Solstice sunrise gleams,
first rays of dawn portending
shorter days ahead.
Category Archives: Events
Branding Time
McCoy bringing in a calf
It’s that time of year again. We have lots of baby calves who need vaccines, brands and earmarks before they head up to the Forest with their mothers. We have a great crew this year. Everyone knows how to work together to minimize stress on both cattle and people.
calves gathered in the Elephant Corral
Bubba, Tiarnan and McCoy bringing in the calves
Siobhan at the ready
Rhen on the water tank
Bubba and McCoy
branding crew
McCoy and Eamon
Shearing at Badwater
wooly ewes waiting for the shearers
It’s that time of year again. The shearers have shown up and shearing is underway. Each year it takes a lot of moving parts for fleeces to roll off the sheep and into the big bales. Our shearing crew are contractors who come out of California. We are their last client of the season. This is good because they are not under pressure to move on to the next producer, but nerve-wracking because we want to have the ewes shorn in time to trail to the lambing grounds north of Dixon. Lambing starts around May 10th.
We were fortunate with the weather this year. We had a snowstorm right before we were ready to start. The weather cleared and was warmish and nice for most of the week, allowing us to get through the “main line,” as the wool buyers call the running age ewes. The yearlings were next, followed by a brief, but not killer storm–always a worry for freshly shorn sheep.
Our crew packed up their portable shed–the shearing equivalant of a food truck–and moved to Powder Flat. The early lambers and the rams were there, and soon they too had given up their winter coats. Beulan and Maria the llamas were also shorn, much to their spitting disgust, but they are ready for summer.
wooly ewes with wagons
waiting in the corral
shorn ewes, ready to lamb
Frank and Gramps, son and father, on the job
Modesto and Eamon counting sheep
shorn ewes with birds
Edgar with unshorn llamas at Powder Flat
shearer at work
Meghan and Maria
Megan with Beulah
Beulah, freshly shorn
the wool packer baling the fleeces
bales of wool
fleeces in line
Heifers to the high country
Chandler on Cora, waiting for the trucks to unload
We plan to run heifers this coming summer (I have faith that summer is coming). We have hay on hand so decided to bring the heifers in now. They are from South Dakota, and are used to cold and snow. I was happy to see their fuzzy coats.
backing the truck up to the chute
Mc Coy ready with his rope
Welcome home!
heading for the hay pile
Winter sunrise
sunrise over Flattop and Lucky Butte
Winter sunrise paints
the sky, illuminating
mountains and tractor.
Chandler heading out to feed cow and horses
Flattop, Lucky Butte , Squaw Mountain, and Chandler
Christmas blessings
old cow barn
Blessed light returns,
the sunset’s glow sliding north
painting Christmas Eve.
Squaw Mountain on Christmas Eve
Sheep Mountain
Sheep Mountain with sheepwagon
candle with hymnal
St. Paul’s on Christmas Eve
COP26, an All-Globe Effort
sheep grazing on the Routt National Forest–reducing wildfire, building soil
As international negotiators huddled in the last hours to hammer out an acceptable agreement, agriculture garnered little attention, except as a source of methane emissions. The need to produce 50 percent more food worldwide in the coming decades was hardly mentioned at all. Virtually no notice was given to wildlife and wildlife habitat enhanced by agricultural production. These are glaring omissions.
Fossil fuels, especially coal, were the crux of the negotiations.
Oil, gas and coal provides about 80 percent of all the energy used by human civilization. In China, it’s 88 percent (US Energy Information Administration). In the U.S., about 80 percent. The other big influencer is India, third in emissions and receiving 70 percent of its energy from coal alone.
India and China’s negotiators intervened in the last hours to water down language about reduction of fossil fuel use and subsidies to “phase down” from “phase out.”
Here’s a link to see the makeup of the delegations.
An emphasis was placed on deforestation, but other than an exhortation to plant trees, attention was not given to the role sound forest management has in sequestering carbon and managing water.
To the credit of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) they stated, “At COP26, governments recognized that soil and nutrient management practices and the optimal use of nutrients lie at the core of climate-resilient, sustainable food production systems and can contribute to global food security. It was also recognized that while livestock management systems are vulnerable to climate change, improving sustainable production and animal health can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions while enhancing sinks on pasture and grazing lands. improving sustainable production and animal health can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions while enhancing sinks on pasture and grazing lands.”
In the end, we believe our Solutions from the Land team of seven was highly effective. We communicated with folks high (John Kerry) and low (the lone delegate from Tajikistan) about the importance of agriculture and forestry, and its role as a solution to climate change.
If the goal of no more warming than 1.5 degrees centigrade has a hope of being met (we’re currently at 1.1), it will take all sectors. The solutions are not simplistic,
Cattle trailing off the Forest, after a summer of grazing management
COP26–Solutions not Agendas
Sunset from the International Space Station (NASA)
It is challenging to summarize the experience and outcomes of attending COP26 as delegates representing Solutions from the Land (SfL). SfL focuses on land-based solutions to global challenges.
Our team carried the message that agriculture, livestock production, and forest health offer solutions to mitigate methane emissions. Farmers Ray Gaesser, Lois Wright Morton, Fred Yoder and AG Kawamura, ranchers Pat and Sharon O’Toole, and SfL President Ernie Shea attended the COP26 over two weeks’ time.
We were told that past COPs agendas had hardly let agriculture, let alone animal agriculture, get their foot in the door. Deforestation was the only lens through which forestry was viewed. Pat said his fellow Board members who attended past COP meetings told him, “You better get somebody from livestock to go because you’re really being demonized.”
It didn’t take very long to realize that demonization of agriculture and forestry is a potential issue that we all need to be paying attention to.
Pat observed that the COP process has been really naive in its view of production agriculture and its ability to create solutions. “Chilling” is the word that Pat used to describe this view. “The conversations at COP26 did not indicate an understanding of the need for success in balancing production and conservation in the context of overall strategy,” O’Toole observed.
It was obvious that that meat production, rice production, and farmers in general were characterized in a negative way. The people who have gone to these COP meetings over the last years from all over the world say it’s only now that agricultural producers are recognized. Only now are agriculturalists having an ability to participate. Our team strongly conveyed the message that we from ag need to have a seat at the table.
Our path was made easier when United States Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack showed strong support for ag when he, along with Fred Yoder presented at the U.S. Pavilion. Vilsack was very proactive in his support of agricultural production. This helped set the stage for the positive message carried by our team to focus on solutions, not agendas.
Here certainly was a feeling that there’s a lot of agendas about food production. Consumers have a very high level of concern without a very high understanding of production. Pat O’Toole said, “Luckily our family comes from a community of people who have been working on resilience in natural resources for over 30 years. We have example after example. On our landscape, a wetland that was created went from less than 40 species of birds to around 130.
“A trout passage program that made the entire watershed passable for trout from the main river to the heads of every tributary demonstrates agricultural resilience in terms of more efficient irrigation. This shows the vision of how we work together and use both our own initiative and programs from the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture to come up with solutions.”
Solutions include working with organizations which share SfL’s values. Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV) promotes “Healthy Habitat, Wildlife, and Communities.”
“The IWJV’s conservation delivery program brings people together to address complex challenges with broad-scale benefits for fish and wildlife, ranching and economic livelihood, and maintenance of the western way of life.” (IWJV.org)
Pat is the long-time President of the Family Farm Alliance, which advocates for irrigators. Their mission is to “Protect Water for Western Agriculture.”
“The Alliance is a powerful advocate before the government for family farmers, ranchers, irrigation districts, and allied industries in 17 Western states to ensure the availability of reliable, affordable irrigation water needed to produce the world’s food, fiber, and fuel.” (familyfarmalliance.org).
Partnerships in agriculture and forestry management hold a key to enhancing our landscape and atmosphere.
Earth’s atmosphere from space (NASA)
migratory ducks on wet meadow at Ladder Ranch
Day Four, COP26, Ruminating
Day 4 was a big one for Pat, Ray, and Sharon at the COP26 talks. While world leaders promise to stay up late to hammer out an agreement palatable to all, or almost all, participating countries, we have been talking, talking, talking to other delegates, trying to convey that agriculture is a solution and can offer mitigation and regeneration to landscapes needing healthy management.
Ray is a world-class farmer whose 30-year record of innovation is unparalleled. He has a gift for engaging people—from fellow travelers on the Edinburgh to Glasgow train to high mucky-mucks in our government and others. He is a large-scale farmer of corn and soybeans in Iowa. He is innovative and open-minded, and works extensively with researchers to determine the best way to produce crops, enhance soil and benefit natural resources.
Each of us has been engaging with whomever will listen to convey our message supporting agricultural production, and practices which improve the landscape.
Pat spoke at length with Joao Campari, Global Leader of World Wildlife Fund’s Food Practice initiative. He was curious and engaged, and recognized our message that wildlife habitat is largely dependent on private landowners and their stewardship. As an example, rice growers in California manage the flooding of their paddies to minimize methane release, and to accommodate the migratory birds who are dependent upon the rice fields to survive as they travel. The role of wildlife and its symbiotic relationship with agricultural practices is missing from these discussions at COP26. It requires education regarding the web of life.
We heard the drumbeat (sometimes literally) by some to eliminate meat from the human diet. There was no thoughtful consideration of indigenous and rural cultures and their role as pastoralists. There was no recognition or appreciation for the superpower of grazing animals to convert grass and sunshine into protein. There was a demonization of cows and other red meats.
While Greta Thunberg and other young protesters gathered in the streets outside the main venue to demand action, they did not seem any wiser than their negotiating elders within. If an easy solution existed, it would have been enacted by now. The protesters with their signs and their skits were colorful and entertaining, but they too were guilty of the blah, blah, blah they were accusing the negotiators of blathering.
Pat did engage with Fred Krupp, long-time President of the Environmental Defense Fund, which is sometimes a reasonable partner with progressive ag organizations. Fred spoke in front of a mural which depicted cows, along with the big “30%” description of livestock production’s contribution to the greenhouse gases, and the phrase “Simple Solutions.” When challenged, Krupp said it was just a pretty picture of cows and that the 30 percent was absolute fact, so how could this be offensive?. We did challenge those assumptions. We are all ears for the Simple Solutions.
Pat told Mr. Krupp that we had spoken with farmers from all over the world, who are feeling attacked and unappreciated. The anti-cow drumbeat, both subtle and overt, is just the most aggressive part of this messaging. The human population is growing, demanding resources from energy to water to food. Fifty percent more food production will be needed in the coming decades. With attacks on livestock and farming, and the havoc caused in production systems from climate change, we are not on track to feed the world.
Grazing and good farming practices are a solution to both producing food and improving the landscape. This message was missing from the COP26 deliberations. We did our best to make this message heard. Solutions from the Land is just what its name communicates—solutions, not agendas.
“Methane from livestock accounts for nearly 30 percent of global methane pollution”
“Eat less meat” (top left)
on site dining with carbon footprint
0.1 for the Spinach and Roasted Cauliflower, 3.9 for the Scottish Beefburger
These are examples of “information” shared at Pavillions and eateries within the COP26 site.
Peatville Pavillion, and another hat
another hat on the bus
Pat visiting with Howard Shapiro, Senior Scientist in plant science and agroforestry/agroecology for M&M, Mars. He is with the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis. Howard leads the Multi-Disciplinary Research Unit, a collaborative effort between Mars, UC Davis and The University of Nottingham. He’s a chocolate guy.
Day Three, COP26, Glasgow, Scotland–Global Weirding
Pat talking with Stuart Roberts and Ceris Jones, British National Farmers Union
Greetings from Day 3 at COP26. It’s like the blind man and the elephant—we are perceiving a lot, but there’s lots that is unseen. With that in mind, here’s what we are not seeing.
Our goal here is to represent agriculture, livestock, grazing and the nexus with conservation. COP26 is an attempt by most governments around the world to contain rising average temperatures to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, using 1850 (pre-industrialization) as a baseline. We are already at about 1 degree increase. Sometimes extreme weather—hurricanes, flooding, drought, derechos—are a result. While one can argue specifics—where is this taking place, how is it measured, etc.—we are all experiencing the results.
Part of our ranching operation lies in Colorado’s Moffat County, which is one of the world’s “hot spots.” Northwest Colorado’s temperatures have increased 2C or more already. In Moffat County, it is 2.1C. We are seeing, on the ground, in our lives, extreme drought which stresses vegetation, wildlife, livestock and people. You can call it “Global Weirding” but it is affecting us, without doubt.
While countries have delegations showcasing their assets and their concerns, an even bigger presence are the NGO’s (non-governmental organizations)—everyone from World Wildlife to the Amazon Alliance to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition to the Farm Bureau. Nature Conservancy has its own center. Thousands of “Observers,” including Pat, Ray and me for Solutions from the Land, are at COP26.
While high level meetings are taking place to try to hammer out agreements to reach the goal of reduction in global warming, or Zero, as they call it, a literal babble of voices try to make themselves heard. China and Russia, two of the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, stayed home. It was a huge announcement yesterday when the Biden administration announced that a climate agreement had been reached with China.
What we don’t hear is a lot of practical solutions. While the high-level talkers are more sophisticated than the tens of thousands of demonstrators (WE WANT ACTION NOW!), I haven’t heard viable plans.
Lots of talk is about the “rich” countries–the biggest emitters–funding projects in affected “poor” countries to mitigate the environmental and economic consequences. What would this look like? How would the donators ensure that the money went to actually helping? And the first-world countries have problems of their own and don’t seem to have much appetite for sending billions.
Two “solutions” thrown around a lot are eliminating beef and grazing animals, and eliminating driving cars. Glasgow has a great public transportation system, but Wyoming does not. Many COP26 attendees celebrate indigenous cultures, but see everything through an urban lens.
In our community, and the larger food and forestry community, we do have solutions which will make a real impact. We have programs, such as the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife that get real work done on the ground, in the landscape. Ray Gaesser’s Iowa farm is a showcase for the world on how to produce crops at scale while improving soil and resources. The people on the land offer actual solutions.
This is the message we are conveying at this conference.
Sail/tapestry made from bamboo
Bamboo Ark
demonstrator and police
terrified protester
Ladder Ranch
