Report: The New Ranch May Be Key to the Success of the New West

By Tonya Poole, 4-12-06

There’s a saying in farming and ranching circles that asphalt is the last crop. That paints a dim picture, but Tuesday’s panelists chose instead to focus not on lamenting the issue, but on showing through example how modifying traditional ranching lands and practices to meet new challenges has renewed the definition of success for ranchers and habitat alike throughout the Rockies.

Moderator Jack Wold, president of Wold Oil and Gas and a rancher himself, led the discussion on the threats and signs of hope in Rockies ranching, with student researcher Andrew Yarbrough, author and environmentalist Dan Dagget, ranchers and leaders of the Country Natural Beef co-op Doc and Connie Hatfield, rancher Dale Lasater, New Seasons Market CEO Brian Rohter and rancher and Wyoming State Senator John Schiffer.

Panel Recap
The lively discussion kicked off with a presentation from Yarbrough highlighting the changes ranching has seen over the last several decades, and the trends that promise to shape – for better or worse – the future of ranching in the Rockies. Like conservation and biodiversity, ranching’s biggest threat is population growth, with ranch lands being sold off to developers with offers too tempting for struggling farmers and ranchers to turn down. Shrinking healthy soils and grasses, consolidation of the livestock industry and the ongoing effects of government subsidies were also on trial during the discussion. As commodity prices have decreased and input costs have risen, ranchers face tough choices and an ever-declining ability to keep up with and combat inflation. Net losses throughout the region are profound, with northern Arizona taking the biggest hit at 71-100% of farms and ranchers reporting net loss in 2002 – up considerably from the last survey in 1987.

Yarbrough’s research suggested that by the year 2020 we can expect to see as many as 24 million acres converted into non-productive land, and that while the number of farms are declining, the average size per farm has been on the rise – translating into further hardships for smaller farms trying to keep pace and remain competitive, and reducing the number of choices and local food sources in our communities. A growing shortage of grazing permits is also being blamed for the decline; only about 50% of ranchers in the west now have the permits.

The problems are complex, but panel discussions have suggested that at least part of the solution may be as simple as combining conservation easements with new land management techniques - more specifically: combining healthy land practices with diversification and holistic resource management for a more efficient, more ecologically sound operation.

Protecting ranching as a way of life and a defining culture in the Rockies is critical to preserving community vitality and open spaces, Yarbrough stressed. And historically, that’s been in conflict with environmentalists that cite overgrazing and other unhealthy practices as destructive forces that depleted and degraded natural landscape. To some extent that’s true, but a growing number of activists are standing up and taking notice of the environmental value provided by well-managed ranching operations doubling as stewards of the land.

Panelist Dan Dagget, notable environmental activist and author of Gardeners of Eden: Rediscovering Our Importance to Nature, agreed. Humans play a vital role in earth’s ecosystem, he contends, and removing us from the equation wouldn’t have the widespread healing benefits many assume it would. Instead, Dagget suggested that changing the way we relate to and interact with the land provides the greatest benefit, and that includes rethinking what we mean by "protection".

Using data, maps and ground and aerial photos, Dagget showed the relationship and contrast between ranch lands and protected lands, demonstrating in many cases that federally protected lands left unchecked fared about the same or worse than adjacent land used for grazing. In some cases, ranch lands had fared so well in the right hands that the results were stunning – including a ranch in New Mexico that had succcessfully created, with little to no expense, one of the healthiest riparian systems in North America.

Daggett suggests that healing of the land and sustaining it in healthy condition using the natural symbiosis between humans and other species makes sense, environmentally, economically and culturally. Holding all forms of land management, too, including protection, equally accountable is critical.

"Rural stewardship is the New Ranch," he says. "But the New Ranch really isn’t new at all."

The discussion continued with ranchers Doc and Connie Hatfield and Dale Lasater offering examples of how they’ve blended profitability with smart protection efforts, through decommodification, diversification and the establishment of coalitions with like-minded ranchers. New Seasons Market CEO Brian Rohter talked about the market forces that drive environmental policy, and how, by offering healthier, organic alternatives the market has captured 10% of shoppers in the Portland, Oregon area. The panel agreed unanimously that farm subsidies are an outdated, even harmful force in ranching and farming, driving commodity prices down and making it more difficult for those not receiving subsidies to make an independent living. Last year alone saw more than $23 billion in subsidies, and Lasater pointed out that about 72% of those funds reached about 10% of recipients.

Senator Schiffer discussed the relationships being forced in his home state of Wyoming between ranches, farmers and mineral companies, particularly coal bed methane drilling. A sensitive topic, but one he said is seeing slow successes along the Powder River Basin.

The panel fielded tough questions from audience members, fueling more active discussion, but the sentiment remained clear: creative solutions exist for ranchers and farmers willing to make short-term sacrifices for long-term benefits, and for those who consider going to bat for nature in close conjunction with supporting themselves and their families. Managed properly, the two are complementary.

Discussion: Dagget closed with a powerful comment: "Do we really just want to fight about this, or do we want to solve these problems?" How do we create a public dialog that can engage the community, the environmental movement, and law-makers together to find productive common ground in ranching?
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