaliable)

Date

Signature

Full Name (or Entity)

Complete Mailing Address

City

State

Day Time Phone Number

E-Mail (If Avaliable)

Date

Signature

Send Signed Petition(s) to: Checkoff Petition | P.O. Box 30536 | Billings, MT 59107 Petition also avaliable online: www.checkoffvote.com

Zip Code

Zip Code

Zip Code

Zip Code

Zip Code

Zip Code

Neurologic Form of EHV Confirmed in Parker County, Texas Horse SOURCE: TEXAS ANIMAL HEALTH COMMISSION

T

he Texas Animal Health Commission received confirmation of equine herpes myeloencephalopathy (EHM), the neurologic disease linked to equine herpes virus (EHV-1), in a Parker County Quarter Horse on March 25, 2021. This is the first positive detection of EHM in Texas this year.

The horse was tested after showing neurologic signs consistent with EHM. The premises has been quarantined and TAHC staff are working closely with the owner and local veterinarian to monitor the infected horse and enforce biosecurity measures on the premises.

“The positive horse has not recently attended any events or known to have come in direct contact with horses from other premises,” said Dr. Andy Schwartz, state veterinarian and TAHC executive director. “Since EHM is transmitted through direct horse-to-horse contact, short distance aerosol or contaminated tack, we believe the risk for disease transmission is very low.”

EHM is a neurologic disease of horses linked to the equine herpes virus. Neurological signs appear as a result of damage to blood vessels in the brain and spinal cord. Clinical signs of EHM in horses may include: fever of 102 °F or greater (fever most often comes before neurologic signs), nasal discharge, lack of coordination, hindquarter weakness, leaning or resting against a fence or wall to maintain balance, lethargy, urine dribbling, head tilt, diminished tail tone, and penile paralysis.

It is important to remember these signs are not specific to EHM and diagnostic testing is required to confirm EHV-1 infection. If you suspect your horse has been exposed to EHV-1, contact your local veterinarian.

For more information on EHM, visit www.tahc.texas.gov. The equine industry is encouraged to obtain the latest information on equine disease events across the country on the Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) website at www.equinediseasecc. org.

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