The Progressive Rancher - MARCH 2024

craig@stockmens.us mark@stockmens.us tom@stockmens.us

BLM, USDA Forest Service announce 2024 grazing fees

The federal grazing fee for 2024 remains $1.35 per animal unit month for public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and $1.35 per head month for lands managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

An animal unit month or head month (treated as equivalent measures for fee purposes) is the use of public lands by one cow and her calf, one horse, or five sheep or goats for a month. The new grazing fee takes effect March 1, 2024. The fee will apply to nearly 18,000 grazing permits and leases administered by the BLM and nearly 6,250 permits administered by the Forest Service.

The formula used for calculating the grazing fee was established by Congress in the 1978 Public Rangelands Improvement Act and has remained in use under a 1986 presidential Executive Order. Under that order, the grazing fee cannot fall below $1.35 per animal unit month / head month, and any increase or decrease cannot exceed 25 percent of the previous year’s level.

The annually determined grazing fee is established using a 1966 base value of $1.23 per animal unit month/head month for livestock grazing on public lands in Western states. The figure is then calculated per three factors: current private grazing land lease rates, beef cattle prices, and the cost of livestock production. In effect, the fee rises, falls, or stays the same based on market conditions.

The BLM and Forest Service are committed to strong relationships with the ranching community and work closely with permittees to ensure public rangelands remain healthy, productive working landscapes. The grazing fee applies in 16 Western states on public lands administered by the BLM and the Forest Service.

Contact: blm_press@blm.gov

www.blm.gov/announcement/ blm-usda-forest-service-announce-2024-grazing-fees

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7 NBC Beef Recipe

8 Eye on the Outside | Op Ed

8 AgNet West | SFO Act HR7046

9 NDA | Meghan Brown named

DPH&C Administrator

10 Great Basin Bull Sale Results

12 UNR | Grazing could boost Sage

Conservation

13 Fallon Ranch Hand Rodeo |

Iron Branding Results

15 Let’s Talk Ag | Op Ed

15 Churchill Co FFA Update

18 NFB | Attention to the Numbers

19 NFB | Grassroots Newsletter

20 NFB | 2024 Forecast down 25%

24 NFB | Smallest Cattle Inventory

27 USDA | 2024 WSO Report

27 UNR | Nevada allocated $5M for stronger Ag infrastructure

27 UNR | DFI Crowdfunding

29 NDA | From the Director’s Desk

30 PLC | Roundup

32 SRM | Cheatgrass Control

35 Cattlewoman’s Corner

37 TSN | Farm Bill Future

38 BLM | Solar Energy Development

39 Congress | HR 10597 PRI Act

40 NSC Issues Major Water Ruling

41 CSD | Wild Mustang Problem

42 Mark Amodei News Release

A few weeks ago, I arrived home from the NCBA Convention in Orlando, Florida. Since it was NCA membership money that paid for my rooms and plane ticket, I feel compelled to give everyone an update on the convention, relationship with NCBA, and why we attend. There were lots of good updates, information, and votes on policy. CattleFax general session projects that we are going to have good prices forecasted for the foreseeable future with the market topping in 2026 as the industry is in the herd expansion phase. The in-depth weather forecast projected that we are moving back into a La Nina by summer and drought may begin to return (don’t kill the messenger).

The major resolution that was the “talk of the town” was brought forward by several states and feeder groups that basically mandated Electronic Identification Tags in all cattle by 2026. It is important to understand that with any grass roots member led group anyone can bring a resolution forward for the larger group to review, discuss and vote on, to be adopted into policy. NCBA doesn’t bring forward their own policy or agenda. They are directed by membership to set policy at the grass roots level. They work for us as the industry and we set their policy. As NCA, we engaged with NCBA leadership and voiced our concerns. NCA’s major concern was that it was going to be an unfunded federal mandate that burdened one sector of our industry and we all know how Nevadan’s feel about government mandates. The risk of a major disease outbreak and food safety and security is not to be taken lightly. This has the potential to be catastrophic to our industry and we need to do our part and be as prepared as we possibly can. Anyone in the cattle business should be thinking about traceability and how to prepare their operations. The aforementioned resolution did pass, but it was greatly watered down and NOT mandated. NCA did vote against the resolution for now, but if federal funding gets secured, our questions get answered, and the outreach & education get done, we as producers are going to need to support traceability for our own risk management.

We need to stay engaged so we a have a seat at the table to shape the policy that guides our future.

Lastly, I want to talk about DC update that the team at NCBA gave. It is mindboggling the amount of issues that they deal with on our behalf every day. The complexity of issues and thought required to deal with these issues is impressive to say the least (it’s chess not checkers).

Colin, Ethan, Sigrid, Tanner, and the rest of the team may not be able to gather and preg-check 1,000 cows in one day, but they would have a lot better chance of getting it done than I would trying to navigate my way around DC to get 377 votes in our favor to kill a bad bill! I’m glad they’re there doing what they’re really good at so I can be here at the ranch doing what I like to do. They work hard on our behalf.

Many Presidents before me have worked really hard on forwarding the relationship with NCBA making sure we have a strong voice and a seat at the table. NCA doesn’t always align with NCBA, but as long as we maintain the relationship we will have a voice and seat at the table to help shape our own future.

I’ll close by saying your President’s Perspective - Given the political climate and leadership in DC, we need all the friends we can get!

Hanes Holman

Hanes Holman | President, Nevada Cattlemen’s Association

by Martin Paris | NCA Executive Director | O: 775-738-9214

March NCA Update

Happy March everyone! March is one of my favorite times of year with lots of good college basketball and of course, the beginning of calving season for most. It’s been a bit of an unpredictable winter thus far, but my fingers are crossed for decent calving weather.

NCA leadership recently attended the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Convention in Orlando, Florida. As always, there were plenty of issues discussed and a lot of good takeaways. Please check out the President’s Perspective article for more information on the discussion surrounding electronic identificiation devices and CattleFax’s market/weather predictions.

On the public lands front there is certainly no lack of activity. In 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling for 100% “carbon pollution-free electricity sector” by 2035. In an effort to meet that goal, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently undergoing the agency’s Utility-Scale Solar Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. The proposal is an update of BLM’s 2012 Western Solar Plan, which identified areas in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah with high solar potential and low resource conflicts.

The updated roadmap refines the analysis in the original six states and expands it to include Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. All things considered, the BLM and Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory have determined that approximately 700,000 acres of public lands would be needed to meet those goals. However, BLM’s preferred alternative in the updated Western Solar Plan would provide approximately 22 million acres of land open for solar application, just shy of 7 million of those acres would be located in Nevada. Under BLM’s preferred alternative, solar application areas would consist of “lands within 10 miles of existing and/or planned transmission lines greater than or equal to 100kV.” Exclusions included areas that have a slope greater than 10% or areas designated as wilderness, national conservation lands, etc... NCA is in the middle of reviewing the proposal in its entirety. Of course, the biggest concern is that solar facilities are placed on prime grazing ground, as opposed to already-degraded landscapes, leading to AUM decreases on grazing allotments. For those interested, the full Environmental Impact Statement can be viewed and comments can be made at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/ project/2022371/510. The comment period closes April 18th.

Also, just a quick note on BLM’s Public Lands Rule/Conservation Leasing Rule. The rule is currently being reviewed at the Office of Management and Budget (White House) and is expected to be published at any time now. It’s anyone’s guess what the final version of the rule may look like but whatever it looks like will be the final version with no other comment/engagement opportunities.

Lastly, we are also awaiting the draft of the new Sage Grouse Land Use Plans. Much like the Public Lands Rule, the draft Sage Grouse plans could be released at any time and what the plans could contain is unknown at the moment. In the interim, NCA will be promoting the consideration and inclusion of the recently completed University of Idaho study led by Dr. Karen Launchbaugh. The 10-year study shows that cattle sharing nesting habitat with grouse on federal lands had no influence on grouse nest success. Further, grazed pastures had a greater abundance of insects, especially in the spring when chicks rely on bugs for food. While the study has yet to be peer-reviewed, it will be a major resource as we continue to navigate federal lands grazing in sage grouse habitat.

NCA Seeking Teacher of the Year Nominations

The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association has started their annual quest for “Teacher of the Year” candidates and are asking for your help in soliciting nominations. The deadline for submitting nominations is May 1st, 2024.

Nominees must be an elementary, junior high, or high school teacher who incorporates agriculture into their regular curriculum. For example, a teacher who teaches a one-week segment on agriculture and its importance to Nevada. Current Agricultural Education teachers are not eligible. Nominees may also include teachers considered in previous years but were not selected for the award. Nominations must include a completed NCA Teacher of the Year Application Form and an attached short essay describing why the teacher is being nominated.

The winner of this award will receive a $1,000 school supply stipend courtesy of the Nevada Agriculture Foundation. The award recipient will also be recognized during the 2024 Nevada Cattlemen’s Association Annual Awards Banquet.

Anyone may submit a nomination form which is available at www.nevadacattlemen.org.

For any questions, please contact the NCA office at 775-738-9214. Nominations may be submitted by email to nca@nevadabeef.org with “2024 Teacher of the Year Nomination” in the subject line; faxed to 775-738-5208; or sent by mail to Attn: Research & Education Committee, c/o Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, P.O. Box 310, Elko, NV 89803.

NCA Announces the Walt Leberski Memorial Scholarship

The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association (NCA) is pleased to announce a third 2024 scholarship opportunity in memory of Walt Leberski. The Walt Leberski Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to graduating high school seniors planning to attend a community college or four-year university or students currently enrolled in college. The amount of this scholarship for 2024 will be $5,000!

Eligibility & application requirements for the Walt Leberski Memorial Scholarship include:

• Applicant must be born in Nevada and has or will be graduating from a Nevada High School.

• Applicant must plan to attend or be currently attending a Community College, University, or Trade School.

• Applicant must be pursuing a degree or certificate in agricultural related field.

• Applicant must have at least a 2.8 GPA. A copy of the student’s transcripts is required.

• Students that were previous recipients of the NCA Scholarship or Marvel-Andrae Scholarship will be eligible to apply for the Walt Leberski Memorial Scholarship.

• Applicant must submit a cover letter describing themselves, background, goals, future plans, and how this scholarship may benefit them, etc…

Students and educators interested in the Walt Leberski Memorial Scholarship, NCA Scholarship, or the Marvel-Andrae Scholarship are encouraged to contact the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association. Scholarship application forms can be downloaded from the Nevada Cattlemen’s website at www.nevadacattlemen.org. Applicants can call the NCA office at 775-738-9214 or send a request to nca@nevadabeef.org for a copy as well. Completed applications need to be postmarked by April 3rd, 2024, and can be mailed to: Attn: Research & Education Committee, c/o Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, P.O. Box 310, Elko, NV 89803; or submitted by email to nca@nevadabeef.org.

Photo: Johnstone Crop in Alamo, NV

The Value of Beef in the Shopping Cart

A grocery shopping overview provided by National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA)

By: Makenzie Neves | Manager, Producer Education & Engagement, NBC

When asking consumers for reasons to head to the grocery store, a recent study released by Kagan Retail IQ, found nearly 40% of consumers are heading to the grocery store to stock up or fill-in for items needed to make meals at home, and nearly 25% are heading to the grocery store for same-day purchases, i.e., lunch, dinner, snacks, etc.1

It’s worth noting a difference among those shopping online for pick-up at the grocery store and those having their groceries delivered. Online grocery store consumers having their groceries delivered are eight points more likely to shop for same-day use compared to those online consumers picking up at the grocery store.

This would suggest that targeting online grocery consumers picking up at the grocery store may be an effective way to increase bulk/larger inventory sales. Meanwhile, online grocery consumers who are having their purchases delivered may be receptive to meal ideas, snacks, or dessert items, as well as deli, ready-to-eat meals.

For those shoppers dining at home, an on-going nationally representative study, conducted by NCBA, a contractor to The Beef Checkoff, among consumers ages 18-64 found taste and value for the money remain a primary consideration for protein purchase considerations.2 Other considerations include food safety, preparation familiarity, and great source of protein are also among the top10 considerations for consumers when choosing protein for dining at home. Rounding out the top 10 considerations was quick/fast to prepare.

SOURCE: Kantar ShopperScape Grocery Deep Dive, February/May/August/ November 2021 and 2022 and February/May/August 2023

Whether consumers are heading to the store to stock pantries or pick up a meal, beef is a top protein choice. Another recent nationally representative study by NCBA, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, found 45% of respondents purchased beef in their most recent visit to the grocery store, while 43% purchased poultry, followed by 37% purchasing pork.3 Meat alternatives made up just over 10% of grocery store purchases.

The average market basket of consumers’ recent grocery store visit is just under $90.00 when consumers add beef, the value increases more than 30% to just over $115.00.4 When consumers include both beef and beer in the market basket, the value increases to just over $135.00 or more than a 50% increase above the average grocery spend. The inclusion of beef and wine in the shopping cart results in a market basket increase of just over $143.00, or an increase of more than 60% compared to average grocery spend of $89.00.

Grocery store shoppers are heading to the store online and in-person to stock their shelves, pick up items for the week, or find something for consumption that day. The research shows 45% of consumers purchasing beef in their recent visit, the highest noted protein purchase among beef, poultry, pork, seafood, and meat alternatives. Beef increases overall shopping basket value by more than $25.00. When adding any alcohol to the shopping cart, an incremental value can be reached of more than $45.00.4 In short, adding beef to the shopping basket has the potential to generate incremental consumer spend across all areas of the grocery store.

SOURCE: Consumer Beef Tracker January – June 2023. Q9/9a: “How much do you consider each of the following when you are deciding to have a meal at home/at a restaurant with beef, chicken, pork, fish, meat alternatives, or some other source of protein?”, “Top 2 Box” – Always Consider, Often Consider.

Survey designed and analyzed by NCBA, a Beef Checkoff Contractor.

FIGURE 1 | Primary Trip Mission Most Recent Grocery Trip: In Store/Online Trips (among all grocery shoppers)

FIGURE 2 | Considerations When Dining at Home.

FIGURE 3 | Proteins Purchased, Recent Visit to Grocery Store

SOURCE: Market basket study, Survey, October, 2023. PureSpectrum - *Now we’d like to understand the items you purchased. Thinking only about your most recent visit to the store for food and related items, please tell us which of the following you purchased. Select all that apply. Survey designed and analyzed by NCBA

the Shopping Cart

SOURCE: Market basket study, Survey, October, 2023. PureSpectrum Now, thinking specifically about your meat, poultry, and/or seafood purchases, please provide the amount spent on each using the dollar amounts listed below Now, thinking specifically about your alcoholic beverage purchases, please provide the amount spent on each using the dollar amounts listed below. Survey designed and analyzed by NCBA

SOURCES:

1. Kantar ShopperScape Grocery Deep Dive, February/May/August/November 2021 and 2022 and February/May/August 2023

2. Consumer Beef Tracker January – June 2023. Q9/9a: “How much do you consider each of the following when you are deciding to have a meal at home/at a restaurant with beef, chicken, pork, fish, meat alternatives, or some other source of protein?”, “Top 2 Box” – Always Consider, Often Consider. Survey designed and analyzed by National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to The Beef Checkoff.

3. Market basket study, Survey, October, 2023. PureSpectrum - *Now we’d like to understand the items you purchased. Thinking only about your most recent visit to the store for food and related items, please tell us which of the following you purchased. Select all that apply. Survey designed and analyzed by National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to The Beef Checkoff.

4. Source: Market basket study, Survey, October, 2023. PureSpectrum Now, thinking specifically about your meat, poultry, and/ or seafood purchases, please provide the amount spent on each using the dollar amounts listed below Now, thinking specifically about your alcoholic beverage purchases, please provide the amount spent on each using the dollar amounts listed below. Survey designed and analyzed by National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to The Beef Checkoff.

MISSISSIPPI POT ROAST

A slow cooked Southern favorite! Easy, tender ranch-flavored beef combined with tangy pepperoncinis.

Ingredients

1 boneless beef Chuck Arm Roast (arm, shoulder, or blade), about 2-1/2 pounds

1 packet ranch dressing mix

1 packet dry onion soup mix

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoon granulated garlic

4 to 6 pickled pepperoncinis

1 cup water

Directions

Place beef Chuck Arm Roast in a 4-1/2 to 5-1/2-quart slow cooker. Add ranch dressing mix, onion soup mix, black pepper, garlic, pepperoncinis and water. Cover and cook on HIGH 6 to 7 hours or on LOW 7 to 8 hours or until beef is fork-tender. (No stirring is necessary during cooking.)

Turn off slow cooker and remove roast. Shred roast and return to slow cooker; combine. Serve warm over couscous, mashed potatoes or noodles.

FIGURE 4 | Impact of Adding Beef to

Photo courtesy of BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com

The “Death Tax”

I attended two cattle industry meetings in recent weeks. As happens at these get togethers, there was a great deal of catching up with old friends - how’s the weather, how are your grand kids, what about that winter last year, what’s this one going to turn out to be, what about those calf prices, how long will this market last, how are you feeling?

A common theme repeated from past meetings is the need to get more young people involved in these necessary gatherings, and indeed have incentives that make them want to come back to the ranch and help keep it for the next generation after them. Today we live in a different environment than the one in which I was raised, and I suspect this is an opinion shared by many of the readers of this publication. There are hurdles that must be overcome to ensure the sustainability of livestock ranching for generations to come. One major impediment is the tax system in our country and specifically, the Estate Tax or as it is known colloquially, “death tax.” I read an article years ago which concluded the tax adds less than one percent to the nation’s general fund receipts. My guess is this is still a valid statistic.

Currently the tax is assessed upon the death of an owner of property at a rate of forty percent of the value of that property on the date of the owner’s death. An exemption from this assessment is it will only apply to property valued more than thirteen million dollars for a single taxpayer or a married couple for property over twenty-seven million dollars in value upon the death of a surviving spouse.

I can hear the big whew! from many of you. Even with the current inflated prices for land, cattle, and machinery today many ranchers do not reach these thresholds. However, surprise! there is a catch. The above exemptions will expire at the end of 2025. After that, unless Congress acts, the exemption will drop to five million dollars for each individual.

This is a critical time and crucial for producers who might be subject to a death tax because more ranches and assets will be worth more than ten million dollars in 2026 than there are before 2025 ends where many ranches fall into the category of less than twenty-seven million dollars. To avoid breaking the law, there have been ranchers in the past, before 2017, who had to sell assets and land, or borrow significant sums of money to meet the obligations of the tax.

The worry about the impact on current ranch operations upon the death of an owner and upon future operations subjecting heirs to obligations which will hamstring their ability to optimize ranch operations will continue while there is a death tax hanging over the decision-making process. Furthermore, prudent planning to accommodate the obligation to pay a death tax is also a hindrance to diminishing the optimum operation of a ranch or indeed any business which could be subject to the tax. Lawyers, financial planners and accountants who create an estate plan cost significant money and human resources which could otherwise be dedicated to better ranch management.

There are bills in both houses of Congress to repeal the estate tax. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is part of a large coalition of interests to help this real effort to be successful. A tool being circulated is a survey to create a body of evidence to bolster the argument that this tax has an extremely negative impact on rural economies and the other ancillary entities that rely on agriculture. It is easy to take this survey, which takes less than ten minutes. To complete the survey, visit NCBA. ORG/Policy and follow the prompts. Responses are confidential.

To help plan for the sustainability of your operations, it is essential to do away with this tax forever, or at the least keep the exemptions at the current levels.

I’ll see you soon.

Supporting Farm Operations Act Introduced in Congress

By Brian German | Ag News Director | AgNet

The Supporting Farm Operations Act, H.R. 7046, was introduced in the U.S. House Representatives last week. It seeks to address the high cost of agricultural labor by freezing the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR). Introduced by Congressman John Moolenaar, the proposed legislation would freeze the AEWR for H-2A nonimmigrant workers for two years. Wages established in 2023 would be maintained until the end of 2025.

Several agricultural industry groups have expressed support for the legislation, noting the continually increasing cost of farm labor. American Farm Bureau Federation Director of Government Affairs, John Walt Boatright said the legislation would offer some short-term relief to uncertainty in the labor market.

West

“It’s a step in the right direction to creating a wage standard that benefits farmers and employees alike. Along with this effort, AFBF will continue to press Congress on the full reforms that deliver certainty and parity to farmers who produce food for America’s families,” Boatright noted.

Moolenaar was also among more than 70 lawmakers who raised the issue of the AEWR with House and Senate appropriations leaders. The AEWR has increased steadily over 20 years, more than doubling since 2005 to a national average of $17.55 an hour in 2024. Other groups including the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and the U.S. Apple Association have also highlighted a need for adjusting the AEWR through the Supporting Farm Operations Act.

“This Bill is not everything we need, but it is a necessary step, and one that Congress can, and must, take to provide immediate relief to farmers across the country,” Director of US Government Relations for the International Fresh Produce Association, John Hollay said in a press release. “Congress has failed for more than four decades to address the agriculture labor crisis. While we will continue to push for the system wide reform that is needed, this bill can provide immediate relief and ensure that we do not lose any more farms across America.”

Meghan Brown named new NDA Division of Plant Health and Compliance Administrator

(SPARKS, Nevada) – The Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) has named Meghan Brown as the new Division of Plant Health and Compliance Administrator. Administrator Brown will be leading the Division of Plant Health and Compliance after previously serving as Deputy Administrator for the past eight years.

“Administrator Brown is a natural fit for this position,” said NDA Director J.J. Goicoechea. “Her dedication to agriculture and the Department offers tremendous experience and knowledge. I look forward to working with her in this new capacity.”

Administrator Brown is a graduate of Utah State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Science and a minor in Rural Development. Prior to coming to the NDA, she was the Executive Director for the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association and worked as a Rural Representative for U.S. Congressman Mark Amodei. Her personal goal is to leave a legacy that has created opportunities and enhanced the sustainable productivity of agricultural communities both within the Silver State and at the national level.

Contact: Ciara Ressel | Public Information Officer 775-525-4160 | cressel@agri.nv.gov

The 2nd Annual Great Basin Bull Sale was by all accounts a resounding success. A great weekend that included dog trials, ranch branding, and a fantastic dinner and dance featuring music by Chad Bushnell, proceeded the sale. 168 all breeds bulls were sold on Saturday the 17th in rapid fashion. Breeders from Nevada, California, Idaho, Utah, Oregon and Georgia consigned some of there very best bulls which contributed to the sales success. We would like to thank our consignors, and sponsors and especially the crew at the Rafter 3C arena. Without them this event wouldn’t be possible. The sale hosts Charlie Hone, Dave Holden, and Kris Gudel would also like to thank the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, the City of Fallon, The Fallon Visitors and Tourism Authority and Churchill County Manager Jim Barbee for there assistance in making this event possible.

168 all breeds bulls averaged 5325

140 Angus averaged 5493

28 all breeds bulls averaged 4308

Top Sellers

Lot 70 Consigned by Dixie Valley Angus 25000

Sired by Connealy Craftsman | Triangle S Ranch, Interior SD

Lot 40 Consigned by West Wind Angus 15000

Sired by T/D Doc Ryan | Current Creek Angus, Roundup MT

Lot 77 Consigned by Hone Ranch 12000

Sired by MCD Effective 921 | Jeff Lommori, Smith NV

Lot 72 Consigned by Hone Ranch 9500

Sired by MCD Effective 921 | Jeff Lommori, Smith NV

Lot 81 Consigned by Hone Ranch 9250

Sired by Granger Black Eagle 005 | Kurt Dreyer, Gardnerville NV

Lot 32 Consigned by Popovits Family Ranch 9000

Sired by Hoffman Thedford | Favero Ranches, Williams CA

Awards

A: Lot 32 Popovits Family Ranch Supreme Champion, Champion Performance tested Calving Ease Angus

B: Lot 64 Tozier Ranch Champion Performance Angus

C: Lot 114 Jorgensen Charolais Champion All Other Breeds Bull

D: Lot 122 Gudel Cattle Company Champion Performance Bull

E: Lot 210 Easterly Romanov Ranch Champion Range Bull, Champion Calving Ease Range Angus

F: Lot 223 Gem State Angus Champion Range Angus

G: Lot 273 Cardey Ranches Champion Range All Other Breeds Bull

Strategic grazing could boost conservation of ‘near-threatened’ sage-grouse UNR researchers link

strategic grazing to increased food supply

A multi-agency study, spearheaded by researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno’s College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, underscores the impacts of strategic cattle grazing, particularly on restoring the declining population of the greater sage-grouse bird, a keystone species in the Great Basin region.

Amidst ongoing decline, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted by listing the sage-grouse for protection under the Endangered Species Act in 2011. This move prompted the Bureau of Land Management to develop a federal conservation plan for the species in 2015. Simultaneously, the World Wildlife Fund classified the sage-grouse as “near-threatened” in 2014, signifying its concern about the species’ potential future extinction. According to the study, the intensity and timing of grazing throughout the year has a significant impact on the availability of certain insects and plants that serve as vital food sources for the species, particularly during their reproductive phase. The insects, including beetles, moths, ants, grasshoppers and butterflies, are a key source of food for the species’ hatchlings in their first three weeks of life, while the flowering plants, known as forbs, provide nutritional benefits, especially for nesting birds.

“While many studies have explored various methods to restore greater sage-grouse populations, including restricting petroleum drilling in their habitats, our research specifically focused on enhancing the food supply within mountain meadow systems, which are key habitat for wildlife,” said William Richardson, the study’s lead researcher and a postdoctoral scholar in the College’s Department of Agriculture, Veterinary & Rangeland Science. “Protecting these birds, however, requires a holistic approach that ultimately extends to fostering the growth of insects, which serve as crucial food sources, pollination agents and more.”

The sagebrush desert and shrubland are the predominant plant species in much of the Great Basin. However, a U.S. Geological Survey report indicates that nearly half of the region’s rangelands have been lost due to widespread habitat destruction, primarily from wildland fire. Native species such as the sagegrouse rely on this ecosystem for food and nesting and can survive nowhere else.

The study’s findings were first published in October 2021 in the Journal of Remote Sensing and later in December 2023 in the Journal of Environmental Management. The study, conducted between 2019 and 2021, assessed the impact of three grazing intensities on seven Great Basin meadows with varying vegetation cover in central Nevada. To monitor the proliferation of insects and plants on pastured meadows on a larger scale, the study employed the use of high-resolution digital cameras designed to capture time-lapse images of foliage over longer duration. They are commonly referred to as phenocams.

“These cameras allowed us to make real-time observations and collect data simultaneously over the study’s two-year period,” Richardson said. “They typically track plant lifecycles with high accuracy and offer a more practical way to make longitudinal observations in ecological research.”

At the end of the two-year observation period, data showed that an increase in grazing during the spring and summer had a significant impact on the vegetation communities in the meadow systems, with higher grazing intensities affecting the length of the growing season. This timing coincided with the breeding season of sage-grouse, during which the nesting birds depend on the flowering plants for food.

“This is an important finding as it emphasizes the sage-grouse’s high sensitivity to disturbance, especially when they are hatching and caring for their young ones,” Richardson said.

The study also found that grazing intensity was not ultimately detrimental to insect abundance, and even permitted some insects to thrive. Specifically, beetles were found in higher numbers when grazing occurred in both wet and relatively drier seasons, while the moths and butterflies showed an increase in population during the wetter seasons.

“Our results show that strategic grazing has the potential to have a positive impact on the biodiversity of meadow habitat, which not only benefits other species, but more so the sage-grouse, which is high up in the sagebrush food chain,” he said.

Other members of the research team include Professor Tamzen K. Stringham and Associate Professor Andrew Nuss from the College’s Department of Agriculture, Veterinary & Rangeland Sciences, Postdoctoral Scholar Brian Morra from the College’s Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Science and Keirith A. Snyder from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Great Basin Rangeland Research Unit. Stringham, Nuss and Morra also conduct research as part of the College’s Experiment Station. The team received funding and technical support from the Nevada Department of Wildlife, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land Management.

With sagebrush ecosystems as their only home, environmental experts have long considered the wellbeing of sage-grouse as a barometer for the overall health of the sagebrush ecosystems. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, a healthy sage-grouse population, restored through the restoration of its habitat, also supports 350 other sagebrush-dependent species, such as elk, deer, mule, pygmy rabbit and pronghorn, and nearly 200 migratory and resident bird species. Any decline in the species’ population, therefore, acts as a natural alarm for an imbalanced sagebrush ecosystem.

for the species

“The entire sage-grouse habitat is in the Western United States, and much of that land is publicly owned and managed by the federal government for purposes of conservation and development of natural resources, grazing and recreation,” said Brian Morra, a soil ecology postdoctoral scholar in the University’s Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Science, and a member of the research team. “Given this extensive federal involvement, research findings from publicly funded scientists, such as those presented in this study, play a crucial role in informing and supporting the habitat’s conservation policies.” Despite numerous scientific appeals for the preservation of sagebrush-dependent species such as the sagegrouse and repeated warnings of their declining population from conservationists, federal support that mainly focuses on sage-grouse populations rather than the ecosystem health at large is an inconsistency that Morra cites as potentially detrimental to the long-term health of sage-grouse and the sagebrush ecosystems.

“It’s disheartening to witness the challenges we face in achieving long-term sustainability for these ecosystems,” said Morra, whose research focuses on grazing management and soil health. “Regulatory support that considers ecosystem-level effects is crucial for advancing efforts towards preservation and ensuring a healthy future for generations to come.”

The bi-state sage-grouse, a variety of the greater sagegrouse that is exclusive to Nevada and California, has had its own share of conservation drama. It is undergoing its third assessment in a decade for potential protection under the Endangered Species Act. With a dwindling population of approximately 3,300 birds, only half of its count 150 years ago, the bi-state sage-grouse continues to confront the same challenges, notably pinyon-juniper encroachment and decreasing viable habitat.

“The plight of the bi-state sage-grouse demonstrates the urgent need for comprehensive conservation action for the species,” said Morra. “Scientific findings like this one must be amplified, and regulations need to be aligned with such findings to strike a balance between the needs of ecosystems and those of humans who use them.”

Funding for the project came from the Bureau of Land Management Carson City Nevada District; the Bureau of Land Management Nevada State Office; and the University of Nevada, Reno Great Basin Sagebrush Restoration Fund. Additional support was provided by the Bureau of Land Management through the Soil, Water and Riparian Monitoring and Research in Nevada, as well as the Nevada Forest and Rangeland Research Project: Desatoya Meadows sage-grouse habitat under the Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit. The Nevada Department of Wildlife provided fencing installation for the study, and the U.S. Geological Survey helped in collecting sagegrouse data.

Fallon Ranch Hand Rodeo

2024 HOT IRON BRANDING Results

MEN'S TEAMS

1st Place Team: C Buckhorn T Ranch Team: Clint Allegre, Chad Goings, Chance Kretschmer & Dennis Lee

2nd Place Team: W Hanging J Team: Jake Ward, Billy Finks, Blake Teixira & Alan Molotte

3rd Place Team: Susanville Team: Cody Conley, Tristan Smith, Derek Magana & Colton Shields

WOMEN'S TEAMS

1st Place Team: Rockin Chili Peppers Team: Mattie Ward, Bea Lee, Tess Johnson & Sandy Kiel

2nd Place Team: No Cents Team: Noel Lambert, Kale Knittle, Marisa Julian & Brynn Lehman

FAMILY TEAMS

1st Place Team: Donker Team: Nick Donker, Garret Donker, Kaleb Donker & Vade Donker

2nd Place Team: I Lazy S Ranch Team: Hayes Allegre, Addison Allegre, Clint Allegre & Toni Allegre

3rd Place Team: Break A Heart Ranch Team: Katy Hanlon, Sox Schacht, Ernie Angeles & Dusty Clark

If you’re looking to sell a farm or ranch, give us call!

Nevada/Utah Ranch w/ Winter Range

The expanded Bar O Ranch is 909 deeded Acres with over 500 acres with underground Water rights and approx. 400 acres under 4 Center pivots all in perennial crop. 300 head year around without much if any hay plus hay to sell or use the pivots for pasture and run more cows! Three good homes plus other improvements, BLM winter permits out the gate and spring and Summer range not far away. Price Reduced to $4,500,000.

Battle Mountain Farm

369 Acres with 2 center pivots covering 250 acres now in Orchard Grass and Alfalfa/Grass mixture incl. a dash of corn. If you’re more into cattle, pasture some and raise hay on the rest. Nice home with 4 bedroom 2 bath plus big shop with concrete floor and a machine shed and other useful sheds. At the end of the road but not far out of town. Borders BLM. $1,800,000. Seller terms considered.

For additional information on these properties, visit BOTTARIREALTY.COM

Paul D. Bottari

Broker, Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) NV Lic.# B 015476

Bottari & Associates Realty |

775.752.3040

Cell: 775.752.0952 | paul@bottarirealty.com

530 S Shoshone Ave • PO Box 368 Wells, NV 89835

The Central Nevada Regional Water Authority was established in 2005 to proactively address water issues in the Central Region, the largest of Nevada's 14 hydrographic regions. CNRWA formulates and presents a united position on water-related issues; monitors, assesses and responds to water projects that may adversely impact a member county; implements a groundwater monitoring program and encourages citizen participation in water-related issues. CNRWA’s nine member counties are: Churchill, Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Nye, Pershing, and White Pine.

MISSION STATEMENT | The mission of the Central Nevada Regional Water Authority is to prepare communities in central and eastern Nevada for sound water-resource decisions that promote prosperous economies and strong civic institutions in a healthy natural environment. For more information, please contact: Jeff Fontaine, CNRWA Executive Director 775-443-7667 / ccjfontaine@gmail.com / cnrwa.com

Let’s Talk Ag

By Staci Emm | Editorial

Agriculture Census Released and Nevada Agriculture Conferences Slated for March

This last week the 2022 Agriculture Census was released and we are currently analyzing numbers to see the story that USDA is telling about Nevada agriculture.

I took a quick glance and will spend the next several months comparing numbers to Nevada Department of Agriculture, USDA, and what my team is seeing as they work with producers across the state. Overall, it seems that we have went down again in the number of farms and land in farms in the state. Below is a quick look at USDA data.

Churchill County FFA March Update

by Riggin Stonebarger

The Churchill County FFA chapter has been very busy the last few months from things like competing at the National FFA Convention, planning end of the year banquets, and even getting ready for the upcoming National FFA week!

In October our state winning livestock judging team Bailey Prinz, Riggin Stonebarger, Allie Fait, and Liam Few, traveled over 2,000 miles across the United States to support our state winning creed speaker Allie Fait. During the convention these students went to many workshops to learn about leadership and how to be able to get out of your comfort zone! There were massive shopping centers filled with ag related merch! As well as many booths like colleges, agriculture companies, and many farmers teaching us about what they do!

The day of the competition was a very serious time for all of us. As we went inside to watch Allie compete she did amazing! She had made it onto the final round where the competition was very high. We watched her for the final round and she did great! We waited all day, so we couldn’t wait to see her results. Allie placed in the Silver Emblem individually! Congratulations to Allie!

Aside from the amazing opportunity that this convention had given us there was plenty to do when we arrived back! This week is the National FFA Week. We have planned some amazing activities, and fundraisers for our highschool and the elementary schools around! On Tuesday we will be having a fundraiser where students can come destroy a car for $5 for 30 seconds. They can hit the car with a baseball bat! We would like to thank our community for donating the car to be able to smash! On Wednesday we will be reading to kids at E.C Best and bring some animals to them for a petting zoo! Then of course on Thursday we will be bringing our annual petting zoo to our highschool with a fundraiser called “Kiss the Heifer ‘’ This fundraiser consists of students paying to vote on teachers that have to kiss the heifer and the runner up will kiss a pig!

Another important aspect of the chapter we have been planning is the Churchill County Annual Banquet! We would like to invite anyone from the community who would like to come and support the chapter!

This data though does not tell the whole story. I did just a quick chart of four counties in the state just to reflect what we will be looking at with all counties as far as market sales. You can see that there are differences as we start looking at different things. The reflection of the data chart shows that we do have smalllocal farms, but we also have large farms involved in livestock production, and it seems that cattle and calves are still the top cash receipt in the state.

Look below at the differences between counties in 2022 data. Also, realize that there are major agriculture producing counties that are missing as this is just an analysis of Churchill, Clark, Douglas and Elko. We know that Humboldt, Lyon, Lincoln, Nye and Pershing are also larger agriculture producing counties.

As we look at different counties, I was really surprised to learn the market sales of agriculture products (including food marketing and value-added) in Elko County. This shows so much diversity in Elko County. I think we will begin to see this in all of our counties. The one thing that we must pay attention to is that farm size was reduced across all acreages except for the 1-9 acres farms, which increased from 825 farms in 2017 to 867 farms in 2022. However, we did have an increase in the number of farms that had a value of sales over $500,000 or more.

Overall, the United States saw a reduction in Land in Farms. I know that each and every one of you pay attention to what is happening with the ranches and farm/ ranches around you. Some are being hit with estate planning issues while others have AUM permits that may be delayed. I would like to start the conversation of what does Nevada Agriculture look like for each of our agriculture sectors. I asked our University team to start those conversations this January, and now that the census data is released, we will be discussing this data to try and identify how to support Nevada agriculture.

Our first phase of supporting Nevada Agriculture will be three different conferences this March, which is National Agriculture Month. We will be hosting the following conferences with support from USDA, Risk Management Agency:

• Urban Agriculture in North Las Vegas, March 6-8, 2024

• Small-Farm Agriculture in Fallon, March 14-15, 2024

• Bee and Garden in Gardnerville, March 22-24, 2024

There will be an option to choose from 2 different pre-conference workshops. The Urban Ag Conference will have a Regenerative Agriculture for Small Acreage and a Poultry Processing Workshop; and the Small Farm Conference will have a Regenerative Agriculture for medium-sized farms/ranches and a Beef Processing Workshop.

All conference details and the links to registration can be found in this Nevada Today article at www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2024/ag-conferences

The Eventbrite link to register should have the conference agenda. The Las Vegas and Fallon Conferences will also be hosting a farm-to-fork or grow local dinner.

We will be following up these conferences with risk management workshops across the state, an online quarterly market outlook, and we are currently trying to figure out the logistics of an Artificial Insemination (AI) class in Fallon for producers. We do currently have a strong team of outreach specialists around the state and do not hesitate to discuss concerns or needs for education that you believe is needed in Nevada.

Table 1. Nevada Number of Farms and Land in Farms in Nevada

Nevada Farm Bureau

On February 13th, the 2022 Census of Agriculture was released. Since this every-five-year update was distributed, it has been given more than a casual glance.

On a national basis the total number of farms and ranches came in at 1.9 million – down 7 percent from 2017. The hard numbers show 141,733 fewer farms in 2022 than in 2017. Beyond fewer farmers and ranchers, we also see a decline in the number of farm acres, falling to 880,100,848, a loss of more than 20 million acres from just five years earlier.

“The latest census numbers put in black and white the warnings our members have been expressing for years,” said American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall. “Increased regulations, rising supply costs, lack of available labor and weather disasters have all squeezed farmers to the point that many of them find it impossible to remain economically sustainable.

“Family farms not only help drive the economy, they allow the rest of the nation the freedom to pursue their dreams without worrying about whether there will be enough food in their pantries.” Duvall continued, “We urge Congress to heed the warning signs of these latest numbers. Passing a new farm bill that addresses these challenges is the best way to help create an environment that attracts new farmers and enables families to pass their farms to the next generation.”

Digging into Nevada’s numbers from the 2022 Census of Agriculture, we see that our state’s farm and ranch numbers have also declined. The Silver State’s 2022 number of farms and ranches totaled 3,122. That’s 301 less than in 2017 and 1,015 less than in 2012.

Attention To The Numbers

By Doug Busselman | NFB Executive Vice President

In reviewing some limited comparisons on the county-by-county numbers we see that most counties saw declines in the number of farms and ranches in their county. Exceptions to this reduction from the 2017 Census of Agriculture are Churchill, Douglas and Eureka which gained over the earlier numbers to land where they did in the 2022 Census.

On a statewide comparison of different sizes of operations, we see declines in nearly every category of the dozen different sales breakouts. There are only two of these categories of increases in the different levels of farm sales. There was an insignificant increase (3 more farms and ranches)

in the category of $40,000 to $49,999 “Market Value of Ag. Products Sold.”

The other category of increased operations is in the category of $500,000-plus, with only 24 more of these farms and ranches in 2022 as opposed to their tally in 2017.

We likely need to consider that the 2022 numbers were submitted in a multi-year drought period which might put into perspective that the 2022 acres of irrigated land in Nevada was down nearly 360,000 acres when compared to 2017 numbers (4,094,386 in 2022 and 4,454,184 in 2017).

Cattle and calf numbers are also off from the 2017 report with 38,347 fewer in 2022’s update. The cows and heifers bred herd has declined by 15,548 according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, which also fits into an overall national reduction that is playing out.

In his recent Market Intel analysis, AFBF Economist Bernt Nelson shared that the U.S. Cattle Inventory is the lowest in 73 years. Citing the January report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

on the January inventory report, Nelson shared, “This is the lowest Jan. 1 inventory since USDA’s 82.08 million estimate in 1951.”

He then continued by writing, “The calf crop is estimated at 33.6 million head, down 2 percent from last year and the smallest calf crop since 33.1 million in 1948.”

USDA’s January and July Cattle Inventory reports, released toward the end of each respective month, provide the total inventory of beef cows, milk cows, bulls, replacement heifers, other steers and heifers, and the calf crop for the current year.

Pointing to the reasons he considers to be the results of the low cattle numbers, Nelson pointed at drought and high input costs compelling farmers and ranchers to market a higher-than-normal percentage of female cattle.

Hay is Nevada’s top crop and once again, the numbers for the 2022 Census of Agriculture show a decline.

In 2017 the number of Hay farms was reported at 1,457 with 507,054 acres being irrigated to produce the hay crop. The new agriculture census shows that in 2022 there were 1,338 farms and 429,380 acres in production, Alfalfa hay acres dropped from 320,361 acres in 2017 to 289,809 acres in 2022 and the number of farms counted as producing alfalfa hay in 2017 (1,175) are now down to 1,068 in 2022.

Nevada’s sheep herd was reported at 71,699 in 2022, as compared to 76,074 in the 2017 Census of Agriculture.

In pouring over the numbers for Nevada’s agricultural statistics, the one category that we found an increase in was in the size of the dairy herd. It wasn’t a huge bump, and it was in spite

of a decrease in the number of dairy farms. In 2022 the reported number of milk cows was 31,934 cows. In 2017 this number was listed at 31,599 cows.

In their initial review of the 2022 Census of Agriculture, AFBF noted that it’s encouraging that the number of beginning farmers increased. Then on the other hand, the latest census numbers show the number of farmers over the age of 65 is outpacing younger farmers. Almost 1.3 million farmers are now at or beyond retirement age, while just 300,000 farmers are under the age of 35.

In 2017 the average age of a U.S. farmer/rancher was 57.5. Five years later the average age of U.S. farmers/ ranchers is now 58.1 years of age.

There are still a number of different evaluations that are necessary to completely grasp the meaning of the 2022 Census of Agriculture, but we do see from what we’ve evaluated that there’s plenty of challenges that farmers and ranchers continue to deal with in keeping their operations in business. We also see that Nevada agriculture continues to fit in a niche, unique to nearly all other states throughout the U.S.

In a state which is dominated by federally controlled lands, as well as being the driest state in the country, Nevada agricultural producers have carved their operations out of a landscape that is far from ideal. The numbers show that those who have done so richly deserve credit for their accomplishments.

Grassroots News

Series Of Conferences

Scheduled For March –Plan

To Participate!

The University of Nevada, Reno Extension are in the process of organizing three agricultural conferences in March. These conferences include:

Nevada Urban Agriculture Conference in Las Vegas, March 6-8

Nevada Small Agriculture Conference in Fallon, March 13-15

Bee and Garden Conference in Minden, March 22-24

“Extension is very excited to be able to offer educational opportunities to urban and small farm producers, as well as beekeepers and others, to provide them with the latest research and information on resources to help them be successful,” Staci Emm, Extension educator, said. “We realize that our local food systems are extremely important to our communities and want to facilitate long-term sustainability.”

In addition to agriculture producers, the conferences also offer learning opportunities for others, such as chefs and restaurant owners, recreational gardeners, youth gardeners, and others, depending on the conference.

1) The Nevada Urban Agriculture Conference, set for North Las Vegas, takes place at the Aliante Casino Hotel & Spa, 7300 N. Aliante Parkway, March 6-8, and places an emphasis on supporting both local producers and associated businesses.

Register online by March 5. For more information, email Carolina Martinez carolinamartinez@unr.edu or call her at 775-313-8012.

2) The Nevada Small Agriculture Conference is scheduled for March 13-15 at the 3C Event Complex, 227 Sheckler Road, Fallon. Registration of $150, for all three days of the conference is similar to the Urban Agriculture Conference in North Las Vegas. This fee includes all sessions, an opening reception, lunches and the tradeshow.

Like the Urban Agriculture Conference, this conference opens on Wednesday with the regenerative or meat-processing track options, followed by lunch and the opening reception. Tickets for this day only are $55.

Thursday and Friday sessions are geared more toward small-production and rural producers, and feature presenters from the University, including its Extension and Experiment Station units and the Desert Farming Initiative, as well as many others sharing their agriculture and business expertise. An optional grow-local dinner will be offered on Thursday at 6 p.m. for $60. Register online by March 5. Space is limited, so early registration is encouraged. For more information, email Kaley Chapin ( kaleys@unr.edu ) or call her at 702-467-2668.

3) The Bee and Garden Conference will be hosted in Minden, NV at the Carson Valley Inn, 1627 U.S. Highway 395 North, March 22-24. This conference will focus on beekeeping, pollinators, and landscaping for homeowners and small acreages. There will also be handson classes for floral design, making medicinal products from the hive, and value-added honey products.

Registration for the main sessions of the conference, running from Friday evening through Sunday morning is $125, and offers two tracks, one on honey bee and value-added products from the hive, and the other on “NevadaScapes” and gardening. Continental breakfast on Saturday and Sunday and lunch on Saturday is included. In addition, there is an option for 10 youth, ages 9-13, to attend a Jr. Master Gardener session all day Saturday, for $80, which includes hands-on learning, continental breakfast and lunch.

Finally, there are also three other optional hands-on sessions offered for $25 per session (not included with conference registration), and limited to 30 people per session:

Medicinal products from the hive, Saturday, 6:30 – 9 p.m.

Shrubs, syrups and oxymels (herbal extractions of vinegar and honey),

Sunday, 8:30 – 10:15 a.m.

Apothecary (preparing and selling products for medicinal purposes),

Sunday, 10:30 a.m. – noon

Register online by March 20. There are varying space limits, so early registration is encouraged. For more information, email Lindsay Chichester (lchichester@ unr.edu ) or Jessica Gardner (emailjessicagardner@unr.edu).

Nevada Farm Bureau

Reminder Of Upcoming Meat Processing Regulations Hearing – March 15, 2024

Because of the priority, we want to remind you that the Nevada Department of Agriculture has announced a public hearing to be held on the regulation package that has advanced from the workshops, held last year, on meat and poultry processing. The hearing is scheduled for Friday, March 15 at the Sparks headquarters office, starting at 9 a.m. You will see from the announcement that a virtual link is available to participate by Zoom: https://agri.nv.gov/ uploadedFiles/agrinvgov/Content/Animals/NAC%20583_Hearing_Notice_ DAG_Approved.pdf

From our review of the proposed changes, compared to the original version, annual fees for custom processing facilities (including mobile units) have been cut to $250. The initial evaluation of proposed plans for a custom processing facility are $600. The fees for an official establishment are $750 for the review of the facility’s plan, that the agency needs to do as a start-up and then $500 per year for the licensing that is required. The pricing differential between the different levels of facilities was one of the issues that Nevada Farm Bureau pointed out in our comments of the original proposal.

Trade School Scholarship Award Application

The Nevada Heritage Foundation is an organization that supports education of Nevada’s youth in agricultural related fields. The Foundation has developed a scholarship for those graduating from a Nevada high school and going into a trade to support agriculture or students already pursuing a trade to support agriculture. A candidate must be from a Nevada Farm Bureau member family. Types of trades supporting agriculture may include veterinary technology, welding and fabrication, trucking and transportation, agriculture business, horticulture, irrigation technician, animal health worker, dairy farm supervisor, and others. A strong scholarship applicant will demonstrate how their trade supports the agriculture industry and producers. The scholarship committee desires to provide financial assistance to students who exemplifies dedication to the agricultural industry.

One $2,000 award is available. Application submission deadline: April 1, 2024. The scholarship award is available to any student graduating from a Nevada high school and going into a trade to support agriculture or students already pursuing a trade to support agriculture. The candidate must be from a Nevada Farm Bureau member family.

Students wishing to apply for this scholarship should send: a) the completed application, b) a copy of their most current transcript, and c) two (2) letters of recommendation to:

Hard Copy Application: Nevada Heritage Foundation Scholarship Committee

c/o Nevada Farm BureauNevada Heritage Foundation2165 Green Vista Drive, Ste. 205Sparks, Nevada 89431

Electronic Application: wolfranch1nv@gmail.com

Students need only send one application as either a hard copy or an electronic copy, and are not required to send both.

This award will be giving to the student who best portrays the ability to be successful in trade school and exhibits the potential to give back to the agriculture industry and agricultural producers by completing their program.

Inquiries: Nevada Farm Bureau office: (775) 674-4000 or 1-800-992-1106

ALSO AVAILABLE: Dave Fulstone II Scholarship Award | This $1,000 scholarship is open to any NFB family student graduating from a Nevada high school who is furthering their education in a course of study pertaining to Agriculture. For more info, visit www.nvfb.org/articles/dave-fulstone-scholarship/

Net Farm Income in 2024 Forecast to Be Down 25% from Last Year

By Daniel Munch, Economist | dmunch@fb.org

On February 7, USDA released the first insights into net farm income expectations for 2024. The latest report anticipates a decrease from 2023’s forecast of $155 billion to $116 billion – a drop of nearly $40 billion, or 25.5%, and the largest recorded year-to-year dollar decrease in net farm income. The decline marks the second consecutive drop since record-high farm income levels in 2022 ($185.5 billion). When adjusted for inflation, net farm income, a broad measure of farm profitability, is expected to decrease 27%, or $43 billion, from 2023. If realized, 2024 net farm income would be below the 20year average (2003-2022) in inflationadjusted dollars. A $21 billion expected drop in cash receipts for agricultural goods and a $17 billion expected increase in production expenses explain 95% of the forecast decline.

The forecast for 2023 net farm income in this report was also updated from December’s report, increasing marginally from $151 billion to $156 billion. Net farm income reflects income after expenses from production in the current year and is calculated by subtracting farm expenses from gross farm income. A year-to-year drop of this magnitude parallels a recent decline in general farmer sentiment as lower expectations set in for commodity prices in 2024. Importantly, this is still a very early measure of farm financial health. Countless factors will shape supply and demand conditions over the course of the next 11 months.

Direct government payments are estimated to decrease by $1.9 billion, or 16%, between 2023 and 2024 to slightly over $10 billion and about 9% of net farm income. This marks the fourth consecutive annual decrease in government payments for producers since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and would represent the lowest value since 2014, even without adjusting for inflation. Ad hoc and supplemental program payments, which include payments from the Emergency Relief Program (ERP), Quality Loss

Adjustment Program and other farm bill designated-disaster programs, are expected to decrease from $6.54 billion to $5.84 billion, an 11% decline and $5.49 billion less than paid out during 2024. The previous announcement of limited additional funds to extend ERP to cover 2022 disaster losseshave reduced expected payments in this category, which is reflected in the lower values. Pandemic era programs that contributed to as much as 48% of net farm income in 2020 no longer contribute to farmers’ cash flow.

Commodity insurance indemnities, included for comparison to ad hoc disaster programs, are forecast down slightly in 2024, moving from $21.77 billion to $20.78 billion but remaining well above the prior 10-year average of $12.72 billion. The number of crop insurance programs has increased and along with it the total value of liabilities across sold crop insurance policies. Increased participation and difficult weather have resulted in higher-thanaverage indemnity payments the past several years. Additionally, ERP still requires those who receive payments to enroll in crop insurance or Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program coverage (when crop insurance is not available) for the next two available crop years. This pushes up crop insurance participation further, contributing to additional indemnities as more farmers are encouraged to manage their risks.

Crops

Cash receipts for crop and livestock sales are expected to move from $507 billion in 2023 to $486 billion in 2024 for a loss of $21 billion (4%). The forecast decline in crop receipts explains nearly 80% of this difference, signaling a weaker incoming year for row crop prices. Receipts for all crops are forecast to drop to $16.7 billion (6%). Corn receipts are forecast down $11.3 billion (14%) and are responsible for much of the expected crop receipts decline. Corn futures prices have recently dropped to a three-year low on expectations of high global supplies. Soybean receipts

are expected down $6 billion (10%), hay receipts down $800 million (8.3%) and wheat and vegetable and melon receipts .5% or less. Cash receipts for fruits and tree nuts and cotton buck the trend of crop-related income declines. Fruit and tree nut receipts are expected to increase $800 million (2.8%) and cotton receipts are forecast to increase by $100 million (1.6%). Heavily traded grain commodities face strong supply dynamics that have weakened price outlooks for the year, substantially contributing to the $16.7 billion expected difference between 2023 and 2024.

Livestock

Cash receipts for live-stock are also forecast down between 2023 and 2024, though not to the same magnitude as crops. Total animal product receipts are expected to decrease $4.6 billion (1.9%) from $244 billion to $239 billion. After several years of gains, receipts for cattle and calves are expected down $1.6 billion (1.6%) – the largest drop among the livestock categories. With the smallest cattle inventories in the U.S. in 73 years, prices for beef will likely be strong but largely offset by limited production. Turkey producers are expected to face a rough year, according to these numbers. Cash receipts for turkeys are expected down $1.4 billion (21%). Growing flocks less impacted by avian influenza and weaker-than-expected consumer demand may explain this grim outlook. Similarly, cash receipts for chicken eggs are expected down $1.7 billion (12%) for likely similar reasons. Receipts for dairy products and milk are expected down $900 million (2%) primarily linked to lower expected prices. Growing inventories of cold stored cheeses and larger supplies globally create downward pressures against strengthening Class prices. Broilers and hogs are the only categories expected to see increases, up $700 million and $300 million respectively. Though any positive number is welcome, hog producers faced record losses in 2023 that will not be substantially offset by a $300 million

across industry gain. Strong demand from consumers for chicken meat continues to boost prices in the broiler arena. For most livestock categories, the forecast difference in cash receipts between 2023 and 2024 is quite small especially as compared to the difference from 2022. This suggests that many livestock producers can expect similar pricing dynamics to 2023 for 2024 (aside from turkey and egg producers).

Production Expenses

Behind a drop in cash receipts, the most significant contributor to an expected farm income drop is attributable to higher production expenses, estimated to increase 4%, or $16.7 billion, over 2023 for a total of $455 billion across the farm economy. This marks the sixth consecutive year of production expense increases and fourth consecutive year production expenses hit a new record high. Production expenses are expected up across almost all categories.

These rising production expenses have left many farmers exposed in 2023 and beyond to the limitations of farm programs that are focused on fixed reference prices, or slowly adjusting price and revenue histories, which are among the issues up for discussion in the current farm bill debate.

The largest percent increases between 2023 and 2024 are expected between marketing, storage and transportation (up 12%), the cost of labor (up 7.5%) and the cost of pesticides (up 7.2%). After a year of declines for fertilizer, USDA expects a 4.3% increase between 2023 and 2024 (from $30.4 billion to $31.7 billion) though still quite a bit lower from the $36.8 billion spent in 2022. Even with improving inflationary conditions, interest expenses are expected up $230 million (about 1%), meaning relief around the cost of capital and servicing that capital is not expected for much of 2024. The Federal Reserve has held the federal funds effective rate at 5.33% since August 2023 with indications that lower rates could be many months .... continued over the next 3 pages

.... continued

away. This dynamic is reflected in USDA’s estimations that interest expenses will increase for farmers and ranchers. The only main expense category forecast to decrease is fuels and oils, expected to drop over 7% ($1.21 billion) across the farm economy as fuel prices continue to recede from record levels in 2022. Farmers and ranchers will see no relief on the expense side of their balance sheet, according to these early numbers.

Other farm income, which includes things like income from custom work, machine hire, commodity insurance indemnities and rent received by operator landlords, is estimated to decrease by $100 million, from $54.1 billion in 2023 to $54 billion in 2024. When all factors influencing income are accounted for, the resulting expectations for a sharp net farm income decline become apparent, as illustrated in Figure 6.

Summary

USDA’s most recent estimates for 2024 net farm income provide a very early forecast of the farm financial picture. For 2024, USDA anticipates a decrease in net farm income, moving from $155 billion in 2023 to $116 billion in 2024, a decrease of 25.5%. Much of the forecasted decline in 2024 net farm income is tied to lower crop and livestock cash receipts and continued increases in production costs. It is important to highlight the early nature of this forecast. For example, net farm income numbers for 2023 will not be finalized until August 2024 and have already been adjusted by over $18 billion since the first estimates were released in February 2022. USDA digests new information and data as it becomes available, shifting calculations from estimates to actual values. This means there is still much uncertainty in final 2024 net farm income. Numerous supply and demand conditions must unfold before economists can have confident expectations for the year’s farm income.

With an early expectation of significant revenue declines, though, it becomes all the more important for producers to have clarity on rules that impact their businesses’ ability to operate and for producers to have access to comprehensive risk management options. Farmers and ranchers will have a resounding voice, as they should, in the formulation of vital legislation such as the farm bill, which can either complicate or streamline their ability to contribute to a reliable and resilient U.S. food supply.

Nevada Farm Bureau

U.S. Cattle Inventory Smallest in 73 years

By Bernt Nelson, Economist | berntn@fb.org

USDA’s January and July Cattle Inventory reports, released toward the end of each respective month, provide the total inventory of beef cows, milk cows, bulls, replacement heifers, other steers and heifers, and the calf crop for the current year. With drought and high input costs compelling farmers to market a higher-than-normal percentage of female cattle, the most recent cattle inventory dropped to lows not seen in decades. This Market Intel will provide analysis of the Jan. 1 inventory, which will set the tone for cattle markets in 2024.

The Report

This is a bullish report. All cattle and calves in the US on Jan. 1, 2024, were 87.2 million head, 2% lower than this time in 2023. This is the lowest Jan. 1 inventory since USDA’s 82.08 million estimate in 1951 (Figure 1). The calf crop is estimated at 33.6 million head, down 2% from last year and the smallest calf crop since 33.1 million in 1948.

To understand the implications of this report we need to break down the individual inventories including all beef cattle and beef heifers for replacement (Figure 2). The inventory of all U.S. beef cattle on Jan. 1, 2024, was 28.2 million head, down 2%, or 700,000 head, from Jan. 1, 2023. The 2024 decline follows a 4% drop in the beef herd inventory from 2022 to 2023. This is the smallest U.S. beef herd since 1951.

Heifers kept as beef cow replacements were estimated at 4.86 million head, down 1% from 2023. While the inventory of beef cattle is low, this is a small year-over-year decline in replacement heifers compared to the 6% drop in 2022 and may be an indicator that the contraction phase of the cattle cycle is beginning to slow. (See https://www.fb.org/market-intel/ cattle-supply-and-demand-issues-forthe-2022-marketing-year)

Cattle on Feed & The Cycle

There is a strange situation underway with cattle on feed. Despite the historically low cattle and beef cattle

inventory, the supply of cattle on feed for market is curiously high. All cattle and calves on feed for all U.S. feedlots is estimated to be 14.4 million, up 2% from 2023, meaning there are still plenty of cattle to meet packer needs for now, which will keep beef prices from skyrocketing in the short term. However, as the cattle on feed supply begins to shrink based on lower numbers further up the supply chain, packers will have to compete to secure cattle, which should lead to higher prices for cattle feeders, especially in the second half of 2024. The smallest calf crop since 1948 and a 1% decline in replacement beef heifers from last year indicate that when the current supply of cattle on feed dries up, there won’t be as many cattle available to refill the supply chain. This could send beef prices to record levels in 2024 and 2025, as we hit the supply bottom of the current cattle cycle

Production

USDA estimates beef production in December 2023 was 2.16 billion pounds, 2% below the 2.19 billion pounds produced in December 2022. Average dressed weights were a record high at 849 pounds, 16 pounds heavier than December 2022. Steers were the largest contributor to this increase, with an average dressed weight of 941 pounds in December 2023. This is equal to about 3 million pounds of additional beef entering the supply chain per week in both November and December. As a result of higher weights, USDA raised estimates for 2023 commercial beef production to 26.97 billion pounds. Despite the increase, 2023 production is still about 5% below 2022. Due to the decline in inventory and heavier weights to start off the year, USDA raised 2024 forecasts for total commercial beef production by 120 million pounds to 26.1 billion pounds. The increase brings the 2024 forecast to about 3% below 2023. The higher level of production has helped keep beef prices down for consumers in the short run.

Over the last few years, drought and high supply costs led many farmers to market cattle, particularly female

cattle that would typically be held back for replacement (breeding) purposes. This led to an unusually high number of female cattle being placed on feed for market. According to USDA’s Economic Research Service, 2023 had the second-highest average weekly heifer and cow slaughter on record, just .2% behind 2022 (Figure 3). Continued marketing of heifers is one of the leading contributors of contraction in the cattle inventory in the last two years.

Domestic Demand

Despite higher prices, domestic consumer demand for beef remains strong, but is expected to fall in 2024. According to Kansas State University’s Meat Demand Monitor, consumer willingness to pay increased for all retail products other than plant-based patties. However, price has more recently become a top concern for consumers, with 31% more Meat Demand Monitor survey respondents considering price a top four criteria than those who consider it a bottom four criteria. The January USDA WASDE report estimates per capita beef consumption in the United States will fall 1.9 pounds, from 57.9 pounds per capita in 2023 to 56 pounds per capita in 2024.

Global Demand

Global demand for beef lagged in the final quarter of 2023. November Beef exports totaled about 99,000 metric tons, down 14% from last year. Overall exports trailed about 13% behind 2022’s record-setting performance. Demand for U.S. beef has remained strong with our trade partners in the Asia including South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. However, difficult economic conditions paired with increased Australian beef production have put downward pressure on global demand. USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service forecasts beef exports from all countries will increase by 1.3% to 12.1 million tons in 2024.

Feed and Other Input Costs

News regarding input and supply costs is a mixed bag. On one hand, El Niño has provided desperately needed moisture

and improved drought conditions across the country, particularly in the Midwest and southern Plains where the majority of U.S. cattle are located (Figure 4). In the January WASDE report, USDA forecasted the average 2024 corn price will be $4.80, down 15 cents from $4.95 in 2023 and 27% lower than 2022’s $6.54. Prices have come down largely due to the record 2023 U.S. corn crop and increased production in Brazil. Early acreage surveys indicate U.S. farmers may be gearing up to plant a high number of acres of corn again this year which would put additional downward pressure on corn prices if realized.

On the other hand, higher cattle prices mean purchasing cattle for expansion will cost more. The Federal Reserve on Jan. 31 said it will maintain the federal funds interest rate range between 5.25% and 5.5%,. Interest expenses for farmers are up 43% from this time last year, meaning farmers who need to borrow money for expansion will have to pay more in the long run - a significant barrier to expanding the cattle herd in the next couple of years, which could slow herd recovery in this cycle.

Summary and Conclusions

USDA’s semiannual cattle inventory report provided some key insights for cattle markets in 2024. The overall cattle inventory, along with the beef cattle inventory, is historically low, yet the supply of cattle on feed is quite large. The calf crop and beef heifers held for replacement are also historically low, which will hinder cattle inventory growth in 2024 and possibly 2025, providing opportunities for profitability in the cattle business in 2024, but with a smaller calf crop and fewer replacement heifers, declining production may also lead to record beef prices for consumers. Domestic consumer demand for beef has remained strong but with record prices on the horizon, consumers’ ability and willingness to withstand higher price levels in 2024 will be the determining factor.

*Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 are shown on next two pages

Natural Resources

Conservation Service

National

Water and Climate Center

The February 2024 report and forecast tables are available on the Nevada Snow Survey Webpage: www.nrcs.usda.gov/nevada/snow-survey

Watch this overview video about how the Nevada NRCS snow program can serve you: youtu.be/gWm5TeASLY8

College partners with USDA to bolster regional food systems

USDA project allocates $5 million to Nevada to build a stronger agricultural infrastructure |

By Emma Lande

The College has entered a partnership with a consortium of public institutions, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), bringing $5 million to Nevada to strengthen the agricultural food supply system. The partnership is part of a $30 million overarching project by the USDA’s Southwest Regional Food Business Center.

The overarching project is coordinated across Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona by the University of California, Davis. It is timely for Nevada, as it addresses the issues of growing food insecurity and excessive dependence on imported food.

The College’s Extension unit will lead the project in the state, providing small-scale farmers, processors and distributors training and guidance to expand markets and improve access to government services and funds. Extension will draw on its extensive grassroot networks developed over a century of providing agricultural programs, the College’s Experiment Station unit, and the Nevada Department of Agriculture, a key partner.

Extension Educator Staci Emm, the project’s state implementation manager, said, “This comprehensive approach marks the first long-term program in Nevada specifically designed to enhance the distribution and processing of agricultural products, setting many of our producers up for success.”

As part of the overarching project, the Southwest Regional Food Business Center will also have a leadership council. The council will offer policy recommendations, coordinate funding opportunities and oversee business builder grants.

Nevada farmer Rodney Mehring said, “I believe regional food centers have the potential to empower farmers of all scales, to compete effectively against larger producers.”

Desert Farming Initiative raising funds to upgrade plant nursery

Pauses program to provide organic plant starts to local growers until facility needs can be met | By Claudene Wharton

The College’s Desert Farming Initiative has had to take a pause in providing more than a dozen local growers with organic plant starts for their farms and agricultural programs, due to aging equipment and greenhouse facilities. In order to be ready to help producers with organic plant starts for next spring, the Initiative has embarked on a crowdfunding campaign to raise $10,000 by this May.

“We know that local producers value being able to get these organic plant starts locally, and from a trusted source,” said Jill Moe, director of the Initiative, which is part of the College’s Experiment Station unit. “Ultimately, the plant starts wind up serving consumers here in northern Nevada.”

The greenhouse is the only certified organic wholesale nursery in Nevada. Moe said they usually grow about 100,000 plant starts each year, for the Initiative’s farm, local producers, educational programs, tribal hoop houses, Master Gardeners and local sales.

Trishtin Lieu and Anna Miller Photo by Jill Moe

From Feb. 26 to March 1, the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) is recognizing National Invasive Species Awareness Week. “Invasive” species are aggressive non-native plants, insects, pathogens, and animals that displace native species due to their rapid growth and reproduction. Invasive species can cause irreversible harm to the environment and the economy and can pose a threat to plant, animal and human health. Everyone can do something to prevent the spread of invasive species and it starts by identifying and treating these species to prevent further damage to Nevada’s landscapes. Here are some to look out for:

INSECTS

• Asian Longhorn Beetle • Emerald Ash Borer Beetle

• Imported Fire Ant • Spotted Lanternfly

NOXIOUS WEEDS

• Musk Thistle • Scotch Thistle • Poison Hemlock

Earlier this month we conducted public meetings to solicit comments on managing Mormon cricket and grasshopper populations. While Mormon crickets and grasshoppers are not invasive species, they still pose a public safety risk and can devastate crops in our state. With your feedback in mind, the NDA will collaborate with local jurisdictions on a coordinated response, ensuring we prioritize protecting public safety, rangelands and Nevada’s native species and resources.

Thank you for helping us protect Nevada’s resources, - Director Goicoechea

Meal sites sought to feed children during the summer months

The NDA is seeking partners to provide meals to children through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). SFSP ensures that students who depend on school meals have access to nutritious food when school is not in session. Partner organizations may prepare meals or serve meals obtained from another SFSP partner, public or commercial food vendor, a local government agency or a school food service department. Meals are provided free to children 18-years-old or younger during school closures, no questions asked, and meal sites are reimbursed. Partner participation and meal sites are needed to ensure Nevada’s youth in low-income areas have continued access to healthy meals and snacks.

Organizations interested in becoming an SFSP partner should contact Lindsay Talbot at 702-6684581 or ltalbot@agri.nv.gov by March 22, 2024. For more information about SFSP, visit fns.usda.gov/sfsp.

The Nevada Exporter Survey wants to know how to better connect

businesses with exporting resources

The Nevada Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in partnership with the NDA is updating its current exporter and trade resources and looking for input from Nevada businesses. Businesses that currently export products or services, are interested in expanding to other markets, or are interested in exporting are encouraged to complete the survey. Your feedback will enhance access to resources and help businesses grow and expand their products and services internationally. Take the survey here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/NVExporters

Nevada Native Seed Forum moved to Fall 2024

Wondering where your invite to the Nevada Native Seed Forum went? The NDA has moved the annual Forum to take place in the Fall of 2024. Please keep an eye out for updates including dates and location. For questions, email skielius@agri.nv.gov.

Diversify production, grow native seeds

The NDA has established a Foundation Seed Program to provide free native seeds to Nevada growers to cultivate for use in future restoration efforts. Spring seed applications are due March 29 by 5 p.m. For more details regarding the program, to receive an application, or learn more about the new NDA Foundation Seed Program, please visit our website or contact Stephen Kielius at skielius@agri.nv.gov. Apply online here: http://tinyurl.com/NDA-FSP-App

Highlighting Weights and Measures March 1-7

Weights and Measures Week serves as a reminder of how weights and measures impact our daily lives. The NDA’s Division of Measurement Standards ensures that consumers receive the appropriate quality and quantity of items purchased. From supermarket scales to gas station pumps, NDA Weights and Measures Inspectors test all weighing and measuring devices related to product sales to ensure accuracy. All inspected and approved devices display an NDA sticker. If consumers believe there to be a problem with a weighing or measuring device, they can visit the website or call the phone number listed to submit a complaint. For more information on the NDA’s Division of Measurement Standards, please visit https://agri.nv.gov/CE/

Brand inspections required for transfer of ownership of an animal

Are you selling livestock? A brand inspection is required for the legal transfer of ownership of an animal. Without a brand inspection, the transaction is not recognized by law. To ensure a smooth selling process, schedule a brand inspection for a transfer of ownership: agri.nv.gov/Animals/Livestock/Brands/

All livestock entering Nevada for pasture must meet Nevada’s entry requirements

All livestock must meet Nevada’s brand inspection and health requirements if entering the state for pasture. Per Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 571, Nevada does not recognize California’s ‘50-mile Permit’ for any livestock entering or leaving the state.

For health requirements and entry permits: agri.nv.gov/ Animals/Animal_Disease/Import_Requirements or call 775-353-3709 or email entrypermits@agri.nv.gov

Funding Opportunities

USDA Value-Added Producer Program (VAPG)

Deadlines: Paper applications due April 16, 2024 and electronic applications due April 11, 2024

USDA Farm Service Agency adverse weather resources

Emergency Conservation Program (ECP)

Emergency Farm Loans

Emergency Relief Program (ERP)

USDA Rural Development resource guide to help rural entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses

USDA launched a new website, www.usda.gov/meat to communicate open and pending programs focused on expanding meat and poultry processing capacity.

USDA Continuous Conservation Reserve Program encourages agricultural producers and landowners interested in conservation opportunities to reach out to their local FSA office. App Deadline: July 31, 2024

HELP WANTED:

Join the Nevada Board of Agriculture

NDA looking for members to represent various industries. Vacancies include:

• A representative of petroleum

• A representative of semi-range cattle production

• A representative of food manufacturing or animal processing industries

APPLY FOR A BOARD POSITION HERE: gov.nv.gov/Boards/Board-Vacancies

HELP WANTED: More Job Opportunities

• Agricultural Inspector 3 (Sparks)

• Agricultural Police Officer 2

Underfill: Agricultural Police Officer 1 (LV)

• Brand Inspector I (Elko)

• Division of Plant Health and Compliance Deputy

• Administrator (Sparks)

• Weights and Measures Inspector 2 (Elko)

Keep up to date with all job openings at nvapps.state. nv.us/NEATS/Recruiting/ViewJobsHome.aep.

Stay informed on important updates

Visit tinyurl.com/NDA-NL-Sub to sign up for notifications and specify which topics are relevant to your business.

THE ROUNDUP

Congress: Reps. Zinke, Vasquez introduce bill to restrict sale of federal lands to non-federal entities; Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Heinrich, urge leadership to oppose policy riders on final Interior appropriations bill Zinke introduces plan to protect public lands during Bozeman visit; KBZK News - Congressman Ryan Zinke was in Bozeman on Monday morning to introduce legislation that he says would make it harder for the federal government to sell off public lands.

“It’s great. Public lands are critical to our customers, sportsmen, hunters, fishermen—all backcountry enthusiasts. Really, protecting public lands is paramount,” says Stone Glacier CEO & President Jeff Sposito. Sposito was on hand for Zinke’s roundtable; he says a bill like this is important for him and his customers. “[It’s] critical to ensuring the future of our other generations have the same access we need to make sure that public lands are protected,” says Sposito. The bill would make it harder for the federal government to sell off public lands. “It protects 30 million acres from being sold,” says Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT). The bipartisan piece of legislation is co-sponsored by Democratic Representative Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico. “What this bill does, especially on our waterways, is make sure that the federal government doesn’t divest of property that we need for public,” says Zinke. Zinke says this bill is important for the Treasure State as more and more people move here. “The challenges of public lands, access, use, restoration become more and more. And this is the first step,” says Zinke. Zinke says outdoor retailers, guides, and conservation groups need access to keep businesses afloat.

Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who are working to finalize agreements with their counterparts in the U.S. House of Representatives on FY2024 appropriations bills. The senators wrote, “The Interior appropriations bill should not be turned into a vehicle for policies that weaken protections for public lands and waters and make it harder for families to enjoy the outdoors.”

President Biden and agencies hurry to finish climate agenda priorities as election approaches

Federal agencies scramble to finish Biden’s rules and protect his legacy from Trump; Politico - Biden’s allies are getting antsy about his administration’s pileup of unfinished environmental rules — especially with the threat that a second Trump presidency could undo them all. Biden’s agencies are facing a deadline this spring to finish some of their most important regulations to ensure that a Republican Congress and White House can’t erase them next year, including a crackdown on power plants’ climate pollution, protections for endangered species and a bid to protect federal employees from politically motivated firings. Complicating matters is the fact that the deadline won’t be known until months after rules are completed. Advocates of tougher environmental regulations watched as then-President Donald Trump used a previously seldom-invoked statute to unwind more than a dozen of the Obama administration’s rules in the opening months of 2017. They don’t want that to happen again. The scramble to finish the regulations is crucial to determining how much of Biden’s ambitious legacy may survive past the November election, as the two likely nominees promote sharply contrasting views on climate change, green energy and the power of federal agencies.

The Center for Biological Diversity warns that if the Forest Service fails to promptly grant the petition, conservation groups might consider legal action in federal court.

Nevada BLM hosted wild horse adoption event in Carson

Wild horse, burro adoption event at Carson prison | Serving Carson City for over 150 years; Nevada AppealThe Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Department of Corrections – Silver State Industries hosted a wild horse and burro adoption event at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center on Saturday, Feb. 24. Up to 20 saddle-started wild horses, and one burro, trained by the NNCC inmates, were offered for adoption. The once-wild horses offered came from herd management areas in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah, range in age from four to seven years old and vary in weight and color. All the animals offered for adoption received at least 120 days of training.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich Leads Effort To Reject Anti-Public Lands Policies In Appropriations Bills; LA Daily Post - U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee, led a letter alongside 19 of his Senate colleagues urging Senate leadership to reject all anti-public lands “poison pill” provisions in the final agreement on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. The 20 senators addressed their letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies

Conservation groups urge USFS to prohibit aerial taking of wolves in ID Forest Service urged to ban shooting of Idaho wolves from helicopters’; Buckrail - On Feb. 15, more than 30 wildlife conservation groups urged the U.S. Forest Service to prohibit Idaho from paying private contractors to shoot wolves from aircraft in national forests in central and southeastern Idaho. The letter asked the Forest Service to grant a 2023 petition from the Center for Biological Diversity. On Nov. 28, wildlife conservation groups submitted a legal petition asking the U.S. Forest Service to immediately ban the aerial killing of wildlife in Idaho national forests. Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) authorizes numerous private operators to kill canids, like coyotes and wolves, from aircraft each year. In 2023, the agency authorized over 20 private operators to kill hundreds of coyotes and foxes and unlimited numbers of wolves, according to a recent report from the agency. According to the ISDA Airborne Control of Unprotected or Predatory Animals Rules, aerial killing is for the protection of land, water, wildlife, livestock, domesticated animals, human life or crops. The petition opposing the aerial killing, explained that gunning down wolves from helicopters risks harm to other wildlife like grizzly bears and Canada lynx, as well as public safety and wilderness values, according to Center for Biological Diversity.

Wyoming elk overgrazing on rangeland; USFWS may have to compensate cattle ranchers

Critics Say Paying Wyoming Ranchers For GrassGobbling Elk Could Break Budget; Cowboy State Daily - Parts of Wyoming have too many elk, and a pending legislative solution would compensate ranchers when the elk eat too much grass, but that could break the Wyoming Game and Fish Dept budget, critics say. “As it stands, the bill would be devastating for the budget. It’s could potentially be 1/10th of the Budget going for compensation,” Jesh Metten, the Wyoming field manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership said. However, elk herds in part of Wyoming are bloated to more than two-times their objective numbers. That means ranchers can’t keep taking losses for all the forage the elk are eating, Wyoming Stock Growers Association Vice President Jim Magagna told Cowboy State Daily. For example, one herd northwest of Cheyenne has a 5,000-elk objective, but now has roughly 11,000, Magagna said. That’s a lot of extra mouths to expect ranchers to feed, he said. “After wildlife consumes more than 15% of the forage, then you’re entitled for compensation for that.”

UT state officials weigh in on impact of NACs; In Wyoming, sheep producers explore multiple use on agrovoltaic sites.

‘Natural Asset Companies’ and Utah’s efforts to shut the door on them; Deseret News - Close to two dozen state financial officers, including Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks, rallied in a consolidated effort to get a proposed rule by the New York Stock Exchange in cooperation with the Securities and Exchange Commission withdrawn earlier this year.

But that does not mean strong concern does not remain over the proposal for so-called Natural Asset Companies to come into states and buy up land — sometimes without an owner’s permission — as long they can prove the acquisition has ecological value

and is for the benefit of conservation. Oaks was among 23 signatories to a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, forcefully explaining their opposition to the proposed rule. Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, introduced legislation to keep Natural Asset Companies at bay. Redge Johnson, director of Utah’s Public Land Policy Coordinating Office, said the Natural Asset Companies proposal is a precursor to another rule expected to be rolled out later this year by the Bureau of Land Management that eyes widespread conservation on a landscape scale. Albrecht echoed that concern, saying it jeopardizes true multiple use because of the priority it places on conservation. “And if this rule comes out by the BLM, it could be disastrous for the state and our producers and everybody that recreates on public lands,” he said.

But Caitlin Curry, vice chair of the Utah Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said she did not see a threat to recreation. In particular, she said the group was opposed to language in the bill that says Utah objects to “prioritization” of conservation on public lands compared to other uses. The measure passed unanimously and now advances to the full House for consideration.

In Wyoming, Sheep May Safely Graze Under Solar Panels in One of the State’s First “Agrivoltaic” Projects; Inside Climate News - Converse County is one of the most welcoming areas in Wyoming when it comes to clean energy. For roughly every 20 residents, there is one wind turbine, the highest ratio in the state. At a recent County Commissioners meeting, it took another step in diversifying its energy infrastructure, signaling its intent

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to issue its first solar farm permit to BrightNight. The global energy company has proposed to build more than 1 million solar panels, a battery storage facility and a few miles of above-ground transmission lines on a 4,738 acres of private land run by the Tillard ranching family near Glenrock. The Dutchman Project, as it is called, is notable neither for its generation nor its storage capacity but for the creatures moseying beneath its panels. The base of each sun-tracking panel will be several feet off the ground, allowing enough room for the Tillard’s sheep to continue grazing. In a state whose ranching industry predates its inclusion in the union, pairing solar generation with livestock grazing or other agricultural practices, a technique called “agrivoltaics,” could forge an unlikely alliance between two industries—one ancient; the other, high tech— that typically compete for resources. At the conclusion of their February 6 hearing regarding the Dutchman project, Converse County Commissioners directed the county attorney to draft an order of approval, indicating they would likely grant the project its permit later this month.

370,000 acres eyed to be AZ’s new national monument

Will Great Bend of the Gila become Arizona’s next monument? - 12 News - Driving by it looks like the classic Sonoran Desert, with Saguaro cacti sprinkling the landscape and evidence of desert wildlife on the backdrop of mountain peaks. But if you know what you’re looking for in the 370,000 acres of land encompassed in the Great Bend of the Gila National Monument Proposal, it is rich with cultural and natural resources.

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Some say those resources need to be protected by the President designating it as a new national monument. Begay describes the land encompassed in the Great Bend of the Gila National Monument Proposal as a nexus for the people who lived here and those who came to meet and trade with them. In total, 13 tribal sovereign nations have connections to the area.

WY lawsuit seeks to reverse trespassing ruling on public lands

Ranch owner: Corner crossing would erase billions in private property value; WyoFile - “Corner crossing is a civil trespass under Wyoming Law,” and an 1885 federal prohibition against blocking passage to public land does not override the state’s statute, claimed Elk Mountain Ranch owner Fred Eshelman, whose attorneys asked the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Wyoming’s Chief U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl’s finding that corner crossing does not constitute trespass. The filing could be the last before the federal appellate court hears oral arguments. At stake are billions of dollars in private property value that could be lost if Skavdahl’s ruling stands. Three hunters from Missouri in 2020 and four in 2021 corner crossed to reach and hunt on thousands of acres of wildlife-rich public land on Elk Mountain enmeshed within Eshelman’s Carbon County ranch. Simply passing through the airspace above a corner of Eshelman’s 22,042-acre property was trespassing, the North Carolina pharma magnate contended in the civil suit he filed and lost.

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Cheatgrass Control with Herbicides to Improve Seeding Success: The Development Years

By Charlie D. Clements, James A. Young and Dan Harmon

Weed control has been a concern of farmers since agriculture began. The use of herbicides to control weeds only came into wide use in the first half of the twentieth century. The first half of the twentieth century produced new herbicides and new methods of administering them. Scientists tested a variety of compounds and formulations to test on the control of various plants and plant types, and some of this testing was quite extreme. Dr. Alden Crafts, noted weed scientist and instructor at the University of California at Davis, told his introductory weed control class in 1955 that the only discomfort he ever suffered while applying herbicides occurred when he was experimenting with sulfuric acid application for weed control in onion fields. The real big breakthrough in herbicide development occurred in the 1930s when the phenoxy compound that regulates plant growth was discovered. This discovery resulted in the development of the very popular 2,4D (2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid), which initiated a revolution in chemical weed control. Before World War II, farmers spent an estimated $1.5 - $2.5 million annually on herbicides, within two decades following the war herbicides constituted a $250 million industry in the United States. As early as 1944, 2,4-D was

reported to effectively kill bindweed within 10 days of application, and the news of this success spread rapidly. The characteristic that made 2,4-D unique as an herbicide was its’ physiological selectivity; it acted only on broadleaf plants. Therefore, it could be applied on cereal grain crops (grasses) without harming them, yet selectively killing the competing broadleaf weeds. Similarly, it could be applied to excessively dense stands of big sagebrush to release the remnant stands of perennial grasses. Early researchers, however, faced the challenges of using herbicides to kill cheatgrass, while not injuring the perennial grasses needed to suppress cheatgrass. Pioneer researcher, Richard Eckert, range scientist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Great Basin Rangelands Research Unit was tasked with the application of numerous herbicides to control cheatgrass while at the same time increasing perennial grasses.

From 1950 to 1960, numerous new chemical compounds were discovered and released for testing to improve weed control practices. Herbicides enter the plants either through aerial portions, primarily leaves, or through the roots. Therefore, these herbicides are classified as foliar or soil active. At

that time, 2, 4-D would be a good example of a foliar herbicide while atrazine would be a good example of a soil active herbicide. Early in the development of an herbicide to control cheatgrass, researchers reported that the soil active herbicide, siduron, was effectively killing cheatgrass seedlings, while not harming perennial wheatgrass seedlings in greenhouse experiments. When Richard Eckert applied siduron in field experiments, both cheatgrass and perennial wheatgrass seedlings experienced high mortality. The reason behind this was that the greenhouse studies had left the soils moist, while that was not the case in the field study sites of the arid Great Basin. Raymond Evans, Research Leader for the USDA-ARS Great Basin Rangelands Research Unit at the time, was a pioneer researcher in seed and seedbed ecology. Evans conducted greenhouse experiments followed up by field experiments that simply pointed out that near total control of cheatgrass was necessary for the survivability of perennial grass seedlings. Lacking the selective herbicide that would control cheatgrass and allow perennial wheatgrass seedlings to establish, Evans and Eckert started planning for a strategy to control cheatgrass and establish perennial grasses. Soil active herbicides that would kill cheatgrass left behind an active residue in the soil that would also kill the perennial grass seedlings. So, they started testing the application of soil active herbicides on treated areas, allowing the herbicide treated areas to remain bare for a season after the herbicide application, therefore allowing the toxic residues to leach away or be broken down by sunlight and/or microbial degradation, otherwise known as fallowing. The key to fallowing a site is keeping the land free of all vegetation so that the soil stores moisture and accumulates nitrates (Fig. 1).

From 1958 through 1966, Evans and Eckert conducted research trials using eighteen different soil active herbicides at seven separate locations in Nevada and northeastern California. The evaluated the herbicides for 1) control of cheatgrass, 2) control of associated weeds, and 3) influence of herbicide residues on perennial grass seedlings. Although it is obvious that controlling cheatgrass and not harming perennial grass seedlings are the main goals, the inability of herbicides to effectively control associated weeds in these application trials is often overlooked. Even today, soil active herbicides that are not effective in controlling associated weeds such as Russian thistle and tansy mustard experience difficulties in establishing perennial grasses. Timing is the critical issue in this evaluation because if there is not enough

Figure 1. A perfect example of the use of a soil active herbicide to control cheatgrass and store moisture and nitrate in the soil for the establishment of seeded perennial grasses.

herbicide residue or the herbicide does not have the spectrum of activity to control these associated weedy species, they will grow luxuriantly during the fallow year and no moisture or nitrate will be stored in the soil that would benefit perennial grass seedlings.

One of the soil active herbicides Evans and Eckert identified as a good candidate was atrazine. They summarized their findings as “activity of atrazine was long enough for consistent season long control of downy brome (cheatgrass) under conditions that existed on all years of the study. Atrazine also controlled a wide spectrum of weeds found in these experiments.” The one example was Russian thistle that grew on one of their plots following exceptional summer precipitation (Fig. 2). Atrazine was applied in the fall of the year so that winter moisture would move it into the surface of the soil where cheatgrass seed banks were located. The basic sequence of events for the atrazine fallow was to apply 1 pound per acre of active ingredient of atrazine in mid to late fall, fallow the site through the next year, resulting in bare soil and increases in moisture and nitrate in the soil, and then seed the site to perennial grasses the fall after the fallow year (10-12 months after application).

The next year was the seedling year for the seeded species, which was not grazed until after seed ripe to allow for initial establishment (Fig. 3). Seeded perennial grass densities were very impressive, but Evans and Eckert did see signs of areas of mortality due to continued residue activity. In response, further research yielded that by reducing the atrazine rate from 1 pound per acre down to 0.50 pound per acre, atrazine was still effective in controlling cheatgrass and also yielded higher seedling densities of seeded perennial grass species. This basic sequence and approach have laid the groundwork for our research of using various soil active pre-emergent herbicides to effectively control cheatgrass while at the same time conducting plant material testing on numerous perennial grasses shrubs and forbs in our efforts to restore and rehabilitate degraded Great Basin rangelands for more than three decades.

Atrazine’s relative insolubility contributed to the presence of residues of herbicide activity during the seedling year continued to be of concern. It was reported that crested wheatgrass seedling establishment was better if a semi-deep furrow drill was used for seeding. Added research reported that replicated experiments also yielded better grass establishment when seeded in furrows than on flat seedbeds. Measurements of soil moisture indicated that the microenvironment at the bottom of the furrow held more moisture than the surface. The superiority of furrow seeding was even more pronounced on atrazine fallows, and it was reported that that there was less evidence of herbicide injury to perennial grass seedlings growing in the furrows. It gradually became apparent that that the furrow action was moving the surface soils contaminated with atrazine away from the seeded row and the seed was being planted below the areas where the residues occurred. Laboratory experiments later demonstrated that the loss of the litter on atrazine fallows eliminated the safe site cheatgrass germinates so well in.

Evans and Eckert went from testing the herbicide fallow technique in small plots in the 1950s and 1960s to testing this technique on 1,000-acre demonstration plots in the 1970s. The herbicide was applied aerially, fallowed for 1-year and seeded with rangeland drills. In cooperation with the herbicide manufacturer, they evaluated the fate of herbicide residues. All requirements for registration of atrazine for herbicidal fallows on rangelands were met or exceeded. Within the natural constraints of the Great Basin environment for perennial grass seedling establishment, grasshopper infestations, droughts, trespass cattle and Mormon cricket outbreaks, the atrazine fallow was an unqualified success for seeding for big sagebrush/bunchgrass communities converted to cheatgrass dominance. The success of the atrazine fallow was embellished for special applications where small amounts of broadleaf herbicides, such as picloram, which had both foliar and root uptake by some plants, provided a means of controlling Scotch thistle and other broadleaf weeds in seedbeds at the same time annual grasses were being suppressed.

Figure 2. Soil active herbicides that lack the spectrum of broadleaf weed control following cheatgrass control can expect limited success in establishing seedlings of seeded perennial grass species, as the broadleaf weed densities reduce available soil moisture and nitrogen needed for seedling survivability.

...continued from previous page

This basic herbicidal fallow could also be used to aid in the establishments of transplants of valuable native shrubs like antelope bitterbrush. This progressed to weed control/revegetation systems for big sagebrush rangelands that resulted in revegetation with perennial grass and native shrub mixtures.

Richard Eckert also experimented with the application of atrazine over existing crested wheatgrass seedings in an effort to further control cheatgrass and release limited resources to the existing perennial grasses. Eckert reported that the application of atrazine over existing crested wheatgrass plants did not harm the existing bunchgrass, and that the added soil moisture and nutrients released during the fallow year increased crested wheatgrass seed production and improved seedling establishment the fallowing spring after the herbicide residue activity had subsided.

Although there was real progress being made at solving rangeland weed issues with the use of herbicides, environmentalism was born in the wake of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring which aroused a general public outcry about the potential dangers of widespread use of pesticides in agriculture. It made no difference that most of the environmental disasters that were described involved pesticides and not herbicides. Secondly, the passage national environmental laws brought democracy to natural resource management, especially on public lands. Prior to the passage of these laws, management strategies were commodity driven, with the ranching, timber, or mining interest providing the majority of the input. Creating more forage for livestock on Great Basin rangelands was no longer a primary goal. Public land management agencies did not drop the use of herbicides because they were afraid of the environmental consequences, they dropped them because they were afraid of

the comments from the highly vocal general public. Congress stopped appropriating funds for the improvement of publicly owned rangelands to avoid criticism from environmental groups. The private ranching sector should have welcomed the new technology as a means of converting their own rangelands from cheatgrass dominated to perennial grass dominated rangelands to provide dependable forage as well as reduce wildfire risks associated with cheatgrass. Public land management agencies responded to the new national environmental review regulations, not with compliance, but by trying to avoid them. Coupled with reduced funding for range improvement practices, this policy replaced range improvement practices with grazing management. It took a good two decades to reinvigorate the need for herbicidal weed control research to add to the toolbox of range improvement practices needed to combat cheatgrass infested rangelands.

Figure 3. The effective control of cheatgrass control is paramount in perennial grass seedling establishment on arid Great Basin rangelands. Soil active herbicides play an essential role in successful restoration/rehabilitation efforts.

Cattlewomen’s Corner of the Corral

Moving Forward in Beef Education & Promotion

By Keri Pommerening, NVCW President

Nevada Cattlewomen have been busy on several projects to promote the beef industry. We are currently designing a website that will make it easier for members and interested followers to stay up to date on our activities.

A couple of our executive board members have been trained through NDA on facilitating BQA (Beef Quality Assurance) workshops. We are organizing a possible BQA workshop to be held in the summer.

We are also interested in offering an AI training in conjunction with the BQA workshop, however we still need to do some planning on the logistics.

If you know of anyone interested in attending BQA for certification or re-certification, please let us know. Also, if anyone might be interested in an AI training, the more interest, the more incentive we can gather to make it happen.

Beef Ambassador applications will be out on Feb. 15 and will be due on April 1. Please help us spread the word to our 18–24-yearold beef enthusiasts so we can select a team of ambassadors to help us promote the beef industry.

Our first Beef & Wine Pairing will be held at the Park Ranch in Minden in April or May (an actual date is still to be determined). What is a Beef & Wine Pairing? The intent is for the attendee to learn about a few different cuts of meat, how to best prepare those cuts, do a taste test and sample the appropriate wine that pairs best with each cut. A beef producer will be present to answer questions and sell the same cuts of beef. Bottles of the sampled wines will also be for sale. A recipe card for each sampling will be given out with the beef cuts. The attendee will leave prepared to cook the meal that night. Bringing producers and consumers together

to enjoy the tasty benefits of beef in a fun and interactive workshop, beef and wine, what else do you need? Stay tuned for the Park Ranch Beef & Wine Pairing. We also plan to host pairings in Elko in the summer and Southern Nevada in the late fall or winter.

As I mentioned in my last article, I will share a monthly highlight on one of our members so you can get to know some of the hard-working crew behind the scenes of Nevada Cattlewomen. This month’s spotlight is on Rosealee Rieman, our vice president. See below to read what Rosealee had to share. Thank you, Rosealee, for your commitment to Nevada Cattlewomen and the beef industry.

Until next month, whether you are feeding cows, calving, or enjoying the sunshine, stay safe and warm.

I am a fifth generation cattle rancher from Gardnerville, Nevada. I am also in my third year of teaching agriculture at our local high school. My love for cattle, beef promotion, and agriculture started at a young age. I attended my first Cattlewomen’s meeting at three months old. I grew up working side by side with my dad, Grandpa, and Uncle, learning every possible skill, I could and enjoying every second of it. I was always the first one to beg the vet to let me try preg checking or peering over his shoulder as he fixed a prolapse. I love being able to share my passion for agriculture and the cattle industry while helping others understand the beauty and importance of our industry.

COMMITTED TO SERVING YOUR NEEDS.

The change in agriculture today is just a glimpse of what lies ahead. It’s why, more than ever, we are committed to being the partner you can trust, who understands your needs and delivers value to help you achieve your goals.

Wherever agriculture goes, we’ll be there, alongside you, as you lead the way.

agupdate.com/tristateneighbor/

The window of opportunity for passing a farm bill this year is very small and closing fast.

Talking to people with boots on the ground in American agriculture, optimism that the legislation gets written is hard to find.

Asked if she had hope that it might get done this year, South Dakota Corn Executive Director DaNita Murray responded a simple “no.”

“I don’t have a ton of hope, but that said, there is still a possibility of getting it done if there is a breakthrough in funding challenges,” she said.

It’s been hard to get either side in Washington, D.C., to agree on getting either new money into the current bill or moving money around to help fund the bill.

Stu Swanson is an Iowa farmer and first vice president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association. He made a recent trip to Washington, D.C., for leadership training and took the opportunity to visit with elected officials about U.S. agriculture concerns, including the farm bill.

“I don’t have much concrete information to give you,” he said on the phone from his pickup. “Getting a lot of mixed messages. There is some discussion of maybe getting something moving in March. That’s a window currently open.”

The other less-attractive option, he said, is waiting to do something until the presidential campaign and elections are over during the lame-duck session of Congress.

“Nothing is floating around as far as trial legislation and confusion on how fast things might move,” he said.

Buck Wehrbein is a Nebraska cattle producer and vice president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He’s also less than optimistic about getting a new bill this year but did say it could be a last-minute accomplishment.

“Now, please understand, I don’t know any more than a local filling station attendant,” he said with a laugh. “With all of the smart people I talk to, I would say no, I don’t think there’s much chance.”

The 2018 farm bill was extending for a year past its expiration date, make its program effective through Sept. 30. Wehrbein said if a new bill gets done, it will probably be at the last minute.

“It’s been decades since we passed a farm bill on time,” he said. “This turns out to be no different. All of the stuff going on in D.C. right now doesn’t help this much either.”

Farm bill’s future hinges on action this spring

Ag organization leaders losing optimism for quick renewal

by Chad Smith for The Tristate Neighbor

Swanson take a little comfort that there seems to be some consensus on corn grower concerns, including protecting crop insurance and having a strong safety net. Adjusting the reference prices looks like it’s going to take some back-and-forth to get accomplished, though.

“Some members of Congress are pushing for it and some against it,” Swanson said.

“As far as the safety net goes, the design and structure of ARC and PLC are probably agreeable to everyone, it’s just a matter of whether there are any adjustments to make,” he added.

Murray said House Ag Chair G.T. Thompson of Pennsylvania has talked about marking up a farm bill in the first quarter of this year, which she assumes means more toward the end of March. Government funding issues have thrown a monkey wrench into many of those plans.

“His markup now can’t likely occur until after the next appropriations deadline,” Murray said. “The two sides haven’t agreed on how to get new money into this bill for Title 1, including the farm safety net. I’m not optimistic we’re going to see a magical breakthrough, but that would be wonderful if it happens.”

She thinks the “truth will be told in April,” at the latest. If there isn’t a meaningful markup by April, which means a bipartisan markup, “it’s probably over for the year,” Murray said.

She doesn’t want to see a “messaging markup” for the benefit of one party or the other.

A lot goes into writing a farm bill, and each major agricultural organization in America has certain things they would like to see included in the legislation. Wehrbein, an eastern Nebraska-based cattle producer, says NCBA has been fortunate to get a lot of things they wanted into past farm bills.

“One thing I want more people to be aware of is animal rights activism in the farm bill process,” Wehrbein said. “For the first time in my recollection, activists are trying to infiltrate this process. That’s an important thing that NCBA and our state affiliates are watching. “They can do a lot of mischief if they get in and start acting like they’re producers,” he added. “That’s why we have our antenna up especially high during the farm bill process.”

Politics always plays a role in the farm bill process. Murray said past farm bills mostly stayed out of partisanship, but those days are likely over because of the farm bill’s nutrition title.

“It’s no secret that (Senate Ag Committee Chair)

Debbie Stabenow won’t curtail future spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program through the Thrifty Food Plan,” she said. “Republicans also had some heartburn over Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, in their mind, arbitrarily increasing spending on the Thrifty Food Plan.”

With that said, Murray said the issues are broader than just politics. Funding is a big issue. Senate Ag Committee Ranking Member John Boozman wants a statutory increase in reference price and not just an increase in the price escalator for PLC support levels.

“There are a lot of regional concerns in the farm bill outside of simple politics,” Murray said.

Swanson recently spent time talking to officials in D.C. about the farm bill process. He said Stabenow’s pending retirement may play a part in what happens this year.

“She wants to cement her legacy before she steps down,” Swanson said. “Republicans may try to do a slow play with her to try and string the process out after the elections in case they can flip the Senate from Democrat to Republican control. Then, they get to write a farm bill.

It’s not something he likes to see.

“The last thing farmers want and need is another extension of the farm bill followed by another, and another, and then another,” Swanson said.

Farmers need the assurance of a five-year farm bill to make the most effective plans for their businesses, he added.

“Something like crop insurance helps a lot when you sit down to talk about your plans with the local ag banker,” Swanson said.

Murray said what’s going to happen is still up in the air, no matter who you talk to about the farm bill. If there’s not a bipartisan proposal in at least one Congressional chamber by April, she thinks it’s essentially over for the rest of the year.

“We will be staring down the barrel of another extension, but I’d be really happy to be wrong.”

BLM analysis aims to optimize solar energy development throughout the West

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced an updated roadmap for solar energy development across the West, designed to expand solar energy production in more Western states and make renewable energy siting and permitting on America’s public lands more efficient. The Bureau of Land Management also announced the next steps on several renewable projects in Arizona, California and Nevada, representing more than 1,700 megawatts of potential solar generation and 1,300 megawatts of potential battery storage capacity.

Together, these milestones represent continued momentum from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda – a key pillar of Bidenomics –which is working to accelerate the clean energy and transmission buildout to lower consumers’ energy costs, prevent power outages in the face of extreme weather, create good-paying union jobs, tackle the climate crisis, advance the priorities of clean air and environmental justice for all, and achieve the President’s goal of a 100 percent clean electricity grid by 2035. During the Biden-Harris administration, the BLM has approved 47 clean energy projects and permitted 11,236 megawatts of wind, solar and geothermal energy on public lands –enough to power more than 3.5 million homes.

“The Interior Department’s work to responsibly and quickly develop renewable energy projects is crucial to achieving the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 – and this updated solar roadmap will help us get there in more states and on more lands across the West,” said Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis. “Through historic investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Interior Department is helping build modern, resilient climate infrastructure that protects our communities from the worsening impacts of climate change.”

“Our public lands are playing a critical role in the clean energy transition – and the progress the Bureau of Land Management is announcing today on several clean energy projects across the West represents our continued momentum in achieving those goals,” said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “Investing in clean and reliable renewable energy represents the BLM’s commitment to building a

clean energy economy, tackling the climate crisis, promoting American energy security, and creating jobs in communities across the country.”

Updated Roadmap for Solar Energy Development on Public Lands

The Department today published a draft analysis of the Utility-Scale Solar Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (known as the updated Western Solar Plan), which would streamline the BLM’s framework for siting solar energy projects in order to support current and future national clean energy goals, long-term energy security, climate resilience, and improved conservation outcomes.

The proposal is an update of BLM’s 2012 Western Solar Plan, which identified areas in AZ, CA, CO, NV, NM and Utah with high solar potential and low resource conflicts in order to guide responsible solar development and provide certainty to developers. Following months of stakeholder engagements –including 15 public scoping meetings – the updated roadmap refines the analysis in the original six states and expands it to include Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.

In considering updates to the Western Solar Plan, the BLM worked closely with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory to examine forecasts for national clean energy needs and determined that approximately 700,000 acres of public lands would be needed to meet those goals. The BLM’s preferred alternative in the updated Western Solar Plan would provide approximately 22 million acres of land open for solar application, giving maximum flexibility to reach the nation’s clean energy goals.

By directing development to areas that have fewer sensitive resources, less conflict with other uses of public lands, and close proximity to transmission lines, the BLM can permit clean energy more efficiently while maintaining robust public and Tribal engagement, which are central features of all BLM reviews of individual projects.

BLM utilized $4.3 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to invest in these important updates to the Western Solar Plan. This investment is helping

improve the solar development application process by providing developers with better predictability, while also maintaining sufficient flexibility to address site-specific resource considerations. This planning work also seeks to provide updates that respond to changes, like advances in technology, that have occurred since the BLM’s last programmatic solar development planning effort over a decade ago.

The analysis announced today evaluates six alternatives, each proposing to make different amounts of public land available to solar development applications under different criteria such as proximity to transmission infrastructure, designated critical habitat, or other important ecological and cultural resources. Public input will inform a Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision. The public can submit written comments through April 18, 2024. More details are available on BLM’s Solar Program website.

Continued Progress on Onshore Renewable Energy Development

The BLM today also announced next steps on several onshore renewable projects throughout the West, representing significant progress on projects that will help achieve the President’s goal of a 100 percent clean electricity grid by 2035.

In Nevada, the BLM is advancing four proposed solar projects:

• The BLM released a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Libra Solar Project in Mineral and Lyon counties, which, if approved, will generate and store up to 700 megawatts of photovoltaic solar energy that would power approximately 212,233 homes.

• The BLM released a draft environmental impact statement for the Rough Hat Clark County Solar Project, which, if approved, will add 400 megawatts of clean solar photovoltaic power to the grid, enough to power approximately 121,276 homes. The proposed project would also include a 700-megawatt battery energy storage system.

• The BLM announced a Notice of Intent for the Dodge Flat II Solar project in Nevada, which, if approved, will generate up to 200 megawatts

of photovoltaic solar energy on approximately 700 acres of public lands in Washoe county. This would be enough to power approximately 60,638 homes.

• The BLM released the draft environmental assessment for the Dry Lake East Energy Center Solar Project, which would build a 200 MW photovoltaic solar facility with 200 MW of battery energy storage and an additional 400 MW battery energy storage facility.

In California, the BLM will release in the coming days a Notice to Proceed for the Camino Solar Project in Kern County, allowing construction to begin on a 44-megawatt photovoltaic solar facility on 233 acres of public land that will power approximately 13,340 homes.

In Arizona, the BLM today announced that construction of the White Wing Ranch Solar Project has been completed. White Wing Ranch is a 179-megawatt solar photovoltaic project located on private lands in Yuma County with a generation interconnection (gen-tie) line across approximately 3.5 miles of BLM administered land. This project has the potential to power 54,271 homes.

The BLM also announced that construction on the Harquahala Valley (HV) Sunrise gen-tie line in Arizona will begin in February. It will connect the HV Sun solar project, which is a 150-megawatt solar photovoltaic project located on 1,000 acres of private lands in Maricopa County, with a gen-tie transmission line across approximately 1.1 miles of BLM administered land. This project will power approximately 45,479 homes.

The BLM is currently processing 67 utility-scale onshore clean energy projects proposed on public lands in the western United States. This includes solar, wind, and geothermal projects, as well as gen-tie lines that are vital to clean energy projects proposed on non-federal land. These projects have the combined potential to add more than 37 gigawatts of renewable energy to the western electric grid. The BLM is also undertaking the preliminary review of over 195 applications for solar and wind development, as well as 97 applications for solar and wind energy site area testing.

Contact: blm_press@blm.gov

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Summary: H.R.10587 — 95th Congress (1977-1978) | Conference report filed in House (10/06/1978) (Conference report filed in House, H. Rept. 95-1737)

www.congress.gov/bill/95th-congress/house-bill/10587

HR 10587 Public Rangelands Improvement Act

Requires the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to maintain a continuing inventory of rangeland conditions and trends in 16 contiguous western States.

Directs the Secretary of the Interior to manage the public rangelands in accordance with the rangeland management objectives established through the land use planning process prescribed in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. Continues the policy of protecting wild free-roaming horses and burros, while at the same time facilitating the removal and disposal of excess animals which pose a threat to themselves and their habitat and to other rangeland values.

Requires the Secretary to manage the public rangelands in accordance with the Taylor Grazing Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, and other applicable law consistent with this Act.

Provides for the funding of such improvements. Requires an initial environmental assessment record on each range improvement project and an environmental impact statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act on certain projects prior to the expenditure of funds.

Sets forth the formula to be used by the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior during the grazing years 1979-1985 in setting fees for domestic livestock grazing on public lands. Requires the allotment of at least $10,000,000 for yearly grazing fees to the range betterment fund.

Directs the Secretary of the Interior to issue ten year grazing leases or permits except when he has determined, on a case-by-case basis, that the establishment of a shorter term is in the interest of sound land management policy.

Permits the Secretary concerned, upon completion of a satisfactory court-ordered environmental impact statement and consultation with interested parties, to develop an allotment management plan, as defined by this Act. Requires that the plan be tailored to the specific range conditions of the area covered and that such plan be reviewed periodically for its effectiveness and continued feasibility.

Limits the authority for entering into cooperative agreements and making payments under this Act to the extent or in such amounts as provided in advance appropriation Acts.

Authorizes the establishment of grazing district advisory boards for national forest lands in 16 contiguous western states.

Exempts all National Grasslands from the provisions of this Act.

Authorizes the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture to develop an experimental program to use grazing fees and other incentives to reward grazing permittees and lessees for good range stewardship. Requires the Secretaries to report to Congress on the results of such program no later than December 31, 1985, and on their recommendation to implement a grazing fee schedule for the 1986 and subsequent grazing years.

Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act to require the Secretary of the Interior to establish district advisory councils to advise the Secretary on rangeland management.

Allows the removal, destruction, or other options (such as sterilization), in a humane manner, of excess wild horses and burrows to restore the ecological balance to an area in which rangeland inventories indicate an overpopulation of such animals. Provides for the adoption and donation of such animals to individuals who have provided humane conditions and care for them for a period of one year. Limits to four the number of such animals which may be adopted per year by any individual unless otherwise determined by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to contract for a research study of such animals with individuals independent of Federal and State Government as may be recommended by the National Academy of Sciences. Requires that such study be submitted to the Congress on or before January 1, 1983.

Defines “excess animals” for purposes of existing statutory law.

Nevada Supreme Court Issues Major Water Ruling

The court’s unanimous decision gives Nevada’s top water regulator clear authority to manage groundwater depletion in the state

By Daniel Rothberg | Republished from the Sierra Nevada Ally

The headwaters of the Muddy River, a tributary of the Colorado River, take their form with water invisible to us. They start with groundwater. The Muddy River, as it charts its course to Lake Mead, relies on groundwater-fed springs as its primary supply. And for the last two decades, those springs have faced the threat of groundwater overuse.

Like so many rivers in the dry Southwest, the Muddy River is stretched thin. For more than a century, it has been divided up with some water rights “vested” (meaning they predate Nevada’s statutory scheme for regulating water use). Las Vegas currently has rights to a portion of the river, using it to boost its Colorado River supply. The springs feeding the Muddy River support an ecosystem that includes the rare Moapa Dace, an endemic species of fish that, despite many threats to its habitat over the years, persists today.

The river was allocated first. Later, the groundwater feeding it was allocated separately. And in a story that repeats itself over and over across the West, the state of Nevada issued more rights to use groundwater than there was water to go around—because if too much groundwater is pumped, it could deplete the springs feeding the Muddy, with cascading effects on people and wildlife that rely on water being there.

But it was not at all clear how Nevada water law would handle this kind of issue. For years, groundwater and surface water were managed as separate sources, despite the fact that the science showed they were connected. In addition, the state made choices about water rights based on boundaries of aquifers that were drawn in the 1960s. The maps, however, often did a subpar job of showing how water flowed beneath the surface, as the science and understanding of groundwater has evolved since then.

In 2018, this all came to a head when Coyote Springs (which planned to move forward with a master-planned

community outside Las Vegas) looked to pump more water from the area. The state and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which controls water rights on the Muddy River, raised concerns. It led to years of proceedings and a ruling from the state, Order 1309, that recognized the changing science of how water flowed in the area, known was the Lower White River Flow System, and how much was there.

The order did not take action but it offered a baseline:

• It recognized the connection between the effects of groundwater pumping on the flows of the Muddy River, and that groundwater and the river are connected.

• It found the decades-old basin boundaries that the state used to allocate water rights in the area did not capture the full extent of the Lower White River Flow System. It found that groundwater moved in what some call a “superbasin.”

• It determined that the available amount of water to pump was about 8,000 acre-feet, far lower than the ~30,000 permitted rights the state had issued in the past.

Taken together, the order was poised to change the status quo for how water might be managed in an area (and other areas) where many varied interests had water rights: the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Coyote Springs, NV Energy, Republic Services, Lincoln County Water District, the Apex Holding Company, the Moapa Valley Water District, the city of North Las Vegas and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Multiple parties appealed the ruling (or at least certain parts of it), and a district court judge ruled in 2022 that the state engineer, Nevada’s top water regulator, exceeded his authority. On January 25, in a unanimous order that could

have far-reaching implications for how Nevada’s water is managed, the Nevada Supreme Court concluded the opposite.

The Supreme Court order affirms broad authority for the state over groundwater.

The court found that the state “has authority to conjunctively manage surface waters and groundwater and to jointly administer multiple basins and thus was empowered to issue Order 1309.” The justices are effectively saying that state regulators have the ability to view surface water and groundwater as a single source and can redraw the map to reflect how groundwater actually flows under the surface. That’s a huge deal.

The justices pointed to multiple parts of the state’s statutes, emphasizing at times the doctrine of prior appropriation, a guiding concept of Western water law. The doctrine states that those who received water first in time are first to receive water in times of a shortage. The justices said statutes give the state authority to prevent groundwater pumping from conflicting with “vested” river rights, such as those along the Muddy. And if the science shows that groundwater and surface water act as one source, the state should be able to act upon the data, regardless of how past maps were drawn.

“If the best available science indicates that groundwater and surface water in the [Lower White River Flow System] are interrelated and that appropriations from one reduces the flow of the other, then the State Engineer should manage these rights together based on a shared source of supply,” Justice Patricia Lee wrote in the ruling.

Why this matters: It might sound technical and boring, but this decision could have major ramifications for how water is managed in the Great Basin in the 21st Century.

For one, it gives Nevada’s top water regulator the clear authority and legal certainty in managing the depletion of groundwater in Nevada. It also

recognizes that rights are conditioned, and the state is able to adjust its decisions as the science evolves — if the use of water is going to harm the water rights of others or the public interest.

From the Amargosa River outside of Las Vegas to the Humboldt River in the north, there are clear connections between groundwater pumping and its effect on surface water flows. This decision supports the state engineer’s authority to do something about it. All eyes are on the Humboldt River, where irrigators in Lovelock have long raised concerns about groundwater pumping for agriculture and mining upstream.

It’s noteworthy, too, as it resolves, at least for now, an ongoing tension that played out in the legislature last year. Lawmakers attempted to clarify the state’s ability to follow the best-available science and recognize hydrologic connections. The effort did not make it very far, amid opposition from business groups and developers. In its ruling, the Supreme Court said that the existing law already gave the state that ability.

The order also includes notable language around the role of the state in balancing wildlife protections and the “public interest.” In addition to emphasizing “vested” rights and prior appropriation, the court also emphasized the role of state regulators in determining whether water applications are “detrimental to the public interest.”

There remain many major unanswered questions. The ruling outlines what the state can do but it does not contemplate how the state should manage groundwater and surface water together What does conjunctive management actually look like?

And it’s important to note that the lawsuit is not over. The parties in the case must go back to the district court. Now that the question of the state’s authority is cleared up, parties must argue that the state relied on substantial evidence in making its decision.

With some of Wyoming’s premier antelope and mule deer herds still reeling from the devastating winter of 2022-2023, wild mustangs are blocking their road to recovery, a retired wildlife biologist said.

Among other things, when water is scarce, the horses bully deer and antelope out of the way and hog it, David Paullin of Sheridan told Cowboy State Daily.

“The horses are physically large, they’re a big animal. They aren’t intimidated by antelope,” said Paullin, who had a 36-year career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “They’re five times their size, they’ll push them around. If there’s a limited water supply, to hell with the antelope, and to hell with the deer. They (the horses) are going to get theirs first. They’re going to stand around a water hole like a football team, like a defensive line.”

There’s ongoing controversy over wild mustangs and the part they play on Wyoming’s vast rangelands.

Ranches claim the horses gobble too much livestock forage.

And like Paullin, some hunters and deer/antelope conservationists argue that the mustangs out-compete game animals for food, water and other resources.

But mustang advocates claim that the horses are truly wild animals that are widely admired and bring considerable tourist revenue to Wyoming. And so, like any wildlife species, they should be protected and conserved.

Advocates also argue that the horses are scapegoated for rangeland problems and competition with wildlife that’s actually caused by cattle.

Wild Mustangs Bully Wyoming Deer And Antelope Still Reeling From Winterkill

Most recently, there was outcry over the death of “Kat Ballou,” a well-known mustang mare from the McCullough Peaks herd, in a Bureau of Land Management corral.

Horse advocates claim the BLM is being too heavy-handed in its management of that herd, as well as other herds across Wyoming.

In accordance with the Wild FreeRoaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, the BLM is in charge of managing mustang herds in Wyoming and other states.

The agency frequently finds itself caught between competing views and interest groups on different sides of controversy over mustangs.

At the core of the matter is a heated debate over whether the horses actually qualify as wildlife, or if they’re an invasive feral species.

Paullin takes the view that the horses are feral, and thinks the BLM should be aggressive in rounding more of them up and getting them off the range.

Paullin is a wildlife biologist, and during his tenure with the USFWS, he worked in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Nevada and California.

He started out as a temporary summer employee and worked his way up to wildlife refuge supervisor, overseeing numerous refuges in Oregon and California.

Since his retirement, he’s had more time for outdoors adventures, and likes to archery hunt antelope.

During the 2022 antelope archery season, he was hunting east of Riverton. One of his favorite tactics is to set up a blind near a watering hole, hoping that thirsty buck will come into bow range.

But it was a drought year, and he found virtually no watering holes and saw few antelope, but lots of horses.

He recalled spotting a windmill with a water trough underneath in the distance with some horses around it. That gave him hope, but when he got there and spooked the mustangs away, he discovered that the water trough had been drained dry.

That, and similar experiences, caused him to question the effects that mustangs have on deer and antelope.

Then came the sledgehammer winter of 2022-2033, during which antelope and deer perished by the tens of thousands in some parts of Wyoming and the surrounding region.

Paullin recalls seeing images of WY Department of Transportation crews hauling off truckloads of carcasses of big game animals that had frozen or starved to death along roadways.

“It was gut-wrenching seeing those photos of those WYDOT trucks full of carcasses,” he said.

Since then, he’s heard some in the hunting and outfitting world say that it’s time to accept the fact that it could take “years, or even decades” for the hardest-hit herds to recover.

Some decided to skip out on hunting altogether, or at least buy hunting tags to keep money flowing into the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, but not go out on those hunts.

But, as Paullin sees it, too few are addressing the elephant — or rather, the horse — in the room. An overabundance of what he considers to be a feral species, using up the resources that deer and antelope herds desperately need to recover.

Giving up hunting tags “is noble, but there’s something else we can do,” he said. “We can put some heat on the BLM to round up more of the horses.”

The BLM already does horse roundups and puts the animals up for adoption — as is now happening with the McCullough Peaks herd.

But Paullin thinks more horses need to be taken off the range, particularly in places where the deer and antelope winterkill was the worst.

Paullin said that as he understands it from conversations with wildlife managers, the mustangs didn’t suffer nearly the devastating winterkill that game animals did.

However, horse advocates claim the winterkill hit mustangs herds hard too.

Paullin has written letters to Wyoming Republican U.S. Sen. John Barrasso and others, asking for more mustangs to be rounded up and removed.

He said he’s talked to ranchers who are likewise fed up with the horses, but feel as if they’ve “hit a wall” with officials.

“It would be really nice if we could get Senator Barrasso together with a bunch of the ranchers who are right there and see the issues with these horses every day,” Paullin said.

He added that he’s not “anti-horse,” but thinks they are just too overpopulated.

“The groceries that they’re taking off the landscape, that’s groceries that they’re taking away from deer, from antelope, sage grouse, bunny rabbits and even tweety birds,” Paullin said.

Author Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.

NEWS RELEASE

Last week, the Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid package. Following months of negotiations on a legislative solution that would have provided aid to our allies abroad, while also fortifying our border, all border security provisions were abandoned in favor of a standalone foreign aid bill. This is where we run into the fallacy of mutual exclusivity. Why can’t we secure our border and provide aid to our allies abroad? Why can’t these objectives be pursued simultaneously?

I believe foreign aid is an investment in America’s security and standing on the world stage, and I also believe that the crisis at our southern border has reached a fever pitch, and we must take back control. In today’s world, these things are often viewed as conflicting priorities, but that’s just not true. In fact, these two objectives each serve distinct but complementary purposes in advancing national interests and global stability. Simply put, they can – and should – go hand in hand.

What is happening at our southern border is dangerous, inhumane, and untenable and deserves to be immediately addressed. Securing our border is crucial for safeguarding national sovereignty and protecting citizens. That means implementing a top-down approach, including border patrols, surveillance technologies, and physical barriers to deter illegal immigration, human trafficking, drug smuggling, and other national security threats. Simultaneously, providing aid to our allies strengthens their defense capabilities and capacity to deter mutual adversaries.

Unfortunately, we cannot responsibly guarantee security abroad if we continue to fail to guarantee security at home. The foundation of this issue lies within our own borders, and it must be addressed. Securing the border and supporting our allies are complementary components of a comprehensive national security strategy.

Falling short in either area ultimately leaves our nation less secure, both domestically and internationally.

The Israeli people are still reeling from the horrors of October 7th of last year when Hamas terrorists brutally tortured and murdered more than 1,400 people in Israel and took more than 240 people hostage. Since that horrible day, it seems a collective amnesia has taken hold and a double standard is hard at work: Hamas terrorists spent years planning the attacks of October 7th, and Hamas terrorists continue to hold captives, including Americans, while indiscriminately shelling Israel with rocket fire. Yet, Israel is being shamed to exercise self-restraint. This interpretation of the ongoing conflict is completely backwards. Members of Hamas call its October 7th crime against humanity “just the first time,” and claim there will be a second, third, and fourth. By their own admission, Hamas will not stop until Israel is annihilated. A ceasefire now would equal Israel ceasing to exist.

We cannot leave one of our greatest allies hanging in the wind, which is why I have repeatedly voted in favor of military assistance for Israel. Last week, the House voted on the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriation Act (H.R. 7217), which I proudly cosponsored. This legislation appropriates $17.6 billion to bolster Israel’s defense capabilities and ensure U.S. military readiness in the Middle East. This package provides:

$4 billion for Iron Dome and David Sling defense systems.

$1.2 billion for the Iron Beam defense system to counter short-range rockets and mortar threats.

$3.5 billion for the procurement of advanced weapons systems, defense articles, and defense services.

$1 billion to enhance production and development of artillery and critical munitions.

$4.4 billion to replenish defense articles and defense services provided to Israel.

$3.3 billion for current U.S. military operations in the region in response to the October 7th attack.

Earlier this month, I was proud to vote in favor of H.R. 7217. Unfortunately, a majority of my Democrat colleagues rejected this legislation, and the House was unable to pass aid for our troops and allies in Israel. Last November, when the House passed a separate security supplemental that included financial offsets, Democrats asserted they wanted a clean bill. Well, that’s exactly what H.R. 7217 is. Although I’m disappointed, this setback only strengthens my resolve. My support for Israel and its right to defend itself remains steadfast, and I am hopeful the House will consider this critical legislation again soon.

We are lucky to live in a nation with abundant natural resources that can meet not just our energy needs but increase the energy security of our allies around the world. Unfortunately, President Biden has taken every opportunity to undermine domestic energy producers and appease foreign adversaries. Make no mistake, the Biden Administration’s energy policies put politics over people.

President Biden’s recent decision to kowtow to his radical base and implement a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export ban comes at the expense of American energy and national security. This will only succeed to stifle domestic energy production, embolden bad actors like Russia, China, and Iran and jeopardize U.S. national security. In effect, he chose to please climate activists at the expense of national security and the energy industry.

Around the globe, American LNG supports the energy security of our friends and allies. If they’re importing American energy, they don’t have to worry about some rogue dictator – we’re looking at you, Putin – cutting off the gas with a moment’s notice. In December 2023, 87% of American LNG exports went to the European Union, United Kingdom, or Asian markets. Our allies are desperately seeking to eliminate their dependence on Russian natural gas, and President Biden just handed Vladimir Putin a victory on a silver platter. In addition to countering the weaponization of energy across the globe, increasing American LNG exports could add as much as $73 billion to the U.S economy and upwards of 453,000 American jobs in the next two decades. This decision by President Biden isn’t a climate victory, it isn’t an economic victory, and it certainly isn’t a victory for our security.

Last week, I was proud to vote in favor of the Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2024 (H.R. 7176), which would immediately reverse President Biden’s ill-informed ban on American LNG exports. If the Biden Administration is serious about its climate-first agenda and not just climate wokeism, it would embrace the production and export of clean, affordable, and reliable American LNG, which has helped the U.S. reduce emissions more than any other nation. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to immediately act on this legislation so we can put people over politics and ensure American energy leadership and security.

It’s a hectic time here on Capitol Hill. Despite the typical overly politicized issues taking up most of the air in the room, my office has continued to multitask and is always working to advance priorities for Nevada. I look forward to providing a full rundown of all that work.

www.Amodei.House.gov

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