News Update
February 8, 2013
PLC, NCBA Strongly Support Reintroduction of Grazing Improvement Act
The Public Lands Council (PLC) and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) strongly support the Grazing Improvement Act of 2013, introduced in the U.S. Senate. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), along with cosponsors Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), introduced the bill, which seeks to improve the livestock grazing permitting processes on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS). The bill was debated during the last session of Congress in both the Senate and House of Representatives; it passed the House with bipartisan support as part of the Conservation and Economic Growth Act (H.R. 2578).
PLC President Brice Lee, a Colorado rancher, asserted that the uncertainty surrounding grazing permit renewals is threatening ranchers’ ability to stay in business.
“Those of us who utilize grazing on public lands face grave threats to our way of life due to today’s cumbersome and inefficient permit renewal process. It puts us at constant risk of seeing suits filed by radical environmental activists who seek to eliminate grazing on federal lands,” Lee said. “This bill would end some of the instability in the permitting process that plagues the grazing industry in the West.”
NCBA President J.D. Alexander said that the bill simply makes sense, as it proposes to codify language that has been included in federal appropriations bills for more than a decade. That appropriations language, which has long enjoyed bipartisan support, allows the BLM and USFS to renew grazing permits under existing terms and conditions while the backlog of environmental analyses is being addressed.
“Increasing the term of a grazing permit from 10 to 20 years, as is proposed in the bill, will decrease the interval at which grazing allotments come up for environmental analyses,” Alexander said. “This will decrease the daunting backlog facing the agencies and will make these processes more efficient.”
Alexander added that much of the backlog and uncertainty is due to extremist environmental groups, who frequently file minor lawsuits in their attempt to put ranchers out of business. These lawsuits consume agency resources, according to Alexander.
For more information and the full release, click here.
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Where Have All The Beef Cows Gone?
Cattle numbers are down again, to their lowest level since 1952, according to USDA’s recent inventory count. Beef cow numbers are at their lowest level since 1962 as the devastating impacts of the 2012 drought continues the longer-term decline.
Beef cow numbers were down 3% in 2012 and 11% since 2007. The drivers have been high feed and forage prices, persistent drought in the Southern Plains, and, of course, the widespread Midwestern drought of 2012.
The 2012 drought was the primary driver of the decrease last year as it destroyed pastures and forage supplies and catapulted corn, sorghum, and soybean meal prices. The impacts were largest for producers in the Southern Plains where beef cow numbers dropped by 9% last year and in the Central Plains, where numbers were down 6%.
These two regions had a decrease of 860,000 cows. Likely, some of those cows moved to the Northern Plains, where rain was more abundant and cow numbers expanded by 4%, totaling about 170,000 cows.
The 2012 drought was just the latest event to result in the liquidation of cows that has been accelerating since 2007. Nationally, the beef cow herd has dropped by 3.6 million head (11%) with reductions in all regions except the Northern Plains.
It has been difficult for the beef industry to compete for high-priced feed and limited land that is being converted to corn and soybean production. The Southern and Central Plains have led the way with a 1.9 million head reduction since 2007, followed by declines of 700,000 head in the Southeast, and 680,000 head in Corn Belt states.
What will it take to turn the herd decline around? The answer is more rain, more crop production, and more pasture and forage production. Larger crop and forage production would increase availability and lower prices of these critical feedstuffs.
For more information and the full release, click here.
Electronic Tablet, Smartphone Training Series
Targets Farmers and Ranchers
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will conduct three workshops in February and March to introduce farmers and ranchers to electronic tablets and smartphones.
Jackie Smith, AgriLife Extension economist at Lubbock, said the workshops, all with similar curriculums, have the common goal of teaching producers the basics of the comparatively new technologies.
“Specifically, we want to help producers obtain market information and utilize various apps to make timely and profitable decisions on the go whether they are in the field on a tractor, at the livestock auction or in their pickup truck,” Smith said.
All of the workshops last from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
UK College of Agriculture, UK Dining Services
to Offer Local Meats
Interest in local foods is gaining popularity across the country, and Kentuckians seem to be demanding it more and more. Now a partnership between the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture Meats Lab and UK Dining Services will give the UK community and the general public more opportunities to eat locally produced food.
“This is a unique collaboration,” said Gregg Rentfrow, meat scientist for the College of Agriculture’s Department of Animal and Food Sciences. Rentfrow said the idea came about a few years ago when he began working with UK Dining Services chefs Scott Kohn and Zlatan Prasovic to find sources of local pork and beef.
“We brought them in under our U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection program,” Rentfrow said. “It just made sense, and it cut down on a lot of paperwork for them. So we started doing that in June of 2012, and it’s been a win-win for everyone involved.”
Kohn said UK Dining Services has been expanding the amount of local foods, including beef and pork, for a while now. Their guidelines are that the animals have to originate in Kentucky and be free of antibiotics, steroids and hormones, known as A.S.H.-free. They purchase meats from local processor Marksbury Farm Foods and also use meats harvested from the UK College of Agriculture farms.
For more information and the full release, click here.
At K-State, Youthful Audience Introduced to Purple Pride
Visitors to the Kansas State University (K-State) campus are typically quick to note that purple is the color of choice, yet fans attending the Feb. 2 basketball match-up between K-State’s Lady Cats and the University of Kansas could hardly miss an enthusiastic group wearing green.
No wonder.
This year, a record number of Kansas 4-H families and friends — 1,744 to be exact — donned the festive 4-H green T-shirts prior to attending the women’s basketball game, said Sarah Maass, Central Kansas District K-State Research and Extension 4-H agent and chairperson of the event-planning team.
“Attendance has more than doubled since the event was introduced five years ago,” said Maass, who noted that 2013 attendees represented 68 of Kansas’ 105 counties, and came from as far away as Hugoton, Kan.
For many, the day is an introduction to K-State and a land-grant university, she said. And, while the double-overtime game proved a thriller, 4-H members, their friends and families rated the day — and Kansas 4-H — winners.
For more information and the full release, click here.
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