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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2019)
AG DAY BlueMountainEagle.com Wednesday, March 20, 2019 A7 Ranching: then and now Cattle ranchers share the positive and negative changes in the industry By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Although agriculture has been around for many years, many changes have occurred in recent memory that impact those who produce food for a living. For Ag Day 2019, the owners of two local ranches described changes they have witnessed in agriculture. Sharon Livingston Long Creek rancher Sha- ron Livingston has been around to see changes affect- ing the ranching industry for over 50 years. Her roots run deep in Grant County as her great-great-grandfather set- tled in the area. Livingston Ranch, where she lives, once belonged to her great-uncle Will Car- ter, and her dad bought it in 1945. Another piece of prop- erty she owns was once the home of her great-grandfa- ther CW Conger. Livingston says she takes pride in her land, which bor- ders the national forest. “I’ve managed it — the grass, trees and water func- tion to support wildlife, not just cattle,” she said. Caring for the land was just a way of life, growing up on a ranch. “Back then we worked, we made sure we took care of our animals, we made sure we didn’t destroy any of the environment, and we were proud to be ranchers,” she said. That is still the case today, she said, but she feels now that some legislation, such as the recent cap and trade proposal, is crippling ranchers. We are ruled by laws, she said. Laws are passed by the legislators in Salem, and then the laws pass to the agency that will write the administrative rule that we abide by. “The Legislature in the state of Oregon is controlled by the west side of the mountain,” she said. “Cap and trade will increase my operating expenses, and if you know about the livestock business, you know Sharon we operate Livingston on a narrow margin,” she recently wrote to legisla- tors. “This will not be good for rural Oregon. ... One size does not fi t all.” Livingston serves on the Oregon Board of Agricul- ture, and says she does so “to support agriculture and Grant County and water.” She was president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Associa- tion from 2005-06, and she’s slated to receive an award as an honorary state FFA mem- ber on March 23 at the state convention in Redmond. She supports FFA pro- grams in the schools and was a 4-H leader for several years. “It’s my position that we have to support young peo- ple if we want to continue agriculture,” she said. Livingston has grandchil- dren she hopes will be inter- ested in her ranch. She raises hereford-an- gus cross cattle. She recalls that, growing up on the ranch, many jobs were accomplished with horses. “We cut hay with mow- ers pulled by horses,” she said. “We raked hay and had buck rakes — they brought the loose hay down to the stack.” Later, they cut and baled hay with tractors. “We’ve moved from the horse era to the machinery era,” she said. “Things are different now.” She said she now buys hay and raises some grass hay with alfalfa and alfalfa grass mix to feed her cows. Huge bales are kicked off a wagon pulled by a pickup, and there are no longer any horses involved in that part. However, she said, “When it comes time to move the cows around, I want people on horseback, and I still ride a horse.” The Grant County Fair in Contributed photo Mat and Jennifer Carter on their ranch in Seneca. John Day has been another big part of Livingston’s ranch life, having attended the event, including the fair parade, since she was 3 years old. “I had 4-H animals, and we came to the fair every year,” she said. “The fair was our family vacation.” Livingston said her ancestors moved to the area because they believed East- ern Oregon would be the best place to live. “I want to stay here and remain in agriculture sus- tainably and be a good stew- ard of the land,” she said. “I am a true conservationist.” Mat and Jennifer Carter Mat and Jennifer Car- ter raise mostly hereford, angus and red angus cross at Crown Cattle Company in Seneca. a year ago, and so far it has been successful. “They pay a premium of 15 cents per pound over the market price,” he said. “It’s going to help our bottom line.” Livestock depredation by wolves is another issue many ranchers have faced over the last several years. The Carters said they hav- en’t seen any wolves but have heard them and believe they have resident wolves in the area. One of their calves was attacked in Logan Valley last fall on private property. It didn’t die but had a bite wound on the back of its leg, and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife offi - cials confi rmed it was a wolf attack, Mat said. Both Mat and Jennifer said the recent delisting of wolves from the ESA is a positive step toward giving ranchers the ability to bet- ter manage wolves to protect their livestock. One thing about ranching that has not changed for the Carters is the lifestyle. “There’s not a better place to raise a family than on a ranch,” Jennifer said. “It’s hard work that makes it good — hard work teaches values.” “We get to work together as a family, and we get to be out in God’s creation,” she said. Mat agreed, and added, “We have really great neigh- bors — that’s a big deal too. I think that’s the same for most ranchers.” Mat’s parents bought the ranch in 1984, and he and Jennifer took it over in 2002. The Carters, who have three grown children and one still at home, have seen some changes for the better and for the worse in ranching over the years, but their overall view of the lifestyle is a pos- itive one. One negative is the vola- tile cattle market, fl uctuating as much as 50 percent in the last 10 years, as costs keep going up. “Our input costs continue to rise for fuel, equipment, feed, insurance and labor — those are the main ones,” Mat said. A new, positive-looking trend has been the grass-fed beef program, he said. “We’ve always sold a few grass-fed, and in the last 10 years the national grass-fed demand for beef has increased 25 percent per year,” he said. It is still just 5 percent of the market but growing at a fast rate. Mat said they’ve selected genetics for cattle that are moderate-framed and easy fl eshing. He said the cattle they raise fi t well into a grass- fed and fi nished program. Due to the increased demand for grass-fed beef, the Carters are selling into a program with a buyer in Texas. Cactus Feeders and Tyson Foods process the beef, and the meat goes to high-end meat counters. He said they started from scratch and began buying into the program last winter, At the end of the rainbow Ranching is hard work. Contributed photo/Randall Pearson Cattle graze in a fi eld outside of Long Creek after a rainstorm. Driving cattle I’ll work hard to protect your ranch and auto. Get to a better State . Get State Farm. CALL ME TODAY. ® Jeanette Hueckman, Agent 101 W Main Street John Day, OR 97845 Bus: 541-575-2073 jeanettehueckman.com Contributed photo/Kristen Neuburger Kristen Neuburger sent in this photo of a cattle drive up Cottonwood above Monument. 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