Friday, June 4, 2021
CapitalPress.com 9
Managed grazing keeps
rangeland healthy,
reduces fi re damage
By DOUG WARNOCK
Greener Pastures
W
ell-managed graz-
ing is an eff ec-
tive way to con-
trol invasive annual grasses
and broadleaf weeds and
helps to make rangelands bet-
ter able to withstand wild-
fi res, explains Tipton Hud-
son, Rangeland and Livestock
Management Extension Spe-
cialist with Washington State
University.
Hudson discusses graz-
ing and wildfi re manage-
ment in one of his “The Art of
the Range” podcast series at
www.artofrange.com.
“The shrub-steppe grass-
lands and dry pine forests
found in much of the West-
ern United States are prone to
fi re. There are some ecolog-
ical benefi ts to fi re and land
managers should think of how
to manage fi re risk rather than
trying to eliminate it,” he said.
“Some managers promote
heavier grazing for fi re reduc-
tion, but others caution that
this can shift plant communi-
ties toward more fl ammable
plant species. There is valid-
ity to both viewpoints. There
needs to be a balance between
the two philosophies.”
The perennial bunchgrass
plant communities, typical of
many grasslands in the Pacifi c
Northwest, have a shorter win-
dow of fl ammability due to
their higher moisture content
going into the summer than do
the invasive annual grasses.
The latter, such as cheat-
grass, has a much longer
period of high fl ammability.
Cheatgrass-dominated plant
communities have a danger-
ously low moisture content,
which extends fi re risk from
about May 1 to Oct. 1. This is
a fi ve-month high-risk period
versus the two-month risk
period of the perennial bunch-
grass communities.
Appropriately managed
grazing must incorporate the
combination of duration, fre-
quency and intensity of graz-
ing to allow the bunchgrass
communities to thrive. Hav-
ing healthy, thriving perennial
plants is the best way to sig-
nifi cantly reduce the invasion
of annual grasses.
Wildfi re intensity can be
managed by manipulating the
kind, amount and continuity
of the vegetation present in an
area. Grazing disturbs soil less
than mechanical techniques,
is less expensive and is more
environmentally friendly than
herbicides as a means of fi re
fuel management.
State lawmakers
call for Beef
Checkoff
referendum
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Legislators from 11
states sent a letter last month
to USDA Secretary Tom
Vilsack expressing concerns
about the viability of inde-
pendent cattle producers and
calling for more account-
ability in the Beef Checkoff
program.
The program assesses
cattle producers $1 for every
head of cattle they sell to
promote beef.
But the group said the
mandatory program doesn’t
give their cattle-producing
constituents an opportunity
to infl uence where those
advertising dollars go.
And, according to the
group, the system is broken.
“This tax was voted on
in 1985 under the auspices
that the money raised would
go to promote exclusively
USA beef. Unfortunately,
that money is being fun-
neled away from its origi-
nal intent and is being used
by private associations and
entities that do not exclu-
sively represent USA beef,”
the letter stated.
“Why is a federally man-
dated tax going to support
and promote foreign beef as
well as private entities?” the
lawmakers asked.
Greener
Pastures
Doug Warnock
“Moderate to heavy graz-
ing every year is not a good
idea. A century of rangeland
science has shown that bunch-
grass must be allowed to go to
seed at least every other year,”
he said. “That does not mean
that bunchgrasses cannot be
grazed every year. It means
that bunchgrasses cannot be
grazed during the April-June
period every year. If grazed
early in the season, they
require a growing period after
the grazing to recover leaf tis-
sue, root mass, and to produce
seed. The length of the recov-
ery period, rather than the
grazing period, is the key to
avoiding overgrazing.”
Animals that stay too
long in a plant community or
return too soon after the pre-
vious grazing can damage
bunchgrasses.
Well-managed grazing is
an eff ective way of controlling
the invasion of undesirable
plants and can enhance the
health of perennial grasslands.
There is research showing
that proper grazing can help
to manage fi re fuel loads on
rangelands. But heavy grazing
every year is not the solution
to fi re on our Northwest range-
lands and dry forests.
Well-managed grazing
that targets invasive, undesir-
able plants and promotes fi re
resistant plant species helps to
limit the severity and extent
of wildfi re.
Doug Warnock, retired
from Washington State Uni-
versity Extension, lives on a
ranch in the Touchet River
Valley where he writes about
and teaches grazing manage-
ment. He can be contacted at
dwarnockgreenerpastures@
gmail.com.
Livestock
USDA to slow pork processing line speeds
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
USDA has announced pork pro-
cessing plants operating under the
New Swine Slaughter Inspection
System should prepare to revert to a
maximum line speed of 1,106 head
per hour on June 30.
USDA’s action is the result of a
federal district court ruling strik-
ing down a provision in the fi nal
rule for the new system allowing
increased line speeds. That provision
had removed maximum line speeds
and allowed plants to determine their
own line speeds based on their abil-
ity to maintain process control.
The U.S. District Court for the
District of Minnesota vacated that
portion of the fi nal rule, fi nding
that USDA violated the Administra-
tive Procedures Act when it failed to
consider earlier public comment on
worker safety in the fi nal rule.
Five of the six plants aff ected
by the decision have been running
higher line speeds for more than
20 years under the pilot program
aimed at modernizing USDA’s swine
inspection system.
Those plants were running
between 1,225 and 1,450 head per
hour, according to an analysis by
National Pork Producers Council/Linked In
A federal judge’s ruling has forced
USDA to reduce the line speed at
pork processing plants.
Dermot Hayes, an economist at Iowa
State University.
The National Pork Produc-
ers Council urged USDA to appeal
the ruling, citing disastrous conse-
quences for hog farmers.
“NPPC is disappointed with the
USDA’s decision to support a fl awed
federal district court decision to strike
down line-speed provisions…,” the
council said in an emailed response
to Capital Press.
Line speeds in the New Swine
Inspection System have been suc-
cessfully evaluated and tested since
the Clinton administration, it said.
“Based on more than 20 years of
development, NSIS line speeds have
been proven to safely support much-
needed pork processing capacity in
the United States,” the council said.
While USDA has until the end of
August to appeal the decision, irrep-
arable harm will be exacted on small
U.S. hog farmers when this court
order goes into eff ect at the end of
June, it said.
“NPPC will continue to pursue all
avenues to reverse a court decision
that will lead to pork industry con-
solidation and increased packer mar-
ket power,” the council said.
Sarah Little, vice president of
communications for the North Amer-
ican Meat Institute, said mem-
bers aff ected by the court’s ruling
will continue to operate their facil-
ities with the highest worker safety
standards.
“There are significant unin-
tended consequences associated
with the judge’s ruling, includ-
ing workers who will now have
increased workloads as companies
attempt to make up for lost produc-
tion and hundreds of processing
positions that may be eliminated,”
she said.
In addition, Hayes’ economic
study estimated small pork produc-
ers could lose more than $80 mil-
lion, she said.
Email lori@wawg.org or call 509.659.0610 with questions.
Register today
for our upcoming
live WEBINAR
Wednesday, June 9
wawg.org/ammo-workshops
9 a.m.-11a.m.
2021
Presented by AMMO, a program of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers
AMMO continues to support the ag industry by partnering with WSU Extension to
offer this year’s popular Wheat College event as a live webinar presentation.
Event sponsored by:
The Washington Grain Commission and our valued AMMO sponsors.
Representatives from WSU Extension will present the following topics:
Drew Lyon – Managing Herbicide Resistance in Wheat Production Systems
Tim Murray – Biology and Management of Stripe Rust in Wheat
Dale Whaley – Biology and Management of Hessian Fly in Wheat
2 WSDA pesticide credits have been requested.
This is a free webinar, brought to you by the Washington Association of Wheat
Growers. Your membership is appreciated but not required to participate.
Registered participants will be entered into a drawing for a Blackstone Grill.
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