Agriculture

Land & Legacy – Using Cattle to Improve Wildlife Numbers

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Land & Legacy – Using Cattle to Improve Wildlife Numbers

5/12/2020 by Adam Keith, Matt Dye

Web player: https://podplayer.net/?id=104916114
Episode: https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/c6ea73/c6ea73ed-6721-4c82-9982-af427fab6107/20d19784-3b75-4bd5-affd-63b1b17a3074/land-and-legacy-using-cattle-to-improve-wildlife-numbers_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed

The ongoing statement is that cattle and wildlife can’t co-exist and this podcast is devoted to debunking that statement. Adam and Kyle discuss the use of cattle in a grazing rotation that he calls “conservation grazing.” This system uses cattle to replicate historical Bison herds on the diverse landscape to improve habitat for Bobwhite Quail and other grassland birds. This grazing has not only increased diversity on the landscape for grassland birds but also species like whitetail deer. One of the biggest questions by landowners in our consulting business is the possibility of bringing in financial gains on their farm.

Cattle grazing contracts could be a great way to increase income, improve habitat, and increase animal populations. Win! Win! Win! We discuss the differences in grazing patterns you’ll find commonly used on the landscape today and what a herd of cow/calf or stockers looks like and their individual grazing selection. We even take a look at the historical fires and grazing and what the historical landscape might have looked like and how we can replicate it! #ForLoveoftheLand Land & Legacy is Powered by Simplecast

Cows in many ways are the back bone of the rural economy, 🐮 they do more to protect open space and fields and meadows 🌾 for wildlife then any other entity. Parks and state lands are great but they pale compared to the vast lands owned by farm families that provide habitat for billions of deer, grass land birds and other species. Wildlife is much happier in a cow pasture or corn field than a suburban big box mall parking lot. 🅿

How coronavirus disrupted California meat plants – Los Angeles Times

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How coronavirus disrupted California meat plants – Los Angeles Times

There’s no shortage of demand for beef.

Prices are up. Grocery stores are limiting how much each customer can buy. Last week more than 1,000 Wendy’s restaurants ran out of hamburgers.

There’s also no shortage of cattle earmarked to be turned into beef.

But prices for those animals have dropped. Sales are down. At a recent livestock auction in the San Joaquin Valley, just a handful of buyers bothered to make an appearance.

Employees at these factories work closely together, and thousands nationwide have become infected with the novel coronavirus. At least 20 have died. As their workers fall ill, the plants have lowered capacity or temporarily shut down.
The plants’ diminished capacity means some beef can’t get processed, and that has thrown cold water on the market for cattle: Why pay top dollar for the animals if you might not be able to sell them later?

That’s a problem for California, the nation’s fifth-largest cattle-producing state. In a good year, commercial ranchers could aim to get more than $1 per pound for a premium calf. Now, the expected price has dived 15% to 25%, said Mark Lacey, president of the trade group California Cattlemen’s Assn.

“We’ve had some major droughts, we have had some bad market years, but this is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” said Megan Brown, a sixth-generation cattle rancher and manager of Brown Ranch in Plumas and Butte counties. “Even in the family history, nothing compares to this.”