Nevada Cattlemen - Articles

NCA PRESIDENT and EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Monthly Articles

February 2012

President's Message

As we continue to be inundated every day in the media with talk of jobs, the economy, recovery, change and change from that change, I cannot help but think about the economic future of agriculture in Nevada. High hay prices, high calf prices, high lamb prices, etc. are on side A of the record. You turn the record over and we you get high fuel prices, high fertilizer prices, high feed prices, etc. Now let us not forget the other myriad of costly regulations and hoops to jump through just to get our products on the ground and off the farm and ranch. The margins are still the same, everything just costs more. If the media wasn’t telling me it isn’t true, I would swear it was inflation. I just wish I could turn on Fox News, CNN, NPR, some media outlet and hear, “I am pledging to protect agriculture and work to expand the possibilities within the industry”.

I recently had the privilege of attending the first meeting of an agriculture committee of Northern Nevada Development Authority (NNDA). This group of producers, educators, and representatives from rural Nevada is determined to bring agriculture to the forefront of economic discussions. The committee will first embark on a fact finding mission relating to agriculture in Nevada. I know what a lot of you are thinking, “what the hell do I need someone telling me how many cows I have, how many acres I hay, or how much it costs to market my products?” To be honest, it isn’t about telling you what you already know it is about telling our story to those we see in the media pledging to save Nevada and America.

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Executive Director’s Message:

Welcome to 2012! As we ring in the New Year with family and friends, we ponder on the times of the past year, celebrate achievements and challenges won and look forward to the new adventures to come. As I welcomed 2012, I accepted the position of Executive Director of the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association and much like the traditions of a new year; I am looking forward to new adventures in the Association and celebrating the past achievements of those cattlemen and women before me.

Our Association has been well served by all of our past leaders. Leaders who have “stepped up to the plate” on issues that affect so many livelihoods, taken time out of their busy days to represent and serve the cattle industry and leaders who, to many of us, have become household names and lifelong friends. Growing up in the small town of Lund, NV, dinner table discussions circulated around many of these leaders and the great work they had done. As I look forward to the New Year and my new position, I am honored and humbled to serve with such a great group of people and leaders of the cattle industry.

By now, many of you may be wondering who I am and where I came from.

January 2012

President’s Message

As I prepared to email off my monthly article, I couldn’t help thinking that we have all heard so much about the USDA proposed rule on traceability. In spite of the almost constant barrage of information on this issue, I feel it is extremely important to us, especially those of us in an almost exclusive export state such as Nevada. So sit back, enjoy a few more moments in the warmth of the house before stepping outside and allow me to stand on my soapbox for a short spell.

A few years back, the industry overwhelmingly rejected the federal government’s attempt at a National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Now we are staring down the barrel of a proposed rule that will in effect institute NAIS through the back door. I know that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has said, “We are proposing a flexible approach in which states and tribes can develop systems for tracing animals that work best for them and for producers in their jurisdiction. This approach offers great flexibility at the state and local level and addresses gaps in our disease response efforts.” This sounds like a great and simple plan. That should be our first clue something is amiss, Washington cannot adopt a simple plan, I am convinced it is becoming all but impossible. Almost as quickly as it was said it would be left to states and tribes, the agency then told states and tribes how to do it.

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Executive Director’s Message:

With the change in executive directors, there was no article this month.

December 2011

President’s Message

Hello, my name is J.J. Goicoechea and I want to introduce myself to those of you who may not know me. I am a fourth generation Nevada rancher and a practicing veterinarian. My wife Sally and I are the proud parents of Julianna and are expecting our second child in January. We reside in Eureka, and when not on the road as part of the vet practice or involved with industry issues, we can be found at the family’s commercial cow-calf ranch in Newark Valley.

I just returned from the 76^th Annual Nevada Cattlemen’s Convention in Minden, Nevada. It was great to spend a few days with all of you who attended as we discussed issues and our plan to address those issues. While we were focusing on the current issues however, the challenges facing our industry continued to present themselves. In this technologically crazed world, there is never an end to the emails, phone calls and faxes that come to my phone, almost all of which announce a new issue facing our industry.

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Executive Director’s Message:

Cattlemen from all over the state of Nevada gathered at the Annual Convention held at the Carson Valley Inn, Minden, Nevada November 14 -16. The joint convention brought together Cattlemen, CattleWomen and Woolgrowers to discuss issues of importance and establish policy. There were over 200 producers who attended this year’s convention. We enjoyed having the meeting in Minden and look forward to another convention soon on the West Side of the state. Next year’s convention will be in Winnemucca.

During the three day event, the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association’s five policy committees met to establish policy on private lands, public lands, livestock issues and animal health, taxation, and research and education.In addition to reviewing and establishing policy, this year’s convention had an excellent line up of speakers. Pfizers Cattlemen’s College featured Dr. John Linhart. Dr. Linhart, DVM, Dipl. ACT, is a senior veterinarian with the Pfizer Animal Health Beef Veterinary Operations team. With 20 years of private practice experience and board certification in theriogenology, Dr. Linhart combines significant technical knowledge with an exceptional ability to communicate and work with cattlemen. Based in Boise, Idaho, he supports cow-calf producers, working primarily in beef cattle reproduction and herd health to help improve reproductive efficiency. His talk focused on reproductive strategies to improve your bottom line.

The second part of Cattlemen’s College focused on feed efficiency.....

November 2011

President’s Message

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Executive Director’s Message:

Association News

Fallon All Breeds Bull Sale

Consignments for the Annual Fallon All Breeds Bull Sale are open until December 1, 2011. This year we are celebrating our 46th year of gathering in Fallon Nevada for this traditional sale. Our sale will be held at the Fallon Livestock Exchange February 18th starting at 11:30 a.m. with sifting and the annual Churchill County Cowbells Dinner Dance the evening before.

Silver State Classic Calf & Yearling Sale

Along with our traditional bull sale we are again working with the Fallon Livestock Exchange to put on the 8th Annual Silver State Classic Special Calf and Yearling Sale. This year the sale will be held December 10th at 1:00 p.m. This sale not only provides great calves and yearlings, it helps support the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association.

BLM, NRC Conducting Independent Study

The officers and staff of the association have also been working on many issues that are affecting the livestock industry, including: wild horses, western watersheds, state brand laws, animal health, traceability, government regulation in industry related activities, sage grouse, and state water issues.

The Bureau of Land Management over the next several months and years is working in important issues that will direct affects on the livestock industry including but not limited to sage grouse interim management plans, wild horse and burro management, and renewable energy. The direction of the agency on these issues is important to all users of public lands.

October 2011

President’s Message

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report on the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). The report was requested by Senators Jim Inhofe and Jim Vitter they wanted to know how much the government was paying out, who was receiving these fees and, basically, if the law was working. The GAO report concentrated mostly on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the litigation fees paid just by that agency. The report found just what we had thought it would—environmental groups are by far the biggest recipients, receiving 82% of their attorney fees reimbursed by the government.

The request made by these two senators for the GAO to investigate the possible abuse of EAJA by some environmental groups was a direct result of research done by a small group called the Western Legacy Alliance (WLA) along with the help of Karen Budd-Falen from the Budd-Falen Law Firm.

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Executive Director’s Message:

Annual Convention November 14-16
Focus on Engery, Easements, and Encroachment

The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association staff and officers have been hard at work on this year’s Convention. The 76th Annual Nevada Cattlemen’s Association Convention will be held in Minden. This year we are working to bring you a convention that will be full of good speakers, educational opportunities, and a chance to be part of the policy development of your association.

The convention will kick off November 14th at the Carson Valley Inn in Minden, and end November 16th with the annual awards banquet. Be on the lookout for registration packets in the mail. If you are interested in participating in convention and are not a member we would love to see you there. Please find enclosed a copy of the schedule. Call the office at 1-775-738-9214 and we would be happy to mail or fax you a copy of the registration. If you are interested in sponsoring an event or meal we are still looking for sponsorship. Without individuals and businesses that sponsor convention we would not be able to put such an event together.

This year’s being our first in Minden we are excited to highlight the issues and challenges that face our Western Nevada producers. Topics such as renewable energy, conservation easements, and urban encroachment will be the focus. Ranchers on the West side of Nevada are the front page of our industry as the general public can view their operations daily. This year’s convention will be focused on state issues and some of the pressures that are coming nationally as well.

September 2011

President’s Message

Have you been watching the video livestock market sales? It’s pretty amazing what calves and yearlings have been bringing, especially in light of the bad economy and unemployment. Even the cull market is at what has to be historic highs and remaining there. You can sell a cull bull or cow for close to what you bought them for. This has made me think about how times have changed.

Remember the first time calves brought a dollar a pound and we thought, “Man now we can make some real money, we can pay the bank and even have some money left over”? Twenty years ago if you weaned a 500 pound steer calf that was really something to brag about. Today a 500 pound steer is knocking on the door of $2.00/lb and is considered on the small end. I also remember some of my rancher friends saying back then, “Man if cows reach a thousand dollars a head I’m selling every one of them!” Of course few really did, but it sure sounded like a plan at the time. This year I’ve heard of good bred commercial cows bringing $2000/hd.

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Executive Director’s Message:

The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association continues to work hard every day for the livestock producers in the state. Each day we face new challenges and problems as the world we operate in changes. The volunteer leaders of the association have been speaking, traveling, and voicing their opinions about actions that could affect your operation. With proposed legislation and regulation affecting wild horse management, water, energy costs, animal health, and food safety our eyes and ears need to be keen to make sure that all legislators know how these policies could affect our industry.

If you have questions about any of the proposed legislation please contact the office at 1-775-738-9214 or the internet is also a good tool. I suggest these two web pages: http://www.govtrack.us/ or http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d111query.html. These two pages offer good information regarding legislation and links to committees, members, and related legislation. Also you can learn how to direct your comments to members of congress that are on the committees or leaders of caucuses. This information will allow you to direct your comments to the decision makers in Washington....

The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association has started their ninth annual quest for “teacher of the year” candidates. We are asking for your help in soliciting nominations from school principals and fellow teachers. The deadline for submitting nominations is October 10, 2011. Click here to download the nomination form.

August 2011

President’s Message

Sage Grouse have a real possibility of becoming the next spotted owl of the west. Just last year we all thought we had dodged the bullet, at least in the immediate future, when the Interior Department reached a settlement with two wildlife advocacy groups. The agreement reached between these parties stated that Sage Grouse would be considered a candidate species for endangered species listing but would be precluded at this time due to lack of resources and because there were other species with a higher priority. The reprieve we thought we had achieved was short lived. Western Watersheds Project (WWP), not satisfied at all by this delay and wanting to force a listing, went back to the courts, this time in Idaho to Federal Judge Windmill. Last month Judge Windmill sided with WWP and told the agency it must speed up the process of determining the bird’s status. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had thought that it would wait until at least 2015 to make a determination. It’s hard for me to believe that WWP’s real goal is to protect the Sage Grouse. More likely it’s to remove livestock grazing from the public lands. If WWP was genuinely concerned for the birds they could and should have participated in the state working groups searching for ways to protect and improve Sage Grouse habitat and increase their populations; in other words, working with everyone that is genuinely concerned about Sage Grouse to find a solution rather than being adversarial. There’s something wrong with the system when groups sincerely concerned, both private and governmental, come together, spending a lot of their time and money developing solutions and creating projects on both public and private lands only to have one radical group and a judge destroy all their hard work.

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Executive Director’s Message:

While many of you are haying and working away on summer projects the staff at Nevada Cattlemen’s association is looking towards our annual convention in November. This year our convention will be held in Minden. The dates for this year’s 76th annual convention are November 14-16. We are excited to be in a new location this year. The Convention will be held at the Carson Valley Inn, and we look forward to joining the community for several days of meetings, social events, and tours.

We are currently working on reserving speakers, and panels for the different meetings. Please contact the office with any ideas, topics, or individuals that you would like to see during convention. This is a time for members to gather to set policy, learn about new methods and marketing techniques, and to socialize. We are working to make this year bigger and better than it has been in the past. However, we cannot do that without your participation and input.

This year we hope to provide an outstanding Trade Show. The Trade Show will be located in the main lobby of the Carson Valley Inn. This easy and convenient location will allow you to visit vendors during meeting breaks and after lunch.