RSS

Tag Archives: Sharon

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.

 
1 Comment

Posted by on November 11, 2021 in Events, Folks, Issues

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Day Two, COP26, Glasgow, Scotland

Pat, Ray and Sharon at the U.S. Center

It’s all about the hat. Who knew that a cowboy hat would be the key to opening discussions with other people attending the COP26?

Pat and Sharon are attending the COP26 climate meeting in Glasgow. Scotland. Folks from all over the world are here, from indigenous people from the rain forest to NGO staff to government representatives from many countries—and two ranchers and a farmer from the United States.

The COP26 site is amazing. The main venue hosts booths of all sorts. Countries have booths, and many booths are issue-themed. There’s the Methane Moment area and the Peatlands space. All are competing for the attention of the attendees. And the attendees like ourselves, called observers, are also trying to get their message out.

Our voices—Pat, Sharon and Ray—are not well-represented here. We are agriculturalists and conservationists. Little recognition is given to wildlife, unless it’s a polar bear or an elephant. Our message is that agriculture is not the problem, it’s a solution. Our message is that in many parts of the world, wildlife habitat is enhanced or even created by agricultural practices.

A pervasive theme here is carbon imprint of food. At the food venues around the site, a number representing the carbon imprint is posted. The Scottish beef burgers have the largest number, but we ordered them anyway. Actually they weren’t too far ahead of the fried broccoli.

Native dress is worn by folks from everywhere. Lots of feathered headdresses, Sikh dastars, Middle Eastern skullcaps, Saudi ghutras and Scottish fedoras are to be seen. Pat’s Stetson is the only one, and it attracts all kinds of people wanting to talk about cowboys and the American West. This gives us a good opening to talk about the issues, very much related to climate, and the importance of food and fiber production. We emphasize the relationship between farmers, ranchers, habitat and wildlife.

Rice is a topic at COP26. Lots of people, in their presentations and conversation, throw out numbers that, as Pat pointed out, add up to lots more than 100 percent. We attended a panel discussion at the U.S. Pavilion where the carbon footprint of rice was examined. The panelist from the United States said that two big methane emissions in California come from the Central Valley, a rich farming region, and the Sacramento-area rice fields. He said that rice is reputed to account for 30 percent of agricultural emissions. He also pointed out that without the responsible management practices of the rice growers, migratory birds would have no place to feed and rest on their journey. (https://iwjv.org/water/). Rice is a staple food for 30 percent of the world’s population.

Pat’s hat (and his deep knowledge of the issues) attracted a young woman who videoed us discussing the value of food and fiber production. It led to a conversation with a Honduran who loved the American West. It gives us an opening to carry our message.

Never underestimate the power of a cowboy hat!

Pat on the bus from the Glasgow Queen’s Station train to the COP center

Pat in the registration line (Sharon was behind him with the camera)

Sharon with delegate from Tazikistan
hat 1

hats 2

hat 3

hat 4

hat 5

 

 

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on November 9, 2021 in Events, Folks, Issues

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Pat and Sharon go to COP26 in Scotland

Pat and Sharon in the Highlands

 

Pat and Sharon were invited to attend the COP26 climate talks in Scotland. We will post a blog for each day we attend. The posts are longer than usual, but it is like drinking from a firehose! The Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV) is sharing these posts with agriculture and conservation groups throughout the West. The IWJV’s mission is to protect migratory birds and habitat. Thanks for sharing, Dave and Hannah!

 

 

 

World on fire billboard in Edinburg

Greetings from Scotland! Pat and Sharon O’Toole are delegates to the COP26 event in Glasgow. COP stands for “Congress of Parties” and this is the 26th year it has been held. The gathering is sponsored by the United Nations (UN) in order to address climate change—both its consequences, and strategies to slow or reverse the rise in temperatures, severe storms, flooding, effects on health and other consequences.

We are in Glasgow representing the organization Solutions from the Land, where Pat serves as a Board member. SfL focuses on land-based solutions to global challenges, with ranchers, farmers, foresters and partners who advocate for enabling agricultural landscapes to bring solutions in such challenging areas as food and energy security, sustainable economic development and environmental improvement. (See solutionsfromtheland.org.)

Pat also serves a President of the Family Farm Alliance, representing irrigators, and on the boards of Partnerscapes and the Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV). The IWJV staff has kindly offered to distribute this blog, so thanks guys.

In the debate over climate change, and ways to address its effects, agriculture has become a whipping boy. Competing studies, including those by the UN, cite statistics attributing methane pollution to livestock production. These percentages range from minor to as much as 32 percent. This usually includes the agricultural part of the transportation sector, as we run tractors, transport food and drive home from the grocery store. Animal agriculture has been a particular target. It is easy to attack domestic livestock production without recognizing that properly managed grazing animals are a tool—indeed one of the very best tools—to regenerate soils and plants on the landscape.

Agriculture has been scarcely represented at past COPs and the discussions led by the United Nations. In fact, SfL is one of the few organizations which has shown up at the table to consistently carry the message that we are a solution, not a problem. Pat likes to say, “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” We also need to be in the kitchen!

Our first impression is the stark gap between those who are on the land, and those who think they know a lot about it. Our job is to bridge that gap.

Last week—the first week of COP26—was attended by four American agriculturalists with SfL. This week, Pat and Sharon are attending with Iowa farmer Ray Gaesser. Up to 30,000 people are delegates and around 100,000 people, many of them young, are demonstrating outside. The demonstrators are demanding action to avert the disastrous effects of climate change, but we didn’t hear any solutions proffered. The folks inside the “Blue Zone” are supposed to come up with those.

Getting to Glasgow, being invited to the event, and just being able to attend has been complicated. The days leading up to arrival included lots of paperwork, proof of vaccination, and a negative Covid19 test. As one wag said, “30,000 people getting together in the midst of a pandemic—what could possibly go wrong?!”

The organizers have taken plenty of covid precautions, including daily self-tests reported to the Scottish government, and loads of sanitizers, wipes and masking. Outside, it’s just a bunch of people milling about.

We arrived a couple of days early and decided to see the sights. All the locals told us that we must visit the Highlands—at least that’s what we think they said since their English is somewhat different than what we hear in Wyoming. We booked a tour and went north. It is amazing country! We were heartened to see the pastures dotted with sheep and cattle.

As we travelled further north to Loch Ness (didn’t see the monster), the country became wilder and the scene of many a battle with the British. Think “Braveheart” and “Outlander.” In the rough north country, almost all of the cattle were Scottish Highlanders. With the chill and the wet, you can sure see why they’ve developed those coats!

The Scottish people couldn’t be nicer. They are not just friendly, but really go out of their way to help. Yesterday a young man saw us struggling to buy train tickets, and he stayed with us until we had the proper tickets in hand. We are staying in Edinburg, about an hour’s train ride away from Glasgow. In Wyoming, we’re a little short on public transportation, so the assistance was much appreciated.

This is an adventure, both in seeing the countryside and in attending the COP with people from all over the world. Our goal is to carry forward our message that agriculture is essential, and that it is a solution.

Beware of horns!

Highlands of Scotland

intrepid swimmers in the Loch

after swimming

ferry at Loch Ness
“You only see the monster, Nessie, if you’re not looking and you don’t have a camera”

 
1 Comment

Posted by on November 8, 2021 in Events, Folks, Friends, Issues

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Fall Gather

Saddling up

We’ve been trailing and back-riding for a week, as the cattle come off the summer grazing grounds. The cows and calves have been on the Routt and Medicine Bow National Forests since June and July. They graze in large rotations and we ride through them almost daily. They don’t want to leave since the weather is still warm. They see no reason to leave perfectly good feed and water. We’ve been watching the Middle Fork Fire, to the south of our allotments. It’s been burning in ungrazed areas, although there are plenty of beetle-killed pines everywhere. We’re glad to be out of the Forest with this season of fire.

Rhen mounting

On the road

home to the meadows

Pat D. and Tiarnan

cows trailing near the Midnight Ranch

riding crew at lunch (photo credit, Pat Danscen)

through the horse’s legs (photo credit, Pat Danscen)

Tiarnan and Battle Mountain

Tate, Sharon and Liberty the filly (photo credit, Pat Danscen)

Dudley Creek

Sharon and Seamus the horse (photo credit, Pat Danscen)

Day’s end

 
 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Shearing 2018

Wooly ewe with bell
Photo by Elizabeth Campbell

2018 shearing is complete. The crew showed up in a timely manner, the ewes moved through in an orderly manner, and we thanked our lucky stars because many years bring problems, from weather to a late crew to the late arrival of our sheepherders from Peru.

First the ewes trailed from their winter pasture on the Red Desert to Badwater, which is spring and fall country. The shearing crew showed up and set up their shed and baler. We brought the bunches through, staging them for the trail south to the lambing grounds. We got two days of rain, which was welcome, but finished in time to trail several days ahead of lambing.

We then moved on to Powder Flat, where the ewes who had lambed in March were still in the wool, and the bucks, still in their red “working clothes”, awaited. We had a glitch when my dog, Cora, hit the automatic locks on the pickup as I was hauling the shearing shed to Powder Flat. Unfortunately, the pickup was at the main gate (fondly know as The Portal), and my phone was inside. After several hours, which included a long walk, much unhitching and hitching and dragging heavy vehicles around with a tractor, we were able to haul the shed to the waiting shearers and get started. Pat brought the extra keys, liberating the truck and the dog.

After two half days, all were sheared and ready to head into the spring season and events.

Border collie with sheep
Photo by Elizabeth Campbell

Ewes, waiting to be sheared at Badwater

Sharon at Badwater

Wooly sheep in chute
Photo by Elizabeth Campbell

 

Newly sheared ewes

 

 

ewes at Badwater shearing

shearing, with shed and truck

David on the wool bales

Hampshire bucks waiting for the shearers

Rambouillet bucks

shorn ewes with lambs at Powder Flat

Rhen supervises the loading of the chute

Riley and Siobhan, back to back

Rhen at the Craig Wool Warehouse

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Adios, old year

from our Christmas tree

from our Christmas tree

New Year’s Eve morning dawned bright and clear. We had a huge pile of wood to burn from an old building we had taken down. We had livestock to tend, bucks to work, and resolutions to make.

 

Ewes on winter pasture

Ewes on winter pasture

Adopted wild horses eating hay at sheep camp

Adopted wild horses eating hay at sheep camp

Hampshire buck saying "Put me in, Coach!"

Hampshire buck saying “Put me in, Coach!”

Bringing the bucks up the chute

Bringing the bucks up the chute

The All-Girl sheep moving crew--Taylor, Siobhan and Meghan

The All-Girl sheep moving crew–Taylor, Siobhan and Meghan

Meghan and Pat sorting

Meghan and Pat sorting

Rambouillet ram out the cutting gate

Rambouillet ram out the cutting gate

Meghan, Siobhan and Taylor with the bucks

Meghan, Siobhan and Taylor with the bucks

McCoy checking things out

McCoy checking things out

Pat, with his fire-tending assistants--Seamus, McCoy, Tiarnan, Rhen and Maeve

Pat, with his fire-tending assistants–Seamus, McCoy, Tiarnan, Rhen and Maeve

Sharon with the fire-tending crew (McCoy un-photo bombed)

Sharon with the fire-tending crew (McCoy un-photo bombed)

Maeve, Seaus and Meghan

Maeve, Seamus and Meghan

Out with the old, in with the new

Out with the old, in with the new

Horses grazing with the last sunset of 2016

Horses grazing with the last sunset of 2016

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Happy anniversary

Pat and Sharon in Ariquipa

Pat and Sharon in Ariquipa

 

September 27th is our 41st wedding anniversay. We had the good fortune to be attending a meeting in Jackson, Wyoming. As we were having dinner, we noticed that the Tetons were reflected, upside down, in the wineglasses of nearby diners. It was quite a sight.

The Grand Tetons

The Grand Tetons

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 27, 2016 in Events, Family

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Peru and our excuse for not blogging!

Pat & Sharon at Machu Picchu. Bridget said it looked like we were photo-shopped!

 

We’ve had a long quiet spell on this blog. Don’t worry–life goes on at the Ladder Ranch. Pat and Sharon just spent two weeks in Peru. Our problems with visas for our skilled and valued Peruvian employees has reached the level where we decided to go to Lima and meet with staff at the American embassy. We also spent time with the family of Pepe Cruz, our long-time Peruvian employee. More photos will follow, but here are a few to prove that we were well and truly in Peru when we left in the middle of July, trusting Meghan, Eamon and family to hold down the fort. So here’s a few photos of us when we were touristing, not working. More Peru photos to follow!

Sharon and Pat in the beautiful agricultural region of Ariquipa

Sharon and Pat in the beautiful agricultural region of Ariquipa

Sheep grazing near Chivay

Sheep grazing near Chivay

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on July 30, 2016 in Events, Family, Folks, Sheep

 

Tags: , , ,

Christmas with Marie

Marie, Pat and Sharon

Marie, Pat and Sharon          Christmas 2015, Hobe Sound, Florida

Pat’s Mom, Marie O’Toole, will turn 100 years old in May 2016. She still lives in her own home in Florida. Pat and I spent Christmas with her, conveniently missing some minus 20 degree temperatures at home. We are trying to talk her into moving West, but for some reason, she thinks Wyoming is too cold!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on December 27, 2015 in Family

 

Tags: , , ,

Adios, Dunkin

Pepe and Sharon with Dunkin

Pepe and Sharon with Dunkin

I am sad to report that Dunkin, a sheep of much renown and many adventures, has gone to that great pasture in the sky. He led a long and interesting life, especially for a cross-bred, parrot-mouthed wether. Here he is with his patron, Pepe, who found him as a newborn lamb at the side of his dead mother. He was a friend to dogs, sheep and people, and will be missed for his skills as a bellwether.

 

Tags: , , ,