Roundup for 9.26.2020

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Volume 32 Number 22 • September 26, 2020

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The Weekly News Source for Wyoming’s Ranchers, Farmers and AgriBusiness Community • www.wylr.net

A Look Inside A brand renewal update reminder for producers is offered by WLSB Director Steve True............................... Page 2 Connecting ag to climate provides information on recent and current climate conditions......... ...................................... Page 6 307 Judging Series winners are named..................... Page 7 Made in the USA product labeling is discussed in a recent USCA webinar............. Page 15

Quick Bits U.S. Drought For the contiguous 48 states, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed 39.65% of the area in moderate drought or worse, compared with 38.87% a week earlier. Drought now affects 65,814,089 people, compared with 64,343,449 a week earlier. For all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed 33.50% of the area in moderate drought or worse, compared with 32.82% a week earlier. Drought now affects 66,685,462 people, compared with 64,984,957 a week earlier.

Conversation hopes to spark stronger wildfire policy According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 75 large fires have burned more than 3.7 million acres across 11 states with more than 30,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel assigned to the fires.

In a recent Conservation Conversations webinar, hosted by the Ecosystem Workforce Program in collaboration with the University of Oregon’s Institute for a Sustainable Environment and Oregon State University’s

College of Forestry, panelists provided a wide range of perspectives about how people who live in the Western U.S. might live with fire in the 21st century and how conservation policy might initiate action to address the risk of wildfire on

both public and private lands. “This is a particularly challenging moment to be talking about wildfire policy, but perhaps it brings home the incredible urgency of engaging in really touchy conversa-

Please see FIRE on page 5

MARKET REBOUNDS

DESPITE COVID-19 IMPACTS, RESILIENT BEEF MARKETS REBOUND TO NEAR YEAR-AGO LEVELS The year 2020 has been unprecedented in almost every way possible. Yet, despite wiped out grocery shelves, packinghouse closures and a series of market disruptions, beef demand has remained resilient, and markets have almost completely rebounded to year-ago levels, according to Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist. “We have been through a lot this year, includ-

ing a tremendous set of shocks and challenges in the agriculture industry in particular,” Peel stated during the virtual Cattle U and Trade Show, presented by High Plains Journal, Sept. 8-11. “However, we are starting to see things settle down. I’m not going to say we are back to normal, because who knows what normal is going to mean in the future, but we are seeing markets Please see MARKET on page 15

Tribal Aid

Wyoming Congresswoman and House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney spoke on the House floor on Sept. 21 in support of multiple pieces of legislation to aid tribal communities. These include the Tribal School Federal Insurance Parity Act, the Native American Child Protection Act and the Native American Business Incubators Program.

Bouncing back – Following a plethora of market disruptions caused by COVID-19, several sectors of the beef industry are bouncing back to near year-ago levels. Hannah Bugas photo

Ask USDA

As part of their ongoing effort to improve and streamline customer service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) will be transitioning their AskFSA tool, available for producers to ask questions about FSA programs, to Ask USDA. The new tool will be available at ask.usda.gov and will provide information on all USDA programs.

USDA announces additional assistance for producers impacted by COVID-19 On Sept. 18, President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced an additional $14 billion has been made available for agricultural producers who are continuing to face market disruptions and other financial woes due to COVID-19 through the second round of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 2). “America’s agriculture communities are resilient, but still face many challenges due to the COVID19 pandemic,” stated Perdue. “President Trump is once again demonstrating his commitment to ensure America’s farmers and ranchers remain in business to produce the food, fuel and fiber America needs to thrive.” “We listened to feedback received from farmers, ranchers and agricultural organizations about the impact of the pandemic on our nation’s farms and ranches, and we developed a program to better meet the needs of those impacted,” Perdue continued. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has made several improvements Please see USDA on page 8

Hog Harvest ACE Act advances to House

Weekly sow slaughter continues its strong upward trend. In fact, year-to-date sow slaughter through the first week of September is just over 2.3 million head, which is 12.3% above the same period last year. Since the pandemic began affecting the livestock industry in early April, weekly sow slaughter has averaged nearly four percent above year-ago levels.

CFAP 2 available

On Sept. 16, the U.S. Senate passed America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act, sponsored by Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), to help with research on two significant issues in the state of Wyoming – chronic wasting disease (CWD) and protecting livestock from predators. The act was introduced in the Senate last December and will now advance to the House of Representatives, where, if adopted, it will move to the office of President Donald Trump to await his signature. “The Senate is working together to protect wildlife,” stated Barrasso. “Our bipartisan legislation will establish a special task force to combat the spread of CWD. It will also help protect livestock from predators. The legislation is a win for ranching communities in Wyoming.” According to Barrasso, the ACE Act is broad-reaching and will cover a number of shared interests between conservationist groups and private landowners alike. In fact, the bill will reauthorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act – both of which finance a number of habitat protection projects. In addition, the bill will create new sources of funding for combating invasive species and will also establish an interstate effort to fight emerging wildlife diseases, such as CWD. Although efforts to fight CWD have been in effect since the release of a statewide management plan approved in July, a plan to combat invasive species is Please see ACE on page 8

HOS exemption extended for haulers The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) has issued another extension to the emergency declaration extending hours of service (HOS) for livestock and livestock feed haulers until Dec. 31, 2020. According to FMCSA Emergency Declaration 2020-002, motor carriers providing direct assistance in support of relief efforts related to the COVID19 pandemic are granted exemptions specific to parts 390 through 399 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The exemption also applies to medical supplies and equipment related to the testing, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19, supplies such as masks, gloves, hand san-

itizer, soap and disinfectants necessary for prevention of community transmission of COVID-19 and food, paper products and other groceries necessary for emergency restocking of stores and distribution centers. “FMCSA is continuing the exemption because the presidentially declared national emergency remains in place and because a continued exemption is needed to support direct emergency assistance for some supply chains,” stated the FMCSA extension order. “This extension addresses national emergency conditions that create a need for immediate transportation of essential supplies and provides necessary relief from

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Please see FMSCA on page 9


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