Friday, September 24, 2021
CapitalPress.com 9
Wolves: Idaho lawmakers this year approved year-round trapping of wolves
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“If you destroy the core pop-
ulation, that has an impact on the
number of wolves dispersing into
adjacent states,” she said.
Environmentalists had hoped
the Biden administration would
issue an emergency rule to stop
hunting in Idaho and Montana.
“We would have loved to see more
immediate action,” Weiss said.
The Trump administration took
wolves throughout the Lower 48
off the federal protection list. The
decision delisted wolves in the
western two-thirds of Washington
and Oregon and in California.
Environmental groups have
been seeking to restore protection
in those areas by suing in U.S. Dis-
trict Court of Northern California.
Until Sept. 15, the Biden admin-
istration had defended withdraw-
ing federal protection from wolves
throughout the West.
The Biden administration has
argued in court filings that the
population of wolves in the West
was “robust, well distributed and
expanding.”
Wolves in the northern Rocky
Mountains and Great Lakes are
connected with a large population
of wolves in Canada and are not in
danger of going extinct, the admin-
istration has argued.
The Biden administration also
said that state management plans
were no reason to change the sci-
ence behind delisting.
The Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice, however, said Sept. 15 that
environmental groups had pre-
sented “substantial” new infor-
mation. The petitions focused on
management plans in Idaho and
Montana.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef
Association and Public Lands
Council said in a joint statement
that they were disappointed, but
confident that the science behind
delisting wolves will hold up.
“It is unacceptable for the ser-
vice to continue to be held hostage
by groups who want nothing more
than to turn the Endangered Spe-
cies Act into a permanent manage-
ment tool,” Lands Council execu-
tive director Kaitlynn Glover.
Idaho lawmakers this year
approved year-round trapping of
wolves on private land and unlim-
ited purchase of wolf tags.
Hay: ‘It’s a pretty sad story in all of the West’
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His first cutting of hay
was off as well, but it wasn’t
as severe, Purdy said.
“The two biggest issues
were early and pervasive
heat and water shut off the
first of July,” he said.
Temperatures in the
mid-90s in June followed
above-average heat in May.
That stresses alfalfa, causing
it to bloom early — which
means it has to be cut, he
said.
The Purdy operation
grows about 2,000 acres Cattle graze at the Purdy ranch in Picabo, Idaho.
of hay — alfalfa to sell for
dairy hay and grass hay to
feed his family’s 750 pairs
of beef cattle. Yields on the
grass hay are down a little
this year, so he kept back
some of the dairy hay for his
cattle.
“I think we’re going
to have enough to get us
through the winter,” he said.
But the hay supply is
tight, and prices are high.
Dairy-quality hay in his mar-
ket is selling for about $240
a ton. Last year it peaked at
$180 a ton.
“So it’s up significantly. A
$60 swing is a pretty substan-
tial move in pricing,” he said.
The drought is having a
big effect on hay supply and
markets across the region,
said Mark T. Anderson, pres-
ident and CEO of Anderson
Hay & Grain Co., a major
exporter of Pacific North-
west hay and straw.
“It’s been quite a few
years since hay stocks were
really cleaned up … eight to
10 years,” he said.
In the West, hay stocks
have tightened at the same
time as the drought, and
demand is especially high,
he said.
While exports influence
the hay market, domestic
demand still is the biggest
driver, he said.
“When hay stocks are Freshly cut hay dries on the Purdy farm in Picabo, Idaho.
tight and a drought is driving
up domestic demand, you see ter for Risk Management in lished hay prices aren’t as
high as farmers are reporting.
what we’re seeing now — Spokane.
The curious thing is pub- Some growers are reporting
really high prices,” he said.
Depending on quality, lished reports on hay produc- prices $100 a ton higher than
alfalfa hay is selling for $150 tion don’t seem to portray the the published reports — with
to $230 a ton, up $50 a ton drought’s impacts as dire as people scrambling to find it,
he’s hearing from farmers. Neibergs said.
from average, he said.
Tighter hay supplies are
Based on acreage, yields Dryland alfalfa producers
and demand, “we’ll defi- across the region are saying reflected in alfalfa prices,
nitely be putting less inven- they’ll be lucky to get a sec- with demand also being
tory together this year for ond cutting, he said.
driven by strong exports to
export,” he said.
Nationwide, alfalfa hay such countries as China, he
The company will man- production is expected said.
age to secure about as much to be down 12% this year
“That’s just more com-
alfalfa as planned, but Timo- on 16.1 million acres, a petition for the sources we
thy hay and grass straw sup- decline of 107,000 acres have,” he said.
plies will definitely be down, compared to 2020. Pro-
Another factor is the loss
he said.
duction of other hay is of grazing resources due to
expected to be down 4% wildfires that have continued
Deep drought
on 35.4 million acres, a to burn grazing land around
The U.S. Drought Mon- decline of 594,000 acres.
the region, he said.
itor map for the West is
In the Pacific Northwest
“It’s harder to find hay
emblazoned with deep hues — Washington, Oregon and because people have a high
of orange and red. As of Sept. Idaho — alfalfa production is demand from a wider area of
16, 94% of the region was in expected to be down 10% on people willing to transport it
some level of drought — and 1.8 million acres, an increase farther,” he said.
81% was in severe, extreme of 30,000 acres. Production
There are lots of stories,
or exceptional drought.
of other hay is expected to be but not much data, on hay
“The drought is wide- down 18% in the region on being transported from the
spread all across the West,” 1.17 million acres, the same Palouse region — south-
eastern Washington and
said Shannon Neibergs, a as last year.
Washington State Univer-
In addition to more mod- north-central Idaho — to
sity agricultural economist erate production declines Montana, which is unusual,
and director of WSU’s Cen- than he’d expected, pub- he said.
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
est growing season since
record-keeping began 126
years ago.
“That’s having an effect
on hay production for sure,”
he said.
There are reports of farm-
ers all over the state being
out of water, and crops are
just burning up, particularly
in central Idaho. Hay grow-
ers there aren’t getting a sec-
ond cutting, he said.
But in some other areas
farmers haven’t had to
reduce water use. So far,
it hasn’t been much of an
issue in eastern Idaho, where
growers typically get three
cuttings, he said.
Most hay prices have
been higher than last year, he
said, estimating jumps of $20
to $30 a ton.
Livestock woes
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
High demand
The Idaho Hay and For-
age Association is getting
calls almost every day from
dairies and beef cattle oper-
ations looking for hay —
and from hay farmers say-
ing they’re out of water, said
Will Ricks, president of the
association and an eastern
Idaho grower.
He recently drove through
a portion of central Idaho
where irrigation pivots that
would normally be running
were shut off.
“It’s just really, really dry
up there. They rely on a lot
of snowpack, and there really
wasn’t much ... this year,” he
said.
“We’re definitely not
going to have the tonnage
we’ve had in other years, and
no carryover,” he said.
Ranchers needing hay to
feed cattle better be tying it
up right now, he said.
“Come February, there’s
just not going to be any hay
around,” he said.
He said he just saw a
report that some parts of
the West have had the dri-
Those higher prices and
tight hay supplies in the West
are especially tough on live-
stock producers.
The value of livestock
production in the nine west-
ern states was $10.5 billion
for cattle and calves and $13
billion for milk in the 2017
Census of Agriculture.
The drought is hitting just
about every region west of
the Mississippi River, said
Larry Schnell, managing
partner of Stockman’s Live-
stock Exchange in Dickin-
son, N.D., and president of
the Livestock Marketing
Association.
“It’s a pretty sad story in
all of the West,” he said.
The situation is dire with
very little feed, especially
in the northern tier states
of the Dakotas, Montana,
Washington and Oregon, as
well as Nebraska, Wyoming
and Utah. Even Arizona
and Nevada conditions are
worse than normal, he said.
California is experienc-
ing its worst drought in
memory, he said. A lot of the
state is short of water, and
ranchers are having to haul
water or put in pipelines, he
said.
“People are having to sit
down at their kitchen table
and figure out how much
feed they have and how
many cows need to be sold,”
he said.
“There are many, many
cows being sold, and will be
to the first of the year,” he
said.
Almost any livestock
auction in the West is sell-
ing almost three times what
it would normally sell this
time of year, he said, add-
ing that ranchers are sell-
ing calves early and sell-
ing cows because they can’t
afford to feed them through
the winter.
“They want to hang onto
as many cows as possible,”
he said.
But North Dakota’s cow
herd is going to be down
20% to 30%. In some other
states, it’s going to be down
50%, he said.
“There are very few
states west of the Missis-
sippi that aren’t in very dire
trouble,” he said.
Ranchers typically put up
hay and other feed for win-
ter, but the drought means
there’s little to be had at
any price. In North Dakota,
growers are getting 1 bale of
hay an acre, or less.
Basically, there’s no hay
in North Dakota and ranch-
ers are having to reach into
Minnesota and Iowa to find
any, he said.
Dairy farmers are in the
same squeeze. Hay prices
are up and supplies are
down, said James Carr, West
Coast dairy director for
StoneX, a commodities trad-
ing consultant.
“Not only is it hard to
find but when you do find it,
it’s expensive,” he said.
Supreme dairy hay is
going for $240 to $250 a
ton, $70 to $80 more than a
year ago. Good feeder hay
is selling for $225 to $240,
compared to $140 to $150
last year, he said.
Other feed costs, includ-
ing corn and soybean meal,
are also up this year, but
there are signs those prices
could moderate going into
harvest, he said.
Back at the ranch
At Picabo Livestock —
about 70 miles northeast of
Twin Falls — Purdy is just
glad his irrigation water got
turned back on.
Otherwise, his third cut-
ting of hay would have suf-
fered a fate similar to that of
the meager second cutting,
forcing him to hold back
more of the cash crop to feed
his cattle through the winter.
“Surprisingly, the third
cutting is getting pretty good
yields. It looks actually a lit-
tle bit up,” he said.
He estimated his total
volume for the entire season
will be down about 15% to
20% from normal.
But, he said, it could have
been worse.
He doesn’t have as much
hay to sell, but his hay stor-
age is full and he’ll have
enough to get the beef cattle
herd through the winter.
But there remain a lot of
nervous producers out there.
There’s a lot higher hay
demand than can be met,
hay prices are high and peo-
ple have had to sell cows, he
said.
“If we have a hard winter,
which is what we need (to
make up for the drought), it’s
going to be hard on some cat-
tle producers,” he said.
WOTUS: EPA will modify the rule through ‘roundtable’ conversations with stakeholders
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a recent decision to reverse the
Navigable Waters Protection rule,
which the Trump administration
had created to rein in WOTUS.
Regan, in response, said the
agency “will not be reinstating
either the (Navigable Waters Pro-
tection Rule) or the Clean Water
Rule.”
Quarles then asked for a time-
line on the new WOTUS rule.
This fall, said Regan, EPA is
talking with state and tribal lead-
ers. In November, the agency will
propose an initial draft. Through
the winter, EPA will modify the
rule through “roundtable” con-
versations with stakeholders. The
final rule should be issued the fol-
lowing winter.
Dicamba
Quarles also asked Regan
about dicamba since EPA has been
reviewing the pesticide’s safety
record.
On Sept. 9, the agency sent let-
ters to Bayer, BASF, Syngenta and
Corteva asking for more infor-
mation on dicamba injury reports
from the 2021 season.
While dicamba is under review,
it’s hard for farmers to make plant-
ing decisions, said Quarles.
“Can dicamba-tolerant farm-
ers go ahead and make 2022 plant-
ing decisions and place their crop
intake orders now knowing that
the over-the-top dicamba products
will be available for the next grow-
ing season?” Quarles asked Regan.
Regan gave neither yes nor no
for an answer, instead saying the
agency is “extremely concerned”
about reports of dicamba poten-
tially doing harm. The EPA, he
said, is gathering factual infor-
mation and preparing, “if neces-
sary, to take appropriate regulatory
action.”
Ag adviser
In past administrations, Quarles
said, state agricultural regulators
have appreciated having a “go-to
ag person” at EPA. Would Regan
appoint an ag adviser, Quarles
asked?
“Yes,” said Regan. “I can’t
imagine doing this job the right
way without having a strong ag
adviser.”
Regan said Agriculture Secre-
tary Tom Vilsack has been helping
him “whittle down a pool of can-
didates” for the position. Regan
expects to appoint an ag adviser at
EPA by late October.