Cattle Rustling

Agriculture, much as it was a century ago, is a vital part of Texas; agriculture contributes over $73 billion annually to the Texas economy and employs 1 out of every 7 Texans. And nothing could be more synonymous with agriculture in Texas than cattle; Texas remains the #1 cattle producer in the United States.

2008 was a tough year for most Texas ranchers. Hurricane Ike roared ashore reducing homes and barns to kindling, obliterating hundreds of miles of fencing, killing cattle and horses or stranding them to die of thirst and starvation. Ranchers scrambled frantically to save as many as possible amid thousands of acres of pastureland ruined by the salty storm surge.

2009 has turned out to be no less challenging in other ways; dropping cattle prices, rising fuel, feed, and fertilizer costs prompted many Texas ranchers to reduce their herds, including breeding stock. Severe and on-going drought conditions and wildfires dried up water sources and rendered pastures unusable in some areas of the state. Added to this the uncontrolled feral hog population inflicts millions of dollars in damages to ponds, fences, roads, feed crops and pastures annually.

At a time when many Texas ranchers are struggling just to stay in business another trial steps forward to plague the ranching industry – an increase in cattle rustling. Yep, cattle rustling is alive and well; the only difference is the rustlers have traded their horses for trucks and trailers to make off with the herd! And they don’t limit it to just the cattle; they steal farm equipment as well– tractors, trailers, tools, horse tact, etc.

Incidents of cattle rustling have been reported in many states, including Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Tennessee, Florida, and Louisiana. The number of reported incidents in Texas alone tripled between 2007 and 2008. And it’s not always strangers doing the “dirty deed”, sometimes its family members or others known to the cattle owner.

Since the gestation period for cattle is about 9 months, owners may have a 2 – 3 year or more investment in each animal lost; cattle theft represents a significant financial loss in both time and money to farmers and ranchers.

In 2009 the Texas legislature passed a bill to increase the criminal penalties for cattle theft in Texas. History can attest to the fact as our economy spirals downward, the incidents of cattle rustling, as well as other crimes, rise. It remains to be seen how effective this statutory change will be in curbing cattle rustling in the future.

In the meantime, cattle owners are encouraged to brand their cattle, keep a close watch over their livestock and report thefts as soon as possible – swift action can sometimes lead to the apprehension of the rustlers.

Canada and Mexico Oppose U. S. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL)

I firmly believe in the U. S. Country of Origin Labeling legislation (COOL). This legislation, which requires certain foods to be labeled with the country in which it was raised or grown, provides the American public with the choice to “buy American”. America grows and/or raises some of the healthiest, safest food in the world.

However, not all of our NAFTA neighbors agree with COOL as demonstrated by Canada and Mexico’s complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2009 regarding U. S. COOL requirements for labeling of meat (beef and pork) – they say it is negatively impacting their ability to compete in the U. S. marketplace. While any ruling from the WTO cannot force the U. S. to strike down COOL legislation, if the WTO finds the U. S. at fault, it does have the potential to incur trade sanctions against the U. S.

U. S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack and U. S. Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, have stated they believe U. S. COOL provides valuable information to the U. S. public and it is consistent with other countries around the world that require imported products or goods to be labeled with the country of origin.

Two U. S. cattle industry trade associations have opposing views of on this matter – the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) does not want COOL legislation to disrupt their trading power with Canada and Mexico, stating it is having a negative financial impact on the U. S. beef industry, while R-Calf USA, states beef trade with Canada and Mexico is creating a negative trade deficit for the U. S. to the tune of more than $1.3 billon annually for the past 5 years.

Now, I’m not a financial expert on foreign trade, but I think one key factor should be considered here – Americans have a right to know the origin of their food!

Pocket Gophers and Pasture Damage

Particularly during the spring and fall months of the year here in East Texas mounds of earth can be seen dotting the pastureland.

These mounds result from digging by pocket gophers - medium-sized rodents ranging in size from 5 to 14 inches long varying in color from almost white to black. They have chisel-like incisors and small claws on their front feet. Prolific diggers pocket gophers are capable of bringing tons of earth per month to the surface.

Damage caused by gophers includes destruction of garden seed beds, tree roots, utility cables, and irrigation pipes. The large earthen mounds damage haying equipment and their digging can undermine the stability of irrigation ditches and ponds. It is not uncommon to find their mounds inside your garden beds, around the foundation of your home, in the barn, in the corrals, if there's earth - there's a gopher.

Needless to say this damage needs to be controlled and there are various control methods practiced including trapping, deploying electronically control vibration devices, baits, predator scents, etc.

Here on the J Bar D we have our own method of gopher control - Slim - a 22-pound bundle of energy that lives to catch gophers.

Now, all good hunters know you have to be still and quiet so you can target your prey and once you have targeted a location - get down to the business of capture. This includes going where the gophers are - underground whenever necessary to get the little boogers. Nothing is ever easy!

Drought

When farmers and ranchers can be heard talking about the need for a hurricane you know there’s trouble afoot and that’s just what was happening in late summer this year. Our area and much of the rest of Texas has suffered from devastating drought. On November 4, 2009 the USDA declared another 69 Texas counties, in addition to the already designated 70 counties, as primary natural disaster areas.

When we lived in the city, drought meant not watering your lawn or washing your car, but on the ranch the affects of the drought with an additional heat index, of up to 109° on some days, is enough to keep you awake at night worrying.

You worry about the stock tanks drying up. The cattle stand in the shade during much of the day panting from the heat when they should be grazing – they’re loosing weight. The grass in the pastures is turning brown and dying, the annual hay season is abbreviated - there’s hardly enough grass in the pastures for grazing much less harvesting hay.

On the J Bar D Ranch, the rains we have received over the last few weeks have somewhat rejuvenated the pastures, too little and too late to increase the hay harvest, but enough to provide some late season grazing. Now, the balancing act begins of getting the livestock through the winter – keeping them well fed and healthy without putting our bottom line in the ditch. Yep, a tropical storm or a little hurricane in late July or early August would have been a welcome sight!