Colorado State University Extension
Resources for Colorado Farmers and Ranchers
Showing posts with label colorado. Show all posts
Showing posts with label colorado. Show all posts
November 17, 2009
Soft U.S. Prices For Live Cattle Lead To Lower Imports
11/17/2009
Mexican cattle imported into the United States are almost all cattle that have been fed on pasture and are being sold for further feeding, either in backgrounding operations or feedlots, in the United States. While year-to-date figures are above last year’s exceptionally low import levels, they are well below the 5-year historical average. Recent pasture conditions in Mexico have been mixed. Some areas near the Texas border have been experiencing the same dry conditions that have occurred in Southern Texas, while other areas further west and south have had better precipitation. Imports from Mexico have been lagging behind historical levels as feeder cattle prices in the Southern Plains remain low, partially as a result of drought conditions in Southern Texas.
Imports of Canadian cattle have also been dramatically lower year-to-date. According to AMS weekly reports, year-to-date feeder cattle imports have been down over 50 percent and slaughter steers and heifers nearly 20 percent. Price differentials between U.S. and Canadian cattle markets have been lower than in 2008 and 2007, adjusted for the exchange rate. Both U.S. and Canadian cattle prices have been lower than last year in U.S. dollar terms. However, with a lower price premium than is typical in the United States for Canadian producers, there is less incentive for Canadian cattle producers to market animals in the United States.
November 14, 2009
Ranches are focus of Fielder book | Greeley Tribune
John Fielder, famed Colorado nature photographer, will talk about his latest project and book, “Ranches of Colorado,” which features a Weld County ranch, at Colorado State University next week.
Fielder will be in the north ballroom of the Lory Student Center at CSU at 6 p.m. Nov. 20. A portion of proceeds from the event will support the work of the Legacy Land Trust, a nonprofit land conservation organization in northern Colorado.
The book is a collaboration between Fielder, Colorado Open Lands, and the Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust to feature the landscapes of 50 working ranches across Colorado. In addition to capturing the beauty and rustic western heritage of these ranches, the book also asserts the need to protect these important and dwindling pieces of Colorado's history. Fielder will highlight his book in a multimedia presentation.
One of the ranches featured in the book Legacy Land Trust has helped protect is the Eagle Rock Ranch in the Chalk Bluffs area of northern Weld.
Suggested donations for admission are $7.50 and $5 for CSU students.
Fielder will be signing copies of “Ranches of Colorado” along with past works during the event, which is sponsored by Larimer County Open Lands, city of Fort Collins Natural Areas, and the Center for Collaborative Conservation.
Posted using ShareThis
November 11, 2009
May 9, 2008
Ranchers look to lawmakers to save their way of life
DENVER (AP)--Her family's ranch could be swallowed up by the Army as it looks to expand its Pinon Canyon training site but each night Lisa Doherty said she and her two sons offer prayers for the nation's soldiers and its leaders.
Doherty said she and her family live a "blessed life" on the wide open plains of southeastern Colorado even though it means working from dawn to dusk with no vacations. She'd like to give her boys the chance to become the fifth generation to work that land but fears the Army's plans could stop that.
"I love my country but I also love my home," Doherty told a Senate committee April 9 before they voted to back a bill aimed at telling the Army that ranchers can't be forced to sell their land to make way for the project.
The full Senate will debate the measure (House Bill 1069) next, even though lawmakers acknowledge they're not sure if a state law can stop the Army from using eminent domain.
Despite that, ranchers and others who oppose the expansion think it would still send a strong message to Washington that Colorado is concerned about the expansion. They think that could make it harder for the Army to win congressional should it move ahead with the plans to acquire 418,000 acres--or 653 square miles--nearly tripling the site it now has in southeastern Colorado.
The debate pits Colorado Springs, the home of Fort Carson, against the ranchers who live around Pinon Canyon, some of whom say landowners weren't treated fairly when the Army first created the maneuver site in the 1980s for Fort Carson's soldiers.
Ranchers endured years of drought, selling off many of their cattle, only to be hit with several feet of snow in storms this winter. They fear the loss of up to 80 ranches--many of them homesteaded in the early 1900s--which they say would have a ripple effect on the area's agriculture economy and rural way of life.
Fort Carson, meanwhile, is preparing to grow by 10,000 soldiers by the end of 2009 after emerging as a big winner in last year's round of base closures.
Fort Carson spokesman Col. David Johnson said running training exercises at both Fort Carson and Pinon Canyon give soldiers a chance to replicate the distances and the pace they experience in battle.
"We understand there's a lot of history and a lot of love and culture and family ties caught up in this. We don't take that for granted," Johnson said.
He said the environmental and hearing process could take another two years before the Army would even begin to acquire land. He said the Army intends to buy land from willing sellers but will not give up its right to use eminent domain.
Some ranchers said the existing land hasn't been used to train soldiers for the Iraq war or for Desert Storm. Johnson said the site was used by soldiers before 1991 and last summer.
Ranchers believe the arid landscape is too fragile for tanks to train. Mack Louden, a fourth generation rancher, said wagon ruts from the Santa Fe Trail can still be seen in the dirt in some places.
Opponents say the land is also home to dinosaur tracks, petroglyphs and Apache sacred sites. Rancher Steve Wooten said landowners are also working with scientists now on a study of what animals and plants live on the short grass prairie.
But he also said the expansion would destroy the bonds between the families and friends who pitch in to help each other because they wouldn't be able to buy adjoining ranches in a new area.
"We will be forced to spread ourselves to the wind," he said.
Date: 5/3/07
Doherty said she and her family live a "blessed life" on the wide open plains of southeastern Colorado even though it means working from dawn to dusk with no vacations. She'd like to give her boys the chance to become the fifth generation to work that land but fears the Army's plans could stop that.
"I love my country but I also love my home," Doherty told a Senate committee April 9 before they voted to back a bill aimed at telling the Army that ranchers can't be forced to sell their land to make way for the project.
The full Senate will debate the measure (House Bill 1069) next, even though lawmakers acknowledge they're not sure if a state law can stop the Army from using eminent domain.
Despite that, ranchers and others who oppose the expansion think it would still send a strong message to Washington that Colorado is concerned about the expansion. They think that could make it harder for the Army to win congressional should it move ahead with the plans to acquire 418,000 acres--or 653 square miles--nearly tripling the site it now has in southeastern Colorado.
The debate pits Colorado Springs, the home of Fort Carson, against the ranchers who live around Pinon Canyon, some of whom say landowners weren't treated fairly when the Army first created the maneuver site in the 1980s for Fort Carson's soldiers.
Ranchers endured years of drought, selling off many of their cattle, only to be hit with several feet of snow in storms this winter. They fear the loss of up to 80 ranches--many of them homesteaded in the early 1900s--which they say would have a ripple effect on the area's agriculture economy and rural way of life.
Fort Carson, meanwhile, is preparing to grow by 10,000 soldiers by the end of 2009 after emerging as a big winner in last year's round of base closures.
Fort Carson spokesman Col. David Johnson said running training exercises at both Fort Carson and Pinon Canyon give soldiers a chance to replicate the distances and the pace they experience in battle.
"We understand there's a lot of history and a lot of love and culture and family ties caught up in this. We don't take that for granted," Johnson said.
He said the environmental and hearing process could take another two years before the Army would even begin to acquire land. He said the Army intends to buy land from willing sellers but will not give up its right to use eminent domain.
Some ranchers said the existing land hasn't been used to train soldiers for the Iraq war or for Desert Storm. Johnson said the site was used by soldiers before 1991 and last summer.
Ranchers believe the arid landscape is too fragile for tanks to train. Mack Louden, a fourth generation rancher, said wagon ruts from the Santa Fe Trail can still be seen in the dirt in some places.
Opponents say the land is also home to dinosaur tracks, petroglyphs and Apache sacred sites. Rancher Steve Wooten said landowners are also working with scientists now on a study of what animals and plants live on the short grass prairie.
But he also said the expansion would destroy the bonds between the families and friends who pitch in to help each other because they wouldn't be able to buy adjoining ranches in a new area.
"We will be forced to spread ourselves to the wind," he said.
Date: 5/3/07
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