BUSINESS & AG
THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — 3B
Analyst sees bett er times ahead for catt le producers
are still underperforming. But
fed prices have recovered from
Cattle producers have had a
the $95 per hundredweight last
tough time over the last couple
summer to about $114 now, he
of years, but better times
said.
are ahead, according to one
“So the markets have had
industry analyst.
a nice recovery, but there’s
The COVID-19 pan-
still signifi cant potential
demic backed up nearly a
above where we’re sitting
million head of fed cattle
today,” he said.
last spring, Randy Blach,
Drought has continued,
Blach
CEO of CattleFax, told the
and the herd is continuing to
National Cattlemen’s Beef Asso-
contract. But cattle prices are still
ciation Winter Reboot conference
not where producers want them to
last week.
be, he said.
“We’ve pretty much got the
With record packer and retail
slaughter back on pace in here,
margins, cattle producers have
but we’re still putting record ton-
been frustrated. But there’s also
nage through these systems,” he
been record beef production since
said.
mid-June 2020, he said.
That record tonnage is still
“This has been what’s holding
testing the market, and markets
us back to some degree,” he said.
Weather impacts in the last
couple of weeks are going to shave
some tonnage off markets, but
there’s still plenty of cattle to har-
vest, he said.
“But there are better times to
come,” he said.
Beef demand in 2020 was the
strongest in over 30 years, and it’s
going to be another strong year in
2021. The growth in beef demand
has added more than $250 a head
to the value of fed cattle over the
last several years, he said.
“So this has been pretty phe-
nomenal,” he said.
Retail meat sales were up 10%
in volume in 2020, even though
foodservice sales were hammered.
Retail meat sales were up 18%
in value, an increase of nearly
$13 billion. Beef’s share of that
increase was almost $6 billion, he
said.
“People voted with their pock-
etbooks. I think we’ve got to like
what we see transpire here,” he
said.
Despite higher unemployment,
U.S. household wealth increased
more than $620 billion in 2020
due to government support, he
said.
“As this economy opens back
up again, people are going to want
to get out and spend money,” he
said.
He expects U.S. gross domestic
product growth will be some-
where near 6% in 2021. Some of
that will depend on how fast pop-
ulations in the U.S. and other parts
of the world are vaccinated. But
he’s expecting two years of strong
GDP growth post-COVID.
When the economy opens back
up, job markets will improve and
people are going to want to spend
money, he said.
“The consumer balance sheet is
in the strongest position it’s been
since the early 2000s,” he said.
Government data would sug-
gest U.S. household net worth has
increased $5 trillion.
“That bodes well for demand
going forward,” he said.
In the bigger picture, agri-
cultural loan repayments are up,
debt is down, land values have
increased and global demand is
strong, he said.
“This should be a nice run for
the agriculture industries here
over the next three to four years,”
he said.
REAL ESTATE
estate has been done,” she said.
“We bring in a new approach.”
As the designated broker, Smith
said she will assist agents in navi-
gating the current hectic real estate
climate.
“There’s a fine line of being
competitive with your offer,”
she said.
States said Keller Williams
Realty Boise was founded 21 years
ago and has 740 agents. She said
part of the company’s approach
is to offer “brokerage support” to
agents who live elsewhere, such as
Baker City.
“We have a staff of 13 people
who all support these agents in
Oregon,” she said.
To contact an agent at Keller
Williams Four Rivers, call
541-249-3731.
More information is online at
www.kwfourrivers.com.
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Continued from Page 1B
Agents also have access to the
database, mobile app and market
statistics to assist in their job of
helping clients buy or sell.
“There’s so much that goes
into the strategy of advocating for
buyers and sellers,” States said.
This technique of using tech-
nology, she said, might bring a
new twist to real estate in Eastern
Oregon.
“There’s been a certain way real
AUCTION
Continued from Page 1B
Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian
Dwight and Steven Hammond land by private jet at the Burns Municipal Airport on Wednes-
day, July 11, 2018. A senior adviser in the U.S. Department of Interior on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021,
rescinded the January decision to grant Hammond Ranches Inc. a 10-year grazing permit.
HAMMOND
Continued from Page 1B
January 19 Decision and
remanding the matter to the
BLM to allow for full con-
sideration of the timely pro-
tests received by the BLM,”
the memo said.
She directed the Bureau
of Land Management to
pursue additional opportu-
nities for public involvement
and “a careful and consid-
ered review” of any chal-
lenges. She also instructed
the Bureau of Land Man-
agement to post notice of
the rescission online and
mail copies to all appli-
cants and other interested
stakeholders.
W. Alan Schroeder, the
attorney representing Ham-
mond Ranches Inc., declined
comment on Friday’s
development.
Four environmental
advocacy groups on
Thursday sued the Inte-
rior secretary and Bureau of
Land Management, alleging
last month’s permit approval
on the fi nal day of the
Trump administration was
“tainted by political infl u-
ence” and that a “rushed and
truncated public process”
cut out opportunities for
public participation required
by law.
The suit further accused
the federal government of
granting the permit to the
Hammonds over other appli-
cants who were qualifi ed
and bypassing an adminis-
trative appeal process.
“We’re grateful that the
new administration saw right
away that Bernhardt’s deci-
sion to grant the grazing
permit without the proper
public participation could not
stand,” said Greta Anderson,
deputy director of Western
Watersheds Project, one of
the four groups that fi led
the suit. “We believe when
they reconsider the proposed
action, they’ll realize there
were major substantive prob-
lems as well.”
Yet the Oregon Farm
Bureau argued that the
Hammonds’ grazing permit
should be restored and not
issued or taken away based
on “ever-changing regula-
tory whims,” according to
farm bureau spokeswoman
Anne Marie Moss.
“The Hammond family
are long-standing pillars of
the Harney County com-
munity who have been sub-
jected to continued gov-
ernment overreach while
sustainably managing their
ranch for the benefi t of the
local community, local
ecosystems, and genera-
tions of their family,” the
Oregon Farm Bureau’s state-
ment said. “The decision to
issue their grazing permit
should be a criteria-based
process, and one that BLM
approaches objectively. The
Hammonds have demon-
strated several times that
all applicable factors favor
them being restored their
permit, including the fam-
ily’s record of stewardship,
their ownership of intermin-
gled private land and sev-
eral range improvements,
and their contributions to
the local economy. It is fun-
damentally unfair to con-
tinually subject this family
to ever-changing regulatory
whims, and in the process,
jeopardize their livelihood,
proper rangeland manage-
ment, and ability to fully uti-
lize their private lands. The
Hammond’s permit should
be restored, and the family
should be allowed to move
forward with their lives in
peace.’’
The grazing permit
covers four land allotments
called Hammond, Mud
Creek, Hardie Summer
and Hammond Fenced
Federal Range and allows
cattle grazing on more
than 26,000 acres of public
lands neighboring Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge
about 45 to 70 miles south
of Burns, near the town of
Frenchglen.
In February 2014, the
Bureau of Land Manage-
ment rejected the Ham-
monds’ renewal application,
citing the Hammonds’ crim-
inal convictions.
In early 2019, former
Interior Secretary Ryan
Zinke issued a renewal of
their grazing permit on his
last day in offi ce.
The renewal followed
six months after Trump’s
pardon of the Hammonds
in July 2018. Dwight Ham-
mond Jr. and Steven Ham-
mond had been convicted
of arson and were serving
out fi ve-year mandatory
minimum sentences for
setting fi re to public land
where they had grazing
rights. Both were convicted
of setting a fi re in 2001,
and the son was convicted
of setting a second fi re in
2006.
In December 2019, U.S.
District Judge Michael H.
Simon of Portland revoked
the grazing permit fi nding
Zinke’s renewal was an
“abuse of discretion.”
for more than $3,500 were
offered free delivery on
the fi rst 1,000 miles from
Enterprise, according to
the brochure.
In the brochure, Botts
spoke highly of his past
partnership with Rollin’
Rock, but was eager to sell
at home.
“We are extremely
excited to have our sale at
home,” he said. “It was a
very tough decision to take
the leap and go out on our
own.”
Botts said sale prices
averaged about $4,500 per
bull.
“The top bull brought
$20,000,” he said. “He’s
going to Wyoming.”
Bulls, of course, are
sold for the quality of
calves they can produce,
with proven genetics from
past breeding.
“We are still striving to
raise good, solid cattle that
will go out and work with no
problems, help make their
new owners profi table and
leave outstanding females,”
Botts said in the brochure.
The fi fth-generation
ranch, which includes the
Botts’ two sons, also pro-
INVESTING
Continued from Page 1B
grams the Oregon Entre-
preneurs Network offers in
Portland and the Economic
Development for Central
Oregon.
“Eastern Oregon is one
of the few parts of Oregon
that doesn’t have access
to a program like this,” he
said.
The March 25 workshop
will kick off this process in
Eastern Oregon.
“This will help us gauge
the interest of non-insti-
tutional investors in the
region,” Zehr said. If we
can pull together a group
that is interested in sup-
porting this activity, then
we will start recruiting
entrepreneurs. It can be a
little bit of a chicken and
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Beau Botts, left, owner of Botts Angus Ranch at Enter-
prise, talks with a couple of buyers after his fi rst sale at
the ranch’s new facility Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. Botts
plans to hold a sale there each year.
duces registered and com-
mercial Angus cows.
As with the rest of the
world dealing with the
COVID-19 pandemic,
Botts mentioned in the
brochure that it will affect
the agriculture industry.
“It has been a chal-
lenging time for everyone
and our fi ngers are crossed
that we will get through
this and come out the
other side stronger in the
ag industry, along with all
mankind,” he said.
He added that he’s
hoping to keep it peaceful
and profi table.
“That being said, I
believe if we can keep poli-
tics out of it, we are looking
at some strong markets the
next few years,” he said.
“The demand for good,
quality beef seems to be
high in the U.S. and around
the world.”
———
Bill Bradshaw is a
reporter for the Wallowa
County Chieftain.
egg type scenario, but this
is how we are trying to
address that.”
The program is infor-
mational in nature, but
the ultimate goal is to
help raise an angel fund
to invest in early-stage
Eastern Oregon business
ventures. Zehr said the
state of Oregon also has
expressed an interest in
chipping in. He also said
there is no pre-set min-
imum funding goal.
OTBC works with
a fund that is $25,000-
$30,000 per year, he said,
while Oregon Entrepre-
neurs Network’s Angel
Oregon is back again
this year after a three-
year break with a fund of
$125,000.
“This is just meant to be
a starting point for EOV.
As the activity became
more popular, we would
expect the size of the fund
to grow,” Zehr said. “The
initial contribution from
the state should be $5,000.
This has the potential to
grow over time, if the effort
is successful. Of course, if
the activity is successful
over time, the expectation
is that state funds would
not be required at all.”
Angel funds typically
target traded sector startups
with the potential for scale,
he said, and investors in the
fund control the investment
decision.
“It will be self-di-
rected,” Zehr said. “We just
provide administrative ser-
vices and direction.”
If you want to know
more about angel investing,
check out the workshop.
To register, visit https://bit.
ly/3b8G0qB.
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