LMD Nov 2012

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

MARKET

Digest I

NOVEMBER 15, 2012 • www. aaalivestock . com

Volume 54 • No. 12

The Auditors

by Lee Pitts

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Playing By The Packer’s Rules

NEWSPAPER PRIORITY HANDLING

With all the news about drought, the high price of corn, meat recalls and failed statewide initiatives to raise the beef checkoff to two dollars, one little tidbit of news flew under the radar of most ranchers. And yet, in the long run Tyson’s announcement that the nation’s largest corporate meatpacker would begin imposing its new FarmCheck™ audit program on its suppliers, could have far more serious and long-lasting implica-

by LEE PITTS

Shoot And Release

– JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

et’s play the old word association game, shall we? If I were to say the word “grass” you’d probably say “green”, unless you were a pothead. If I said “black” you’d say “white” and if I said the word “audit” you’d probably . . . wet your pants.

Usually the word “audit” is associated with those good folks at the IRS whose goal in life is to not let you keep any of your own money. Just the idea of an IRS audit is enough to strike fear in the hearts of the most pure and innocent among us. But if the big meat behemoth Tyson gets its way, the word audit will become a permanent addition to the vocabulary of anyone who raises cattle for a living.

Riding Herd

“If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.” tions than this year’s drought and the cost of corn combined.

Tyson is the nation’s leading producer of meat and poultry, the second-largest food production company in the Fortune 500, and a company whose tentacles reach into more than 130 countries around the world.

Tyson is estimated to control more than one-fourth of the nearly 85 percent of the nation’s

steer and heifer slaughter controlled by only four mega-corporations. So their announcement on October 12, 2012 that it is launching a program to audit the treatment of animals at the livestock and poultry farms that supply the company was a very big deal that promises to send shockwaves throughout the industry.

Tyson calls its new program

FarmCheck™ and the company has already begun by auditing some of the 3,000 independent hog farms that supply the company. Auditors are visiting the farms to check on such things as animal access to food and water, as well as proper “human-animal interaction” and worker training.

Says Tyson’s CEO, Donnie Smith, “We believe the farmers who supply us are the best in the world, and I think the audits will verify this. But, if we find problems, we want them fixed right away. These audits will give us a chance to correct any minor problems that are discovered and, if necessary, to stop doing business with any farms where animal treatment or conditions do not meet our standards.”

Here’s the part that should concern anyone who raises cattle for a living: The FarmCheck™ program, which has been under development since early spring continued on page two

Managed Environmental Bias Coordination Eminence Anderson Family and the Lower Gila Box ACEC

by STEPHEN L. WILMETH

itchell and Ellice (Thomson) Robertson had four daughters. They homesteaded southwest of Cliff, New Mexico on Sycamore Creek. The four girls Nila, Helen, Jewell, and Ruth were around animals as a matter of existence. Little Helen was maybe more horse crazy than her siblings to the point her dad had to make her stay away from a mare he didn’t trust.

Mitchell came in one afternoon and Helen was there wanting to be with dad and the horse. She asked to hold the horse while he unsaddled and fed. He told her she could but to be careful. Helen’s interpretation of being careful was to do a good job, and she wrapped the reins around her little hand.

As her dad made his way back from the corn crib, the mare spooked and ran off . . . dragging and kicking at Helen as she ran.

Mitchell, in a panic, called for her to turn loose, but the wrapped reins held her suspended until the horse finally kicked her free.

Having no car and miles from any neigh-

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bors, Mr. Robertson caught the mare and headed for help. By the time they got a car and on the way to a doctor in Silver City, the little horse crazy Robertson girl, Helen . . . died.

Eighty Years later History continues Down the river at Redrock, the son of Helen’s sister Ruth, Walt Anderson, lives at the same family ranch his grandparents moved to in 1929. He is the unbroken link of Andersons to call the place home.

Every morning he walks from his house and the same view his grandfather, Fred, admired stands in stark relief. The barns, the saddle shed, and the corrals are within sight.

To the northwest he can see Black Mountain.

To the northeast, Elephant Back and Clark’s Peak form the horizon. The Gila River lies just beyond the field where hay and pasture is grown. This is home to Walt in more ways than just existence.

In 2011, Mr. Anderson, his fellow board members of the Hidalgo Soil and Water Con-

’m always thinking up great ways to make money but I’m too busy making a living to get rich. But my latest idea is so good I simply must share it with you.

I admit that a lot of my friends are hunters, and if that makes my light shine less brightly amongst the PETA crowd, then so be it.

My camouflaged buddies tell me that, #1) it’s getting harder and harder to find places to hunt and, #2) even if they are lucky enough to find a place to hunt, there are fewer and fewer things to shoot at.

But that was before my really BIG idea: using livestock as game animals.

I know what you’re thinking: it’s hard enough trying to keep your cowherd together with wolves, animal rightists, the government and enviros declaring them open game, without hunters shooting at them, too. But what I’m proposing are two seasons for hunting livestock, dart season and paintball season, neither one of which should result in the death of your stock. Think of it as shootand-release hunting.

I’ve seen ads for a company that sells rifles, crossbows, pistols and darts as a way to vaccinate your cattle from long range. This is great for people like me who aren’t USTRC or PRCA ropers, are too cheap to hire any help, and are too lazy to saddle the horse and fetch the stock.

Hunters could use these darts to hunt cows.

Under my plan both dart and paintball season would last five months each, with a month in between to give your cattle a chance to calm down before shipping and branding. (Now all we need is a way to brand our cattle from long distance!) Some might suggest that livestock are not wild enough to be good game animals but after being shot by sharp darts and splashes of color, your cows and horses should be wild enough to qualify as rodeo stock. continued on page eight

continued on page five

www.LeePittsbooks.com

Livestock Market Digest

Page 2

November 15, 2012

The Auditors 2012, will be expanded to include cattle ranches by January 2014. That’s one year until auditors start descending on your ranches to see if you are playing by the packer’s new rules, that are yet to be established.

continued from page one

welfare of cattle on ranches. Nor do we know if a very large group of ranchers would be open to such checks. There’s a big difference in asking ranchers to put up with audits that they won’t be compensated for, versus a con-

Tyson is estimated to control more than one-fourth of the nearly 85 percent of the nation’s steer and heifer slaughter.

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Stop and think for a minute . . . since the cattle business currently operates under a different industry structure than the pork and poultry industries (we still have competitive bidding) Tyson really has only two ways of accomplishing their goals for FarmCheck™. One option is that by the time they plan to roll out the program for beef they will have changed the complexion of the beef industry so that they will have enough contract producers under their thumb to audit and supply their needs.

Here’s the rub: as a rancher, how do you or anyone else know when you put the bull in with the cows who will buy your calves?

The only way you’ll know for sure is if you become a contract supplier to feeders who supply cattle to a specific packer. In such a scenario the beef industry would look like the poultry and swine industries where producers sign 24 page contracts and field men check on their contractors to make sure they are playing by the packer’s rule book.

If you want to sell your cattle to Tyson, FarmCheck™ means that you will either become a contract producer or, since you don’t know who will buy your calves or stockers, you will probably sign up with a third party auditor because in such a concentrated market you cannot alienate even a single buyer, especially the biggest meat processor in the country. “In many regional cattle markets where U.S. cattle feeders have only Tyson and one other buyer for their cattle,” says Bill Bullard of R CALF, “those cattle feeders will be forced to capitulate to Tyson's command-and-control FarmCheck™ audit program or face the consequences of having only one remaining buyer and no competition for their cattle.”

If Tyson doesn’t have us all turned into serfs on our own land in 12 months Tyson’s other option in forcing FarmCheck™ down our throats is to rely on third party auditors to check on all potential suppliers, just as several independent companies and breed associations are now documenting the source and age of cattle. The big difference is that currently ranchers receive premiums for such cattle and we’ve heard no talk of such premiums paid for “humanely raised” animals. Then there is this: we currently are unaware of any third party auditors checking on the

tractual obligation where you do it, or else.

Tyson is so used to dealing with captive hog and chicken producers that they must think they can inflict their will on beef producers as well. And perhaps they can.

All For Free Tyson indicated in their big press release that they would tend to prefer third parties performing these audits. Of course they would, that way they won’t have to pay for them. The only part the packers didn’t like about age and source verification initially was that occasionally they had to pay a premium for it, and they are used to getting everything for free. For example, a lot of their research is being paid for by the buck-a-head checkoff that is paid every time an animal changes hands, except when the packer buys them. They don’t pay, of course. Now they want this proprietary animal handling information for free as well.

Tyson also announced that they will develop a Farm Animal Well-Being Research Program that will “lead to improvement in animal raising methods”.

“Where else but in a monopoly controlled market can a corporation infringe on the private property rights of independent farmers and ranchers to extract valuable marketing information without having to pay a dime?” asks R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. “FarmCheck™” audit program will enable the megacorporation to add valuable marketing information to its meat products sold to consumers — Tyson will use its unilateral power to audit operations on private farms and ranches and oversee everything from breeding to harvest.”

Bullard says Tyson’s new program “is nothing but a means by which the mega-corporation can exert its muscle to violate the privacy of hardworking, independent family farm and ranch cattle producers; extract from those independent family cattle producers valuable marketing

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

November 15, 2012

The Auditors information at no cost; and then charge consumers a premium price for the information it has extracted for free.

“If Tyson wants this valuable marketing information, it should offer a premium to family farmers and ranchers who wish to participate. But, Tyson knows it possesses monopolistic power in the U.S. cattle market and it is brazenly exercising its monopolistic power to exploit independent U.S. family farmers and ranchers.”

The New Guy At Your Roundup One theory as to how FarmCheck™ might work is that the same companies who are performing age and source, or other new companies that might spring up, might send a representative to your shipping or branding with a clipboard and a scorecard that reads like this: No hot iron branding: check. Calves were not roped and thrown to the ground: check. When male calves were castrated they were anesthetized first: check. No prods, paddles and especially hot shots: check. Facilities designed

by Temple Grandin: check.

Cowboys have had annual sensitivity training on how to treat livestock in a more caring and compassionate manner: check.

Any horses used in gathering the cattle were given adequate rest breaks: check. No spurs, quirts or ropes: check. And so forth.

These audits will be limited only by the imagination of the animal rightists.

And who will be paying for all this?

Silly me. What a stupid question. You will be paying, of course, including the cost of the audit.

As a result the beef will taste no better, but it will cost a lot more because the packer will charge a premium for meat from “humanely raised animals” that are no different than they are now. This increase in price will reduce beef consumption even more. The animal’s lives will hardly be enhanced over what they are presently, you’ll have to completely remodel you’re way of doing business, you’ll be buried in paperwork and the bank accounts of the auditors and the packers will be greatly enhanced.

Much to their chagrin, thus far Tyson has been unable to transform the beef industry into one that resembles the pig and poultry industries, although they have tried. Despite all the public relations talk about the welfare of animals, make no mistake, this program is more about locking up contract producers than it is the animals getting clean water and cowboys who are kind and courteous. They couldn’t turn you into a contract producer the way they did it with hogs and chickens because auction markets and video markets allowed you to sell your calves in a competitive fashion. So now they’ll attempt to use all the current excitement over

continued from page two

the consumers’ interest in how her food was produced to turn you into one of their own. And if this works you can expect Cargill and JBS to unleash their own pack of auditors.

Ulterior Motives Tyson also announced that they will develop a Farm Animal Well-Being Research Program that will “lead to improvement in animal raising methods”. Tyson indicated that Dr. Temple Grandin is heavily involved in the development and implementation of this program and stated that, “This program makes it very clear that mistreatment of farm animals will not be tolerated.”

Walmart has already climbed on the bandwagon and has said that Tyson’s FarmCheck™ program is in line with their commitment to ethical food sourcing.

The FarmCheck™ program

ing to Tyson.

We wouldn’t be surprised one bit to see the Humane Society land a seat on this advisory committee. After all, what’s the best way to keep them from videotap-

Auditors are visiting the farms to check on such things as animal access to food and water, as well as proper “human-animal interaction” and worker training. will be overseen by a new, external, Animal Well-Being Advisory Committee that Tyson Foods is establishing that is expected to begin its work in March 2013.

“Those selected to serve will include people with expertise in farm animal behavior, health, production and ethics,” accord-

ing your operations and hounding you? Why, of course, put them on your board, or advisory group, and pay them off. The Humane Society of the United States has already said that Tyson’s new program does not go far enough, even though we don’t know how they know that

Page 3 because the standards haven’t even been announced yet. In our view, the HSUS is just angling their way in for a piece of the prize. We wouldn’t even be surprised to see the Humane Society get into the potentially rewarding auditing game. A farfetched idea? Just watch. We also wouldn’t be surprised to see Tyson adopt a HSUS approved stamp of approval with Temple Grandin’s name or likeness on it, and they’ll charge plenty for it.

After all, we already know that HSUS is more about making money than it is animal welfare, otherwise they’d be spending more of their millions on animal shelters than they do on lawyers.

“Audits are valuable if farm continued on page four

Livestock Market Digest

Page 4

The Auditors

continued from page three

inspectors ask the right set of questions,” says Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the HSUS. And who better to come up with those questions than the Humane Society? For a fee, of course.

Tyson said its announcement was not a response to any release or announcement from any animal welfare groups and if you believe that you might be just the type of gullible person to sign up as a Tyson contract producer.

But here’s the point no one is bringing up: Of all the videos shot recently exposing inhumane practices towards animals, to the best of our knowledge these have mostly happened in packing plants, and at dairies and auction markets that sell dairy cattle.

Perhaps I am ill-informed but I cannot think of a single instance where videographers, working for the Humane Society or anyone else, have documented on

film inhumane practices on cow ranches. And yet the packers will use this excuse as a reason to turn you into a contract producer and audit your operation with unannounced visits.

The fairness of FarmCheck™ will become painfully obvious as time goes by. For example, will Tyson demand the same audit of the cattle producers around the world who are raising cattle to supply the beef that the packers ship into this country? Don’t be silly. Of course not. Will they be checking on South American gauchos and Australian graziers to see if they are kindhearted to animals? If so, how. If not, why not? This is nothing more than a solution in search of a problem that has “ulterior motive” written all over it.

No wonder the word “audit” strikes fear in the hearts of anyone who hears it.

November 15, 2012

Brangus Breeder Inducted into Cowboy Hall of Fame New Mexico State University in .L. Robbs, President of the Las Cruces, N.M., and then International Brangus Breedserved two years in the U.S. Army. ers Association (IBBA) Board Following his time in the service, of Directors, was inducted into Robbs moved to Willcox, Ariz., the Willcox Cowboy Hall of Fame where he met and married his October 4, 2012. He was selected wife, Sally. Together, they own and and honored by his peers for his manage Robbs Brangus cattle involvement and dedication to the operation. livestock industry at the local, state and national levels, as well as Robbs has been breeding, for his stewardship and preservashowing and promoting Brangus tion of natural resources. cattle for the last 45 years and has “I feel honored to be recogproven to be a tremendous asset nized by my community and peers to the cattle industry. He has been as someone who is just doing what a dedicated member of the Souththey love to do every day,” Robbs R.L. Robbs, Willcox Hall of Fame west Brangus Breeders Associasaid. tion (SWBBA) for most of his proHonoree The Willcox (Arizona) Chamfessional career and has also been ber of Commerce and Agriculture hosted the 30th an integral supporter of the Southwest Junior Assoannual Cowboy Hall of Fame dinner to recognize ciation.

Robbs and two other inductees, Chad Bourne and About the Willcox Cowboy Hall of Fame: In Jack Post. These deserving inductees exhibit com- early 1983 a small group of Willcox leaders pelling work ethics, perseverance and genuine launched an effort to honor one of the important characteristics of a treasured heritage and lifestyle. resources of the Willcox area — its people. The Robbs grew up on a small farm in West Texas first six charter members were selected and their and graduated from Plainview High School. He portraits painted ready for the first induction cerecontinued his higher education at West Texas State mony held in September 1983. The inaugural event University, now West Texas A&M University, in was celebrated with a steak dinner and proved to Canyon, Texas, where the highlight of his collegiate be a great success. While initially housed at the career was winning the collegiate livestock judging Willcox Chamber of Commerce building, the contest at the Houston Livestock Show his senior Cowboy Hall of Fame portrait gallery is currently year. After receiving his bachelor’s in Animal Hus- located in the Rex Allen ‘Arizona Cowboy’ Musebandry, Robbs completed his graduate work at um in the historic downtown area.

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Apply now for beef scholarships CAB’s Colvin Fund offers $20,000 in education help ouis M. “Mick” Colvin is passionate about beef and young people. That’s why the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand rallies its partners each year to support the scholarship fund that honors its first formal leader by helping collegians reach their goals.

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For 2013, $15,000 will be split among five undergraduate scholarships, in the amounts of $5,000, $4,000, $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000.

College juniors and seniors who have shown commitment to the beef industry, either through coursework or activities, are encouraged to apply by the Dec. 7 deadline. Applications are evaluated on involvement and scholastic achievement, communication skills and reference letters.

A $5,000 graduate level scholarship will also be awarded to a full-time masters or doctorate student conducting research related to high-quality beef production. Applications for that award are due Jan. 11, 2013.

“The graduate level scholarship builds on what the Colvin Scholarship has always done,” says Mick Colvin, who co-founded Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) in 1978 and served as its chief officer for 22 years. “We will help groom the next great scientist supporting premium beef.”

The funds given have more than doubled since 2009.

“It’s very, very gratifying to see the amount we’ve offered grow over the years,” Colvin says. “Our partners have really pitched in and they’ve made this scholarship what it is today.”

Those supporters raised nearly $75,000 in scholarship monies at a golf outing and auction held during the brand’s annual conference this year in White Sul-

phur Springs, W.Va. The dollars go into an account that generates the interest proceeds used to fund these scholarships each year. That ensures the longevity of the program and its impact on the industry.

The 2013 golf outing sponsorship was purchased by Palmer Food Services/G&C Food Distributors, Rochester, N.Y. The following companies also supported the live auction: Cargill Meat Solutions, Wichita, Kan.; T-Bonz, Charleston, S.C.; Sysco Boston LLC, Plympton, Mass.; and Del Monte, San Francisco, Calif.

The top two recipients also win an all-expense-paid trip to the 2013 CAB Annual Conference, September 18-20 in Palm Desert, Calif. This is an opportunity to interact with leaders throughout the production, packing, retail and foodservice industries.

“I can’t say enough good about the past winners,” Colvin says. “They’re great, great students and I’m proud to be associated with them.”

The Colvin Scholarship Fund began in 1999 when Colvin retired as CAB executive director. The scholarships recognize his role in making dreams a reality and inspiring others to be their best. Colvin co-founded the CAB program in 1978, leading to establishing the world’s leading brand of fresh beef.

For more details, interested students should visit www.certifiedangusbeef.com/press/colvin/.

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

November 15, 2012

Environmental Bias servation District (HSWCD), and the Hidalgo County Commission (HCC) learned the BLM intended to expand a local Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) by 65,000 acres. As the impact of the plan unfolded, Walt learned that his 2,250 acres of private land would be swept into the plan. His neighbors would have another 8½ sections of deeded land impacted, similarly. Fifteen sections of New Mexico State trust land were also involved. The remainder of the land would be federal holdings including the Anderson allotment.

Inquiries by HSWCD resulted in a BLM response that the plan set the foundation to ‘save’ the Lower Gila Box. The HCC and HSWCD were astounded at the arrogance of the action.

Meetings were requested and the scope of the plan was revealed. For starters, there were at least three endangered species that would benefit from expanding the agency’s management of the area. There was an issue with the Clean Water Act and there was an issue of brush control within the plan’s footprint.

Further prompting indicated cultural surveys revealed the need for expanded federal controls. The BLM was worried about potential energy corridor construction, off basin surface water storage (tied to an Arizona / New Mexico water settlement), water temperatures in the Gila, and feral animal intrusions.

The area would be “managed for the public” by the elimination of the state and private owner-

continued from page one

ship. Furthermore, the area could be closed to the sale and or lease of minerals, closed to vehicle use, and the river channel could be closed to cattle grazing.

Aha!

Promises made don’t mean Promises kept HCC and HSWCD were furious.

First, it is not the BLM’s role to determine local economic issues without input. Second, there is the organic legislation that gained western support from the constitutional assurance of managing public lands for the matter of disposal . . . to managing federal lands for the matter of retention.

In getting the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) passed, Congress promised local government they would be part of any planning process that impacted their communities. Congress intended and clearly specified that local planning would be considered early . . . not after a plan is finalized.

Congress promised that federal agencies would keep apprised of local plans.

Congress assured that consideration would be given to all local plans.

Congress assured that agencies would objectively assist in resolving differences in local and federal land planning.

Congress assured that meaningful involvement would always occur including public notices.

Lastly, Congress assured that federal planning would be con-

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sistent with local planning.

Local government across the West has long realized the pillars of FLPMA are kept only as long as the environmental agenda is in phase with the local governing philosophies. That has become a fact that is no longer even veiled.

In order to protect citizenry against the rampage, local governments have sought protections within the Act to forge defenses against federal land schemes. The issue of Coordination has become the focus.

Playing off the two foundational pillars, prior notice and the necessity of seeking consistency with local planning, coordination is the action of putting local government at the planning table. It doesn’t mean the Feds would comply with all local planning, but it does imply that local governments have a line of defense in dealing with federal actions.

It is worthy to note the implications of coordination. First is the legal definition which includes ‘harmonize’ and ‘synchronize’. The second sets forth ‘equal’ and ‘not subordinate’.

Local governments are not subservient.

It is important to recognize that implication to local government. Constitutionally impaired legislators have no idea what sovereign individuality means. As such, Americans are saddled with the disadvantage of being sacrificed to bureaucratic actions, but local governments have the opportunity to elevate sovereign individual rights.

‘Any local unit of government’ has the conditional right to enter into coordination with the Feds.

That unit of government, however, must have a land plan in order to inaugurate the relationship.

The Dust Up Hidalgo County prevailed in a temporary removal of the Lower Gila Box ACEC from discussion. They also learned a number of things that must be used in future defenses.

They must strengthen their land use plans. A good argument can be made that FLPMA offers promises, but local government must not allow those promises to become meaningless without active participation.

In discussions since the ACEC issue was tabled by the BLM, a Council of Border Conservation Districts (Council) has come together in southwestern New Mexico for mutual support.

HSWCD is a founding member.

In debating the dilemma of the ongoing discovery of learning of federal plans only after they appear in the Federal Register or the headlines of local newspapers, a fundamental need arose.

The Council agreed their prominence or eminence at the planning table was not nor had it ever been held inviolate by the actions of the land agency.

Therefore, if local government was going to experience the promises clearly intended by Congress, they would have to commit their own efforts through policy and intent to

Page 5

form an aggressive, primary voice at all planning tables.

Their insistence for their expected coordination eminence had come to mean something very profound to the Council. It is fundamentally crucial. They adopted the concept as the founding principle in their approach to future relationships with the agencies.

The Lesson honored Walt Anderson’s mother remembers her childhood when she and sister, Jewell, herded turkeys to support the family’s existence. In the fall, black walnuts from the native trees in Sycamore would be gathered and cracked. The big pieces went into the jar for cooking and the little pieces were fed to the turkeys.

Those people and their neighbors weren’t footnotes in the history of southwestern New Mexico. They are the history. They struggled, they bled, they endured . . .

The prominence or eminence of impact to the individuals whose very existence is threatened by federal actions is profound. If the history they represent endures similarly, it will not be accomplished by unfulfilled narrative from FLPMA or any other law. It must come from a dedicated body of participants whose existence is predicated on similar values and beliefs. It is that simple, and . . . it is that serious.

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. “Walt’s mother and my father grew up just miles apart on Sycamore Creek. Years ago, we stopped at the site of the Robertson homestead and my dad told me the story of Helen Robertson . . . he struggled.”

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Livestock Market Digest

Page 6

NMSU hosts new ranch management series in northeastern New Mexico communities s New Mexico beef producers continue to manage through one of the state’s most severe droughts, New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service is offering a free Ranch Management Series across northeastern New Mexico. The series is focused on managing cattle and the ranch through these challenging times.

The series, which began in late October in Clayton, will be hosted by the Cooperative Extension Service in Colfax, Guadalupe, Harding, Quay and Union counties through March.

“The bottom line is the drought is taking a toll on the country, the cattle and the people,” said Manny Encinias, NMSU Extension beef cattle specialist.

The sessions are designed to be driven by questions from program attendees into a discussion with experts and fellow ranch managers on timely management topics.

“The inventory of cattle in northeastern New Mexico is greatly reduced and the remaining cattle left or being brought into the country are likely drought-stressed and thinner than usual,” Encinias said.

It also addresses the nutritional management of droughtstressed calves being weaned and pre-conditioned on pasture or in a dry lot. A supper will also be provided at all sessions.

Encinias, who will moderate the Oct. 25 session, will be joined on the panel by Ted McCollum, Texas Agri-Life beef cattle specialist in Amarillo, Texas; Kip Karges, nutritionist with AC Nutrition in Winters,

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Texas; and Kris Wilson, ranch manager of the Bell Ranch in Mosquero, N.M. November’s topic will be “A Cattle Enterprise After the Cowherd has Gone to Town.”

Sessions will be held Wednesday, Nov. 28, in Roy, N.M., and Thursday, Nov. 29, in Santa Rosa, N.M. January’s topic will be “Calving Management for DroughtImpacted Cowherds.” Sessions will be held Wednesday, Jan. 2, in Las Vegas, N.M., and Thursday, Jan. 3, in Clayton.

February’s topic will be “Man-

aging Cattle on Weed-Infested Pastures.” Sessions will be held Tuesday, Feb. 12, in Raton, N.M., and Wednesday, Feb. 13, in Santa Rosa.

March’s topics will be “The Dollars and Sense of Beef Quality Assurance on the Ranch.” Sessions will be Wednesday, March 6, in Roy and Thursday, March 7, in Tucumcari, N.M. For more information on locations and to register for one of the sessions visit the New Mexico Ranch Management Series website at http:// nmbeef.nmsu.edu

British Newsstand Bans Kids Under 14 From Buying Gun Mags

by CHAD LOVE, fieldandstream.com/blogs

f you live in the UK, you’re under 14 and you love reading about shooting sports, the nation’s largest chain of newsagents wants to protect you from yourself. WH Smith, Britain’s largest distributor of newspapers and magazines, just instituted a ban on children under 14 from buying magazines about the shooting sports. Yes, you just read that right: In the UK (or at least at WH Smith locations) magazines like Field & Stream are subversive material not suitable for children.

From this story in the (UK) Telegraph: It is a sport enjoyed by thousands of children, and one which gained Britain a gold medal at the Olympics. But children have been banned from buying shooting hobby magazines by Britain’s biggest

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newsagent — even though it is entirely legal for them to own a gun.

WH Smith, Britain’s biggest chain of newsagents, has banned youngsters from buying copies of country sports magazines after a campaign by animal rights activists. The retailer, whose founding family owned a highly prized shoot in Buckinghamshire, says it has introduced an age limit on such magazines as Shooting Times because children are not allowed to obtain a firearms certificate until they are 14.

According to the story, however, the newspaper chain is simply wrong, as there is no minimum age in Britain for holding a shotgun license, although children under 18 cannot buy guns and those under 14 must be adult-supervised. For a good breakdown of the issue, check out this story in the UK shooting magazine Sporting Shooter.

Thought? Reaction? Think it could ever happen here?

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• Leveling the Playing Field: Support for the Grazing Improvement Act of 2011 • Support for the Governmental Litigation Savings Act of 2011 — Reform of Excessive Litigation Pay-outs • Foreign & Domestic Train Wreck in the Making — More of the ESA • The Secret World of the Animal Rights Agenda TO SUPPORT THESE CAUSES AND MORE, JOIN US!

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November 15, 2012

“Plant Rights” on NPR

by WESLEY J. SMITH

he environmental movement is growing increasingly radical and anti human.

Taking a beat from the animal rights movement, we have seen increasing advocacy for human-stifling agendas such as “nature rights” (now the law of two countries and nearly 30 U.S. municipalities) “plant dignity” (in Switzerland’s constitution), “river personhood” (recently enacted in New Zealand) and “ecocide,” which would make any and all large scale human uses of the land and exploitation of resources a “crime against peace” akin to genocide and ethnic cleansing.

These are not promoted in odd Internet sites, but rather are discussed earnestly and with great respect in such liberal outlets such as the New York Times.

Latest example on NPR: Writing in the New York Times recently, Michael Marder, author of the forthcoming Plant-Thinking: A Philosophy of Vegetal Life, calls for “plant liberation.” Plant stress, Marder points out, does not reach the same intensity, nor does it express itself in the same ways, as

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Book Review

animal suffering. This fact, he adds, should be reflected in our practical ethics.

But, he continues, “the commendable desire to ameliorate the condition of animals, currently treated as though they were meat-generating machines, does not justify strategic argumentation in favor of the indiscriminate consumption of plants.

The same logic ultimately submits to total instrumentalization the bodies of plants, animals and humans by setting them over and against an abstract and rational mind.” Therefore, he concludes, “the struggles for the emancipation of all instrumentalized living beings should be fought on a common front.” In other words, what is good for the goose is good for the gooseberry.

I have been pounding the drum that plant rights, nature rights, etc. are inimical to our thriving and liberty because they undermine human exceptionalism and treat rights as something that are ubiquitous and common. I mean, if everything has rights, really nothing does.

Please take this seriously. The green misanthropes want to tie us into knots.

Source: National Review Online

by Suzanne Menges

The Comanchero’s Grave

BY KAREN KELLING • ISBN number: 978-0-86534-861-5

tories live in your blood and bones, follow the seasons, and light candles on the darkest night — every storyteller knows she or he is also a teacher . . .” says Patti Davis, a modern inspirational speaker and storyteller. Many industry leaders have encouraged us in the agriculture business to tell our story — consumers are increasingly interested in where their food comes from and how it has been raised. While that is certainly important, we have other stories, more intense and urgent stories, which are also important to animal agriculture — stories about how government regulations, drought, and market swings affect our business. Karen Kelling’s new novel, The Comanchero’s Grave is a story that weaves these realities about ranching life into a mysterious and intriguing tale that is sure to entertain as well as teach.

Thirteen-year-old Lovella Grady has a lot on her mind as she and her mother arrive one windy December day at the Crossover Ranch in northern New Mexico. Ranching is in Lovella’s blood and is her dream, but that dream seems to be unraveling before her eyes. Still reeling from the loss of her

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grandparents, she must now accept the fact that all the cattle on the ranch will be sold to satisfy the impending “death tax”.

Grandpa Hank promised the ranch would be hers one day, but the day of the sale she watches as pieces of her future leave one trailer-load at a time.

Like many family ranches today, the Crossover Ranch has a long and interesting history. As Lovella learns of the mysterious and dangerous characters who have been a part of the ranch’s past, she encounters some present-day, not-so-friendly folks who know how to hold a grudge.

Kelling takes us on a wild ride of conspiracy, fear, jealousy, young love, and the bravery of a young girl desperate to hold on to her heritage.

The Comanchero’s Grave offers a glimpse into the modern-day ranching world and a family torn between honoring the past while preparing for their future.

Kelling’s vivid descriptions of a stormy winter adventure in cattle country makes it the perfect tale to enjoy by the fireside. Better still, it is a story that teaches important lessons about legacies, shared dreams, and how a family can come together to save what means so much to them all.

Editor’s Note: You can meet this author and many others who have been reviewed in the Stockman at the Cowboy Christmas, Friday, December 7, 2012 in the Kokopeli Room at the Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid North at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are still available $40 per person, $60 per couple!

November 15, 2012

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

Page 7

Let’s Defund the World Wildlife Fund

by DREW JOHNSON, newsmax.com

ith 4 million members and efforts in 100 countries, the World Wildlife Fund is the largest and, likely, the bestknown environmental nonprofit organization in the world.

The WWF claims to do a great deal of good for endangered species and environmental protection efforts. However, when the Taxpayers Protection Alliance took a closer look at WWF funding, projects, and scandals in a report released recently, a very troubling picture emerged.

The organization is a tremendous burden on taxpayers and a dangerous threat to the indigenous people in the areas where the WWF is active. Too often, the WWF does more harm than good to the animals and lands they profess to protect.

A 2011 documentary titled “The Pact with the Panda,” exposed that the WWF was responsible for displacing more than a million native inhabitants in India in an effort to protect the local tiger population. This modern-day “Trail of Tears” is even more outrageous considering that the Indians driven from their lands under the guise of protecting tigers lived alongside the tigers for centuries. Not only did the WWF destroy the lives, culture, and society of more than a million people, there are fewer tigers left in these areas now than before the atrocious displacement efforts began.

One reason for the failure of the WWF’s efforts to protect the tigers might have something to do with what they did with the tigers’ habitat after they drove away those pesky humans from their homes.

The WWF gives tourists who shell out about $10,000 the opportunity to pile in one of 155 jeeps and chase the few tigers that remain around their preserves for eight hours a day. This may be terrible for the tigers, but it’s big business for the WWF, which seems all too happy with the millions of dollars brought in through this ecotourism scheme.

This troubling instance of the WWF forcing people to uproot from their homes in India is not even the most despicable example of forced migration by the organization in recent years.

In Nov. 2011, Prince Charles, who serves as president of WWF UK, visited Tanzania to present five local leaders with “Living Planet” awards for their work.

According to an article in the London newspaper The Telegraph, “Shortly before the prince’s arrival, it was revealed that thousands of villagers had been evicted from the forest, their huts in the paddy fields torched and their coconut palms felled. This was carried out by the Tanzanian government’s Forestry and Beekeeping Division, with which the WWF has been working.”

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Besides driving poor native populations from their land and destroying their homes, the WWF also keeps busy ensuring these people remain poor.

WWF led a lobbying effort to impose trade restrictions on Indonesian pulp, paper, and palm oil products, ostensibly to protect the forests of Indonesia.

In reality, the WWF was serving as a front group for North American, European, and Australian competitors who produce the same products as the Indonesian companies, but were being threatened by the lower price of the Indonesian goods.

The area of Indonesia responsible for producing these products is one of the poorest places in the world. Workers in the region were given the opportunity to make a decent living and provide for their families, only to see it taken away because the WWF worked in cahoots with developed nations to kill their jobs.

In Dec. 2011, allegations of “inappropriate expense reporting” were reported in the WWF’s

Tanzanian office. The WWF commissioned Ernst & Young to conduct an independent investigation to get to the bottom of the accusations.

The audit found that more than $400,000 was “misappropriated by the WWF local staff who forged hotel [and] taxi receipts,” according to the Daily News, a newspaper in Tanzania.

This widespread fraud related to the WWF’s efforts in Tanzania resulted in the termination of eight employees and the resignation of six others.

It is a misfortune when a nonprofit organization has its money stolen by disreputable workers. It is an outrage when most of the money stolen came at the expense of taxpayers. According to the audit, on top of the $400,000+ pilfered by corrupt WWF workers, five more WWF employees in Tanzania stole money from a USAID-funded project.

In total, taxpayers were out hundreds of thousands of dollars because bureaucrats and elected officials were careless enough to shower the WWF with tax dol-

lars, despite the organization’s troubling track record.

A few hundred grand is, unfortunately, chump change compared to the tens of millions of dollars the federal government regularly hands out to the WWF. Since 2000, the WWF snatched up $97 million in federal grants and other handouts funded by tax dollars, according to the Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s tally.

A lot of those tax dollars go straight in the pockets of the WWF’s well-compensated employees. Carter Roberts, WWF’s president, pocketed a $425,000 salary in 2009. The chief operating officer of the World Wildlife Fund, Marcia Marsh, earns over $300,000 in salary and benefits. “In fact, in 2009, no fewer than 18 U.S.based WWF employees raked in more than $200,000 in salary and benefits,” according to the government watchdog group responsible for the reports.

Perhaps most shocking for taxpayers is the fact that the WWF currently has $238.1 million in the bank. That means that

taxpayers are forced to pour millions of dollars each year into an organization sitting on nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. The WWF is extraordinarily rich and certainly does not need an annual bailout courtesy of American taxpayers to keep its lights on.

The idea that tax dollars would go to support a rich international nonprofit might not raise red flags at first blush, but a closer look is enough to infuriate any hardworking taxpayer.

It is simply unthinkable that, with the government $16 trillion in debt and tens of millions of Americans out of work, federal lawmakers and bureaucrats find it acceptable to hand out tax dollars to an organization that forces people from their homes, prevents some of the poorest workers in the world from earning a decent living, harms the endangered animals it claims to help, and has proven irresponsible with money.

Congress should immediately stop wasting Americans’ money subsidizing the WWF. Drew Johnson is a senior fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA), which is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational organization dedicated to a smaller, more responsible government.

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Page 8

USDA: PETA complaint against university closed

by TARA GOLSHAN, badgerherald.com

he federal government has determined they cannot identify ethical problems in research that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals raised in a campaign against the University of Wisconsin earlier this year.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the inspection report of three visitations conducted by the Animal and Health Inspection Service on September 28, October 2 and October 5 to The Capital Times in mid October.

According to the report, “no noncompliant items were identified during the inspection.”

USDA spokesperson David Sacks said the inspection was not part of an investigation, but rather was an effort to enforce the Animal Welfare Act, which denotes the federal care standards required of all individuals and facilities.

Sacks, who said the department does regular inspections of facilities researching warmblooded animals, said this particular inspection was in response to PETA’s complaint that gained attention last month accusing

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UW of animal cruelty in relation to the use of a cat for hearing experiments.

However, after looking into PETA’s allegations against the university, which included multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act and specifically inadequate anesthesia vet care, USDA found there was nothing out of compliance, Sacks said.

Eric Sandgren, UW’s animal research oversight director, said he is pleased with the USDA report as it confirms the university’s initial response to dispute what they found to be “inaccurate” charges.

However, according to PETA’s Associate Director of Laboratory Investigations Justin Goodman, the report only reflects poorly upon the university and the USDA as a federal agency.

“The USDA, like UW-Madison, apparently thinks it’s acceptable to mutilate, deafen, starve, paralyze and decapitate cats, but PETA sees this violence for what it is — cruelty to animals,” Goodman said in an email to The Badger Herald.

According to Sandgren, the USDA inspector evaluated the facilities, animals and the personnel, all in line with PETA’s

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complaint letter.

Sandgren added the inspection focused on both the 2008 protocol, which the PETA complaint addressed, as well as the current 2012 protocol.

Nothing was cited on the report, Sacks confirmed. According to Sacks, as far as the USDA is concerned, this report is conclusive.

“We looked into the matter,” Sacks said. “We did a focused inspection for what was on the complaint and that closes the matter for us.”

November 15, 2012 In an email to The Badger Herald, Goodman said PETA is disappointed with USDA’s judgement but is “not surprised by the agency’s callous inaction,” adding the government agency has “failed to do its job” before.

Sandgren said he expects PETA to continue with allegations against the university.

Sacks said PETA is welcome to continue their case, but will see no further involvement from the government.

“PETA can do what it feels is necessary, but once we look at a complaint and see there is nothing out of compliance, our work is done,” Sacks said.

Goodman confirmed PETA will continue to pursue their case, despite the USDA inspec-

tion and report, adding the organization is committed to its “vigorous” campaign to end all animal testing.

Sandgren acknowledged PETA’s general goal to end animal research, adding although finding middle ground with animal rights activists like PETA will be difficult, efforts are being made.

“Given the way people in this country seem to be becoming more polarized, I think that [finding common ground] will be difficult,” Sandgren said. “But I think there [are] active efforts in Madison with animal rights activists to find middle ground.

This doesn’t mean they will be successful, but there are efforts.”

Census Countdown Begins for America’s Ranchers & Farmers merica’s farmers and ranchers will soon have the opportunity to make a positive impact on their communities by taking part in the 2012 Census of Agriculture.

Conducted every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the Census is a complete count of all U.S. farms, ranches and those who operate them.

“The Census remains the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the nation,” said Renee Picanso, director of NASS’s Census and Survey Division. “It’s a critical tool that gives farmers a voice to influence decisions that will shape the future of their community, industry and operation.”

The Census looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices,

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income and expenditures and other topics. This information is used by all those who serve farmers and rural communities from federal, state and local governments to agribusinesses and trade associations. For example, legislators use the data when shaping farm policy and agribusinesses factor it into their planning efforts.

“Your answers to the Census impact farm programs and rural services that support your community,” Picanso said. “So do your part and be counted when you receive your form, because there’s strength in numbers that only the Census can reveal.”

In 2007, U.S. farmers reported over two million farms, spanning across more than 922 million acres. This showed nearly a four percent increase in the number of U.S. farms from the previous Census in 2002. These new farms tended to have more

Riding Herd They’ll be harder to sneak up on than a Chicago hit man.

Believe me, deer hunting will not be able to compete with the thrill and difficulty of going for a South Dakota Grand Slam that would include a Brahma bull, Duroc hog, Southdown sheep and a Lipazzaner stallion. And you’ll still get a chance for a traditional photo op if you act quickly and get the picture of you and your one ton range bull before the tranquilizer from the dart starts to wear off. Act too slow though and you may need some help letting your animal loose!

Ranchers, just imagine, you’ll get your cattle vaccinated and have the additional income from hunters and rodeo contractors. Anyone who wants the full hunting experience, camping out, freezing to death, getting bit by red ants and being shot at, ought to be willing to pay at least $1,500 for a horse, $1,000 for a cow, and $500 for a sheep and/or pig. A quickie hunt from the front seat of your pickup while you’re checking your cows could be half price.

From the hunter’s perspective there are many advantages to my plan: you don’t have

diversified production, fewer acres, lower sales and younger operators who also worked offfarm. This telling information and thousands of statistics are only available every five years as a direct result of farmer responses to the Census.

NASS will mail out Census forms in late December, to collect data for the 2012 calendar year. Completed forms are due

by February 4, 2013. Producers can fill out the Census online via a secure website, www.agcensus.usda.gov, or return their form by mail. Federal law requires all agricultural producers to participate in the Census and requires NASS to keep all individual information confidential.

For more information, visit www.agcensus.usda.gov.

The Census of Agriculture is your voice, your future, your responsibility.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE

to drag a deer carcass for three miles over rough terrain, there are currently no license or tag fees, (I’m sure that will change), and you don’t have to go on safari to Africa. You’ll still get to dress up in camo and go hunting at Cabelas for decoys, ammo, and artillery that you probably don’t currently have in your arsenal. The best part is you don’t have to dress out any game because you’ll be given a complimentary pound of hamburger when the hunt is over. And who wouldn’t rather eat beef than venison?

If you think livestock are much too valuable to use as game I suppose we could substitute Hollywood celebrities and Washington politicians. Sportsmen are already shooting paintballs at each other, why not darts? A Hollywood Grand Slam might include a vegan chef (they’re all over the place in tinsel town), a PETA member, an American Idol judge, and one of the Baldwin brothers. Even though there would no head to hang on the wall, which is very sad in the case of the Baldwin brothers, wouldn’t you just love to put a dart in the rump of Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan or Andrea Mitchell?

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

November 15, 2012

Page 9

WSBBA Second Annual Everyone Has a Legal Right to Affordable, Clean Water Beefmaster Bull & Female Fall Sale, September 29, Dinuba, California www.followthemoney.org $53,500 makes it the top water lobbying expenditures by the CALIFORNIA STATE POLICY:

ater is of vital importance to every person, community, state, and nation. California’s socalled “Human Right to Water package” is a group of bills that would expand efforts to improve water quality in California. The majority of attention has been paid to AB 685, by Assembly Member Mike Eng, which declares that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes.” That bill was signed

by Governor Brown on September 25.

According to California Watch, water companies comprised most of the opposition to the bills at two committee hearings. Also opposed was the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA).

The Industry Influence tool at FollowTheMoney.org, website of the National Institute on Money in State Politics, provides a detailed look at contributions given to lawmakers. Water utility companies contributed $199,265 to candidates for state office in California during the 2010 elections. The list of donations by company reveals that the California Water Association’s

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utility contributor to candidates in California in 2010. Click “See Records” next to the table to itemize these contributions and learn that in 2009 the California Water Association gave the most, $5,000, to Anna Caballero, a Democrat who lost in the general election.

The ACWA did not contribute directly to candidates in 2010, but the organization did spend money on lobbying activities in the first, second, third, and sixth quarters of the 2011 and 2012 sessions, which included activity on AB 685.

Lobbying Expenses of the ACWA Date 2011-2012 2011-2012 2011-2012 2011-2012

Quarter 6th 3rd 2nd 1st

Gen. Lobbying $121,805 $122,329 $101,579 $77,667

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university officials to reconsider instituting the program.

“It sends the wrong message to current students, prospective students and alumni about the kind of university we are choosing to become,” Airola said in the post.

Meatless Mondays is not a campaign against the College of Agriculture, Shaffer said. The program’s intent is to bring different options and more sustainable measures to the campus.

“Due to the outrage of the agricultural department, A.S. Dining Services are reconsidering,” Shaffer said.

Chico State posted in response to the multiple posts regarding Meatless Mondays on Oct. 5, stating that the university’s initial news release claiming to have already instituted Meatless Mondays was inaccurate.

“A news release from the Humane Society of the United States about Chico State joining the ‘Meatless Mondays’ program was inaccurate — this was an action taken by the Associated Students Dining Services, not the university,” the post said.

The post also stated that A.S. was “re-evaluating the decision to join the program,” and emphasized that the proposition recommended a meat-free station on Mondays, not a completely meat-free menu.

g•u•i•d•e

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oncerns over Meatless Mondays have caused several Chico State students, professors and supporters of the College of Agriculture to post their concerns on the university’s Facebook page.

The idea of Meatless Mondays was proposed to Associated Students Dining Services by the Humane Society of the United States, said Casey Shaffer, senior biology student and president of Chico for Animal Rights. Sutter Residential Dining Center would provide a completely meat-free menu at one of five food stations on Mondays if A.S. Dining Services participates in the program.

HSUS thought the program would interest Chico State students, said Kristie Middleton, the outreach manager for HSUS’s farm animal protection campaign.

“What Chico State is doing is increasing its vegan options on Mondays to encourage students to eat meat-free once a week,” Middleton said.

The program is supported by dozens of schools and institutions such as Cal State Long Beach, Middleton said.

Agriculture major Trevor Airola posted on the Chico State’s Facebook page, urging

his Western States Beefmaster Breeders Association sale marked its second year with a good group of buyers ringside at the Tulare County Stockyard in Dinuba. The sale out performed last year’s sale, and saw quite a few new buyers providing robust competition for the 32 lots available.

Supporters of AB 685 include the Unitarian Universalists and the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water. A search of the records at FollowTheMoney.org revealed no direct contributions to candidates from these organizations. A search for these organizations on Cal-Access, the website of the California State Legislature, revealed $28,093 in

Meatless Mondays proposal stalled by student protest

by KATRINA CAMERON, The Orion, theorion.com

Unitarian Universalists in the second, third, and sixth quarters, which included lobbying on AB685. The Unitarian Universalists have a second committee that spent $53,955 on lobbying in quarters 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, which all included lobbying on AB685. The Environmental Justice Coalition for Water spent $3,000 lobbying on bills in the sixth quarter, one of which was AB 685.

This isn’t the first time California has reconsidered its water policies. In 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 1242, also called the Human Right to Water Act. Water utility companies gave $145,995 to candidates in California in 2008; Schwarzenegger received $1,000 from the Pacific Water Quality Association.

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Livestock Market Digest

Page 10

FFA names prestigious American Star Award recipients mid celebration of 3,247 FFA members earning their American FFA Degrees after demonstrating the highest level of commitment to FFA and making significant accomplishments in their supervised agricultural experiences, four FFA members were named best of the best.

The National FFA Organization announced the four winners of the prestigious American Star Awards recently at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium. The four FFA members learned of their new high honor during the eighth general session of the 85th National FFA Convention & Expo, each winning over three other national finalists in the four American Star Awards categories: American Star Farmer, American Star in Agribusiness, American Star in Agricultural Placement and American Star in Agriscience.

■ American Star Farmer: Clayton Carley, Cissna Park FFA Chapter, Illinois ■ American Star in Agribusiness: Bradley Weaver,

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Dawson County FFA Chapter, Georgia ■ American Star in Agricultural Placement: Kurt Parsons, Porterville FFA Chapter, California ■ American Star in Agriscience: Taylor Runyan, Atoka FFA Chapter, Oklahoma The American Star Awards honor FFA members who have developed the organization’s most outstanding agricultural skills and competencies through their supervised agricultural experience; demonstrated outstanding management skills; and earned the American FFA Degree — the organization’s highest level of accomplishment.

Eligible FFA members must also have met other agricultural education, scholastic and leadership requirements. A panel of judges who ultimately name the top candidate in each area interviews each finalist.

Each winner of the four categories receives a total reward of $4,000 while the 12 national finalists in each division receive a $2,000 reward.

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November 15, 2012

My Cowboy Heroes

by JIM OLSON

Bart Clennon: Last Living Orginal Rodeo Pioneer n sharp contrast with rodeos of today, back in 1945, Madison Square Garden’s, “World Championship Rodeo,” in New York was a grueling fifty performances over a thirty-day period! A man named Bart Clennon won the saddle bronc riding contest at that show. As a matter of fact, he won many bronc riding championships in the early days of rodeo; Reno, NV; Fort Worth, TX; San Angelo, TX; Burwell, NE; Red Bluff, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; Deadwood, SD, Miles City, MT; Kissimmee, FL and Boston Garden to name a few.

Bart says, “I never kept any records, but I know that I made a living rodeoing for over twenty years.”

While Bart’s rodeo resume is quite impressive, what is even more notable is that he is the last living person of the original sixtyone fellows who signed the famous “Boston Garden strike document,” then walked out of performing at the rodeo in 1936.

This led to an eventual formation of the Cowboy Turtles Association (CTA) – the predecessor of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA). Even more impressive than that – Bart Clennon was born in Aberdeen, SD, 1910, making him 102 years of age on November 5, 2012!

Clennon, who has lived for many years now in the Tucson, AZ area, a few miles north and west of the back entry road to old Tucson Studios, with his two sons, Bart Jr. and Terrance, has many memories of rodeo. His family went with him during much of his career and they saw many things together. Not all that happened on the rodeo trail was glamour and nostalgia though, as is often reported. The family recalls a tragic event in 1946 when two Army bombers collided mid-air as they performed for the crowd in Great Falls, Montana during the state fair. Bart and a friend were working stock behind the chutes when debris fell everywhere, killing over twenty horses and at least eight men.

Bart also recalls about the early days of rodeo, “We didn’t always get paid for winning.

Sometimes the winners were determined (unofficially of course) before the show even started. But other times when you did win, the contractor may not pay the prize money out. We were kind of at the mercy of the producer in those early days.”

It wasn’t all that bad however, as a matter of fact, most of it was good times and Clennon had this to say about getting started in the sport, “Back in those days, you would work for those old ranchers and farmers and make maybe $1 per day. Then those old tightwads would deduct days when the wind

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Bart Clennon riding in Livermore, California

blew too hard or it stormed and you couldn’t work. So when I won $35 dollars at my first rodeo, I was hooked.” That was Ash Creek, SD and the year was 1928. He went on to work for several different rodeos and wild west shows (there was not much difference between them at the time) and sometimes got on as many as thirty to forty broncs per week!

In part due to grievances listed above, in 1936, at the Boston Garden rodeo, cowboys who were fed up with the status quo of rodeo production at the time decided to stand up for themselves, demanding better treatment. It was not easy. First off, Colonel W.T. Johnson, the producer, had paid to ship most of the contestants and their horses to Boston by train from out west.

He also had sponsored rooms for a good many, making most of the cowboys indebted to him in some manner. When the cowboys threatened to strike if certain demands were not met, he told them they would have to find their own way home if they did, he would do his best to strand them in the east.

Clennon remembers the being worried, but the cowboys stuck together and walked out on the first of thirty scheduled performances. Johnson attempted to put the show on without them, using grooms and stable hands to fill in.

That night Bart, “. . . paid $2 for a ticket to the rodeo and sat in the stands next to Howard McCrorey. When someone would come out of the chutes us cowboys would holler. Ol’ Howard was hollering so loud that I hardly had to . . . he’d beller like a bull!”

Things eventually worked out and the cowboys soon thereafter formed the CTA. “We called it the Turtle Association because we were so damned slow to start and finally stick our necks out,” Bart recalls with a smile. He signed up and was given card number 418.

Bart is proud of his involvement with the formation of what was to eventually become the PRCA. With a gnarled, 102 yearold finger, he smiles and points to his name on a nicely framed copy

of the original strike document and says, “They’re all gone. I am the only one left.”

Bart was known as “a cowboys, cowboy.” Casey Tibbs once told a magazine reporter that Clennon was, “One of the best bronc riders I ever saw, and I can’t figure out why he never won the (world championship)."

Clennon recalls many good times with the prankster Tibbs including riding to a rodeo in California with a group of top cowboys from the day, one of them was Bud Linderman. Tibbs was driving wildly, and when they arrived, Bud jumped out of the back seat and said, “Anyone who rides with that S.O.B is plumb crazy!” Bart and Casey were friends and it was an honor for Bart when he was inducted into the Casey Tibbs Rodeo Center in his native South Dakota in 1995.

He was also inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s “Rodeo Historical Society” in 1996 and remains a PRCA gold card member to this day (believed to be the oldest at the time of this writing).

Clennon quit rodeoing when he was about forty, after receiving his second broken neck. He then went to work as a hard rock miner and was in such amazing shape, he passed for 28, which was the age limit for new hires.

He later was in the hardware business and eventually retired from that in his eighties.

Bart goes over the many broncs he rode with an amazing clarity of mind, for a man of any age, much less 102. He does this with friends and rodeo buffs who stop by and listen. However, he once said in an interview that the greatest accomplishment he ever had, “. . . was when I married Geraldine Parkinson . . . the family traveled with me all over to rodeos . . .” Clennon lost his wife in 1982. Now he is fueled on by the many cherished memories of traveling the rodeo circuit and being together with his family.

Happy 102nd birthday to the last living legend from the original rodeo pioneers who signed that strike document way back in 1936. It changed the game of rodeo forever.

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

November 15, 2012

Two New Mexicans recognized for contributions to culture of the West wo New Mexicans were honored recently for contributing positively to the culture of the West through their lifetime of work. Art historian Forrest Fenn of Santa Fe and writer Slim Randles of Albuquerque each accepted the 2012 Rounders Award from New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte in mid October.

“Forrest and Slim are both curators of the culture of the West,” Witte said. “And that culture is built on a number of principles, including the ideas you ought to take pride in your work and finish what you start – ideas that are put into practice every day by those in New Mexico agriculture.”

The Rounders Award honors those who “live, promote, and articulate the western way of life.”

The award was created in 1990 by former New Mexico Agriculture Secretary Frank DuBois. It was named after The Rounders, a classic western novel written by New Mexico native Max Evans.

Both Fenn and Randles have contributed to the culture of the West through their own writings.

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Fenn has been sharing his knowledge of the West through the collection of western historical books and artifacts he’s amassed over the decades. Fenn had a 20-year career in the Air Force, during which time he flew hundreds of missions in Vietnam. He cast bronze art pieces in Lubbock for a time and built an art gallery in Santa Fe after moving to the capital city in 1972. Fenn has written eight books on art and western history.

After a career as a reporter in three different states, Randles switched from writing news stories to columns, which he did for The Albuquerque Journal. Those included “Bosque Beat” and “Ol’ Slim’s Views from the Porch”.

For the last six years, he’s written a syndicated humor column called “Home Country,” now seen in 257 papers across 43 states. He has written nine books, including the award-winning children’s book A Cowboy’s Guide to Growing Up Right.

“If I had a choice between this (the Rounders Award) and the Pulitzer Prize,” Randles said, “I’d pick this.”

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2012 Rounders Award (l to r) New Mexico Department of Agriculture Director/Secretary Jeff Witte, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, award winners Forest Fenn and Slim Randles, and famed author Max Evans

Governor Susana Martinez was also on hand for the presentation.

“The western way of life is a key piece of New Mexico’s colorful history,” Governor Martinez said. “I’m proud that we can recognize these two accomplished New Mexicans who have carried on that legacy. Our state’s story

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is even richer today because of their accomplishments and contributions.”

Gathered for the presentation was a crowd of nearly 200 New Mexico farmers, ranchers, and others who, in their own small way, have helped secure the culture of the West for future generations.

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THE LIVESTOCK MARKET DIGEST

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6221 QR AL Tucumcari, NM. 3 bedroom brick home with 80± acres is located 5-1/2 miles East of Tucumcari. Of the 80± acres, 50± acres has Arch Hurley Conservancy District surface water rights. Barn and guest house. Price $275,000.

Pajarito Farm. There is a total of 73.90± acres. Of the 73.90± acres, there is 40.45± of Arch Hurley surface water rights. Live water on this property, the Pajarito creek. Wildlife, whitetail and mule deer, wild turkey. Tucumcari, NM. Price $120,000.

Western Drive Stables. 24 years established Horse Motel, very nice and well maintained property. There is a home, 3,000 square foot barn with stalls and 4.20± acres. The stalls are very nice. There are stalls with run/semi-covered and boxed stalls and turnouts.

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Livestock Market Digest

Page 12

November 15, 2012

Cap Gains Tax Precludes Farmers from Passing Torch

Have Americans Forgotten How To Work?

by GARY TRUITT, hoosieragtoday.com

alk to the average farmer today about how he got started in farming and he will tell you about working with his dad on their family farm from a very young age. He will reminisce about doing chores before school and after school.

He will talk about spending summers detasseling corn and skipping school during planting and harvest. This is a reality that barely exists today. Comparatively few young people today grow up on working farms, and even many of those who do will not be destined for a life in production agriculture. While there is a core of talented young people who will have the chance to take over the family farm or marry into a farming operation, the majority of rural youth today will not be our nation’s future farmers. The overwhelming majority of young people have no idea what it is like to grow up on farm; and, for many, hands-on physical labor is not something with which they have a lot of experience. This is at the heart of our current educational crisis according to one educational expert. He says our educational system puts too much emphasis on learning and too little on doing.

Dr. Bill Symonds, with the Harvard Graduate School of Education and who heads up a program called “Pathways to Prosperity,” advocates a restructuring of the American education system. The “one size fits all” model that characterizes American education typically encourages students to earn bachelor’s degrees even though today, as Symonds points out, the percentage of Americans who actually earn bachelor’s degrees by age 27 is still quite small — only 30 percent. Meanwhile, 42 percent of the nation’s 27-year-olds have no more than a high school degree. He said the U.S. has the highest college dropout rate in the world. This

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doesn’t mean that young adults should no longer be encouraged to earn advanced degrees. In fact, Symonds says it is quite the opposite. In the future, most young adults will need post-secondary education in order to find good-paying jobs. However, millions of so-called “middle skill jobs” will require something less than a bachelor’s degree. “This suggests we need to change the way we think about education,” Symonds says. “College for all should not mean a B.A. for all.”

This is especially true in the field of agriculture. Symonds told a group of farm and agribusiness leaders, educators, and career counselors at the National FFA convention that 30 percent of the job openings in the U.S. require less than a 4-year degree but more than a high school diploma.

He added the starting annual salary of these jobs is $35,000, on par with many positions requiring a B.A. degree. Eric Spell, with Ag Careers.com, told the group that his research indicates there are thousands of jobs in agriculture that require special skills, but not a 4-year degree.

Spell revealed that a recent survey he conducted indicated that, in the next 5 years, 1 million people currently working in agriculture plan to retire. He said those are jobs that will need to be filled. Both men agreed that, in addition to lacking the proper skills, many people entering the agriculture job market “don’t know how to work.” The lack of real-world, hands-on work is a serious issue in today’s job market. Symonds discussed the national shortage of welders; and Spell related how young people who want to work with animals all want to be veterinarians, rather than work with livestock in a production setting. A plant breeder at a major Indiana seed company told me he had no trouble finding agronomists, but could not find people who know how to grow and manage the plants in a field or greenhouse.

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High school agriculture classes and FFA experiences are a great way to address this situation.

Indiana Lt. Governor candidate Sue Ellspermann has made this a part of her campaign by promising to make ag courses part of the core 40 curriculum. Symonds points out that this is already being done in Europe, where one third of high school and college age young people are enrolled in vocational education programs.

A serious barrier to progress, however, is the misperception that this career path is less challenging or rewarding than a college degree. Spell told the FFA breakfast the story of how, when his son told his high school counselor he wanted to take ag classes, she responded, “You are too smart for those classes.” Regular readers will remember the national outcry when a Yahoo news story called agriculture one of the most worthless degrees. In our pursuit of the next scientific and technological achievement, we have failed to teach the next generation to value hands-on work.

Less than two percent of young people will ever work on a farm, only 30 percent will ever have a summer job. Today 50 percent of people under 30 are unemployed or underemployed.

High school agriculture classes and some specialized post-secondary training can provide an abundant and well-paying career path for those who will be the future of our food, fiber, and fuel production system.

he American Farm Bureau Federation today urged Congress to reform the capital gains tax because of its detriment to young and beginning farmers. In a statement submitted to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees’ joint hearing on tax reform, AFBF said the cumbersome tax makes it difficult for current farmers to pass the torch to a new generation of agriculturalists.

Capital gains taxes apply when land and buildings from a farm or ranch are transferred to a new or expanding farmer while the owner is still alive. This occurs most often when a farmer wants to expand his or her farm or ranch to take in a son or daughter, or when a retiring farmer sells his or her business to a beginning farmer.

“Since approximately 40 percent of farmland is owned by individuals age 65 or older, capital gains taxes provide an additional barrier to entry for young farmers and ranchers at a time when it is already difficult for them to get in to the industry,” said the AFBF statement. “Capital gains tax liabilities encourage farmers to hold onto their land rather than sell it, creating a barrier for new and expanding farms and ranches to use that land for agricultural purposes.”

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This added cost also increases the likelihood that farm and ranch land will be sold outside of agriculture for commercial uses to investors who are willing to pay more, causing agricultural land and open space to be lost forever.

The capital gains tax especially hurts farmers because agriculture requires large investments in land and buildings that are held for long periods of time and account for 76 percent of farmers’ assets. Further, 40 percent of all farmers report some capital gains; nearly double the share for all taxpayers. And the average amount of capital gains reported by farmers is about 50 percent higher than the average capital gain reported by other taxpayers.

“Because capital gains taxes are imposed when buildings, breeding livestock and land are sold, it is more costly for producers to shed unneeded assets to generate revenue to adapt, expand and upgrade their operations,” said the statement. “This is neither good for the long-term prosperity of farm and ranch operations or for the rural economies their operations help sustain.”

The top capital gains tax rate will increase by a third on the first of the year, from 15 percent to 20 percent. Farm Bureau supports a permanent extension of the 15 percent rate.

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Recycling Isn’t Pretty his fall I’m watching Peyton Manning, one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL follow in the footsteps of Bret Favre. They both had stellar careers as heroes of the game. But as their retirement drew near, they signed with a desperate team in hopes of one more year in the spotlight.

In a small town with high unemployment and a poor economy, a local entrepreneur named Del converted open space into a recycling center. He takes everything from plastic bottles to scrap iron.

It has become a small success. He has at least two employees. The community is pleased. Well, not all of them. You see, his property is on Main St. on the way into town.

The Wednesday weekly paper has received several letters to the editor condemning the recycling center as an eyesore. Del promised to improve its appearance. He faced the road-front with old sheets of roofing tin 8’ high. Now it looks like a concentration camp but the pop cans, cardboard and wheel rims keep on coming, as do letters to the editor!

Recycling isn’t pretty. I don’t care if you’re reclaiming open-pit mines, spreading chicken manure on the pasture, or hauling a dead horse to the rendering plant. It is the process that offends the sensibilities of some people watching, smelling, or even just imagining the act. The abhorrence of recycling is so strong that some people will object to it even through they know it is bettering the

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earth and the environment. Pink Slime is a perfect example. They destroyed a recycling process that had no downside just because the image in their brain was offensive.

Millions of people objected to the grazing and timbering of government forest land because of aesthetics; “. . . clear cutting leaves a savage scar on the earth when we’re flying over it.” We are now paying for their short sightedness and will for decades to come. Burning is the earth recycling itself.

Some might be repelled by the thought of making fur coats out of road kill, feeding horsemeat to zoo animals or dumping their own garbage out to sea. And I agree that Peyton and Bret look a little ragged out there on the field. But by recycling them, think of the damage averted to younger, less savvy second-string quarterbacks. It gives the green ones a year to ripen.

I believe in recycling though I admit I don’t save, sterilize and re-sharpen my used disposable 18-guage vaccination needles or pull out old plastic ear tags from the weaners at shipping time for reuse. I wish old quarterbacks, cowboys and retired sergeants good luck, but it would be nice to recycle old politicians more often. I’m just not sure what you could reuse them for? Although I do have a field that needs fertilizing. I know it sounds awful but as I have noted, recycling is not pretty.

November 15, 2012

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

Pregnancy Testing hecking cows for pregnancy is a good management tool.

Knowing which cows are open gives the beef producer several options — weaning their calves early, to sell open cows at peak market prices, or sorting off thin ones to fatten before selling, or selling open heifers when they still bring top dollar. Most producers will be money ahead to cull open cows rather than winter them.

Dr. Ram Kasimanickam, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Washington State University, says there are many economic and management advantages.

“According to NAHMS, only about 17 percent of cow-calf producers actually utilize this tool. There is no reason, however, to not take advantage of this — to identify the pregnant cows, but also to tell how far along they are in pregnancy. This can allow different management of early calving and late calving cows,” he says. A producer might decide to sell some late-calving cows to shorten the calving/breeding season.

The major economic benefit is to identify the open cows so you don’t feed them all winter and then find out too late that they are not going to calve. “The feed cost is at least 2/3 of the production cost. Feeding an open cow for even 3 months during winter, can be a big factor. It may cost anywhere from $175 to $200 to winter a cow,” he says. With drought affecting feed supplies, and feed cost increases, selling open cows can be a better option.

Testing Techniques: There are several methods that can be used to identify the pregnant or open

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cows. “Most common is rectal palpation. Next is transrectal ultrasonography. There is also blood-testing, which identifies the pregnancy specific protein,” says Kasimanickam.

“The advantage of rectal palpation is that most bovine veterinarians can identify pregnancy by 30 to 35 days’ gestation and determine approximate age of the fetus. They can also diagnose many pathological conditions or abnormalities if the reproductive tract and/or the pregnancy, and offer management advice. The disadvantage of rectal palpation is that it can’t really detect an impending embryonic or fetal loss. Also, the disadvantage of any pregnancy testing is that it can only tell you what’s going on at that point in time,” he explains.

The cow may lose the pregnancy after that point and still come up open the next calving season.

One advantage of ultrasound is that you can visualize the fetus and may be able to see things you can’t determine by rectal palpation. “Another advantage is that ultrasound can detect pregnancy with high accuracy as early as 26 days following breeding.

Ultrasonography can offer additional information about the viability of the fetus.”

Ultrasonography enables the viewer to determine the sex of the fetus, and some producers are interested in this information if they want to sell a group of pregnant cows or heifers guaranteed to have heifer calves or bull calves. “Fetal sexing is readily accomplished between 55 and 80 days of pregnancy, and up to 90 days in bred heifers,” says Kasimanickam. After 90 days it

Environmental group is denied fee From nmflc.blogspot.com

n Western Watersheds Project v. Ellis, 2012 DJDAR 13948 (2012), the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit decided a claim for attorney fees made by an environmental organization arising from grazing permit litigation.

Western Watersheds (Western), an environmental organization, sued the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) renewal of grazing permits in an area managed by BLM called the Jarbridge Resource Area. The district court concluded that the BLM failed to protect the environmental habitat in the area and issued an injunction against the grazing permits.

Based on the district court’s ruling, the BLM and Western settled the litigation, including all issues relating to attorney fees to that point in time. Subsequent to the 2007 settlement, a severe wildfire erupted in the Jarbridge Resource Area which greatly changed the landscape of the Resource Area.

As a result, the BLM once again allowed grazing on

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unburned areas of the Resource Area. Western successfully challenged the post-fire grazing conditions and authorizations. Western then asked for attorney fees as the prevailing party pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). The district court denied Western’s motion. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s decision declining to grant fees.

The Ninth Circuit noted that under the EAJA, a prevailing party is generally entitled to fees against the government, unless the position of the government was “substantially justified.” In making a call whether or not the government’s position was “substantially justified,” a court must look to both the government’s position during litigation and to the agency action that the plaintiff’s lawsuit was based on.

The Ninth Circuit concluded that the district court properly considered the reasonableness of the BLM’s underlying decision to issue grazing authorizations after the fire. For that reason, this court was convinced that the district court correctly determined that the BLM was substantially justified in its position.

by HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

is still possible to identify the sex of the fetus but as the fetus grows larger in late pregnancy it becomes more difficult.

There are two ways that a veterinarian can do the ultrasonography — with the traditional arm-in rectal probe, or the newer extension-arm probe that eliminates the need for putting his/her arm into every cow. “This technology was introduced to clinicians about 12 years ago. The big advantage is that it is not as hard on the veterinarian’s arm as palpating or arm-in ultrasonography,” he explains.

“It has an oscillating probe so you don’t have to rotate the rod to view the uterus and its contents. The person using this extension-arm probe has to be cautious, however, due to the risk of damaging the rectum with sudden, unexpected movement.

If the cow jumps around when you are holding the probe in place, there is some risk for a rectal tear,” he says. It takes some experience and care to use this technique.

“There is some data from New Zealand, where pregnancy testing is done following seasonal breeding in dairy and beef cattle, and millions of cows needing to be tested in a short time frame.

There are a lot of untrained, unqualified people using even the transrectal (arm-in) ultrasound and there are some claims that these, too, can cause rectal tears. With any procedure, even palpation, there should be proper training to avoid injury to the cow,” Kasimanickam explains.

There are advantages and disadvantages to any technology, and care needs to be taken with all of these procedures.

The blood test also has pluses and minuses. “The positive aspect is that all you have to do is draw the blood sample to send to a laboratory that offers this service. It’s an ELISA test, looking for the presence of the Bovine Pregnancy Specific Protein. Some of these tests can detect pregnancy by 28 days of gestation,” he says.

The test has high accuracy on bred heifers, but the one disadvantage when using the test on cows that have calved is that you have to wait at least 75 days after calving for it to be accurate. “If you test earlier than that you may get a false positive (saying the cow is pregnant even if she isn’t) because there may still be some of Pregnancy Specific Protein in her bloodstream from her earlier pregnancy,” he explains.

This generally won’t be an issue, however, because most cows don’t rebreed sooner than 60 days after calving, and by the time you’d blood test them for pregnancy they would be 90 days post-partum.

“There is another blood test that’s still in the preliminary stage. The University of Missouri is working on this one, for use especially in dairy cows,” he says.

It may provide pregnancy diag-

Page 13

nosis as early as 17 to 18 days.

The biggest disadvantage for most beef producers in using any blood test is that you won’t know the results until two days later.

You can’t make a decision about whether to keep or sell that cow until after you get the results from the lab. For some people this is too late, because they determine which cows to cull at the time of pregnancy checking, and only vaccinate the ones they are keeping.

This not only makes economic sense, but also makes sure that no cow is sent to market after being recently vaccinated or deloused and dewormed — since these drugs have certain withdrawal times that must be observed.

For other producers this is not a factor, because they are working the cattle more than once and can vaccinate them accordingly. They may be giving the calves pre-weaning vaccinations and drawing blood on the cows for determination of pregnancy, and then vaccinating the pregnant cows three weeks later when they bring the pairs in again for weaning. The advantage of the blood test is that the producer (with training) can draw the blood, and this is handy if you have only a few cows, or have trouble getting the vet to your place during the busiest pregnancy-testing time of year.

The method chosen for pregnancy determination will depend on the operation and facilities,

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and what’s most feasible for that particular ranch or farm. Every technique has some advantages and disadvantages. If a producer wants a pregnancy test early, it can be done 30 to 35 days after the bull is taken out, after the breeding season. Then they will catch any cow that is actually pregnant. It is good to have a short breeding season, for many reasons.

“If a producer is using AI, it’s also good to be able to know which cows settled to the AI breeding and which ones were bred to the cleanup bull. Palpation and ultrasonography techniques can offer this, by determining the difference in gestational age of the fetus. This way they can make the desired genetic improvements when selecting heifer calves to keep as replacements. There are many economic benefits to doing pregnancy testing, and producers should take advantage of this technology.”

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November 15, 2012

Feds Let Mexican Cartel Hit Men Kill in U.S., Senior Lawman Told Stratfor

by ALEX NEWMAN, newamerican.com

U.S. government he allowed Mexican drug cartel hit men working as “confidential informants” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to murder people inside the United States, an American federal law enforcement supervisor told the private intelligence firm Stratfor in emails released by WikiLeaks.

ICE neither confirmed nor denied the allegations when contacted by The New American.

The explosive leaked documents containing the claims were part of a massive batch of e-mails stolen by hackers from the Texas-based intelligencegathering firm. Among other startling allegations, official sources in the Mexican and U.S. governments told the company that American special-operations forces were in Mexico under the guise of fighting the drug war.

Additionally, a U.S.-based Mexican diplomat and other sources claimed that Washington, D.C., was working with certain favored drug cartels — especially Sinaloa — in an effort to put smaller criminal organizations out of business. The e-mails

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echoed allegations made in numerous reports and statements by officials, drug-cartel operatives, and other sources, indicating that the U.S. government was deeply involved in the narcotics trade.

Perhaps the most astounding information, however, had to do with the U.S. government allegedly allowing Mexican cartel

American troops were already in Mexico engaged in joint operations with Mexican forces. hit men across the border into the United States to murder targets. A Stratfor source identified in the documents as “US714,” whom the firm described as a “US law enforcement officer with direct oversight of border investigations,” made that explosive accusation in an e-mail dated April of last year.

“Regarding ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] screwing up informants: They [ICE] were handling big hit men from Juarez and letting them kill in the U.S.,” explained

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the federal law enforcement supervisor, who in a separate email also said American troops were already in Mexico engaged in joint operations with Mexican forces.

Instead of expressing shock about the major allegations against ICE, a Stratfor employee responded by mentioning that the intelligence-gathering outfit

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had already written about the issue, pointing to a 2009 piece published online entitled “Confidential Informants: A DoubleEdged Sword.” In that article, Stratfor highlighted the story of a confidential ICE informant, Ruben Rodriguez Dorado, who was involved in the murder of yet another confidential ICE source in Texas.

When asked by The New American about the federal law enforcement supervisor’s allegations in the correspondence with Stratfor, ICE refused to either confirm or deny the accusations.

Instead, ICE spokesman Brandon Montgomery with the Department of Homeland Security offered a statement explaining the importance of confidential informants to criminal investigations.

“Confidential Informants (CI) are an extremely valuable and necessary part of law enforcement efforts to disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations.

One of the most effective ways to do this is by turning insiders within these organizations and utilizing their information as CIs,” Montgomery explained.

“Insiders can provide information that cannot be obtained through any other means.”

According to Montgomery, ICE will substitute an undercover federal agent for its confidential informant as soon as possible to ensure that the investigation is carried out by trained law enforcement professionals. “ICE initiates a CI through a regulated and controlled process and ICE takes significant steps, including training of ICE agents and audits of CI files when working with CIs,” the spokesman concluded.

Analysts focused on the Mexican drug war and the roles of U.S. officials, meanwhile, were not surprised by the most recent allegations leveled against ICE either. In fact, as noted by multiple analysts, it would not be the first time that the U.S. government has been involved in eerily similar scandals.

“Though Stratfor source US714’s revelation may seem too dark to be true, Narco News

has already documented, via the multi-year House of Death investigative series, that ICE, with the approval of US prosecutors, allowed one of its informants to participate in multiple murders inside Mexico in order to make a drug case,” wrote investigative reporter Bill Conroy, one of the premier journalists covering the broader drug war.

The so-called “House of Death” scandal surrounded another ICE informant, Guillermo “Lalo” Ramirez Peyro, who was simultaneously working with the Juarez cartel. In that case, federal officials knew their paid

. . . the picture that emerges is highly disturbing. informant was involved in torture and multiple murders, yet continued to give him what numerous analysts and other officials described as a “license to kill.”

When the truth eventually came out, the federal government fired the customs agent, Raul Bencomo, who was “handling” the murderous CI. But according to Bencomo, he was simply made into a scapegoat to protect higher-ranking officials at ICE and their bosses all the way into the heart of the federal government who knew exactly what was happening.

“He [CI ‘Lalo’] would report a murder, and either we heard it on a phone, nobody told us to stop doing the case,” Bencomo told NPR in a 2010 interview after being fired over the scandal. “We were told to continue, so for them to say that they didn’t know about it, that is a total lie.”

Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council (LEOAC) chief Andy Ramirez told The New American that there were some differences between the “House of Death” scandal and the more recent allegations surrounding ICE. For one, the informant was not killing in the United States — those murders took place at a property in Mexico.

When that scandal began to unravel, though, a cover-up began almost immediately, said Ramirez, who tried to get law-

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makers to investigate. “Lalo was locked away with an attempt to deport him to Mexico that lasted several years until we got Congress involved in Lalo’s case,” he explained. “But the ‘hey’ here is DOJ and DHS knew and knew the Mexican government knew.

Mexico ultimately wanted border and immigration policies changed by Junior Bush's Administration almost immediately.”

According to Ramirez, such facts have become “common” considering what he described as “mismanagement” by DHS, to which ICE answers, as well as the Department of Justice. “CIs are used for what they can gain info-wise and then hung out to dry without thought, just as our Border Patrol Agents are,” Ramirez said.

But there is a reason not much has been done to investigate the problems, let alone hold anyone accountable. “Congress has ignored the criminality of these cases in order to protect their presidents as titular party heads,” said Ramirez, who regularly speaks out against abuses under both parties. “I know because I reported the House of Death case personally to the Hill and was ignored by what up to that point were ‘friends’.”

While working with confidential informants is hazardous by its very nature — they tend to be hardened criminals, often have ulterior motives, and can sometimes be serving as “double agents” — the questions being raised must be addressed. Was ICE deliberately allowing cartel hit men to murder in the United States? What sort of investigation, giving ICE the benefit of the doubt, could possibly justify such a scheme?

Even more importantly, perhaps, are accusations that the U.S. federal government is actually at the heart of the drug trade itself — allegations made by top officials and analysts on both sides of the border as well as by criminal operatives. The Obama administration continues to stonewall congressional investigations into DEA drug-money laundering, ATF gun running in Fast and Furious, and more. The CIA, meanwhile, has also been accused of deep involvement in the drug trade for decades, and even recently.

Whether or not the whole truth will ever emerge about the federal government’s nefarious activities surrounding the drug wars remains unclear. But from what is already known, the picture that emerges is highly disturbing, according to analysts — at least that much is clear.

Activists say it is past time for Congress to find out what exactly is going on and hold those responsible for criminal activity to account.

November 15, 2012

“America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

The Bigger Test

American Angus Association’s 2012 American Royal Super Point Roll of Victory (ROV) Angus Show results

echnology has changed and shaped the world in recent decades. In education, classrooms have begun to incorporate technology in the form of online classrooms or online lessons in which a student can watch a lecture from thousands of miles away via video conferencing, says Chester E. Finn, Jr., a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and chairman of the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education.

But technology in the classroom should not be restricted to online learning. Instead, the five major challenges to K-12 reform can be solved, at least to some degree, with the use of technology.

Assessments: Old-fashioned assessments are slow and don’t provide useful information when you need it. Instead, computeradaptive assessments that score open-response questions could be quicker.

Teacher evaluations: Rather than judging teachers on the basis of one end-of-year test, schools could utilize technology to record, retrieve and analyze monthly, and even weekly, progress that a student is making.

Weighted student funding (WSF): WSF entails constantly changing formulas for allocating money, building budgets and integration of money from multiple sources. Technology can simplify the management of money

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Grand Champion Cow-calf Pair: J K S Miss Cheyenne 2267 won grand champion cow-calf pair at the 2012 American Royal Super Point Roll of Victory (ROV) Angus Show, Nov. 2 in Kansas City, Mo. Jamie Smith, Lebanon, Tenn., owns the March 2007 daughter of Boyd On Target 1083. An April 2012 bull calf sired by S A V Pioneer 7301 is at side. Troy Thomas, Harrold, S.D., evaluated the 135 entries. Photo by Shelia Stannard, American Angus Association.

Reserve Grand Champion Cow-calf Pair: WK Lola 0383 won reserve grand champion cow-calf pair at the 2012 American Royal Super Point Roll of Victory (ROV) Angus Show, Nov. 2 in Kansas City, Mo. Matthew Malson, Parma, Idaho, owns the January 2010 daughter of B C Lookout 7024. A March 2012 bull calf sired by Malsons Hammer 92X completes the winning pair. Troy Thomas, Harrold, S.D., evaluated the 135 entries. Photo by Shelia Stannard, American Angus Association.

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and make budgeting simpler.

High-quality choices for every child: Technology can give students and their parents access to good information on making school choices if they have to make difficult decisions such as moving, changing schools or dropping out to work.

Parent engagement: Parents

can use the internet to access how their children are doing in school, and maintain a correspondence with teachers and counselors in an effort to keep the parents more involved.

Source: Chester E. Finn, Jr., “The Bigger Test,” Hoover Institution, October 26, 2012.

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Reserve Grand Champion Bull: Silveiras Watchout 0514 won reserve grand champion bull at the 2012 American Royal Super Point Roll of Victory (ROV) Angus Show, Nov. 2 in Kansas City, Mo. Silveira Bros., Firebaugh, Calif., own the September 2010 son of B C Lookout 7024. He first claimed senior champion.

Troy Thomas, Harrold, S.D., evaluated the 135 entries. Photo by Shelia Stannard, American Angus Association.

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November 15, 2012

Reform estate taxes to protect farmers and ranchers

by LELAND HOGAN, Desert News

ccording to Benjamin Franklin, death and taxes are life’s only certainties.

But for farmers and ranchers, death taxes, also known as estate taxes, are far from a sure thing.

Under current tax law, the tax goes back on Jan. 1, 2013, to a top rate of 55 percent and a $1 million exemption. With such a low exemption, as many as 18 percent of farms and ranches in Utah could owe estate taxes next year, according to the Agriculture Department. That means more than 3,000 farms in Utah could get hit with a 55 percent tax. How would it impact your small business?

For most farmers and ranchers, providing the country’s food, fiber and fuel is not just about making a living, it’s our way of life, a way of life we nurture like our plants and animals with the intention of passing it on to our children, grandchildren and well beyond. But for some farm families, federal estate taxes can mean their most recent harvest was their last.

Estate taxes, owed to the federal government by the farm owner’s surviving family members, can hit farm families harder than other small business owners because 86 percent of our assets are real

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estate-based. When Uncle Sam comes to pay his respects, surviving family members without enough cash on hand may be forced to sell land, buildings or equipment they need to keep their farms or ranches going.

In these circumstances, farm families’ heartache is felt well beyond the borders of our farms, as the rural communities and the

For most farmers and ranchers, providing the country’s food, fiber and fuel is not just about making a living, it’s our way of life. businesses we support also suffer when farms and ranches downsize or disappear. And farmland close to urban centers, such as the Wasatch Front, is often lost forever to development when estate taxes force farm families to sell off land to pay the taxes.

A higher exemption and lower rates will give our farmers and ranchers a better chance to remain in business when transferring from one generation to the next. This is why we are calling on Congress to provide an

estate tax provision that would increase the exemption level to $5 million, and adjust it for inflation, and reduce the maximum rate to 35 percent.

That may seem like a lot of money, but as high as the value of land and other farm assets are,

it in some cases amounts to only the smallest relief.

A vote for estate tax relief is not only a vote for my cattle ranch in Tooele, it’s also one for the Salt Lake City family sitting down for a roast beef dinner Sunday night. A lower rate and high-

er exemption will help ensure that future generations of growers can continue this tradition.

Farm Bureau is working with congressional leaders to protect our farms, ranches and other small businesses from what could be huge tax increase on Jan. 1.

Leland Hogan is president of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation and a cattle rancher in Tooele County.

When cows show up in unexpected places

by TERRI ADAMS, The Prairie Star

t’s not a call, or a voice mail, or a text any producer wants to receive. “There’s a cow in your house.”

And, although instant shock would cause you to disbelieve the message, the messenger had proof: a photograph of the errant bovine peering out a second floor window.

Yes, you read that right — the second floor window!

The only thing that prevented this photograph from making the Yahoo news home page was that the invaded house was, clearly, an abandoned relic out in the wilds of Montana and the cow had stopped by, at some point, for a home tour.

That didn’t make the situation any less stressful to the producer — or his cow who heard human voices and peered out the win-

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December 3, 2012

dow hoping someone would see her plight and call her owner.

They did, but not before snapping a photo of her. After all, if you’re going to tell a big, burly cattle rancher that there is a cow in his house you better not be near a bar or, at the very least, have photographic proof.

“It was enjoying its room with a view a little too much,” said Jerome. He ranches somewhere in central Montana and the home was up on their summer range. It was the original family home when the family came to the area a century ago and started ranching.

Jerome was unable to go up and show the cow the door that day so he called his cousin, Ken, who ranches with him. “Ken thought it was on the first floor and I had to tell him, No, it’s upstairs.”

Ken went out to the home, walked upstairs and discovered the cow staring at him. He could also tell by her interior decorating that she had been there for a while.

Ken paneled off the three bedrooms one by one. Then, his mind went through the question every reader of this article is asking — the same question Ken had been asking himself the

entire way up to the house — how do you get a cow to walk down a flight of stairs? Do you chase or prod or cuss? Push, tug or pull?

Chase or prod, no. Ken didn’t even need to push, tug or pull.

As for the cussing part well, Ken and the cow are both remaining quiet about that.

“She just went down,” Jerome said. She must have decided the home show was over because she simply turned and headed down the stairs.

“She stumbled a bit on the landing,” he said. “There’s a 90degree turn in the stairs about halfway down, or halfway up, depending on where you are on the stairs but, once she got around the turn she was fine.”

They brought her home and put her in pen. “She was hungry and thirsty but she is doing just fine now,” said Jerome.

That’s as long as she doesn’t decide to take a tour of Jerome’s current home. His wife is watching to make sure that doesn’t happen.

And, if it does, she’s married to a big, burly cattle rancher who can just call his cousin.

After all, Ken is now experienced and proven in cattle removal from homes.

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any people assume that energy costs are only those that you have to pay for directly, such as monthly electricity, gas bills, gasoline and so forth. But people also pay for energy that they consume indirectly; that is, in the goods and services they consume, says Kenneth P. Green, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

The average household spent $1,800 on non-transportation related energy use in 2005.

Of that, about $1,122 was spent on electricity, $471 on natural gas and $115 on fuel oil.

However, nearly half (46 percent) of energy related costs are indirect, meaning they are embodied in various goods or services.

Health care happens to be the highest single percentage of indirect energy consumption at around 27.5 percent. Within health care, nearly 47 percent of the indirect energy consumed involves the preparation of pharmaceuticals. After that, physician services constitute about 18.5 percent of the indirect ener-

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gy use. Health care’s impact on indirect energy use is projected to increase as more people will be required to get insurance and have access to more health related services.

After health care, food comprises the second highest indirect energy use at 23.7 percent. Processing larger animals, for example, is inefficient because less energy is gained than what was used to process the meat. That is why many people are turning to vegetarianism and even “locavorism,” which involves the use of locally produced food.

Indirect energy prices disproportionally effect poorer populations. Low-income families have to spend a higher proportion of their money on energy related costs, which leaves less income available to spend on other goods and services. The poorest populations in the United States pay the highest percentage of their income on indirect energy (5 percent) while the rich only have to pay 1.3 percent of their income.

Source: Kenneth P. Green, “Energy is Everywhere,” The American, October 24, 2012.