lmd may 2010

LivestockDigest

LivestockMAY 15, 2010 • www. aaalivestock . com Volume 52 • No. 5

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

– JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

continued on page two

NEWSPAPER

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DigestRiding Herd

by Lee Pitts

Just like a parent whodenies he or she has afavorite offspring, our fed-eral government claimsnot to play favorites. Par-don our skepticism, but

there is mounting evidence thatnot only does Uncle Sam playfavorites, he doesn’t even seemto like his western relations verymuch at all. The feds seem moreinterested in public spankingsthan they are in understandingWesterner’s needs and wishes.Now, two of those stepchildrenhave rebelled and have takenmatters into their own hands.First we had the Sagebrush

Rebellion which, like a tumble-weed, blew across the landscapewithout altering it. Then therewas the county rights movementwhich protested the unequaltreatment by the feds. While thismay have added to our own self-esteem, there are still no impor-tant courtroom decisions on thebooks that address the usurpa-tion of the county’s power byagencies of our federal govern-ment.Now we have a mini-Civil

War on our hands, only this timeit’s between the East and West,not the North and South. Thisskirmish promises to be evenmore confrontational than theSagebrush Rebellion or theCounty Movement, but that’swhat happens when the fed’sactions, or lack of them, get peo-

nearly 90 percent of Nevada.They own 66 percent of Utah, 63percent of Idaho and Oregon,and 52 percent of California isclaimed by the feds. It all addsup to 350 million acres of land inthe 11 continental westernstates. Most of it is ruled over bythe Bureau of Land Manage-ment (BLM), U.S. Departmentof Forest Fires, otherwise knownas the Forest Service, and aplethora of environmentalgroups in cahoots with the fedsto shut down what they call“resource extraction,” but whatyou and I call our “life.”Yet, the feds own so little of

the land in eastern and Midweststates, this despite the fact that

all states were to be admitted tothe Union with equal rights andpowers. It says so right there inthe U.S. Constitution, Article IVSection 3. It’s called the Doc-trine Of The Equality Of States,or the “Equal Footing Doctrine”which is supposed to insure thatall states were equal in their sov-ereign power. The 10th Amend-ment goes even further statingthat all powers not explicitlygranted to the federal govern-ment were retained by the statesand the people.“Where, then, is the equality

for the states west of the 100thmeridian?” asks Henry Lamb.Despite the intentions of ourfounders and the clear intent ofthe Equal Footing Doctrine, “thestates east of the 100th meridianare vastly “more equal” than thestates to the west.”

Refusing To Stand DownOur federal government not

only dictates how western landwill be used, it also dictates howthe law will be enforced. So wehave officers of the U.S. ForestService (USFS) confiscatingcows while the county sheriffswho were elected by the resi-dents have to stand down. One

ple killed. The murder of RobKrentz, a well-liked rancher, liv-ing in our dangerous border-lands, not only highlighted thegovernment’s failed immigrationpolicy, it raises the question,“Can we count on our federalgovernment to do anything rightanymore?”

More Equal“Why does the federal govern-

ment own 65 percent of all theland west of Denver and lessthan two percent of the land eastof Denver?” asks Henry Lamb, astaunch defender of states’rights. We’ve all heard the num-bers. The feds claim ownershipof over 98 percent of Alaska and

Second Class Citizens

by KAREN BUDD-FALEN, Attorney, Cheyenne, Wyo.

On April 16, 2010, the Obama administra-tion held a White House conference as afirst step in its plans for the America’sGreat Outdoors initiative. While this

conference was touted as providing a chancefor all viewpoints to be voiced in order to createa comprehensive conservation plan for publiclands in the United States, an Interior Depart-ment document leaked on February 14, 2010shows that the Obama Administration is alsoseeking to limit access and use to over 10 mil-lion acres of land in the West, by possibly des-ignating 14 new National Monuments underthe Antiquities Act. While the designation ofNational Monuments is technically supposedto only include the minimum amount of landnecessary to preserve America’s “antiquities,” inreality, in recent years these designations havebeen significantly larger and have had a severenegative impact on the tax base on many West-

ern communities and counties.But because National Monuments are des-

ignated under the Antiquities Act pursuant toan Executive Order by the President, there isnot much legal recourse in opposing the desig-nations themselves in federal court.Even without Obama’s proposed designa-

tions, currently there are 100 National Monu-ments across the Nation, located in 27 states.President Teddy Roosevelt established the firstNational Monument, Devils Tower inWyoming in 1906. President Bill Clinton creat-ed the most National Monuments, 19 plus theexpansion of three existing monuments. OnlyRichard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and GeorgeH.W. Bush did not create any new monumentsunder the Antiquities Act. Over 12,091,930acres are included in these 100 existing Monu-ments; President Obama’s proposal would add10,000,000 acres more to that total.The question is what can be done by local

“Timing has a lot to do with the

outcome of a Rain Dance.”

continued on page six

continued on page three

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Going Global

Idon’t fly on the airlinesany more but when I did Ialways tried to avoid talk-ing with my fellow suffer-

ers. I tried to do somethingmore constructive, like bitingmy fingernails, searching theskies for birds or other air-planes, and praying we land-ed safely. But in this case Icouldn’t help but wonderwhat job the man next to mehad that would require somany electronic devices.“What do you do for a liv-ing?” I asked.“I’m an offshore broker,”

he said.“You launder money!” I

said in disbelief, surprisedthat anyone would admit it.“No. I arrange for busi-

nesses to contract with for-eign firms for services.”“I’ve read about people like

you. You make people losetheir jobs in this country.”“We prefer to say that we

make our clients aware of themany and varied opportuni-ties offshore and then helpthem make the strategicdecision to outsource.”“Thank goodness you

can’t offshore my job.”“Oh, what is it that you

do?”“I’m a humor columnist,

or at least I like to think Iam,” I said, as I shared a copyof one of my books with him.He read a passage or two,

obviously not very impressedand replied, “There are somewonderful opportunities inIndia now to outsource writ-ing.”“I don’t think it would

work. You see, I write a lotabout cows and I understandthat the good folks in Indiahave a different opinionabout cattle than we do.”“Yes, I can see where that

might be a problem. Theyaren’t really into eating cows.But India is passé anyway.For outsourcing, China is thenew India. I am able to findeven cheaper labor in Chinanow than anywhere else onearth. Many of the laborersin China that I contract toAmerican companies arepaid less than $2.00 per day.”“That much huh?” I replied.

“That’s more than I make.Maybe I should consider off-shoring myself to China.”“There are many other

benefits to offshoring,” said

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state has had enough of thisheavy-handed nonsense from thefeds. Arizona has no intention ofletting Mexican drug cartels killany more of its citizens.Disregarding President Oba-

ma and political pundits, ArizonaGovernor Jan Brewer recentlysigned the toughest border secu-rity bill ever adopted by an indi-vidual state. She had to do some-thing because her state hasbecome part of a drug war that isdeadlier than the ones in Iraq orAfghanistan. Last year twice asmany Mexican civilians lost theirlives in the drug war than in theMideast wars. Often times thatwar spills over into Arizona, Cali-fornia, New Mexico and Texasand yet eastern politicians seemto be more concerned about thelives of citizens in Iraq andAfghanistan than they are aboutthe ones in Douglas, Nogales,Tucson, Columbus and Del Rio. Leaders in other states not on

the border immediately urged aboycott of Arizona — but theircitizen’s aren’t getting killed byillegal immigrants in a drug war.One thing Westerner’s can’tabide is sitting back and doingnothing when our own peoplestart getting killed due to failedfederal policy. Westerners mayhave to put up with deadlywolves, bears and mountainlions, and we are used to havingradical eastern environmentalistsforced down our throats, but wesimply refuse to hide in thehouse from drug lords and donothing.When she signed the bill Gov-

ernor Brewer said, “We in Ari-zona have been more thanpatient waiting for Washingtonto act. But decades of inactionand misguided policy have creat-ed a dangerous and unaccept-able situation.”The Arizona Cattle Growers’

Association (ACGA) describesthat situation: “The U.S./Mexicoborder in southern Arizona hasbecome a lawless region. Crimi-nals, bandits and an internation-al organized crime units areoperating with impunity in theregion. Their trades are burglary,home invasion, drug smuggling,human smuggling, murder,extortion and kidnapping rack-ets. These organized crime unitshave been terrorizing northernMexico for 20 years and havebeen terrorizing southern Ari-zona for at least 10 years. Theseentities are extremely violent anddangerous and they have nowsucceeded in creating terror insouthern Arizona as they have innorthern Mexico.”Governor Brewer, who has

often asked Obama to placetroops on the border, said, “Theresponsibility to ensure that wehave an orderly, secure borderand not just some imaginary lineor a rickety fence belongs to thefederal government, and theyhave failed. We cannot sacrificeour safety to the murderousgreed of drug cartels.”Arizona’s new border security

law makes it a state crime to bein the country illegally and makes

it illegal to hire illegal immigrantsfor day labor or knowingly trans-port them. Granted, these lawsare supposed to already exist, butthe feds seem unwilling andunable to enforce them. The partwe like best about Arizona’s bor-der security law is that it allows,and seemingly encourages, law-suits against government agen-cies that won’t enforce immigra-tion laws.The reaction from the bureau-

crats and bleeding hearts waslaughable. Immigrant advocateswere aghast that a state woulddo such a thing and argued thatArizona’s new law could violateguarantees of equal protection ifselectively enforced against cer-tain ethnic groups. Let me getthis right . . . illegal immigrantswho are not citizens of this coun-try have the right to equal pro-tection but Rob Krentz did not?Oh, but not to worry, ReverendAl Sharpton made plans to go toArizona immediately.Talking heads on TV said the

law would encourage racial pro-filing. Oh my! Yes, if there is aU-Haul van full of Latinossneaking across the border theymay be illegal. Imagine that!Attorney General Eric Holder

said he was considering “the pos-sibility of a court challenge” toArizona’s border security law,which just reiterated many U.S.laws. (Is he going to challengethose too?) “I think that law is anunfortunate one,” said Holder.“It is, I fear, subject to potentialabuse. And I’m very concernedabout the wedge that it coulddraw between communities thatlaw enforcement is supposed toserve and those of us in lawenforcement.”We just wish he was con-

cerned less with that wedge and alittle more concerned about thecitizens in Phoenix, now knownas the kidnapping capital of theU.S., after several extortion-relat-ed abductions tied to drugs andhuman smuggling. According tothe Wall Street Journal, “The cityhas averaged about a kidnappinga day in recent years — someresulting in torture and death.Victims’ legs have been burnedwith irons, their arms have beentied to the ceiling, their fingersbroken with bricks.”President Obama said Ari-

zona’s bill threatened to “under-mine basic notions of fairnessthat we cherish as Americans, aswell as the trust between policeand their communities that is socrucial to keeping us safe.”Faced with an upcoming elec-

tion Congressmen on both sidesof the aisle appeared paralyzed.Afraid to lend their support toArizona for fear it might turn offHispanic voters, they seem tohave no intention of addressingthe subject of serious immigra-tion reform until after theNovember elections. If then.

The Law Of The LandAnother Western state has

had just about all they can stand

Second Class Citizens continued from page one

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May 15, 2010 “America’s Favorite Livestock Newspaper”

of our federal government. You’llrecall that on his way out thedoor President Clinton thumbedhis nose at the West and lockedup one of the biggest coalreserves in our country when hechristened the Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument.We guess already owning twothirds of Utah wasn’t enough forthe feds. And there are rumorsthat they want to lock up evenmore using something called TheAntiquities Act. Whereas the citizens in Ari-

zona are mad at the federal gov-ernment for their inaction, thosein Utah are angry because thefeds are way too active in steal-ing their land. That’s why UtahGovernor Gary Herbert author-ized the use of eminent domainto take some of the U.S. govern-ment’s most valuable parcelsaway from them and put themback into productivity. It’s thefirst time we’ve ever heard of astate invoking the TakingsClause against the federal gov-ernment.This wasn’t just some rebel

Governor doing this. Both hous-es of the Utah legislature votedfor bills supporting the Gover-nor’s actions and they seem to beitching for a fight in the U.S.Supreme Court in order to alterthe present balance of powerbetween states and the federalgovernment.Once again, another state is

trying to invoke the law of theland, the Equal Footing Doc-trine, and is finding their ownfederal government in stubbornopposition. Supposedly everynew state that enters into theUnited States is entitled to thesame rights as the original 13states. Some legalists argue thatthe Constitution does notrequire that states be admittedon an “equal footing” with theoriginal states but even if that’snot the case Congress hasincluded in every statehood actallowing states into the Union anequality clause that ensures thatall states becoming part of theU.S. do so “on an equal footingwith the original States in allrespects whatever.”The Supreme Court often

refers to this equal footing doc-trine in adjudicating cases sothey would seem to be aware ofit, but in reading several of theirdecisions regarding state’s rightsit’s obvious the Justices madepolitical decisions, not legalones. And make no mistake, theywere political decisions. Whyelse do you think people worryover the ratio of liberals to con-servatives on the court or howmany justices Obama will get toname during his reign? Justice issupposed to be blind and notbelong to any political party, butthat’s clearly not the case when itcomes to states’ rights.The fly in the ointment for

Utah is the terms to which mostwestern states had to agree inorder to join the Union. Basicallythey were forced to relinquish allclaims to ownership of federalland as a prerequisite to joining

the United States. Midwesternand eastern states DID NOThave to make the same promise.James Madison put it best

when he said, “The WesternStates neither would nor oughtto submit to a union whichdegraded them from an equalrank with the other States.” Butthat’s what the feds appear to betelling us.Who knows if Utah’s actions

will be successful, and not every-one in Utah is behind the effortto reclaim their land using thelaw of eminent domain. Accord-ing to a Deseret News/KSL-TVpoll, Dan Jones & Associatesfound that 48 percent of Utahresidents oppose the idea, while47 percent favor it. Republicanswere more in favor of the law by57 percent, to 23 percent forDemocrats, while 40 percent ofindependent voters supportedthe new law.Utah legislators vowed to

spend up to $3 million over threeyears to take on the federal gov-ernment over this issue. The $3million will come from schoolfunds, which seems logicalbecause the fed’s land grabs havecost the state untold millions inproperty taxes which could havebeen spent on education. A Par-ent Teacher Association (PTA)

representative said it was inap-propriate to use school children’smoney to fight a battle with noguaranteed outcome. Legalscholars suggest that even ifstates do get the power to takefederal land by eminent domainit could be a case of land pingpong as the federal governmentcould just use its own eminentdomain authority to take theland right back. Interestingly, when the Mor-

mons settled in what is nowUtah in 1847 they did so afterhaving left the United States as aresult of severe persecutionthey’d endured in the east. Theyeventually joined the Union as astate because they didn’t want tobe a territory anymore and begoverned by what they called,“unsympathetic carpetbagappointees” sent from Washing-ton, D.C. Now, 160 years later,they find that much of their landis being governed by “unsympa-thetic carpetbag appointees”from Washington, D.C.Although we greatly admire

and support the leaders and citi-zens of Arizona and Utah fortheir courage in taking these twodistinct actions, we suspect thefeds will somehow prevail in theend, as they seem to always do.When that happens Westernerswill once again be reminded thatin their own country they are,indeed, second class citizens.

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counties and communities toprotect their economies, environ-ment and citizens when moreand more land is “saved” fromthe people who care about theland. There is a serious miscon-ception by elite bureaucrats andradical environmental groupsthat those who live on the landare destroying the land. Being abureaucrat in Washington, D.C.does not make them an expert inland management; just as some-one belonging to a radical envi-ronmental group that claims tocare about the planet, does notmake their loud claims valid.Who better understands theneighborhood than the peoplewho live there — whether thatneighborhood is a city block inChicago, a farm in Iowa or aranch in New Mexico. Localopinion and knowledge shouldnot be discounted just becausethere are more people on yourblock in New York than on minein Wyoming.If rhetoric wins over common

sense and more land is “saved”from the people who live there,there are ways for local govern-ments to protect their tax baseand economic stability — namelythrough active participation inthe federal decision-makingprocesses. Specifically, statuteslike the National EnvironmentalPolicy Act (“NEPA”), the Feder-al Lands Policy and Manage-ment Act (“FLPMA”), and theNational Forest ManagementAct (“NFMA”) require that thefederal government proactivelyseek the input of local govern-ments before the federal agencycan make substantive decisions.

Additionally, regulations gov-erning the U.S. Forest Service(“USFS”), the Bureau of LandManagement (“BLM”), and theFish and Wildlife Service(“FWS”) require that the federalagencies, at a minimum, notifyand additionally coordinate withlocal governments to developfederal land use plans. Thesestatutes allow local governmentsto take an active role in influenc-ing federal decisions, should thelocal government decide toaccept that role. Consider thefollowing statutory requirements:The NEPA mandates that the

federal government consider the“environmental impacts” of allfederal decisions. If there is anenvironmental impact, the feder-al government also has to consid-er the economic, local tax baseand social impacts of the deci-sion as well. Local governmentscan influence these deliberationsas active participants, by devel-oping alternatives to the federaldecision, preparing or reviewingeconomic or environmental stud-ies and forcing federal agenciesto substantively respond to localplans and policies. The questionis whether the local governmentis willing to enforce its rightsunder federal law and regulation.As another example, U.S.

Forest Service (“USFS”) regula-tions specifically invite local gov-ernments to participate in and toinfluence regional and forest-wide land use plans includingplans for management ofNational Monuments. The regu-lations require, at a minimum,

Double Monuments? continued from page one


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If the weather report predictsa 90 percent chance of rain,you might not cut hay today.When the cattle market falls$10 in a few weeks but a

trusted adviser says it is due tobounce back, you may wait a fewmore weeks to sell.You like to take action based

on a predicted outcome. In asense, everything you do involvessome kind of prediction abouthow it will shape your future. Atleast, that’s true of any deliberateaction.If you want something that

exists only in the future, it’s upto you to make it happen.Motives should include profit asa way to finance the vision.These ideas are pretty much

universal, but let’s consider yourcowherd. Across the country,cattle are getting better based ontrends in daily gain, efficiencyand quality grades. For decades,the improvements were uneven,giving up beef quality for betterperformance on the ranch orfeedlot.But buyers don’t want the

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day, because consumer demandhas gradually influenced the beefindustry.Cattle are getting better now

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but the 30-year slide in qualitygrade began a dramatic reboundlate in this decade, thanks largelyto genetic advances and strategicapplications of technology.The main reason it took so

long is because most producersstill undermanage their cattle, orleave them to coast through theannual rituals of calving, breed-ing and weaning with too littledeliberate guidance.Tools are easily accessible

today from cattle publications,ads, computers, public universi-ties, breed websites and seed-stock suppliers.Expected progeny differences

(EPDs) still top the list for cattleselection. You can’t move yourcowherd toward a better futurewithout making genetic deci-sions, and EPDs provide thestructure for accurate predic-tions.These expected differences in

performance and carcass qualityof an animal’s sons or daughtersare compared to a “zero base” infoundation stock or a standarddata year. Inter-breed compar-isons can be tricky, but USDA’sMeat Animal Research Centerpublishes annual adjustmenttables for some EPDs by breed.

Commercial cows generallydo not have known EPDs, butsire selection affects half thegenetics of your calves, and youcan choose replacement femalesbased partly on their sire EPDs.Recordkeeping can tell you

what is needed to complementthe maternal base when you lookfor bulls to buy or use throughartificial insemination. Indeed,records on past progeny per-formance across all relevanttraits are building blocks foreffective EPD use.It’s important to look at the

accuracy number for each EPD,too. If it is relatively low (<.40),then the value for that trait couldchange significantly as more datacome in. The more predictablesires have EPD accuraciesgreater than .70.Blending progeny carcass

data with individual ultrasoundnumbers, combination selectionindices and DNA markers aremore recent advances in geneticselection tools.Health and nutrition have

made great strides in the last fewdecades as well, especially thedocumented studies on theadvantages of effective coordina-tion. Beef quality has proven tobe a lifetime event for cattle, so arising plane of nutrition with aslittle stress as possible helps inplanning for a predictable out-come.Animal identification and

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participation by local governments in the develop-ment of the federal land use plan and the USFS’sselection of a preferred alternative. Additionally,the USFS is required to review, and coordinatewith, the regional and local planning efforts ofstate and local governments.The review must include

consideration of the explicitobjectives in the local landuse plans and policies, anassessment of the interrelat-ed impacts of these plans andpolicies, a determination ofhow each USFS plan shoulddeal with any impacts on thelocal land use, and considera-tion of alternatives shouldthere be conflicts betweenthe federal plans and thelocal land use policies andplans. Finally, the affect ofthe final federal land use plan must be monitoredto evaluate the effects of local land use plans onNational Forest lands, and vice versa. These coor-dination regulations ensure that the local environ-mental and economic needs are being met, eventhrough federal land use decisions.Federal law also provides opportunities for local

governments to participate in, and to influenceBLM land use policies, plans and programs. TheBLM regulations require the agency to be keptapprised of all state and local land managementplans, to ensure that appropriate consideration isgiven to these local land use plans in the develop-ment of federal resource management plans. Addi-tionally the BLM must take all practical measures

to resolve any inconsistencies between the federaland local land use plans while providing earlyinvolvement of the local governments in the federaldecision-making process, again including NationalMonument management.Thus, the BLM is required to give advance

notice of any preparation, amendment or revisionof a resource management plan to the state andlocal governments, in order to ensure the earliest

possible coordination withthem. The BLM regulationsalso require consistencybetween the federal and localland use plans, so long as thelocal government timely noti-fies the BLM of any suchinconsistencies. Once theBLM is notified of anyinconsistencies between thefederal and local land useplans, the agency must con-sider alternatives to alleviatethe problem. The importance of federal

land use and resource man-agement plans cannot be overlooked — these plansgovern all federal decision making, including deci-sions regarding uses on federal lands. By local gov-ernments taking an active role in federal decisionmaking processes, which may include having alocal land use plan in place, local governments willbe able to influence federal decision makingprocesses. Federal agencies are required to coordi-nate with local governments, but local govern-ments must be willing to be active participants inthat process. Will the Great American OutdoorInitiative and almost doubling the amount of landin National Monuments be “saved” from theAmerican public or managed, with local input,“for” the American public?

Double Monumentscontinued from page three

Federal agencies are required to coordinate with

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There is a war going on inthe West. It has nothing todo with guns and bullets.It’s an environmental war,

declared by eco-activists againstfarmers and ranchers who workthe land.It’s not covered by the main-

stream media. But environmen-tal groups boast that their aim isto run ranchers off their land,put them out of business, andbar beef and other food from ourtables. And the environmental-ists get taxpayers to pay them fortheir attempts at destruction.The tools they use are the

Endangered Species Act, theNational Environmental PolicyAct, and other acts, along with asmall army of lawyers who findbureaucratic loopholes to bank-rupt farmers and ranchers.While ranchers struggle to pay

attorneys to represent their inter-ests in these lawsuits, environ-mental groups are getting paidby taxpayers. Even though theactivists don’t win all of thesecases, they are reimbursed fortheir attorneys’ fees through theEqual Access to Justice Act(EAJA). The abuse of EAJA,where environmental groups col-lect up to $650 per hour for friv-olous lawsuits, was coveredrecently by Pajamas Media.“Essentially, these environ-

mental groups are being paid tosue the federal government,”said Wyoming attorney KarenBudd-Falen. “They file hundredsof lawsuits, and rather than fightthe suits, the government oftensettles the case, agreeing to payattorneys fees in the settlement.”Here are some of their cases.Wyoming sheepman Carl

Larson and his family continuethe operation founded by hisgrandfather 100 years ago. Theoperation is made up of privateand Bureau of Land Manage-ment (BLM) land, which thefamily pays to use and maintain.Because of the land ownership intheir area, the BLM land is criti-cal to the operation. When theactivist group the WesternWatersheds Project (WWP) fileda lawsuit that would havestopped grazing on the grazingallotment, based not on proof ofdamage to the land but on proce-dural issues with the permit, thefamily was forced to intervene.“Losing this permit would

have been devastating to ourfamily and our livelihood,” Lar-son said. “We intervenedbecause WWP had requested astay of any grazing on the allot-ment until all litigation was com-pleted, which would have effec-tively put our family ranch out ofbusiness.”The WWP could not show any

proof that the Larsons’ use oftheir land was causing any dam-age, so after several months therequest for a stay on grazing was

denied. The litigation is ongoing,and some problems were foundwith the BLM’s permit renewalprocedures. “We have absolutelyno control over the BLM’sprocesses, but have to live withthe consequences and had tospend $35,000 to keep ourranch,” Larson said. “There is noway to get that money back fromthe WWP, even though for theshort term, we beat them.”In addition to the cost of the

litigation, the Larsons haveinvested a lot of money over theyears in improvements to theallotment including fences, waterdevelopments, and bridges. “Ifthe allotment were closed, itwould be a major taking of pri-vate property rights and my fam-ily would lose its business,” Lar-son said.

Jordan Valley, Oregon,rancher Rand Collins was alsoforced to intervene in a lawsuitfiled by the WWP that wouldhave eliminated the family busi-ness that has been in the familyfor 46 years. In 1997, the groupsued the BLM to eliminate graz-ing on 68 grazing allotments,including Collins’ allotment. “Allof these allotments, like mine,have been grazed by livestock forover 100 years. Like the LouseCanyon Community allotmentfor me, the use of these allot-ments is necessary for the con-tinued existence of our ranchersand way of life,” Collins said.The WWP lawsuit claimed

that the BLM had not complet-ed the necessary paperworkunder the National Environmen-tal Policy Act (NEPA) for permitrenewal, and requested that live-stock be removed until thatpaperwork was complete. Whilethe court agreed that the BLMhad violated NEPA, livestockwere not removed, but the caseis ongoing.“WWP’s website boasts that it

wants to eliminate my livelihoodand family, but because it cannotchallenge me directly, WWP andother groups find errors in thebureaucratic process as a back-door way to harm my legitimateuse of the land I have loved for46 years,” Collins said.“So many times, these cases

are not filed on anything sub-stantive, but on paperwork andmissed deadlines,” Budd-Falenexplained. “It’s all on paper —nothing in the lawsuit evenimpacts the environment.”

Ranchers like Tim Lequer-ica, based in Oregon’sOwyhee River Valley, wereassured that their historic opera-tions would be protected whenCongress gave the river nearLequerica’s home its Wild andScenic designation in 1984. Thatwas put to the test, however, bylitigation filed in 1998 by theWWP and the activist OregonNatural Desert Association(ONDA), which joined WWPchallenging the BLM’s manage-ment plan for the wild and scenicriver.

The litigation claimed thatcattle should not be able to getwater from the river and request-ed that grazing be stayed oreliminated pending the outcomeof the litigation. The river wasthe ranchers’ only source ofwater. Ranchers intervened,arguing that they would keepcattle from drinking from the riv-er if they were provided alterna-tive water locations. “Our issuewas not whether we had to usethe Owyhee River, we just want-ed a source of water for ourthirsty livestock,” Lequerica said.“Our argument was that if thecourt would allow us to installwater pipelines and tanks on dryBLM lands, we would be happyto keep cattle from drinking inthe river as the environmentalistswanted. The environmentalistswanted no water at all, whichwould mean our cattle would gothirsty.”The ranchers spent $42,000

to participate in the litigation,and in the end, the court grantedthe ranchers’ requests. Theranchers were able to put in newpipelines and tanks to providewater for both livestock andwildlife. “However, because theBLM failed to jump throughsome procedural hoops withregard to the written wild andscenic river management plan,the federal government voluntar-ily agreed to pay ONDA andWWP $128,000 in attorney feesand costs. Thus, my money paidfor every part of the litigation,”Lequerica said. “I paid my per-sonal attorneys to represent me;my tax dollars paid the federalgovernment and their attorneyswho failed to do all the paper-work correctly; and my tax dol-lars paid the ONDA and WWPto sue the federal government.”Millions have been spent on

the reintroduction of Mexicangrey wolves into southwesternNew Mexico and southeasternArizona, which started in 1998as the result of environmentalactivist groups suing the U.S.Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS).Today, very few wolves have sur-vived in the wild, area wildlife issparse, and livestock depredationis putting ranchers out of busi-ness. Since 2000, Gene andGinger Whetten, of theAdobe Ranch in far south-western New Mexico, havebeen living with dead and miss-ing livestock, lost profits, and lit-igation caused by the wolves,and there’s no end in sight.In 2007, the Whettens had

nine wolves living right below thehouse, killing cattle every night.They estimate that they lost$100,000. “This year, we’vefound nine or ten dead calves,and pieces of 14 more. Thatdoesn’t include those that younever see, that you just know aregone because a cow comes inwith a tight bag,” Ginger Whet-ten said. “It’s been a big financial

A Taxpayer-Funded War Against RanchersThere is a war between ranchers and environmentalists in the West —

and the environmentalists are funded by the taxpayers.

continued on page eight


by GARY TRUITT, Hoosier Ag Today

Cattle prices are on the rise;and, soon, retail beef pricesmay be, too. Retailers havereduced their margins to

keep beef prices low so far this

year. While retail beef prices weredown 10 cents per pound in thefirst quarter, retail marginsdropped by 20 cents per pound.That can’t continue for long, saysPurdue Ag Economist ChrisHurt. He and others are forecast-ing higher beef prices this sum-mer, “Beef prices could hit recordhighs this spring and summer,eclipsing the third quarter of 2008when the average retail beef pricehit a record $4.46 per pound.”American Farm Bureau livestockeconomist John Anderson says,“The outlook for meat prices

is, from a livestock producer per-spective, more positive than it’sbeen in a long time. We areexpecting fairly high livestockprices and that would translateto higher prices at the meatcounter. A lot of people are say-ing that we may see record meatprices in summer of 2010.”Livestock producers went

through some very tough econom-ic times in 2009; and, as a result,reduced the number of animalsthey were raising. Now suppliesare down and prices are going up.“Typically what we see is that sup-plies of meat get tight and proces-sors and retailers sort of ratchet

up their prices in response to thefact that their product costs aregoing up, and they’re looking forthat point where consumers say:‘You know, that’s too high.’ Itremains to be seen where thatpoint is, but that’s kind of whatwe’re going to be looking for thissummer,” said Anderson. In fact, U.S. beef production is

down 1 percent so far this year assomewhat higher slaughter rateshave been more than offset bylower cattle weights. In addition,U.S. and international consumersare competing for reduced meatsupplies as they feel more confi-dent about the global economy.

In the first two months of 2010,U.S. beef exports were up 24 per-cent while beef imports weredown 23 percent, resulting in a 5percent reduction in U.S. percapita beef supplies. Hurt pre-dicted retail beef prices willremain strong throughout theyear, but will peak this springwhen supplies are the lowest. The mainstream media is

already howling about record highbeef prices, but Anderson saysconsumers can find good beef bar-gains is they shop around, “Retail-ers use meat to feature sales in alot of cases. So to just say thatprices are high really masks thefact that within those high pricesthere will be a lot of featuring

going on from week to week fromretailers. So, shoppers who reallywant to look for a bargain can usu-ally find something that’s cheap, atleast cheap relative to other thingsthat are in the meat counter. Soshop around, see what’s being fea-tured, and fire the grill up.”Finished cattle prices are also

expected to be at their yearlyhighs this spring. Summer pricesare expected to be in the low-to-mid $90s per hundredweight.Hurt forecast that, in 2010, fin-ished cattle prices may averageabout $93, dramatically abovethe $83 of 2009. Prospects for2011 should remain strong aswell, perhaps moving close to$95 for the year.

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my fellow traveler. “Overseasworkers don’t receive extra bene-fits like pensions and insurance.”“It seems we have a lot in com-

mon,” I said sadly. “What otheradvantages would there be if Iwere to offshore the writing of mycolumn?”“It will reduce the costs associ-

ated with staff turnover. Do you

have staffing issues?”“No, not really. But then I

don’t have a staff either.”“Well, then you should consid-

er offshoring simply for the riskbenefits. For example, what if youdie? The column and revenuestream would die with you,whereas if your column was writ-ten by a team of writers in Chinayour heirs could keep cashingchecks and your column could goon without anyone knowing thatyou are dead.”

“Yes, I'm sure my wife couldsee the many advantages in thatscenario. But how would I com-municate with my ghost writers inChina.”“Oh, that’s not a problem. We

have call centers to answer yourphone calls.”“Yeah, I’ve seen how well those

work.”“Then perhaps communicating

with your writers via e-mail wouldbe best.”“But what about the possibility

of other writers stealing my col-umn out in cyberspace?”“My dear new friend, I don’t

mean to be rude and I’ve onlyread a little of your work but Ireally must say that I just don’t seeany danger of that happening?”“That’s probably true,” I admit-

ted. “But still, I think I would beconcerned about losing some-thing in the translation. Whatabout grammar, punctuation andmaintaining the quality of mypresent work?”“Yes, I see your point and the

transition might be disruptive, butI really don’t think your readerswould object to the vast improve-ment in quality.”

Riding Herd continued from page one


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People who live in Chicago,Washington, D.C. or SanFrancisco inner cities locktheir doors at night. They

are careful where they travelwithin the city. They all havefriends who have been mugged,had homes burglarized, carsstolen or lives taken. They travelthe city in crowds like schools offish. Their safety, like all prey, isin numbers; the odds that some-one else will be eaten instead ofthem. In rural communities,small towns, and isolated ranchhouses we do not think of our-selves as prey.During the election, candidate

Obama made a very telling com-ment about bitter, small towns,clinging to their guns and reli-gion.” He is from the big city preymentality. He comes from a placethat believes that if we take gunsaway from ordinary citizens, theywill somehow be safer. His com-ment was interpreted as a slamagainst small town America, but Iwill give him the benefit of thedoubt. He simply doesn’t haveany way to relate to those whobelieve each person is responsibleto take care of himself.The Mexican border, once a

cultural bridge, is now a war

zone inhabited by killers, smug-glers, and drug dealers as bad asany town in Afghanistan. Ruralpeople who live along this poi-sonous border live with the dailypossibility of death and destruc-tion. Thousands of Mexicanshave been killed in the drug warsalready. The situation, which hasbeen worsening, culminated lastmonth with the murder of arancher by a suspected drugsmuggler on his way back toMexico.He lived in my county along

the border. He was known to theneighbors and many Mexicanillegals as a generous man. Hisranch has been well traveled byillegals for years. His luck ranout. All of us, his neighbors, aresaddened but reminded of justhow fragile normal life hasbecome where many have putdown their roots.If the President thinks the

community is bitter, he justmight be right. They are on thefront lines in a war to supplyrecreational drug users their dai-ly toke or weekly snort. Thesmugglers are doing quite well. Ihear of no shortages fromcelebrities and potheads. And, intruth, I would guess most ranch-

ers are ambivalent about dopesmokers and drug users. Unfor-tunately they are trying to ranchon the battlefield where the self-righteous, self-centered stoners,snorters, smokers, shooters andsuppliers are fighting The Law.. . . bitter, small towns, cling-

ing to guns and religion.You can see in this Arizona

rural community why we cling toour guns. We don’t have policecars patrolling our neighbor-hoods. The nearest neighborcould be ten or twelve milesaway and the criminals pass likeghosts in the night. We use ourguns because we are not prey,we take responsibility for ourown lives and livelihood. ThePresident’s unfortunate denigra-tion of religion as a source ofstrength is something he proba-bly wishes he could take back.His past church membershipspeaks for his faith. Suffice it tosay when we turn to God forhelp it is because He has provento be more reliable than thestream of politicians’ promisesthat continue to pour over us likedirty water sluicing down thedrain.And nobody seems to have a

clue.

by GARY TRUITT, Hoosier AG Today

The 4-H program is one of the best youth lead-ership development organizations in theworld. Now I admit I am biased, being a 4-Hleader and having two of my children go

through the program. So I guess that is why mygreen clover turned red when I learned that theNational 4-H organization had climbed in bedwith one of the most radical and insidious animalrights organizations in the country. Furthermore,when this issue came to light and the farm commu-nity expressed outrage, the National leadershiprefused to back down. This continued associationhas allowed the Humane Society of the UnitedStates to use the name and reputation of 4-H toadvance its radical agenda. Despite demands fromlocal and state 4-H leaders, the national organiza-tion has turned a deaf ear to the interests and con-cerns of agriculture.During the National 4-H Congress in Washing-

ton recently, a breakout session was held on animalcare. That is not unusual, but the sponsoringorganization certainly was. HSUS and Americanagriculture are locked in a pitched battle on thelocal, state, and national levels over the future ofanimal agriculture. So, to have them involved withan organization like 4-H, with deep roots in farm-ing, does not smell right. At the end of the session,the 25 youth that participated in the workshopwere provided with resource material that includedHSUS propaganda. The 35-page HSUS MissionHumane Action Guide, which encourages youth toset up animal protection clubs and devotes pages

to researching animal issues, “making your voiceheard,” and raising funds. If you throw a party, thematerial suggests showing videos from the HSUSWeb site and serving vegan refreshments. And justabout every page plugs information available onthe HSUS Web site. “You’ll also learn about lobby-ing, one of the most effective ways of makingchange for animals,” says the guide’s message fromCEO Wayne Pacelle. When word of this event began to leak out in

the ag media, the reaction was quick and virulent.Instead of admitting they had made a seriously badmistake, the National 4-H organization defendedtheir association with HSUS, “The workshop wasapproved by the planning committee because theproposal aligned with the goals of the 4-H confer-ence and did not present any indication of anti-ani-mal agriculture views or positions.” Leaders on thestate and local levels took strong exception withthe position of the national office. OSU ExtensionDirector Keith Smith issued a statement April 2saying Ohio’s 4-H program was “very distressed that this hap-pened at a national 4-H event,” and that the Ohio4-H organization had expressed that dismay to the4-H National Headquarters and USDA-NIFA,“The primary concern about this distribution isthat HSUS is well known for its anti-animal agri-culture views and positions, and 4-H has a long tra-dition of providing education in the animal sci-ences, which includes the dimension of positiveanimal welfare.” Individuals blasted the National

Baxter BLACKO N T H E E D G E O F C O M M O N S E N S E

The Border Gap in Understanding

4-H. The Latest Battleground Over Animal Care

continued on page eight


hit for us and an even bigger onefor some of our neighbors whoonly run 50-100 head of cattle.When the wolves get in on them,it just wipes them out. It is heart-breaking to watch as they losetheir livelihoods and way of life.”Working and spending time

together as a family brought theWhettens to the remote ranch,but much of that has been lost tothe constant stress of the wolves.“The wolves are on our mindsand on our property all the time.It’s not what we wanted for ourfamily.”To protect citizens like the

Whettens, and others who fearedfor the safety of their families,Catron County, New Mexico,adopted an ordinance designedto give its citizens relief fromwolves living in their front yards.“The federal government did nottake any legal action against thecounty for the ordinance, and wefelt we had a sworn duty to pro-tect the health and safety of ourcitizens,” said Catron CountyCommission Chairman EdWehrheim. “The ordinance stat-ed that if a wolf was harassing aperson, the county would protectthat person as allowed by theEndangered Species Act (ESA).”In 2007, the radical activist

group WildEarth Guardians(WEG) sued Catron County infederal district court claimingthat the county ordinance violat-ed the ESA. In the end, thecourt ruled in the county’s favoron all counts, and specificallyheld that the ordinance as writ-ten was lawful. Catron Countyspent over $100,000 in attorneys’fees defending its ordinance.“Even though the suit wasbrought under the ESA, we can-not recover that money from theWildEarth Guardians,”Wehrheim said. “In contrast,they and other groups have filedcountless suits against the gov-ernment about the wolves, andare able to get their attorneys’fees repaid.”In another suit, the Western

Watersheds Project (WWP) suedthe FWS in 2001 to list slickspotpeppergrass under the ESA. TheFWS ultimately decided againstlisting the species as threatenedor endangered, but agreed to paythe WWP $26,663 to reimbursetheir attorneys’ fees.After this decision, a number

of ranchers in the MountainHome, Idaho, area, includingCharlie Lyons and Ted Hoff-man, came together with thestate of Idaho to create a Candi-date Conservation Agreement(CCA), which was approved bythe FWS under the ESA. Theagreement, which was signed bymany ranchers, included specific,on-the-ground actions ranchersand landowners agreed to take toprotect the species. According toa 2009 report, the slickspot pep-pergrass had the highest record-ed population numbers. “Webelieve these population countsshow the actions in the CCAwere working and making a dif-ference,” Lyons and Hoffmansaid.

In 2004, the WWP sued againto force a listing under the ESA,the court agreed, and the specieswas listed. In 2007, the FWSwithdrew that decision, based onthe protection given by theCCA. The WWP sued again, andwon. Following that decision,the governor of Idaho filed a suitcontesting the latest listing, andthat litigation is ongoing.Due to the litigation, the

CCA is useless and the faith andhard work that the landownersand permittees put into manage-ment for the plant is down thedrain. No one can show that thisplant is any better protected bysome legal federal paper designa-tion than it was by true on-the-ground management, Lyons andHoffman said.Ranchers have spent $30,000

in litigation, plus time and effortdeveloping the CCA, on thisissue. The environmental groupWWP has received a total of$238,163 in taxpayer money insettlement agreements on thisspecies. “WWP’s objective is torun ranchers off the land in thespring,” Lyons and Hoffmansaid. “If they are successful intheir efforts, it would mean adeath sentence to the slickspotpeppergrass and ruination of ourranches.”

Southwestern New Mexicorancher, farmer, and CatronCounty Commissioner HughB. McKeen has been battlingenvironmental activist groupsand the U.S. Forest Service(USFS) for years, just to keepthe family operation, establishedby his grandfather in 1904, inbusiness. Today, the family’sfarmland is at risk of beingwashed away because of a lack offorest health work, and the fami-ly is ten years into a lawsuitagainst the USFS regardingpunitive cuts to his grazing allot-ment.Because the endangered

loach minnow has been found inthe San Francisco River, theMcKeens are no longer allowedto use equipment to maintainthe river and its channel. The riv-er is now aimed directly at theMcKeens’ private land irrigated

field, and the USFS is requiringa National Environmental PolicyAct (NEPA) analysis and Corpsof Engineers permit before workcan be done in the river. “Theyjust don’t care,” McKeen said.“Part of my land has beendestroyed — the floodplain isgone, so now the river is aimedright at my field.”The problems with their graz-

ing permit also involve the loachminnow. The activist groups theCenter for Biological Diversityand the Forest Guardians (nowknown as WildEarth Guardians)filed a suit claiming that theUSFS had not considered theimpacts of grazing on two fishand a bird species and request-ing that all livestock be removedfrom 42 allotments until the con-sultation process was completed.Ranchers intervened, spendingabout $100,000.In the end, the court ruled

that extra work would only berequired on allotments where thefish are actually found. “Eventhough our attorneys stoppedthe groups from eliminating allgrazing and then won most ofthe case on the merits, the feder-al agreement voluntarily agreedto pay the two groups $300,000in tax dollars,” McKeen said.The fish species were found

on the McKeen’s allotment andprivate land, so the USFS built afence to keep his cattle out ofthe river. Maintaining a fencealong the river is difficult, andwhen the fence is down the cat-tle get in the river. In punish-ment, the USFS has cut the fam-ily’s grazing permit for 25percent.The McKeens suit against the

agency has been ongoing for tenyears. “Even if we win the suit,all I get are my cattle numbersback, no restitution, no compen-sation for lost income, nothing,”McKeen said. “They cut mynumbers by 25 percent, reducingour income by 25 percent. Nobusiness can sustain that.”

Callie Gnatkowski Gibson lives with her hus-band and daughter in Los Lunas, N.M. Shewrites for agricultural organizations and publi-cations. Prior to that, Callie worked for SenatorPete Domenici, the New Mexico Cattle Grow-ers’ Association and the New Mexico WoolGrowers’, Inc. She was raised on a sheep andcattle ranch in central New Mexico, andremains active in the family operation.

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4-H Facebook fan page witheven stronger statements. Oneposter called it an “irresponsi-ble decision.” What makes the attempt by

HSUS to use 4-H, and theNational organization’s appar-ent willingness to be used,even more despicable is that4-H livestock programs are thebest example of humane ani-mal care there is. 4-Hers inthe livestock programs aremodels of good animal hus-bandry. If you want to see ani-mal care at its best, visit yourcounty fair this summer andspend a few minutes in thebarns and talk with the 4-Hers

about their animals and howthey care for them. To allow this radical, anti-

agriculture organization —which spends less than 1 per-cent of its funds on caring foranimals — influence our youthis unconscionable. Local 4-Hleaders, state officials, andevery 4-H parent, shoulddemand more accountabilityby the national organization.They should also demand cur-rent leadership be replaced.Clearly national leadership hasforgotten the part of the 4-Hpledge that talks about pledg-ing your “head to clearerthinking.”

4-H Battleground continued from page seven

Taxpayer-funded War continued from page five


by JOHN C. WENZEL, DVM,Extension Veterinarian, NMSU, Las Cruces, N.M.

Overview

Bovine viral diarrhea virus(BVDV) is an importantpathogen of cattle becauseof the negative economic

impact it can have on cow/ calf,stocker and feeder cattle. BVDVcan impact production due toreduced fertility, abortions, still-borns, poor growth rates, respira-tory disease, immunosupression,diarrhea and death. Results of a2005 Feedlot trial showed a PIprevalence of 0.3 percent onarrival, 2.6 percent in chronicsand 2.5 percent in deads. Risk ofinitial treatment for respiratorydisease was 43 percent greater incattle exposed to a PI animalcompared with those not exposedto a PI animal. Overall, 15.9 per-cent of initial respiratory tract dis-ease events were attributable toexposure to a PI animal.1 Devel-oping immunity against the BVDvirus is a complex issue requiringa control program designed foreach specific operation. It will benecessary to consult your localveterinarian for assistance indeveloping a BVDV control pro-gram for your operation. Having abasic understanding of how BVDinfections take place will help youunderstand how a diagnostic lab-oratory can assist in decidingwhat level of control is needed onyour operation.

BVD InfectionThere are two distinct species

of BVD virus, BVDV 1 and

BVDV 2 along with two distinctbiotypes, Cytopathic and Non-cytopathic. There are also twotypes of infection, acute and per-sistent, along with five clinicalforms of acute disease (acuteBVDV infection, severe acuteBVDV infection, hemorrhagicBVDV infection, acute BVDVinfection- respiratory tract dis-ease and acute BVDV infection-immunosupression).2 The clini-cal signs seen with an acuteinfection depends on the BVDVspecies, biotype and strain alongwith immune status of theexposed animal and the presenceof secondary pathogens. Manyinfections are mild and subclini-cal. Exposure of a pregnant cowcan result in abortions, stillbirths,birth defects and persistentlyinfected (PI) calves. Persistentlyinfected calves can range fromfairly normal to weak poor-doingcalves that die shortly after birth.These calves are a source of viralexposure to all cattle they con-tact for the remainder of theirlives. PI cattle shed virus at amuch higher rate than acutelyinfected animals and are agreater risk to native cattle thannatural infections. Persistentinfections can result from twotypes of exposure — being bornto a persistently infected dam ora dam exposed to BVDVbetween day 40 and 125 of preg-nancy. If a cow is exposed toBVDV and becomes viremic dur-ing this time of gestation, thevirus can cross the placenta andexpose the fetus. The fetalimmune system is forming duringthis time and the calf may then

recognize the virus as self and thecalf will then shed the virus therest of its life. These PI calves area great danger to any cattle theycontact. Identifying and remov-ing PI cattle and the continuedvaccination to prevent fetal infec-tion are the most important com-ponents of effective controlmeasures.3 Control programs willneed to include the use of modi-fied live vaccines, annual vaccina-tion of cowherd, BVDV testingand care when purchasing bullsand replacement females.

Laboratory Diagnosis of BVD Infection4

Tests for live virus: Virus iso-lation (VI) detects replicatingvirus and has long been consid-ered the gold standard for detec-tion of BVDV. VI can be donefrom whole blood, white bloodcells, nasal swabs and tissues, inparticular spleen, thymus andother tissues associated with theimmune system. VI isolationfrom sera of neonatal calves maynot work well because maternalantibodies transferred to the calfvia the ingestion of colostrumcan prevent the isolation of virus.Samples should be stored on iceor frozen until tested. Heatingand drying of tissues will have anegative impact on detection byVI. Both persistent and acuteinfections can be detected usingVI. The drawbacks are that VI istime consuming, relativelyexpensive and requires signifi-cant technical expertise andreagents free of BVDV and anti-bodies against BVDV.

Tests based on the detectionof viral genomic material

Diagnostic tests based on thedetection of genomic materialinclude in situ hybridization,conventional polymerase chainreaction (PCR) and real timePCR (RT-PCR). PCR reactionsthat use differential primers canbe used to determine the speciesof the infecting BVDV. Alterna-tively the product of the PCRreaction can be sequenced andcompared to laboratory refer-

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BVD Virus Acute and Persistent Infection Diagnosis


ence strains to determinespecies. The PCR based tests aresensitive, fast and commercialkits, which provide standardizedprotocols and all reagents arenow available. Samples includewhole blood, white blood cells,nasal swabs, lymphoid tissuesand skin biopsies. Samplesshould be stored on ice or frozenuntil tested. Heating and dryingof tissues will have a negativeimpact on detection. These testsrequire a fair degree of technicalexpertise and there may be sig-nificant differences in the relia-bility of both test protocols andtechnical expertise between lab-oratories. Test runs shouldinclude positive and negativecontrol and it is preferable thatinternal standards are run foreach sample to determine thatreactions are running correctly.Internal standards for PCRamplification can be a targetsequence that can be found itboth negative and positive sam-ples. This is because some sam-ples from the field containagents that inhibit the PCR reac-tion. If you do not include an

internal standard you do notknow whether a sample is nega-tive for BVDV or if the sample ispositive but did not amplifybecause there were inhibitorspresent.

Tests based on the detection of viral proteinsDiagnostic tests based on the

detection of viral associated pro-teins include immunohistochem-istry (IHC) and ELISA basedtests. Monoclonal or polyclonalantibodies are used for detectionin these tests. IHC can be per-formed on fixed or frozen tissue.IHC allows the diagnostician todetermine if there is associationbetween virus and any lesionsobserved. IHC is not affected bypassive antibodies and so it is areliable method for testingneonatal calves. The best resultsfor IHC are achieved when thesetests are performed and inter-preted by an experienced pathol-ogist. Mishandling of tissuesafter collection can affect detec-tion by IHC. Commercial kitsfor ELISA detection are avail-able and results using these kitstend to be quite reproduciblebetween labs. These tests aresensitive, fast and require theleast amount of technical expert-ise of the available tests forBVDV. Samples include wholeblood, white blood cells, nasalswabs, lymphoid tissues and skinbiopsies. Detection of BVDV inskin biopsies is not affected bypassive antibodies, which makesthis a reliable test for use inneonatal animals (Table 1).

Applying diagnostic resultsProducers will need to contact

their local veterinarian for helpin interpreting BVDV testresults. The type of test andinterpreting results will dependon each situation. If you are test-

ing during clinical disease suchas pregnancy loss, then you mayapply more than one test, suchas SN, IHC or VI. If you aretesting as a baseline to find out ifBVDV is present, then you mayelect serum neutralization oncows or IHC on calves.

One Example —Increased number of opencows at pregnancy check.Pull blood for SN titers.If positive titers are present,

you need to determine if expo-sure is transient or from a PI ani-mal. To determine if a PI animalis present, ear notch calves atbranding and test dams of posi-tive calves. If you have PI cattle,remove all PIs and start diseaseprevention program.If all tests are negative then

this was a transient exposure.Start a BVDV control and pre-vention program that includesmultiple modified live BVDVvaccinations on replacementfemales, annual vaccination ofentire cowherd, purchasing PItested seedstock, and limit expo-sure to transient cattle (such asstockers, yearlings or purchased

cattle). Refer to the figure above-for this example.

SummaryDiagnosis of acute infection

is based on clinical signs, lesionsand presence of virus. Laborato-ry assistance is necessary to con-firm a diagnosis of acute BVDinfection. Diagnosis of PI cattleis based on laboratory testing. Asecond positive test is usuallyrequired to confirm a diagnosisof persistent infection. Labora-tory diagnosis of BVDV infec-tions is necessary for several rea-sons as differentiating betweenan acute infection and a persist-ent infection is of the utmostimportance. If a persistentlyinfected animal is detected onyour operation, it will be neces-sary to determine if the PI ani-mal was born to a PI dam or ifexposure occurred during fetalgestation. This will requirerepeated testing and mayrequire more than one methodof laboratory diagnosis. Consultyour local veterinarian for assis-tance in diagnosis and testingfor BVDV and developing a con-trol program for your operation.

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BVD Virus Diagnosis continued from page nine

Pull blood for SN Titer

All Negative titers

Begin BVDV control and prevention program

Positive titer present

If dam isNegative –

repeat test oncalf – if pos

then PI – if negwas transient

Increased number of open cows at preg check

Determine exposure source

Do IHC or VI on cows Do IHC on calves at branding

If all negative then transient ex-

posure

If positive- maybe

PI cow

If positive then test

dam

If all negative titersthen was transient ex-

posure

Begin BVDVprevention program

Further testingneeded to

determine if PI (IHC,

PCR, ACE)

If dam is positive –

repeat tests –if positive thenPI (IHC, ACE,

PCR)

Test Detection Target Meaning of Positive test Sample type

Virus Isolation (VI)* Live virus Virus present, animal could be acutely or persistently infected

Tissue, whole blood, lympho-cytes, serum, nasal swab

Immunohistochemistry(IHC)*

Viral protein Virus present. Will detect persistently infected animals. Positive tests of acutely infected animals have been reported.

Tissue, skin biopsy (ear notch)

Antigen Capture ELISA(ACE)*

Viral protein Virus present. Will detect persistently infected animals. Positive tests of acutely infected animals have been reported.

Whole blood, lymphocytes, skin biopsy (ear notch)

Conventional PCR* Viral genetic material

Virus present. Will detect persistently infected animals. Positive tests of acutely infected animals have been reported.

Tissue, milk, whole blood,serum, skin biopsy (ear notch)

Real Time PCR* Viral genetic material

Virus present. Will detect persistently infected animals. Positive tests of acutely infected animals have been reported.

Tissue, milk, whole blood,serum, skin biopsy (ear notch)

Serum neutralization(SN) Antibodies against BVDV

Animal has been exposed to BVDV.Cannot differentiate between vaccinated and naturally infected

Serum

BVDV antibody ELISA Antibodies against BVDV

Animal has been exposed to BVDV.Cannot differentiate between vaccinated and naturally infected

Serum

TABLE 1 (From: Ridpath, JF NADC/USDA 2009)

*Persistent infection confirmed by second positive test on samples collected 3 weeks after first sample collection


by CARY BLAKE, Farm PressEditorial Staff

Western Farm Press Edi-tor Harry Cline’s com-mentary, “Whacked-out envirofreaks offer

bizarre solution to save otherlife” (Feb. 20, 2010), shed lighton the ridiculous antics of theCenter for Biological Diversity, aTucson, Ariz.-based environmen-tal group.Cline wrote about CBD offer-

ing free condoms to protect moresuperior animal species by reduc-ing the second-class human popu-lation. This group’s lawsuit-happyactions to protect good fish baitinclude lawsuits where question-able wins force taxpayers to padthe group’s financial war chest.

CBD 2.11.10 Press Release:With 3,000 volunteers operating inall 50 states, the Center for Biolog-ical Diversity will distribute100,000 free Endangered Species

Condoms beginning on Valentine’sDay and has launched an educa-tional Web site, www.Endangered-SpeciesCondoms.com, chroniclingthe devastating impact of humanoverpopulation on endangeredspecies. Additional free condomswill be distributed through the site,and five people will win a lifetimecondom supply.

“Human overpopulation isdestroying wildlife habitat at anunprecedented rate,” said RandySerraglio, a conservation advocateleading the Center’s overpopulationcampaign.Over the last decade Pima

County ranchers Jim and SueChilton were wrongly attackedby the CBD. The group sued theU.S. Forest Service to end theChilton’s grazing allotment. Thegroup claimed the area was ahabitat for the Sonora chub andthe lesser long-nosed bat, andthat the Chiltons mismanaged

the land.The CBD took pictures of

bare ground on the Chilton’sallotment, alleging poor manage-ment and posted the photos onthe CBD’s Web site. Jim Chiltonsays the photos were actually ofa small camping spot for deerhunters. Several feet awayhealthy range grass stood 20inches tall.When Chilton saw a CBD

news release in his local newspa-per with even more allegations,the Chiltons decided enoughwas enough.“These people do not like pro-

duction agriculture,” Chiltontold me. “I laid awake at nightover all this. I said I’m not awimp. I’m a cowboy; it’s time tocowboy up. I’m taking them on.”The Chiltons filed a $100,000

defamation and libel lawsuitagainst the CBD. The U.S. For-est Service then conducted sur-

veys on soil quality, riparianareas and grasses on the allot-ment. A world-renowned rangescientist climbed every mountainon the ranch and found theChiltons to be exemplary range-land stewards and among thebest ranchers in the Southwest.The Chiltons pursued jury tri-

als against the CBD. Over athree-week period, jurors heardtestimony from many experts.They voted 10-0 and 9-1 in favorof the Chiltons. In addition tothe $100,000 award, the courtawarded the Chiltons $500,000in punitive damages.The CBD then filed an appeal

with the Arizona District Courtof Appeals. The court sided 3-0with the Chiltons. CBD went tothe Arizona Supreme Court. Itrefused to hear the case.The CBD pondered taking

the issue to the U.S. SupremeCourt. Then the most bizarre

twist occurred. The CBD said itwould drop the highest courtchallenge if Chilton paid theenvirofreaks $35,000 to go away.Western Farm Press cannot printJim Chilton’s response. Thesesettlement deals are common,but seldom reported.In the end, the Chiltons col-

lected the $600,000. The ranch-ing family paid out more in legalfees than it collected, but it wasworth it, according to Jim, “Theylied about a cowboy. By God, itwas the best expenditure I’veever made.”Justice is sweet, and the

woodshed is still a good place foran attitude adjustment.

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by MARK TAPSCOTT, Editorial PageEditor, Washington Examiner

Secretary of the Interior KenSalazar was asked in a Feb-ruary 26, 2010, letter fromWestern Caucus Chairman

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-UT, and oth-er representatives from westernstates for the missing pages froma leaked government memo that“contained detailed informationabout the administration’s plansto designate as many as 14 newnational monuments and lock upas much as 13 million acres instates throughout the West.”Bishop and his colleagues

asked Salazar to provide themissing pages by March 26, or amonth after their letter went tothe Interior chief. More than twomonths later and Bishop hasreceived exactly nothing fromSalazar in response to the Febru-ary 26 request.Joining Bishop in making the

request of Salazar were Rep.Doc Hastings, R-WA, the rank-ing GOP member of the HouseNatural Resources Committee,and 14 other members of theWestern Caucus.The congressmen have seven

pages from the memo, includingpages 15 – 21, which list the 14potential new monuments andcosts associated with the project,but the members have no way ofknowing what else was in thememo or how many pages ittotalled.“Since the President and his

Cabinet have routinely statedthat transparency is among theadministration’s highest priori-ties, fulfilling this documentrequest should have been noproblem. In fact, the presidenthas gone so far as to call trans-parency the ‘touchstone’ of hispresidency. With the DOI’s lat-est failure to complete this docu-ment request, I would hardly saySecretary Salazar is living up to

the president’s standards,” saidBishop.“The DOI must be forthcom-

ing with the information we haverequested, and if there is nothingto hide as they claim, then whythe delay? Sadly, this is what wehave come to expect from theDOI, and frankly, the American

people deserve better.”Salazar was asked about the

leaked memo during a recentSenate Energy and NaturalResources Committee hearingand responded only by saying“there’s no hidden agenda on thepart of my department.”That elicited the obvious

response from Bishop, who nowasks “if there is no hidden agendathen why do these documents,which are public information,remain under lock and key?Unfortunately for SecretarySalazar, this is where the rubbermeets the road, and once again,his rhetoric fails to match reality.”

Why is Ken Salazar hiding memo on new monuments, wilderness areas?

Ranchers take envirofreaks to woodshed


PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS NEWS

Laura Rogers, project direc-tor of the Pew Campaignon Human Health andIndustrial Farming, issued

the following statement recently,commenting on a hearing of theU.S. House Energy & Com-merce Subcommittee on Health,where representatives of theObama administration areexpected to present testimonyregarding the need to protect

Americans from the growingproblem of antibiotic resistance: “We applaud Chairman Frank

Pallone for convening today’shearing on the growing problemof antibiotic resistance. We urgethe subcommittee to focus onwhere and how improper use ofantibiotics is occurring and whatcan be done to prevent this prac-tice. With 70 percent of allantibiotics sold in the UnitedStates being given to healthyfood animals, we trust that

today’s hearing will address therole that industrial farming playsin this problem. “The Deputy Commissioner of

the FDA, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein,testified before Congress in Julythat routine use of antibiotics forgrowth promotion and feed effi-ciency should be phased out aspart of a public health approachto address antibiotic resistance.Almost a year later, we are stillwaiting for FDA and other appro-priate federal agencies to articu-

late concrete, effective actions toeliminate routine use of antibi-otics in industrial farming. “We hope that today’s hearing

will initiate more action from theU.S. government in response tothe crisis of antibiotic resistance.As recommended by the Ameri-can Medical Association, theAmerican Public Health Associ-ation, the Infectious DiseasesSociety of America, the Ameri-can Academy of Pediatrics andsome 350 other organizations,Congress and the Administra-tion should take steps immedi-

ately to phase out the routineuse of antibiotics in food animalproduction. It is imperative thatCongress pass the Preservationof Antibiotics for Medical Treat-ment Act (PAMTA, H.R. 1549,S.619). This important legisla-tion would withdraw the routineuse of seven classes of antibioticsvitally important to humanhealth from food animal produc-tion unless animals or herds aresick or unless drug companiescan prove that their use does notharm human health.” “It is time to take action to

protect the health of the Ameri-can people.”

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USDA and the Environmen-tal Protection Agencyannounced the agencieswill provide up to $3.9 mil-

lion over the next five years tohelp farms recover and use biogas. The collaboration will expand

technical assistance efforts,improve technical standards andguidance to construct and evalu-ate biogas recovery systems,expand outreach to livestockproducers and assist them withpre-feasibility studies. The agreement expands the

work of the AgSTAR program, ajoint EPA-USDA effort thathelps livestock producers reducemethane emissions from theiroperations. Biogas is composed primarily

of methane, a greenhouse gasthe agencies said is 20 timesmore potent than carbon diox-

ide. Biogas emitted from manuremanagement systems calleddigesters can be collected andused to produce electricity, heator hot water. About 150 on-farm manure

digesters are now operating atU.S. livestock facilities. In addi-tion, EPA estimates there areabout 8,000 farms across theUnited States that are good can-didates for capturing and usingbiogas. If all 8,000 farms implement-

ed biogas systems, the agenciessaid methane emissions wouldbe reduced by more than 34 mil-lion metric tons of carbon diox-ide equivalent a year, roughlyequal to the annual emissionsfrom 6.5 million passenger vehi-cles. In addition, these projectscould generate more than 1,500megawatts of renewable energy.

EPA, USDA to help livestock producers capture methane gas

by RITA JANE GABBETT, www.meatingplace.com

The New York Daily Newsreported in mid April thatPeople for the EthicalTreatment of Animals

(PETA), always on the lookoutfor a media stunt, delivered a let-ter to the U.S. Department ofAgriculture demanding the gov-ernment refuse to renew theexhibitor license of the RinglingBros. circus. Looks like themedia whiz-kids at PETAscrewed this one up, though. Thesame newspaper reports today ina follow up article that theUSDA already renewed Rin-gling’s permit — last week.Oops.This attempted offensive

strategy is just the latest fromanimal rights groups like PETAand the so-called “Humane Soci-ety” of the United States(HSUS) against the circus. Likemost groups pursuing an ani-mals-first, people-last ideology,they want to shut the circusdown entirely and “liberate” theelephants. But do their cam-paigns deserve to be taken seri-ously?Ringling notes that the

USDA has already inspected itscircus five times this year. So

much for PETA’s accusation ofanimal “abuse.” And a cadre ofanimal rights groups includingthe Fund for Animals (now partof HSUS) pursued a federal law-suit against the circus operatorfor almost a decade. How’d thatturn out?A federal judge dismissed the

lawsuit in December, writingthat the animal-rights plaintiffshad a collective pay-to-playarrangement with a key witnessin the case. That witness’s testi-mony was so full of holes thatthe judge actually used the word“demolished” to describe hiscredibility. Now these circus-haters are facing a federal law-suit for their scheme. And it wasfiled under the mobster-orientedRacketeer Influenced and Cor-rupt Organizations (RICO) law.Today, PETA is left calling for

the USDA to revoke Ringling’spermit and wiping the egg-substi-tute off its face. Our guess is theUSDA isn’t going to throw PETAa bone (or a peanut, for that mat-ter). Maybe they — and theorganized racket going after thecircus — should just hang it up.Before they get trampled in thecourt of public opinion, that is.

PETA Crushes Its Own Credibilityfrom CONSUMERFREEDOM.COM

Pew’s statement on Congressional hearing on antibiotic resistance


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Crane Creek Ranch: Tehama County, 556 acres. Two smallhomes, winter range. West of Red Bluff.Priced at $975,000.Wilson Ranch: Modoc County, 487 acres, house, barn, summer range. Surprise Valley, Calif. Priced at$950,000.Willow Springs Ranch: Shasta County, 1,470 acres, barn, two homes, Cottonwood Creek frontage. Make offer.Pasture Ranch: Modoc County, 427 acres, nice home, 400 acres irrigated.2.5 miles Pit River frontage, priced at$1,600,000.Fisher Ranch: Modoc County, 2,808 acres, 465 irrigated, USFS andBLM permits, older nice home, 200 cowsincluded. Priced at 2,999,000.Hooker Creek Ranch: TehamaCounty, 1,023 acres, winter range, largeponds, recreation, electric, well, septic,telephone. Priced at $1,095,000.

Rubicon Ranch: Tehama County,2,082 acres, Hunting Ranch, pigs, deer,quail dove. Ponds and creek. Priced at$1,350,000.Spring Meadow Ranch: ShastaCounty, 160 acres, water rights, 50 acresirrigated, large home, swimming pool,barn, shop. Priced at $699,000.Trinity River Ranch: TrinityCounty, 117 acres, 5,000 ft. Trinity River frontage, excellent trout fishing.Priced at $665,000.Kelley Ranch: Modoc County, 658 acres, 156 acres irrigated, threehouses, barn, shop. Priced at $900,000Paskenta Ranch: Tehama County,487 acres, house, corrals, barns. Approx.200 acres, class one soil. New well, nursery-orchard. Priced at $1,795,000Horse Ranch: Tehama County. 26+acres, 14 acres irrigated, house, corrals,120x200 covered arena. 140 ft. cuttingarena, 16-stall barn, Cottonwood Creek frontage. Priced at $1,350,000

CALIFORNIA RANCHES FOR SALE R.G. DAVIS, BROKER

Properties and Equities

19855 S. Main St.P.O. Box 1020

Cottonwood, CA 96022Office: 530/347-9455

Fax: 530/[email protected]

Shorthorn

RED ANGUS

SANTA GERTRUDIS

angus

BRANGUS

LIMOUSIN

All Breeds

HEREFORD

GOLDENDALE, WA 99620

Washington’sOldest Source of Herefords

“SINCE 1938”Selling Range Bulls

in Volume (Top Replacement Heifers)

ARTSCHUSTERFAMILY

CLAY SCHUSTER509/773-5089 Home541/980-7464 Cell

Bell KeyAngusDennis Boehlke 208/467-2747

Cell. 208/989-1612

A few ChoiceBulls Availableat PrivateTreaty.

NAMPA, IDAHO

Performance-Tested Bulls, Spring & Fall

Jeff Schmidt509/488-2158

[email protected]

AMERICAN SHORTHORNASSOCIATION 877/274-06868288 HASKELL ST., OMAHA, NE 68124

DEES BROTHERSBRANGUS Yuma, ArizonaHigh-Quality BrangusBreeding Stock AvailableALEX DEES • 760/572-5261 • Cell. 928/920-3800

www.deesbrothersbrangus.com

LASATERBEEFMASTERS

“THE PEDIGREE IS IN THE NAME”

Foundation Herd ofthe Beefmaster Breed

The Lasater Ranch, Matheson, CO 80830719/541-BULL (2855) • (F) 719/[email protected] • www.lasaterranch.com

BEEFMASTER

A SOURCE FOR PROVEN SUPERIOR

RED ANGUS GENETICS

14298 N. Atkins Rd., Lodi, CA 95240

209/727-3335

Come by anytimeand see our herd.

��

R.L. Robbs520/384-36544995 Arzberger Rd.Willcox, AZ 85643

Call: 979/245-5100 • Fax 979/244-43835473 FM 457, Bay City, Texas 77414

[email protected]

DanWendt

S

S Santa Gertrudis CattlePolled and Horned

HERD ESTABLISHED 1953 S

SCHAROLAIS

Sell More Bulls!To list your herd here,

please contact Debbie Cisneros:

505/332-3675, or email: [email protected]

All Cattlemen do not have the same seedstockneeds. We have realized this and have a goodselection of functional Braford Bulls for sale.Horned and Polled cattle are available. Ourpercentages are tailored to meet the needs ofthe commercial cattleman who need more earwith a 3/4 Brahman bull or just a little ear witha 3/16 Brahman bull. We currently have a goodselection of Yearling and Two-Year-Old BullsAvailable.

325/226-2317 Cell (Anytime)www.bossranch.com • MARATHON ,TX

Santa GertrudisBreeders

InternationalP.O. Box 1257

Kingsville, Texas 78364361/592-9357

361/592-8572 [email protected]

Red & Tender By Design

www.santagertrudis.ws

REICHCharolais

RanchPRIVATE TREATY

ANYTIMETIM & REE REICH

605/892-4366 • CELL: 605/580-2393Belle Fourche, South Dakota

2-year-old BullsProven Genetics,Range Ready

WE SELL OVER 250 HEAD

ANNUALLY.

JOE FREUND303/840-1850 (H)303/341-9311

JOEY FREUND303/841-7901

PAT KELLEY303/840-1848

RunningCreek Ranch

ELIZABETH, COLORADO 80107

LIMOUSIN

Seven MileL I M O U S I N

ERIC HERR 208/[email protected]

KEVIN NESBITT 208/365-8069SWEET, IDAHO 83670

• RED, BLACK POLLED LIMOUSIN

• LIM-FLEX • LIMOUSINPRIVATE TREATY

Mountain High HorseRanch Dispersal SaleJUNE 5, 2010 • ANTONITO, CO

Call Tim Lockhart,970/204-4302 or Brent Bond719/588-1282Catalogs Upon

Request

Selling Over 200Ranch Stallions,

Broodmares, Geldings & Weanlings

BRANGUS

HORSES

g•u•i•d•e

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 EstateGUIDE

To place your listings here, please call Debbie Cisneros at 505/332-3675,

or email [email protected]!


Idaho-OregonCall 208/345-3163 for catalog.

KNIPE

LAND CO.

RANCHESFARMSCOM’L.

Established1944

��

INTEREST RATES AS LOW AS 3%. PAYMENTS

SCHEDULED ON 25 YEARS

��

JOE STUBBLEFIELD & ASSOCIATES13830 Western St., Amarillo, TX

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

Nara Visa, NM • 806/392-1788

Proven Performance.

Let me help you find your perfect

property!

BETTY HOUSTONRealtor®, GRI, CRB

Office575/835-1422

Cell505/440-8297

Los Lunas505/865-5500

socorronmproperty.com

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!

Scottand co.Ranch & Farm Real Estate

Ben G. Scott, Krystal M. Nelson–Brokers • 800/933-9698 day/night • www.scottlandcompany.com

L1301 Front St.Dimmitt, TX79027

We need your listings both large and small, all types of ag properties (ESPECIALLY CRP).

READY TO RANCH and DEVELOP (wind energy, comm., res.) Potter Co., TX – 4,872.8acres of beautiful ranch country four miles north of loop 335, Amarillo, TX, pavement on foursides. Well watered by pumps powered by solar energy (state-of-the- art). Deer, quail and dove.

EASTERN N.M.: Approx. 30 sections mostly deeded some BLM and State, employeehousing and two sets of steel pens, county maintained, all weather road. Your cows willthink they are in Florida!

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

INSPECTIONS LLC

CERTIFIED MASTER INSPECTORSInspecting America One Property at a Time

DANIEL McCARTHY720/519-5302 • 720/273-9329

[email protected]

CERTIFIED NATIONWIDE • REFERENCES AVAILABLE • NACHI CERTIFIED

Dan has worked for several cities including Aurora and Lone Tree, Colorado, as well as for military bases

such as Buckley AFB, Peterson AFB and Shriever AFB.

To view field inspections, go to: www.nachi.tv, Bakery and Warehouse episodes

SEMINARS AVAILABLE • CO-FOUNDER OF COMINSPECT

Commercial, Residential, Realtors, Brokers, Auctioneers —

welcome to contact us!

1,350 -1,400 AU’s YEAR ROUND – WINTER RANGE – 11,750DEEDED PLUS BLM and STATE LEASES - ONE CONTIGUOUSBLOCK - LOW OVERHEAD – GOOD IMPROVEMENTS – 10 MINUTES TO TOWN and SCHOOLS -$6,000,000 – CAN CUT TO 1,000 HD AND REDUCE PRICE! – P BAR

225 – 250 AU’s - 850 DEEDED (650 irrigated) – 1-1/2 MILERIVER - NICE MEADOWS – MODEST IMPROVEMENTS WITHGREAT WORKING FACILITIES – CLOSE TO TOWN and

SCHOOLS - $1,800,000 – WANT OFFER -CAN ADD CUSTOMHOME AND 80 ACRES – GREAT STOCKER OPERATION –

LYMAN – RAE @ 208-761-9553

LIFESTYLE RANCH 55 MILES TO BOISE – 2,213 DEEDEDACRES PLUS STATE AND BLM – DROP DEAD PRIVATE – 2 MILES MAJOR STREAM – BEHIND LOCKED GATE – COMFORTABLE IMPROVEMENTS – ELK, DEER, TURKEY,CHUKAR, HUNS, QUAIL, WATERFOWL - BEAR, LION

AND VARMINT – TROUT and BASS PONDS - $1,400,000 –WANT OFFER – TURKEY CREEK

LIFESTYLE – 320 DEEDED ACRES (105 irrigated) - COMFORTABLE IMPROVEMENTS – SPECTACULAR VIEWS –

BORDERS FEDERAL LANDS – ELK, DEER, TURKEY – ONLY MINUTES TO SOME OF THE FINEST YEAR LONG FISHING IN THE NORTHWEST – STEELHEAD, STURGEN,TROUT, BASS, CRAPPY AND MORE - $690,000 – WANT OFFER – POSY -RAE @ 208-761-9553

LIFESTYLE/INCOME – POSSIBLY THE FINEST WILDLIFE VARIETY/QUANITY AVAILABLE – 1,160 DEEDED ACRES (180 irrigated) – 2-1/2 MILES RIVER – 2 BASS PONDS –PLENTIFUL QUAIL, CHUKAR, DOVE, PHEASANT, WATER-FOWL, DEER and AND VARMINTS - EXCELLENT IMPROVE-MENTS – COW/CALF AND/OR STOCKER OPERATION FORINCOME /TAX ADVANTAGE - $1,900,000 – LANDRETH

AGRILANDS Real Estatewww.agrilandsrealestate.com

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

“EAGER SELLERS”

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) 575/644-0776

[email protected] • www.zianet.com/nmlandman

WAHOO RANCH: Approximately 41,376 acres: 12,000 deeded, 6,984 BLM, 912 state, 40 uncon-trolled and 21,440 forest. Beautiful cattle ranch located on the east slope of the Black RangeMountains north of Winston, N.M., on State Road 52. Three hours from either Albuquerque orEl Paso.The ranch is bounded on the east by the Alamosa Creek Valley and on the west by theWahoo Mountains ranging in elevation from 6,000' to 8,796'. There are 3 houses/cabins, 2 setsof working corrals (1 with scales) and numerous shops and outbuildings. It is very well wateredwith many wells, springs, dirt tanks and pipelines. The topography and vegetation is a combi-nation of grass covered hills (primarily gramma grasses), with many cedar, piñon and live oakcovered canyons as well as the forested Wahoo Mountains. There are plentiful elk and deer aswell as antelope, turkey, bear, mountain lion and javelina (46 elk tags in 2009). Absolutely oneof the nicest combination cattle/hunting ranches to be found in the Southwest. Price reducedto $7,500,000.SAN JUAN RANCH: Located 10 miles south of Deming off Hwy. 11 (ColumbusHwy.) approximately 26,964 total acres consisting of ±3,964 deeded, ±3,800state lease, ±14,360 BLM and ±4,840 Uncontrolled. The allotment is for 216head (AUYL). There are ± 278 acres of ground water irrigation rights (notcurrently being farmed) as well as 9 solar powered stock wells and metal storagetanks and approx. 6½ miles pipeline. The ranch begins on the north end at the beautiful Ma-honey Park high up in the Florida mountains and runs 5½ miles down the mountains to theirsouth end. It continues another 7½ miles south across their foothills and onto the flats. Theranch has a very diverse landscape with plentiful wildlife including quail, dove, rabbits, deerand ibex. Lots of potential and a good buy at $1,200,000.46-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-010on the west. Priced at $14,000/acre – $644,000. 212-ACRE FARM BETWEEN LAS CRUCES, N.M. AND EL PASO, TX: Hwy. 28 frontage with 132acres irrigated, 80 acres sandhills, full EBID (surface water) plus a supplemental irrigation well,cement ditches and large equipment warehouse. Reasonably priced at $2,000,000. 50.47-ACRE FARM: Located on Afton Road south of La Mesa, N.M. Paved road frontage, fullEBID (surface water) plus a supplemental irrigation well with cement ditches. Priced at$14,500/acre - $731,815.BEAUTIFUL 143.81-ACRE NORTHVALLEY FARM: located in Las Cruces, N.M. next to the Rio GrandeRiver. Great views of the Organ Mountains. Cement ditches, 2 irrigation wells & EBID. 2 olderhouses and shed sold “as is”. Priced at $13,212/acre - $1,900,000. Will consider dividing.OTHER FARMS FOR SALE: In Doña Ana County. All located near Las Cruces, N.M. 8, 11, & 27.5acres. $15,000/acre to $17,000/acre. All have EBID (surface water rights from the Rio GrandeRiver) and several have supplemental irrigation wells. If you are interested in farm land inDoña Ana County, give me a call.

��

THE LIVESTOCK MARKET DIGEST

Real EstateGUIDE

Please call Debbie Cisneros at 505/332-3675, or email [email protected] to place your listings here!


The ANLS ScholarshipCommittee recently award-ed $22,000 in scholarshipsfor the fall 2010 semester.

The Arizona National LivestockShow Scholarship Programbegan in 1991 by awarding$13,500 to eleven students inthat year. Over 19 years later theArizona National LivestockShow has now awarded 593 stu-dents totaling $593,909. Thescholarship selection process hasgone from annual to semi-annualand currently awards over$30,000 annually. Scholarshiprecipients will be honored at the63rd Arizona National LivestockShow Dedication, Dec. 28, 2010at the Arizona State Fairgrounds.

The fall 2010 Scholarshiprecipients are:

Houston Engleke, Texas A&MUniversity, Agriculture Lead-ership, Flagstaff

Corey Fitzgerald, ArizonaState University, Construc-tion Management, Tempe

Katie Goodwin, New MexicoState University, Biology,Lake Havasu

LaChelle Hunt, Scottsdale Com-munity College, Motion Pic-ture/TV Production, Buckeye

Kassandra Kinney, ColoradoState University, Animal Sci-ence/Ag Business, Tolleson

John C McDonald, CentralArizona College, Animal Sci-

ence/Ag Business, WillcoxKrista McNaughton, ArizonaState University, Econom-ics/Accounting, Tucson

Ben Menges, Clarendon Col-lege, Agriculture Resource,Safford

Korinne Molever, NorthernArizona University, AppliedMathmatics, Scottsdale

Margret Molever, Universityof Arizona, Animal Science,Scottsdale

Jessica Nielson, Arizona StateUniversity, AgribusinessManagement, Tempe

Racheal Redman, ArizonaState University, Agribusi-ness, Waddell

Avery Williams, Arizona StateUniversity, Biochemistry &Anthropology, Glendale

Hunter Williams, ArizonaState University, Aero TechManagement, Gilbert

Lauren Wilson, University ofArkansas, Animal Science,Safford

Hannah Woehlecke, U. of Ari-zona, Agribusiness, Red Rock

Kayla Woehlecke, NorthernArizona University, Elemen-tary Education, Red Rock

Amanda Zamudio, Universityof Arizona, Animal Science,Elfrida

Scholarships are available tostudents attending an accrediteduniversity or college for the cur-rent academic year. Otherrequirements include: HighSchool graduation; completionof at least 12 semester hoursbefore applying; currently takingat least 12 credit hours; a mini-mum grade point average of 2.5(A = 4); and prior participationin the Arizona National Live-stock Show as an exhibitor, vol-

EliminatingWeeds CouldPut More CowsOn Pasturefrom THECATTLESITE NEWS DESK

Aweed calculator developedby an AgriculturalResearch Service (ARS)scientist tells ranchers the

number of additional cows theycould raise if they eliminated oneor two widespread exotic inva-sive weeds. An ARS researcher has devel-

oped a calculator that helpsranchers figure out how manymore cattle they could raise peracre if they replace exotic inva-sive weeds like spotted knap-weed (shown here) with forages.Rangeland ecologist Matt

Rinella at the ARS Fort KeoghLivestock and Range ResearchLaboratory in Miles City, Mont.,created a computer model thatpredicts weed impacts on forageproduction. Data for developing the mod-

el came from 30 weedresearchers working throughoutthe western United States. Inaddition to developing the calcu-lator so that ranchers can calcu-late what weeds are costing themon any given site, Rinella usedthe data to estimate what weedsare costing ranchers in a 17-stateregion. He calculated that ifleafy spurge were eliminated,ranchers in that entire regioncould graze up to 200,000 ormore cows a year and save tensof millions of dollars.Spotted knapweed is another

exotic invasive weed whose elim-ination would greatly increasethe number of cows ranchescould support, and the calculatoralso predicts its impacts. All the rancher needs is a

datasheet, a clipboard, a pencil,a yard stick, and homemadesampling frames of any size, rec-tangular or circular. Rancherscan download datasheets forrecording weeds. They tallyweeds in each frame, groupingthem by their heights. The nec-essary data can be gathered inabout 30 minutes. When the numbers are

entered into the calculator, theranchers learn how many poundsof weed they are producing peracre and how many more cattlethey could raise per acre if thosepounds of weeds were replacedby forage plants. It is important to quickly

spray or hand-pull small weedinfestations before they expand.But with large weed infestations,the calculator reflects a funda-mental principle of integratedpest management: It is onlyworth controlling a pest if theprofits from doing so outweighthe costs.

PREMIER RANCH FOR SALE12,000 acres, Terrell County, Texas.

Southwest of Sheffield, southeast of FortStockton. Excellent hunting ranch, mainly deer(whitetail and mule) and turkey. New hunter’slodge and walk-in freezer. Surface rights only;no minerals. Principals only. $400/acre, cash.

[email protected] • 432/683-0990 • 432/349-8448

TEXAS and OKLAHOMA FARMS and RANCHES

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

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

[email protected]

• 503 Ac. So. Navarro Co., Texas. It’s got it all. $1,950/ac.

• 632-acre CATTLE and HUNTING,N.E. Texas ranch, elaboratehome, one-mile highway frontage.OWNER FINANCE at $2,200/ac.

• 274 acres in the shadow of Dallas.Secluded lakes, trees, excellentgrass. Hunting and fishing, dreamhome sites. $3,850/ac.

• 126 ac. jewel on Red River, Tex. –Nice river frontage, irrigation well,excellent soils for crops, nurserystock, cattle grazing, you name it!$3,250/ac.

• 1,700-acre classic N.E. Texascattle and hunting ranch. $2,750/ac.Some mineral production.

• Texas Jewel, 7,000 ac. –1,000 per ac., run cow to 10 ac.

• 126 ac. – Red River Co., Tex.Home, barns, pipe fence. $225,000.

LOOKING TO SELL YOUR FARM,RANCH, OR RURAL HOME?

Call me today. As a fellow farm ownerand operator, I understand the uniquechallenges faced by agriculture and am

here to help you in meeting your goals, whether buying or selling.

PAUL STOUT, QUALIFYING BROKER 3352 State Road 209, Broadview, NM 88112

O: 575/357-2060 • C: 575/760-5461F: 575/357-2050

[email protected]

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

MURNEY ASSOC., REALTORSSPRINGFIELD, MO 65804

5 Acres – Log home. Price Decrease: 3,800 sq. ft. loghome, 6 br, 4 BA on 6 acres m/l. 35 x 68 bunkhouse/class-room heated and 1 BA. 1/2 mile from Gasconade Riverand Wetstone Creek. Many possibilities for this property. Mountain Grove schools. Asking $170,000. MLS#814022

483 Acres, Hunter Mania: Nature at his best. Dont missout on this one. Live water (two creeks). 70+ acres open inbottom hayfields and upland grazing. Lots of timber (mar-ketable and young) for the best hunting and fishing (TableRock, Taney Como and Bull Shoals Lake) Really cute 3-bd.,1-ba stone home. Secluded yes, but easy access to Forsyth-Branson, Ozark and Springfield. Property joins National For-est. MLS#908571

90 Acres: Just north of Phillipsburg off I-44. 80 percentopen, pond and a well. Build your dream home and enjoy.MLS#910997

See all my listings at: pmcgilliard.murney.com

I have been advertising

with the Livestock

Market Digest for over

20 years. I continue

because I get return calls,

and a great investment

on my advertising

dollars. Prices are

reasonable.

Debbie Cisneros is

very personable. She

goes out of her way to

help me with my

advertising needs —

more than any other ad rep.

— Thank you —

PAUL McGILLIARDTErrell Land & Livestock Company

P.O. Box 3188 • Los Lunas, N.M. 87031 • 575/447-6041

SIX NEW MEXICO RANCHES#1: Just outside of Santa Fe, fantastic views, 4,717 deeded acres and 640 acres of state lease.

#2: 50 miles north of Roswell, 22,959 acres total with 73% deeded, runs 400-450 AUs. Solid operation for cows or yearlings.

#3: Southern New Mexico. 1,400 AUs with 23,520 acres deeded, 46,966acres state and 41,326 acres BLM. 111,812 total acres equals 175 sections. Extremely low operating expenses and big calves!

#4: 4,516 acres deeded and 80 acres state, runs 90-100 AUs. Can be enlarged up to 35 sections.

#5: 2,301 acres deeded and 467 acres state. Runs 55-60 AUs. #4 and #5 join each other and can be combined or purchased separately. Located tosouthern Harding County of northeastern New Mexico. No improvements except fences, wells and dirt tanks.

#6: 296 AUs, 50 miles southwest of Albuquerque. Over 50 sections,32,000 acres with 1,000 acres deeded land. Elk, deer and antelope. Ranch has been rested; it’s in good condition

HUGUlEY Co. LAND SALES

OF CLOVIS-SINCE 1962-

MARVIN C. HUGULEY RICKE C. HUGULEY575/799-3608 575/799-3485

P.O. Box 1316, Clovis, NM 88102

COOK RANCH – SANTA FE COUNTY, N.M.: 2,520 acre m/l, all deeded ranch 40 milessouth of Santa Fe and 45 miles east of Albuquerque. Good balance of open and cedar coun-try. 50 A.U. year-round, or 120 yearlings for summer. A well-watered ranch with windmilland submersible pump. PVC pipeline to drinkers. Great variety of New Mexico native grass-es. A great location. $1,300,000.

SANTA TERECITA RANCH – SOCORRO COUNTY, NM: 495 deeded acre m/l, in Datilarea. A very highly improved ranch with both cattle and horse facilities. All-steel pipe, newconstruction, state-of-the-art 8-stall horse and stud barn. Office and public restrooms.Lighted all-steel rodeo arena built to P.R.C.A. specifications. Large steel barn for storage,tack, and shop. All-steel cattle working facilities with large and small chutes. Nice adobehome, and much more. This ranch has abundant underground water with 220 acre waterrights. Two fully equipped irrigation wells supply two pivot sprinklers. Each well supplies asprinkler. Qualified and interested – call for brochure.

Brokers in New Mexico, Texas & Colorado. Ranches & Farms Are Our Specialty.

575/763-3851

Arizona National Livestock ShowAwards $22,000 in Scholarships

unteer, or employee.

Scholarships are funded through donations tothe show with help from the Arizona HorseLovers Foundation. Application deadlines areOctober 15 for the spring and March 15 for fallscholarships. Applications are available onlineat www.anls.org. For more information, visitwww.anls.org, or call the Arizona Nationaloffice at 602/258-8568.

THE LIVESTOCK MARKET DIGEST

Real Estate Guide


In a formal letter to the Chair, R-CALFUSA praised the Senate AgricultureCommittee for proposed legislationtitled “The Wall Street Transparency andAccountability Act of 2010,” which is

scheduled for markup.For several years now, the

R-CALF USA Marketing Committee hasbeen working with the Commodity FuturesTrading Commission (CFTC), Congress andother groups to work toward meaningfulreform to U.S. cattle futures markets.“We think this legislation is a significant

step in the right direction to restore the prin-cipal purpose of the commodities futuresmarket, which is to provide price discoveryand reduce price risk for physical hedgers,”said R-CALF USA Marketing CommitteeChair Dennis Thornsberry. “The reason thisparticular legislation holds promise is that itstrengthens derivatives market oversight,transparency and stability, which should pro-hibit abusive and disruptive practices. It alsoauthorizes aggregate position limits across allmarkets.”R-CALF USA specifically seeks reform of

the cattle futures market to restore its origi-nal purpose of affording U.S. cattle produc-ers a useful marketing tool void of distortionand manipulation by certain speculators andother dominant market participants. Inde-pendent U.S. cattle producers sell their cattleinto one of the most highly concentratedmarketing structures in the U.S. economy —one that has exceeded levels generally con-sidered to elicit non-competitive behaviorand adverse economic performance. Today,the four largest U.S. beef packers purchaseand slaughter over 85 percent of all slaugh-ter-ready U.S. steers and heifers. Inherent tothis high level of market concentration issubstantial disparity between the economicpower of the hundreds of thousands of disag-gregated U.S. cattle producers (i.e., cattlesellers) and the economic power wielded byvery few beef packers (i.e., cattle buyers).

“As a result of this significant economicdisparity, cattle producers — some of whomuse futures markets to offset price risk — arevulnerable to any market distortions causedby beef packers that may not only participatein the futures market as physical hedgers,but as significant speculators as well,” wroteR-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. “The cattlefutures market is susceptible to downwardprice movements — in contradiction of sup-ply/demand fundamentals, when beef pack-ers, who may hold a physical hedging posi-tion in the market, also engage in substantialspeculative short selling of the market. Theeffect of the beef packers’ speculative shortselling is to lower not only the futures marketprice, but also the cash spot market price,which is intrinsically tied to the futures mar-ket.“The number of cattle operations in the

U.S. has been reduced by an alarming 40percent since 1980, and cattle producers, bynature, operate on slim margins and so arehighly susceptible to even small changes incattle prices,” he said.Specifically, R-CALF USA argues, this

legislation should: 1) specifically authorizethe CFTC to make it unlawful for dominantbeef packers to engage in speculative shortselling of the market to effectively drivedown both futures prices and cash cattleprices; 2) ensure that the live cattle futuresmarket is dominated by physical hedgers,which can be accomplished by imposingaggregate speculative position limits acrossall markets, as imposing such aggregate spec-ulative position limits across all marketswould also curb the commodity indexingstrategies of large institutional investors,whose strategies severely distort futures mar-ket price discovery.“It also would be important that specula-

tive position limits be established by physicalhedgers in the cattle futures market, andadditionally, we believe the CFTC should bedirected to restore daily market price limits

to levels that minimize market volatility andreform the practice of allowing cash settle-ments on futures contracts in lieu of actualdelivery of the commodity, a practice thateffectively lowers the cattle futures price onthe day of contract expiration,” Bullardpointed out.In March, the Commodity Markets Over-

sight Coalition — of which R-CALF USA isone of 83 members — wrote to the SenateAgriculture Committee to commend leaders’efforts to write new legislation that wouldreform the U.S. derivatives markets andurged that such proposed legislation includethe following reforms:

� Mandatory exchange trading for stan-dardized derivatives contracts to ensure ade-quate transparency and federal oversight,and to reduce systemic risk.

� Mandatory clearing requirements for allother contracts that are not being utilized bybona-fide commercial hedging interests tomanage risks, but rather by swap dealers,banks, or other purely financial market par-ticipants.

� A narrow end-user exemption to clear-ing and collateral requirements that willallow bona-fide non-financial hedgers contin-ued flexibility and choice in hedging prod-ucts; however this exemption should be writ-ten so as to avoid any new “loophole” fortruly non-physical market participants.

� Additional authorities to the CFTC toestablish speculative limits on all markets andin the aggregate across all markets; and toaccess activity on foreign boards of trade thatallow U.S. access or that trade derivatives oncommodities destined for U.S. delivery.

� New enforcement authorities to theCFTC so regulators may prosecute “reckless”manipulation in the same manner as its sis-ter-agency, the SEC.

� Additional financial and personnelresources should also be afforded federal reg-ulators in order to implement and enforcenew mandates and authorities.

T-Bone Ranch Mountain High Horse Dispersal

Selling over 200 Ranch Stallions, BroodMares, Geldings,

and Weanlings

June 5, 2010 Antonito, CO

Catalogs upon Request only For More Information or a Catalog

Call: Tim Lockhart (979)204-4302 or

Brent Bond (719) 588-0282

Follow the training of many of these horses at:www.realamericancowboy.com

View Live Broadcast of Sale: www.CIMAUCTIONS.com

Live Bidding, Live Video, Live Audio

View Videos and Catalog at:www.tboneranch.net

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THIS IS NO BULLVirden Perma-Bilt EngineeringDepartment is now offering 1-7/8”x 24” windmill cylinder barrels, withcaps, at 1/4 the price they are selling for now! These barrels andcaps are made from thick, heavywall PVC and then lined with 1/4”of urethane. These barrels are asgood as any on the market! Theurethane lining assures long lifeand true-check strokes. Our 1-7/8”x 24” barrel sells for $48.80 plus$6.75 postage. It connects right toyour 2” pipe (steel or PVC). Theseurethane lined barrels are doing awonderful job right now. Send forinformation.“Serving Farm & Ranch since 1950.”

VIRDEN PERMA-BILT CO.2821 Mays • Box 7160 LMD Amarillo, Texas 79114-7160


Lazy

SLASHGL

Gilbert Louis Jr.505/285-5173

817 SANTA MARINAGRANTS, NEW MEXICO 87020ACOMITA LAKE, NEW MEXICO

Santa Gertrudis Five-Star

RegisteredPrivate TreatyAlfalfa For Sale

Group Praises Call For Wall Street Accountability

lmd may 2010

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