All Entries in the "Ranching" Category

Cattle on Feed report April 17, 2025
REGIONAL NEWS RELEASE United States Department of Agriculture NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE MOUNTAIN REGIONAL FIELD OFFICE P.O. BOX 150969 · Lakewood, CO 80215-0969 CATTLE ON FEED NOTE: This will be the last issue of the state-level Cattle on Feed report made by the Mountain Regional Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA. […]

Colorado ranchers in uproar over feds’ high-voltage power corridor
Rancher Bob Bamber leans against his truck near a power substation across the road from his family’s ranch outside Lamar For Bob Bamber, the connection goes back to his great-great-grandfather, who homesteaded north of Pritchett, a tiny Baca County town of barely 100 people not far from the Oklahoma state line. So the 44-year-old rancher […]

Trump’s tariff roller coaster is no fun for Colorado’s farm and agriculture industry
At the start of the week, small businesses reluctantly faced new 25% tariffs that kicked in Tuesday morning on anything imported from Canada and Mexico. A day later, the Trump administration suspended tariffs for automakers abiding by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. A day after that, the president paused most of the other new tariffs until April 2, at least on […]

Wyoming rancher invents device to keep stock tank water ice-free – works better and is less costly to run than traditional tank heaters
Necessity is the mother of all inventions. Cold climate ranchers have fought frozen water since time immemorial, but it took one rancher from Oshoto, Wyoming to challenge the notion that it always had to be that way. The Water Rippler, invented by Randall and Shondah Otwell, may transform year-round water access for livestock owners. “There’s […]

Dan May of Stratton, Colorado inducted into Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame recently
Dan May, inductee into Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Feb. 19, 2025) — The Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame recognized Dan May of Stratton, Colorado, as a 2025 inductee during its 16th annual banquet on Feb. 5, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas. Established in 2009, the Hall of Fame was created […]

Interstate power lines threaten farmers’ land in southeastern Colorado
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article provides more in-depth information about the controversial proposed electrical transmission corridor that was discussed at the recent Prowers County Commissioner’s meeting. A federal plan to accelerate electrical grid updates is meeting major resistance in communities across the country, including three Colorado counties Transmission lines along Prowers County Road 13, north of […]

An Idaho rancher lost zero cattle to wolves in a decade. Can he help Colorado ranchers do the same?
A gray wolf looks over its shoulder after being released into an area filled with sage brush. It is one of 20 wolves released in January 2025, 15 of which were translocated from British Columbia (Colorado Parks and Wildlife photo) A room full of ranchers stared at Glenn Elzinga as he told them one of […]

Cattle Rustling is decimating Western Slope ranchers
Cattle graze near Needle Rock in Delta County The grass crunches underfoot and dust billows in dense clouds as a truck and trailer speed out of public lands in Montrose County. The trailer is full of calves lowing plaintively. The driver gives the Western salute, one or two fingers raised as a four-by-four rumbles past. The […]

Colorado General Assembly looking to cut funding for wolf reintroduction program to cover shortfall for new budget
The hunt for coins in the couch cushions — the Colorado General Assembly’s budget crafters are scrambling to find hundreds of millions of dollars to cover a shortfall projected for the 2025-26 budget and are eyeing wolf funding as a potential area to cut — is getting pushback from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. And the agency has […]

Registration is Open for CCA’s 2025 Mid-Winter Conference
LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Registration is now open for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association’s (CCA) 2025 Mid-Winter Conference, which will be held on January 20-21st at the Denver Marriott West Hotel in Golden, CO. The 2025 Mid-Winter Conference will kick off on January 20th with CCA’s Board of Directors meeting, as well as a board meeting for […]

Registration open for Colorado Cattlemen’s Association January Mid-Winter Conference
LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Registration is now open for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association’s (CCA) 2025 Mid-Winter Conference, which will be held on January 20-21st at the Denver Marriott West Hotel in Golden, CO. The 2025 Mid-Winter Conference will kick off on January 20th with CCA’s Board of Directors meeting, as well as a board meeting for […]

Registration is Open for CCA’s 2025 Mid-Winter Conference
LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Registration is now open for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association’s (CCA) 2025 Mid-Winter Conference, which will be held on January 20-21st at the Denver Marriott West Hotel in Golden, CO. The 2025 Mid-Winter Conference will kick off on January 20th with CCA’s Board of Directors meeting, as well as a board meeting for […]

Part Two of Southern Plains Land Trust – ferrets, birds, and new projects on the horizon!
One of the most recently released black-footed ferrets at SPLT (photo courtesy of Karen Voepel) EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part II of a story about Southern Plains Land Trust in southeast Colorado. As Judith and I continued our tour of the property, I asked about an article I had recently read about the reintroduction of […]

Managing water and irrigation in Colorado a complicated problem
You’ve heard the news: Farmers and ranchers use roughly 80% of the water in Colorado and much of the American West. So doesn’t it make sense that if growers and producers could just cut a bit of that, say 10%, we could wipe out all our water shortages? We probably couldn’t water our lawns with […]