Wyoming

Ellsbury Ranch Takes Home AHA Commercial Producer of the Year

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 17:10:49 GMT

Ellsbury Ranch, Sundance, Wyo., took home Commercial Producer of the Year honors at the American Hereford Association (AHA) Annual Membership Meeting in Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 26.

Ellsbury Ranch LLC is a fifth-generation cow-calf and yearling operation in northeastern Wyoming, owned and operated by Colter and Sarah Ellsbury, and Jeff and Whitney Stull. The couples purchased the cattle and equipment in 2017 and enjoy raising their families on the ranch and teaching their children about the ins-and-outs of the operation. Together the Ellsbury and Stull families are raising six kids from ages of 2 to 14 alongside the cattle operation — Lyman, Ridley and Mattie Ellsbury, and Ruby, Sutton and Weston Stull.

Ellsbury Ranch roots reach back to 1885, when their great-great-grandfather moved his family West from Minnesota to land in Beulah, Wyo., where they successfully set up a general store, feed stable and hotel.

The family pulled up stakes in Beulah in 1891 and settled along the creek in Farrall, Wyo., the modern-day headquarters of the ranch.

Initially, Ellsbury Ranch was home to Hereford cattle, but in the ’90s the herd transitioned to black baldies before becoming home to solely black-hided cattle in the 2000s. But, after Ellsbury and Stull acquired the herd, they felt like they needed a change to bolster performance, despite their strong commercial Angus cow herd.

So, Ellsbury Ranch welcomed back Hereford sires in 2018, when they purchased three bulls from Frederickson Ranch, Spearfish, S.D. The resulting black baldy calves showed the textbook example of heterosis firsthand, with the bald-faced calves consistently weaning at heavier weights than their black-hided peers. With this added boost in pounds and performance, Ellsbury Ranch sold its last black bull in 2023 and now has an entirely Hereford bull battery to make black-white-faced, Hereford-sired calves.

Today, Ellsbury Ranch runs 550-head of black-hided cows, a Hereford bull battery and about 300 yearlings on 19,000 acres of privately leased and forest service ground deep in the Black Hills. Their black baldy calves are consistently at the top-of-the-market, whether they are sold through Superior Livestock, the
local sale barn or privately, off-the-ranch. Ellsbury Ranch has traditionally sold its steer calves through Superior Livestock and marketed their heifer peers privately or through the local auction barn. But, as demand has increased in their area for black-white-faced, F1 replacements, Ellsbury and Stull have more
opportunities to market their heifer calves as replacements.

Local ranchers have been demanding Hereford-sired, black baldy replacements because their maternal heterosis coupled with their docility, efficiency and longevity that are second to none. Last year, the operation’s heifer calves were sold after the
steers on Superior Livestock’s Bighorn Classic.

With the added pounds, demand and docility the bald faces brought to Ellsbury Ranch, the families have no plans to change their business model. Ellsbury and Stull plan to continue to market all of their in-demand black baldy cattle — selling steers through Superior and finding value-added outlets for their
replacement-quality heifer peers. By bringing in black-hided replacements to pair with their Frederickson Ranch Hereford bull battery, Ellsbury Ranch will consistently have a calf crop of entirely black baldy F1s — just the way they like it.

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Anthrax Confirmed in Carbon County, Wyoming Cattle

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 22:15:38 GMT

Anthrax has been confirmed in multiple beef herds located in Carbon County, Wyo, according to a Wyoming Livestock Board release. This is the first confirmed anthrax in Wyoming cattle since the 1970s. The Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory confirmed the diagnosis late Saturday afternoon, Aug. 31. Both WSVL and private veterinarians were essential in the diagnosis of anthrax impacting several herds in the region.

“Multiple state agencies and private veterinarians responded quickly following the anthrax diagnosis by the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory. Protecting animal and human health is critical upon diagnosis of a zoonotic disease,” says Dr. Hallie Hasel, Wyoming State Veterinarian. “The Wyoming Livestock Board will continue working with producers and private veterinarians to reduce further spread and limit
human exposure through recommendations for carcass disposal and vaccination. Anthrax vaccine is approved for multiple livestock species and highly effective.”

Anthrax is a bacterial disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, a naturally occurring organism with worldwide distribution. The spore-forming bacteria may survive in the soil for years to decades, resultingin sporadic outbreaks, which usually occur after periods of drought followed by heavy rain. Domestic and wild animals may become infected when they breathe or ingest spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water. Clinical signs of anthrax in livestock include sudden death, weakness, staggering, difficulty breathing, fever and bloody diarrhea.

Owners of livestock experiencing clinical signs consistent with anthrax or sudden death should contact their private veterinary practitioner or the Wyoming Livestock Board, 307.777.7515, lsbformsapplications@wyo.gov.

Wyoming Lawmaker Proposes All-You-Can-Kill Elk Permits for Ranchers

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 14:20:25 GMT

A Wyoming legislator proposed issuing an unlimited number of elk permits to ranchers in an effort to reduce the overpopulation of elk in eastern Wyoming.

Rep. Bill Allemand, R-Midwest, introduced the proposal during a meeting of the Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands and Water Resources Committee on Tuesday during the committee’s meeting in Laramie. According to Cowboy State Daily , the committee had extensive discussion about the overabundance of elk in parts of the state, especially Albany and Laramie counties.

Allemand introduced the idea of issuing unlimited “lethal take” permits to ranchers, which they could either use themselves or hand off to people of their choosing. The permits could be used to shoot as many elk as the holder wants on the property, with $20 going back to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for each elk killed.

Under the proposal, the lethal take permits would be good from Aug.1 until April 1 of the following year.

Allemand initially introduced the lethal take permit program as an amendment to another bill the committee was considering, and then as a stand-alone bill. It failed both times. Allemand told Cowboy State Daily that he may still try to introduce his proposal as a stand-alone bill during the upcoming 2024 Legislative session.

New Home for Old Bridge on Wyoming Ranch

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 16:58:49 GMT

After nearly 100 years spanning Cottonwood Creek south of Worland, WY, the Winchester Bridge was moved to a new home last week.

Washakie County sold the bridge for $1,100 to the Galloway Ranch north of Ten Sleep, according to the Cowboy State Daily . Deemed unsafe for public travel in a recent WYDOT inspection, county commissioners chose to sell the bridge to the highest bidder.

The 90-by-25-foot structure was hauled 40 miles down Highway 16 to its new home north of Ten Sleep.

Washakie County commissioners noted that taking the bridge to a foundry to be disposed of would cost the county about $29,000. The purchase price, however, is just the beginning of the ranch’s cost.

“They’re going to have to do some work to the bridge,” said Cody Beers with the Wyoming Department of Transportation. “I mean, there’s no deck on the bridge. Right now, it’s just a big piece of iron.”

Construction is already underway on a replacement bridge over Cottonwood Creek on Washakie County Road 86 with a price tag of approximately $1.5 million.

Bootheel 7 Livestock Recognized as the CAB Commercial Commitment to Excellence Honoree

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 19:18:38 GMT

The Wasserburger family in Lusk, Wyoming, thrives on keen competition.

They bring an athletic intensity and drive that once won championships on the wrestling mat to now topping the charts in livestock auction ring. The 2022 Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Commercial Commitment to Excellence Award winners accepted the award at the brand’s Annual Conference Sept. 29 in Phoenix. They earned it with big wins in their herd’s maternal and marbling scorecards.

The ranch is led by JD and Laurie Wasserburger, with their sons Eric and Andrew and his wife, Anne, built on family legacies of pioneer great-grandfather Henry and his son, Henry Jr.

The 1916 homestead title started it all, where Henry spent the beginning years in a “soddy” of stacked native prairie adorned with a cowhide door flap. He passed the Bootheel 7 brand down to the son who began buying other area homesteads and grasslands. Henry Jr. built up the modern ranch with sheep and cattle that JD further diversified. They sold the sheep and JD started a freight company to serve the area’s oil and gas industry. His foresight paid off with two sons back on the ranch, proudly carrying the Bootheel 7 brand into its second century.

Like generations before, Eric and Andrew looked for every opportunity to build and buy. They added farming to the mix and most recently built a grow yard for another element of control in cattle marketing. The only way to keep tradition alive, they figure, is to allow it to change and evolve with a competitive edge. After all, it’s competition that drove Henry and JD to move the cow herd to an Angus base decades ago.

“It didn’t take sitting in many sale barns to see the black-hided calves were bringing more money,” JD says, looking back to when he returned to the ranch. Still, it was maternal traits rather than color that drove bull selection.

“In this country, you just have to have cows that can do it themselves,” Andrew says, nodding across the wide, Wyoming prairie of big grasslands cut by deep coulees and rocky enclaves. “If she has bad feet, she’s not going to travel to water, she’s not going to travel to cake or mineral, which means she’s more likely to slough a calf or short him on nutrition. It just doesn’t work.”

He studies their performance records, willing the cows into a competition with one another.

“Those buyers come back every year because they understand what we’ve done to produce females here,” Andrew says. “We feel like if you do that job right, raising cows that will raise heifers that will raise the next generation, the steer calves will fall in right behind.”

Andrew points to one definitive training tool that helped the ranch grow to support several families.

“The use of technology is really what inspires me to keep moving forward, because you can actually measure progress on ranches now,” Andrew says. From range conditions to water use to breeding, feeding, carcass and nutrition, the technology offers a score board of progress.

About six years ago, the family got curious about how competitive their beef could be on the plate, too. They started ultra-sounding potential replacement heifers to gain a clearer picture of marbling ability and ribeye size and soon moved to scanning every heifer on the place. Sorting ensures every keeper has the targeted 1.1 square inches of ribeye per 100 pounds of body weight and an intramuscular fat (IMF) score over 3.5 – the threshold for Choice marbling.

This year, they invested in genomic testing for each heifer, with an even-more-detailed analysis of maternal, carcass and performance traits. Now they know exactly what the scorecard will show before they step into the ring.

“That’s the fine-tuning,” Andrew says. After sorting phenotypically for the top 500, they used the genetic data to sort by ribeye size, IMF score and weight.

That focus pays off. The Bootheel 7 steers handily won the Nebraska-based TD Angus Feed Test “Highest CAB Percentage” category two years in a row with pens at 64% and 65% CAB and 100% Choice or higher. They topped the Percentage Prime category, too.

Topping two out of five categories was an honor, a brief moment to glance at the scoreboard and be proud to see their name in lights.

“But we didn’t win ’em all; that means we still have a lot of work to do,” Eric says.

Hay Day: Wyoming Rancher Grooms Olympic Downhill

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:48:58 GMT

PINEDALE, Wyo. (AP) — The rancher from western Wyoming wears tan overalls pulled over a U.S. ski team jacket, and is every bit as versed in the nuances of hay farming as the subtleties of snow grooming.

He doesn’t even ski for pleasure much anymore due to aching hips, yet the Olympic fates of Lindsey Vonn, Aksel Lund Svindal and many of the best speed skiers are directly tied to the handiwork of Tom Johnston , a no-nonsense cowboy who spends his days toiling among hay bales on nearly 1,800 acres of leased fields near his home in Boulder, Wyoming (population: 170ish).

Johnston also just happens to be one of the world’s foremost experts on shaping a race course , most notably the downhill and super-G tracks that Vonn, Svindal and the rest will zoom down in February in South Korea.

Every tooth-rattling bump and knee-buckling jump on the Pyeongchang course will have been exhaustively groomed by Johnston and his crew, whose goal, in ski parlance, is to create “hero snow” — the grippy surface on which these world-class speedsters can confidently push the envelope.

“A very nice track,” is what the 55-year-old Johnston is promising for a course that was designed by Bernhard Russi , the Swiss downhiller who won Olympic gold in 1972. Johnston has made seven journeys from his home to South Korea over the past two years to inspect and shape the Olympic terrain. “I really enjoy it.”

Johnston has six weather websites loaded onto his phone — including one from South Korea to keep current on conditions — and views them so often that his wife Cassy recently had to increase their phone’s data plan.

He likes to give off a gruff first impression — “I really don’t have time for all these interviews,” he lamented — but, during a leisurely tour of the properties he oversees, it’s clear he’s something far removed from acerbic.

He’s proud of every parcel of this land.

Here lies some of the most sought-after alfalfa in the county. On the other side of a dirt road bordered by badger holes, he shows off his laser-leveled land that produces various classes of hay. They’re meticulously planned out so water doesn’t gather and ruin the consistency of the crop. Across the two-lane highway, reside his roughly 125 head of Red Angus cattle.

On the horizon, the mountain range.

His life used to be a cycle: haying in the summer and, when it turned colder, heading up to Jackson Hole mountain resort so he could coach and direct events the ski club produced. Johnston’s family would follow him there — until the three kids reached school age. He eventually just pulled along a camper or stayed at a cheap place for a few nights before making the 80-mileish drive home.

Back then, Johnston was sometimes spotted wearing a jacket with these words embroidered on the back: “I’d Rather Be Haying.” He honed his craft at Jackson Hole — becoming a course-shaping artist who would water the slopes in extremely cold temperatures to create an icy surface that would hold up from the first racer all the way to the last.

In 1998, the U.S. ski team contracted with the local organizing committee for nationals. As director of Alpine events with the ski club, it was his show.

Johnston’s twists and turns were a hit, along with his organizational skills. Soon after, he became a technical adviser for the U.S. team. He credits Tim “Swampy” LaMarche, his predecessor and another course guru, for teaching him the ins and outs of the profession.

It’s all been trial by error, too.

Johnston was chief for the women’s speed events at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and ran the show for the women’s side at the 2014 Sochi Games. He’s known for his aggressive and durable snow, which is precisely the way racers like it. His preference is making it with a snow gun instead of letting Mother Nature do the work.

“Manmade can be super-fine particles so it’s really dense,” explained Johnston, who left for South Korea on Christmas Day. “The natural snow can be dry, fluffy — a real pain.”

He prepared the World Cup course for the women in Killington, Vermont, last month and lent a hand at the World Cup stop in Beaver Creek, Colorado, which is one of the racers’ favorite venues on the circuit.

“The course crew in Beaver Creek is probably the best in the world,” Svindal said. “We always have perfect conditions.”

In South Korea, Johnston’s main tasks include: Build and maintain the snow surface, including the macro features such as jumps and rolls, manage the snowcat operators and installation of safety features. His aim is to help Russi’s downhill design spring to life.

The men’s and women’s downhill tracks vary only slightly, with the men starting at a higher spot and diverging at one point through a narrow gully before merging again. Along the way, there will be four major jumps, which have been modified since a test event held at the site nearly two years ago. The changes should provide smoother, safer landings for the skiers who will be traveling around 80 mph (128.7 kph).

“We have changed the landing zone of the jumps,” Russi said. "(It) means that the jumps will go longer this time. For sure, I will like it. But I will be nervous as well.”

On his farm two months ago, Johnston was worrying more about his hay crop than the ski slope after a quick visit to South Korea for course inspection. There was a snow storm about to blow through and he still had to stack 200 tons of hay. His wife — who works as a dental hygienist and helps in the fields in the afternoon — was driving a truck to haul the bales, while two more workers pitched in. They were up until 1:30 a.m. to accomplish the feat. It snowed three hours later.

Tom and Cassy met at the Green Mountain Valley ski school in Vermont as teenagers and got married in 1986. She occasionally travels with him to races, where he’s been known to ride with the snowcat operators at night as they groom the course or sleep with a radio next to his pillow so he can hear the chatter of those working on his hill.

Quality speed courses and hay are his pride and joy, and they have more in common than you might think. Both take attention to detail. Both depend on Mother Nature. Neither can ever be perfect.

Not that he’ll ever stop trying.

“I get really fussy with every element,” said Johnston, a former racer at Montana State and Whitman College in Washington, where he earned his degree in English literature. “The guys that hay for me, my wife, it drives them crazy. I’ve never put up a good hay bale, because there’s always this wrong with it or that wrong with it. Same with a course.

“But give me good weather and it will be a good course,” he said.

Copyright 2017, The Associated Press

Wyoming Company Wants to Beef up Operations with State Help

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:48:15 GMT

A Cody, Wyo. company is seeking about $940,000 in financial help from the state so it can beef up sales of its jerky products.

However, Wyoming Authentic Products previously benefited from state aid when it started up, and some believe the company should now foot the costs of expansion itself.

A sharply divided Wyoming Business Council last week approved the proposed project, which involves a $750,000 state grant and a state-arranged loan of about $190,000.

The Wyoming State Loan and Investment Board will make the final decision in April on whether to approve the request.

Wyoming Authentic Products benefited in the beginning of its operations when the local Cody economic development organization constructed the building that’s now the jerky producer’s home with the help of a $1.2 million state grant in 2011.

The company’s new proposal seeks to expand its office, smoker, raw meat preparation and packaging space, Julie Kozlowski, the Business Council’s community development director, told the Casper Star-Tribune .

The project’s costs are just over $1 million. The city of Cody requested the $750,000 state grant, and the Business Council arranged for a four-year, 5 percent loan to the company to help pay for the project.

Wyoming Authentic Products will have to pony up about $97,000 of its own money, according to Josh Keefe, economic development finance manager for the Business Council.

Fourteen people currently work for Wyoming Authentic Products, which uses only Wyoming-raised cattle, according to materials provided to the Business Council.

With the expansion, the plan is to hire 10 more by January 2020. Employees will earn $43,000 a year, which is $10,000 over the county median.

The Business Council’s vote to award the grant was split seven to six.

Mike Sullivan of Cheyenne, a member of the council, said he was concerned that other firms will see the money and want more for themselves.

“It’s going to become too easy to go for a second and third and fourth grant,” he said.

Major Crimes Unit Investigates Missing Cowboy

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:21:28 GMT

The Major Crimes Unite of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been called to investigate the disappearance of rancher Ben Tyner. The RCMP issued a statement saying they have no evidence to suggest foul play, but the agency wanted to cover all of its bases.

Tyner, 32, was employed by the Nicola Ranch in British Columbia, and went missing Jan. 26 in a remote area northeast of Vancouver, B.C. A hunter found his horse wandering alone in the bush in full tack the following Monday. The RCMP searched for Tyner for a week before suspending their hunt, partially due to frigid temperatures.

More than a dozen search teams combed the snowy backcountry south of Kamloops, B.C., amid temperatures as low as -5 F, but suspended the search Sunday, Feb. 3. Tyner was originally from Wyoming.

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Search For Missing Wyoming Cowboy Suspended

Search For Missing Wyoming Cowboy Suspended

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:21:15 GMT

Authorities in British Columbia say they have called off the search for Ben Tyner, 32, an employee on the Nicola Ranch who went missing Jan. 26 in the remote area of the Nicola Valley northeast of Vancouver, B.C.

A hunter found Tyner’s horse wandering alone in the bush in full tack early the following Monday. Tyner had been hired as a ranch manager in November, and had been on his day off when he was last seen in a remote area near the town of Merritt, population 7,000. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said no one knows when he rode into the backcountry or where he was going.

Kim Robinson, found Tyner’s horse about 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 28, according to the Merritt Herald.

“It took me about 20 minutes to get him because he was pretty jumpy — something happened to him. He only had one rein,” Robinson said. “But I caught him and tied him up to a tree.”

A seven-day long search was launched and as many as many as 19 teams from across the province, dog tracking teams, air support, drones, riders and community volunteers searched in vain for the missing man. RCMP Constable Tracy Dunsmore said rescuers were hindered by the fact they had no indication of where Tyner was headed when he left home.

In a news release, Dunsmore said that crews searched extensively in the area where the horse was found, and extreme cold and poor weather all contributed to suspending the search.

“We don’t know what his destination was,” Dunsmore said. “We believe he rode in from the ranch where he works, but we’re having trouble locating tracks because of all the wildlife in the area and other wild horse herds.”

Authorities have downplayed any suspicions of foul play, but they are still uncertain how the horse ended up in the location where it was found.

“Part of the work we’ve been trying to do is piece together a timeline and piece together information about how Ben was transported — was he transported by a trailer — and we don’t have any confirmation of that at all,” search-and-rescue incident commander Paul Berry said. “Nothing has been identified at this point to indicate Ben or any of his footprints or any sign of Ben in relation to the horse.”

Authorities are not sure how prepared Tyner was to be outside in the frigid temperatures. “He’s a rancher, so we believe he was dressed for the weather, probably had proper gear, but there’s no indication that he took anything to spend the night,” Dunsmore said.

Drovers TV: Kane Beef Trouble; Wyoming Brucellosis; and Hauling Rules

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:23:35 GMT

In this week’s Drovers TV Report there is a case of brucellosis in Wyoming; proposed regulation changes for livestock haulers; and a Texas beef packer is facing financial troubles.

Brucellosis Infected Cattle Found in Northwestern Wyoming

The Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory and the National Veterinary Services Laboratory notified Wyoming state veterinarian, Dr. Jim Logan, on Oct. 11 of the new case of Brucellosis. The cattle herd is located in Park County which is in the Wyoming Brucellosis Designated Surveillance Area.

Hours of Service Petition Seeks Flexibility for Livestock Haulers

A petition filed to the Department of Transportation (DOT) by livestock groups is seeking more flexibility to hours of service regulations.

The petition filed by groups representing bee, fish and livestock haulers was submitted on Oct. 15 asking for a five year exemption on particular hours of service requirements.

Kane Beef Now Under Court Receivership

Kane Beef Processors, the Corpus Christi, Tex., company that kills 270,000 cattle annually with $500 million in annual sales, is now under court-ordered receivership. As the nation’s 10th largest beef processor, Kane Beef has been in operation since 1949, but fell into financial trouble after failing to pay nearly two dozen cattlemen and feedyards, according to court documents.

For more on these stories watch the Drovers TV video report from AgDay or read the rest of the stories in the above links.

Brucellosis Infected Cattle Found in Northwestern Wyoming

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:23:31 GMT

A herd of cattle in northwestern Wyoming have been found to have three head of cattle infected with Brucellosis.

The Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory and the National Veterinary Services Laboratory notified Wyoming state veterinarian, Dr. Jim Logan, on Oct. 11 of the new case of Brucellosis . The cattle herd is located in Park County which is in the Wyoming Brucellosis Designated Surveillance Area.

Serologic testing by both laboratories showed reactor level results on three animals from a single cattle herd. Additional testing including bacterial culture will be conducted to confirm serology results.

The owner of the infected cattle, and the owners of six contact herds are getting assistance from Logan, and assistant state field veterinarian, Dr. Thach Winslow, to determine risk levels and conduct an epidemiologic investigation.

The infected herd is currently under quarantine and quarantines will be issued to contact herd owners as the investigation proceeds. The contact herd owners have been held to an order movement restrictions and no sexually-intact cattle can be moved until the herd has been cleared by a complete risk assessment and appropriate brucellosis testing is conducted.

Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that can cause cattle, elk, and bison to abort their pregnancies, typically late term.

Since 1988, all of Wyoming’s brucellosis cases have been determined to have been caused by transmission from infected wildlife to cattle or domestic bison. The last cases in Wyoming were found in late 2015 and the last affected herd was released in June of 2017.

A large portion of Yellowstone National Park is located in Park County where there are large populations of wild bison and elk.

For more information, contact the Wyoming Livestock Board field office at 307-857-4140.

Coyote-killing Devices Still OK in Wyoming

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:20:18 GMT

There is no discussion in Wyoming about banning a device designed to kill coyotes by spraying cyanide when triggered, a state official said.

A national debate about the predator-killing M-44 device is unfolding in the wake of a hospitalized teenager and three dogs and a wolf that have been killed recently in Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services division announced it would discontinue using the device in Idaho.

But the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, at this stage, is not planning to follow suit.

There has been no discussion about banning M-44s in Wyoming, Kent Drake, the state Agriculture Department’s predator management coordinator, told the Jackson Hole News & Guide . “In the Wyoming case, the applicator did nothing wrong,” Drake said.

The Wyoming incident involving the device occurred on unmarked private land north of Casper and claimed the lives of two bird-hunting dogs in mid-March.

At any given time, there are about 300 cyanide-propelling M-44s protruding from the ground in Wyoming.

In Wyoming there are 26 restrictions regulating the use of M-44s, guidelines that are set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Among the restrictions is a prohibition against putting the poison “where federally listed threatened or endangered animal species might be adversely affected.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also must be consulted.

U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service lands are off-limits for agricultural producers hoping to reduce numbers of coyotes or foxes, the only species that can be legally targeted with M-44s.

The Wyoming Department of Agriculture does not allow the general public to use the baited sodium cyanide canisters on Bureau of Land Management property.

Drake said that “incidental take” from the poisonous contraptions permitted by the state has been “very, very limited” in his decade-long tenure.

“I think we’ve lost a black bear. There was a wolf, but that was in an area of the state where there was not known to be wolves at that time,” Drake said. “There was a rancher’s dog lost. A couple ravens. That’s most all of it. It’s not too much.”

Lisa Robertson is one Jackson Hole resident who thinks any animal killed by M-44s — targeted or not — is one too many.

“They should have been banned a long time ago,” said Robertson, founder of the animal rights advocacy group Wyoming Untrapped. “They should have been history, and it should have been Wildlife Services’ decision. It ought to be their decision to ban them now.”

Western Watersheds Project Executive Director Erik Molvar was behind the petition that led to Wildlife Services’ ban of M-44s in Idaho.

Molvar said Wyoming wasn’t targeted for a ban in the petition, but there has been talk of expanding the bans to other Western states. Western Watersheds also backs imposing a nationwide ban on M-44s and another poisonous predator-killing device, Compound 1080.

“It’s hard to justify the fact that taxpayer dollars are being used to kill native wildlife,” he said, “when there are so many other ecologically and scientifically sound alternatives.”

Business on Track to be Wyoming's First USDA Slaughterhouse

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:19:27 GMT

A Cody business is on track to become Wyoming’s first federally licensed and inspected slaughterhouse.

The Cody Enterprise reported Monday that Wyoming Legacy Meats is working to attain licensing through the United States Department of Agriculture, a move that will allow the brand to sell Wyoming beef to markets beyond state borders.

Cody orthopedic surgeon Dr. Frank Schmidt purchased the former Cody Meat slaughterhouse in September and rebranded it as Wyoming Legacy Meats. Wyoming Legacy Meats spokeswoman Virginia Schmidt, Frank Schmidt’s daughter, says the company plans to partner with ranches across the state.

The company hopes to operate a USDA facility by April, though the process could take longer.

Cattle Theft not Just a Crime of the Past

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 02:04:53 GMT

The ad in the paper is a plea for help. An offer is made — $20,000 in exchange for information about 24 cows branded “D — D” and 28 calves stolen from Sheridan, Wyo., last year. Cattle rustling is not a thing of the past.

The missing cattle wear a brand owned by William J. Doenz of Sheridan who manages the D Bar D Ranch. The cattle were grazing when they disappeared in August 2013.

Livestock investigator Casey Cunningham was limited in what he could say about the case other than it was open and under investigation.

Investigating cattle disappearances is not always a cut-and-dry job, Cunningham said.

“Sometimes we won’t get a report until a month after the fact,” he told The Sheridan Press . “And then we tend to have to go on speculation. We need good evidence.”

Cunningham said reasons for cattle disappearances can vary from predator attacks to cattle wandering off on open range. Reports run the gamut from simple missing reports to outright accusations.

“We’ll have people accusing other people of stealing cattle just because they don’t like them,” Cunningham said. “We have to look at all the facts and make sure we’re actually dealing with stolen cattle.”

While some reports indicate that cattle rustling in Wyoming is on the rise, Cunningham said he feels it’s about what it usually is.

Doug Miyamoto, director of the Wyoming Livestock Board, said he feels it’s somewhere in the middle.

“It’s a tough question,” Miyamoto said. “But if you take a hard look at it, (rustling) is up a little, but not significantly.”

While industry production is at a 20-year low, retail prices are at an all-time high. According to the USDA, a feeder cow that sold for just under $170 per hundredweight last year will now fetch about $230, making the price about $1,700 per head last year and about $2,300 per head this year. That means the cows and calves missing from Sheridan potentially represent about a $120,000 loss.

Miyamoto said there is a register for missing cattle similar to a missing persons register, but hard and fast statistics are almost impossible.

“About 40 percent of Wyoming is federal land,” Miyamoto said. “Much of that is BLM land, and it’s available for grazing. Cattle can disappear on open range and then show up a year later after they’ve been reported missing.That’s going to alter the statistics some.”

Carl Clements, a district supervisor with the Wyoming Highway Patrol, said it wasn’t unusual for ranchers not see cattle for weeks, which tends to delay reports of stolen cattle.

The Highway Patrol handles initial calls reporting livestock theft.

“Most ranchers only see their cattle every day in the winter,” Clements said. “If they’re grazing cattle on leased land with a good fence and plenty of grass and water, it can be weeks before they see the cattle again. If the cattle are on open range, it can be even longer.”

Cunningham said the lag time between when cattle actually go missing and when they’re reported makes investigating difficult.

“By the time we hear about it, any evidence we need is gone,” he said.

Cattle trucks in Wyoming can be stopped at any time for a brand inspection, Clements said, and shipping papers are checked at port of entries throughout the state.

But Cunningham said cattle traveling in horse trailers are a little harder to keep track of, and cattle that make it over the Missouri River are even harder to trace.

“There’s no inspection that far east,” he said. “Out-of-state buyers are supposed to check brands, but that doesn’t mean they’ll do it.”