Volume 36 Number 30 • November 16, 2024
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The Weekly News Source for Ranchers, Farmers and AgriBusiness Community • www.wylr.net
A Look Inside Indirect economic impact of cattle-wolf conflict researched by UC Davis............... Page A6 USMEF Conference opens with election analysis and focus on U.S.-Mexico trade relations....... ....................................Page B1
BLM publishes RMP amendment for managing sage grouse On Nov. 8, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its Greater Sage Grouse Rangewide Planning Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP)
Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). According to BLM, the document was prepared with the help of the U.S.
Department of the Interior (DOI), input from cooperating agencies and public comment, in response to the continued loss of sage grouse habitat, despite
ongoing conservation practices and the BLM’s previous planning efforts. Greater sage grouse populations, which were Please see BLM on page A14
Bioharvesting wool provides alternative approach to traditional shearing............ Page B2 Connecting Ag to Climate outlines what a La Niña weather pattern would mean for Wyoming this winter........... Page B6
Quick Bits FSA Elections The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently mailed out ballots for Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committee elections to all eligible agricultural producers and private landowners across the country. Elections are occurring in certain local administrative areas for these committee members who make important decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally. Producers and landowners must return ballots to their local FSA county office or have their ballots postmarked by Dec. 2 for ballots to be counted. For more information, visit fsa. usda.gov.
WyFB hosts 105th annual meeting in Casper
Esteemed panel offers advice to women involved in agriculture The 31st Annual Wyoming Women in Agriculture (WWIA) Symposium was held in Laramie on Nov. 7-8, featuring two full days of educational programming, networking opportunities, local entertainment and facility tours to educate and empower women involved in Wyoming’s ag industry. A highlight of the event was the Women in Ag Career Panel, featuring four esteemed individuals with a large presence in the Cowboy State. Wyoming State FFA Advisor Stacy Broda is the
fifth generation on the ranch she grew up on outside of Cheyenne, where she currently resides with her husband and two sons. She graduated from the University of Wyoming (UW) with bachelor’s degrees in ag business and ag education and taught at Hannah Elk Mountain before moving back to the family ranch and eventually taking over in her current position. Diana Berger hails from Saratoga where she runs a cow/calf operation with her husband Jack Berger, Please see WWIA on page A10
Career panel – During the 31st Annual Wyoming Women in Agriculture (WWIA) Symposium, four esteemed individuals hosted a panel discussion to support and empower fellow women in ag. Pictured from left to right are Farm Credit Services of America Financial Services Officer Leah Taylor, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso Legislative Assistant Tori Teegarden, Rancher Diana Berger, Wyoming State FFA Advisor Stacy Broda and WWIA Vice President Julie Volker. WYLR photo
Selection On Nov. 14, PresidentElect Donald Trump said he plans to select North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as his nominee for secretary of the interior. Burgum was first elected governor in 2016, won reelection in 2020 and opted not to seek third term in 2024. He also has a business background, working for Microsoft as senior vice president for several years.
Sugarbeets Based on Nov. 1 conditions, sugarbeet production in Wyoming is forecast at 1.04 million tons, up 2% from the Oct. 1 forecast and up 22% from the 847,000 tons produced in 2023, according to the Nov. 1 Agricultural Yield Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Mountain Regional Field Office. Harvested area, forecast at 31,000 acres, is unchanged from last month but up 2,200 acres from last year. Yields are expected to average 33.4 tons per acre, up 0.8 ton from the Oct. 1 forecast and up from 32.6 tons a year ago. As of Nov. 3, producers had harvested 86% of the crop, compared with 88 percent last year.
Annual meeting “Gather at the Table” was the theme of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation’s (WyFB) 105th Annual Meeting, held Nov. 7-9 at the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center in Casper. According to WyFB, gathering at the table is something farmers and ranchers enjoy. Whether it be with family for dinner, with friends at the annual meeting or in policy discussions, gathering at the table is a great way to have conversations to guide the organization. During the two-day event, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Senior Director of Governmental Affairs Shelby Hagenauer spoke on issues affecting the West. In her role, Hagenauer advocates on behalf of American farmers and ranchers on policy issues including federal lands management, the Endangered Species Act, Western water and protection of private property rights. Hagenauer has more than 20 years of experience in natural resource and agriculture issues in Washington, D.C. and served on the staff of former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy Please see WYFB on page A11
UW researches impact of 2024 wildfire season During the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council’s (WWPC) 80th Annual Conference, held on Oct. 29-31 at the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center in Casper, individuals gathered to hear about the latest research being conducted at the University of Wyoming (UW) on reclaiming the state’s grasslands. Wildfires swept across the Cowboy State in 2024, resulting in more than 810,000 acres of burned range. Dr. Brian Mealor, director of the UW Sheridan Research and Extension Center and Institute for Managing Annual Grasses Invading Natural Ecosystems, addressed the destruction of Wyoming’s native lands, including the big sagebrush plant species. “We have been tracking wildfire here in Wyoming for over 80 years, and the thing that really struck me when I started looking at historic fire data was our ecosystem is a lot more fire prone than we want to think. I think there are several reasons for it,” he mentioned. Big sagebrush Big sagebrush is perhaps the most important shrubby plant in the Western grasslands, and according to the Sagebrush Conservation Design, it’s been reported 1.3 million acres per year of intact sagebrush rangelands are being degraded by large-scale threats like invasive annual grasses, conifer encroachment, wildfire and development. Across the West’s sagebrush biome, a 175-millionacre area stretches from New Mexico to southern Canada, according to the U.S Department of Agriculture. Please see UW on page A8
SRM offers tool to help with grazing decisions The Wyoming Society for Range Management (SRM) held its annual meeting and banquet on Nov. 4-6 at the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center in Casper. Participants attending the three-day event had the opportunity to participate in training, networking and educational breakout sessions. During the second day of the conference, SRM Director Candidate Dave Voth brought a ranching perspective to SRM’s program Good Grazing Makes Cent$ (GGMC). Voth is a ranch manager from northeastern Nevada who also runs a herd of his own cattle and is the Nevada section
president for SRM. Background Voth was not born into the cattle industry, but he knew early on it would be the career path he would pick. “I have always been interested in raising animals, and for no particular reason I was called into the cattle business,” he stated. “As I have gotten older, the more I realized how much ranching meant to me.” A few years ago, Voth accepted the challenge to turn a large ranch around and recognized, to keep a ranch functioning, there must be a combination of key concepts.
periodical
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Please see SRM on page A7