Volume 33 Number 52 • April 23, 2022
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The Weekly News Source for Wyoming’s Ranchers, Farmers and AgriBusiness Community • www.wylr.net
A Look Inside Rep. Liz Cheney supports tax bill provisions.................. Page 2 Lee Pitts recalls buying and selling bulls..................... Page 8 Dick Perue shares Big Horn mountain story.............. Page 10 Field editors report recent bull sale figures............ Pages 15-16
WGFD announces hunting regulation updates The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) announced April 18 new changes to laws and regulations impacting hunters, ranchers and the general public. The updates include changes to license alloca-
tions, sage grouse game bird farm certifications, hunting license application funds and more. “Big five” opportunities On March 9, Gov. Gordon signed bill HB0043, increasing the likelihood
for Wyoming residents to obtain a license to hunt the “big five” – Bighorn sheep, bison, moose, mountain goats and grizzly bears. The bill states it’s “an act relating to game and fish; modifying license allo-
cations for resident and nonresident hunters for grizzly bears, mountain goats, Bighorn sheep, wild bison and moose; imposing lifetime restrictions on Bighorn sheep, wild bison and Please see WGFD on page 7
Quick Bits
WYLR photo
Senate Hearing Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and John Boozman (R-AR), ranking member of the committee, announced a hearing will take place on April 26 at 10 a.m. EST to review S.4030, the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act of 2022 and S.3870, the Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act of 2022. A livestream can be viewed at agriculture.senate.gov.
Wheat Tours The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Crop Performance Testing program will sponsor several wheat variety trial field tours in eight locations across Nebraska June 9-23. For those who are unable to attend scheduled in-person events, the plots will be labeled up to a week in advance of the scheduled tour, and signs will remain until harvest. For more information, visit unl.edu and search wheat variety trial in the search bar.
Sublette County Predator Board addresses reporting and compensation
Rural Partners Network
Biden administration launches program to ensure resources reach rural communities U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and White House Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice announced April 20 the launch of the USDA-led Rural Partners Network (RPN) initiative to assist rural communities in developing economic growth. Rural communities can tend to feel forgotten when it comes to policymakers’ decisions in Washington. This initiative was created to alleviate some of this lack of communication and disregard for rural communities. The announcement is part of the Biden administration’s Building a Better America Rural Infrastruc-
ture Tour, which involves Biden administration officials traveling to rural communities to discuss Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments and ensuring rural American communities receive important federal resources. Implementing RPN A USDA press release states, “RPN is an all-ofgovernment program which will help rural communities access government resources and funding to create jobs, build infrastructure and support long-term economic stability.” According to the RPN website, “RPN puts federal Please see RPN on page 15
Snow Report Currently, Wyoming’s snowpack/snow water equivalent (SWE) is 89% of median with a basin high of 104% in Laramie Basin and a basin low of 68% in the Cheyenne Basin. Last year, the state SWE was 91% of median and 122% in 2020. For more information, visit wrds.uwyo.edu.
Scholarship A $3,000 college scholarship is available for graduate students from the American Sheep Industry’s Sheep Heritage Foundation. Students should be working in an area of study leading to the advancement of the American sheep industry. Students pursing either a master’s degree or a doctorate at a university in the U.S. are eligible to apply. The application deadline is May 31. Visit SheepUSA. o rg / r e s e a r c h e d u c a t i o n scholarship for more information and the application form.
Livestock depredation
Boulder – On March 30, the Sublette County Predator Board hosted a workshop for ranchers whose cattle and sheep are preyed upon by gray wolves, mountain lions and grizzly and black bears. The audience heard from a panel of county, state and federal employees and answered questions in regards to finding dead or injured livestock. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services Manager Rod Merrill, Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) Large Carnivore Specialist Clint Atkinson and USDA’s Farm Services Agency (FSA) Wyoming Program Specialist Annie Bryce spoke during the workshop. Location Merrill explained if a rancher or rider finds a suspicious kill, the first important piece of information to consider is “where the kill occurs.” This determines what agency might offer compensation for losses. Please see PREDATORS on page 4
Ranchers donate to communities Montana ranchers are participating in a unique program processing donated animals and giving the meat to people who need food. The Producer Partnership is the brainchild of fifth-generation rancher Matt Pierson. His family owns Highland Livestock and have ranched in Montana since the mid1890s. How it began Matt played soccer growing up and started coaching as a senior in high school because their small town didn’t have anyone to help with the younger kids. He continued coaching while his own kids were growing up. “I know most of the families. When the pandemic hit, everyone was sheltering in place, and there were food shortages in grocery stores,” Matt said. One day during spring calving, he and his hired men were working cows and one of the guys said, “Look at all this hamburger walking around!” Matt suddenly realized they had a way to help. “We made phone calls to neighbors to see if they had any cull cows and I called local meat processors,” he explained. Matt started with a cull cow of his own and the next day delivered 350 pounds of burger to the Livingston Food Resource Center. This was the beginning of The Producer Partnership. Within a month, 10 neighbors and friends had donated nearly 10,000 pounds of ground beef to local food banks, food pantries and other area community centers. “Within three days, more than $12,000 was donated. Please see PROGRAM on page 5
Company addresses needs of livestock producers Laramie – On April 14, the University of Wyoming (UW) Ranch Management and Ag Leadership Program hosted several presenters to discuss a range of topics designed to create real-world learning opportunities and discussions for UW students. During the event, HerdDogg Founder and CEO Melissa Brandão talked about her company and its focus – giving producers data they need to make more money from every animal they raise. Addressing producers’ needs with technology Brandão, a Laramie native and former Apple computer technologist, saw a need to get data out of the field for producers.
Prior to HerdDogg, reading ear tags was difficult when cattle were out in the field, she notes. “This was really the problem we were trying to solve,” she says. “HerdDogg stands for herd, data, generator and gatherer. The idea was to generate the data on the tag in the field and then figure out the easiest, most efficient and cheapest way of getting it out of the field.” Today, the company is the only available Bluetooth system for livestock producers, she says. “The Bluetooth DoggTag communicates with our DoggBone, which is a Bluetooth-to-cellular reader – as long as the
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Please see TECH on page 5
