The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE REAL CHALLENGES OF RANCHING” mentioning John Barrasso was published in the Senate section on pages S4654-S4655 on June 21.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE REAL CHALLENGES OF RANCHING
Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I rise today to submit for the record a column written by Mr. Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, entitled ``Magagna: The Real Challenges of Ranching.'' The article was published on June 2 of this year.
I recently spoke at the 2021 Wyoming Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show, ``Positioning Wyoming's Beef Industry for Success,'' hosted by the 149-year-old Wyoming Stock Growers Association in Sheridan. This convention focused on both the challenges and the opportunities that producers have before them. Jim says it best: Some of these are just simply challenging opportunities.
I urge my colleagues to stand with ranchers like Jim Magagna and the ranchers that he represents. Stand with those who understand the land best and not with extremists who do not know how to run a farm, a ranch, or a small business.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
Ranching in Wyoming begins with a dedicated, often multi-generational, ranching family or a highly qualified dedicated ranch manager. Beyond this foundation, success on an annual basis is driven primarily by three factors--the weather, the markets and the government. When two of these are positive, most ranchers would describe their year as a ``success''. In that rare year when all three factors are particularly favorable, the seasoned rancher saves dollars in preparation for the inevitable bad year.
2020, given the impacts of COVID, was a year of ``all of the above'' and more. The daily chores and challenges of operating the ranch continued. With livestock needing to be fed, and calved or lambed there was no unemployment. While others struggled to adjust to having their children home doing remote learning, many ranchers just welcomed the extra help from the kids. A major challenge was driving long distances into town for supplies, only to find that many of the needed items were not available.
Livestock markets crashed in the spring of 2020, but returned to a more normal range by the time that most Wyoming ranchers were facing fall marketing. Government policies were stable and somewhat friendly toward agriculture. While some areas of Wyoming experienced drought, most ranchers were able to maintain their herds with some added supplemental feeding. Federal payments through the CARES Act provided significant relief for some. Looking back, two of the three factors could be deemed to have been positive at some time during the year.
While the impacts of COVID have lessened, 2021 is evolving as a much more challenging year for many Wyoming ranchers than 2020 when assessed by the three factors. Drought clearly rises to the top of concerns faced by producers across most of the state. Northwestern Wyoming experienced good winter snowfall and the very southeastern portion has had significant spring moisture. However, the majority of Wyoming is suffering from both a shortage of irrigation water and a lack of soil moisture. As a result, we are seeing a worrisome reduction in the number of summer pasture cattle coming into the state as well as the sale of replacement heifers that had been retained in the fall of 2020. This will have impacts on production for at least the next several years.
The change in administrations in Washington, DC this year has added another high level of uncertainty to Wyoming ranching. While some degree of uncertainty accompanies any political change, the rhetoric and fast-paced issuance of Executive and Secretarial Orders by the current administration has been particularly frightening. The rhetoric that surrounds ``30 x 30'', ``Make America Beautiful'', ``Climate Change'' and other initiatives to date lacks any substantive detail to enable our assessment of how it might affect Wyoming's agriculture industry.
Cattle market events in recent years have given cattle producers both needed wake-up call and a new path forward. Our beef marketing chain clearly has a bottleneck at the processing level. This both increases risk when an event such as COVID impacts a major facility, and concentrates market control in too few hands. Consumer interest in buying local and knowing where their food comes from has provided new marketing opportunities for some producers. In the span of two years Wyoming has gone from having only one federally inspected processing facility to nine facilities either operating or under construction. New larger facilities being developed across the nation, including in Idaho and Nebraska, will provide greater competition and lessen dependence on the
``Big Four'' U.S. beef processors. Efforts by the industry and the Wyoming Business Council continue to attract larger processors to Wyoming.
A discussion of ranching' s challenges would not be complete without acknowledging the emergence of ``fake meat''--both plant-based and lab-cultured products. While these products have received tremendous publicity, endorsement by celebrities and are now offered in some retail establishments, they have not emerged as a threat to the demand for high-quality beef and lamb.
Yes, ranching today is faced with significant emerging challenges. Fortunately, these challenges are leading to exciting new opportunities. Exploring these opportunities will be the focus of the 2021 Wyoming Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show, ``Positioning Wyoming's Beef industry for Success'' hosted by the 149 year-old Wyoming Stock Growers Association in Sheridan June 2-4.
____________________
Alerts Sign-up