lmd december 2010

LivestockDigest

LivestockDECEMBER 15, 2010 • www. aaalivestock . com Volume 52 • No. 13

“The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it.”

– JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

continued on page two

NEWSPAPER

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MARKET

DigestRiding Herd

by Lee Pitts

Here’s a short parablewith a lesson for anyonewho still thinks that bigis always better. In 2008corn growers were

enjoying one of their best yearsever, if not their best. Who couldblame those corn growers who’dsigned contracts with the largestethanol producer, VeraSun Ener-gy, or one of its 24 subsidiaries?Thanks to VeraSun and theethanol boom those contractgrowers were anticipating aonce-in-a-lifetime bonanza. Andwho better to pledge your cropto than the biggest in the busi-ness? But when VeraSundeclared bankruptcy on October31, 2008, it left farmers andgrain elevators holding an emptysack of what-could-have-beens.Many of those corn growers hadalready delivered their crop and,anticipating a big check, boughtnew $400,000 combines. Insteadof checks that reflected the high-est corn price in history they gotchecks that bounced higher thanIowa corn stalks at harvest time.Even the lucky ones who

cashed their checks while therewas still some money in theVeraSun bank account were toldthat under state bankruptcy lawsanyone who got paid during 90days prior to the bankruptcy had

While everyone was arguingover whether or not the new rulesproposed by The Grain Inspec-tion, Packers and StockyardsAdministration (GIPSA) weregood for animal agriculture ornot, the largest cattle broker inthe country was going broke,accused of kiting checks, andleaving ranchers with the sameempty sack that VeraSun left cornfarmers with. All this causes us towonder, what good do all theserules do if you don’t even enforce

the rules you already have?

Not Too Big To FailWhen GIPSA and the Pack-

ers and Stockyards Administra-tion finally got around to shut-ting Eastern Livestock Companydown, most of the damage hadalready been done. At the timeof this writing GIPSA estimatedthat Eastern owed more than$130 million to 743 sellers ofcattle in 30 states across theland. Those 743 sellers received$81 million in worthless checksissued on Eastern’s accountbetween November 3 andNovember 9. But even thosenumbers may be on the light sideand at press time there seemedto be some confusion as to justhow much money we’re reallytalking about.According to the Organiza-

tion for Competitive Markets,“Eastern Livestock’s revenuetripled during the past year. But,this was because it was tradingwith itself — kiting checks so its

to repay 80 percent of whatVeraSun had already paid them.Payments made during those 90days are known as preferentialpayments because a debtor “pre-ferred” to pay one creditor overanother. (Only recently thecourts stopped going after thoseVeraSun preferred payments.)Why are we telling you all this

about corn in a cattlemen’s news-paper. Such a mess could neverhit the cattle business, right?Don’t look now but it just did!

The Bigger They Are

by DONALD STOTTS, Oklahoma State University

� The U.S. beef cow herd has decreased 12of the last 14 years, dropping from a cyclicalpeak of 35.3 million head in 1996 to the Janu-ary 2010 level of 31.3 million head. This repre-sents the smallest beef cow herd since 1963.

� Total U.S. cattle inventory has decreasedby almost 10 million head since 1996 to theJanuary 2010 level of 93.7 million head, thesmallest cattle inventory since 1959.Declining beef inventories are causing some

in the U.S. cattle industry to wonder how beefproduction can be maintained.“The numbers tell the tale, which is that

America’s cattle industry has effectively beenturning fewer cattle into more pounds of beef,”said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State UniversityCooperative Extension livestock marketing spe-cialist.The U.S. beef cow herd has decreased 12 of

the last 14 years, dropping from a cyclical peakof 35.3 million head in 1996 to the January2010 level of 31.3 million head. This representsthe smallest beef cow herd since 1963.

Combined with smaller dairy cow numbers,Peel said the 2010 calf crop is expected to be35.4 million head, the smallest U.S. calf cropsince 1950. Total U.S. cattle inventory hasdecreased by almost 10 million head since1996 to the January 2010 level of 93.7 millionhead, the smallest cattle inventory since 1959.In contrast, total beef production has not

changed accordingly. In fact, 2010 beef pro-duction is projected at 25.9 billion pounds,slightly higher than the 1996 level of 25.4 bil-lion pounds.“We have maintained production thus far in

two primary ways,” Peel said. “First, decreasinginventories allows the industry to utilize thatinventory as production while numbers aredeclining.”Second, between 1996 and 2006, cheap

corn allowed the industry to feed animals toever-increasing carcass weights and to feedlightweight calves for many days in feedlots.Feedlot inventories have thus been maintainedby a slower rate of turnover.“In effect, the U.S. cattle industry has been

“Responsibility is like a breakfast of ham

and eggs. For the hen it's only a donation. For thehog it's total commitment.”

continued on page four

continued on page three

Beef Cow Herd Smallest Since 1963

www.LeePittsbooks.com

The FirstDog

After his first 500 daysin The White Housewe thought it wastime to check in on

Bo, the First Dog. Here’s atranscript of our recentchat with Obama’s dog.

Q. So Bo, how is life in TheWhite House.

A. Well, I’m not exactlylivin’ like a dog. I don’t eatout of cans or sleep underthe porch. Just last night Ihad a scrumptious five-course dinner leftoverfrom the Peruvian Ambas-sador’s State Dinner.Although the Sea Basswas a little underdone formy tastes. And I’ve neverbeen a big fan of arugula.

Q. Being under the mediamicroscope as you are, doyou have a personal life?

A. Not much. In theWhite House there is aconstant stream of lobby-ists, Congressmen andother undesirables traips-ing through who alwayswant to pet me. Some-times I just want to reachout and take a big bite outof them. Know what Imean?

Q. Yes, we do. How aboutcompanionship with otherdogs?

A. Well, I’m neutered,you know, so it’s not thatbig a deal. I have been giv-en complete access to thePresident, although, Imust say he’s not much ofa dog person.

Q. Can you tell us any dirtysecrets of the ObamaWhite House.

A. That’s why the Oba-mas got a dog instead of aparrot . . . no talking. Lis-ten, I had to sign a nondis-closure statement as partof the FBI vetting processbefore I came to theWhite House so you’renot going to hear me dig-ging up anything on thePresident or his family.

Q. Does the President playany games with you?

A. He likes basketball butI can’t dribble. Occasion-

Some say that BIG is beautiful and that may certainly seem so. Until it turns out that big is also bad.

Livestock Market Digest December 15, 2010

money movement looked like itwas three times the true volume.The banks caught on, stoppedthe check kiting, and Easterncollapsed.”Suffice it to say, you really

haven’t experienced raw angeruntil you get a hot check for yourentire year’s worth of work. It’seven worse when it happensaround the holidays and yourkids wonder why the pickings area little slim under the tree. Ranchers weren’t the only

ones staring at a cash crunch.Auction yards throughout theEast and Midwest were, accord-ing to Mark Mackey, CEO of theLMA, “working to recall feedercattle sold to Eastern Livestock,turning around trucks set to deliv-er them.” Even though Easterndidn’t pay the auctions for manycattle they bought, those auctionmarkets paid their customers any-way. But how much can theyabsorb? The auctions must nowget in a long line of creditors totry and get the money owedthem. Eastern was not only amajor buyer in the country and atlocal auction markets, they werealso a major player in video sales.For example, they were one ofthe biggest, if not the biggest,customer of Superior LivestockAuction, the largest video auctionand livestock auction of any kindin the country.Much to their credit, so far

the auction and video marketsare digging deep into their pock-ets to get everyone paid, but itshouldn’t have to be this way.Why was the government willingto cover the huge losses of Gold-man Sachs, General Motors andcountless banks and not the loss-es of ranchers? After all, it wasthe government’s job to regulateand enforce the Packers andStockyards rules to preventthings like this from happening.It happened on their watch. Weall know why the feds will beoffering low interest loans toranchers cheated out of theirmoney, instead of bailing themout. Even though Eastern wasthe biggest in the business it wasdeemed NOT “too big to fail,”unlike the broke banks, car com-panies and brokerages.

The Big Beast In The EastEastern Livestock was indeed,

the big beast in the East. Typical-ly they put together huge lots ofcattle made up of many purchas-es, and then offered them in massto a big feeder, like Five Rivers.Naturally, the big feeders needlots of cattle and prefer to buythem in big chunks. Eastern wasan amalgamator and they wieldedlots of power in the market. Withfewer and fewer buyers, auctionmarkets and video marketsbegged for Eastern’s order. Andbecause Eastern represented sev-eral feeders, they bought the cat-tle cheaper than if those feedershad bid independently againsteach other. After all, Easternwould not bid against itself. Eastern was started in the

1950s when Thomas Gibson thegrandfather and Thomas Gibson

the grandson started buying cat-tle together. They were good atbuying cattle by the head andselling them by the pound. WhenGrandpa Gibson got sick he senthis grandson on his first cattlebuying trip by himself. He was15 years old. Next, John S. Gibson, Thomas

Gibson’s brother, entered thefamily business after graduatingfrom college and by 1982 theyhad formally become EasternLivestock Company, headquar-tered in Louisville, Kentucky.There were some bumps in theroad on the way to becoming thebiggest order buyer. When it wasshut down by the feds EasternLivestock Co., LLC was head-quartered in New Albany, Indi-ana and had branch facilities in11 states. They had customers inevery cattle-producing state inthe country. But as we all shouldknow by now, the bigger they are. . . the harder they fall.

Important Dates In HistoryWhen Eastern flamed out

they did so faster than a a cow-boy’s campfire in a gully washer.As far as we know, GIPSAreceived its first complaint abouta bad check for livestock sold toEastern on November 3. Givethem credit, with what has to beconsidered a rapid reaction for agovernment agency, on Novem-ber 4, GIPSA deployed investi-gators to Eastern’s headquartersto investigate the original com-plaint and many others that werenow coming in droves. GIPSAsays they immediately begandeploying rapid response teamsto auction markets nationwidethat could be impacted by East-ern’s financial failure. GIPSAalso began issuing letters tounpaid sellers encouragingaffected producers to submitbond claims. According to analert issued by the Iowa Cattle-men’s Association, bond claimsmust be filed within 60 daysfrom the date of the transactionon which the claim is based. The first time most cattlemen

heard about Eastern’s demisewas on November 9, when theUSDA issued a news releasetitled, “Bond Information forProducers Who Sold Livestockto Eastern Livestock CompanyLLC.” In the letter the USDAexplained how to file bondclaims under the Packers andStockyards Act. By November17, GIPSA had issued 743 suchletters. What they didn’t say wasthat Eastern’s bond with theCapital Indemnity Corporationwas only for $875,000! LMA’s Livestock Board of

Trade has always had as good ahandle on what is happening inthe livestock business as anybody.They know who the bad applesare and who is not paying for thelivestock they buy at auction.That’s their job and they do itwell. The LMA learned from theDes Moines, Iowa, office of theGrain Inspection, Packers andStockyards Administration thatEastern had a total of $94 Million

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The Bigger They Are continued from page one

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in unpaid livestock transactions.We’ve never been too good atmath but it would seem to us that$875,000 will not go far go inpaying off 94 million. Oh, andEastern owed the bank more than$30 million, too. Now who doyou think is going to get firstcrack at whatever cash is left, thebanker or some poor rancher inCrab Orchard, Kentucky?

A Good QuestionThe LMA also learned from

the Kentucky Secretary of State’soffice that Eastern’s bank, FifthThird Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio,claimed a security interest in allof Eastern’s assets. Fifth ThirdBank filed a motion with theHamilton County Court ofCommon Pleas in Ohio request-ing issuance of a temporaryrestraining order and theappointment of a receiver. Thecourt then appointed ElizabethLynch, of Development Special-ists Inc., of Cleveland, as receiv-er to work on behalf of Eastern’screditors.The receiver’s job is to ensure

that the secured creditor is paid.That would be Fifth Third Bank,who at the same time filed alegal complaint that accusedEastern of stealing at least $13million from the bank in asophisticated check-kitingscheme. The bank also said East-ern defaulted on a $32.5 millionloan that was due last month.That should have served as a

warning of what was to come.After the secured creditor,

which in this case is the bank, ispaid the unsecured creditors willbe paid out of remaining funds.In other words, the bank getstheirs first, and then the cattlesellers and other unsecureddebtors will get what’s left over.Cattle sellers will also get theirpercentage due from the bondproceeds. In other words, thosesellers with no security and noway to attach funds will probablyget pennies on the dollar. Whichraises a very embarrassing ques-tion for the Packers and Stock-yards Administration: In thisworld of big business whereeverything is as jumbo-sized as afast food burger, how do youallow the biggest order buyer inthe country to pack a bondworth only $875,000?When you are holding a check

for one year’s work stamped inred with the words, “InsufficientFunds” or “Refer to Maker,” it’slittle consolation that the govern-ment is now going after the oneswho wrote that check. But theyare. On November 19 the Pack-ers and Stockyards Administra-tion filed an administrative com-plaint charging EasternLivestock Company LLC andTommy P. Gibson of NewAlbany, Indiana, with failure topay for livestock purchases, fail-ure to pay timely for livestockpurchases, and failure to main-tain an adequate bond.

Economic Landmines“The American economy is

now pockmarked with evidenceof economic landmines — leav-ing huge craters after each andevery “too big to fail” episode,”

said the Organization of Com-petitive Markets in response toEastern’s demise. “Banks, automanufacturers, airlines, andindustries across the economyhave been devastated largelybecause of concentration of mar-ket power in few firms and man-agement arrogance that each istoo big to fail.”According to OCM, ”GIPSA

audited Eastern in 2010 and wastrying to regulate the firm. ButGIPSA’s authority is very limit-ed. The maximum bond it couldrequire to protect unpaid live-stock sellers was $875,000 —less than one percent of the totalestimated losses caused by East-ern’s demise.”Just in case westerners are

feeling smug that most of thedamage will be felt further east,

we would remind you that west-ern ranchers dodged a huge bul-let, awhile back. In 2007 Superi-or Livestock was sold to Dwightand Helen Mebane of Bakers-field, California. Dwight hadrisen through the ranks muchthe same way that the Gibson’shad. He owned nice ranches inCalifornia and Oregon and oneof the larger auction markets inthe west, Western Stockman’s inFamoso, California. Like theGibsons, Dwight also puttogether big strings of cattle andsold them to big feeders. ButDwight also fed cattle himself,and in a big way, which provedto be his undoing. When hedeclared bankruptcy Farm Cred-it West took back Superior.(They have only recently resoldit.) To the best of our knowledge

the custodial account of Superiorwas never breached or that couldhave made this debacle look tinyby comparison.

In The AftermathAs we all know, GIPSA is in

the process of issuing new rulesto regulate the livestock marketplace. OCM’s General Counsel,David A. Domina said: “Too bigto fail is simply not working; toobig to fail is a failure in and ofitself. The collapse of this massivefirm is going to be devastating tothousands of cattlemen, salebarns, truckers, ranch hands, andmany others. It may take years tosort out the full scale of devasta-tion. We cannot allow this kind ofconcentration to continue.”

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The Bigger They Arecontinued from page three

Beef Cowherdcontinued from page one


ing about the time I flew on myown jet with my handler, ReggieLove, who makes $102,000 ayear. All I can say is that Reggieis a great guy and he does haveother responsibilities.

Q. Speaking of that, America’sdying to know, does Obama clean up after you?

A. You don’t really expect theFirst Family to be pooper-scoop-ers, do you?

Q. Much was made of the fact thatyou came from Ted Kennedy.

A. I didn’t actually come fromTed, he gave me as a gift. Eventhough I’m a Portuguese WaterDog I don’t know how to swim,and I think you’ll agree, thatwouldn’t have been wise to livewith Ted without knowing howto swim.

Q. Wasn’t your name reallyCharlie and didn’t you actuallycome from Texas before youcame to the White House? Andweren’t you rejected by the firstfamily you went to live withbecause you were meant to be acompanion dog for an olderfemale but you kept trying tosuckle her?

A. Hey, I was a youngster. Andeven though I’m a POR-TUGUESE Water Dog, yes Iwas born in the USA. And I canprove it. Let’s see, I have mypapers here somewhere.

ally he’d throw me a Republicanand tell me to fetch it but thereweren’t many of them aroundhere the last couple years. Nowthat the elections are over maybethere’ll be a few more to chasearound.

Q. Bo, what are your goals of youradministration?

A. More dog parks and healthcare for pets. It’s a tragic fact butthere are millions of dogs andcats in this country without anyform of medical insurance. I planto remedy that situation in thetime we have remaining.

Q. Since you brought it up, do youthink you have two or six years

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Riding Herd continued from page one

In the aftermath of Eastern’sdemise we have a pretty goodidea of what will happen. The P& S will step up their harassmentof auction markets who hadnothing whatsoever to do withEastern’s shenanigans, whilethey let the meat packers and thebig cattle feeders who providethem captive supplies runroughshod over the industry.With all that has transpired in

the past couple years in thiscountry we simply must ask . . .do you still really think that big-ger is always better?We know at least 743 cattle-

men who no longer think thatbig is so beautiful.

able to effectively turn fewer cat-tle into more pounds of beef,”Peel said. “However, the situa-tion is now different.”Expensive corn forces the

industry to feed heavy yearlingsand move them through the feed-lot faster. Carcass weights in 2010have been below year-ago levelsalmost all year and high feed costslikely limits carcass weights to lit-tle or no trend in coming years. Afaster feedlot turnover rate expos-es the shortage of cattle quickly asfeedlots scramble to find suffi-cient supplies of feeder cattle toplace on feed and maintain feed-lot inventories.“So far, we appear to have

been able to do that,” Peel said.“Total cattle slaughter for 2010 isrunning almost 2 percent above2009 levels. Steer slaughter is upless than 1 percent this year. Bycontrast, heifer slaughter is upnearly 3 percent and cow slaugh-ter is up 4 percent. It is clear weare maintaining slaughter rates, inthe short-run, with our females.”Peel cautions this is not sus-

tainable without acceleratingherd liquidation. At some point,the U.S. cattle industry will try tostabilize the herd size and thenexpand a bit.“Given the current situation

this implies a significant reduc-tion in cattle slaughter in theshort-term just to hold the cowherd size steady,” he said. “Itseems likely this process will startin 2011.”

left on your run at The WhiteHouse?

A. The focus for the next twoyears will be on reelectionbecause if we lose we’ll have tomove back to Chicago. You everbeen to Chicago in the winterwith the wind howling off thelake? I’m hoping for legislationthat will make me the permanentFirst Dog, so win or lose, I couldstay in the House until I’m dead.Just like Congressmen.

Q. Much was made of the fact,earlier this year, of your extravagant vacation.

A. Which one, we took six thispast year? I suppose you’re talk-



by CALLIE GNATKOWSKI-GIBSON

Brangus cattle, known fortheir hardiness and dis-ease and heat resistanceare a good match for the

southwestern United States,where hot weather and infre-quent rainfall are often thenorm. The breed was developedto bring together the best traitsof the Angus and Brahmanbreeds, resulting in cattle thatproduce and thrive whereverthey are found.

Twenty Years Promoting the BreedFor almost twenty years,

western cattlemen needing qual-ity Brangus bulls and females toincorporate into their operationhave looked to the Roswell Bran-gus Bull and Female Sale. Theupcoming sale, scheduled forFebruary 26, 2011, at theRoswell Livestock Auction Barnwill mark the 20th anniversary ofthe annual sale.

Gayland Townsend, whohas been involved in andspokesman for the sale since itsinception in 1992 said that theidea for the sale was born afterDiamond A Brangus, one of thebiggest bull suppliers in theworld at that time, dispersed itsentire cow herd in 1990. The dis-persal left a big void in the west-

ern United States for Brangusbulls. “A group of smaller breeders

met at the old Roswell Inn in1991 to see if we could puttogether enough bulls andfemales to have our own sale,”Gayland said. “Of the 20 Bran-gus breeders who attended thefirst meeting, only six or eightwere willing to take a chance toput up the money and the workto start the bull sale.”That first year, sale organizers

hoped to sell 100 Brangus bullsand 750 females in the first sale,and invited all of the Brangusbreeders in the Southwest to joinus in the sale. As it turned out,eleven breeders from New Mexi-co and Arizona sent bulls andfemales came from all over, heexplained. “It took a lot of phonecalls to talk producers into send-ing animals to our sale.”The group hired Sammy

Pierce of Texas, who was thebiggest Brangus sale manager atthat time, to help get the salestarted. “He worked with us forthe first two years and did agreat job,” Gayland noted.Gayland became spokesman

for that first sale, but said he wasonly supposed to hold that posi-tion for one year. “They weresupposed to fire me as soon asthe sale was over but theyhaven't fired me yet. They just

might this year, after the twenti-eth sale.”The first sale grossed a total of

$604,860. Eighty eight bulls soldfor a total of $187,700, averaging$2,157 per bull. A total of 623females sold, grossing $417,160.“Needless to say, we decided totry it another year,” he said.After all these years only two

of the sale’s founders remain,Gayland Townsend of TownsendBrangus, Milburn, Oklahoma,and Troy Floyd of Floyd Brangusnear Roswell. “Since then,” Gay-land said, “we have added twovery good breeders to join us aspartners — Bill Morrison and JoePaul Lack of Lack-MorrisonBrangus, Clovis and Larry Parkerof Parker Brangus, San Simon,Arizona. Together, we four breed-ers have more than 120 yearsbreeding Brangus cattle. We haveserved more than 24 years on the

Board of Directors of the Interna-tional Brangus Breeders of Amer-ica (IBBA), headquartered in SanAntonio, Texas.”Gayland and the other sale

organizers would like to thankthe Wooten family, who own andoperate the sale barn where thesale is held, for their contribu-tions over the years. “Withouttheir help and support, we couldnot have put this sale on for thismany years.Over the nineteen year histo-

ry, 1,729 Brangus bulls havegone through the sale, averaging$1,989 for a gross total of$3,440,406. Females havegrossed $9,594,784, for a grandtotal of $13,035,140, he said.Cattle have been sold into Texas,Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona,

Nevada, Utah, Arkansas andCalifornia.“We have the best customers

in the world and we want themto know it,” Gayland said. “Someof them have not missed a sale innineteen years.”This year, the sale is expand-

ing onto the internet and will becarried by DV Auction. Potentialcustomers will be able to viewand/or bid on the cattle via theinternet. “Come join us on Feb-ruary 26 and help us celebrateour 20th year of selling Branguscattle.”The Townsend family has

been raising Brangus cattle sinceGayland and his brother Henrybought the old Cotton Wood

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Bringing the best together…

BRANGUS



Ranch and the cattle on it,including about 50 head of Triggregistered Brangus, near Roswellin 1966. “We saw how the Bran-gus outdid our other cattle, andjust fell in love with them,” Gay-land said. He and his wife Patti raised

commercial Brangus cattle untiltheir three sons started wantingto show cattle. Instead of buyingshow steers, the Townsendsbought registered Brangusheifers that could go back intothe herd, he explained, and in1982, started raising registeredcattle.

Today, the operation focuseson purebred bulls and females forsale to other producers. “Most ofthe cattle are registered, althoughwe don’t register them all like weused to,” he noted.Six years ago this fall, the

family moved their operation toMilburn, Oklahoma. “We wereborn and raised in New Mexico,and will always consider NewMexico our home. But, wealways wanted to live somewherewith green grass all year andplenty of rain.”Gayland and Patti’s son,

Steve, moved to Oklahoma with

them and helps run the ranch.Their son Charles is a veterinari-an in Kentucky, and son Phillipis a contractor and fishing guideon Lake Texhoma.

A history of successSouthern Arizona Brangus

producer R.L. Robbs and hiswife Sally, of Robbs Brangus,focus on raising registered Bran-gus bulls for commercial cattleproducers. According to R.L.,Brangus cattle, which combinethe genetics of the Brahman andAngus breeds, are uniquely suit-ed for the Southwest for severalreasons. “It doesn’t make muchdifference what kind of cows youbreed to a Brangus bull, you are

going to see the benefits ofhybrid vigor in their calves. Thetouch of Brahman blood inBrangus bulls produces healthy,hardy calves,” he said. “TheBrangus cow is second to none.She is very adaptable, and doeswell in our hot, dry climate,” hesaid. The Robbs family has been

raising Brangus cattle on thesouth side of the Dos CabezasMountains for 45 years inKansas Settlement, 15 milessouth of Willcox, Ariz. They gottheir start with the breed in the1960s, after buying a herd of reg-istered Angus cattle in westTexas and talking to a friend whowas using Brangus bulls on hiscommercial cattle. They boughttheir first three-quarter bloodBrangus bull from Floyd New-comer in Yuma, and one of theirfirst registered Brangus bullscame from the Windland familyin Sealy, Texas. “Through theyears that have followed, wetried and have stayed with Brinksgenetics.”In the early years, the Robbs

partnered with friend and fellowBrangus breeder Garth Lunt ofPima, Ariz. on several herd sires.“He started out in the businessat about the same time we did,and together, we could affordhigher end bulls,” R.L. said. In later years, the Robbs start-

ed using artificial insemination intheir herd. Showing cattle was abig part of the operation formany years, with the Robbs par-ticipating in cattle shows inPhoenix, Tucson and Albu-querque, primarily.R.L. and Sally have tried

many different ways of market-

ing their cattle through the years,and now sell most of their bullsby private treaty at the ranch.They market their heifers a littledifferently each year, dependingon what and where the demandis. “Sally and I have participatedin the Willcox All-Breeds bullsale for the past thirty or thirty-five years,” he said. “Back whenthe Mexican market was strong,we participated in a sale heldannually in Tucson, and alwaysdid very well. For the last fewyears, the Southwest BrangusBreeders Association (SBBA)has held the Best of the Westsale in Tucson, and we try tosupport that with a few heifersand bulls every year, as well. Wetake our cattle wherever we needto.”This past spring, the Robbs

sold a large portion of their cattleherd to Ray Westall in Arabela,New Mexico. “We needed to sellsome cows, we just hadn’t hadany rain, in fact it had been sev-eral years since we’d had anygood rains, and we weredrougthed out,” R.L. said. “Wewill partner up on the cattle andbring some bulls back over herefor sale to the customers thathave been with us for years,” hecontinued. “We have a lot offriends and customers, and near-ly all are commercial cattlemen.”R.L. and Sally have been

actively involved in the SBBAsince getting into the Brangusbusiness. He is a past presidentof the Association, and hasserved as secretary/treasurer forthe last 15 years. He currentlyserves on the International Bran-

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—— Expecting ——180 Range Ready Bulls

by JULIE HARKER,Brownfieldagnews.com

After the narrow passage ofthe Humane Society ofthe United States(HSUS)-backed dog

breeding measure in Missouri,Proposition B, HSUS PresidentWayne Pacelle published an“open letter” on his blog criticiz-ing the Missouri Farm Bureau’scampaign against the measure.“This agreement should not

provide a liscense for gross mis-representations of fact. Andthat’s exactly what the MissouriFarm Bureau was responsible forduring this campaign.”Pacelle complained to Brown-

field that the Missouri FarmBureau falsely claimed that exist-ing state regulations on dogbreeding are sufficient, that theHSUS wants to eliminate petownership, and, that HSUSwants to end animal agriculture. Missouri Farm Bureau Public

Affairs Director Estill Fretwellcalls Pacelle’s complaints a pub-licity stunt.“If you look at their agenda

this is simply the first step ofHSUS and Mr. Pacelle to try toregulate animal agriculture in thestate. It’s his spin on what hewants to try to put out, but again

this is just a tactic on his part toget publicity.”Most troubling, says Pacelle,

are the claims from agriculturegroups that HSUS spends lessthan one-percent of its funds onpet care.“If these are are honorable

people at the Missouri FarmBureau they will cease and desistmaking false statements. HSUSis the largest animal careprovider in the United States.No other group cares for moreanimals than HSUS.”Fretwell says it’s a well known

tactic of Pacelle to demonize aggroups. He says Missouri FarmBureau stands up for anddefends legitimate farmers anddog breeders who treat their ani-mals humanely.“Mr. Pacelle (and HSUS) has

an agenda as we have seen inother states to go far beyond thatand try to regulate animal agri-culture in a way we have prob-lems with.”Fretwell says the Missouri

Farm Bureau hopes lawmakerstake a look at what changes canbe made to Proposition B to pro-tect the state’s legitimate dogbreeders from going out of busi-ness under the measure’s strictrequirements.

Pacelle going after Missouri Farm Bureau

Bringing the Best Together continued from page five

continued on page seven


Joint venture to open small meat processing plant in N.M.by RITA JANE GABBETT / meatingplace.com

Ajoint venture betweenBlue Mountain Meats ofMonticello, Utah, and theNavajo Nation’s Ramah

Chapter in western New Mexicoplans to open a small lamb andmutton processing plant and dis-tribution center near Gallup,N.M. The joint venture, Ramah

Navajo Foods, expects toprocess meat products from2,000 animals annually and willinitially employ 12 people, BlueMountain Meats President ScottFrost told Meatingplace. He saidanimals will be slaughtered atthe Blue Mountain plant inMonticello, then trucked (about180 miles) to the new plant forfurther processing.The project is being support-

ed by the New Mexico Econom-ic Development Department,USDA and the city of Gallup,N.M. Frost estimated the cost ofthe plant at about $500,000.Land has been purchased for

the plant about three miles fromGallup. Ramah Navajo Foodsplans to begin building the pro-cessing plant by next spring,according Frost.Initially, the plant will focus

on fresh lamb and mutton prod-ucts for foodservice, includingNavajo Nation entities. The dis-tribution center will purchaseand distribute canned goods.

TCFA Names Officers, Board

The Texas Cattle FeedersAssociation (TCFA), dur-ing its 2010 Annual Con-vention in Oklahoma City,

named its officers and directorsfor the coming year.Bo Kizziar of Amarillo is

chairman of the board; JimPeters of Quemado is chairman-elect; and Walt Olson of Turpinis vice chairman.Cattle feeders elected to one-

year terms on the board of direc-tors are Sammy Brown ofFriona, Dave DeLaney ofKingsville, Robby Kirkland ofVega, Bo Kizziar of Amarillo,Pete Scarmardo of CaldwellandDale Smith of Amarillo.Directors chosen for two-year

terms are Kevin Buse of Here-ford, Chris Hitch of Guymon,Jim Peters of Quemado, PatSchwab of Bovina, Mike Thorenof Greeleyand Monty Wheeler ofPampa.Elected to three-year terms as

directors are Ed Attebury ofAmarillo, Kevin Bunch of Here-ford, Jim Lovell of Canyon, RexMcCloy of Morse, Walt Olson ofTurpin and Dal Reid of Amarillo.Also serving on the TCFA

Board are the Association’s twoimmediate past chairmen:Monte Cluck of Boerne andMike Engler of Amarillo.

by HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

There are several importantfactors that should be con-sidered when selecting abull to sire replacement

females. The bull makes a lastingcontribution to the herd (good orbad), since the quickest way tochange the genetics of a herd isthrough sire selection. You wantthat contribution to be beneficialto your purposes, moving yourheifers in the best direction tomeet the goals of your breedingprogram. Seedstock producersare finding that maternal quali-ties are as important to most oftheir bull buyers as weaning andyearling weight, and some ofthese maternal qualities cannotbe measured with EPDs. EPDsdo not measure some of the mostimportant traits you need to eval-uate when selecting breedingstock — things like conforma-tion, disposition, udder shapeand teat size, for instance.Mark and Della Ehlke raise

purebred Herefords nearTownsend Montana, along witha small herd of purebred Angus

to raise crossbred replacementheifers for their commercialherd. “Selecting a bull is a two-fold situation for us,” says Mark.“Any bull that we bred ourselvesis an easy selection process; wesimply look at past productionon that cow family.” Their opera-tion has a lot of history behindany bull that they raise.“If we buy a bull from some-

one else’s herd, we try to do asmuch research as possible, usingthe internet and checking pro-duction records on the cow andgrand-dam, etc. I want to see theanimals, also. Over the course oftime, we’ve narrowed down to acouple of cow families that wereally like. We have purchasedsons and grandsons, etc. fromthose cow families,” he says. These bloodlines have worked

very well for their breeding pro-gram. “There may be a genera-tion or two of something else inthere, so it’s not quite line breed-ing, but we do like to use provencow families,” says Ehlke.When looking at the dam of a

potential sire, in some ways it canbe easier to evaluate her critically

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if she’s an older cow rather than atwo or three year old. Then youget a better idea about how herudder, feet and legs, etc. hold up. “It’s good to also review all

the data you can get your handson, including EPDs, actual car-cass, etc. but keep in mind thatall of these are just tools. Wedon’t recommend that someonego out and select for a singletrait. Everything needs to beweighed and balanced. Keep itmiddle of the road. Milk is defi-nitely something that I selectagainst. You have to be careful,with some of the family lines,that you don’t bring in too muchadditional milk. You have tomatch this with your resources,”he explains. Some people haveselected for so much milk thatthe cows cannot keep their bodycondition — putting too muchenergy into milk production —and they don’t rebreed on timein a real world environment.“This brings it’s own set of

problems. Longevity is impor-tant. You don’t want poor udderattachments or the udder will godownhill rapidly,” he says. Even

continued on page fourteen

Selecting a Maternal Sire if a cow raises a good calf, if shecan’t breed back on time, or herudder goes bad, she won’t lastvery long in your herd. Somecows can milk well and still havea good udder in their old age,while others will sag and theudder becomes a problem.“Once that happens, there’s

never any improvement. If youstart out with a bad udder, it’snever going to get any better.You need better-than-averageudders to start with. Udder

gus Breeders Association (IBBA) Boardof Directors, and Sally is a member of theIBBA Auxiliary scholarship committee.They were instrumental in starting the

SBBA’s Junior Heifer program to helpjunior members purchase a quality ani-mal, then compete with other membersthroughout the year. “We set it up as adrawpot program, getting commitmentsfrom breeders to make heifers availablefor as many kids as were interested,” heexplained. “The kids drew for the heifersto make sure that everyone had a fairshot, bought their heifers, then showedcompetitively. For several current produc-ers who started out as juniors, thoseheifers are still part of their herds.”

Beating the heatThe breed is a good fit for the Bridle

Bit Ranch, a partnership between Brad

and Donna DeSpain, Ted and SandraDeSpain and Raul and Rhonda Pina, whoraise Brangus cattle near Marana, Arizona. Brad likes the breed’s color and hardi-

ness, among other traits. “They are goodhustlers, and seem to be a little more dis-ease and insect resistant than otherbreeds,” he said. “Their hide is a littletougher, and they have a little more sizeand leg that lets them travel if they needto out on the range to feed or water.”Heat tolerance is another important

trait for these cattle, located on a ranchtwenty miles north of Tucson. “I just liketheir body confirmation, they have longand deep bodies and are very muscular,”Brad said. “They do well in the heat, andfind the shade quickly when they need to.The calves seem to do well, and the buyerslike them. In talking with feeders, Branguscalves tend to grade just as well as Angus,

but don’t have as much back fat.”The partnership places a big emphasis

on the cattle’s disposition. “We cull hardon disposition,” he pointed out. “We wantsomething we can be around and handleeasily, and if they’re a little huffy, they’regone. They are good domestic cattle ifyou treat them right and don’t stir themup.”The cattle on the Bridle Bit Ranch

were put together by the ranch’s previousowner, Bob Honea, and came from theUniversity of Arizona’s liquidated Bran-gus and Angus herds, Brad explained.The ranch rotates between StevensonBasin Angus and Brangus bulls on theirherd every three years.Heifer calves go to partner Raul Pina’s

El Sonador Ranch between St. John’s,Arizona, and Quemado, New Mexico,where they are bred to an Angus bull fortheir first calves, then to Hereford bulls inlater years. “Cattle feeders really likethose white faced, black calves,” Bradsaid. Steer calves are sold on the commer-cial market.The partnership markets the cattle as

Angus Plus or Brangus, according toBrad, and is not involved in the registeredside of the Brangus business. “We sell sev-eral bulls each year by private treaty tocommercial producers who know us andknow our cattle. In past years, our heifershave topped the sale held here inMarana.”The ranch includes ten miles of the

Santa Cruz River, which irrigates 450acres of permanent pasture. “The water inthe river is knee-deep on a horse most ofthe year, we think this is the best ranch insouthern Arizona,” Brad explained.People just like Brangus cattle, he con-

cluded. “They tend to calve easier, andmake a better range cow. They haveenough Brahman blood to keep the bene-fits that breed provides, like pinkeyeresistance, along with a little ear.”

Brangus: Bringing the Best Together continued from page five



Bravely standing in front ofthe charging herd, she yelled andwaved an empty COB sack intheir faces! Braveheart snorted,ran by her and crashed throughthe neighbor’s fence whereinfour sheep, three Bohr goats,two llama, a burro and severalducks watched with interest.Back to the house she raced,

she’d forgotten her cell phone, ofcourse, and called her brotherwho was in class. He got excused.With a little alfalfa bait, some

clever sorting maneuvers, and hiscollector ’72 Chevy pickup, theyfinally managed to get the travel-ing herd back in their own lot.That evening after chores,

they had a “rural lifestyle familymeeting” and voted. The resultwas one to three. Braveheart isnow in the freezer and his headis curing on the roof of the shed.Brother is considering an ostrichproject and Samantha wasawarded the American Farmerdegree. Congratulations to youboth and don’t forget to thankyour ag teacher and your mom.

My hat is off to parentswho have a job in townbut insist on raisingtheir kids in a “rural

lifestyle.” 50 or so thousandyoung people were at theNational FFA Convention inIndianapolis last year. I wouldbet at least 3.4 of them comefrom rural lifestyle families.The relationship between kids

and their livestock, includingrabbits and horses, is an intimateone. The animals are all named,the facilities are often much-repaired, and responsibilities areshared.Samantha’s older brother was

going to junior college in theirIdaho hometown. He still kept asmall herd of four Longhorncows and a bull that had been hishigh school FFA project. TheBull-of-The-Woods was namedBraveheart. That fateful morningSamantha didn’t have class andhad slept in. Upon rising shepeeked out her window to seethe light blue sky, high stratusclouds, and brother’s cowsstrung out along the paved roadthat went by their house!She pulled on her boots and a

hoody over her colorful pajamasand marched out the door mut-tering technicolor threats to thecows, her brother and Brave-heart! She didn’t even have time

to put in her contacts and sharp-en her claws!Tromping down the inside of

the fence she was singing cursesto all involved! Several civiliansdrove by and waved at her cheer-fully. They never stopped tohelp, thinking maybe she was aSwiss milkmaid out to gather hercows on an Alpine hillside. Once past the cows she

crawled under the fence andchased them back to the homelot. Then she returned to pick upthe trash can the cows hadknocked over, and looked backto see that the cows had turnedaround and were escaping again!

EELLMMThe Market of Markets . . .

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JOE VIEIRA, RepresentativeMobile 209/531-4156

Bill Harvey, Representative209/543-2820

MONDAYS

9:30 am . . Slaughter Cattle 12:00 pm . . Baby Calves 1:00 pm . . Light Feeders

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Feeders 1:00 pm . . Holstein Fresh Cows

and Springers followed by Bredand Open Heifersand Breeding Bulls

3:30 pm . . Slaughter Cattle

FRIDAYS

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by sheep, horses and second round of butcher cows

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Samantha and Braveheart

Richard McDonaldLeader Institute Announced

To honor Richard McDon-ald’s legacy of leadership, anew program has beenestablished. The Richard

McDonald Leadership Institute,will provide leadership trainingfor cattle industry organizationsthroughout the country.McDonald passed away Oct.

29. McDonald spent 32 yearswith the Texas Cattle Feeders’Association (TCFA), initiallyjoining TCFA in 1974 and beingappointed as CEO in 1988. He

retired in 2006 after a distin-guished career of service to thecattle industry.McDonald was involved in

planning the program, and at hisrecommendation, the Institutewill include a comprehensive cur-riculum covering volunteer andstaff leadership for cattle associa-tions. Donations may be sent to:The Richard McDonald Leader-ship Institute, The Amarillo AreaFoundation, 801 S. Fillmore St.,Ste. 700, Amarillo, TX 79101.

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by STEPHEN L. WILMETH

Repeated attempts havebeen made to locate theword environment in theConstitution of the Unit-

ed States . . .Long before Rob Krentz’

murder became the marker thatintroduced the nation to theBootheel of New Mexico, therural community of the NewMexico border land knew theinfluence of the environmentalcommunity had grown muchstronger than any influence theycould maintain. In dealings withthe federal land agencies, theenvironmental agenda hadbecome the elephant in theroom. That elephant had oftenbeen silent, but, its presence,just like any elephant’s presencein a closed room, was distinctand undeniable.The Krentz murder was the

dreaded eventuality that sparkedan expanded debate that had allthe features of pent up outrage.Finally, there was a degree ofnational inquiry into the prob-lems the border citizens hadbeen facing for years.The responses were so pre-

dictable that a featured storyshould have been an assessmentof the obligatory glad handingand demonstrative anger thatelected officials set in motion.Arizona Senator John McCaintook an abrupt turn away fromunfettered immigration. South-eastern Arizona RepresentativeGabrielle Giffords (D-AZ)rushed to Apache, Arizona andconducted a public forum to getinput. New Mexico District 2Representative Harry Teague(D-NM) fired off a letterannouncing he was going tosecure more funding. New Mex-ico Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Tom Udall (D-NM)called for expediting construc-tion of Forward Operating Bases(FOB) so the Border Patrolcould be closer to the border inorder to reduce the concern ofcross border violence.Fast forward to the last few

weeks of 2010, and an updatedassessment of all the Congres-sional gnashing of teeth revealsexactly what most locals expect-ed would happen . . . a lot ofwords, but certainly nothingregarding the promised FOB.

The Heartland MandateThose in the Bootheel who

must live by their wits and attendto their duties, responsibilities,and investments, though, viewthe midterm elections with adegree of hope. Can newly elect-ed Steve Pearce (R-NM) joinwith heartland Congressionalleaders and awaken border stateleadership to the realities of thedrug war, the First Mexican Rev-olution of the 21st Century? CanCongress finally start separatingtheir actions from those of hyperliberal special interest groups

who have been complicit in theoutgrowth of the danger on theborder? There is border citizenhope, but it is couched in distrustof politicians and the historicalfailures to secure the border.The place to start is with the

FOB. Let that discussion beginwith the pronouncement to theworld that the United States Bor-der Patrol evaluated a number ofpossibilities including sites at sev-en miles, 10.5 miles, and 20 milesfrom the border. The ownershipof those particular alternativeswas federal, private, and private,respectively. As any commonsense security expert would haveguessed, the current preferencefor the location is . . . the site fur-thest away from the border! Ifthis is the site selected, the FOBwill be nestled in the bottom of acanyon and the only clear viewfrom a distance would be thatfrom Animas Mountain. AnimasMountain is private land that liesbehind locked gates to the east. The idea for the FOB to proj-

ect a physical reminder to illegalsnot to enter the United Stateswould be discarded. Its locationcannot be seen from any countyroads, but that may be exactlythe plan by the political powerbase in the area.

The Bootheel ProjectThe seven mile location is a

40-acre parcel of land alreadyowned by the federal govern-ment. It has nearby electricityand it commands a sweepingview of the border to the south.Its location projects its presenceto the horizons and it wouldbecome a constant reminder toall illegals that they are beingwatched, and they will be hunteddown and removed from sover-eign American territory if theytry to cross the border. Its loca-tion with a full view of the borderand the ability to be seen by themodern world, however, is exact-ly what prompts the elephant tostir and start to flex. The Gray/ Diamond A Ranch,

the dominating feature of thearea, and the Malpai BorderlandGroup, a collection of localranchers, have created a uniondedicated to the long termpreservation of the ecologicalintegrity of the area. To anybodywho stands in the immensity ofthe Bootheel with its physicalfeatures of breathtaking propor-tions, few could disagree withthis intent. But, there is gnawingand growing concern that thelong term agenda may not be allthat supportive of traditionalranching values that make up thesocial fabric of the land. Evenparticipants within the Malpaigroup are having secondthoughts of the real agenda andthe dilemma in which they mayfind themselves.At the heart of the Malpai

movement are conservation ease-ments that the members havesigned for what was represented

to them as long term protectionmeasures for the land. Paymentswere made to the ranchers forthe permanent pledge to give upany right to adjust the course ofthe future management anddevelopment of those lands. Theconservation easements whichare now in place disallow anyobtrusive reminders of mankind.Mankind, at least the environ-mentally challenged among theranks, is not welcome.Who holds title to the conser-

vation easements and what doesa simple life estate promise haveto do with long-term agendas?The life of a single rancher is buta blip on the horizon of a longterm plan. The real players in the

Malpai movement center on theNature Conservancy and thecurrent owner of the GrayRanch. In both cases, the spectreof a foreboding, powerful force ismuch larger than the stewardswho have created the historicalcharacter of those lands.

To Rewilding Every indication seems to be

that the larger open borders,Rewilding Project is the realagenda. When the Nature Con-servancy originally purchased theGray, there were no Forest Serv-ice allotments in the transaction.The Gray was a superb cattleranch dominated by private own-ership. It was also an island in a

sea of checker boarded land-scape with federal, state and pri-vate land.Today, the Gray controls four

of the six historical grazing allot-ments on the south end of theNew Mexico extension of theCoronado National Forestagainst the Mexican border.These four allotments remainunstocked raising the concernthat the real plan is to retirethese allotments that have his-torically contributed to the exis-tence of many ranch families,enhanced health of these ranch-ing units, and the well being ofthe local economy.

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continued on page ten

The Truth Emerges: EnvironmentalismTrumps National Security


The Forest Service is fullyinvolved in the process. In fact,the latest NEPA required thatthe stocking rate of the allot-ments be dropped nearly 30 per-cent. The Gray Ranch did notcontest the results. This wouldlead all who know what is goingon to recognize that the ForestService is once again systemati-cally destocking wilderness, onlythis time it is de facto wildernessand the powerful elephant that ispulling the bus is the newestowner of the majority of the for-est allotments.

The Arizona Class Humanand Drug SmugglingCorridors (ACHDSC)At a recent meeting of key

participants in the FOB discus-sion, a Border Patrol representa-tive admitted that environmentalconcerns have made it necessaryto back away from the beststrategic location for that facility.But, wait . . . if it is a wildlifeconcern, shouldn’t the samewildlife be a concern 13 milesnorth in the same ecosystem? Ifit is a flood plain issue, shouldn’tthe same concern exist 13 milesnorth in the bottom of a canyon,and why is the Border Patrol ele-vating itself into a position offirst determining what is best forthe environment. Their missionmust be to secure the border andcontribute to the safety of theAmerican people. The agenda is becoming too

difficult to hide from publicscrutiny, and, in the Bootheel, itis not just the federal land agen-cies that are complicit in creatingnational security dangers on theborder. This time the BorderPatrol must be added to the list.In work done in New Mexico

in opposition to S.1689, TheOrgan Mountains — DesertPeaks Wilderness Act, it waslearned that Arizona ClassHuman and Drug SmugglingCorridors (ACHDSC) are anoutgrowth of conditions thatincluded the following:

� The corridors have wilder-ness/de facto wilderness safehavens.

� They have east /west high-way access north and south ofthe corridors.

� They have rugged and com-plex north/south mountain anddrainage orientation which pro-vides channels of movement.

� They are almost entirely orheavily dominated by federalland agency management.

� The concentration of Amer-ican private property rights atrisk is limited as is the presenceof resident American habitation.

� All corridors have high,strategically located points ofobservation.What the Bootheel model of

ACHDSC teaches is that char-acteristic #4 must be modified.In the Bootheel of New Mexico,the presence of a private proper-ty environmental enterprise anda constrained Border Patrol areas dangerous to national securityas any governmental land agencywhen the environmental enter-prise alters the unencumberedactivity of the Border Patrol!This phenomenon becomes a

proxy for all the conditions ofdesignated Wilderness in termsof access limitations. As such, itis de facto wilderness. In fact, inthe Bootheel up until recentdays, the statutory authority ofBorder Patrol to access any pri-vate property, at any time, andunder any conditions within 25miles of the border has notoccurred. Much of the border,from just west of San Luis Passin New Mexico to the Arizonaline, has been locked and theBorder Patrol has not aggressive-ly challenged those locked gates.The limited access ties directly tothe San Bernardino WildlifeRefuge where Border Patrol con-tinues to have the same condi-tional access existing on the dayRob Krentz was murdered. Thatday, the murderer escaped backthrough the refuge into Mexico.By conditions set forth byUSFWS Regional Director, Ben-jamin Tuggle, the Border Patrolwould not have been allowedmechanical entry even if theyhad known the exact location ofthe murderer.

The Bootheel ACHDSCThe only ACHDSC outside

of Arizona exists in the NewMexico Bootheel. It is a smug-gling corridor that has the poten-tial of being as dangerous as anyof the Arizona corridors. That iswhy the FOB being discussed isso important. That is also why itis so perplexing that the BorderPatrol seems too often to acqui-esce to the preferences of theenvironmental community. Thequestion must be asked, “What isdriving the decisions?If it stems from arraying envi-

ronmental priorities over those

of national security, it runs therisk of exposing America to everexpanding dangers from the drugwar and the consequences of anuncontrolled border. It will alsocontinue to accelerate the degra-dation of the very resources thatthe environmental agendapledges to protect. Whatever the forces are that

have supported the expansion ofwilderness safe havens and con-tributed to the smuggling corri-dors that have decimated naturalresources along the border, onething has clearly emerged. Therules of engagement for nationalsecurity are softened and damp-ened when the environmentalagenda is present. Thus, Ameri-cans are left with no alternativebut to believe that environmen-talism trumps national security.At this point, Rob Krentz’

death remains a tragedy of theworst imagined proportions. Hisgovernment hopes the memoriesof this travesty simply fade away.The collective actions of his gov-ernment have not changed at allsince that fateful day in Marchof 2010. His government hasdemonstrated its real priority onthe border, and it isn’t the con-stitutional mandate to make surethat the border is secure in orderto protect the lives of those forwhich it was written . . . men likeRob Krentz.

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher in southernNew Mexico. He respects leaders like CBP ElPaso Sector Chief Randy Hill and Tucson SectorChief Victor Manjarrez and the difficulty theyface. Given the authority and the backing ofthe federal bureaucracy, these men and theirPatrol force can gain control of America’ssouthern border. If Congress fails to give themthe tools, support, and full authority to oper-ate, or if the Administration and Congressionalleadership waiver on a united national securitypriority, no sector leadership can prevail in itsmission to secure the border.

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John Knipe nominated “Land Realtor of America”

John Knipe, President ofKnipe Land Company, Inc.,headquartered in Boise, Ida-ho, has been nominated as

Land Realtor of America. TheLand Realtor of America Awardrecognizes members of theNational Association of Real-tors – Realtors Land Institute fortheir effort and work expendedin the interest of their fellowInstitute members, their profes-sion, and their community.Knipe Land Company, Inc., is

a nearly 70-year-old, Boise Ida-ho, real estate company. It mar-kets development land, commer-cial farms, cattle ranches,timberland, hunting and recre-ation property in Idaho, Oregon,Montana, Washington andNevada State with agents andbrokers licensed in multipleStates.Eligibility and nomination for

the Land Realtor of AmericaAward is based on recognizedbusiness accomplishments suchas good business conduct, serv-ice to clients, imaginative andcreative marketing programs,rehabilitation work, land utiliza-tion, civic activities on a local,state and national level such asservice clubs, holding a national

Realtor Land Institute office,participation and outstandingservice to the organization.Earlier this year, John Knipe

won and was awarded as 2010“Idaho Land Realtor of theyear,” Knipe was also awardedthe 2010 — “Distinguished Serv-ice Realtor” award for outstand-ing service, service to charity,and good business conduct andfor exceptional service to hisclients.John Knipe holds the office of

Past National Regional VicePresident of the National Associ-ation of Realtors – Realtors LandInstitute. Knipe also holds theposition of Past President of theIdaho Chapter of the RealtorsLand Institute. Knipe has alsoserved as Governor on theNational Board of Governors —with the National Association ofRealtors — Realtors Land Insti-tute and he has served on severalnational and Idaho State com-mittees.John Knipe is one of only six

Realtor professionals in Idahowho’s earned the prestigiousAccredited Land Consultantdesignation. The Accredited

continued on page sixteen


by BURT RUTHERFORD / BEEF Magazine

The face of ranching in theWest is changing. Ranchesthat have been the lock-stitch in the fabric of West-

ern culture, tradition and econo-my for generations continue todisappear as they’re sold forrecreational property, subdividedinto ranchettes, and overtakenby a multitude of uses, few ofwhich include a cow. It was into this changing

Western landscape, then, thatthe iconic Bell Ranch in north-eastern New Mexico came upfor sale several years ago. That’snotable because, at nearly300,000 acres, the Bell Ranchcould well be the largest workingranch to be offered for sale forthe next several generations. Earlier this year, the Silver

Spur Ranch, headquartered atEncampment, WY, purchasedthe Bell, bringing to a close yearsof speculation about the futureof the historic ranch. To therelief of many, the Silver Spurplans to operate the Bell Ranchmuch as it has been managed forthe 186 years of its existence. “Silver Spur’s goal is this will

remain a working, productivecattle ranch with conservationand stewardship as the foremostof our goals,” says Cheramie Via-tor, who handles genetics andmarketing for Silver Spur. “Ourcompany mantra is creatingranch traditions for tomorrow’sgenerations. That’s what the corevalues of our operation are about

— creating and maintaining sus-tainable ranches for the future,”she says. “This ranch appealed to us

from both the historic stand-point and the cow-calf opportu-nity here,” she adds. “It’s anincredible ranch in terms ofgrass, in terms of the infrastruc-ture. But the iconic appeal had alot to do with it.” To that end, Silver Spur man-

agement intends to maintainmany of the working traditionson the Bell Ranch. “The commit-ment to the community, to thebeef industry, those things arevery important,” she says. In fact, many people have had

a brush with Bell Ranch historyand not realized it. For manyyears, a black-and-white photoadorned every Stetson hat box.The picture, taken in the 1940s,showed a cowboy heeling a calfjust prior to its introduction tothe branding fire. The cowboy inthe picture was Mark Woods,long-time Bell Ranch wagon boss. The Bell Ranch was created

by a Mexican land grant in 1824,just three years after Mexicogained its independence fromSpain, says Don Hofman, whoretired as Bell Ranch generalmanager in 1987. Hofmanbecame general manager in 1970when Bill Lane, patriarch of thefamily that previously owned theoperation, bought the headquar-ters. The distinctive Bell Ranch

brand was registered in 1875,Hofman says, and is still usedtoday. The ranch has had only a

few owners since a group of Eng-lishmen bought the ranch fromthe Juan Pablo Montoya family inthe 1870s. The original grant wasaround 656,000 acres, says Hof-man, and the British owners pur-chased the adjoining Baca grant,putting the Bell Ranch at around700,000 acres at one time. In1947, the Bell Ranch was dividedinto six tracts and sold. When Lane bought the head-

quarters in 1970, he becameowner of around 138,000 acresof Western history. A few yearslater, he was able to buy addi-tional acreage once part of theoriginal land grant, bringing theBell Ranch to its current 292,100acres, every inch deeded land. The ranch can comfortably

run 5,000 pairs, with room leftfor replacement heifers and sum-mertime stockers. However,because of long and enduringdrought, the pastures have beenstocked much more conserva-tively in recent years. That stewardship ethic shows.

Even in the face of witheringdrought, the ranch’s large pas-tures are still abundant withgrass. “It’s one of the best moth-er cow ranches in New Mexicoand maybe the Southwest,” Hof-man says. “It doesn’t take anawful lot of supplemental feed.” The Silver Spur Ranch, which

began operations in the 1950s,consists of the headquartersranch in Encampment, as well asranches in Walden and Kiowa,CO, and the TO Ranch and nowthe Bell Ranch in northern NewMexico. The Silver Spur runsabout 12,000 commercial cowsas well as produces registeredCharolais, Angus, Red Angusand Hereford bulls, and a com-

posite they call Rangefire, whichis a cross between Charolais andRed Angus. While Silver Spur manage-

ment has great respect for theBell Ranch’s historic past andiconic status, some changes arein store. The Silver Spur runs ablack-based commercialcowherd, but plans to keep ared-hided genetic base on theBell Ranch. Under new managerKris Wilson, previously with theMatador Ranch in Texas, they’llshift away from the Bell Redcomposite, grow their RedAngus commercial numbers incoming years, and eventuallymove into their Rangefire genet-ics as a terminal cross. As they tweak the genetics,

they’ll continue to be very sensi-tive, as they are on all theirranches, to matching females tothe environment. “It’s incrediblybeautiful, the ranch is,” Viatorsays. “For all the beauty theranch has, I think when it’s dry,it can be equally as cruel. It willbe important to understand andmanage around what moistureand environment dictate.” For the Bell Ranch, they’re

shooting for a 1,150- to 1,200-lb.cow that can wean 50 percent ofher body weight every year. Inthe good grass years, the cowswill be expected to come in witha heavier calf, while in the drytimes, bring a calf that’s a similarpercent of her bodyweight andstill rebreed. Silver Spur retains ownership

in the majority of its calves, feed-ing them in commercial feed-yards and marketing fed cattle asnatural or non-hormone treatedcattle (NHTC).Their goal for asteer going to harvest is first a

calf that will make money. Tohelp accomplish that, they’relooking for 85 percent Choice,YG 3 or better and a mid-60sdressing percent. Silver Spur has a large histori-

cal database of harvest informa-tion on its cattle, but tying thefeedyard and carcass data backto the ranch has been a chal-lenge. So they’re working tobuild a system to track from cowto carcass and back to cow, usingvisual tags on the cows and elec-tronic ID tags on the calves. Thegoal is to gain efficiency by elim-inating the bottom-producingcows across the entire operation. “When we get through, every-

thing will be individually identi-fied. So we’ll incorporate tech-nology with tradition in order tocreate profitability for theranch,” Viator says. “We have a lot of respect for

the traditions and the culture ofeach area where our ranchesare,” Viator says. “I think it’simportant going forward that wemaintain that. Silver Spur is veryfamily-oriented and the core val-ues of the company are things Ithink we need to see in ourcountry — integrity, family,God. Those things are whatwe’re about.” Those who care about the

ranching tradition of the Westfind comfort in that. “It’s one ofthe last great places on earth,”Caren Cowan, New MexicoCattle Growers Associationexecutive director, says of theBell Ranch. “It’s the foundationof the custom and culture of theWest. It’s part of what you thinkis always going to be there. Italways has been and we look for-ward to it always being there.”

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by JIM THORPE

Nearly thirty persons, rep-resenting four states, avariety of professions, anda strong common interest

in managing rangelands, metnear Cimarron, N.M. for a Soci-ety for Range Management(SRM) tour of the Express UUBar ranch.Once part of the legendary

Maxwell land grant, the originalUU Bar was by the 1920s part ofthe holding of Waite Phillipswho established the neighboringPhilmont Scout ranch. In 2006,Oklahoman Bob Funk acquiredthe UU Bar and soon three addi-tional neighboring ranches rang-ing in elevation from 6,000 to10,000 feet and totaling upwardsof 160,000 acres. The New Mex-ico commercial cattle operationwas acquired to complement theExpress seedstock and otherenterprises in Oklahoma. Theday before closing on the ranch,a hot rapidly-moving wildfire,started by downed transmissionlines on a windy spring day,burned up large portion of theplains country. “The sale still pro-ceeded,” said Mike Hobbs,ranch general manager, but fromday one, with countless smokeyhot spots threatening to igniteanew, the new management hadto hit the ground running.The present UU Bar encom-

passes three previous operationsranging over a wide range of ter-rain, range types, and incomeproducing enterprises. Findingthe appropriate managementapproach for each, and integrat-ing them into a productive andsustainable whole was a theme ofthe tour. The 9,000' high coun-

try, dappled with beautiful parksand ponds, edged by thick standsof spruce and aspen, providessummer season grazing for up to12,000 Mexican sourced year-lings. A line camp crew spendsthe summer looking after them(death loss less than two percent;gains around 280 pounds) andmanaging grazing distribution.The yearlings are trailed up inJune and down by September. Aclassic example of a “high intensi-ty, short duration” grazing unitwas a mid-way “rest stop” usedduring these transits. The vigorand diversity of forage plants wasimpressive, especially consideringthat it “usually looks like a park-ing lot” after the steers move on.Management issues in the

high country include an over-abundance of wild iris, a nativeforb. Unpalatable to cattle andelk, the iris is competing with thecool season grasses in the openparks. Some suggested bringingin forb eaters such as sheep andgoats, but because of predatorsand economics, that is easy topromote in theory but harder toput into practice. Elk, here aselsewhere, are also a challenge ingrazing management, as they willoften trail behind the cattle in thegrazing circuits, eating the tendervegetative regrowth and frustrat-ing the opportunities for theseareas to rest and recover from themanaged grazing of cattle. Moni-toring of exclosure cages haveestablished that the elk herdsconsume roughly 40 percent ofthe produced annual forage, leav-ing significantly less for the cattleoperation. While elk hunting doesindeed provide significant incomeopportunities for the UU Bar (asdo also fishing, game birds, deer

and antelope), both economicsand land management would beimproved if there were fewer elkand more cattle. A stop in the middle elevation

country showcased a valley bot-tom that had been mechanicallycleared of juniper to enhanceforage production and improvewatershed function. Removal ofthe root balls and burning ofbrush piles were stressed asimportant practices to insuresuccess and minimize reinvasion.Plans are in place to turn theproblem of the overabundantwoody species (including over-grown high country stands) intoan asset by harvesting it for abio-mass electricity generationproject that is to be situated atthe north end of the ranch; theelectricity created will then pro-vide power to the town of AngelFire. A number of small pitponds caught run-off in the val-ley bottom to help regulatesnowmelt and gulley-washers.Much of the middle countryconsists of table lands that arealso utilized by the yearling oper-ation; the strong blue grammahere provides the best gains (upto 325 lbs.).The 6,000' “low country” is

home to 1,000 commercial Blackand Red Angus cows, a 600-headcommercial replacement heiferenterprise, a cutting horse train-ing facility (which utilizes thereplacement heifers), hay mead-ows and pivots, and an impres-sive lodge and headquartersacross the road from Kit Car-son’s original ranch at Rayado.Besides being a base camp offer-ing excellent cuisine and hospi-tality, the UU Bar lodge is astunning showcase for sculptureand taxidermy featuring regionalwildlife. Below the HQ are allthe necessary ranch facilities,including a very stout 10-foot-tallgame trap (installed by a previ-ous owner) in a sub-irrigatedmeadow that makes for animpenetrable barrier for across-the-fence weaning.Wagon ruts from the old San-

ta Fe trail are still clearly visibleon the plains near the path ofthat fire from a few years ago.Expanding cholla and pricklybrownish range caterpillars are aconcern here. There are manycontrol approaches, but whichones are cost effective? Thenthere is the great who-dunnitmystery that followed the fire.Cattle were dying mysteriouslyfor little apparent reason, and noone could figure out why. Theculprit? It turned out to bekochia, the non-native annualthat colonizes bare spots andoften thought of as “pretty goodfeed.” It was exceptionally thickwhere fly-ash from the fire hadcollected and windrowed;nitrates were then taken up bythe plant to toxic levels. The cat-tle were kept off of it for a yearto let the concentrations dissi-pate.

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by KATE GALBRAITH / The Texas Tribune

The next Texas legislativesession, during the fewminutes not taken up withthe budget, redistricting

and immigration, an old stand-byof an issue could creep onto theagenda: water.Observers say legislative pro-

posals on groundwater rights areprobable, given that Texas is justwrapping up a controversialprocess for planning the alloca-tion of water from aquifers, whileenvironmentalists will be pushingmore measures for water conser-vation. The discussions will beamplified because the TexasWater Development Board,which finances water and waste-water infrastructure projectsaround the state, is up for reviewby the Sunset Advisory Commis-sion, as is the Texas Commissionon Environmental Quality,which regulates water pollution.Water “should be an impor-

tant issue in this next session,”says Russell Johnson, a water lawexpert with the McGinnis,Lochridge & Kilgore law firmwho has done work for the Texasand Southwestern Cattle RaisersAssociation and the TexasWildlife Association on ground-water-related matters.Last session, one of few

notable water-related bills to passwas was a bill carried by stateRep. Allan Ritter, D-Nederland,that tightened water-efficiencyrequirements for toilets sold inTexas, as well as for faucets orshower heads. (The only otherstate to enact similar require-ments for toilets is California.)The biggest water issue before

the Legislature is likely to be bal-ancing the long-term health ofTexas’ aquifers with propertyrights. The state has just com-pleted an intensive planningprocess, established by the Leg-islature in 2005, in which localauthorities decide how muchthey will allow their aquifers tobe depleted in 50 years (theresultant numbers are called the“desired future conditions” of theaquifers). The Texas WaterDevelopment Board is process-ing these aquifer-depletion num-bers and will soon send back tolocal authorities calculations onhow much water per year theycan draw down, given their 50-year outlooks.But some groups are unhappy

about the planning process andmay well urge legislation amend-ing it. In particular, water mar-keters — entities seeking to gath-er groundwater rights and sellwater in bulk to thirsty munici-palities — say their propertyrights have been abridged,because their potential use of theaquifers was not taken intoaccount in the 50-year plans.Existing legislation “does not

provide for a dispute resolutionprocess,” says Joel Katz, a manag-er of End-Op, a water-marketingfirm that wants to sell water tothe fast-growing Interstate 35and Highway 130 corridors. End-

Op is currently battling the LostPines groundwater conservationdistrict around Bastrop for theright to do so. (Johnson also rep-resents End-Op’s interests.)The Sunset Advisory Commis-

sion’s report on the Water Devel-opment Board, released thismonth, seems to agree that aremedy is needed. As it stands,the groundwater planning process“does not provide for a completeadministrative process thatensures the basic elements of dueprocess,” the report states. Cur-rently, Katz says, the only optionfor filing an objection is the rela-tively mild step of complaining tothe Water Development Board,which can then ask local authori-ties to reconsider their plans.Legislation on other aspects

of the groundwater-planningprocess could also be forthcom-ing. A group called the TexasWater Conservation Associationhas been working to bringtogether a range of water inter-ests — cities, river authorities,industry consultants — to reachconsensus on desired improve-ments to the groundwater man-agement process. Several areas

of agreement have been reached,according to Dean Robbins, thegroup's assistant general manag-er — including how the processgets published. The Sunset Commission staff

report also calls for better coor-dination among various authori-ties involved in the groundwater-planning process. And otherpossible groundwater-related leg-islation hinges on the long-await-ed outcome of Edwards AquiferAuthority v. Day, currentlypending at the Texas SupremeCourt, which will weigh the bal-ance between landowners’ rightsto water beneath their land andthe authority of groundwaterauthorities to regulate it.Besides groundwater plan-

ning, conservationists will also beputting forward proposals nextsession. Among them: remedy-ing municipal water-conservationreporting requirements, whichcurrently do not adhere to acommon standard, thus makingit hard for the state to judge thesuccess of conservation efforts.State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, has already filed a bill onon the subject, and the Sunset

report recommends making thischange.Another bill would require

most water utilities to audit theirwater losses (from leakypipelines or other glitches) eachyear, as opposed to the currentrequirement of every five years.A bill to do this was pushed lastsession by state Rep. Tara Rios-Ybarra, D-Padre Island. But it“got lost in muddle,” says CaroleBaker, the Texas-based chair-woman of the national Alliancefor Water Efficiency (Rios-Ybar-ra was beaten in the March pri-mary). Legislation to encouragerainwater harvesting was alsointroduced last session by Rep.Doug Miller, R-New Braunfels,and defeated state Rep. PatrickRose, D-Dripping Springs; rain-water’s backers could try again.Then there is Sunset. Unlike

other agencies subject to Sunsetreview, the Texas Water Develop-ment Board will not be automati-cally abolished if Sunset legisla-tion is not passed. But the Sunsetprocess will increase scrutiny ofthe agency, which, as the reportnotes, is “not accustomed tobeing square in the eye of contro-versy” but is currently in thecrossfire of concerns about itsgroundwater-planning process.

The Water DevelopmentBoard also badly needs up to $6billion in bond-issuance authori-ty for projects like fixing sewersystems or keeping tap watersafe, as well as assisting smallrural water utilities. The boardgenerally has to request themoney (not its only source offunding, but its largest) everyfew years, and current bondmoney “may be exhausted assoon as the end of fiscal year2011,” according to the Sunsetreport. Any bonding authoritymust also be approved by votersand will presumably be on theballot next November.But getting bonding authority

approval is “going to be semi-con-troversial,” says Ken Kramer, theTexas director of the Sierra Club.Because the Water DevelopmentBoard is requesting up to $6 bil-lion in permanent, or “evergreen”authority — meaning that, unlikein the past, it will not need tokeep going back to the votersunless truly vast sums are needed.“That is something that many ofus have a problem with because ittakes away one layer of accounta-bility,” Kramer says. The environ-mental community, he says, is“probably going to be in opposi-tion to the evergreen provision.”

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Will Water Rights Be on the Legislature’s Agenda?


of the backside of the scrotummay be a sign of earlier frostbite,which can cause temporary orpermanent infertility.When evaluating a bull’s scro-

tum, do it on a warm day whenthe cremaster muscle (that raisesand lowers the testicles, for opti-mum temperature control) isrelaxed and the testicles arehanging down. They will bemuch easier to see, evaluate, ormeasure.Circumference is easily

measured, and bulls measuredat a year of age should havescrotal circumference of at least32 centimeters and preferably34 to 36. There is a significantcorrelation between scrotal cir-cumference and sperm cell vol-ume, and percentage of normalsperm cells. It’s usually best tochoose a bull with average orabove circumference, ratherthan settling for the acceptableminimum. Bulls with smalltestes not only have lower spermproduction but may also haveincomplete testicle developmentor testicular degeneration. Bullswith circumference of 29 cen-timeters or less may produce nosperm at all. Bulls with smallerthan average testicles may befertile for a year or two and thenbecome less fertile or even ster-ile. There’s more abnormalsperm in their semen, possiblydue to early degeneration.Regarding scrotal circumfer-

ence, keep in mind that there arebreed differences, with certainbreeds having larger (and somehaving smaller) average circum-ference than other breeds. Some,like the traditional Salers cattle,had smaller circumference butlonger testicles, and high fertility— since the added length proba-bly increased the total massenough to make up for the small-er circumference. Some researchwas done on trying to measure/evaluate length as well as circum-ference, but this is a much hard-er characteristic to accuratelymeasure.Some breeds with small testi-

cles, such as Limousin, tend tobe lower in fertility than theaverage of certain other breeds.When evaluating any individualbull, take breed differences intoaccount, but also be wary ofusing any bull with scrotal cir-cumference less than 34 cen-timeters (as a yearling). Bullswith a yearling circumference ofless than 32 centimeters shouldnever be used for breeding.

attachment, teat length, etc. arevery important in our selectionprocess. We udder score all ourcattle at calving time every year,and cull the ones that don’tmeasure up,” says Ehlke.Calving time is the best time

to assess udders, because with

some cows the teats will shrinkup again after the calf has suck-led for a few weeks and theudder may look pretty good, andyou forget how big and bal-looned the teats can get, untilthe next calving season. “I justdon’t want to be milking cows orhaving to assist a calf in gettingon a teat. That’s not what mygoal was, in raising beef cows.”Disposition is also a very

important part of the mix. It maynot be as crucial if a steer is a lit-tle flighty, but you certainly don’twant heifers that are hard tomanage, if they will be staying inyour herd or going to someone

else’s herd as replacements. Youwant cows that are easy to han-dle. “We feel there is a hereditaryfactor in disposition and tem-perament,” he says. It’s partlyheritable and partly the way theyare handled, but some animalsare just a lot easier to train for

ease of handling than others.“We notice this, especially in

our black cattle. With years ofwork, they are not much differ-ent in their ease of handling thanour Hereford cattle, but we arevery strict about how they arehandled,” says Ehlke. A personcan easily ruin them if they arehandled wrong. “That’s the thing about a

black cow. She’s not going to letyou make very many mistakes,like the Hereford will. The Here-fords are more forgiving,” hesays. Careful selection, and goodhandling, are all part of theprocess for developing a herd of

nice cattle. Some individualsdon’t train as readily as others.“I see there is some research

data coming out now in regardto disposition, and the profitabil-ity of quiet cattle. People arefinally realizing that there’s a def-inite benefit to having quiet cat-tle. This is very good for those ofus who have Hereford cattle.Most of them are more mellow,to start with, than Angus, forinstance,” he says.When selecting a sire, Ehlke

says that the bull also has to fit

the bill in looks. “Phenotype isimportant, and these animalshave to be correct. We likefemales with a lot of ribcage andcapacity. It’s a complicatedselection process, to put it alltogether.” Most breeders have apicture in the back of theirminds, regarding what the idealfemale should look like. Theremay not be an ideal cow, butsome cattle come a lot closerthan others. Then you have toput this together with perform-ance. You want everything in

that cow’s favor, for performanceand longevity.“This is what we are trying to

do — breed a herd of ideal cows,”says Ehlke. That’s the excitingchallenge of a breeding program,and it certainly keeps your inter-est, when you can see things thatdo work, or can see you are mak-ing progress in certain directions.It’s always a work in progress, andwe keep learning more and moreabout breeding and cattle selec-tion, and the cattle themselvesare always teaching us.

by HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

Shape and circumference ofa bull’s scrotum/testes canbe an indication of fertility.Size can be measured, and

the stockman needs to makesure the bull’s testes are of ade-quate size for optimum spermproduction. Shape is also impor-tant. The bull must be able toeasily raise or lower the testiclesfor temperature regulation. Theyshould hang down, well awayfrom the body, especially on ahot day. There should be an

obvious neck at the top, with tes-ticles hanging down large andpear-shaped.A bull with a straight-sided or

V-shaped scrotum may not be asfertile as a bull with more normalshape. A straight-sided scrotummay be an indication of toomuch fat around and above thetesticles, which can hinder tem-perature regulation and makethe bull less fertile. Also be waryof selecting bulls with odd-shaped testicles such as onesmaller than the other. Scabby,thickened skin on the lower part

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Selecting a Maternal Sire continued from page fourteen

People are finally realizing that there’s a definite benefit

to having quiet cattle.

state, to help out. “It was neverabout the money. There are easi-er ways to make money, but notmany more fun ways to makemoney. It took a certain kind ofperson to work there. You had tohave endurance and the kind ofmind that could constantly makesmall transactions quickly.”

“When I first met Alex, I wasimpressed with his attitude. Hewas eager, energetic and enthusi-astic about his business,” saidJim Sachse, Las Cruces. “He wasalways very fair with his cus-tomers. The Sheepherders’ Caféwas one of the most reasonablypriced places at the fair, and cer-tainly the best place on the fair-grounds to eat.”“Alex is just a hard working,

honest, sincere kind of guy,”agreed Dan Liesner, Las Cruces.“One thing that impressed mewas that he was always lookingfor solutions to problems, forhow to make things work, andwas never critical. It was disap-pointing to a lot of people whenhe wasn’t at the fair this year.”For three years, the Sheep-

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herder’s Café sponsored an essaycontest on natural resourcesissues to encourage high schoolstudents to develop ideas andfurther their education.In addition to the State Fair

concession, Chisholm operated arestaurant, also called the Sheep-herder’s Café for ten years, from

fall 1983 to fall 1993 in the uni-versity area of Albuquerque,where the fare included lamband other dishes. He attendedlaw school as a result of a disputeconcerning his son’s health care,and has developed a successfulbusiness and contract law career.He also operates a constructionbusiness, Chisholm Construc-tion, which is managed by hispartner of twenty years, CarolynMurphy. He has one son, John.“Alex had the conviction that

lamb was a good product, andmade that into a successful ven-ture that was a great benefit toour industry,” concludedGnatkowski. “He has been agood friend to our family, and agood friend to and ambassadorfor the sheep and wool industry.”

“. . . MANY PEOPLE TRIED LAMB THAT NEVER WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE BEEN EXPOSED TO OUR PRODUCT.”


by CALLIE GNATKOWSKI-GIBSON

“Best cotton candy”“The fair will never be the same”“We miss you”“Nooo!! We come every year

just for you guys!”

These were just some of thecomments written by disap-pointed fair-goers on thesign hanging on the closed

concession stand in the DairyBarn at the 2010 New MexicoState Fair that for many yearshoused the Sheepherder’s Café.Proprietor Alex Chisholm and

his crew retired at the end of the2009 New Mexico State Fair,after 30 years of serving a varietyof lamb dishes that alwaysincluded lamb burgers and hugecotton candy to the public. At the recent Joint Stock-

men’s Convention, the NewMexico Wool Growers, Inc.(NMWGI) presented Chisholmwith the Amigo Award in recog-nition of his contributions to thesheep and lamb industry. “Alexhas introduced more people inthis state to lamb than anyoneelse has,” said Ancho rancherPete Gnatkowski. “He spent allof those years at the State Fair,serving lamb stew, lamb burgersand other dishes. As a result,many people tried lamb that nev-er would have otherwise beenexposed to our product.”Chisholm estimates that on

average, the Sheeperder’s Cafésold 600 pounds of lamb duringeach year’s seventeen-day statefair, for a total of at least 18,000pounds of lamb sold during their30-year tenure. “The first fewyears, it wasn’t that much, but inour heyday, we would gothrough at around 1,000 poundseach year.”Chisholm, who grew up fol-

lowing the racetrack circuit inNew Mexico and Arizona, saidhe got the idea to sell lamb outof a sheep wagon during a sea-son spent herding sheep inWyoming after college. After importing a wagon from

northern Utah and renovating itto include a kitchen and electric-ity, Chisholm took his idea toState Fair Manager BillHumphries in 1980. I told himwhat I wanted to do — promoteagriculture and sell lamb,”Chisholm explained. “He said itsounded like a good idea butthat there just wasn’t room at thefair the coming year. I hadbrought a thermos of my grand-mother’s lamb stew with me, andgave him a bowl. After he triedthe stew, he said, “We’ll find aplace for you.”The Sheepherder’s Café oper-

ated out of that sheep wagon forseveral years, and eventuallymoved out of the wagon and intotwo different concession stands.He said he chose lamb becausehe always liked lamb, and likedthat it was a healthy meat. “Theeconomics of the sheep industrydictate that the meat is healthier.You don’t have to worry aboutproducers pumping animals full ofhormones or slaughteringunhealthy animals — it’s just not

worth it for that producer. Plus, Ijust like the flavor of lamb better.”The majority of the lamb for

the concession came directlyfrom the slaughterhouse, Moun-tain Meadow’s Lamb Corpora-tion, which was eventually boughtout by Superior. Meat was thenprocessed at different USDA cer-tified shops in town. For the firstcouple of years, Chisholm alsoused some lamb raised by NewMexico producers which wasprocessed by the last USDAslaughterhouse in Albuquerque.Before the slaughterhouse

provided different cuts of meat,Chisholm cut carcasses for manyyears. Because ground lamb wasnot available for purchase in theearly years, he ground the lambfor the lamb burgers for severalyears. This led him to develop aground lamb product, marketedunder the Sheepherder’s Cafélabel — the first USDA-approvedlabel for a ground lamb product— at Safeway and Price Club.“New Mexico producers

always wanted to know why Iwasn’t selling New Mexico lamb,but for years there wasn’t aUSDA-certified slaughterhouse

in the state. When there was, theprice of the product just wasn’tcompetitive,” Chisholm said.The final two years, however, hepurchased his lamb from Her-itage Meats, a slaughterhouse inMountainair that buys andprocesses lamb grown in-state,and was finally able to sell NewMexico product at the fair.The fun and adrenaline rush of

the fair is what kept them comingback year after year, he noted. “Itwas fun because it was so intense— seventeen days of being righton the edge of chaos but stillkeeping things together. We allloved being there, loved the expe-rience, and loved the people.”“We always looked forward to

seeing the 4-H and FFA kids,the first week of the fair wasalways the most fun,” he contin-ued. “The kids were hugelypolite, and it was fun to watchthem grow up from year to year.It was a combination of the kids,the rush of the crowd, just a lotof things that we really enjoyed.”And it wasn’t just Chisholm

who enjoyed the experience, hiscrew members returned year afteryear, sometimes from out of

Chisholm Honored by Wool Growers

clear that three jolts of joy juiceonly made the bull mad; madenough that he charged thetruck with a vengeance.Darts four and five also left

the bull unbothered and his on-rush continued. “The bull nowhad more darts planted intohim,” readers are told, “than anyother bovine in the history of thetranquilize and tie down methodof wild cattle catching.” The cow-boys were obliged to retreat, asthe bull pursued them. Theremainder of the book recountsthe further adventures of thefour cowboys as the chase goeson, and on.This is a fun book and should

be a quick and easy read forranch folks as well as those whohave never enjoyed the smell of amanure pile. The ending willplease the latter group, but I fearthat those who have spent some

time on the range will have hearddifferent versions of the storybefore. The book might havebenefited by the services of aproofreader. Misplaced punc-tionation does not, however,take the fun out of the book.And, readers will not find sex,mayhem or bad language onthese pages.Author Jim Olson was raised

on a ranch on the high plains ofEastern New Mexico. In addi-tion to his duties as a ranch handand equipment operator, hebecame a proficient calf roperand competed at the PRCA lev-el. He continues to enjoy teamroping with his family and partic-ipates in several events per year.His first book was My CowboyHeroes Volume I. He is a mem-ber of Western Writers of Ameri-ca. He is also the owner of Ari-zona and New Mexico RanchReal Estate. He is a regular con-tributor to the New MexicoStockman and resides near Stan-field, Arizona.This and other Olson works

can be purchased at: http://www.mycowboyheroes.com/.


This is a tale within a tale.Four young Texas cowboys,working on a ranch in cen-tral New Mexico — three

hundred sections extending fromthe Rio Grande to “the moun-tains on the far east side upabove the valley” — test theircowboying mettle against agnarly old bull in modern times.Along the way they learn a num-ber of valuable lessons.Readers are lead to believe

that these are experienced ranchhands so this is no litany of dudemisfortunes on the cactus cov-ered New Mexico range. Thatdoes not mean, though, that theyreally knew what they were doingwhen it came to limiting thefreedom of the old bull. Theysoon learned, for instance, thatthe big bovine was not in theleast intimidated by the pickuptruck they drove. The mightymammal stood in the road as ifdaring the vehicle to try andpass. Then they learned that asingle tranquilizer dart had noeffect whatever upon the behav-ior of el toro, nor did two darts,or even three. In fact it became

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Review by Jeamie Burris-Awalt /

Silver City Daily Press

Charlie McCarty titled hisbook Trouble in a GreenPickup for a reason. Thebook has come to life by

the shared efforts of the McCar-ty couple and their family. Char-lie wrote the stories down onpaper and his wife, Thelma,typed. Their family is helpingwith promotion. It has not been

easy for McCarty to get his bookpublished, but he is seriousabout getting his story told.The setting for the book is

western New Mexico with Char-lie McCarty being born in Feb-ruary 1940. The book begins bysharing experiences of ranch life,which generations of the McCar-ty family has faced. He has livedhis life in the general area asmany of his ancestors did. Whenreading the book it becomesapparent that McCarty is anAmerican and proud of it. Hehas the courage and the back-bone required to survive in livingin rural New Mexico.McCarty knows first-hand the

situations cattlemen experience

BOOKREVIEW

The Proud Bull: A Tale of Catching

Wild Cattle . . . With a Twist!by Jim Olson • 134 pages

O Slash O, 2009Review by

Don Bullis

BOOKREVIEW

Trouble in a Green Pickupby Charlie McCarty

Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc., 2010

concerning droughts, floods, coldwinters and the people who canaffect the business because hehas lived that life. He sharesaccounts of family ranches adnbusinesses being controlled andruined by federal governmentinterference. Charlie and Thelmaare business owners and haveseen many changes over the yearsin their hometown of Reserve.The U.S. Forest Service

(USFS) has affected not onlyMcCarty, but also the lives of hisfamily and countless others inNew Mexico. He sheds light onthe practices used by the USFSover the past 100 years and thesituations created for thoseinvolved.The books is worth reading to

get the viewpoint and the feel-ings that many old-timers inrural New Mexico carry towardthe USFS. Copies can be pur-chased on Amazon.com.

John Knipe continued from page ten

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Morgan, Colo., plant from Maythrough August. Of the 85,000head of cattle, nearly 60,000head received two doses of thevaccine, one upon arrival at thefeedlot and one about 90 daysbefore harvesting. The remainingcattle received a single dose andserved as buffers before and afterthose cycling through the feed-lots and that had received twodoses.

Buffers allowed Cargill toestablish scientific controls totest the effect of whole-feedlotvaccination under commercialconditions.Replicating the first trial will

be a challenge given the numberof factors that can potentiallyinfluence the effectiveness of avaccine for reducing E. coli inbeef cattle. Among them areweather, geography, seasonality,animal and herd care and man-agement and vaccine dosage.Moreover, Cargill noted a low

level of E. coli O157:H7 in the

beef produced at Fort Morganfrom the non-vaccinated cattlewhile vaccinated cattle werebeing harvested. That, Schaefersaid, might influence the signifi-cance of the data now being analyzed by independentresearchers at Kansas State andTexas Tech universities, theUSDA’s Meat Animal ResearchCenter and the Beef Checkoff,results of which will likely beavailable early next year.They’re trying to better under-

stand the meaning and value ofthe reduction in E. coli in beeffrom the vaccinated cattle, com-pared with beef from non-vacci-nated animals. This vaccine trialmarked the first completed pre-harvest intervention trial thatmonitored activity from the timeof vaccination through measure-ments in meat.“The low level of E. coli

O157:H7 in the beef from con-trol cattle is something we needto take into consideration whenwe analyze the data to determinethe vaccine’s true impact andpotential,” Schaefer said. “Thescientist in me tells me muchmore research remains to beconducted before we can drawany meaningful conclusionsabout the long-term efficacy ofvaccine use to reduce any strainof bacteria potentially found inbeef that could pose health risksto consumers.”

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by TOM JOHNSTON, meatingplace.com

Cargill will enter a secondstage of testing vaccinesintended to reduce E. coliO157:H7 occurrence in

cattle, following promisingresults in the project’s first round.Dan Schaefer, Cargill assis-

tant vice president for beefresearch and development, toldthe food and feed safety commit-tee of the United States AnimalHealth Association in Min-neapolis on Sunday thatresearchers saw a favorableimmune-system response to thevaccine and the cattle had noadverse reaction. “[We] believe there is enough

evidence to move forward with asecond vaccine trial and antici-pate doing so in summer 2011 ata Midwest beef processing facili-ty supplied by mid-size feedlotsin the region,” Schaefer said,according to a Cargill newsrelease. “We’re determining thebest way to proceed with this sci-ence-based, evolutionaryprocess, which we hope will leadto validating the potential valueof vaccine as another food safetytool for beef production.”The first trial in 2010, at a

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Review by Lee Pitts

Prescott, Arizona is cowboycountry. Some of thelargest ranches in theUnited States are within a

day’s circle on the back of ahorse. And Prescott claims to behome to the world’s oldestrodeo. We know, other placesalso make that claim but let’s justsay that since 1888 they’ve beenputting on a rodeo in this town.Match that.Kathy McCraine was born in

Texas, but after about 50 yearsthe Arizona folks have stoppedholding that against her. Herfolks moved to Walnut Grove,Arizona, where Kathy was ranch-raised. She earned a Bachelor ofArts degree from the Universityof Arizona in Journalism and Artand has spent her professionalcareer putting her education togood use. You’ve probably seenher writing, photography and/orartwork if you read WesternHorseman, Range, Arizona High-ways, Thunderbird Magazine, orAmerican Cowboy.If you haven’t seen her byline

in any of those places perhapsyou’ve read one of her three suc-cessful cookbooks, (soon to befour) including Camouflage Cui-sine, which has been in print for26 years.Having such traditional and

historic ranches in the neighbor-

hood like the O RO, the Dia-mond A, and Babbitt Ranchesinspired Kathy to put together acookbook featuring recipes andstories used in the bunkhouse,out in cow camps and aroundthe chuck wagon. Withoutmeaning to offend any otherwriters, let us just say thatKathy’s latest book, Cow CountryCooking, is about the best we’veever laid eyes on. Needless tosay, these aren’t recipes thatstart out, “Open a can of Camp-bell’s mushroom soup.” This isthe food of real ranch cooks, notcelebrity chefs.“Northern Arizona cowboys,”

says Kathy, “have a distinctivestyle that sets them apart fromthose in other states, and evensouthern Arizona. Ranch cooks,however, come in a variety ofmodels. Meat, beans, and pota-toes are the staples here, butwith such an influx of peoplefrom all areas of the country andthe world, you’ll find endless eth-nic variety, even sophistication,in our ranch cooking. Over thedecades many cultures havemigrated here. Our neighbors tothe south in Sonora brought astyle of Mexican cooking thatdiffers from that of Texas or Cal-ifornia. The Basque people ofFrance and Spain, who came

here to herd sheep in the nine-teenth century, brought theirown rustic cooking style. Greeks,Germans, and Italians have alsoadded their influence to the richfusion of ranch cooking.“Many of the cooks I visited

at ranch houses, wagons and cowcamps were kind enough to writedown their recipes. In other cas-es, I had to sit down and watchthem cook, or pry a somewhatrough account of ingredients andcooking directions from them.Then I went home and cookedthe dish, figuring out how toduplicate what I had just tasted.”

Cow Country Cookbook fea-tures two dozen beautiful water-color paintings by Texas artist,Mark Kohler, and a veritable feastof witty stories and sayings fromsome top hands on northern Ari-zona ranches that are as tasty asthe recipes. For example, Joe St.Clair, the Diamond A cook said,“When I was growing up thingswere tough. It was potatoes oneday and peelings the next.” And my personal favorite

from Wayne Word, the O ROranch manager: “Life is uncer-tain. Eat dessert first.”That’s what Kathy’s latest

offering is, a great big heapinghelping of the West that goesdown easy and will leave youbegging for seconds.

‘The cookbook is $30 plus $4 shippingand handling ($1.25 for each additionalbook). Send check or money order toKathy McCraine, 7765 Williamson ValleyRd., Prescott, AZ 86305. [email protected].

BOOKREVIEW

Cow Country Cooking — Recipes and Tales from

Northern Arizona’s Historic Ranches

by Kathy McCraine • 192 pages Toppan Printing, 2010

www.ranchingforprofit.com

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from SCIENCEDAILY

Previous research hasclaimed that the reintro-duction of wolves to Yel-lowstone National Park in

1995 is helping restore quakingaspen in risky areas where wolvesprowl. But apparently elk hungryfor winter food had a differentidea. They did not know theywere supposed to be respondingto a “landscape of fear.” According to a study set to be

published in Ecology, a journalof the Ecological Society ofAmerica, the fear of wolf preda-tion may not be discouraging elkfrom eating aspen trees after all. Previous thinking went like

this: Aspen are not regeneratingwell in Yellowstone NationalPark. Elk eat young aspen. Butwolves eat elk. Elk will learn toavoid high-risk areas that wolvesfrequent. Plants in those areas —such as aspen — will then get achance to grow big enough sothat elk cannot kill them. Eventu-ally, an entire habitat is restoredbecause of a landscape of fear. Over the last 15 years, the

reintroduction of wolves in Yel-lowstone was heralded as a greatsuccess, not only because itreestablished the species, but alsobecause wolves were expected tohelp restore a healthier ecosystemthrough such cascading indirecteffects on other species. But this recent study led by

Matthew Kauffman, a U.S. Geo-logical Survey scientist, suggeststhat aspen are not benefittingfrom the landscape of fear creat-ed by wolves, and that claims ofan ecosystem-wide recovery ofaspen are premature. “This study not only confirms

that elk are responsible for thedecline of aspen in Yellowstonebeginning in the 1890s, but alsothat none of the aspen grovesstudied after wolf restorationappear to be regenerating, even inareas risky to elk,” said Kauffman. Because the fear of wolves

does not appear to be benefitingaspen, the authors conclude thatif the Northern Range elk popu-lation does not continue todecline — their numbers are 40percent of what they were beforewolves — many of Yellowstone’saspen stands are unlikely torecover. “A landscape-level aspenrecovery is likely only to occur ifwolves, in combination with oth-er predators and climate factors,further reduce the elk popula-tion,” Kauffman said. Predators play an important

role in ecosystems, said Kauff-man, and can influence plants byaltering how many herbivoresthere are (by eating the herbi-vores) or by changing the behav-ior of herbivores (deterring themfrom areas where predatorslurk). He adds, however, thatconsiderable scientific debateexists regarding the importanceof these two ways in which pred-

ators influence their prey. Andthis is especially true for largecarnivores. To complicate matters, preda-

tors use different hunting strate-gies — there is the sit-and-waitstrategy (as with a spider in aweb, or a rattlesnake waiting fora mouse to leave its burrow) andthe more active, go get ‘em strat-egy (think cheetahs and wolves).“So, given that it takes a lot ofenergy to avoid a predator —energy that could be used tostave off winter starvation — wewanted to find out whether theprey of active-hunting predatorssuch as wolves demonstratedrisk-induced changes in areaswhere they foraged for food,”Kauffman said. To do this, the authors ana-

lyzed tree rings to discern when,in the last century, aspen standsstopped regenerating, examinedwhether aspen stands havebegun to regenerate now thatwolves have been reintroducedto the park and tested whetherany differences in aspen regener-ation were occurring in areasconsidered safe or risky for for-aging elk. They used a landscape-wide risk map of elk killed bywolves over the first 10 years ofwolf recovery. Finally, theauthors experimentally fenced inyoung aspen suckers to comparethe protection afforded to themby wolves versus that of a physi-cal barrier that prevented elkbrowsing. “The results were surprising

and have led us to refute severalprevious claims regarding inter-actions among wolves, elk andaspen in Yellowstone,” Kauffmansaid. The tree rings showed that

the period when aspen failed toregenerate (1892 to 1956) lastedmore than 60 years, spanningperiods with and without wolvesby several decades. “We conclud-ed from this that the failure ofaspen to regenerate was causedby an increase in the number ofelk following the disappearanceof wolves in the 1920s ratherthan by a rapid behavioral shiftto more browsing on aspen oncewolves were gone from the park,”said Kauffman. Surveys of current conditions

indicated that aspen in studystands exposed to elk browsingwere not growing to heights nec-essary to make them invulnera-ble to elk. The only places wheresuckers survived to reach aheight sufficient to avoid brows-ing were in the fenced-in areas.In addition, aspen stands identi-fied as risky from the predationrisk map were browsed just asoften as aspen growing in lessrisky areas. “This work is consistent with

much of what researchers havelearned from studying wolves andelk in Yellowstone,” Kauffman

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Horses for Heroes — Cow-boy UP!, a Santa Fe-based program to helpveterans returning from

combat in Iraq and Afghanistanby using horses and horsebackriding, is bringing New Mexicoranchers and veterans together.Free to veterans and active mili-tary, returning soldiers learn tocare for and ride horses, thenlearn other ranch tasks, includingworking cattle, and eventuallyassist with work at participatingranches.Program founder Rick Ian-

nucci, former Green Beret andretired U.S. Marshal and now arancher himself set up the initia-tive based on similaritiesbetween military and ranchingcultures that he felt could helphis fellow veterans. “The values of the ranching

community are almost an overlayof military values,” he said. “Theno-nonsense attitude and workethic are exactly the kind ofatmosphere our veterans areused to. It’s something you justdon’t get hanging at the mall orworking at any many other jobs.”Veterans suffering from both

post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) and/or physical combatinjuries from service in Opera-tion Iraqi Freedom (OIF) andOperation Enduring Freedom —Afghanistan (OEF) are wel-comed into the program butthere are participants who haveseen combat in Bosnia andSomalia too. “I saw a big need— soldiers are coming home indroves, and there are few outletsto help them,” Rick said. “Wetake regular people, send themover to Iraq and Afghanistan andtrain them how to fight. Then,we bring them home, sometimeswithout even a thank you, andexpect them to turn it off andreintegrate automatically. It’s nothappening.”Today’s veterans see an aver-

age of 1,500 days of combat,going directly into combat whenthey land on the ground. In com-parison, soldiers serving in WorldWar II saw an average of 120days of combat, and VietnamVeterans saw an average of 240-

260 days of combat. Horses for Heroes — Cow-

boy UP! helps meet some ofthose returning soldiers’ needs,giving them an opportunity tospend time with others who havehad similar experiences. “Ourveterans come back from themilitary, where everything is mis-sion oriented, into the civilianworld. They miss having a mis-sion, and they miss the cama-raderie of their military broth-ers,” he explained. “When theycome to us, they get a new mis-sion. As soon as they start learn-ing we have them start teachingtoo, because as you teach some-one what you’ve just learned, itreinforces the lesson.”“We basically show them how

to apply their military back-ground and training to some-thing new, while most people aretelling them to suppress theirmilitary skills,” he continued. “Ihelp them relate those skills towhat we are trying to do with thehorses and the cattle.”Rick says he started working

on the idea for this program in2007. Initially, he did therapeu-tic riding work with one soldiersuffering from severe PTSD.“When we saw the transforma-tion in this man, and how work-ing with the horses and comingout with us for spring brandingand such benefitted him, weknew we wanted to do more.”Rick also partnered with Pete

Comstock, Commander of theNew Mexico Military order of thePurple Heart establishing theWarrior Mentor Program.Through this program, returningveterans are paired with combatveterans from the same serviceand generally the same MOS(Military Occupational Specialty),to the benefit of both, he said. The Cowboy UP! program

consists of twelve objectives,which include specific tasks andskills taking them from basichorsemanship to working cattlehorseback. Graduates receive apurple wild rag, which symbolizestheir partnership with the Mili-tary Order of the Purple Heart aswell as being very practical oncold frosty mornings. Horses forHeroes — Cowboy UP! is theonly program of this type nation-ally that is endorsed by the Mili-tary Order of the Purple Heart. “There are various horse ther-

apy programs around the UnitedStates but we are the only onesdoing what we are doing,” henoted. “It’s a different focus —we do help participants bondwith horses but take it to thenext level if they want to. It is allup to them, the sky’s the limit.”Rick says that the program

focuses on what is possible,rather than what is probable, andthat attitude is evident in theprogram’s first graduate, SterlingBucholz, U.S.M.C./Ret. whoreceived his wild rag in October.Bucholz served in Iraq as a

Machine Gunner with the 2ndBattalion 1st Marines, and wasstruck in the head and severelywounded by enemy sniper firereceiving the Purple Heart and aNavy–Marine CommendationMedal. He returned home in2005, and suffers from severePTSD in addition to brain trau-ma. After completing the pro-gram, he was offered a positionwith the San Cristobal Ranch.“We train to standard, not to

time. It is a completely self-pacedprogram, and doesn’t matter howlong it takes for a veteran tomake it through those twelveobjectives,” Rick said. “Sterlingrocketed through the program inless than a year. Some othersjust come out and groom thehorses and enjoy cowboy coffeeand conversation around the fire,and that’s okay, too.”

Quantifying participation inthe program is difficult becauseit is relaxed and self-paced, butRick said dozens of veteranshave taken part. “We have somewho come a few times, and somewho get very involved. Rightnow, we probably have a dozenparticipants at various stages —from the guy who comes outevery day to the guy who comesonce a month.”“We are very proud of all our

guys,” he continued. “When wehave new veterans coming outfor the first time, a number ofour current participants arealways there because they wantto help their brothers.”Horses for Heroes — Cow-

boy UP! is staffed and operatedby volunteers, most of whom arealso veterans as well as cowboysor accomplished horseman.“Several of our staff who helpinstruct and support this effortwere veterans that remembercoming home from Vietnam andbeing greeted by protesters. Itwas a terrible time to be a servicemember, and we were oftentreated very poorly by the pub-lic,” he explained. “At the ranch,we do all we can to welcome newveterans and to let them knowthey are coming home.”None of this would have been

possible without the support ofthe ranching community, Ricksaid, and he is blessed andthankful for program partnersincluding Mike Hobbs, ExpressUU Bar Ranch, Cimarron; StevePrice, Bonanza Creek Ranch,Santa Fe; Henry McKinley, Sta-ple Cross Ranch, Santa Fe; BobFrost, Caprock Creek Ranch,San Jon; Grant and Connie JoMitchell, San Cristobal Ranch,Santa Fe; and the New MexicoCattle Growers Association. New program participants are

referred through the New Mexi-co Military Order of the PurpleHeart, different groups and unitsof the Veterans AdministrationHospital, the U.S. Army’s

Wounded Warrior Pro-gram (AW2) for combatwounded soldiers justcoming off of active dutyand the New MexicoWorkforce Solutions Vet-erans department. Occa-sionally, a veteran who hasheard about the programthrough other channelsalso seeks them out, henoted.Another important

aspect is the program’sclose relationship with theTurquoise Trail Wranglers4-H Club, which Rick andhis fiancée, NancyDeSantis, a primary Cow-boy UP! instructor andco-founder, also foundedand used as a model forHorses for Heroes — CowboyUP! “Our two groups are morelike a family — all of my veteransshow up to help out with thekids’ events, like the ranch rodeowe put on every October. Theveterans want to give back, andto help out, and spending timetogether is good for the kids andthe veterans.”Future plans include con-

struction of a bunkhouse at the

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said. “Elk certainly respondbehaviorally to the predationrisk posed by wolves, butthose small alterations tofeeding and moving acrossthe landscape don’t seem toadd up to long-term benefitsfor aspen growing in areasrisky to elk.”

The paper, “Are wolves saving Yellowstone’saspen? A landscape-level test of a behav-iorally mediated trophic cascade,” will bepublished online in Ecology. Co-authors onthe study are Matthew Kauffman (USGS),Jedediah Brodie (University of Montana)and Erik Jules (Humboldt State University).

Aspen Treescontinued from page eighteen

Veterans, Ranchers Working Together to Help Returning Soldiers

Contact Horses for Heroes, a program for our combat warriors, at 505/798-2535 or email

[email protected]

Horses for Heroes —Cowboy UP! receives no funding from

any government or any other source

ranch and additional corrals forprogram horses. Horses forHeroes — Cowboy UP! receivesno funding from any governmentor any other source so they willhold their first benefit dinnerDecember 9 at Vanessie’sRestaurant in Santa Fe. To helpsupport or learn more about theprogram, visit their website atwww.horsesforheroes.org or callRick at 505/670-2059.


by JOHN ALAN COHAN, Attorney at Law

After about 30 years han-dling tax audits, appealsand U.S. Tax Court cases,it seems to me that the

IRS is taking a more aggressiveapproach against people in vari-ous industries — including live-stock and horse activities. If youare audited by the IRS and youhave a history of losses with littleor no profits, the followingadvice pertains to you. At an initial interview with the

IRS you likely will be asked thefollowing questions, based onprotocol followed by agentsunder IRS Audit TechniqueGuide governing audits for cattleand horse activities. Of particu-lar importance are questionsconcerning whether you have aformal business plan.On that point, the revenue

agent will ask the following: Doyou have a written business plan?How was this business plan pre-pared? When was this businessplan formalized into writing? (Atthe commencement of the activ-ity or for the purpose of theexamination?) Who assisted withthe preparation of the businessplan? Does the business plan

cover all years of the activity’shistory as well as forecasting intofuture years? Does the businessplan allow for any contingenciesdue to unforeseen circum-stances? How does the businessplan determine gross receipts foreach year? Is the gross receiptscomputation reasonable? Howwere the expenses determined orestimated for use in the forecast?What justifies the reasonablenessof the forecasted expenses? Dur-ing what specific year does theeconomic forecast show theactivity will turn around andbecome profitable? What eventsand circumstances will cause theactivity to be profitable in thatparticular year? If the business plan does not

present any form of an economicforecast, when do you foreseethe activity becoming profitable?What specific event will haveoccurred to enable this turn-around? Why have you not aban-doned the activity in light of thehistory of losses? If this activityshould never be likely to gener-ate a net profit, would you aban-don the activity?In addition, the agent will

want to know if you relied uponany experts or advisers prior toentering the venture, and to cite

instances where you have chosento implement your advisers’ rec-ommendations. Also, the agentwill want to know how the advis-ers’ recommendations impactedthe performance of the activity,and for you to describe anyinstances when you have chosennot to heed the advice and why.If you are already undergoing

an audit, it is too late to imple-ment a business plan for the cur-rent audit. The IRS wants to seebusiness records that are main-tained in the ordinary course ofyour activity, not those that youmight decide to prepare onceyou have been notified that youare being audited.The major red flags that indi-

cate an unbusinesslike businessplan are: (1) failure to utilize anexpert in preparing the plan; (2)failure to have any economicforecast; (3) failure to forecastwhen the activity will becomeprofitable; and (4) unreasonablecomputation of gross receipts.Whom should you engage to

prepare a business plan and

financial projections for a cattleor horse activity? It is importantto have the plan prepared bysomeone familiar with the indus-try, and for cost projections to berealistic. Be aware that there areInternet services offering to pre-pare plans, and these are gener-ally not a good choice.The reason why the IRS is

auditing more cattle and horsefarms is that often taxpayersincur losses that they utilize tooffset sizable income from othersources, and this provides anobvious tax benefit. And the IRSis looking to raise revenue so asto help the Federal deficit. Thebest way to help withstand IRSscrutiny, in case you are unluckyenough to be audited, is to takea pro-active approach before-hand.

John Alan Cohan is a lawyer who hasworked in the livestock, horse andfarming industries since l98l. He servesclients in all 50 states, and can bereached at: 3l0/278-0203 or by e-mailat [email protected]. The web-site is: www.JohnAlanCohan.com.

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China Hungry For U.S. Alfalfaby RICK MOONEY, Editor, eHay Weekly

Growing demand for high-quality feedstuffs by Chi-na’s burgeoning dairyindustry has the potential

to translate into a major boomfor U.S. alfalfa exporting firms. Chinese imports of U.S. alfal-

fa, currently the only hay prod-uct permitted to enter Chinafrom the U.S., soared from lessthan 2,000 metric tons in 2007to 76,000 metric tons in 2009,according to a recent marketdevelopment report fromUSDA’s Foreign AgriculturalService (FAS). Between 2008and 2009, the dollar value ofthose export sales quadrupled,going from $4.4 million to $18.4million. “It’s pretty incredible when

you think about it,” says JohnSzczepanski, executive director ofthe National Hay Association’sExport Processors Council. “Justa few years ago, we were basicallysending nothing to China.” What’s more, the recent sales

spurt may be just the tip of theiceberg. In the first six months of2010, China had already import-ed 95,000 metric tons of alfalfa,nearly all of it from the U.S., theFAS report notes. If Chineseimports continued at that pace,U.S. alfalfa exports for the entireyear would top out at around180,000 tons. That would makeChina an export market compa-rable in size to South Korea, tra-ditionally one of the biggestimporters of U.S. hay. The growing reputation of the

U.S. as a reliable supplier ofhigh-quality forages among Chi-nese dairy farmers has been akey factor behind the salesincreases. There is a domesticalfalfa production industry innorthern China. But while that

hay is often favorably pricedcompared to alfalfa coming infrom the U.S., the quality can bevariable. “There’s a greater understand-

ing on the part of Chinese dairyproducers about the value thatgood forages play in theirrations,” says Szczepanski. “Nowwe’re starting to see a kind of‘me-too’ factor at work. As milkproduction improves on Chinesedairies that are feeding high-quality U.S. hay, neighboringdairies that are buying lower-quality, domestically producedhay see the benefits of U.S. alfal-fa. They want in on the action.” While there is potential for

even more growth in sales ofU.S. alfalfa to China, there arealso several potential hurdles,according to FAS. The Chinesedairy industry suffered a majorsetback in 2008 when milk prod-ucts were found to be contami-nated with melamine. At theheight of the ensuing scandal,dairy product consumption inChina dropped off by 15 per-cent. “While the (Chinese) dairyindustry is much more vigilantthan in the past,” note FASreport authors, “new food safetyscandals could further erodeconsumer confidence in the safe-ty of Chinese dairy products.Should consumption declineagain, raw milk prices woulddrop, and some dairies wouldlikely be unwilling to continueimporting alfalfa.” They add that developments in

the U.S. dairy industry will alsoplay a role in the pace at whichthe Chinese import U.S. hay.“Price sensitivity is the largestthreat to long-term importgrowth. It is possible that a strongrecovery in the U.S. dairy market,with a consequent rise in (forage)prices, could price-out many Chi-nese dairy farmers.”

To place your ad here, call Debbie Cisneros, N.M. Office:

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Dr. Miley Gonzalezannounced he will retireDecember 31, 2010. Hehas served as director/sec-

retary for New Mexico Depart-ment of Agriculture (NMDA)for nearly eight years and hasmore than four decades of serv-ice to the agricultural industry.“It has been an honor and

privilege to serve the agriculturalindustry in our state and workwith a dedicated staff in thedepartment. Our efforts wereguided by a strategic directionestablished by a variety of stake-holders; and any accomplish-ments can be credited to thoseindividuals both in the depart-ment and in the industry whounderstood the priorities foragriculture,” said Dr. Gonzalez.“I want to thank Miley Gon-

zalez for his many years of serv-ice to the people of New Mexi-co, particularly the invaluablerole he played in my administra-tion,” Governor Bill Richardsonsaid. “Secretary Gonzalez hasalways been a powerful advocatefor not only maintaining NewMexico’s rich agricultural tradi-tions but also expanding thereach of our homegrown prod-ucts and goods across the world.”

The director of NMDA servesas the secretary of agriculture onthe Governor’s Cabinet, but theposition is filled by the Board ofRegents at NMSU and reports tothe board and university presi-dent. “Dr. Miley Gonzalez hasbeen a valuable member of ourteam representing NMSU atnational organizations, buildingimportant partnerships through-out the state, and working tireless-ly to support the needs of the agri-cultural industry. We are proud tohave the secretary for the NewMexico Department of Agricul-ture on our land-grant campusand wish Miley all the best in hisretirement,” said Dr. BarbaraCouture, NMSU President.Since 1991, Dr. Gonzalez has

also served as the head ofNMSU’s Department of Agricul-ture and Extension Education;associate dean and deputy direc-tor of the Cooperative ExtensionService for the College of Agri-culture and Home Economics,associate dean and director ofAcademic Programs; associatedean and director for NMSU’sAgricultural Experiment Station,

and interim vice provost forResearch. He was also the under-secretary for Research, Educa-tion, and Economics for the U.S.Department of Agriculture inWashington, D.C.“Dr. Gonzalez has served the

agricultural industry in NewMexico and NMSU with distinc-tion. He has provided great lead-ership both nationally and inter-nationally. It has been a greatprivilege to have worked with himat NMDA and at the College ofAgriculture and Home Econom-ics at NMSU,” said Tom Bagwell,NMDA deputy director. Dr. Gonzalez earned his bach-

elor’s and master’s degrees inagricultural education from theUniversity of Arizona and

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402/528-3861www.mightygiant.com1486 12th Rd. • P.O. Box 38Beemer, NE 68716-0038

Miley Gonzalez, PhD, New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture 2002 - 2010

New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s Director/Secretary Announces Retirement

received his doctorate fromPennsylvania State University. Inaddition to working at NMSU,he also worked at other land-grant universities including Uni-versity of Arizona, PennsylvaniaState, and Iowa State. Further-more, Dr. Gonzalez directedinternational educational projectsin more than fifteen countries.Dr. Gonzalez has been recog-

nized with many awards duringthis tenure including the 2008Governor’s Distinguished ServiceAward and named as a memberof the Top 100 Most InfluentialHispanics by the National His-panic Business Magazine in 1999. “My professional career sup-

porting the agricultural industryhas spanned nearly forty-two

Dr. Miley Gonzalez has been a valuablemember New Mexico's

agriculture representingthe state and the

industry internationallyas well as at

national organizations,building important

partnerships throughout the state.

years. I will continue to beengaged from my farm in Ari-zona, recruiting and training anew crop of professionals — mygrandkids,” Dr. Gonzalez added.

www.mightygiant.com

www.santagertrudis.ws

www.shorthorn.com

www.burgessranches.com

www.lasaterranch.com

www.deesbrothersbrangus.com


P BAR RANCH: Rates at 1,350 AU’s including 900 mother cows outside year round – WINTER RANGE – 11,750 deeded acres plus BLM, 300 irrigated – background lot for calves – 3 homes – good improvements –CAN SPLIT – $6,000,000.

LYMAN RANCH: Rated at approximately 225 hd. year long –MEADOW RANCH – 850± deeded with 670± irrigated – FREE WATER –several interior pastures for easy management of cattle – over 1-1/2 MILERIVER THRU RANCH – would make great stocker operation for about 800 hd. – modest improvements including great shipping facilities andscales – asking $1,530,000 Rae at 208/761-9553.

LINSON CREEK: 400/500 HD. WINTER (11/5 – 5/1) with less than 1/2-ton on normal years – 1,938 deeded plus BLM – great stock water – UP-LAND GAME BIRDS, MULE DEER, ELK, FISHING – Washington/ PayetteCounties, ID – modest improvements – $1,475,000 with SELLER FINANCE.

LANDRETH: Malheur County, OR – 780 deeded acres with 180± irrigated– 1/2-MILE RIVER – quality improvements – upland game birds, waterfowl, mule deer, bass ponds – PRICE REDUCED – $980,000.

FARM/FEEDLOT: 500± deeded acres with 280 irrigated row crop – CAFO at 850-1,000 hd. – good improvements – great stocker and/or dairy hfrs. – $1,580,000.

QUARTER CIRCLE DIAMOND: Gilliam County, OR – 6,148 deeded acres with 1,078 dry farm – in addition running 125 mother cows year long– includes 40% interest in potential power generation – siting for 17 TURBINES – mule deer, elk, chukar, quail – $1,750,000 Rae at 208/761-9553 Jack at 541/473-3100.

AGRILANDS Real Estatewww.agrilandsrealestate.com

Vale, Oregon • 541/473-3100 • [email protected]

“EAGER SELLERS”

Southeastern N.M. Ranches For Sale

MOATS RANCH – 20,565 Total acres, 12,025 deeded.Thirty miles north of Roswell, N.M. along and on bothsides of U.S. Highway 285. 400± Animal Units Yearlong.Three wells and pipelines.

DEGANAHL RANCH – 5,635 Total acres, 960 deeded.BLM grazing permit for 164 Animal Units Yearlong. 40miles northwest of Roswell, NM north of State Highway246. New improvements, three wells and pipelines.

Contact: SCOTT MCNALLY, Qualifying Broker, C: 575/420-1237www.ranchesnm.com

Bar MREAL ESTATEP.O. BOX 428 • ROSWELL, N.M. 88202 • 575/622-5867

1002 Koenigheim, San Angelo, TX 76903 • www.llptexasranchland.com • [email protected]

LEE, LEE & PUCKITTASSOCIATES INC.

KEVIN C. REED

Office: 325/655-6989Cell: 915/491-9053

RanchersServing

Ranchers

Texas andNew Mexico

RANCHSALES &APPRAISALS

PAUL McGILLIARDCell: 417/839-5096 • 1-800/743-0336

MURNEY ASSOC., REALTORSSPRINGFIELD, MO 65804

Missouri Land Sales� 5-acre Horse Set-up: Location-location, only2+ miles north of Mountain Grove on Girlstown Rd.New fencing, 20x40 new 3-stall horse barn/shop/1-car garage, 1,300 sq. ft. , 3-br., 2-ba. manufacturedhome, wrap around deck ( 2 sides), nestled downyour private drive. MLS #1010102� 675 Acres Grass Runway, Land your ownplane: Major Price Reduction. 3 BR, 2 BA homedown 1 mile private land. New 40x42 shop, 40x60livestock barn, over 450 acres in grass. (Owner runsover 150 cow/calves, 2 springs, 20 ponds, 2 lakes,consisting of 3.5 & 2 acres. Both stocked with fish.Excellent fencing. A must farm to see. MLS#1010371� 483 Acres, Hunter Mania: Nature at her best.Don’t miss out on this one. Live water (two creeks).70+ acres open in bottom hayfields and upland graz-ing. Lots of timber (marketable and young) for the besthunting and fishing (Table Rock, Taney Como and BullShoals Lake) Really cute 3-bd., 1-ba stone home. Se-cluded yes, but easy access to Forsyth-Branson, Ozarkand Springfield. Property joins Nat’l. Forest.MLS#908571See all my listings at: paulmcgilliard.murney.com

~ SOUTHERN OREGON ~Farm/Ranch ~ Rural ~ Timber

Recreational PropertiesAdditional properties

available at: www.orop.com

OREGON OPPORTUNITIESReal Estate

Tom Harrison, CCIM • 800/772-7284 • [email protected]

Huge Price Reduction! Remarkable investment opportunity! 2,024.62acres, views, expansive meadows, 5 dwellings, old water rights for 225acres. $5,000,000.

Livestock ranch on 1,038 acres w/irrigation, dryland pasture and feedlots. 4 homes, 5 barns, a shop, 2 sets of working corrals. $3,700,000.

3,196.75 acres! Multiple tax lots. Large acreage for grazing and multiplerecreational opportunities. Spring on the property. Great hunting oppor-tunities! $4,000,000.

39.79 acres. irrigated, view property. Possible additional 2 home sites.20+ gpm well per owner. Deck, covered front porch, barn and round pen.Gently sloped, nice combination of irrigated pasture and dry pasture.Cross fenced. $800,000.

54 acres of Agricultural investment property. Beautifully scenic setting.Prime farm ground for vineyard, row crops or livestock and hay. Class 1 soils with irrigation out of the Roque River for 41.54 acres. Three existing dwellings. Older dairy structures could be rehabilitated. Includes irrigation equipment. $765,000.

TEXAS & OKLA. FARMS & RANCHES

Joe Priest Real Estate1205 N. Hwy 175, Seagoville, TX 75159

972/287-4548 • 214/676-69731-800/671-4548www.joepriest.com

[email protected]

• Magnificent 90 Hunting – Cattle/Horse Ranch50 miles E. of Dallas, 35 miles W. of Tyler, Whitepipe fence along FM Hwy. 3,700 sq. ft. elabo-rate home, flowing waterway, l ake. Has it all.• 532-acre CATTLE & HUNTING, NE TX ranch,elaborate home, one-mile highway frontage.OWNER FINANCE at $2,150/ac.• 274 acres in the shadow of Dallas. Secludedlakes, trees, excellent grass. Hunting & fishing,dream home sites. $3,850/ac. • 1,700-acre classic NE TX cattle & huntingranch. $2,750/ac. Some mineral production.• Texas Jewel, 7,000 ac. – 1,000 per ac., runcow to 10 ac.• 256 Acre Texas Jewel – Deep sandy soil, high-rolling hills, scattered good quality trees, & ex-cellent improved grasses. Water line on 2 sidesrd., frontage on 2 sides, fenced into 5 pastures,5 spring fed tanks and lakes, deer, hogs &ducks. Near Tyler & Athens. Price $1,920,000.• 146 horse, hunting cattle ranch N. ofClarksville, TX. Red River Co. nice brick home,2 barns, pipe fences, good deer, hogs, ducks,hunting priced at $395,000.• 535 ac. Limestone, Fallas, & Robertson coun-ties, fronts on Hwy. 14 and has rail frontagewater line, to ranch, fenced into 5 pastures, 2sets, cattle pens, loamy soil, good quality trees,hogs, & deer hunting. Priced at $2,300 per ac.

INTEREST RATES AS LOW AS 3%. PAYMENTS

SCHEDULED ON 25 YEARS

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JOE STUBBLEFIELD & ASSOCIATES13830 Western St., Amarillo, TX

806/622-3482 • cell 806/674-2062Drew Perez Assocs.

Nara Visa, NM • 806/392-1788

T H E L I V E S T O C K M A R K E T D I G E S T

Real EstateG U I D E

To place your ad here, contact Debbie Cisneros, New Mexico Office: 505/243-9515, ext. 30;

Colorado Office: 720/242-8032; or [email protected]

January 20116-22 – National Western StockShow – Denver14- Feb. 5 – Fort Worth StockShow & Rodeo18-19 – Southwest BeefSymposium, Amarillo20-23 – American Sheep IndustryAssn Convention, Reno, NV25-29 – Red Bluff All Breeds Bull & Gelding Sale, CA

February 20112 - 5 – National Cattlemen's BeefAssociation Convention, Denver12 – Bradley 3 Ranch Annual BullSale, Estelline TX12 – Best in the West Brangus Sale,Marana, AZ19 – Nev. Cattlemen’s Assn., 45thAnnual All Breed Bull Sale, Fallon, NV21 – Weaver Ranch Annual Sale,Ft. Collins, CO25 – 20th Annual Pot of Gold BullSale, Olathe, CO26 – 20th Annual Roswell BrangusBull & Female Sale, Roswell, NM

March 201116 – Wagonhammer RanchesProduction Sale, Albion, NE

18-19 – Cattlemen’s Weekend,Prescott Livestock Auction,Prescott, AZ19 – Annual Hales Angus FarmsSale, Canyon, TX20 – 16th Annual Bull & Heifer Sale,Hales Angus Farm, Canyon, TX

April 20112 – 27th Annual DeBruyckerCharolais Sale, Dutton, MT10 – Redd Ranches High AltitudeBull Sale, Paradox, CO28-30 – New Mexico Women’s Ag Leadership Conference,American National Cattlewomen'sRegion VI Meeting, Albuqueruque, NMTBA – Beckton Stock Farm AnnualProduction Sale, Sheridan, WY

HappyHolidays!

Calendar ofEVENTS

Important Advertising Deadlines

Ad copy deadline for the Livestock Market Digest

January Issue . . . . . . January 1, 2011February Issue . . . . . February 1, 2011March Issue . . . . . . . . March 1, 2011April Issue . . . . . . . . . April 1, 2011May Issue . . . . . . . . . . May 1, 2011

Ad copy deadline for the New Mexico Stockman

January Issue . . . . . . December 15, 2010February Issue . . . . . January 15, 2011March Issue . . . . . . . . February 15, 2011April Issue . . . . . . . . . March 15, 2011May Issue . . . . . . . . . . April 15, 2011

To advertise in the New Mexico Stockman or the Livestock Market Digest REAL ESTATE GUIDE, contact:

� DEBBIE CISNEROS �• New Mexico Office: 505/243-9515, ext. 30

• Colorado Office: 720/242-8032

• Email:[email protected]

For general advertising in the New Mexico Stockman, contact Chris Martinez at 505/243-9515, ext. 28, or email, [email protected].

www.ranchesnm.com

www.llptexasranchland.com

www.orop.com

www.agrilandsrealestate.com

www.joepriest.com

paulmcgilliard.murney.com


NEVADA RANCHES and FARMS

Bottari RealtyPAUL D. BOTTARI, BROKER

www.bottarirealty.com • [email protected]

Ofc.: 775/752-3040Res: 775/752-3809 • Fax: 775/752-3021

Out West Realty Network Affiliate

MASON MOUNTAINRANCH

Nothern Elko County ranch with 3700 deededacres and a small BLM permit. Great summer pasture with free water from springs, creeks and seeps. No power but land line phone.

The ranch received 1 landowner Elk Tag this year.The irrigation reservior on Mason Creek is stockedwith Red Band trout. Several useful buildings including home with gravity flow water andpropane lights, water heater and refrigerator. The ranch should run 300 pair for the season.

Price: $1,575,000.

D A N D E L A N E YR E A L E S T A T E , L L C

318 W. Amador Ave.Las Cruces, N.M. 88005(O) 575/647-5041(C) 575/[email protected]

WAHOO RANCH: Approximately 40,976 acres: ± 11,600 deeded, 6,984 BLM, 912 state, 40 un-controlled and 21,440 forest. Beautiful cattle ranch located on the east slope of the Black Range Moun-tains north of Winston, N.M., on State Road 52. Three hours from either Albuquerque or El Paso.Theranch is bounded on the east by the Alamosa Creek Valley and on the west by the Wahoo Mountainsranging in elevation from 6,000' to 8,796'. There are 3 houses/cabins, 2 sets of working corrals (1 withscales) and numerous shops and outbuildings. It is very well watered with many wells, springs, dirttanks and pipelines. The topography and vegetation is a combination of grass covered hills (primarilygramma grasses), with many cedar, piñon and live oak covered canyons as well as the forested WahooMountains. There are plentiful elk and deer as well as antelope, turkey, bear, mountain lion andjavelina (46 elk tags in 2009). Absolutely one of the nicest combination cattle/hunting ranches to befound in the SW. Price reduced to $5,500,000.

SAN JUAN RANCH: Located 10 miles south of Deming off Hwy. 11 (Columbus Hwy) approximately26,484 total acres consisting of ± 3,484 deeded, ± 3,800 state lease, ± 14,360 BLM and ±4,840 Uncon-trolled. The allotment is for 216 head (AUYL). 9 solar-powered stock wells and metal storage tanksand approx. 6½ miles pipeline. The ranch begins on the north end at the beautiful Mahoney Park highup in the Florida mountains and runs 5½ miles down the mountains to their south end. It continuesanother 7½ miles south across their foothills and onto the flats. The ranch has a very diverse landscapewith plentiful wildlife including quail, dove, rabbits, deer and ibex. Lots of potential & a good buyat $1,000,000.

46 ACRE FARM LOCATED IN SAN MIGUEL: Full EBID irrigation and supplemental well.Bounded by Highway 28 on the east, County Road B-041 on the south and County Road B-010 on thewest. Priced at $14,000/acre – $644,000 – CONTRACT PENDING.

212 ACRE FARM BETWEEN LAS CRUCES, N.M. AND EL PASO, TEXAS: Hwy. 28 frontagewith 132 acres irrigated, 80 acres sandhills, full EBID (surface water) plus a supplemental irrigationwell, cement ditches and large equipment warehouse. Priced at $1,868,000.

50.47-ACRE FARM: Located on Afton Road south of La Mesa, NM. Paved road frontage, full EBID(surface water) plus a supplemental irrigation well with cement ditches. Priced at $13,000/acre($660,400).

±37-ACRE FARM –WEST OF ANTHONY, N.M.: Located 20 minutes from Sunland Park Race Trackon Haasville Road (paved) just north of Gadsden High School and west of Highway 28. EBID, irriga-tion well and cement ditches. Beautiful farm with many possibilities. Call for aerial and location maps.Sign on property. Priced at $13,900/acre ($514,300).

OTHER FARMS FOR SALE: In Doña Ana County. All located near Las Cruces, N.M. 8, 11, and 27.5acres. $15,000/acre to $17,000/acre. All have EBID (surface water rights from the Rio Grande River)and several have supplemental irrigation wells. If you are interested in farm land in Doña Ana County,give me a call.

www.zianet.com/nmlandman

Lassen County: 11,725 acres, all deeded. 970 acres irrigated, flood and 4 pivots. Alfalfa, grain, grass. BLM permits, 500 cows, organic hay. Lots of potential for more farm ground. Priced at $5,375,000.

Tehama County, Cottonwood, Calif.: 1,850 acres, winter range. Large barn, 1 bdrm. apt., horse stalls, tie stalls, tack room, shop. Deluxe 400x200 ft. roping arena. All new fences and steel corrals. Hunting and fishing. Priced at $2,200,000.

Tehama County, Cottonwood, Calif.: 556 acres, winter range, two small houses, corrals, chute, small barn. Good hunting and fishing. Price reduced — $775,000.

Tehama County, Cottonwood, Calif.: 80 acres, winter range and a custom built appx. 3,000 sq. ft. beautiful home. Large barn, tack room, shop roping arena, round-pen — a real crown jewel. Many amenities. A roper’s dream. Priced at $1,400,000.

——— CALIFORNIA RANCHES ———

Properties and Equities

R.G. DAVIS, BROKERCell: 530/949-1985

19855 S. Main St., P.O. Box 1020Cottonwood, CA 96022

Ofc.: 530/347-9455 • F: 530/[email protected]

Idaho-OregonCall 208/345-3163

for catalog.

KNIPE

LAND CO.

RANCHESFARMS

COMMERCIALEstablished 1944

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We advertise with DEBBIE CISNEROS andthe Livestock Market Digest because we

get service and great results.

The Ranch Finder – Ronald H. Mayer P. O. Box 2391, Roswell, NM 88202 575/623-5658 • www.ranchfinder.com

THE RANCH FINDER presents . . .

Escondida Land & Cattle Co.A great ranch located in the foothills of the Capitan Mountainof Lincoln County, N.M., near Arabela, just eight milesabove the Hondo Valley from Tinnie. 45 miles west of

Roswell, and 25 miles east of Ruidoso, Escondida Ranch consists of 9931deeded acres plus 6,551 U.S. Forest Service Lease w/an additional 490 NewMexico State Lease acres, 27 being sections of rolling foothills and open val-leys of grama grass pastures at an altitude of 5,000 ft. A four-season cattleranch w/an established grazing capacity of 500 animal units or 750 yearlingson a six-month grazing rotation system. This grazing program is also tied inwith 130 acres of water rights applied to sprinkler irrigated grass pastures,w/irrigation wells capable of pumping up to a 900 gallon-per-minute at lessthan a 100' depth. Escondida Ranch is improved with a full service modernheadquarters complex w/new barns, corrals and shipping pens w/scales. Thisarea of Lincoln County is noted for its big game habitat and the ranch is annu-ally issued eleven elk permits along w/topline mule-deer, black bear, mountainlion and barbary sheep hunting, and lots of turkey. A turn-key offering — every-thing goes.

Bailey Family Ranch, LLC.A year long cow/calf grazing unit located six miles north of Cuero in GuadalupeCounty, N.M., just off I-40, and 20 miles east of Santa Rosa — a trade centerfor this area and east 45 miles to Tucumcari, the Hub City for this quadrant inNew Mexico. The Bailey Ranch consists of 7,587 deeded acres along with1,160 New Mexico State Lease for a total of 8,747 grazing acres. This 14-sec-tion cow/calf or yearling ranch is located in some of the better grazing countryin eastern New Mexico. Under normal range conditions this area receives 14-16 inches of moisture a year and can support up to a 200-day growing season,at an elevation of around 4,300 ft. This ranch has an ideal habitat for deer,antelope and game birds. The design of the ranch is divided into six pasturesand one trap 160+ acres of free grazing on vacant land, supported by six wind-mills and five surface tanks. In a fenced design seven miles long and two wide,north to south, Walker Road is an all weather county road running north alongthe west boundary. A basic headquarter complex with full services, a good ten-ant house, two-car garage and livestock working and shipping pens.

Ben G. Scott, Krystal M. Nelson, Brokers1301 Front St., Dimmitt, TX 79027 • 1-800/933-9698 day/night

www.scottlandcompany.com

—— TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO ——This ad is just a small sample of the properties that we currently have for sale.

Please check our website: scottlandcompany.com and give us a call! We need your listings both large and small, all types of ag properties (ESP. RANCHES).

LONE WOLF RANCH - EASTERN, NM: Approx. 30 sections mostly deededsome BLM and State, employee housing and two sets of steel pens, countymaintained, all weather road. Mild climate year round.

HARTLEY/MOORE COUNTY LINE: Corn, wheat, cotton, cattle with all theperks, 992 acres, sprinkler irrigated with some improved pasture, large brickhome, large set of state of the art steel working pens with concrete feed bunksand covered working area, on pavement. House, shop and horse barn on 2acres may be bought separately.

RANCH & FARM REAL ESTATE

THE LIVESTOCK MARKET DIGEST

Real Estate Guide

www.bottarirealty.com

www.knipeland.com

www.scottlandcompany.com

www.ranchfinder.com

www.zianet.com/nmlandman


so it’s difficult to adjust to eco-nomic changes.But overall, Stulp was opti-

mistic that agriculture in Col-orado will adjust to embrace itsnew opportunities and overcomeits challenges.“Probably the single best

means for economic recovery inthis country is agriculture,”remarked JBC member Sen.-elect Kent Lamber, R-ColoradoSprings.

by PATRICK MALONE | Pueblo Chieftain

Colorado’s diverse agricultur-al economy — led by itsstrong position in the beefmarket — has been rela-

tively insulated from the eco-nomic downturn.“We’re somewhat recession-

resistant,” John Stulp, the state’sagriculture commissioner, toldthe Colorado State LegislatureJoint Budget Committee in midNovember.He said while manufacturers

can scale back production tomaintain their bottom lines,farmers persist to till the soil andfeed livestock.“That’s just part of the ethic of

agriculture, whether you’re tak-ing care of a field or a mothercow,” Stulp said.But that doesn’t mean the

agricultural landscape in Col-orado isn’t undergoing changes.Stulp said contemporary devel-opments continue to shape thechallenges and opportunities fac-ing farmers and ranchers.Overwhelmingly (37 of 88),

farmers surveyed by the Col-orado Department of Agricul-ture identified water as theirforemost concern. Environmen-tal policy finished a distant sec-

ond, with 10 farmers citing it astheir top worry.Farm economics (input costs

and prices received for theirwares) and increased regulation(including taxes and fees) alsorated highly.Despite the gripes on the sur-

vey about regulation, Stulp saidfarmers and ranchers haven’t giv-en the department of agricultureany direction about which thestate could eliminate to improvetheir lot.“I have yet to have any bona

fide suggestions,” he said,because most originate fromindustry or consumer sugges-tions. He cited the drastic declinein beef consumptions that traileda BSE scare in 2004 — when thestate’s beef exports topped outaround $100 million comparedwith about $450 million last year— as an example of how healthyregulation keeps Colorado’s agri-cultural produce appealing byassuring good quality.It’s the advantage the state

holds over Australia (despite itsgeographic advantage) in compe-tition for the Asian beef market.That’s an area where Col-

orado’s agriculture industry hasconcentrated its efforts because ahuge projected payday is possible.Other opportunities identified

by farmers surveyed includedgenerating renewable energy onagricultural land, capitalizing onconsumers’ growing affinity forlocally grown foods — includinghops for the state’s burgeoningbrewing industry.Stulp said Colorado is the

nation’s foremost beer-produc-ing state thanks to large-scalebreweries and the growing pres-ence of craft-brewing entrepre-neurs. He said farmers are justbeginning to tap into that mar-ket, and hops are becoming anemerging crop in the state.Increasingly less land is avail-

able for agricultural uses becausemore is being devoured by devel-opment, and while the mostrecent census figures show Col-orado has 5,000 more farms thanit did a decade ago, Stulp attrib-uted the phenomenon more tochanges in the federal definitionof a farm than to a true emer-gence of more agricultural activity.In the census conducted this

year, any agricultural enterprisethat generated at least $1,000qualified as a farm, when in pastcensus reports acreage and thepresence of a residence werequalifiers.He said the reality is the aver-

age age of farmers in Coloradowent from 55 10 years ago to 57

during the latest census, suggest-ing that there isn’t a new genera-tion venturing into agriculturelike the explosion in numbersmight suggest. Furthermore,Stulp said, the mid-size farm isdisappearing while large andsmall operations are becomingmore prevalent.Farmers also are challenged

by rising pesticide costs drivenby state-imposed taxes, and theyare at the mercy of the pricesthey are paid for their products

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by JAY PATRICK / idahoreporter.com

Idaho sportsmen chipped inmore than a half-million dol-lars for wolf management infiscal year 2010.Altogether the state spent

$1.7 million during that span —license fees covered $558,000while the federal government putin $1.2 million. The figures were presented to

the commission of the Depart-ment of Fish and Game at ameeting in Jerome recently.Most of the license money —

$309,000 — paid for research ofwolf predation of elk.With Idaho no longer manag-

ing wolves on behalf of the federalgovernment, “Idaho will refocus

Beef sales help insulate Colorado agricultureREVENUE UP $350 MILLION LAST YEAR OVER 2004 TOTAL.

If state again manages wolves, Otter doesn’t want

sportsmen to fund it

on protecting ungulates (hoofedanimals) and ensure Idaho sports-men dollars will not be spent onmanaging wolves until the speciesis delisted,” read a report preparedfor commissioners by departmentwildlife chief Jeff Gould.In his Oct. 18 letter to Secre-

tary of Interior Ken Salazarannouncing that Idaho would nolonger manage wolves, Gov.Butch Otter said he doesn’t wantlicense fees to pay for wolf man-agement.“My concern is that the

Department of Interior will notfund the program at levels thatcompletely eliminate the need touse sportsmen funds for any por-tion of wolf management,” wroteOtter.


www.halesangus.com

lmd december 2010

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