American Cowman Community Blog

Editor’s Note: Troy Bishopp is a New York farmer with a passion for grazing. And he is especially passionate about educating others about the important value grazing offers. Here he shares a letter to the President highlighting his views.

Dear Mr. President, Please Stop The Cutting of America’s Grasslands

I appreciate your inspiration to exercise my right to free speech and question the judgment for the recent funding cuts to grassland research, managed grazing programs and conservation assistance initiatives in your 2009 proposed budget. The tactical cutting of funds for the National Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI), the National Resource Conservation and Development Councils (RC&Ds), the Northeast Pasture Systems and Watershed Research Unit at Penn State University and the diminishment of Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) funding slaps the face of a growing grass-based sustainable way of farming here in the Northeast and elsewhere. The incredible irony of this “zeroing” out of funding just happens to coincide with the death of Mr. “plant fencerow to fencerow” Earl Butz. Perhaps you have forgotten what has happened to agriculture since the resignation of Ag. Secretary “get big or get out.” Your citizens and their children are drowning in corn syrup and your rivers, gulfs and bays are filling up with soil, while your farming population has diminished to less then 2% of the population. This is progress?

I have to write to you directly because going through the proper channels of command hasn’t helped you to understand the importance of grass-based agriculture for America. I am quite surprised that you took this action, especially with Texas being the largest beef state relying on grasslands for its survival. I write this from New York, with some 3 million acres of grazing lands and being part of the largest freshwater watershed. The nation’s grasslands and pastures span every state and affects almost every farmer and rural community in some way. Whether you are utilizing grasslands for livestock feed, wildlife habitat, cover cropping, carbon sequestration, cellulosic fuel, riparian buffers or maintaining open space for communities, this American resource deserves much more credit then you have given it in your budget. I also find it hard to believe that your staff of professionals advising you hasn’t noticed the trend of consumers buying more sustainable grass-fed local products. I assumed this movement to green would please you on the basis of using less fossil fuels and promoting economic stimulus to small businesses like farm families and rural entities.

I am especially sensitive in your lack of regard for grassland resources because of my family farming background that has spanned 5 generations on the same land. I am also reeling by the recent loss of a young solider from my hometown of Waterville, N.Y. My ancestors persevered in farming through the many challenges of wars, the depression, agricultural policies and the loss of bountiful rural communities and Mom & Pop businesses to where we are today by doing one thing well. Taking proper care of the land with green cover. My grandfather would say it was against the law of nature to not cover the soil with either pasture or a cover crop in concert with tillage. They arose every morning with the passion for farming and to protect the land and water for the next generation. I owe it to them, my daughters, future grandchildren and consumers to push back against a system that has forgotten the importance of covering soil with sod. In regard to the loss of a hometown hero, doesn’t it make common sense at all to minimize our reliance on fossil fuels by utilizing animal grazing power to feed this country as much as possible. Maybe this strategy would help get our troops out of harm’s way protecting that fuel on foreign soil. I sure would look forward to the day when we had more farmers than soldiers. Wouldn’t agricultural policy be better for this country if we used more homegrown resources like grass and forage crops while holding tight to our national treasure, topsoil? This is a national security issue, in my mind.

How do your national program leaders in the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and other national conservation groups view your decision to affect the country’s water and soil resources? You can’t convince me they would sign off on this under- funding of America’s grasslands. Having conservation programs paid for by U.S. taxpayers without the necessary “on the ground” workforce and support at the local farming level is truly foolish. What about farmers that are not in USDA programs that need some technical assistance or educational programming needs? Your “zeroing” out of budgets without farmer input or advice shows me, a steward of the land and provider of America’s food, a disrespect that hurts deeply. It’s pretty funny when leaders rise out of slumber to their coffee, half an half, cereal, fruit or bagel and forget the many men and women of agriculture that provided the sustenance to fuel a country.

If you haven’t guessed by now, my family and I are very passionate about our farm, grazing lands, community and future. Your administration’s position on America’s Grasslands and subsequent soil and water resources has us worried about that future.

We will continue however, to preserve our heritage even in the face of this challenge and continue to be a strong voice that works with Mother Nature not against. Remember the Lord said, “All Flesh is Grass.”

Troy Bishopp, Bishopp Family Farm
Deansboro, N.Y.

The bull-sale season is in full swing. Just open up a livestock publication and you’ll find tons of adds offering bulls of every make and model. As a small beef producer, how do you decide who you are going to buy your bulls (and/or replacement females) from? What services do you expect from those breeders? Is there something that a certain breeder does that you’ve been impressed with and it’s made you come back to their bull sale time and again? Or, is there something you wish breeders offered for smaller operations that would earn your business? Share your thoughts and perhaps we will see some registered breeders doing a better job of meeting your needs.

In his Beef & Business column, University of Idaho Extension beef specialist Jason Ahola digs into new research that suggests it may be more economical and efficient to develop replacement heifers to smaller weights. Rather than 65% of their mature body weight, which is the traditional rule, studies indicate 53-58% of mature body weight may be sufficient.

At the Padlock Ranch in Wyoming Trey Patterson has been experimenting with this for the last few years and believes it builds better, more efficient range females.

In this age of expensive corn - and even rising pasture rents - perhaps smaller is better.

December is nearly here and for many cattle folks that means calving season is within view. I’m looking for readers input on what you do on your operation to make calving season run smoothly. How do you keep calves warm? Prevent frozen ears? Minimize scours outbreaks?

Growing up on a farm, my dad always had one trick to try and prevent cows from calving at nite. He always fed a bale of hay at about dusk. He believed the cows were busy eating and then ruminating in the nite, so they didn’t go into labor until the morning. I have to admit, it seemed to work pretty well. We didn’t have too many night-time babies.

San Francisco is garnering the world’s attention with their recent ban on plastic grocery bags - the first ban of its kind in the nation.

It was almost three years ago that the city’s Board of Supervisors considered a 17 cent tax on each petroleum-based plastic grocery bag to force supermarkets and drug stores to use alternative materials that would have less of an impact on the environment and landfills. In San Francisco alone, last year there were about 180 million plastic shopping bags distributed — which, according to the San Francisco Department of the Environment and Worldwatch Institute took roughly 774,000 gallons of oil to produce.

It appears that “green” will continue to be big in 2008 with efforts such as this. And, actually it may not be such a bad idea. The world can probably live with a lot less petroleum-based plastic. Look what we’ve done with corn and soybeans in creating alternative fuels, plastics, cleaners, even ink! So perhaps this type of ban will create another boon for an earth-friendly, renewable agricultural product!

Click here to read more on this story.

Colorado beef producer Troy Marshall always seems to have an opinion on something. For the past several years he has been sharing his thoughts in BEEF Magazine’s weekly e-newsletter Cow-Calf Weekly.

We will begin to build some of Marshall’s remarks into the American Cowman blog and you’ll have the chance to comment.

Most recently, Marshall is tackling the political front regarding the farm bill and the fight over attachments of an array of pork and amendments ranging from immigration reform to the war in Iraq.

He says, “While activist groups hoping for a more substantive reform of farm policy were extremely slow in getting mobilized politically, their effort seems to be gaining momentum as they sense this may be their best opportunity in a long time to attain their goal. That is thanks to the farming segment’s record commodity prices and income levels.”

He continues: The second big piece of news was the Bush Administration’s threat to veto the bill due to its cost and differences in accounting. The administration’s biggest complaint with the measure as it relates to the beef industry is, of course, the packer ban provision in the Senate bill, which it opposes.

Marshall concludes, Not withstanding some of the marketing provisions and the amendments some are trying to attach to the 2007 version of the farm bill, the measure is essentially a continuation of 2002, just with a whole lot bigger interest on renewable fuels. I suppose the only thing surprising would be if there weren’t a whole lot of political battling over a $286-billion bill.

Sarah Aubrey is an Indiana beef producer who has turned her operation into a profitable business by marketing Aubrey’s Natural Meats. Aubrey says, “Every small farmer must also become a skilled salesperson and marketing professional.” She shares many of those ideas in a recent American Cowman article titled Business Basics for Niche Cattle Ventures.

Aubrey starts beef producers in the right place: a business plan. To paraphrase the famous quote: If you don’t know where you are going, how will you get there? Planning is tedious, but it can be the roadmap to a great future.

In one of his recent Cow-Calf Weekly columns, Troy Marshall talked about the importance of striving to improve, saying, “I’ve long felt it absolutely essential that, as managers, we must focus not only on making incremental improvements to our product and production efficiencies, but also embrace bold approaches to management and marketing.”

He went on to say, “Incremental improvements are critical to keeping you competitive from a cost standpoint, and helps build your image in the minds of customers. While everyone intuitively understands that remaining competitive means embracing change, few might realize how critical “disruptive innovation” can be to long-term success.”

Marshall suggests that, as cow-calf producers, many folks feel they can’t be radical, bold and innovative. But, that being said, we must all recognize that what makes us successful today, likely won’t be enough in the future. We always have to be willing to adapt, grow and change.

So the next time you’re driving down the highway or sitting on the tractor, let your mind drift toward the future and think about what it is that will make your operation successful. What do you want to change? What can be improved? What’s holding you back?

My husband recently brought home a book with the title, “What got you here, won’t get you there.” What a great mantra for the future.

I recently read that for the first time in 29 years, student membership of the National FFA Organization broke through the half million mark. This year, there are 500,823 members in 7,358 FFA chapters across the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The last time national FFA membership topped 500,000 was in 1978 with 507,108 members.

I’m glad to see that this great organization is still going strong and changing lives. I joined the FFA as a freshman in high school in 1986, and it was the center of my life for the next five years. I learned so much, made life-long friends and earned many awards along the way - including becoming the State FFA President for South Dakota in 1990-91.

Now, even though my kids are just starting school (our oldest is in second grade) I’m already looking forward to their years in FFA. I know it will be equally rewarding for them in setting the direction for their future careers and leadership accomplishments.

Several years back I recall reading an article spotlighting Bob Lee, a rancher from Montana. He made the comment, “It takes 10 dimes to make a dollar,” and that has always stuck with me. No matter what we do, it’s the little things that add up, and I think his comment captures that.

Jason Ahola, American Cowman’s Beef & Business columnist, also hits on that point with his recent article about cull cows . He points out that culls can be a valuable income source for many farms and ranches.

So go about your week and look for those “dimes” that can add up to some very big dollars.