Rancher

Normal La Niña Pattern to Return By Thanksgiving

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 21:47:22 GMT

What are the primary weather events being watched by the leading ag meteorologists right now? Here’s a round-up.

A Bit of an Oddball La Niña

“We need to be really careful about making big assumptions about this La Niña. It is not a classic La Niña,” says Drew Lerner, World Weather, Inc. He points to two large rain events in the southern U.S. Plains this past week.

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey adds southern California has also received a lot of precipitation. He says it’s the timing and strength of the La Niña bringing a different pattern than could be expected.

“The big thing we’re watching is the fact that we’re in a La Niña during the month of September for the fifth time in six years,” Rippey says. “And with that, November’s been a little bit strange so far. We haven’t fully kicked into what you would expect to see with a La Niña regime.”

More Precipitation on Its Way

“We also have a lot of warm ocean water between Hawaii and California, so watch for more heavy rain, like we saw this week coming into California a little later in the winter,” Lerner says.

Rippey says people across the Great Plains can expect more storms through this week.

“Given the fact that we are heading into a La Niña winter, we need the moisture across the southern Plains now,” Rippey says. “It looks like more of a La Niña regime setting in for the latter part of November and certainly by Thanksgiving. By that I mean stormier, colder weather across the north, and some of that warm and dry weather should become more established across the South. It’ll be a while until we get there.”

The week of Thanksgiving is showing some increased chance for winter storms and perhaps travel-impactful weather events.

Droughty Conditions Bring Concerns

Dry weather persists in key grazing areas, which Matt Makens from Makens Weather says is his biggest concern for the rest of this year and early into 2026.

Lerner adds: “The northern Plains and neighboring areas of Canada’s prairies won’t see much precipitation. There’s still a big, bad drought up there, and they’re hoping for better moisture. But in the meantime, our wheat that’s in the soft wheat that’s in the lower Midwest bowl will get a nice drink of water.”

Pacific Storm Season Brought More Action Than the Atlantic

Reflecting on the ongoing hurricane season, Rippey says while it was indicated we could have an active season, there have been only 13 named storms and only five hurricanes.

Without any major storms making landfall in the U.S., Rippey points to a few factors:

“We had the African feeder storms, the thunderstorms that come off the African coast, came off a little further north than they normally would. And that put some of those thunderstorm complexes into a more hostile environment as they developed or tried to develop,” he says.
“We had a protective jet stream across the eastern United States, a little dip along the East Coast of the United States that really forced any developing storms to recurve before they ever reach the United States,” he says.

“A lot of that moisture ended up in the western United States eventually, remnant tropical moisture, and that certainly has helped to chip away at the drought across the western United States, courtesy of the active eastern Pacific season with 18 overall named storms,” Rippey adds.

Planting Season Outlook

While planting season is about five months away for many, the weather trends are tipping the scales to a slow start.

“I still have some confidence in saying that some of the northern areas of the country — northern plains, upper Midwest — could face a spring with a delayed warm-up,” Rippey says. “We could see some snowy cold conditions lingering into the early to mid-spring across some of those northern production areas. Typically coming out of La Niña, we do see a later planting season in the north, and we will have to watch drought in the south.”

La Niña Will Flip to El Niño

As for what’s ahead in the new year, Maken says while we might start with a La Niña, toward the end of the year, we’ll flip into an El Niño.

“And when you do this flip, it depends on how quickly it flips, because it can mean a lot of rainfall for a lot of folks,” he says. “And not that La Niña and El Niño are the end-all, be-alls, but they’re the major players in the room. Some really like hearing El Niño. Others really do not like the person saying that.”

Beef Industry Chaos: Tight Supplies, Strong Consumer Demand and Political Interference

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 19:42:19 GMT

The current state of the cattle market and beef industry has been described as chaotic. “There’s chaos in cattle,” as Chip Flory, AgriTalk host, put it.

The industry turmoil follows recent statements made by President Donald Trump regarding the need to lower beef prices as well as his request for the Department of Justice to immediately begin an investigation into meatpackers for driving up the price of beef.

Derrell Peel, Extension livestock marketing specialist from Oklahoma State University, affirms these are unique times, emphasizing while political factors have always indirectly influenced agriculture, it’s unprecedented for the cattle and beef markets to be at the center of direct political debate.

On a recent AgriTalk segment, Peel points out the inherent biological and production constraints of the cattle industry — particularly the fixed timeline to raise cattle — make quick fixes impossible. Both Flory and Peel stress that no political policy can shorten the cattle production process; any effective supply response requires patience and long-term adjustment.

Packers Under Fire

The concept of industry consolidation and foreign packer ownership has long drawn scrutiny with frequent government investigations. Peel says highly concentrated industries such as beef packing have been targets for skepticism and regulatory attention for over a century, to the point suspicion of packers is almost “a cultural thing” within segments of the industry.

He characterizes the latest call as another attempt to target convenient scapegoats rather than addressing deeper systemic realities of supply and demand.

“The reason we have the industry structure we do is because the economies of size and cost efficiencies are such a powerful economic force,” Peels explains.

He confirms researchers have long studied market power, and while concentration does have a small negative price impact for producers, the efficiency and cost-savings from large-scale firms more than compensate. These benefits, he says, keep cattle prices higher for producers and beef prices lower for consumers than they would be with a less efficient structure.

Dissecting the economics of margin markets Peels explains why price changes in different parts of the beef supply chain — cow-calf, feeders, packers and retailers — don’t move in lockstep. He uses a “bungee cord” analogy to illustrate the complex, dynamic and time-lagged interactions linking cattle prices at the farm with retail beef prices.

“All cattle prices and beef prices are ultimately connected, but they’re not connected with a stick or a chain,” Peel summarizes.” They’re connected with a bungee cord. There’s just an enormous amount of dynamics in this thing.”

Regarding the foreign ownership debate, Peel says there is no evidence foreign ownership alters packer behavior within the U.S. marketplace. He emphasizes foreign firms have made large investments in U.S. facilities and continue to operate them by the same market logic that would govern domestic ownership.

He also points out it is unclear who else would be in a position to make such significant investments if these foreign companies were not involved. This pragmatic view suggests the ownership issue might be less important than is commonly believed, at least concerning everyday operations and market outcomes.

A Lot Hinges on Rebuilding the Cow Herd

In his latest article, “ All Bets are Off ,” Peel says: “The latest edition in the torrent of recent political attentions directed at the cattle and beef industry includes allegations of market manipulation against the beef packing industry. Beef packers are the one segment that has been most negatively impacted in the current market, incurring huge losses due to poor margins and limited cattle supplies.”

(Meat Institute)

Peel reports packers have been losing enormous amounts of money for about the past 18 to 24 months. According to the Meat Institute, packer margins slipped into the red in September 2024. Through the week ending Oct. 4, 2025, packer margins were a negative $126.50 per head, up slightly from a year earlier at a negative $125.65 per head, according to Sterling Profit Tracker. The outlook for the year is a negative $165.96 per head packer margin.

“There’s just simply not enough cattle for them to operate at cost efficient capacities,” Peel explains.

This negative trend was anticipated — the reduced supply of cattle has made it difficult for packing plants to function at cost-efficient capacities, leading to the accumulation of operating losses. Peel points out the combination of low unit margins and insufficient cattle supplies challenges the economic viability of packers, further illustrating the complexity of the current environment.

This decline in inventory is not the result of a single factor but is driven by several years of drought and other market pressures. It is clear high beef and cattle prices are a result of these tight supplies and, according to Peel, these high prices are likely to persist for several years. The industry simply cannot turn around production levels quickly, and it will take time — a matter of years, not months — for conditions to normalize.

“Using logic that only works in the office of a politician, packers are supposedly wielding unacceptable market power while paying record high cattle prices and artificially raising beef prices … but not enough to avoid losing a couple hundred dollars on every animal they process — certainly many millions of dollars,” Peel says. “If beef packers had any significant ability to exercise market power, I am certain that we would not have record high cattle prices and packers would not be losing money.”

Peel suggests the federal government attacks on beef packers are aided and supported by a vocal minority of the cattle industry and a few sympathetic politicians who view packers as a perennial villain and always worthy of attack anytime the opportunity is presented.

“The timing of such attacks this time is particularly puzzling as dismantling the packing industry would certainly jeopardize current record high cattle prices and the best economic returns most producers have ever enjoyed,” Peels says. “I guess some cowboys just can’t stand prosperity.”

R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard says the cattle market is fundamentally broken citing years of an inverse relationship between falling cattle prices and increasing retail beef prices when the only ingredient in beef is cattle. Read more about his perspective.

Patience not Politics

Beef and cattle prices, Peel notes, are historically high, a result of industry-wide low cattle inventory. Rebuilding the nation’s cow herd will be a long, slow process, keeping prices elevated for an extended period. And Peel says there is no definitive evidence producers are saving heifers to start the rebuilding process.

“2025 may prove to be technically the cyclical low, but 2026 is going to be barely bigger, if it is, and no growth in 2026 and probably none in 2027 ... it’s 2028 into 2029 before that turns into increased beef production,” Peel predicts.

He summarizes neither regulatory nor political action will can speed up the rebuilding process. It will take years of concerted effort, market healing and stability before the industry can expect a meaningful rebound in herd numbers and production — a reality that requires patience across the industry.

“There is absolutely nothing anybody can do to make beef prices go down, or cattle prices, other than maybe tear up the industry completely,” Peels says. “And if we tear up the industry, it’ll make cattle prices go down, but it won’t make beef prices go down. It’ll make beef prices go even higher for consumers and the only way to fix this is to give the industry time to rebuild, and that’s going to take two to four years if we ever get started.”

He says a majority of cattle producers understand the beef industry is extremely complex and all segments are critical and essential.

“Though the outcome of current political actions is uncertain, the potential for long-term harm to the industry is substantial,” Peel says. “Anytime politics trumps economics, the strong supply and demand fundamentals that have determined the outlook for the industry to this point become irrelevant. Expectations for prices and production going forward are now completely clouded…therefore… all bets are off.”

Your Next Read: You Be The Judge: The Big Bad Beef Packers Are On Trial

USDA Has No Plans for Financial Incentives to Rebuild Cattle Herd

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 16:10:55 GMT

Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), says currently USDA does not have plans for an incentive program to help rebuild the beef cow herd.

Woodall joined Farm Journal’s Chip Flory on “AgriTalk” Sept. 25. He was quick to dispel the idea of a herd rebuilding or replacement heifer incentive program.

“There is no financial incentive program,” he says. “Regardless of what you’ve heard, or who you have heard it from, that program does not exist.”

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins mentioned a potential incentive program in a news release on Sept. 21 .

“In addition, USDA will soon release a significant plan to help rebuild the American cattle supply, incentivizing our great ranchers, and driving a full-scale revitalization of the American beef industry,” the release said.

Woodall explains how quickly the statement in the press release spread, noting it “lit like a grass fire” throughout the cattle industry and markets.

He points out that while Rollins’ team has been in contact with NCBA about potential support for cattle producers, a direct financial incentive is not part of their current plans.

“You can never rule out what the federal government might do,” Woodall says, but also emphasizes that based on current conversations, no immediate program is forthcoming.

Woodall suggests alternatives might include “rolling back some regulations” and making it “easier on cattle producers from a regulatory burden standpoint.”

A concern for Woodall is the potential market impact of an incentive. He says the NCBA team has specifically visited with Rollins’ team about how comments like an incentive program to rebuild the cow herd can have a significant market impact.

He was clear NCBA is not advocating for a financial incentive program, saying: “This is not something that NCBA is pushing for. It’s not something that we are endorsing.”

Thursday, Rollins was in Kansas City at the Ag Outlook Forum hosted by the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City. During her comments she said because the cattle industry has seen a big drop in producers over the last decade USDA is committed to rebuilding it.

“Low inventory and high demand is not sustainable if we want to feed ourselves,” Rollins says.

She did announce there is no current plan to offer payments to beef producers.

“No plan for direct payments is even under consideration,” she explains. “The government getting involved in markets can easily mess things up.”

The plan will focus more on risk-mitigation tools and hope to attract the new generation of farmers to enter the cattle industry. She says more details will come in mid-October.

Your Next Read: The Battle at the Border

Are We Seeing Signs of Herd Rebuilding?

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 13:46:26 GMT

The U.S. beef cow inventory has reached its lowest point since 1962, marking what appears to be the bottom of the current cattle cycle. Tight supply is driving the strong pricing environment beef producers are enjoying today.

“For cow-calf producers right now, things are as good as they’ve probably ever been,” says Troy Rowan, University of Tennessee assistant professor. “Even though things are really good, producers are conscientious and vigilant about potential challenges,” Rowan summarizes.

Agreeing with Rowan, South Dakota cattleman Ken Odde adds while profits are currently strong, inflation quickly erodes economic gains. He stresses the importance of risk management and diversification.

Early Signs of Herd Rebuilding?

This is the million-dollar question: Are there encouraging signs of expansion?

“The beef industry is not currently in herd expansion mode, with producers hesitant to retain heifers due to high costs and economic uncertainties,” says Dave Weaber, Terrain senior animal protein analyst.

In Drovers State of Industry Report to be released the week of Sept. 15, we breakdown the July USDA cattle inventory and cattle on feed reports. While the USDA reports showed the smallest U.S. herd in history and continuing tightening numbers on feed, analysts predict producers have not experienced the highest cattle prices, yet.

“Our national herd size has the industry at an interesting point,” Rowan says. “Prices are at all-time highs, inputs are reasonable and more cow-calf enterprises are profitable than ever. When the industrywide rebuild will happen remains up in the air, but producers are keeping in mind that the high-flying industry right now is not going to stick around forever. They’re starting to adopt new technologies, leveling up their crossbreeding programs and expand opportunities for non-cattle related income on their ranches.”

Weaber adds producers need to be intentional about herd expansion, understanding the financial implications of adding new cattle.

Beef-on-Dairy Fills the Beef Supply Gap

“The current dynamics of supply is going to be a challenge,” says Jarrod Gillig, Cargill senior vice president, managing director for beef.

Gillig summarizes the cattle industry is experiencing a critical period of transition. He doesn’t expect the cow herd to return to previous peak levels of 32 million head. Instead, he predicts the gap in supply will be filled by beef-on-dairy calves.

Nick Hardcastle, Cargill senior director of meat grading and technical specialist, explains how the beef-on-dairy calves are an upgrade to the traditional Holstein steer and the positive impact they are making on beef supply.

“Beef-on-dairy is more desirable because it helped overcome several Holstein difficulties,” he says. “Improvements include red meat yield — more meat to a consumer — as well as improved acceptance in branded programs.”

Hardcastle says the beef-on-dairy cattle are filling the supply gap by filling pens in the Plains states where feeders are needed, and they are widely accepted by feeders and packers.

Defining Future Beef Producer Success

Odde says the beef industry is not just surviving but positioning itself for significant transformation.

“Producers who remain flexible, technologically savvy and strategic in their approach will be best positioned to thrive in this changing environment,” he says.

Weaber agrees saying successful producers will be those who can adapt, manage costs effectively and align themselves with evolving market trends.

“Don’t let cost get away from you,” Weaber warns, emphasizing that “being a low-cost, high-productivity producer means you get to make money seven, eight or nine years of the cycle.”

He stresses the importance of understanding financial implications, particularly during market transitions.

“If we’re not working on the business, we can’t work in the business,” Weaber adds, summarizing his philosophy regarding producers’ need to adopt more strategic, data-driven approaches.

The State of the Beef Industry Report includes input from nearly 500 beef producers. The annual report provides information to help producers when making decisions. Click here to download the full report.

Your Next Read: 47% of Beef Producers Plan to Increase Herd Numbers

Federal Court Rules on Fate of Prairie-Chicken

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 14:08:29 GMT

A U.S. District judge on Aug. 12 ruled in favor of Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, finding that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service committed a “foundational error” when it declared the prairie-chicken endangered in 2022.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller in a press release praised the ruling from U.S. District Judge David Counts of the Western District of Texas, who issued the order reversing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) decision to list the lesser prairie-chicken as endangered and threatened.

“This is a big win for Texas, and one we fought hard to get,” Miller says. “From day one, I’ve pushed back against Biden’s federal overreach because it was wrong for our farmers, ranchers and rural communities. This court decision is more than just a legal victory. We stood our ground, and we won.”

PRESS RELEASE: Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller praised a decisive ruling from U.S. District Judge David Counts of the Western District of Texas, who issued an order reversing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) decision to list the lesser prairie chicken as… pic.twitter.com/UzP2FlkFE6
— Texas Agriculture (@TexasDeptofAg) August 18, 2025

Under the Trump administration, FWS determined that it previously failed to provide “adequate justification and analysis” to support identifying two designated population segments of lesser prairie-chicken.

Judge Counts granted the motion for vacatur and remand, finding that remand alone would not correct the agency’s fundamental error in listing the species as endangered and threatened. The court denied all motions to intervene.

About the Prairie Chicken

The lesser prairie-chicken is a bird historically found in parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. The bird has faced both habitat loss and population decline since the 1960s and has found itself the subject of proposed Endangered Species Act protections.

According to Tiffany Lashmet, Texas A&M agricultural law Extension specialist, in 2014 FWS listed the lesser prairie-chicken as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Numerous lawsuits were filed, and the listing was ultimately vacated by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in 2015.

The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas issued an order last week vacating the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) listing of the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act.https://t.co/BTobyZb9MF pic.twitter.com/CEV82UWJ8P
— TiffanyDowellLashmet (@TiffDowell) August 18, 2025

In 2016, another petition was filed with FWS to list the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act. In 2022, the FWS finalized a rule listing the Northern Distinct Population Segment as threatened and the Southern Distinct Population Segment as endangered. In March 2023, the State of Texas and the Permian Basin Petroleum Association filed suit challenging the listing. Specifically, they claimed the listing violated both the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedures Act.

Lashmet says following the administration change in January 2025, the FWS reevaluated the listing and found it erred in passing the final rule listing the lesser prairie-chicken.

“FWS now believes it erred by failing to provide sufficient justification to have two population segments of the lesser prairie-chicken, which then affected the assessment of extinction risk to the species,” she says. “This, FWS believes, was a significant error justifying immediate vacatur of the listing decision. FWS moved for a voluntary vacatur and remand of the listing rule. Several groups sought to intervene in the lawsuit to defend the listing rule.”

The Decision

Lashmet explains the court addressed two separate issues: the proper remedy and the motions to intervene.

“This case is extremely important for landowners, agricultural producers, oil and gas companies, and others across the portions of the United States where the lesser prairie-chickens are located, including Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas,” Lashmet says. “As of now, the lesser prairie-chicken is not listed under the Endangered Species Act, and there is no threat of liability under the Endangered Species Act for a ‘take’ of these animals.”

She says the story is not over.

“The FWS will now reconsider the 2016 application to have the lesser prairie-chicken listed,” she says. “It will determine how properly to view the distinction population segment, and then analyze the various factors required under the Endangered Species Act in making its listing decision. The FWS told the court it expected to have this completed by November 2026.”

Fast Delivery, Competitive Prices and Simplicity Drives FBN Customer Satisfaction

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 19:13:33 GMT

A one-stop shop for farm and ranch input needs, Farmers Business Network (FBN) serves more than 13,000 livestock producers from across the U.S. FBN is expanding its livestock offering to include Ridley Feeds, Farmers First Mineral, fencing supplies, equine products as well as pet care.

Crop and cattle producer Kyle Burk, Burk Land & Cattle in Marionville, Mo., has been a customer of FBN for two years. Initially using FBN for its competitive chemical pricing, Burk now purchases approximately 90% of his mineral products for his livestock through the company.

“We background a lot of cattle for Joplin Regional Stockyards,” Burk says. “I feel the cattle have gained tremendously better with the FBN mineral program, whether it be fly control or other attribute.”

Burk manages a 2,000-acre farm primarily focused on feed production for his family’s stock cows, dairy and grow yard. He says FBN has become an integral part of his agricultural strategy — providing not just products, but comprehensive support across purchasing, financing and consulting.

“The website is extremely easy to use,” Burk explains.

The platform’s intuitive design allows him to quickly locate and order the exact items he needs for his diverse operation.

Customer service is another key to Burk’s FBN experience. He appreciates how the company proactively contacts customers within 24 hours of an unusual order to confirm it’s correct.

Beyond product ordering, Burk has also utilized FBN’s financial services. After an accident last year, he turned to FBN classifieds to purchase a replacement silage truck and secured financing through FBN within a day. The rate, he says, was more competitive than his local bank.

Burk says he recommends and appreciates the FBN professionals who have helped him with purchasing decisions. When drought led him to switch to conventional corn, he worked FBN’s chemical specialist for product support.

“It’s probably the cleanest corn we’ve ever had,” Burk says.

Expanding Livestock Catalog

Livestock is FBN’s fastest-growing segment, powered by producer trust in speed, value and reliable delivery. According to Emily Zollinger, FBN director of livestock, the platform’s latest offerings include:

Ridley Feeds (a division of Alltech) : Sweetlix mineral and tubs now available with live, daily pricing
Farmers First Mineral : A new, simplified line of cattle mineral dynamic pricing and clear online descriptions
Fencing Supplies : Including barbed wire, woven wire, pipe, cable and other fencing tools
Equine Care : Products for grooming, nutrition, deworming, hoof care and vaccinations
Pet Health: Vaccines, parasite control, nutrition, and prescriptions filled with vet approval

“We’re building a marketplace where ranchers and livestock producers get not only great prices, but convenience and service they can count on,” Zollinger says.

(FBN)

Why Producers Choose FBN

Initially founded in 2014, FBN expanded into livestock in 2020. Today, the platform is designed to make purchasing fast, transparent and farm-friendly.

Key features include:

Free membership
Build your own online order
Fast shipping (typically two business days)
Nationwide logistics network across the U.S. and Canada
Flexible support ranging from self-service to dedicated account reps
Educational tools including blogs and resource hubs
Financing options with competitive rates
Prescription support working directly with your vet to verify orders

Zollinger says FBN’s mission is to deliver prosperity to family farmers and ranchers through every season, every segment and every challenge.

“We’re not just selling inputs,” she summarizes. “We’re giving farmers and ranchers a platform — with tools, pricing transparency and support they can build a business on.”

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Be A Good Neighbor: Check In and Watch for Signs of Stress

Thu, 01 May 2025 21:46:05 GMT

The pressure of farming and ranching today is real. The stress of managing a farm or ranch during challenging or not so challenging times can weigh heavily on an individual’s mental health.

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. from Kansas has shared his concern about the mental health of farmers and ranchers. During the recent Top Producer Conference hosted by Farm Journal, Marshall encouraged the audience to be good neighbors and look out for signs of depression, such as changes in appearance, sleep patterns or social withdrawal.

“We think about the farm-related accidents that we grew up trying to prevent,” he recalls. “This a bigger danger, a bigger risk. I just want to encourage farmers and ranchers to realize some of the signs and symptoms of depression.”

Marshall shared these tips for being a good neighbor and supporting the mental health of fellow farmers and ranchers. Look for these signs or symptoms of depression:
- Trouble sleeping at night and not being able to get back to sleep
- Giving away possessions or buying more life insurance
- Changes in appearance, like not shaving or combing their hair
- Withdrawing from social activities they used to participate in

He encouraged producers to reach out to friends and neighbors who might be struggling.

“Reach out to that neighbor of yours,” he says. “Be a good neighbor and say, ‘Hey, let’s go grab a cup of coffee and maybe a cinnamon roll.’”

Marshall says it is important to leverage your networks and connections in the community and look out for one another. He also encourages producers to recognize the resources available beyond just calling the 988 mental health hotline, such as local community health centers, which can provide support without the stigma of going to a mental health facility.

Marshall’s call to action is to be proactive, recognize the signs and then provide compassionate support to their friends, neighbors and fellow farmers who could be struggling with mental health challenges. Marshall emphasized the importance of the community looking out for one another during these difficult times.

Mental Health Resources

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Did the U.S. Cattle Inventory Shrink Even More in a Year? 60% of Ag Economists Think So

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 19:49:00 GMT

Last year’s USDA Cattle Inventory Report showed the smallest cattle herd in 73 years . And with no strong signs of rebuilding underway, along with strong prices providing no incentive to retain heifers, agricultural economists think the U.S. cattle inventory has shrunk even more since last year.

Last year, USDA’s Cattle Inventory report showed as of Jan. 1, 2024, the All Cattle and Calves inventory was 87.15 million head, a 2% reduction in just a year. Ahead of the 2025 report, the January Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor asked economists to project inventory as of Jan. 1, 2025.

50% said they expect inventory to fall to 86 to 86.9 million head.
20 percent expect inventory to remain similar to levels last year
An additional 20% think inventory will rise to 88 to 88.9 million head.
And 10% think cattle numbers could to 85 to 85.9 million head.

What would change a producer’s minds and give them confidence to grow their herds again? That’s exactly what we asked in the latest Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor, which is an anonymous survey of nearly 70 ag economists from across the country. While some said it will just take time, others pointed to the economics of strong cow-calf returns, weaker fed cattle prices and lower prices at the sale barn.

Other economists said:

“Today’s high prices are certainly incentive, along with the expectation of moderate feed costs.”
“Government policies, global demand, price cycle”
“Better spring forage supplies could be the most important factor in growth. More quality labor could be critical, too.”
“Confidence that the general economy outlook is positive and that there are unlikely to be negative policy shocks. And, of course, there has to be adequate forage.”
“Improved weather pattern in the West, along with profitable margins.”

Record-High Prices

January Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor

(Lindsey Pound )

Cattle prices continued to hit records this week. And with no signs of those record prices slowing down, it’s a question of how high these prices will actually go.

Is it the supply side or the demand side driving prices? According to economists in the survey, it’s both. And that’s why out of the 10 major commodities, economists are most bullish on cattle in 2025.

January Monthly Monitor

(Lindsey Pound )

Advice to Manage Risk
Even with no end in sight, the Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor asked economists, “What advice you would offer beef producers to consider to make sure they are in the right position to take advantage of high prices now and to be prepared for when the market changes?” Here’s what they had to say:

“Stay sold forward, and avoid over-leveraging.”
“To just keeping looking at their genetics, retaining those with the best traits to continually improve herd quality and meat marketability.”
“For those with adequate forage availability, the near-term outlook for cattle profitability is very positive. Remember, though, that all good things come to an end—those who wait too long may only have more animals to market when prices turn back down again.”
“Consider all options for their risk management strategy, including both insurance products, futures, options, or other strategies.”
“You must have something to sell.”
“Today, there is more downside price risk for cattle prices. Risk management against a significant decline in future cattle prices should be considered today.”
“Hedge sales and inputs both. Hedge the crush!”

Judge Orders Wind Turbines Removed From Osage Nation

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 17:13:46 GMT

A federal judge in Oklahoma has ordered the removal of an 84-turbine wind farm spread across 8,400 acres in Osage County with a final ruling that ends a decade-long legal battle over illegal mining on the Osage Reservation. The cost for removal of the turbines is estimated at $300 million.

The ruling in Tulsa federal court by U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves was against Osage Wind LLC, Enel Kansas LLC and Enel Green Power North America Inc. The order grants the United States and the Osage Nation through its Minerals Council permanent injunctive relief via “ejectment of the wind turbine farm for continuing trespass.”

The Osage Allotment Act of 1906 states that the Osage Nation owns the subsurface rights to minerals in the area. The Minerals Council is an arm of the Osage Nation that manages the Osage Minerals Estate.

A trial date for damages due to the tribe has not been set, but a spokesman for the Osage Minerals Council said the tribe would expect at least the value of damage to the land, all lawyer fees, profits and tax incentives Enel received as a result of the installation.

At issue in the case was whether a mining permit was required to construct the wind farm, located in tallgrass prairie between Pawhuska and Fairfax. The defendants began leasing surface rights from private landowners for the project in 2013, and construction on the wind towers began in October 2013, with excavation for the towers beginning in September 2014.

A 2017 appellate court decision determined the construction of the wind farm constituted mining and therefore a lease from the Osage Nation’s Minerals Council was required.

“The developers failed to acquire a mining lease during or after construction, as well as after issuance of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision holding that a mining lease was required,” Choe-Groves said.

“On the record before the Court, it is clear the Defendants are actively avoiding the leasing requirement,” Choe-Groves said. “Permitting such behavior would create the prospect for future interference with the Osage Mineral Council’s authority by Defendants or others wishing to develop the mineral lease. The Court concludes that Defendants’ past and continued refusal to obtain a lease constitutes interference with the sovereignty of the Osage Nation and is sufficient to constitute irreparable injury.”

Animal Cruelty Charges After 14 Cattle Killed With Cross Bow at Oklahoma Monastery

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:29:32 GMT

An Oklahoma man and a juvenile have been arrested following a month-long investigation into the killing of more than a dozen cattle that belong to the monks at a Shawnee, Okla., monastery.

The Daily Oklahoman reports Christopher Wallace, 18, was charged with four complaints of cruelty to animals and two counts of larceny of livestock, according to the Shawnee Police department. A police spokesperson said the case involving the juvenile was sent to a government agency that deals with juvenile offenders.

The cattle were allegedly killed with a crossbow and officials believe the motive was thrill-seeking rather than for the animal’s meat.

The Rev. Simeon Spitz, a Catholic priest and monk at St. Gregory’s Abbey, told the Daily Oklahoman about 14 cattle on abbey property were killed, costing the Benedictine monastery about $35,000. He said the cattle were killed with a cross bow and included female calves, which the abbey would have saved for their herd, and bull calves, which would either have been sold or raised for beef sold as part of the abbey’s Mission Monks label at its Monk’s Marketplace.

Shawnee police said they received the first report about the cattle on June 22 and another report about midnight July 22 when a monastery worker saw flashlights in a field and found a cross bow near a tree. At that time the police made contact with Wallace and the juvenile and they were detained and interviewed at that time.

Shawnee is in Pottawatomie County and is approximately 45 minutes east of downtown Oklahoma City.

The monastery is accepting donations to help recover some of the financial losses from the incidents. Donations can be made here:

https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E354537&id=62

Oregon Ranchers Are Continuing to Battle Grueling Wildfires as Financial Losses Mount

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 17:11:49 GMT

As of Friday, more than 1.1 million acres has burned in Oregon. Lightning continues to spark new fires and with the flames still not under control, it will go down as one of the most devastating wildfire fires in the state’s history.

Clint Sexson ranches in eastern Oregon. He says between cattle lost and grazing areas burned, it’s been a grueling summer. The exact livestock losses are unknown at this time.

“I don’t even want to speculate,” Sexson says. “I mean, the one that’s pretty public is that the 300 head in the Durkee Fire that were lost,” Sexson says. “I know one producer who has lost probably hundreds.”

That particular fire, the Durkee Fire, has been a monster. At 86% contained, it’s already scorched 295,000 acres.

Plenty of Fuel for Fires

Just this week, lightning sparked more fires. Sexson says the reason the fires have been so bad is the amount of grass available to fuel the fires.

“There’s more fuel on the ground,” Sexson says. “Some of these areas have burned before. There hasn’t necessarily been a clean up after a burn, so there’s just a lot of fuel.”

A Devastating Loss of Grass to Graze

The livestock losses are heartbreaking and severe, but the amount of grass burned is causing concern in the state. As the fires rage, the losses of valuable grazing ground are mounting, which impacts livestock producers across the state.

“This part of the world is different,” Sexson says. “A lot of people don’t feed cows, but maybe 30, 60 days a year. The rest of the year, we are grazing cattle. It’s a budgetary thing and a management thing that they will have to work through. Emotionally, it’s tough on those people, especially those generational ranches.”

Sexson was fortunate. On July 20, as the fires raged and closed in on his land, he was able to get cattle out thanks to fellow ranchers who showed up with trucks and trailers.

“I work for Select Sires and every one of those trucks that showed up, they were all customers,” he says, as his voice cracks and tears fill his eyes. “We got the cattle out and right back to a customer’s feedlot. They were ready for them, and we were pretty fortunate.”

An Emotional Sale of Support

That emotion was felt late last week as Superior Livestock Auction sold special benefit lots as part of their video sale in Winnemucca, Nev. This was an example of ranchers helping ranchers. That money went to the Oregon Fire Relief Fund, which will help those producers in need.

“These are primarily purebred breeders who have made donations in sale credit or semen credit,” Sexson says. “They’re not directly focused on their customers alone. They’re just focused on the general beef industry in Oregon and the devastation some of these people are dealing with. I know two or three people who had their entire ranches burned by the fires. They may not have lost a cow, but it burnt all their private grazing ground.”

The special sale was a touching gesture, as the ranching community comes together at a time of need and the fires continue to burn. Emotions are high, losses are mounting and cattle producers impacted are feeling the financial pain.

Colorado Rancher Leverages USDA Grant Money to Steward Public Land

Thu, 06 Jun 2024 17:48:57 GMT

On Gayel Alexander’s Colorado ranch, the cow-to-land ratio is enough to leave many scratching their heads.

Every year, she grazes 200-head of beef cows on 40,000 acres of public land that sits on the rugged landscape shared by national monuments and culturally significant mountaintops.

The fact that her cows are scattered across the landscape like needles in a giant haystack of land doesn’t bother Alexander. She knows this land.

In 1936 and 1942, through the Taylor Grazing Act, Alexander’s grandfather was able to secure two land leases.

“Even though he only had an eighth-grade education, my grandfather was a very smart man,” she said.

Now, these separate leases, managed first by her grandfather, then later by her mother and now by Alexander, combined with adjoining private property, make up the Ja Quidi Ranch.

Layered with generational land knowledge, Alexander also knows her cattle. She spends time on the land with them, learning their habits and tracking their grazing patterns.

But Alexander’s knowledge doesn’t necessarily equal control.

“I have range cows, not pasture cows,” she says. “They are very agile, very smart and they are used to doing what they want to do to survive on their own.”

One challenge with range cows is that Alexander is sometimes chasing her herd away from boundaries and shooing them from neighbors’ cropland and hay barns. On a broader scale, this rangeland free-for-all limits her ability to take full advantage of the rotational grazing plans she develops with federal range conservationists from The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. This data-tracking hurdle impacts her management decisions, which, in turn, affects overall profitability and environmental stewardship.

That’s where the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities , USDA’s historic funding package for conservation agriculture comes into play for Alexander. The $3.1 billion investment is broken up into 141 public-private grants aimed at providing both technical and financial support for farmers and ranchers to begin, grow or enhance their conservation journey and connect the data associated with it to both operational success and the climate-smart economy.

One of those grants, Farm Journal’s Connected Ag Project , was the missing piece Alexander needed to connect her practical ranch needs and her dreams of holistic land management to reality.

“We have gathered a coalition of industry and conservation leaders, put the power of their technical expertise alongside $40 million in federal grant dollars and brought all of that to bear for the American farmer,” says Jimmy Emmons, senior vice president for climate-smart programs for Trust In Food , Farm Journal’s sustainable ag group. “Through this project, 500 growers and producers like Gayel will have a true partner in connecting their conservation goals to success both for themselves and for agriculture’s sustainable future.”

Each producer enrolled in the project receives:

technical conservation planning
agronomic support
data tools
coaching for how to maximize data efficacy
financial support to implement climate-smart practices or technology

Andrew Lyon, director of technical assistance for the project, is tasked with assessing the needs of farmers in the program and matching them with partners that can provide both solutions and expertise. As the first producer to implement a conservation program under the grant, Alexander will be using both technology and data-coaching partners to accomplish her conservation goals.

“Virtual fencing and data coaching have been important tools to meet both the current challenges that Gayel has on her public land leases and the aspirational goals that she has for better land overall stewardship through increased rotational grazing,” Lyon says. “Through this program, producers like Gayel will have the information and tools they need to set them up for a future of conservation-minded decision-making on their operations.”

Alexander says she never would have been able to address her challenges and meet those goals on her own – which is the main factor that led Merck Animal Health to sign onto the grant project with their Vence virtual fencing technology.

Other private partners for the program, including Ducks Unlimited, PTx Trimble, AgriWebb, U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, Texas Agricultural Land Trust, ABS Global and Tuskegee University, among others, combine to provide both resources and technical assistance to put practical conservation on the ground throughout the U.S.

“The grant partnership is important to Merck Animal Health because it helps reduce barriers and encourages ranchers to adopt innovative tools, like Vence, to implement strategies to produce beef while reducing their environmental impact,” said Gary Tiller, Commercial Director, Vence Corp., part of Merck Animal Health. “Through our partnership, Merck Animal Health can contribute to sustainability efforts important to the industry.”

Recently, the Connected Ag Project team outfitted Ja Quidi Ranch with technology that is already providing tangible benefit.

Alexander’s cattle have been outfitted with Vence virtual collars, which are allowing her to collect data that she has been “chomping at the bit” to have. She says the data will allow her to make adaptive changes during the growing seasons and better care for the health and wellbeing of her herd.

That level of control could help her increase the size of her herd in the future. Grant partner AgriWebb will provide both the technology and support needed to help get Alexander to that point with their all-in-one livestock management software.

“Those focused on improving their livestock’s efficiency or reducing their fertilizer usage will work with Trust in Food’s technical assistance team, as well as AgriWebb’s customer success team, to ensure the right records are tracked and assessed to support producers on their climate-smart journey,” says Coby Buck, a fifth-generation rancher and director of strategic accounts at AgriWebb.

Alexander believes that the benefits will grow exponentially for her ranch.

“I have feed on both my permits that isn’t getting used right now,” she says. “I normally have four allotments, but when we wrote my summer plan, we tripled it to 12 allotments.”

“Now I can do a lot more intensive rotational grazing which will increase forage and help bring back grasses that have been dormant for years because they haven’t had hoof and cow activity,” Alexander continues.

Range management practices will be beneficial for wildlife and allow Alexander to increase riparian areas that will revive springs and ponds for healthier habitats.

“Some of this land just isn’t healthy anymore, and this will help it come back alive,” she added.

Gazing out over the rugged, rocky landscape Alexander thinks of as her own, you’ll see areas that are part of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and, just south, the Ute Mountain, a culturally significant landmark for the Ute Nation of Indians.

Alexander is aware of the weight she bears as steward of this land.

“Every time I can better my permits, I’m bettering everything,” she says.

To learn more about Farm Journal’s Connected Ag Project and explore how it could benefit you, visit www.trustinfood.com/grow . Farm Journal also can connect you to expanded opportunities through our Climate-Smart Opportunity Navigator, available here .

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number NR233A750004G096

Lightning Kills Colorado Rancher and 34 Cows Saturday

Tue, 28 May 2024 19:27:43 GMT

A Jackson County, Colo., rancher was struck and killed by lightning Saturday afternoon.

Multiple news outlets reported that Mike Morgan, 51, was feeding hay to cattle from the back of a trailer following a day of branding when the tragedy occurred.

The lightning bolt struck on wide open pasture outside the town of Rand, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) northwest of Denver, said George Crocket, the county coroner. Crocket said the lightning that struck Morgan also knocked about 100 cows and calves off their feet, killing 34 cows and three calves.

“As best I can tell, it hit him on the trailer. The cattle were bunched up around the trailer and it hit them all,” Crocket said.

Morgan’s father-in-law was driving a tractor hooked to the trailer when the lightning struck, and Morgan’s wife was nearby, leading horses toward a horse trailer to load them. They had just finished branding day.

A Facebook post from His Cavvy Foundation , a nonprofit helping ranchers with serious medical issues, said Morgan’s wife was horseback about 200 feet away when the lightning struck, knocking her off her horse. The His Cavvy Foundation post also said Morgan and his wife Niki recently purchased 300 pairs of their own, a lifelong dream. Niki calved the pairs out this winter while Mike worked at Silver Spur Ranches. The couple have a 17-year-old daughter, Dallas.

How #88 Became the Most Popular Cow on Social Media

Fri, 17 May 2024 20:28:13 GMT

#88 is quite possibly the most popular cow on social media right now, and it was one social media post that started it all.

“It’s kind of a fun little deal. I put on X a little sarcastic clip about the eclipse, and I saw her walking through the field, and she’s a very large cow even at that time. And I just mentioned something about, ‘the eclipse is coming’ as she walked away,” says Clay Scott, a farmer and rancher near Ulysses, Kansas.

The eclipse is coming!! pic.twitter.com/OZfYESouM2
— Clay scott (@scottwestacre) April 7, 2024

From that one post in early April, to the massive following that’s grown since, what’s transpired in that time is even catching this Kansas farmer by surprise.

“I can’t even believe what it is today. It’s hundreds of 1000s of people a day looking at it. It’s in the millions per week,” says Scott.

88,ooo views - who would have guessed https://t.co/OhhhPHFTFu
— Clay scott (@scottwestacre) April 22, 2024

She’s a 5-year-old Red Angus cow that’s quickly become a social media sensation.

“It’s a very large audience right now. A lot of states and a lot of countries chime in from time to time. So, it’s quite the ordeal,” he says.

Scott raises row crops and cattle in southwestern Kansas. He says they’ve been talking about #88’s size on the farm since February, almost sure she would be the first to calve, but now, it looks like she could be one of the last.

“I am concerned about her size and the size of the calf. I don’t want her to struggle because the calf gets too big. So that’s why we’re actually limiting her intake right now to not cause any more trouble than she’s probably already going to have with her size,” says Scott. “I’m hoping for twins, to be honest. If it’s twins, I’ll feel a lot better.”

As the saga surrounding when #88 will calve continues, her following is tuning in to what transpires next. Many of her followers are now even answering questions for Scott, and it’s sparked a conversation between complete strangers that has been yet another surprise.

“I’m getting well over 1,000 comments a day on this. And people ask questions, or they ask the same question that was talked about a couple days before. And folks are starting to fill in those answers,” says Scott. “That’s very helpful to me, because I don’t have the time or really the desire to go through my social media and answer each one.”

#88’

She’s a trooper. We are planning to move everyone tomorrow as we have done about all we can with this three week limited diet. We bring in feed every morning for her group then watch consumption. She has been on a diet to help keep calf from getting larger. Time will tell pic.twitter.com/H7U301R6yX
— Clay scott (@scottwestacre) May 16, 2024

There’s no doubt #88’s following is growing, and Scott’s daily posts are no longer just updates. He’s now using it as a tool to educate those invested in her pregnancy journey.

“When this popularity started, I thought, ‘well, let’s tell them why we’re doing this, or what this band in her ear is, what that represents,’ and why we do things that are just good doctrine of taking care of cattle. We’re trying to fulfill that mission that we need to do a better job in agriculture about telling our story.”

#88’

Changes. We are looking for the signs of labor. A swelling udder or even dripping milk - relaxing in hips and softening on backside. Raised tailhead often portrays labor is soon
Some display this along with tail twitching - lying and standing often

Some display nothing pic.twitter.com/RDhob9sJyE
— Clay scott (@scottwestacre) May 16, 2024

Scott’s biggest challenge may be cramming that message into 280 characters per post, but he says it’s forced him to put more thought and meaning into what he posts each day. And now, sharing #88’s story in a short and concise way, is now sharing agriculture’s story far and wide.

“I thought it would kind of, you know, peak in about two or three days and then kind of go away. I didn’t think there would be the continued investment,” he says.

What Scott is doing in his part of the world is giving a glimpse at raising cattle in such a simple and intriguing way, and it’s now making meaningful connections that extend way beyond ag.

CFTC Sues Agridime Over Alleged $161 Million Ponzi Scheme

Wed, 15 May 2024 20:26:49 GMT

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last week filed suit against Agridime LLC, a Texas-based company accused of operating a $161 million Ponzi scheme. The CFTC filed the complaint to the Texas Northern District Court against the corporation and its co-founders, Joshua Link, Gilbert AZ, and Jed Wood, Ft. Worth, TX.

In the complaint , Agridime and its co-founders are accused of deceiving thousands of customers across 14 states between 2021 and December 11, 2023. Link and Wood allegedly solicited and accepted customer funds under false pretenses, using them to pay other customers in a Ponzi-like manner.

The lawsuit claims Agridime solicited more than $161 million to buy cattle from more than 2,000 customers. The CFTC seeks restitution to defrauded customers, civil monetary penalties, trading bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.

According to the CFTC, Agridime operated an online platform that purportedly allowed customers to buy and sell cattle and pitched victims with the prospect of guaranteed annual rates of return between at least 15% and 20%. As advertised, Agridime’s cattle purchase program afforded customers the opportunity to buy and sell cattle without the actual day-to-day care of the cattle, or as Agridime stated in solicitation materials, purchasers of livestock would “make money raising cattle without having to do all the work.”

As further alleged in the Agridime cattle program, customers supposedly bought cattle, typically for $2,000 a head, and Agridime was to handle the feeding and care of the cattle, via farmers with whom Agridime partnered, until the cattle were ready to be processed and the beef sold.

As alleged in the complaint, Agridime represented the customers’ funds would be used only for the purchase, raising, and feeding of the purchased cattle. Instead, because Agridime did not buy the number of cattle required to fulfill its obligations under the livestock contracts, Agridime had to use recent customers’ funds to pay the guaranteed profits of earlier customers. In addition, as further alleged, upon information and belief, customers’ funds were also used to pay approximately $11 million in undisclosed commissions to Agridime personnel, including to Link, his wife, and Wood.

Mistrial Declared in Arizona Rancher’s Murder Trial

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 18:42:45 GMT

An Arizona judge declared a mistrial in the murder case of rancher George Alan Kelly, 75, who was accused of fatally shooting a migrant on his property near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink said the decision was made after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision after two full days of deliberation.

Following the declaration, Kelly’s defense attorney Kathy Lowthorp revealed outside the courthouse to the media that there had only been one guilty juror in the group, which was why the defense team pushed for deliberations to continue.

“There was one hold out for guilty, the rest were not guilty. So seven not guilty, one guilty,” Lowthorp stated. “We believe in our gut that there was no way the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Kelly had faced second-degree murder in the Jan. 30, 2023, shooting of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, 48, who lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico. Kelly had earlier rejected an agreement with prosecutors that would have reduced the charge to one count of negligent homicide if he pleaded guilty.

“It is what it is, and it will be what it will be. Let me go home, okay? That alright with y’all?” Kelly told reporters outside the courthouse following the mistrial. “I will keep fighting forever. I won’t stop.”

Judge Fink had told jurors that if they could not reach a verdict on the second-degree murder charge, they could try for a unanimous decision on a lesser charge of reckless manslaughter or negligent homicide.

The Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office can still decide whether to retry Kelly for any charge or drop the case all together.

A status hearing was scheduled for next Monday afternoon, when prosecutors could inform the judge if they plan to refile the case.

Related:

Arizona Rancher Rejects Plea Deal in Death of Migrant

Arizona Border Rancher Accused of Killing Migrant, Now Held With $1 Million Bond

Power vs. Privacy: Landowner Sues Game Wardens, Challenges Property Intrusion

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 12:34:33 GMT

“Why don’t you give me your gun and I’ll unload it?”

Standing in the middle of his own farm property, Tom Manuel’s body bristled at a question laced with direction from an armed game warden who possessed no search warrant or probable cause.

“No sir. I’m not giving you my gun,” Manuel answered. “This is my land. This is my rifle. I have every right to it.”

Welcome to a fundamental property rights battle taking place across the United States. Government officials, at both the state and federal levels, claim power over entrance, exit, searches, and surveillance on private land—all without warrant, cause, reasonable suspicion, or Fourth Amendment restrictions.

Stemming from the Open Fields doctrine, a century-old Supreme Court ruling, government officials including wildlife agents, environmental inspectors, immigration officials, and other agency reps, have unbounded access to private land with no restrictions on time, frequency, duration, or scope.

Represented by Institute for Justice, Manuel has filed a lawsuit to end warrantless intrusions in Louisiana, the fourth state after Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to see recent challenges to the Open Fields doctrine. “Think about where we are,” he says. “With absolutely no warrant or reason, the government can enter your property and stop you, spy on you, search you, and stay as long as they like—and we’re supposed to accept that as constitutional. Something has gone way, way off in this country.”

Hunting or Not

On the morning of Dec. 6, 2023, Manuel went deer hunting and spotted several does and bucks—but nothing he wanted to harvest. At roughly 9:30 a.m., Manuel climbed out of a stand and began slipping through bottomland hardwood forest in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, surrounded by pine plantations and homesteads to the east and north, soybean fields to the west, and a 400-acre sod farm to the south.

A career professional forester and wildlife biologist, Manuel walked across his 240-acre tree farm and headed for a Toyota Tundra 4WD, parked approximately 250 yards inside his property gate.

Approaching the truck, he noted a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) vehicle and a single wildlife officer behind the wheel. The officer exited the LDWF vehicle.

“I said, ‘Can I help you?’ and the game warden answered, ‘No. I’m just here to check you,’ Manuel recalls. “I didn’t like that, but he was cordial. I told him, ‘The public road stops at my gate, and I’d have appreciated if you waited there, but I’ll put my gun in my truck and then I’ll talk to you.’”

The wildlife officer asked for the rifle to unload the firearm, according to Manuel. “I’m on my own land, facing no warrant, charges, or accusations, but I’m with an armed guy I don’t know who wants my gun. Just me and him alone in the woods on my private property.”

Manuel declined the request: “The game warden said, ‘It just makes my job safer,’ but in that moment, it sure didn’t make me safer and it broke every safety measure I know to hand someone a loaded gun. He didn’t like my answer, but he backed off.”

Unchambering a round from the .270, Manuel placed the rifle in the Tundra’s passenger seat, muzzle pointed to the floorboard.

The LDWF officer then verified Manuel’s electronic deer tags and did not issue a citation. Check completed, Manuel asked for probable cause. The officer, per Manuel, responded, “The fact you’re hunting is all the probable cause I need.”

“One, there was no way he knew if I was hunting or not,” Manuel says. “Two, hunting is not illegal.”

Despite his concerns, Manuel continued with deer season and put the private property rights issue to rest. Three weeks later, it happened again.

No Coincidences?

On a Saturday morning, Dec. 30, 2023, Manuel shot a buck and recorded his kill via LDWF’s text-to-tag. With his one-buck per day limit filled, Manuel’s brother took the afternoon hunt on the 240-acre tree farm.

When Manuel’s brother exited the woods, two LDWF wildlife officers—both different from the Dec. 6 check—were parked at his vehicle on the private property. As on Dec. 6, they asked questions, but issued no citations.

“My wife and I were heading to a friend’s farm to eat gumbo, when I got a text from my brother telling me two game wardens were on our land,” Manuel recalls. “I turned my truck around and was there in 10 minutes.”

On Manuel’s arrival, the LDWF officers were pulling off the private property and onto the public road. “I got my phone out and recorded while we spoke,” Manuel explains. “It was all cordial, but direct.”

“I wanted to know why they were on my land. They came on Dec. 6; they came on Dec. 30; I’d just killed a buck earlier in the day; three different game wardens; and another surprise entrance onto my private property. But I was supposed to believe it was all random and coincidence. Well, I don’t believe it. I think they came looking for a violation because I had questioned the authority of the first warden.”

(LDWF did not respond to Farm Journal questions regarding the Tom Manuel lawsuit. LDWF did not respond to Farm Journal questions about LDWF’s Open Fields policy.)

As Manuel continued asking for explanation, one of the LDWF officers stated the situation was “just like dove season 2019,” referencing a citation Manuel received over four years prior.

Manuel calls the LDWF officer’s mention of dove season “outrageous.”

“In 2019, I was invited to a dove hunt. I showed up and saw no bait, period, around me. I killed my limit, picked up my shells, and again, saw absolutely no bait. However, the landowner allegedly baited the opposite end of the field, and I ended up with a ticket. Everyone who accepted the invitation to hunt that day received a ticket.”

“Fast forward four plus years, and a game warden shows up on my land on the very day I kill a buck, makes a veiled threat and tells me he knows who I am and therefore needs to watch me on my private property because of the only hunting citation of my life—a dove ticket from half a decade before. That’s outrageous behavior.”

“What happened to our state constitutions and the Constitution?” Manuel asks. “I’m supposed to pretend the law allows government officials to enter private land, stay as long as they want, use drones, use night vision, use cameras, and whatever other activity they choose, all without any approval from a judge or a warrant or cause? Who in the heck believes that’s justified by Open Fields?

“It Wouldn’t Even Require Reasonable Suspicion”

Per the Fourth Amendment , passed as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791, Americans rely on a guarantee of security in their “persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” However, the federal government contends Fourth Amendment protections do not extend to land.

Where does such sweeping authority derive? The Open Fields doctrine, erected in two Supreme Court (SCOTUS) cases separated by 60 years.

In 1924, SCOTUS birthed the Open Fields framework in a Prohibition-era case involving illegal liquor, Hester v. United States, and declared: “the special protection accorded by the Fourth Amendment to the people in their ‘persons, houses, papers, and effects,’ is not extended to the open fields.”

Doubling down in 1984, SCOTUS added weight to the Open Fields doctrine in a marijuana case, Oliver v. United States . Despite ultimately ruling in favor of Open Fields, SCOTUS justices revealed constitutional truths while questioning Assistant Attorney General Wayne Moss, who supported Open Fields.

Justice Byron White: So that in your view there is just nothing a landowner can do outside the house to invoke Fourth Amendment protections…If the landowner himself out there with a gun cannot keep them out or cannot create any expectation of privacy, nothing can.

Moss: That is our position, and I would like to explain that.

Justice John Paul Stevens: May I just ask, also, that doesn’t even require probable cause as I understand you.

Moss: Correct, yes.

Justice John Paul Stevens: It wouldn’t even require reasonable suspicion.

Direct from the mouth of Stevens, Open Fields doesn’t “require reasonable suspicion,” thereby removing all legal thresholds for the government to enter private land. According to Stevens and SCOTUS, the Fourth Amendment protects homes, surrounding lawns, and immediate, adjacent structures or sheds, but beyond that perimeter, federal officials have an open door to enter and surveil all private land in the U.S.—farmland, timberland, hunting ground, pasture, and recreational acres.

Significantly, in both Hester and Oliver, policemen and revenue officers were involved, not wildlife officers. Which government departments and agencies have total access to private land? All of them, according to Open Fields: USDA, DOJ, FBI, Interior, Treasury, FWS, EPA, Bureau of Land Management, Corps of Engineers, and many more beyond wildlife officers. All.

Russian Whiskey

Seven states place state constitutional protections above the Open Fields doctrine: Mississippi, Montana, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington. (Since 2020, lawsuits challenging Open Fields have been filed in Tennessee, Pennsylvania , Virginia —and now, Louisiana.)

“I had heard about Open Fields and I figured the issue would get to Louisiana at some point, but I sure didn’t want to be that guy, but then it happened on my ground,” Manuel says. “The public reaction here has been overwhelmingly in support of my stance, because people know we have a deep problem.”

In 2024, partnered with Institute for Justice (IJ), Manuel sued LDWF for warrantless intrusions based on the Louisiana State Constitution’s guaranteed property protections, explicitly stated in Article l, Section 5: Every person shall be secure in his person, property, communications, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches, seizures, or invasions of privacy.

“The Louisiana Constitution protects all ‘property’ from warrantless searches, and that includes land,” said attorney James Knight in an IJ release. “That may seem obvious, but misguided U.S. Supreme Court precedent has convinced state officials that they can invade private land at will.”

Among the defendants listed in Manuel’s lawsuit is Madison Sheahan, recently-appointed secretary of LDFW, included in her official capacity. Prior to her position as the head of LDFW, she was a political analyst for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem in 2022, and the South Dakota Republican Party’s executive director in 2023.

In 2021, South Dakota’s state legislature passed a law prohibiting wildlife officers from entering private land without a warrant, probable cause, or reasonable suspicion. Ironically, Sheahan, an enthusiastic hunter, had stronger legal protection on private land while a resident of South Dakota than the citizens of Louisiana—whom she serves—currently possess in the Pelican State.Top of FormBottom of Form

“How did we get to a point,” Manuel asks, “where back in 1924, some judges said it’s ok for law enforcement to go on someone’s property to get whiskey, and now 100 years later any government official can do anything they want on your land?”

“Sometimes I hear people say, ‘If you have nothing to hide then you shouldn’t be worried about the government doing whatever it wants on your private land,’” Manuel concludes. “Seriously? People who say that should try living in Russia.”

For more articles from Chris Bennett ( cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:

Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told

American Gothic: Farm Couple Nailed In Massive $9M Crop Insurance Fraud

Priceless Pistol Found After Decades Lost in Farmhouse Attic

Cottonmouth Farmer: The Insane Tale of a Buck-Wild Scheme to Corner the Snake Venom Market

Tractorcade: How an Epic Convoy and Legendary Farmer Army Shook Washington, D.C.

Bizarre Mystery of Mummified Coon Dog Solved After 40 Years

While America Slept, China Stole the Farm

Ogallala Aquifer Summit 2024: Tackling Tough Water Issues

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 20:09:45 GMT

Seeking collaboration on solutions to conserve and extend the lifespan of vital water resources in the High Plains, the third Ogallala Aquifer Summit brought politicians and stakeholders from across the region this week to Liberal, Kansas.

Calling the Ogallala Aquifer “critical to the viability” of agriculture and maintaining historic economic growth, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly delivered the summit’s opening remarks by praising attendees for their work to address “one of the region’s most pressing issues.”

“Having a clean, stable water supply is critical to maintaining our way of life in all communities across Kansas, rural and urban alike,” Kelly said. “It’s critical to maintaining Kansas as we know it and love it.”

The impact of the aquifer’s resources creates impact throughout the economy, agreed Kansas Senator Jerry Moran, who addressed the summit’s 200 attendees following Kelly. Moran encouraged participants at the summit to continue working to conserve the water resource for future generations.

The impact from the Ogallala Aquifer is massive, with estimates that 95% of groundwater pumped from the aquifer each year is for irrigated agriculture, though it also supports livestock, businesses and municipal needs. The aquifer supports approximately $3.5 billion in crop production in Kansas.

Throughout the summit attendees were reminded depletion of the aquifer is not a problem to be solved; it is a situation to be managed. Speakers emphasized that the region’s water resources would need constant management, technical innovation, financial and economic support and infrastructure changes.

“Management of the Ogallala Aquifer is a food security issue and a national security issue,” said Kristen Dickey, Aimpoint Research.

Economic analyses suggest that depletion of the aquifer could result in a $56 million annual loss for Texas and a $33 million loss for Kansas agriculture by 2050.

Irrigation in the High Plains began in the 1940s, with increasing water use from the aquifer until about 1980, then a gradual tapering off until the present decade. Texas Cattle Feeders Assn. CEO Ben Weinheimer told attendees that approximately 7 million acres were irrigated in the Texas Panhandle in 1980, declining to slightly less than 4 million acres today.

While crop irrigation accounts for a majority of the water use, the aquifer also supplies water for the region’s large livestock feeding operations. Those businesses are working to conserve water, too, says Joel Jarnagin, Cobalt Cattle Co.

Thirty years ago Jarnagin estimates feedyards used “15 or 16 gallons of water,” per head per day. Cobalt Cattle Co., which operates six feedyards with a one-time capacity of 300,000 head, has averaged “10.5 to 11.7 gallons” water use per head, per day over the past four years.

“That’s a significant savings just due to management and increased focus,” Jarnagin said.

Policy changes at the state level may also help stakeholders manage the water resource. For instance, Governor Kelly noted two specific bills passed in the last Kansas legislative session.

“One established a specific timeline for communities to develop strategies around maintaining water quality and quantity,” Kelly said. “The second allocated an unprecedented investment in the State Water Plan — to the tune of $35 million annually for five years.”

Kelly said she is encouraged by the progress made so far, but “It’s crucial that we build on our progress – which is why a summit of this scope is so important.

Images From the Smokehouse Creek Fire

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 20:12:21 GMT

Wildfires that ripped across the Texas Panhandle left in their wake destroyed homes, blackened earth, downed power lines and wandering livestock. But also, an outpouring of support that arrived by the truckloads in the form of hay, feed and fencing materials in addition to warehouses full of supplies for families who lost their homes. Personnel from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas A&M Forest Service are on the front lines with volunteers to serve and support in the aftermath of the largest wildfire in Texas history.

The Smokehouse Creek Fire, which started in Hutchinson County, burned a total of 1,075,000 acres and has been declared as the largest in Texas history. And, it was only one of multiple fires that threatened homes and livelihoods in the past week.

Wildfires Raging in Texas, Oklahoma Panhandle Region Threaten Residents and Livestock

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 16:11:22 GMT

Wildfires have burned almost totally out of control since Monday afternoon in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandle regions, threatening ranchers’ homes, livestock and equipment. The Smokehouse Creek Fire had traveled 45 miles and consumed 850,000 acres by mid-day on Wednesday, making it the second-largest fire in Texas state history. (The AP reported the fire had consumed 1,300 square miles.)

Additional information and resources are continually updated and available online at www.tscra.org/disaster-relief-fund .

The Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Foundation Disaster Relief Fund here.

Officials were still assessing the damage, but homes had burned in at least two Texas towns and one Hemphill County official said “homes have burned in almost every direction.”

The Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is urging donors to give to the TSCRA Disaster Relief Fund to assist those affected by the fires.

“A fire is one of the most tragic events that can impact ranches, and a natural disaster such as the widespread wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma can result in financial hardships and deep impacts to our ranching communities,” said TSCRA President Arthur Uhl. “Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is here to help through means of financial assistance and we’re encouraging those who can to donate to the TSCRA Disaster Relief Fund.”

The TSCRA Disaster Relief Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides support for cattle raisers in Texas and Oklahoma who are victims of a natural disaster. All contributions to the TSCRA Disaster Relief Fund are tax deductible.

For more information, including how to donate and how to apply for funding visit tscra.org/disaster-relief-fund/ or contact TSCRA at 800-242-7820. Additional resources for victims impacted by these wildfires are also available tscra.org/disaster-relief-fund/ .

On Wednesday morning, officials said that fire behavior had moderated with decreased winds but that fires were still actively burning. While the Smokehouse Creek Fire was the largest, other active wildfires in the region include the Windy Deuce Fire, which has burned 40,000 acres and is 20% contained, and the Grape Vine Creek Fire, which has burned 30,000 acres and is now 60% contained.

In Oklahoma active wildfires include the Slapout Fire in Beaver County, 77,000 acres burned; the Catesby Fire in Ellis County, 30,000 acres burned; the E1980 Rd Fire in Choctaw County, 5,500 acres burned; and the Sand Creek Fire, 2,385 acres burned.

For those looking to donate hay, fencing and feed to cattle raisers impacted by wildfire, the below drop points have been identified in the Texas Panhandle:

Hemphill County Livestock Supply Point

100 Hackberry Street

Canadian, Texas 79014

(806) 323-9114

Pampa Bull Barn / Top O’ Texas Fairgrounds Livestock Supply Point

301 Bull Barn Drive

Pampa, Texas 79065

Curtis Preston: (806) 946-7467

Additional information and resources are continually updated and available online at www.tscra.org/disaster-relief-fund .

USDA Invests $207 Million in Clean Energy and Domestic Fertilizer Projects

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 14:37:53 GMT

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced USDA will invest $207 million in renewable energy and domestic fertilizer projects to lower energy bills, generate new income, create jobs, and strengthen competition for U.S. farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers. Many of the projects are being funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the nation’s largest-ever investment in combating the climate crisis.

Today’s announcement was made by Secretary Vilsack at the 105th annual American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. This funding advances President Biden’s Investing in America and Bidenomics agenda to grow the nation’s economy from the middle-out and bottom up, create jobs and spur economic growth in rural communities by increasing competition in agricultural markets, lowering costs and expanding clean energy.

“President Biden and USDA are ensuring farmers, ranchers and small businesses are not only a part of the clean energy economy, but directly benefitting from it,” Secretary Vilsack said. “The investments announced will expand access to renewable energy infrastructure and increase domestic fertilizer production, all while creating good-paying jobs and saving people money on their energy costs that they can then invest back into their businesses and communities.”

Today, the Department is awarding $207 million in 42 states for projects through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (FPEP).

Today’s REAP awards total $157 million for 675 projects in 42 states, including more than $94 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. The REAP program delivers on the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. These investments will cut energy costs for farmers and ag producers that can instead be used to create jobs and new revenue streams for people in their communities. For example:

• In Colorado’s La Plata County, a grant for $187,000 will install a solar array that, through a power purchase agreement, will benefit a wastewater treatment facility. The facility is expected to save $58,000 per year, bringing down costs for residents. It will replace 652,923 kilowatt hours or 98 percent of the plant’s energy use per year, which is enough energy to power 60 homes.

• A soybean farm in Pennsylvania will install a 1,248 kilowatt solar photovoltaic system that will save $262,000 per year. These funds can be reinvested to grow the business or create more jobs for the local community. It will also save the farm 2,814,000 kilowatt hours per year, which is enough energy to power 259 homes.

• Sturgis Meats in Meade, South Dakota will install a refrigeration system that will save $32,000 in energy costs per year. It will also save the company 255,000 kilowatt hours per year, which is enough energy to power 23 homes.

Projects financed through FPEP will help U.S. farmers increase independent, domestic fertilizer production. Today’s investments include $50 million in seven projects in seven states. President Biden committed up to $900 million through the Commodity Credit Corporation for FPEP. Funding supports long-term investments that will strengthen supply chains, create new economic opportunities for American businesses, and support climate-smart innovation. For example:

• ARE Properties LLC in Nebraska will build a fully automated fertilizer facility designed to manufacture custom products based on the results of plant tissue and soil samples. All equipment in the facility runs on natural gas with the long-range strategy to retrofit the facility for alternative energy sources in the future.

• Biogas Corporation will purchase and install a new anaerobic digestion facility in Monroe County, North Carolina. This project is expected to create 19 additional positions. The new state-of-the-art facility will produce 50,000 tons of organic fertilizer and ammonium sulfate annually, all available to farming operations or resellers supporting local producers. Through the unique combustion process, the facility projects to generate 55,000 megawatts of clean energy per year to be purchased and distributed through Duke Energy Carolinas.

Government Seizes Control of Rancher’s Land for Endangered Bug Habitat

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 22:53:27 GMT

Stellar service as a decorated combat veteran with the 101^st Airborne in Vietnam meant nothing when the government wanted control of John Yearwood’s farm.

In the name of a tiny arachnid less than a tenth of an inch long, federal officials declared three locations on Yearwood’s Texas ranchland as critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act. “They took away my property’s value with the stroke of a pen for a creature that’s not even endangered,” he says.

Intent on regaining full rights to acreage owned by his family for over a century, Yearwood took his case up the legal chain, but eventually was denied a hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court. “This was never about a bug,” he says. “This was always about government control.”

Bottom line, if Yearwood squashes a bug in Texas, is he interfering with federal power?

Absolutely, insist agency bureaucrats. “Hell no,” responds Yearwood. “There is no shame in Washington.”

The Crack

Since 1871, John Yearwood’s family has owned 865 acres of rocky land in central Texas’ Williamson County. A small portion is tillable, but the vast majority of the slightly rolling, shallow ground is conducive to cattle, rather than row crops. In 1971, the Texas Department of Agriculture deemed Yearwood’s operation as a “Family Land Heritage Property,” a designation given to ag properties kept in the same family for at least 100 years.

In the early 1990s, the Texas Department of Transportation expanded a road parallel to Yearwood’s ranch and asked for permission to survey his land.

“They were coming on with eminent domain no matter what I said. I let them on and everything went off the rails. They had experts and PhDs with their clipboards for geological and biological studies, and they had people with government contracts looking for protected species. In other words, I had a bunch of people on my land motivated by far more incentives than highway construction.”

Enter for a survey; stay for the Endangered Species Act.

The government studies, purportedly performed as a function of highway expansion, revealed three small cracks on Yearwood’s property, i.e., cave fissures in the limestone ground. Within the caves, Yearwood was told, lived bone cave harvestman—pale orange, eyeless arachnids less than an inch in length, found exclusively in Texas.

Based on the Endangered Species Act, Yearwood’s land was tagged as critical habit for the bone cave harvestman. In a flash, his private land was under government control. According to federal bureaucrats, a permit to develop any ground within 35’ of the cave openings would cost Yearwood $400,000. Any activity within 345’ of a cave’s extension—the underground edge of the cave’s furthest point—would cost $10,000 per acre.

Further, Yearwood faced a federal crime charge of one year in prison and a $50,000 fine for a “take” of the bone cave harvestman. A take, as defined by the feds, is “harassing, harming, pursuing, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, or collecting” members of the bone cave harvestman species “or attempting to engage in any such conduct.”

“They turned my land into a permanent government wildlife preserve and made me pay for it,” he says. “They grabbed 600’ of road frontage and devalued my property forever. They took away my development rights and told me I’d get in big trouble for hurting the bug or its habitat. And they did it all by pretending it’s in the Constitution.”

The Breach

In 2014, Yearwood filed suit, represented pro bono by Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF).

Chance Weldon , senior attorney and director of litigation for Center for the American Future at TPPF, contends the federal government is overstepping constitutional bounds. “The government has created a system beyond the Constitution where the cost of preserving species is on private individuals. There are real-life consequences for people’s homes and land, such as loss of property value.”

In the lawsuit, Yearwood’s claim was direct: The federal government had no power to regulate a species found exclusively in Texas.

When the ESA was passed in 1973, the sweeping authority behind the law derived from Congress’ power to regulate commerce ( Commerce Clause ), granted in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution: The Congress shall have Power … To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.

Yet, what does a bone cave harvestman have to do with interstate commerce regulation? Further, did the framers of the Constitution give the federal government justification to control private land via the Commerce Clause in the case of a tiny arachnid found exclusively in Texas that is neither bought nor traded?

“The Founding Fathers never envisioned federal authority to regulate local land use in this way,” says Weldon.

“The federal government claimed if Mr. Yearwood hurts an insect on his property, he interferes with interstate commerce,” Weldon continues. “That is a crazy theory of federal power. This arachnid only lives in Texas and never moves more than a couple feet from its home. There is no market in other states for this insect. This is a breach of fundamental private property rights and it’s unconstitutional.”

Yearwood calls the Commerce Clause “a weapon.”

“Don’t tell me our forefathers wrote the Commerce Clause because they wanted authority over bugs in a hole in Texas,” he says. “No sir. That interpretation is how the government leaves the law behind and crosses over into oppression.”

The Twist

Once into the court system, the merits of Yearwood’s case—the facts on his land—were lost beneath a layer cake of constitutional interpretation, culminating in SCOTUS’ decline to hear his claims.

“I knew I’d lose, but that didn’t matter,” Yearwood explains. “I fought this case for everyone. There were plenty of other landowners in same boat with me, plenty before me, and there’ll be plenty more to follow.”

“Our Constitution is a brilliant document and we’re required to follow it. It’s not supposed to be optional,” Yearwood adds. “I have no agenda beyond freedom and private property rights.”

Insult to injury, in Yearwood’s eyes, the bone cave harvestman federal endangered status is questionable. “When they found the bug on my land, it was supposedly only on five spots in the entire state. As of now, they’ve found it on close to 200 locations and counting. Once they knew what to look for, they found it everywhere. It’s still listed as endangered, but I don’t believe it ever was.”

Far better than most, Yearwood understands the real-world implications of bureaucratic action. Currently, a separate portion of his land is undergoing gas line installation: “Atmos is putting a line through and they’ve got me by eminent domain. At least they pay, unlike the ESA, for a 50’ easement. However, I’ve now lost 95% of my road frontage to the Department of Interior by ESA or Atmos by eminent domain.”

Undaunted, Yearwood says his case was rigged from the get-go. “At the end of the day and behind closed doors, even government bureaucrats know the Commerce Clause is a flimsy excuse to control private land. They also know if the Commerce Clause was interpreted properly, the wheels would come off so many of their regulatory laws.”

“The truth in land rights cases is irrelevant in court,” Yearwood adds, “and that’s exactly how government officials have twisted our Constitution. It’s way past time for landowners to speak up, demand accountability from our representatives, and recognize we’ve allowed the bureaucracy to become the fourth branch of government.”

For more from Chris Bennett (cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:

American Gothic: Farm Couple Nailed In Massive $9M Crop Insurance Fraud

Priceless Pistol Found After Decades Lost in Farmhouse Attic

Cottonmouth Farmer: The Insane Tale of a Buck-Wild Scheme to Corner the Snake Venom Market

Tractorcade: How an Epic Convoy and Legendary Farmer Army Shook Washington, D.C.

Young Farmer uses YouTube and Video Games to Buy $1.8M Land

Bizarre Mystery of Mummified Coon Dog Solved After 40 Years

While America Slept, China Stole the Farm

Farmer Gains Supreme Court’s Ear, Landmark Property Rights Hearing Awaits

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 19:44:52 GMT

After the government twice flooded a farmer’s home and 900 acres, killed his cattle, and insisted he foot the bill—the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case.

When a new highway flood wall twice trapped Richie Devillier’s land within a figurative bathtub and erased several generations’ worth of toil in 2017 and 2019, Texas state officials refused to pay damages. In 2020, Devillier sued for compensation under the Fifth Amendment, but was told he had no legal grounds to seek compensation from the state.

However, on Sept. 29, 2023, SCOTUS agreed to take Devillier’s case. “This case is about basic government accountability and whether the government has to give you what the Constitution says you’re entitled to. The Constitution says, ‘yes,’ Texas says, ‘no,’ and the Supreme Court is going to decide,” explains Bob McNamara, attorney with Institute for Justice .

Holding the Bag

Since 1920, the Devillier family has farmed their high-ground land in southeast Texas’ Chambers County, outside Winnie, roughly 60 miles east of Houston. Across 100 years of rice cultivation and cattle production, there were no floods on the Devillier property—until 2017, after the Texas Department of Transportation renovated nearby Interstate 10, raising its height, adding two lanes, and installing a concrete barrier in the median. As a result, with heavy rains, Devillier’s land turns into a lake.

Devillier’s case has implications for property owners nationwide, McNamara explains: “A victory for Richie will mean that governments cannot simply destroy the property you’ve worked so hard to own and leave you holding the bag.”

For the complete story on Devillier’s flood battle, see Farmer Nightmare: Government Floods Family Twice, Kills Herd, and Refuses to Pay Damages .

Biden Designates New National Monument in Arizona

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 13:38:33 GMT

President Joe Biden traveled to Red Butte near the Grand Canyon on Tuesday to designate nearly one million acres as a new national monument. The designation, the fifth of his presidency using his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906, will conserve and protect ancestral places significant to Indigenous people of the region, the White House said in a fact sheet supplied to reporters.

Tribes in Arizona have been pushing for Biden to make the designation of the monument to be called

Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni. “Baaj Nwaavjo” means “where tribes roam,” for the Havasupai people, while “I’tah Kukveni” translates to “our footprints,” for the Hopi tribe.

The White House said the designation protects the area from potential uranium mining and would also protect existing grazing permits and leases, existing mining claims and will support area hunting and fishing.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association called Biden’s actions “yet another presidential land grab” in a release sent to media on Tuesday.

“This kind of use of the Antiquities Act is one of the most appallingly political moves to lock up millions of acres of land across the country. Today’s latest designation follows a concerning trend of Washington politicians trampling local communities, land managers, farmers, and ranchers with the stroke of a pen,” said NCBA President Todd Wilkinson, a South Dakota cattle producer. “NCBA is strongly opposed to the continued abuse of the Antiquities Act, and we urge President Biden to listen to the local communities that will be hurt by this designation.”

Representatives of various northern Arizona tribes have long campaigned to prevent uranium mining in the area. Among those opposed to the new mines are Navajo President Buu Nygren and Havasupai Tribal Councilwoman Dianna Sue White Dove Uqualla.

“It’s really the uranium we don’t want coming out of the ground because it’s going to affect everything around us — the trees, the land, the animals, the people,” Uqualla told NBC News. “It’s not going to stop.”

But mining companies and the areas that would benefit from their business are vehemently opposed to the designation of the new national monument. Buster Johnson, a Mohave County supervisor, said the monument proposal feels solely politically driven and he doesn’t see the point of not tapping into uranium and making the country less dependent on Russia.

“We need uranium for the security of our country,” Johnson said. “We’re out of the game.”

No uranium mines are operating in Arizona, although the Pinyon Plain Mine just south of Grand Canyon National Park has been under development for years. Other claims are grandfathered in. The federal government has said nearly a dozen mines within the area that has been withdrawn from new mining claims could still potentially open, even with the monument designation, because their claims were established before 2012.

Pasture to Plate: A Culture-Driven Beef Business

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:09:52 GMT

The Ducheneaux family reconnects consumers with their food source

Kelsey Ducheneaux-Scott sat on her front porch, stared out across rolling pastures and thought, “What the hell did I do?” She had just heaved box after box into freezers in the living room, kitchen and laundry room — carefully dispensing 1,700 lb. of ground beef.

Exhausted from the haul (and hoping the circuits wouldn’t blow due to strategically placed freezers) Ducheneaux-Scott couldn’t believe the sheer amount of work before her. How was she going to sell so much grass-fed burger in three months, before her next butcher appointment? Anxiety and stress seeped in during that cold March night in 2020. Little did she know how quickly that product would move.

“COVID hit and there was no beef in any of our stores,” Ducheneaux-Scott recalls. “We sold out of that 1,700 lb. in a matter of three weeks. People realized how easily local grocery stores can be disrupted here in rural South Dakota.”

PASTURE TO PLATE

With a focus on feeding those around her, Ducheneaux-Scott is leading a transformation of her family’s operation. DX Ranch was established in the 1930s near Eagle Butte, S.D., on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation. It began with beef cattle and draft horses.

Today, Ducheneaux-Scott and her husband, Monte Scott, work alongside her family raising quarter horses and 280 head of cow-calf pairs in a regenerative production system.

“I am a fourth-generation rancher on DX Ranch, and I’m the 125th generation to steward this landscape,” Ducheneaux-Scott says. “We’ve focused on ensuring we’re not just thinking about the livestock above ground but also thinking about the livestock below ground.”

FATHER-DAUGHTER DUO

For her entire life, Ducheneaux-Scott has worked alongside her father, Zach Ducheneaux. That was until early 2021, when Ducheneaux was selected by the Biden administration to serve as the Farm Service Agency administrator (he received the call for the position while they were at the sale barn).

Luckily, Ducheneaux had prepared his daughter to be a leader on the ranch and in life. They are members of the Lakota tribe, which is a matriarchal society.

“My dad never let me think I couldn’t do something because I was a girl,” Ducheneaux-Scott says. “He empowered me to believe I could do things better because I was a girl and had a different perspective.”

After college, Ducheneaux-Scott wanted to be a rancher and bought into the family’s cowherd in 2016.

“I was obsessive in watching those calves grow that year,” she says. “I might as well have had names and birth certificates for every calf.”

After selling that calf crop, Ducheneaux-Scott headed back to the ranch and pondered the future.

“I drove through two counties that face food insecurity,” she says. “I thought, golly, the system is so broken. We have up to 80,000 head of cattle grazing on 3.2 million acres here on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation, and there isn’t any local beef being packaged and made available for purchase. The beef grown here is phenomenal, but none of us get to actually eat it.”

At home, she scribbled down a bunch of ideas and started a business plan. That plan morphed into DX Beef , which has a simple mission: Provide nutritious and local beef that improves its communities.

The direct-to-consumer business featuring their 100% grass-fed beef has expanded in the past two years and is helping the family move away from the commodity market model.

“For the first 90 years of our existence, we’d largely been victim to the commodity markets just like everyone else,” Ducheneaux says. “Behind the effort of Kelsey, in 2020, for the first time, we sold more beef in the box than we did on the hoof. A tremendous advocate for buying, selling and serving

locally, she’s found a way to provide healthier, grass-finished beef to our fellow reservation residents at a price they can afford.”

In 2019, the family sold 12 head of cattle through their business. In 2020, they sold close to 80. This year the total will top 110.

All beef is processed and mostly sold through their online store. To meet local needs, it is sold by the pound or portion of the whole beef. They even do wholesale orders for nearby restaurants.

CULTURE AND TRADITION

The hurdles of small-scale direct marketing are difficult to overcome. Yet Ducheneaux-Scott is seeing great success thanks to her marketing and organizational skills. Through storytelling, which is rooted in their Lakota culture, the family uses technology to share the story of their ranch and products.

“Family comes before the dollar in this operation,” Ducheneaux says. “We’re not solely about monetizing the value of that product, and we realize there are other values to our beef.”

Their story is shaped by their love and respect for the 7,000 acres of tribal land they manage through a tribal lease.

“I’m a grass and soil nerd,” Ducheneaux-Scott says. “Soil health is so critical to a resilient ecosystem. Our grazing system is focused on mimicking nature. This ecosystem evolved from having cloven-hoofed bison and other wildlife graze at a pace that allowed for a robust rest period, so we practice rotational grazing.”

The DX Ranch herd is an Angus base, influenced with breeds that will help the cattle handle the sometimes-brutal central South Dakota climate, Ducheneaux-Scott says. From changing their calving season to May to decrease cattle stress to steadily increasing soil health, the Ducheneaux family aims to work with Mother Nature.

“We have flexibility in our management so we can listen to what the landscape is telling us because she knows better than we do,” Ducheneaux-Scott says. “We

are simply another biological species that’s a part of this greater ecosystem.”

Listen as Kelsey Ducheneaux-Scott discusses her operation with Andrew McCrea on the “Farming the Countryside” podcast:

OTHERS BEFORE ONESELF

As a producer, business owner and member of her nation, Ducheneaux-Scott says she is driven by the opportunity and honor to feed others.

“I’ve come to appreciate having someone tell say your beef tasted good or how they brought their family together around our product,” she says. “Those are the experiences that make feeding cows in a blizzard, slopping through the mud to check calves and sleepless nights all worth it.”

Snapshot of DX Ranch

Operation: DX Ranch includes quarter horses and 280 head of cow-calf pairs in a regenerative production system on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation near Eagle Butte, S.D. The ranch is also home to DX Beef, a direct-to-consumer business featuring their 100% grass-fed beef.

Family: Following in the footsteps of her father, Zach Ducheneaux, Kelsey Ducheneaux-Scott is the fourth generation of her family to ranch. She and her husband, Monte Scott, work with several members of her family in the operation.

Leadership: Ducheneaux-Scott is the director of programs for the Intertribal Agriculture Council, which provides a voice for the Native American community on ag policy and programs. In 2021, Ducheneaux was selected to lead the Farm Service Agency, where he oversees 10,000 employees.

Travel to Gettysburg, S.D., and virtually visit DX Ranch.

North Dakota Ranchers Should Prepare for Flooding

Mon, 27 Mar 2023 19:20:06 GMT

Ranchers should make plans for moving feed and livestock to higher ground before flooding this spring, according to North Dakota State University Extension specialists.

The latest flood forecast shows a high probability of moderate to major spring flooding along the Red River Basin, as well as minor to moderate flooding potential along portions of the Souris River. In addition to riverine flooding, there is the potential for overland flooding due to snowpack across the state. The risk of flooding will be dictated by additional precipitation and the melt/thaw cycle. Due to overland flooding, many areas that typically do not flood may be flooded this year.

“Floodwaters can rise quickly, potentially cutting off access to feed and/or water sources for livestock,” warns Miranda Meehan, NDSU Extension livestock environmental stewardship specialist. “Beef cattle out on pasture are especially susceptible to displacement by flooding.

“Although cattle will move to higher ground if possible, they may move to areas where rescue is not possible. Trying to rescue cattle and other large livestock in deep-water situations is dangerous and can be deadly to animals and people. Plans should be made weeks ahead of a potential disaster, with consideration given to pens, loading facilities, transportation, evacuation routes and final destination of livestock.”

Floodwaters often prevent producers from reaching feed supplies either directly or through damage to roads.

“Having feed supplies on hand is important because feed assistance may not be available during a flood,” says Karl Hoppe, Extension livestock systems specialist at NDSU’s Carrington Research Extension Center. “Ranchers should pre-select sites on high ground for hay, emergency water supplies, and fencing supplies or panels.”

Ranchers also need to be aware that moving feed may cause problems. For example, moving big round hay bales to higher ground can result in hay loss because twine- or net-wrapped bales may be frozen to the ground. Also, road weight restrictions can limit ranchers’ ability to haul in new feed if they use coproducts such as beet pulp, beet tailings or distillers grains to feed their cattle.

Hoppe advises ranchers to ensure accessible storage facilities and an adequate supply of feedstuffs.

If forage resources are inaccessible for small ruminants of sheep and goats, have a plan for grain supplementation at or near the barn. Springtime has vulnerable ewes and does and their offspring that can be managed by meeting energy requirements needed during lactation if flooding occurs.

“Consider where barns are located when being used for livestock shelter,” says Zac Carlson, NDSU Extension beef specialist. “If a barn is located in a flood plain like most old barns built close to water, then provide an escape route for the cattle to leave if an overnight flood occurs. Do not shut the barn door unless you check livestock every few hours.”

While not all areas will experience flooding, mud will likely be an issue on many farms and ranches this spring.

Mud can reduce the insulation value of hair coats, increase energy requirements, and increase the potential for foot rot and other health issues.

Mud also may chill or trap newborn calves and lambs, and can carry a variety of pathogens that can affect calves and lambs directly or through contact with dirty udders.

There are few options once muddy conditions are in place; therefore, preventive practices are key.

These recommendations can aid in reducing muddy conditions:

Scrape lots to maintain a 3% to 5% slope away from the feed bunk.
Reshape mounds to ensure quick drainage.
Move livestock to temporary feeding areas such as stockpiled pastures with adequate drainage or fields containing crop residue such as corn stalks. Be aware of the high risk of soil compaction when placing livestock in saturated crop fields in the spring and the potential for challenging planting conditions.

“The potential for high water tables during spring thaw can cause issues for North Dakota livestock owners who have dirty-water containment ponds and manure stacking areas,” says Mary Keena, Extension livestock environmental management specialist based at NDSU’s Carrington Research Extension Center.

During spring thaw, dirty-water containment ponds should be inspected daily.

If your manure management dirty-water containment pond looks like it is going to overtop, is showing signs of major bank erosion or is being encroached upon by floodwaters, contact the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Quality at 701-328-5210 to report these issues before they happen.

“Ranches should evaluate their potential for flooding and plan accordingly,” says Keena. “If you do not have access to higher ground, you may need to consider moving livestock off-site until the risk of flooding subsides. If you need help evaluating options, contact your NDSU Extension agent or emergency management office.”

Visit NDSU Extension’s flood website at www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/ag-hub/ag-topics/disasters/flood for more information and resources to aid in flood preparations on your operation.

WOTUS Rule Frozen in Two States, But Unimpaired in 48

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 13:50:48 GMT

A federal judge in Texas put WOTUS on hold in two states over the weekend but denied a concentrated effort by industry groups to stop the rule nationwide. The controversial Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule takes effect today (Mar. 20, 2023).

Judge Jeffrey Brown ruled in favor of Texas and Idaho while denying a second lawsuit that argued the EPA and the Army Corps of engineers should wait for the upcoming Sackett v. EPA decision from the U.S. Supreme Court before implementing the new rules.

In a statement, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) expressed strong disappointment by the decision by the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas to deny a nationwide preliminary injunction that would have halted WOTUS.

“This latest WOTUS rule will place more burdens on family farms and ranches, drive up costs, and prevent cattle producers like me from making investments in our land,” said NCBA President Todd Wilkinson, a South Dakota cattle producer. “While we appreciate the court’s injunction of the rule in Texas and Idaho, we are strongly disappointed in the decision to keep this WOTUS rule in place in 48 states and I am proud of NCBA’s efforts to continue the fight against this rule.”

The Environmental Protect Agency finalized the latest WOTUS rule at the end of 2022. NCBA and its litigation partners filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the rule on January 18, 2023. NCBA sought a nationwide preliminary injunction, which would have prevented the federal government from implementing the WOTUS rule until the entire case is decided. Instead, the court granted a limited injunction in only two states—Texas and Idaho.

“The court’s decision to keep the Biden administration’s WOTUS rule in place is concerning and irresponsible,” said NCBA Chief Counsel Mary-Thomas Hart. “Without a nationwide injunction, the rule takes full legal effect today and will become an immediate burden on our nation’s cattle producers. NCBA will continue efforts to defend our nation’s farmers and ranchers.”

The Supreme Court’s upcoming Sackett decision could potentially limit the reach of the Clean Water Act, in conflict with the Biden WOTUS rule. That decision is expected by early summer.

Related:

Who Defines WOTUS? It Might Come Down to the President or Supreme Court

Restocking Will Be a Slow-Go

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 20:59:09 GMT

Decimated by a second mega-drought this century, America’s ranchers are struggling to survive. Last year’s perfect storm of economic and weather-related challenges led to the fourth consecutive year of declining cattle inventories.

The US Department of Agriculture’s annual cattle inventory report, issued Jan. 31, confirmed the dramatic herd liquidation analysts expected. The total inventory of cattle and calves was 3% lower, dropping under 90 million head for the first time since 2015.

More importantly, America’s beef cow herd declined below the prior cycle low in 2014 to 28.9 million head, the smallest since 1962. Last year saw 13% of the beef cow herd sent to slaughter, the highest percentage since 1984, resulting in an inventory reduction of 1.06 million beef cows (3.6%), with the 12 states making up the Central Plains hit hard.

Those 12 states – TX, OK, KS, AR, MO, CO, NE, IA, SD, ND, MT and WY – account for 62% of the total inventory of beef cows, and last year’s liquidation of 711,000 cows accounted for 67% of the nation’s total decline. Only two of those 12 states saw beef cow numbers increase, Missouri and Colorado, but combined the two only recorded a total increase of 8,000 head.

That the southern half of the Central Plains were hardest hit by drought is reflected in declining cow inventories. Oklahoma recorded the largest decline of beef cows at 140,000, followed by Texas at 125,000, Kansas at 106,000, and Nebraska at 99,000. Those four states, then, accounted for 44% of the nation’s total reduction of beef cows.

Further zeroing in on the drought, Oklahoma appears to have been the bullseye. The Sooner state recorded a 7% decline in beef cows and an 11% decline in total inventory, the largest of the leading cattle states. Kansas also saw a 7% decline in beef cows with a 4% decline in total inventory.

RESTOCKING TIMELINE

While shrinking cattle inventories will lead to higher prices, ranchers remain at the mercy of the weather. Any thoughts of restocking are on hold until rain replenishes the forage supply. Hay stocks in January were already at a 50-year low which means the cupboard is bare as the 2023 growing season begins.

“Even if the rains come and ranchers can begin to restock, there’s indications that many who liquidated their herds over the past two years have no intention of getting back in the business,” says Sterling Marketing president John Nalivka. “Those that plan to restock are likely to take a very cautionary approach to herd rebuilding.”

That’s one reason Nalivka and other industry analysts believe restocking this cycle will be slow, with further inventory declines likely in 2024 and 2025.

“The industry slaughtered 37.3% of its Jan. 1, 2022, inventory last year, the highest number since 1978,” Nalivka says. “Last year we slaughtered 52% of the heifers weighing more than 500 pounds, the highest percentage since 2004. The recent inventory reported heifers weighing more than 500 pounds down 4% and the lowest since 2014. Additionally, the number of beef replacement heifers was down 6% and the lowest since 2011. So, the total number of heifers in the inventory was nearly one million head fewer.”

Which suggests restocking will be a slow-go even with drought relief. Some heifers that were slated as feeder heifers could still be shifted back to the breeding herds this spring, but most analysts see that as unlikely. That suggests this fall will be the next opportunity to retain heifer calves, which seems more likely given the drought recovery most regions will require. That time table puts heifers retained this fall on schedule to calve in the spring of 2025, reinforcing the idea that any expansion won’t appear until at least 2026.

Such a scenario means calf crops will decline this year and next, and heifer retention will continue to tighten the available supplies of feeder cattle and calves.