Volume 33 Number 28 • November 6, 2021
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The Weekly News Source for Wyoming’s Ranchers, Farmers and AgriBusiness Community • www.wylr.net
A Look Inside Cattle transportation considerations to reduce stress shared............................Page 5 NWSS President welcomes exhibitors to new and improved facilities...........................Page 6 Veterans honored in Postcard from the Past................Page 14 Extension program encourages girls to participate in hands-on learning........Page 19
Quick Bits WLSB Meeting
The Wyoming Livestock Board (WLSB) has scheduled a public meeting for Nov. 16 at 11 a.m. at the Wyoming Livestock Board Office. Topics include, but are not limited to: director’s update, legislative committee updates, animal health updates and chapter rules for livestock markets, brucellosis management and mitigation, trichomoniasis, brand commissioner updates and brand inspection.
FSA Elections
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin mailing ballots for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) county and urban county committee elections to all eligible agricultural producers and private landowners across the country. To be counted, producers and landowners must return ballots to their local FSA office or be postmarked by Dec. 6.
Senate committee hearing focuses on improving nutrition
Washington, D.C. – On Nov. 2, the U.S. Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics and Research hosted a hearing focusing on “The State of Nutrition in America 2021.” Among those in atten-
dance were U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mike Braun (R-IN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and five witnesses, including Dr. Angela OdomsYoung, Dr. Donald Warne, Dr. Patrick Stover, Dr. Angela Rachidi and Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian.
The panel of experts shared testimonies supporting agriculture’s involvement in offering solutions to the challenges of diet-related diseases, including type two diabetes, heart disease, stroke, certain types of cancer and chronic kidney disease.
Nutrition crisis Booker says the census among presenters is “America is facing a massive, broad-based nutrition crisis. Nearly one out of every three dollars in the federal budget now goes to Please see HEARING on page 13
Forecasting weather in the Rocky Mountain West WWPC fall meeting provides climate outlook
Cheyenne – The Wyoming Weed and Pest Council (WWPC) Annual Fall Conference was held in Cheyenne Nov. 1-4 to further the council’s mission of preserving and protecting Wyoming’s agricultural lands and open spaces from invasive species and pests. WWPC is comprised on 23 Weed and Pest Districts throughout the state of Wyoming, and works closely with the Wyoming Department of Agriculture and the University of Wyoming to utilize the most recent technology and research available to manage noxious weeds. The WWPC Annual Fall Conference hosted a variety of committee meetings, educational breakout sessions and updates from researchers and land managers alike. The meeting’s keynote speaker, Don Day, Jr., of DayWeather, presented on the challenges meteorologists have in forecasting weather and climate conditions in the Rocky Mountain West, which greatly affects land management decisions.
Weather and climate drivers Day shared the challenge of forecasting weather in the High Plains of the Rocky Mountain West is shaped by a few different drivers. “In forecasting what we can expect for this winter into 2022, we have to consider the fact we are in the second year of a La Niña, the stratosphere is warming and there is a different sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Pacific,” he explained. “There is an uptick in solar activity, and there is high variability in this cycle. This is extremely noticeable because of the moisture the West Coast is experiencing. Patterns are identifiable and predictable.” The Pacific Ocean, according to Day, is the major driver and key element to understanding –and forecasting – weather patterns. “The Pacific Ocean is the largest object on the face of this earth,” Day said. “Our rain and snow come Please see WEATHER on page 9
Scholarship
The Black Hills Angus Association (BHAA) will be awarding a $1,500 renewable scholarship for the 202223 school year. The application deadline is Jan. 15, 2022. Students must be a graduating high school senior or currently attending an eligible post-secondary institution, including technical institutes. In addition, students must be from South Dakota or a bordering state. For more information, contact the BHAA Scholarship Program at 605892-2875 or bar69angus@ gmail.com.
U.S. Drought
For the contiguous 48 states, the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) showed 47.80% of the area in moderate drought or worse, compared with 47.33% a week earlier. Drought now affects 79,813,972 people, compared with 75,103,565 a week earlier. For all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, the USDM showed 40.01% of the area in moderate drought or worse, compared with 39.61% a week earlier. Drought now affects 80,263,035 people, compared with 75,536,358 a week earlier.
Wyoming FFA Students earn honors at National FFA Convention The top competitors from the Wyoming FFA State Convention traveled to Indianapolis, Ind. to compete against the top teams from high schools around the nation at the National FFA Convention, held Oct. 27-30. Wyoming FFA Association Advisor Stacy Broda shared, “We are so proud of the individuals, teams and chapters who represented Wyoming in Indianapolis. Students competing at this high-caliber event have put in endless hours researching and studying their topics, and many competed virtually to qualify for the national contest.” Speaking events “Mastering public speaking allows for students to ecxel in their future careers, but also allows them to become our industry’s greatest voice,” says National FFA Organization’s Advocacy and Communications Manager Brian Leake. In the Creed Speaking Please see FFA on page 12
Roundup welcomes Pederson The Wyoming Livestock Roundup staff welcomes Candice Pederson, of Gering, Neb., to the team this week as the production coordinator. In this position, Pederson will be responsible for the design and layout of the paper, as well as serving in a key position creating advertisements. While growing up, Pederson was interested in journalism and reporting, and even served as a reporter for the student newspaper at Scottsbluff High School. Pederson Candice Pederson attended Western Nebraska Community College, where she studied print journalism and later furthered her education with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Neb. Previously, Pederson worked as a reporter and photographer at the Scottsbluff Star-Herald before she became the copy editor and page designer, as well as serving as the arts and entertainment editor and assistant weekend editor for The Daily Nonpareil, a newspaper based in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Eventually, Pederson moved into a lead copy editor and page designer position for a creative services company before joining the Roundup team. Please see PEDERSON on page 6
WyFB Federation responds to lawsuit The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) Grizzly Bear has been the subject of discussion and lawsuits for decades. In June 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem had sufficiently recovered and were returned to state management. In September 2018, a federal judge ruled to return the Yellowstone grizzly bear to the endangered species list contrary to the recommendation of 20 years of FWS research. “We knew back then there would continue to be legal challenges,” said Ken Hamilton, Wyoming Farm Bureau
Federation (WyFB) executive vice president. “We have been involved in the continued litigation brought to attack the grizzly bear recovery program.” “We are frustrated the groups who allegedly want grizzly bears recovered work so hard to overturn recovery plans once the species reach recovery goals,” Hamilton continued. “For ranchers, this looks like they are always trying to move the goalposts.” The most recent case is the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) versus Haaland and the State of Wyoming. WyFB, along with the Wyoming Stock
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Please see WYFB on page 11
