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Live from Haines: Ranching Roundtable
Ranching has been a way of life in many parts of Oregon for generations. In the next part of our Rural Economy Project we'll travel to eastern Oregon to explore the realities of ranching there — an area where some ranch land has been passed down through families for generations.
Success in ranching, like farming, depends a lot on weather conditions and market demands. Many ranchers will tell you that the price of production has risen as ranching equipment has gotten more advanced. Yet, the price of beef has not kept pace with those costs. As ranching operations have become leaner, many ranchers have taken second jobs off the ranch to make ends meet. Some have held onto their acreage but let go of employees. Others have even had to sell their land and quit ranching altogether.
Do you ranch? Does your family? What has changed the most for you in the last decade? How has the recession affected you?
Do you buy beef from Oregon ranches? Are there other ways that ranching touches your life?
Note: This show will be broadcast live from Schoeningh Ranch in Haines, Oregon.
GUESTS:
- George Chandler: Co-owner of Chandler Herefords Inc.
- Mike Schoeningh: Co-owner of Schoeningh Ranch
- Debby Schoeningh: Co-owner of Schoeningh Ranch and editor of The Record Courier
- Diane Snyder: Grew up on the Daggett Ranch, which was sold in 2008
Tagged as: economy · environment · ranching · rural economy
Photo credit: ARKNTINA / Creative Commons
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Mr. Ford, there was an investigative program on the issue of the 5-acre-pseudo-ranch on one of the network newsmagazines and it was also aired by RFD-TV at one point. There truly was a shameful tax loophole available. And actually it wasn't just taxes that were involved, the 5-acre-pseudo-ranch also netted some of these people federal grants. Large dollar federal grants for their "ranches." Hopefully some of the loopholes were closed and the grant faucet shut off after some of this made the national media.Then again the USDA seems to still be asleep at the wheel on so many things maybe most of these scammers are still reaping huge profits from their tiny "treasures."
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@ sunvalleysally
I was not aware of those 5 acre ranchettes.
I wrote about some of the largest ranches in Oregon, tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of acres in size. I don't know if there is a map somewhere that would show them. Maybe a BLM or USFS map.
I wonder if there is a source that would show the history of those big ranches and the ownership history as well. County records, I guess, and the Oregon historical society.
A few years ago I learned that although Texas has the reputation as the cattle state, Oregon is one of the top cattle production states, beating out Texas.
"Where's the beef"?
It's in Oregon!
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"A few years ago I learned that although Texas has the reputation as the cattle state, Oregon is one of the top cattle production states, beating out Texas."
This intrigued me, so I did a bit of searching. I think that the Republic of Texas still beats us — and the rest of the country — to a huge extent. According to this 2009 report, Texas had more than twice as many cattle and calves as Nebraska, the second state, and ten times more than Oregon, which is ranked 26th.
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"This intrigued me, so I did a bit of searching. I think that the Republic of Texas still beats us — and the rest of the country — to a huge extent. ..."
Well, I'm sitting here corrected. It's not the first time I've been wrong and most likely not the last.
Thanks for searching that out, Dave.
I'm willing to be proved wrong, what bugs me is being called wrong when the opponent has no proof.
I like arguing with Conservatives, because usually the sources they cite can be used to prove them wrong. And that's fun!
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David, I thought back over my claim about Oregon cattle and I think I read that in either the Bend Bulletin or The Sunday Oregonian back in the 1980s or 1990s. I was surprised at the time and so it stuck in my head.
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My question for the round table: I understand rural large-animal veterinarians are increasingly scarce. There was at some point either a state or national governmental push to arrange "forgiveness" of veterinary students' loans if they agreed to a rural large-animal practice. My own vet on this side of the hill tells me that while the program was put in place legislatively it was not funded, at least as of two years ago. I am curious whether ranchers have any updates on this program. I would think access to veterinary services esp. for food animals would be vital and lament the decrease nationally in large animal veterinarians - must be exponentially worse for the remotest of rural areas. As an extra comment I wish more people would try to remember that ranching isn't just cattle.
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Doesn't OSU have a vet school? They would know.
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Mr. Ford - OSU has a vet school. They do not appear to know.
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"sunvalleysally"
I'd call or write your congress-critters about that, it'll give their office something to do and it's great PR for them to actually help a constituent out. Especially for rural areas.
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I would like to see a map of large ranches in Oregon that are owned by non-Oregonians. Often 10,000-100,000 acre timberlands/ranchlands are purchased for retreat purposes, and the owners fly in, do not live in the area and bring nothing to the local communities.
They pay very low taxes and the local county governments do not have the wherewithall or money to stop them when they shut down local roadways because of some technicality or abuse neighboring ranchers and farmers by filing quiet title claims on their properties.
This is common throughout eastern Oregon. No wonder the White Supremists are considering eastern Oregon when they look for a new location.
Our laws in Oregon need to change so that these large corporations aren't able to come in and do these kinds of things. They have no local stake in our communities and just wreak havok on communities and can be very bad neighbors.
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During the 50's and before market America's push on chemical usage, I grew up on our families 7000-acre cattle ranch (we ran 1k of cattle & 2k acres of grain) here in Or. I still raise cattle today and since the 50's have seen a rise of corporate or partnership "ranches" and poor State Agriculture policymaking. Families hold a vested interest in home owned ranches that supersedes corporate or partner run ranches. Their lives and the health of their herds depends on the health of the land, something corporations far to often overlook in lieu of money. We worked with Nature. Old Cougars were our best friend, making sure the herbivore moved and left plenty for our cattle to graze. We did rotational grazing. Daily we worked closely with our cattle, more so than ranchers today who as a result of a turnkey operation and gun hunting clubs, have more predator issues. We lost cattle to hunters, poachers and rustlers, but none to natural predators. We gave 200 acres of grain to the deer, as it was cheaper than killing them or using chemicals for the lower species animals the top predators took care of. When my brother was 12 he joined my Dad bringing in the grain (as an adult he became President of Pendleton Flour Mill and advisor to President Clinton). Yes WE did the work. Work was normal to us. This is not the case in today’s America as we continue to rely on imported labor (and deal with the policy making issues concerning this labor) and not labor by our own hands. The biggest detriment I see to ranching today is poor policy making and a lack of connection to the land and the species living there for a sustainable and healthy operation that contributes to watersheds, soil and vegetation health; putting more emphasis on the value of these issues rather than raping the land and all it contains for money; and then when worn out, developing the land into subdivisions.
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Rather than punishing ranchers overall with some ridiculous "methane tax" or other tax scheme that makes life hard on everybody and deepens the urban rural divide, what about a tax credit for ranchers who use responsible practices? Ranchers who practice management intensive grazing, fence off their streamsides and sell their beef as finished on pasture rather than grain are a net benefit to the environment. These practices foster biodiversity of working lands sequester carbon in the soil. This simultaneously reduces the carbon in the atmosphere and replenishes the soil. Many studies have been done that show that well- managed pasture has a net negative greenhouse gas contribution. We should encourage and reward that sort of business.
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Raising and killing cows to feed people is an environmentally destructive practice no matter how you slice it. The studies show a carbon output three times that of feeding people fruits and vegetables and water consumption about ten times higher. The so-called sustainable and organic practices don't significantly shift those statistics. Not to mention all the damage to riparian areas from grazing. And I haven't even gotten to the cruelty issue yet or all the government subsidies (below cost leases, etc.). Cattle ranching couldn't go away too soon for me. Nostalgia (which is most of what I'm hearing this morning) is not a very good reason to keep it around.
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It's destructive if practiced in a short sighted manner. If you want to believe that there is no responsible (sustainable) manner in which to raise cattle, well then there is plenty of conventional thought out there to feed your philosophy. If you think killing animals for food is inherently cruel, then you have subscribed to a moral code about which there can be no discussion.
Equating worst practices with the practice itself is akin to calling a two- legged stool the platonic essence of a stool.
Another great reason to keep cattle ranching around is that cows are delicious.
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absolutely, tax breaks for good stewards!
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It isn't just tax breaks, it's the whole system that needs to be modified and regulated.
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The problems that these people are facing and dealing with are parts of what I call the downside of "Free Market" Un-Regulated Capitalism.
I'd like to see Capitalism modified and Regulated so that it serves The People instead of operating against The People.
I'd rather have many many small and "inefficient" ranches that support people and families and keep them doing an honest and productive days work.
I don't like the idea of very large Corporate Agriculture businesses that put cowboys and families out of work, while enticing cheap foreign labor to sneak across our borders and undercut American workers and wages.
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There are actually quite a few USDA slaughter facilities west of the rockies. Our business, Central Oregon Butcher Boys in Prineville, OR, is the farthest east before Idaho that processes for small producers. We do a lot of processing for small ranchers that sell directly to the public through Farmer's Markets, restaurants, and small grocery stores. Our customer's greatest advantage is that with the USDA inspection they can sell their product anywhere. One of the challenges is, however, the necessity to sell all of their product. Certain products are easy to sell, but others need better marketing. So they may be short certain products, but long on many others.
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I was impressed with the horse operation that produced work for 28 people using sustainable and renewable horsepower vs how they operate today with 5 people and expensive non-sustainable gas guzzling, polluting equipment. If you would like to learn more about horse powered small sustainable farming, I can help you. Visit my website at www.GrapeLanePoultryFarm.org. You can learn more about the transition of my life from the 7000 acre cattle ranch to my small, certified organic sustainable and profitable cattle farming operation in my book, “Keeper Of The Wheat”.
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As a biologist working for various entities over a number of years, I have conducted numerous vegetative and aquatic habitat type surveys, on both private and public grazing lands, throughout Eastern Oregon. This experience has allowed me to witness firsthand how much change humans are bestowing upon these lands. Changes like native vegetation disappearing and being replaced by invasive weeds (or other non-native substitutes), water tables dropping such that streams are drying up, and wildlife disappearing because their habitat no longer exists. It is quite apparent to me that our domestic hoofed animals are not mimicking the behaviors of the native wild hoofed animals, and that this type of land use is not sustainable in the long run for these types of lands.
Domestic cattle, horses, and sheep did not historically evolve with the lands of Eastern Oregon and from my observations it is obvious the lands are not able to support them properly without sacrifice to the lands’ health and vigor. The degradation usually happens in a gradual way and is not always apparent to the casual or uninformed human observer, who lives but a short time relative to earth time. The earth operates within a natural system of checks and balances and when we disrupt these we all suffer in the long run. A true steward of the land understands this system and works with it for the benefit of all life, and not just for his/her own profit.
Not all are able to own a piece of heaven on earth, and with our ever expanding human population resulting in more and more of us seeking ways to stay connected to nature, attitudes toward how our public lands are to be used are changing. Values change, life changes, and as a result we have the choice to either adapt or die (be it psychologically or physically). The reintroduction of wolves is a prime example of changing values--a symbolic change desired by the populace to restore and rewild the lands we have so altered.
Humans are very creative and inventive creatures. We can find better ways to live on and with the land that is beneficial and perpetual for all of life’s creatures and its processes.
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Comments are now closed.
Quite a few ranches are owned by another business that uses them as a tax write off because the ranch loses money and so can offset the profits from the in-town business. I believe that the Bend Chandler family that owns The Bend Bulletin used to own a ranch up around the Maupin area for that purpose.
I think that many others like the GI, ZX, etc, are or were owned and written off like that too.
There are many advantages to operating like that, the in-town business owner gets a vacation home, a place to keep and ride horses, be around cowboys, raise some of their own beef, take friends and business acquaintances hunting and fishing, get out of town for a break, etc, and a lot of it ends up being done on the taxpayers dime because it gets written off to losses against their in-town business profits.
At least it keeps some cowboys in jobs that they like.
But maybe the tax structures ought to be changed so that ranchers could own and operate their own ranches and raise their families on them. I suspect that the business idea of consolidating operations for efficiency has been taken too far and to the detriment of American Farm and ranch families.