FARM BILL PRIORITIES

Fighting flies

Experts offer considerations for controlling flies on pastured cattle

A perfect storm of wet and warm weather conditions during peak breeding season has led to an influx in fly populations across the West. Many cattle producers have taken note of the pests, as their cattle spend most of the day bunched up in pasture corners fighting flies.

However, despite measures taken to control pest populations, many ranchers have become frustrated with the lack of relief they provide to livestock and have turned to experts for advice.

Wyoming senators host roundtable to gather input

Casper - U.S. Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) hosted a Wyoming Farm Bill Priorities Roundtable on July 14 with Sen. John Boozman (R-AR). Boozman is the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and a primary author of the upcoming farm bill.

Wyoming State Legislature members and representatives from Wyoming’s agriculture industry joined the senators to discuss the farm bill and its impacts on Wyoming.

The current farm bill expires in September 2023, and over the past year, lawmakers on the U.S. House and

USDA welcomes Byam

Casper – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) welcomes Jackie Byam as the Wyoming state conservationist.

Byam began serving in her new role in February, following the departure of Astrid Martinez, who served as the Wyoming state conservationist for the past 10 years. Byam has worked with NRCS for 19 years and has served in multiple NRCS field offices before taking on various leadership roles in multiple states.

NRCS invests in individual and local communities to keep working lands functioning, stimulate rural economies and increase American agriculture while improving the quality of air, water, soil and habitat.

Background and experience

A native to Minnesota, Byam grew up on her family’s farrow-to-finish hog farm, where they also grew corn and soybeans. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Conservation from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, starting her career with the NRCS in her hometown after graduation as a soil conservation technician.

Senate Agriculture committees have been drafting a new federal farm bill which will impact farm, conservation, food and nutrition programs across the U.S. for the next five years.

Farm bill history

The farm bill is a legislation package passed every five years, impacting farming livelihoods, how food is grown and what foods are grown.

According to the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, the bill covers programs ranging from crop

Please see FARM BILL on page 9

In a University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Extension article written in May 2016, UNL Extension Educator Dave Boxler points out producers in Western states need to remember there are three species of fly that can economically impact pastured cattle – horn flies, stable flies and face flies.

“Insecticide resistance is a major problem for these types of flies because they have been exposed to so much insecticide labeled for application to an animal, so producers aren’t seeing as much relief as they were 20 years ago,” states Scott Schell, University of Wyoming Assistant Extension Entomologist, during an

County Fair Series

Sanchez twins carry on family heritage

The Sanchez family has been involved in 4-H and FFA for decades. The family matriarch, Dawn Sanchez, has worked for multiple 4-H Extension offices since 1997.

Dawn is a 4-H educator for Laramie County, where she supports programs at the local military base as well as several after-school enrichment programs. Dawn’s children have grown up around 4-H and FFA and have been active in both organizations from a young age.

The Sanchez family owns and oper- ates club lamb and goat programs in Burns, where they raise sheep, Boer and Alpine goats, jumbo Pekin ducks, miniRex rabbits, mini-Hereford cows and horses for 4-H projects.

The Sanchez family recently returned from a 4-H International Exchange Program trip to Ireland which Dawn coorganized, allowing students to explore Ireland’s agriculture industry and livestock production practices.

This exchange program is open to Wyoming students 14 and older who are

Please see FAIR on page 14

Sun

Congress is in the process of developing and approving a new five-year farm bill, as the current bill ends on Oct.

1. As I look into this sweeping legislative process, it gets a bit overwhelming with the amount of money it requires and all of the programs it involves, including programs not related to farming or food.

The process of writing a new farm bill takes months, sometimes even longer. The 2023 Farm Bill is the 20th farm bill Congress has written since 1933, but I doubt the original writers would recognize what is currently being written.

There is hope Congress will pass a new farm bill by the end of the year so it won’t get tangled up with the 2024 election year. I hope they do since some people are worried if it doesn’t get passed this year, it may be 2025 before the bill is signed.

One cannot overstate the importance of the farm bill to rural America and agriculture – the original intent of the first farm bill was to protect food and agriculture. Food security is a large topic these days, as we saw during the pandemic. Crop insurance and farm programs are vital to rural America and agriculture.

Years ago, urban legislators looked over the farm bill and figured if they had some programs for the urban population, they would get more votes. Well, low and behold, the urban population and food stamps is 80 percent of the current $1.5 trillion farm bill.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will cost around $1.1 trillion in the new bill. Out of this food stamp program, 10 percent of funding will go to those not qualified to receive food stamps.That is a lot of money! If America has a food shortage, what good will food stamps be for qualified people.

On June 14, I had the privilege of attending a Wyoming Farm Bill Priorities Roundtable in Casper hosted by Wyoming Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis with Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

Boozman has raised cattle and farmed, so he knows the ag business and is one of the primary authors of the 2023 Farm Bill. After listening to him, I soon realized his values and Wyoming’s mirrored each other. I commend Barrasso and Lummis for bringing Boozman to Wyoming to get to know to our ag industry.

Some 30 attendees representing Wyoming’s agriculture industry spoke on the state’s needs and impacts of the 2023 Farm Bill, and we heard the inside story on the upcoming farm bill.

The tone of the roundtable was positive and all were respectful of each other’s comments. I came away from the event more respectful of our government getting something done.

We’re really fortunate to have the Congressional members we do from Wyoming and other members like Boozman in Congress. They care about Wyoming’s rural communities and our agriculture industries.

We are all in this together to make sure we have food security to feed America. It takes good people to make it work.

Wyoming Livestock Roundup