The Risks
Ranching is a risky business in the best of times. For many ranchers,
these are not the best of times.
Declining demand for beef has depressed prices for years, while population
growth has boosted the value of land and increased both costs and
taxes. The U.S. Agriculture Department statistics show a steady trend
in the decline in the number of ranch operations nationwide.
Ranching as a "contact sport"
According to the National Safety Council, agriculture and mining are
the two most hazardous occupations in the country. In 1996, 21 accidental
deaths occurred per 100,000 agricultural workers, compared with a
national average of 4 deaths per 100,000 workers for all industries.
A recent survey of 2,000 Kentucky farmers found that each year one
of every eight farm families experiences an accident requiring medical
attention. Yet farmers/ranchers are the most underinsured group of
workers around, especially with regard to health and disability insurance.
Variables - Weather, costs, markets and more
Death and taxes you can count on. Weather, markets, the cost of feed,
and the reliability of equipment are not as predictable. Ranchers
who plan ahead may be able to keep their livestock to take advantage
of better prices later in the year. Those who participate in the risky
futures market—in which contracts and options on futures contracts
on commodities are traded through stockbrokers—try to anticipate or
track changes in the supply of and demand for agricultural commodities,
and thus changes in the price cattle/beef. By buying or selling futures
contracts, or by pricing their products in advance of future sales,
they attempt to either limit their risk or reap greater profits than
would normally be realized. Nothing is certain.
Stress
With uncertainty comes stress. With stress come higher frequencies
of accidents, physical and emotional heath issues.
According to the North Dakota State University Agricultural Extension
Department, "Farm/ranch stress stirs up many images — racing to town
to buy spare parts (and finding they have to be ordered) . . . listening
to the radio and hearing the market drop daily (and your bin stands
filled with last year's crop) . . . rushing to get the hay baled before
a storm . . . watching a hail storm wipe out a year's labor . . .
working late into the night on bone-jarring equipment . . . getting
more and more frustrated, irritated and tired of the whole mess. Still
you dare not let on as you meet again with the loan officer." Ranching
has become one of the most stressful and dangerous occupations. The
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recently examined
130 occupations and found laborers and farm/ranch owners had the highest
rate of deaths due to stress-related conditions like heart and artery
disease, hypertension, ulcers, and nervous disorders.
Contributing to the stress level of the occupation are changes that
have taken place. Farming/ranching has undergone rapid change from
being largely a physical occupation to one that requires more and
more mental input. Farmers/ranchers have become managers of large
sums of money, and they are continually pressured by technological
advances in machinery, and production and management advances regarding
livestock and crops.
Farm/ranch families face the same stressful events that non-farm/ranch
families do like inflation-recession, threat of nuclear war, death
of a spouse or divorce. Compounding the "average stress" are conditions
associated with agriculture like machinery breakdowns, death of a
valuable animal, uncontrollable weather, variable crop yield, fluctuating
commodity prices, and handling toxic pesticides.
Land Use
Federal lands and grazing
Grazing on public lands has been part of the economic and cultural
backbone of the West for more than a hundred years. In a number of
areas, including North Dakota, there are continuing conflicts regarding
grazing rights, permit renewals, agency reviews and various actions
that hinder grazing and water use on federal lands. In particular,
when agency reviews are not made and reports filed prior to the expiration
of existing grazing permits ranchers who continue to graze are in
violation of laws regarding public land use.
According to the National Cattleman’s Beef Association, in July 2003
U.S. Senators Baucus, Conrad, and Wyden sent a letter to the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Committee asking the committee to make
a "top priority . . . a permanent fix for the renewal of grazing permits
on public lands that both protects the rights of permit holders and
ensures that federal agencies comply with applicable federal laws
in a timely manner."
House and Senate appropriations bills for fiscal year 2004 are expected
to include language to protect permits against interruption for completion
of required environmental documentation.
The National Cattleman’s Beef Association website provides updates
on land rights and grazing issues, legislation, and other actions.
http://hill.beef.org/topic.asp?topID=67
In March 2003, the BLM announced a "Sustaining Working Landscape"
policy initiative aimed at promoting citizen-based stewardship of
the public lands. The potential policy changes would provide more
options and flexibility for resource managers, ranchers, conservationists,
and others to work in partnership to achieve healthier Western rangelands,
according to BLM’s announcement.
The initiative is composed of at least four concepts:
-Reserve Common Allotments: a new type of grazing unit which would
be created voluntarily and cooperatively with ranchers. The allotments
would also help ranchers who temporarily cannot use their permits
for various reasons. Grazing permittees could use these reserve allotments
for livestock forage while their regular allotments undergo range
improvement.
-Conservation Partnerships: permit holders could enter into a performance-based
contracts with the BLM aimed at promoting environmental health in
exchange for such things as stewardship grants, management flexibility
within certain prescribed limits, and the potential for increased
livestock grazing made possible by successes in conservation efforts.
-Voluntary Allotment Restructuring: merging the grazing allotments
of two permittees. One of the permittees temporarily would not graze,
while the other would graze over the entire area. BLM feels the net
result would be lighter grazing over the entire allotment, thus improving
range conditions while sustaining a working landscape.
-Conservation Easement Acquisition: BLM would offer grazing permittees
the opportunity to acquire lands already identified for "disposal"
through the BLM’s land-use planning process; in return, permittees
would place conservation easements on their adjacent private land.
The aim would be to preserve open space and better manage landscapes
and watersheds.
State or local BLM offices should have details and updates regarding
this initiative.
Recreation vs Ranching
No rancher would argue the importance of environmental issues including
the protection of endangered species and the preservation of natural
habitats, Rather than excluding beef cattle grazing and appropriate
water use from federal lands, ranchers support a "multiple use and
sustained yield of resources and services from our public lands".
According to the Cattleman’s Beef Association, ranchers firmly believe
that dual and multiple land use brings the greatest benefit to the
largest number of Americans while enhancing the environment for future
generations. Ranching supports open space and reliable waters for
wildlife while at the same time supporting the economic infrastructure
for rural communities.
Ranching organizations work regularly with governmental agencies and
regulators. In the past two decades, environmental and preservation
organizations have begun buying up large tracts of land. When land
is held as private property rather than public lands, traditional
grazing and water rights are threatened.
The fear is that environmental groups which effectively reduced logging
on public lands to save the spotted owl, will be able to organize
and effectively reduce ranching on public lands in order to reserve
tracts of land for prairie dogs and other indigenous species.
A lifestyle at risk
According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, farm and ranching jobs
are expected to decline by 350,000 workers before 2010 the largest
numerical decrease in employment in ALL sectors. According to the
Bureau, increased productivity and ranch consolidations will result
in better yields from fewer workers. Combined with other statistics
that show double digit declines in the number of ranches, these statistics
are ominous. Many ranchers are starting to think that the ranch product
should be revised from "cattle" to "beef" in order to better control
prices and outcomes.
