Stockgrower's Weekly Tallybook

The weekly Stockgrowers Tallybook can be heard every Monday on KWYR -Winner at 1260AM and on KBJM - Lemmon at 1400AM

Thank you to these stations for hosting the South Dakota Stockgrowers!

Good morning! This is Silvia Christen with the South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

What a week! Between legislative session, more travel and some really cold weather its finally truly January around here.
Legislative session got off to a slow start with the funeral for Governor Janklow taking up a substantial amount of time and reducing the legislative working days to only two last week. But, it seems that things are in full swing again this morning.
We are working on several pieces of legislative priorities this year including the Eminent Domain reform and two bills to try to make the Prairie Dog management plan work.

The Prairie Dog management plan, among other things, requires the SD Dept of Ag to contribute $150,000 and the GFP to contribute $130,000 into the Predator Control fund for the specific purpose of controlling prairie dogs that encroach onto private land from the public land. Only two years since the plan was enacted has GF&P actually spent the money from that fund and the recent Supreme Court ruling told us that there is no way for a citizen to force the agency to actually follow the law.

So, we've worked with Lance Russell and several legislators to draft legislation that would require the Prairie Dog management plan to be funded and also require the department to either spend the money on controlling dogs or provide the money to landowners as compensation. The legislation isn't asking for any new money and it won't take any money away from any other predator control programs. We're simply trying to force the state to finally control the prairie dogs according to the plan that they agreed to. There will likely be a fight on this one, so stay tuned and make sure to tell your legislators to support these bills.

The South Dakota brand Board has made it known that they will seek an increase in the livestock inspection fee this year. They are asking for permission to move the current 80 cents per head to a full dollar per head for livestock inspections.
The Brand Board has to take this to a legislative rules committee which will provide for a hearing and comments to be submitted by producers.

The Stockgrowers Brand and Theft Committee will meet at the Stockgrowers office on Wednesday, February 1 to look over the financial statements and other information to see if Stockgrowers can support the fee increase or to ask for additional information.

Stockgrowers has not yet taken a position on the proposed fee increase. We understand that the cost of living has gone up and if the Brand Board has a legitimate need for a fee increase we need to make sure they have what they need. But, we also know that the program has always run very efficiently and very low cost because those fees come from you the producer and we're not interested in just assuming that producers can pay more for the same brand program.
I strongly encourage you to call me here at the office or call your local Stockgrowers board member to let us know what you think about the fee increase. Stockgrowers is member driven and we need to know what you think about this. Please give us a call anytime. My office number is 605-342-0429.

Tomorrow I'm headed to Mission for the Ranchers Workshop. I hope some of you can stop by and introduce yourselves and visit with me about any of the issues that you're concerned with.

And of course later this week we'll be setting up our booth at the Black Hills Stockshow where you can find us all week.
This has been Silvia Christen with the South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

January 9, 2012

Good morning, this is Silvia christen with the South Dakota Stockgrowers Tally book. 

I’ll start with a delayed happy New Year!  It’s been a few weeks since I’ve had a tally book since the holidays fell on the weekends.  I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year celebration.  I was very fortunate that the weather cooperated this year so I was able to go to Missouri and spend a few days with my family.  But, as all relaxing vacations go, work waits for no one and I’ve been working extra hard in the last two weeks to get caught up and ready for 2012.

Legislative session starts tomorrow.  We’ll be hearing the Governor’s State of the State address on Wednesday and that will certainly tell a lot about the tone and direction that this session is going to take.  It probably won’t surprise anyone to hear that budget questions will be a dominating factor.  While budget numbers seem to be better than originally thought, many legislators and citizens are still sparring over schools and roads and a few other interesting items. 

We have a couple legislative priorities that you’ll be hearing more about in the coming weeks.  Our main legislation this year will be eminent domain reform.  We’ve known for a while that the current eminent domain laws aren’t working for landowners or the companies.  We’ve been meeting with a group of about 10 landowners who are impacted by both keystone pipeline and the railroad expansion to discuss their concerns and ideas for new legislation.   The bill we’ve drafted at this point will encourage Eminent domain to be used only as a last resort and strongly emphasizes good faith negotiations by requiring companies to notify landowners, make bona fide offers on land and allow time for landowners to counter offer before eminent domain can be filed in court.  We want these companies to negotiate and buy land if they are truly serious about building in South Dakota.  This legislation will definitely provide some real protections for landowners and still allow serious projects to be built.

We’re also keeping a real ear to the ground on animal rights issues and the Humane Society which has staff in South Dakota these days.  They’ve come up with all kinds of suggestions for animal care standards.  South Dakota’s agriculture community doesn’t stand for inhumane treatment but we also don’t want these activist groups bringing legislation.  Stockgrowers has pledged to work with the other ag groups in the state to oppose this kind of legislation and we’ll be ready if it comes.

Stockgrowers hosted a legislative open house on December 29 and we had 6 legislators attend.  We’ll also be participating in beef day at the capital and ag fest which are great opportunities to reach out to legislators and educate them about ag issues.  Also, I’d encourage you to mark your calendar for February 14.  Stockgrowers will hold our board meeting in Pierre that day and also spend the morning at the capital building.  We invite our members and supporters to join us.  It’s a great chance to see how the legislative process works and to talk with lawmakers about Stockgrowers priority issues. 

Besides legislative session things are gearing up for Stockshow which starts in less than three weeks.  We’ll have a booth there and will also be hosting a few meetings in between.  I have a meeting in a few minutes with the staff from Senator John Thune’s office and Stockgrowers is participating in a roundtable meeting with Senator Tim Johnson next week as well.   Stockgrowers will also be at the Perkins County Livestock Improvement meeting in Bison tomorrow and we’ve been invited to be at the Harding Co Stockgrowers meeting in Buffalo.

So, there’s a lot going on here at Stockgrowers and I hope to see you on my travels around the state.  Please let me know if you have any questions about what we’re working on.  As always, thanks for listening.  This is Silvia Christen with the South Daktoa Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Good morning, this is Silvia Christen with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the incredible weather this weekend. It was 60 degrees here in Rapid City and beautiful sunshine to make it a near perfect day on Sunday.

We're still learning a lot about what is in the final ruling from the World Trade Organization on their decision against the U.S regarding Country of Origin Labeling. It sounds like the decision mostly revolves around beef and pork labeling. Canada and Mexico import a lot of boxed meats but also live animals to this country making it a challenge to have it labeled the way they want it to be labeled.

In order to be labeled "product of the United States" meat has to be born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States. If portions of the process were done somewhere else then that meat receives a label stating it is from another country or that it is a product of North America, in the case of Canadian or Mexican meats.

Canada and Mexico sued under WTO rulings claiming that the United States discriminates against their products because of those labels. They say our labels harmed their markets.

Canada is correct that their livestock market had some serious crashes around the time that COOL went into effect in the US. But, what Canada fails to acknowledge is that they impacted their own market. At the same time that we were implementing COOL, Canada was desperately trying to stop the numerous cattle testing positive for BSE. They didn't have an effective feed ban in place, the US stopped accepting live cattle into the United States for a while and our U.S. customers were choosing US origin beef.

For now the WTO ruling stands and the US Trade Representatives Office in DC will have to determine what to do with the decision. Stockgrowers is strongly urging an appeal, for a few reasons. 1) we don't agree that there is anything wrong with our COOL laws and we want the USTR to stand up for US Country of Origin Labeling. 2) Stockgrowers has serious concern about what this does to our national sovereignty. Since when do we allow another country or a world court to determine what laws are best for our citizens? We, the United States, should be able to make laws according to the needs of our own citizens.

Stockgrowers was excited to see Senator Johnson and Thune joining 17 other Senators last week in asking the USTR to appeal the WTO/COOL ruling. The USTR office has until early next year to make a decision about their action. At the end of the day, we may be required to go back to the drawing board and USDA will have to rewrite the rules that govern our country of origin labeling. Let's hope not.

But, all of this is work that will be done in 2012. For now, I want to wish each and every one of you a very blessed and Merry Christmas with your family and friends. I hope you can all take the time to enjoy the quiet and peace that comes with the long nights of winter.

This is Silvia Christen with the Stockgrowers Tallybook. Merry Christmas!

Good morning, this is Silvia Christen with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

I want to start out this week with some thank you's to some people who have made generous donations to the Stockgrowers Association in the last weeks. Bob Fortune and his son Charlie Fortune from Belvidere donated at bred heifer on Saturday.

Fort Pierre Livestock
Lee & Trish Williams
Rolly Cropsey
Turkey Track Ranch
Chad & Randi Olson
Roy & Hunter Iversen
Don Bourk
Charlie & Suzanne Stockland & Family
Gerald & Wanda Mathews
Tim Smith
Owen Rumph Ranch
Howard & Bobbi Huxtable
Bart & Kathy Kissack
Shane & Willie Cowan
Paul Oberlitner
Casey & Dylan Deuter
Leroy Scott

Ken Halligan, Chuck O'Connor, Marvin Jobgen, Lester and Sharon Longwood, Marvin Jessen all generously donated the proceeds of a cull cow to the Stockgrowers Association in the last weeks. Stockgrowers couldn't continue to do the work that we do without the generous support from our members and the auction barns that make this possible. If any of you are interested in making a similar donation or having a portion of your sale donated to Stockgrowers, give me a call or talk to the ladies at your auction barn. We very much appreciate the donation.

On to the business at hand… Stockgrowers is gearing up for the 2012 legislative session that is set to start on January 10. The budget address from Governor Daugaard sounds like the financial climate in the state might be better than originally projected but its still not rosy. That's something that concerns us all as we'll surely be looking at less maintenance on our roads, and infrastructure as well as school funding.

The Legislature did look at several sources of increase revenue and one of those proposals was to remove the sales tax exemption on parts and repair of Agricutlural items. A special committee looked at that and then put it away, but we're anticipating that some effort may come forward on this issue again. We'll be watching that closely during session.

In addition, we're almost certain that some effort to propose legislation regarding animal welfare will be brought up. The Humane Society of the United States has a staff person in Sioux Falls and we assume they expect her to deliver something. The animal rights issue is one area where all of Agriculture seems to be on the same page and Stockgrowers is committed to fighting any efforts to regulate animal welfare in South Dakota.

We'll try to keep you updated on all the legislative issues that Stockgrowers will be working on this year. I'd encourage all of you to consider joining Stockgrowers and being a part of the work that we're doing.

I want to close today by again saying thank you to all of our generous members who donated to Stockgrowers over the last weeks. This is Silvia Christen with the South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook. Thanks for listening and Merry Christmas!

Good Morning! This is Silvia Christen with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Can you believe it's already December 5? Where has the time gone? I tried to do some Christmas shopping this weekend but drove right past the stores when I saw all the people. I'll have to try again during the week sometime.

This year, I'm making a pledge to do all of my Christmas shopping locally or American made. I don't expect everyone do to that, and it can be quite challenging, but I have some numbers I want you to ponder.

Did you know that a dollar that you spend at a big-box store will be multiplied by three before leaving your community? A dollar you spend at a locally owned store will circulate seven times! And today I heard another staggering number… 5%. If we would all purchase 5% more American made products, we could create over 220,000 jobs in the U.S. I just hope you'll remember that voting with your dollars can make a difference and I hope you'll look at the labels when you do your shopping this year.

Speaking of identifying things. This coming Friday is the last day to submit comments on the Animal Disease Traceability program called ADT. I hope you'll each take the time to comment to USDA.

Stockgrowers has some general concern with the ADT proposal, mostly because we still don't trust that USDA won't try to expand the program into something that we don't want. We do appreciate that USDA has made this program a lot less intrusive and starts out with just IDing the breeding herd. But, our two biggest concerns revolve around the use of the brand and the inclusion of feeder cattle.

The ADT proposal lists the forms of ID that every state must accept - bangs tags, metal clip tags, 840-ID tags, and registered number tags are all allowed. Hot-iron brands, tattoos, and back-tags are not included. That means that only states that have an agreement with South Dakota can use brands, tattoos or back-tags. South Dakota has agreements with some states, but Stockgrowers is insisting that USDA include Hot-iron brands and back-tags on slaughter cows be used as an official form of ID. We want USDA to allow states like South Dakota to use the brand to get our livestock ID'd for shipping and then let the receiving state ID them however they see fit when the cattle arrive there.

Our second big concern is the inclusion of feeder cattle. The ADT has a trigger built in - as soon as 70% of the breeding herd is identified, USDA can start forcing the feeder cattle to be ID'd as well. Stockgrowers can not support that part of the ADT proposal. Feeder cattle do not present a disease threat and individually IDing feeder cattle would create mountains of paperwork for animals that are only going to live for 18 months. USDA should remove feeder cattle from this rule and write a separate rule if and when that becomes a necessity.

If you need more information or want to submit a comment on this ADT proposal, visit www.southdakotastockgrowers.org or give me a call at 3042-0429. We'll also be hosting a meeting in Kadoka at Club 27 at 6:30 on Wednesday, December 7 and we invite everyone to join us there.

I hope you're staying warm out there. This is Silvia Christen with the South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook. Thanks for listening.

Good Morning! This is Silvia Christen with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Happy Thanksgiving! I know I'm a little behind with that but I took some time off last week to spend with my own family. I hope you all did too.

As usually happens when any of us get a few days off, things are pretty piled up now that I'm back. I'm sifting through the emails and voicemails and will be getting back to you all as soon as I can.

Stockgrowers has a busy week ahead of us. Today we're hosting the Quarterly Board meeting of the Stockgrowers. We'll be working here at the office from 9:30 until late afternoon and the meeting is open to all members so stop by if you're interested.

On Tuesday, Stockgrowers is hitting the road. We'll be at the community room in Union Center at 1pm on Tuesday and serving supper in Reva on Tuesday at 6:30. On Wednesday we host lunch at Sparky's in Isabel from 11am to 1pm and serve supper at the R Bar in Lemmon starting at 6pm. Our State Veterinarian, Dr. Dustin Oedekoven is joining us along the way to discuss the animal disease traceability rule, members Kenny Fox, Bill Kluck, Vaughn Meyer and several others including myself will also be on hand to discuss the proposed child labor laws, animal ID, the GIPSA rule, and to answer your questions about the SD Stockgrowers Association. We really hope you'll be able to join us.

In issue news, we are still looking at the ruling on Country of Origin Labeling. Most people have started to enjoy the labels that you see at the grocery store telling you about oranges from South Africa, strawberries from California, beef from the US, Mexico or Canada. Most people have seen it. Canada and Mexico, who were later joined by 12 other countries, filed suit against the U.S. for our labeling laws. This suit was filed and then decided within the World Trade Organization by a three-person panel from Pakistan, Switzerland and a former WTO employee. Ultimately, they decided that the U.S. has the right to label our food but the way we've gone about it is unfair to the other countries. I'm not sure what the appropriate word is to describe just how angry and frustrated I am to hear that the U.S. citizens are now subject to this world court which doesn't have our citizens interests at heart and I think its very dangerous to see that a WTO tribunal has made such a drastic blow to our U.S. sovereignty. We'll still need to determine what the next steps are but we're working with R-CALF to see where we go from here.

Finally, I want to share some sad news with you. During the last week we lost two members of the Stockgrowers family. Velma DeVries from Belvidere past away a week ago… Velma served as President of the South Dakota Cattlewomen from ? and also represented Stockgrowers as our lobbyist in Pierre for several sessions. I never had the honor of meeting her personally but she was held in high esteem by those who knew her and Stockgrowers extends our condolences to her family and friends.

On Saturday, November 19, John Glaus of Chamberlain passed away. John served as President of Stockgrowers from 1972 to 1974. Our thoughts go out to his family as well.

I better get back to our meeting here today, so I'll remind you to join us on Tuesday in Union Center or Reva and on Wednesday in Isabel and Lemmon. This has been Silvia Christen with the South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook. Thanks for listening.

Good morning, this is Silvia Christen with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Boy, it has been a busy, busy few weeks here at the office and I'm not quite sure if I'm keeping up or not. I'll try to figure that out next week when things slow down a bit.

The big news of last week was the announcement by the Obama Administration that they were sending TransCanada back to the drawing board on the route for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. This comes after months of protests in front of the white house by some activist groups, and then there's the special legislative session in Nebraska taking a special look at all the environmental and landowner impacts of the pipeline project. Interestingly, even South Dakota Governor Daugaard made statements last week saying that he expected that the Keystone pipeline live by the same high standards for environmental protection as they would be required to live by in Nebraska under some of that proposed legislation. Nebraska is considering requirements of things like concrete encased pipelines over aquifer areas and through the sandhills, and a pretty hefty insurance bond.

Stockgrowers is tracking this development closely, not because we want to join the protesters but because we've been working to help the many landowners along the route protect their private property rights. We currently have 22 landowners who are faced with Eminent Domain proceedings from TransCanada, several of them are Stockgrower members. It'll be interesting to see what the news of the pipeline project's delay will mean for those landowners.

In other news, South Dakota has quarantined a herd of Dairy cattle in Hutchinson County, in the South Eastern part of the state for a TB outbreak. I talked with our State Veterinarian, Dr. Dusty Oedekoven this morning and they are working pretty hard to keep this under control. Dr Oedekoven is working with GF&P to develop a wildlife monitoring plan and they're testing other herds in the area. They haven't tracked the source of this specific infection, but at this point, Dr. Oedekoven tells me that he feels confident that South Dakota will be able to retain our TB free status.

Finally, we still don't have any updates on the GIPSA rule. At this point, we are still moving forward with the assumption that the main provisions for cattle are not included in the rule, however, everyone in the industry seems quite confident that USDA will continue to work on those protections to define unfair marketing practices and to define "harm to competition" when a producer feels that they've been damaged by price manipulation. I'll let you know when we know more on the GIPSA process.

The Stockgrowers board of Directors will hold their fall quarterly meeting on Monday November 28 at the Stockgrowers office in Rapid City. We'll start at 9:30 that morning with some planning and prioritization meetings, and then have the board meeting at 2:30. Our members are welcome to attend any or all of the day's meetings.

We're also planning a round of meetings on Tuesday, November 29 we'll be in Union Center for a public meeting at 1pm and we'll host supper in Reva that evening. On Wednesday, we'll spend some time at the sale in Lemmon and hope to host supper in Faith that evening.

So, I'll hope to see you down the road in the coming weeks. Thanks for listening, this is Silvia Christen with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Good morning, this is Silvia Christen with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.
On Thursday, I learned that the GIPSA rule was sent to the Office of Management and Budget for final review. We've been waiting for more than 16 months for that news, but disappointingly, USDA chose to break the rule into three pieces and has all but abandoned the part of the rule that had any impact for cattle producers.

Those of you who've heard Margaret's tallybooks over the last year know that these GIPSA rules were supposed to bring us a fair and competitive market - to level the playing field between the cow/calf producer, the feeder and the packer. Many of you have fought hard to help us see this issue through. Over 60,000 comments were submitted to USDA. We had 150 South Dakota ranchers on the bus to Colorado just over a year ago and we've sent six members to Washington DC to continue the fight since then. I can't even count how many letters, phone calls and emails you all have sent to DC over that same time period.

I'm very frustrated with this outcome and angry that we still do not have any meaningful reform for our independent cattle producers. But, as frustrated as we are with this development, I think there is some victory in what USDA has done and room to keep working on what USDA hasn't done yet.

The key cattle provisions that we DO NOT have in the final rule include the ban on packer-to-packer sales of livestock. Stockgrowers supported this provision because it stopped packers from being able to make special deals amongst themselves in order to avoid high prices at the salebarns.

There is also no inclusion of the ban that an order buyer can only buy for one packer at a time, and there's still no provisions that define and determine what a producer must do in order to receive justice if they feel that they've been harmed by a lack of competition in the market place. The requirement of packers to maintain records to justify their pricing has also been eliminated.

USDA's GIPSA rule does include provisions to protect confinement/contract poultry and hog producers who feel they have been discriminated in the delivery of their animals, additional capital investment criteria, breach of contract and arbitration. These provisions apply to poultry and hogs and do not have an impact on us in the cattle industry. These are all long over due terms for these contract growers and we're glad to see USDA follow through with at least that portion of the GIPSA rule.

The other issue that has not been settled yet is the unfair practices and undue preferences clauses. This was the portion of the rule that would have stopped packers from using discriminatory pricing practices and would have required packers to use standardized systems for awarding price incentives or docks based on quality or quantity of livestock. Opponents to this portion of the rule presented, what we consider to be, an extremely biased economic study and made exaggerated claims that the rule would stop all contracts and make it impossible for producers to niche market or use value added production methods. We never agreed with those statements and are frustrated that the USDA is not willing to stand up for the producers that the GIPSA rule intends to protect.

The good news is that the unfair and Undue preferences rules are mandated by the last Farm Bill. USDA is required to write those rules, so we are hopeful that we can still see meaningful reform by continuing to work with USDA on those specifics.
We are still struggling to get exact information from USDA on the final rule that they finalized last week so we'll probably be talking more about this rule in the coming weeks and what it means for our independent producers. In the meantime, Congress is still considering the funding appropriation for the GIPSA rule process.

I urge you to contact the members of Congress and tell them to preserve that funding. Over 60,000 producers submitted comments and participated in this rule making process. Even though we didn't get everything that we worked for we need to let this rule be finalized so we know where we stand and we can move ahead.

Don't get discouraged. We'll keep fighting for fair and competitive markets because this is a fight that we can't afford to lose. This is Silvia Christen with the South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Good morning, this is Silvia Christen with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

These last few weeks, things in Pierre seem to be picking up a little steam again as we head into fall and eventually back to legislative session. Our State Senate and House of Representatives are meeting today for a special session to determine the final map for the legislative redistricting process. Some of the lines are shifting and most of the rural districts are getting bigger as we keep losing shares of our population to the more urban areas around Sioux Falls and Rapid City. The Legislature will vote on the new districts today and the new district boundaries will be used to determine the elections in November of 2012. It's worth taking a look at the new maps to see if your district changed.

Last week, Stockgrowers were in Pierre as well. On Tuesday, the SD Department of Ag hosted a roundtable meeting with Jim Martin who is the Region 8 EPA Administrator based out of Denver. His region covers most of the western mountain and plains states. Each of the ag organizations in the state were invited to share their concerns and ideas with the EPA. It was a very good meeting. We talked about a variety of issues including the Clean Water Restoration Act, agriculture dust regulations, manure management for feedlots and confinement operations and the new standards on pesticide and herbicide bulk tanks. It was very interesting and a great opportunity for Stockgrowers to represent our members.
Coming up next week in Pierre is the regular Brand Board meeting - on Thursday, November 3. Besides their regular agenda items, the Brand Board has proposed five pieces of legislation and they're looking for input from producers so I want to tell you a little about what's being proposed.

The first is in regards to Shippers Permits… the Brand Board wants to give permission for a shippers permit to be used to move livestock to an in-state open market in order to get them brand inspected there. Stockgrowers has opposed this proposal three times in the past and we continue to oppose it. We're concerned about the liability and logistics of unloading and reloading cattle at a sale barn on the east side of the river. It's hardly convenient for the sale barn and once you're across the river with your livestock there's not a lot of incentive to actually get the inspection, and what if you get the inspection and find out you have shipped an animal that needs to go back to the neighbors?

Second proposal from the brand board is looking to create a transportation permit for livestock other than horses or mules. This is specifically designed with rodeo stock and summer pasture livestock in mind. The idea is to give a one year inspection on these kinds of livestock and let them move in and out of the inspection area with out having to be inspected each time.
Third proposal would make it a Class 1 misdemeanor to move livestock without a brand inspection. Currently it's a Class 2 misdemeanor but the DCI doesn't usually investigate that class, so with the investigators now serving under DCI we want to help make their jobs easier by moving the penalty into a class that the DCI can work with.

Fourth is a proposal to increase the mileage paid to brand inspectors. In South Dakota, our state mileage rate is 37 cents per mile and that's what our brand inspectors get paid. The Brand Board is asking for permission to up the brand inspector's mileage to match surrounding states at about 50 cents per mile. We'd be curious what you all think about this one.

Finally, the Brand board has proposed a surcharge on local inspections. They want to prorate the inspection fees so that if you are asking an inspector to drive a long way to inspect a very small number of animals the brand board can assess a surcharge to your inspection in order to make it work the time of the inspector to come out to your place. We are opposing this idea. We don't feel that it's the livestock owner's responsibility to provide an incentive to the inspectors nor do we think it's fair that some livestock owners would essentially be penalized for not living near an inspector.

Stockgrowers is interested to know what our members feel about these proposals, so please give me a call if you have any questions for me. And, I'd encourage you to talk to the Brand Board members as well. They will meet on Thursday, November 3 in Pierre to consider moving forward with these proposals. Our brand program needs to keep working for our livestock producers so please let us know where you stand on these ideas.

This is Silvia Christen with the Stockgrowers Tally book. Thanks for listening.

October 17, 2011

Good morning, this is Silvia Christen with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

It’s a rainy and cold morning here in Rapid City, but I hear the sun is shining in other parts of the state.  It sounds like combines are running full speed ahead and cattle are being gathered and sorted in all parts of the state.  Fall gathering and harvest has always been a special time of year for me and it was always so much fun to be working alongside my dad and the neighbors.   I always thought it was so much fun, but I’m sure for my dad it was good to have the help and he got to teach me how to work and appreciate our farm. 

The reason I talk so much about that this morning is because I want to make you aware of a proposed national regulation that might change all of those chances for you to work with your children and for you to get good help on your ranch!

In a tragic accident, a 14 year old boy suffocated in a grain bin on a large farming operation in Southern Illinois just two years ago.  That event and several others like it set in motion an effort by the National Labor Relations Board to define and regulate the working conditions of children under the age of 16 on agricultural businesses and operations.  When this first came out, I heard about it but wasn’t concerned because I was told that family farms were exempt from the proposal, but I’m realizing now that it’s not that clear. 

The rules speak directly to children under the age of 16, mostly 14 and 15 year olds engaging in specifically defined “hazardous activities”; things like driving tractors and equipment, working with large livestock and using powertools. 

Family farms would be exempt from this, so your kids could still work for you.  But, that’s where it gets a bit fuzzy.  For example, the law talks about exempting kids on non-corporate farms, but doesn’t clear up that a family owned corporation like many of our ranches operate under.  And then it gets fuzzier yet… what if your family corporation is owned by several families?  Whose children are eligible to work for the business now?  What if you’re trading work for the neighbors?  Technically, your children couldn’t work on your neighbors place even if you’re supervising them when they are engaging in these hazardous activities.

One of the biggest areas of targeted by these new laws include operating machinery.  The labor relations board claims that no exemptions for operating equipment are given to any other industry so they feel that putting these limits on farming is justified.  The new regulations would not allow children under 16 to operate tractors or other equipment and would require those children between the ages of 16 and 18 to attend a safety course in order to license them for operating tractors and such even on your own operation.

There is still time to comment on this proposed rule.  I will make sure the link is posted at Southdakotastockgrowers.org and we’ll send an email to our members this week.  I’d encourage you to take the time to comment on these proposals and let the Department of Labor know that these rules are not manageable for our way of life in rural America.  We’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this issue and hope that this regulation doesn’t go any further.

So, with that said, I think safety is something that we could all use a refresher course on.  This time of year we’re driving heavy equipment, moving a lot of livestock, and running long hours.  When we’re tired and in a hurry tempers can flair and short cuts get made.  Please remember to take a few extra minutes to check your own safety and especially the kids you have working with you.  Your kids learn from you and they depend on you to give them the right instructions so that everyone can be safe without requiring overreaching safety regulations from the Department of Labor.

This is Silvia Christen with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tally book.  Thanks for listening.

Good Monday Morning to you all, this is Silvia Christen with the South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.
It is a beautiful morning here in Rapid City after a few days of some cold rainy weather. It's nice to see the sunshine again, but I am truly grateful for the rain that fell so abundantly last week. We certainly needed the help to get the many fires under control from across the state. I know that some areas had significant damage and even some homes were in danger from the fires in the north central part of the state and down around White River. I think we all need to take the time to say thank you to the many volunteers who mobilized for their local fire departments and their neighbors to fight those fires.

This week, as many of you are shipping calves and keeping a close eye on the market reports, Congress is getting ready to vote on three Free Trade Agreements with Colombia, Panama and Korea. The Senate Finance Committee will debate the three agreements on Tuesday and the full House and Senate will be voting on these agreements shortly afterward. These agreements have been fast-track'd, which means that there is no further discussion or amendments allowed when they come up for a vote and will require a strict yes or no vote.

Stockgrowers is strongly opposed to all three of these trade agreements for a number of reasons. Just to be clear, we don't oppose trading with other countries. We do oppose Free-trade agreements that allow other countries to force their products on us with out accepting our products.

For example, the amount of beef that the U.S. exports to Korea has increased 6-fold over the last four years, without a free trade agreement which is proof that we don't need a free trade agreement in order to market our beef to other countries.
These free trade agreements don't change our ability to export beef, they do change how we export beef.

None of these free trade agreements contain rules of origin to require that beef from those countries actually comes from that country, meaning that cattle from China could be shipped to Korea, and then we'd be required to purchase that beef from Korea because of our free trade agreement. Or, similarly in Colombia and Panama, we'd be accepting beef and cattle from countries that don't come near to meeting our production standards and we wouldn't even be allowed to know about it.
None of the free trade agreements contain adequate safeguards based on price and quantity for both live cattle and beef to protect U.S. producers against import surges.

And none of these FTAs require Colombia, Panama or South Korea to increase their health and safety standards meaning that consumers will potentially be exposed to unsafe food that doesn't meet the health and safety standards of the beef that we produce here in the United States.

These agreements have the potential to dramatically impact our livestock markets in the U.S. not because we'll be exporting beef, but because we'll be competing with beef that comes from these other countries.

Like I said, these agreements will be voted on in the House and Senate on Wednesday. I really hope you'll take a few minutes to contact Senators Johnson and Thune as well as Rep Noem and ask them to vote NO on these agreements. It's important for our livestock industry.

On that note, I'll sign off for this week. I hope you're all staying safe out there on the ranch and we'll see you down the road.
This has been Silvia Christen with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Good morning! This is Silvia Christen with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

This is my first Tallybook report and today is my first day in the big chair here at Stockgrowers. I've been with Stockgrowers for two years already so hopefully I can just keep right on moving.

Just so you know a little more about me, I grew up on my family's farming operation in north Missouri just outside of the small town of Green City with my two sisters and one brother. We raise some crops but our main work is our cow/calf operation and hay production. I graduated high school there in Green City, and received degree from the College of Ag, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri. I got interested in Agriculture policy issues in high school and my dad really helped me to grow that interest by taking me a long to meetings and hearings at our state legislature. I moved to South Dakota in 2006 to start working for an ag organization out of Brookings and two years ago I moved to Rapid City to take a job with the Stockgrowers.

South Dakota has become home and I truly love working for the ranchers out here. I'm really looking forward to my opportunity to continue meeting more of you and working on your behalf from this office.

On that note, I want to tell you a little bit about some of the issues going on in Pierre lately. As most of you know, the State is struggling with their income and the legislature is looking for ways to increase revenues, which is going to translate into changes in tax regulations and likely more taxes on the state level.

One of the main issues being looked at right now is the repeal of the four percent sales tax-exemptions for agriculture parts, repairs and equipment. The legislative Sales Tax Review committee pegged those parts and repair exemptions as well as about twenty-five million dollars worth of exemptions for fertilizer and pesticides as "revenue generators". It seems that people hear "tax exemption" and assume that farmers and ranchers are getting away without paying their share. But we've asked what the fair share is when advertising, hotels, corporations and others in the state also receive tax exemptions… what are they willing to give up? The Sales Tax review committee met in July and so far has not made a recommendation that these taxes actually be applied. But, that's not likely to be the end of it. We're fully expecting these taxes to be up for consideration again during the session. We'll be tracking that very closely and keep you updated as this issue moves a long!

In the meantime, I hope your fall ranch work is going smoothly with this beautiful weather. This is Silvia Christen with the South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook. Thanks for listening!

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook

I can just say wow, one more annual convention and trade show completed and it went well with no problems that couldn't be easily solved.

The speakers were great - we had a good crowd - the Ramkota Hotel and Convention Center proved to be a great place to hold a convention and we're back at the office. You know the old saying "the job isn't finished 'til the paper work's done". We have Thank Yous to write, checks to send, bills to pay, plus long list of emails and phone messages to answer. But it was a Great Convention thanks to all of you who attended, all of the sponsors who had booths and all of our speakers and hard working directors.

We had some changes. Since our president is term limited to 2 1-year terms we do have a new president and vice president. Shane Kolb, Meadow, SD is your new President; Bob Fortune, Belvidere, is your new Vice President.

Marvin Jobgen, Scenic, SD was named Regional Vice President, Region III, and Brad Reis, Hamill, SD was elected by district 14 to fill the Director vacancy since Jim Murphy moved into another district - I'm sure we will still see Jim involved in Stockgrower activities, but just not as a director from his old district. District 10 still has a directorship vacancy that is tentatively filled, but they won't let me give you a name until it is confirmed - so you will hear more later on that one.

Region II is happy with their current Regional Vice President and re-elected Marvin Jessen, Holabird, SD

Region I also was content to keep their current Regional Vice President, Gary Deering, whose
address is Sturgis, but the ranch is near Hereford, SD.

Well folks, this week's tallybook is a little harder to write than some, but it's not the lack of material as it sometimes is. Many of you know that September 30 will be my last day as Executive Director of your organization. I'm sad but also a little excited. It will be hard to not be in day to day contact with so many who have come to be close friends (my 'other family'). And when you feel as passionate as I do about the livestock business and the threats to it, it will be hard not to be involved. On the other hand it's kind of exciting to wonder what God has planned for me from here on - whatever it is, I'll be ready 'cause I don't think I have a rockin' chair that fits.

I want to thank the Stockgrowers, Senator Johnson's office, and some members for the wonderful gifts I received at the convention. I want to thank each and everyone of you for the support and words of encouragement you have given me over these past few years.

Silvia Christen will be your new Executive Director - she will do a great job and I hope you will give her that same support.

So….this is Margaret Nachtigall on the last page of this tallybook saying - Thanks a bunch and See Ya down the road.

Good Morning, and what a beautiful day this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook

This would be a great day to be outside, but it is also countdown until the South Dakota Stockgrowers Annual Convention and Trade Show. I don't know how so many things get left to the last minute, but although I thought it was coming together in great time - now it seems there are so many last minute details -

Last week I talked about the committee meetings who will have a panel of speakers instead of just one speaker - this week I want to go over the rest of the speakers. I believe we have a great and interesting group this year.

By the way, I went back to some old magazines that had the old annual meetings and from those dates determined that this is the 120th annual South Dakota Stockgrowers Convention.

I sent the correct agenda out on the membership email list this morning - If you did not receive it and would like one before the convention please just give us a call here at the office and we'll make sure you get it.

Thursday morning the Brand & Theft Committee will meet in the Washington Room at the Ramkota Hotel - this will be more of a general discussion with questions and answers with the Stockgrowers Brand Committee and Larry Stearns and Scott Vance from the State Brand Board.

At 10:45 immediately following the mid-morning coffee break we will hear Bill Bullard $-CALF CEO speak in the Animal Health & ID Committee. Bill is always a popular speaker and I have always marveled at the statistics he can quote from memory!

Our luncheon speakers will be Silvia Christen who led the group on the trip to South America last year - Bill Walsh will be joining Silvia to also discuss the upcoming trip to Ireland in April/May of 2012 - this should be an exciting trip - one a that I am looking forward to.

Federal Lands Committee Chairman Mark Tubbs has arranged for an excellent speaker right here in Rapid City - that will be Tom Troxel who most of you know as the Executive Director of the Black Hills Multiple Use Coalition.

The Wildlife Management Committee with meet at 3:45 on Thursday with Tony Leif who is the wildlife director from Game Fish and Parks in Pierre.

Our Thursday night Support Rural America Banquet speaker is George Chambers the new President of R-CALF USA. He is a fifth generation, independent cattleman from Carrollton, Georgia. I've met George a couple times and am impressed with his knowledge, thoughts and ideas for the livestock industry - I think you're going to like him.

I hope you will all be on hand for our inspirational breakfast on Friday morning at 7:00 a.m. I'm excited to have as our speaker this year Pastor Harold Delbridge, Red Owl, SD. Many of you know Harold as a minister, rancher, rodeo announcer, horseman and just all around good hand. I've tried for the past few years to get him for this breakfast, but he was always involved in something else - usually working at a horsesale on that particular date.

Our Trade Committee speaker will be Jeri Lynn Bakken, Lemmon, SD who is Regional Community Organizer with the Western Organization of Resource Councils. She has been organizing on family farm issues for over 18 years. Jeri Lynn spoke at one of our Quarterly meetings a few years ago and was especially well received by our directors, who had lots of trade issue questions.

We have asked Dr Barry Dunn, Dean of Ag & Biological Sciences, SDSU to speak in the Education, Taxation Legislation Committee. Dr Dunn returned last Spring to the position of Dean of Ag and was handed the newly axed budget and required to make it work - What a Job!

Don't forget Dr Dunn will also be bringing with him the SDSU Ice Cream - there is none better!
This will be offered following the Friday luncheon. All vendor booths will have toppings at the booth so everyone can build their own sundaes.

Last, but by no means least will be Edward Avalos, who is Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs in Washington, DC. Mr Avalos will be our keynote speaker. If you remember Dudley Butler who spoke a couple years ago, - he arranged for Mr Avalos, who is from the same agency, to attend our convention this year.

We are pretty excited about this convention and hope all of you can attend.

Remember, this coming Thursday and Friday, Sept 22 and 23. I may still be going in circles, but the convention will be great.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks and please come.

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook

What beautiful fall mornings we have been having - you can definitely feel Fall in the air!  And with Fall comes the 120th South Dakota Stockgrowers Annual Convention and Trade Show.

I want to give you a bit of a heads up on our speakers - which this year includes 3 different committees with panels for discussion purposes.

Our first panel committee is actually our first committee meeting and is the Property Rights Committee to be convened at 8:15 on Thursday, Sept 22nd. That panel will be discussing our new Production based Real Estate Property Taxes which has lots of folks scratching their head. The members of that panel are Bill Kluck, a rancher who has had some problems with the new law; Larry Rhoden who is a state legislator; and Kirk Chaffee who is the Director of Equalization in Meade County and has actually worked with production based real estate taxes. This should be an interesting and informative meeting and one of interest to every farmer/rancher in the state.

The second panel committee is at 1:30 on Thursday and again will be a very interesting subject in the Marketing Committee as they discuss, among other things, the present state of our Beef Checkoff. Members of that panel are Bob Fortune, rancher from the Belvidere area and Stockgrowers' Regional III Vice President. Bob is currently one of 3 Stockgrowers on the SD Beef Council; Vaughn Meyer, rancher from the Reva, SD area also represents SD on the Cattlemen's Beef Board, commonly know as the CBB. Vaughn is also Chairman of the Marketing Committee. The third member of that panel is Ron Frederick, a rancher from near Mission, SD and currently the Executive Director of the SD Beef Industry Council in Pierre, SD. Ron has long been a supporter of the beef industry and is a good fit for the Beef Industry Council.

You're going to have to plan to take in both days of the convention since our third panel is the Ag and Natural Resources Committee meeting scheduled for Friday at 9:15. Linda Gilbert, Buffalo, SD, who also represents South Dakota on the CBB, is chairperson of this committee and hopes to be back from a CBB meeting in Denver in time for this panel discussion. In the mean time she has lined up the following speakers for the panel. Bob Budd, Lander, Wyo., Executive Director of the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust. Bob also has a Master of Science Degree in Range Management and spent 10 years as Executive Director of the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association. Another member of that panel is Ray Gilbert, a rancher from Buffalo, SD area has learned how to market his grass through his cattle and has a well developed grazing program to enable him to do it. Third member of this panel is Dan Rasmussen, a well know rancher from the White River area who also utilizes a strong well developed grazing program. In addition to his other duties Dan has a teaching role in the South Dakota Grazing School Committee.

Next week I'll bring you more information on the rest of the speakers including our keynote speakers for Thursday and Friday Dinners - I think you will like them!

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and mark you calendars for September 21 through the 24th for the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association Annual Meeting and Convention.

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook

We're getting a little welcome rain here in Rapid City this morning - don't know what it's doing out home, but sure hope it goes that far - although it can't help my garden anymore - the hoppers moved in and cleaned my vines completely even eating part of a cucumber.

Several Stockgrowers members had a chance to visit with Josh Tonsager, ag staffer from Senator Johnson's office on Friday afternoon as they took a little break from the R-CALF Convention.

If you missed the R-CALF convention on Friday and Saturday you missed a good one - Bill and Laurel put together a great set of speakers and pulled off a great convention.

I'm sure you have had someone tell you how well off you must be now that the cattle prices are pretty good! I don't know how many times I have heard that recently and my reply that in put prices have practically doubled seems to fall on deaf ears. But Bill Bullard's presentation at the convention looked at things from another angle that I thought was very interesting. He talked about the fact that most input vs profit margins are figured on basic costs and do not figure in the fact that ALL expenses on the ranch have to come out of that calf check.

He quoted some facts from Robert Taylor who is a Professor of Agricultural Economics at Auburn University using return on equity. He said the return on equity for beef retailers has been 21 percent; for beef packers it has been 17 percent; for cattle producers the return on equity has been minus .5 percent.

Bill went on to explain how important the GIPSA rule is for this reason and then spoke of some other areas where we can begin to turn this around. He will bring us some more information on this subject when he speaks to the group at the Stockgrowers convention in late September.

I also wanted to mention the fact that we will be beginning to work on the 2012 Farm Bill in the weeks and months to come. One of the issues that will be a big one is the fact that the National Cattlemens Beef Association (NCBA) has recently sent out a press release saying they plan to remove the Livestock Title from the new Farm Bill. I think probably 99 percent of all who hear or read this fought hard to get that title in the 2008 farm bill. NCBA didn't like it at the time, and they still don't simply because it called for the rules to beef up the Packers and Stockyards Act. When the GIPSA rule is finalized and implemented it will be much harder for the packers to manipulate the livestock markets - there's much more needs to be done to really make the markets fair for all involved, but this rule will go a long way.

NCBA and the packers don't have the membership the rest of us do, but they do have the deep pockets and the high dollar lobbyists - so I guess what I'm saying is be prepared - some day they will find out that ranchers stand for what we believe in - we may not have the deep pockets, but we have numbers, backbone and most of all we have theTruth.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and mark you calendars for September 21 through the 24th for the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association Annual Meeting and Convention.

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook

Well, some of the county fairs have come and gone - Central States Fair is in full swing - I was in there Saturday and I'll guarantee there are plenty of things to see and do.

As summer moves closer to Fall it is again time to look at the new Farm Bill. Now I don't usually name names or organizations in a negative way, but sometimes I kind of come to the end of the rope. As you know we all worked especially hard the past few years and last year finally was able to obtain a Livestock Title in the 2008 Farm Bill. This title covered various species and various issues from catfish to cattle including food safety.

Recently, Colin Woodall, NCBA Vice President of government Affairs has stated that NCBA will be doing everything they can to strike or reduce the livestock title in the 2012 Farm Bill.

The 2008 Farm Bill, of course was what initiated the proposed GIPSA rule that NCBA has opposed from the beginning. The GIPSA rule was written following the last Farm Bill's requirement that USDA issue regulations that would establish the criteria to be used in determining whether a packing or processing company has given an undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to one livestock producer over another in violation of the PSA. One example would be a marketing agreement where a packer pays one price to one producer and a different price to another producer for the same type, quality & etc, of livestock and does not have a justifiable economic reason for doing it.

Mr Woodall refers to a study of alternative marketing arrangements stating they helped all sectors of the livestock industry - I believe that study showed that the producer was not benefited by marketing agreements. He also state that the GIPSA rule would penalize producers who marketed cattle for a specific niche market. This is absolutely not true. In fact the proposed rule states that these programs CAN be used by packers to justify prices.

Mr Woodall then says a producer can be sued in the case of one being paid more than another - this is another absolute falsehood. If a packer is found to be giving undue or unreasonable preference without a justifiable reason for doing so then he ( the packer) may be in violation - not the producer.

I am really frustrated over this - and I have pulled out only a couple of the instances that Mr Woodall has brought up - the others are false as well. I am often asked why all livestock organizations do not come together as one. This is the reason. Not all organizations that purport to work for the benefit of cow/calf producers actually do. Some are so closely tied to the packing industry that they are totally blinded to the needs of the producers.

This probably means that instead of being able to build on 2008's Livestock Title, we will be working just to keep it in the 2012 Farm Bill while NCBA does everything they can to kill it for the benefit and continuation of packer concentration with anticompetitive markets.

I want to remind everyone of the R-CALF Annual Convention right here in Rapid City on August 26th and 27th at the Ramkota Convention Center. Let's join the R-CALF group for a great show of support for our Industry.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

August 15, 2011

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook

My heart is heavy as I write today – I’m a Fall River County girl and the young firefighter who died saving our countryside was from that area.  I didn’t know Trampus Haskvitz personally, but do know many of his family and friends. But as I have learned, life goes on and today is no different.

I am feverishly working on your July, August, September Stockgrower magazine with high hopes of having it in your mailboxes before the end of this month.  Part of the reason for the later date is so I can include all of the information for the Annual Convention which is scheduled for September 21 through the 24^th.

I think we have a pretty good lineup of speakers again this year – the fact that many of them are not from out of state and thousands of miles away certainly does not take away from their ability to bring us interesting and informative view points on many subjects.

At least 2 of our committees will be bringing a panel discussion to the convention; Ag and Natural Resources will be addressing grazing programs with a panel of Bob Budd,

Cheyenne, Wyo, past president of  the International Society of Range Management; Ray Gilbert, Buffalo, SD and Dan Rasmussen , WhiteRiver, SD who are ranchers utilizing certain rotational grazing practices in their operations.

In the Marketing Committee we have Ron Frederick, Vaughn Meyer , and Bob Fortune bringing us up to date on our beef checkoff.

And I’m proud to announce that we will have Edward Avalos, Washington , DC who is the USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. Mr Avalos will be our keynote speaker for Friday’s banquet.

Don’t forget the ever popular Friday night live auction which is always well attended and a lot of fun.

Speaking of fun, last year a few folks had brought their guitars with them and Thursday evening there was an impromptu jam session – so if you have a musical instrument and would like do a bit of jamming, bring them along and have a fun time on Thursday evening. The rest of us can sit back and enjoy and maybe do a bit of offkey singing.

We have moved the dates from the first week in September to the week of the 22^nd and 23^rd to get away from the Labor Day week.  Hopefully this will make it easier for more people to be able to attend these festivities. It’s going to be a fun time!

On one other quick note, APHIS has come out with the proposed plan for the new animal traceback ID system.  It appears that they have decided to drop the hot iron brand as an official means of identification.  This doesn’t mean that the brand states cannot use it amongst themselves and is doesn’t mean we can no longer use the brand within our state for ownership.  But it is unfortunate that they feel they cannot use it in their ID plan.  We, of course will be opposing this move in our comments and really do not understand their reason for doing so.  Sounds to me like animal rights groups in the picture again.

Until next Monday this is Margaret Nachtigall says remember September 22 and 23 for the Annual Convention.

Thank you.

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook

It's Fair Time again - every county and nearly every town has some sort of a celebration going on this month. Many of the county fairs used to be somewhere around Labor Day and just a few days before school started again - now it seems we have fairs for the full month of August.

Fairs are fun! It's a chance to take a few minutes to visit with folks you haven't seen since this time last year, check out all of the exhibits, attend a rodeo, or dance to a local band. It's the time when 4-H young people have the chance to show the end result of their year's projects. If you haven't had a chance to see what these young people are doing, I would suggest you make it a priority - I guarantee you will be impressed.

Yesterday I spent the day at the Beef Kabob Booth at the Heartland Convenience location near Hermosa. This where the South Dakota Stockgrowers and the South Dakota Farmers Union are providing Beef Kabobs for the motorcyclists and anyone else who stops. And yes, we were there for the hail storm which gets a bit loud in a metal building. We are using local beef from the Butcher Shop in Spearfish and selling kabobs as a fund raiser and beef promotion.

In other news the Cattlemen's Beef Board - Checkoff meeting at Orlando, Flo finished up last week and our representatives are back home. I talked to Vaughn Meyer and Linda Gilbert and will be making plans to hear from a check-off panel at the Stockgrowers Annual Convention in September.

I have seen a report of the Roles and Responsibilities Committee vote that took place down there. The Board did vote to make policy changes in 5 areas as indicated here. #1 area: The CBB and the Federation will jointly develop annual plans and priorities - Qualified State Beef Councils and contractors will have input. - The Budget Committee will consist of CBB and Federation members for the purpose of approval of all national checkoff budgets.

#2 area: Joint checkoff committees will have Federation and CBB representation. The Operating Committee Chair and Vice Chair will choose the chair and vice chair for each committee from either the CBB or the Federation. Committee meetings are open. Only Committee members may vote.

#3 area: The CBB will review all program plans and budgets funded by the Operation Committee

#4 area: The CBB & the Federation should adhere to the Beef Industry Long Range Plan to develop priorities for checkoff program work annually. The planning process should include contractors and all segments of the industry with input from state beef councils.

#5 area: The Evaluation Committee shall be a joint CBB and Federation committee and should evaluate all national checkoff programs, and should offer services to state beef councils at their invitation. These meeting are open to the industry.

Until next Monday, this is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and don't forget the best beef kabobs in the world available at the Heartland Convenience Parking lot near Hermosa next Sun, Mon and Tues and maybe Wed and Thursday depending on supplies.

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook

Well, here we are the 1st of August - my goodness the year goes fast - or is it just me - seems the kids just got out of school and here they are getting ready for it to start. I have a grand-daughter preparing for her freshman year at SDSU and can hardly wait.

The weather has been kind to us for the most part - lots of rain - sometimes too much, but in this country that's something you really don't say out loud.

Stockgrower activities are still pretty quiet - I and several other members and directors attended a 90th birthday celebration for long time Stockgrower supporter and director, Ken Halligan at the Casey Tibbs Center in Ft Pierre yesterday. As most of you know Ken is the father of one of our past directors Linda Gilbert, Buffalo. What a nice celebration and what a phenomenal job a couple of his granddaughters did on the documentation of his life up to the present.

I want to remind you of the Beef Kabob booth at the Heartland Convenience Store parking lot near Hermosa on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of this month. This is a cooperative effort with Farmers Union and the Stockgrowers to promote beef and provide an energy break for our motorcycle friends who will be traveling Hiway 79 on those days. Of course, this isn't just for the motorcycle travelers, but for everyone - if you are in or near that area on those days be sure to stop and say hello and grab a bite to eat. By the way, this is USA born, raised and slaughtered beef coming from the Butcher Shop in Spearfish. These folks have furnished meat for Stockgrower events for the past few years and always have an excellent product.

Speaking of beef, do you ever wonder what happened to Country of Origin Labeling, or COOL as it's called? Well, I'm glad to say - it is alive and well - could be improved upon, but then nothing is really perfect. If you will notice most of the stores either have the country of origin on the packages of meat or in the meat case, or on a placard above the meat display. Many of our consumers still believe the USDA Stamp on meat indicates a United States product when it only guarantees an official USDA Inspection.

Recently a Texas firm came under fire for advertising Genuine Texas Beef, produced and sold exclusively by Texans for Texans. However, closer scrutiny revealed that it only had to be in Texas for 100 days prior to slaughter to be included. The beef in question was produced by Cargill Inc.'s Panhandle plant in Plainview, Texas.

Bill Hyman, Executive Director for the Independent Cattleman's Association of Texas stated he likes the bumper sticker that says :"Seven days without U.S. beef makes one weak."

Until next Monday, this is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and don't forget the best beef kabobs in the world available at the Heartland Convenience Parking lot near Hermosa next Sun, Mon and Tues.

July 18, 2011

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook, wondering what happened to the Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer?  It did get hot yesterday didn’t it.

We don’t see too many of the Stockgrowers directors or members at this time – most everyone is putting up a vast amount of hay and pushing pretty hard to get it done between the showers.  I have heard prices for hay running between $60 and $80 a ton in the windrow, so although there is a lot of hay in this area this year there apparently is strong demand with quite a bit of it being hauled out to areas that are not quite as blessed.

Well the first annual Stockgrower-sponsored Picnic was observed yesterday at the City Park in Sturgis.  The crowd was not big, but thanks to T.W. and Faye Schalesky, Shane and Angie Kolb, and Silvia we had great food lots of fun and enjoyed some good music provided by friends and family of the Schalesky’s.

Coming up the 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th of August you will find Silvia and some of the Stockgrower members at a fund-raising food tent at the Heartland Convenience Store South of Hermosa.

This, of course, is the first week-end of the Sturgis Rally and with hundreds of hungry bikers coming in on Hiway 79 this looks to be a great place to promote beef with beef kabobs and raise a little money at the same time.  You don’t have to be on a bike – if you’re out and around be sure to stop by and have lunch with us.

Well, they’re still out to kill GIPSA – must be a bit of a bur under their blanket.  This time Beef Magazine’s Troy Marshall is referring to it as a government-controlled trial lawyer’s dream.  Don’t these guys ever get tired of that same old lie?  He of course is referring to GIPSA’a Administrator J. Dudley Butler’s statement that the law as it stands now is a trial lawyer’s dream. The packers and all of their bed fellows are still trying to say he was talking about the new proposed GIPSA rule, even though what he actually said is very well documented and available to anyone who wants to view the tape.

Mr Marshall goes on to say Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) is a failure.  I really doubt that the many consumers who can go to the meat case and choose meat that they know was born, raised and slaughtered in the United States , according to United States standards on sanitation, pesticide & herbicide uses, would consider it a failure.  Or maybe they just enjoy being able to buy USA -

Maybe the fact that Canada and Mexico have complained about COOL to the World Trade Organization (WTO) indicates that consumers would rather buy USA when they know that it is USA . And maybe the packing industry and their buddies are having to procure higher quality, higher cost meat from farmers and ranchers right here at home because that’s what the people are buying.

And maybe they are afraid the proposed GIPSA rule will force them into a market situation that will show their underhanded marketing arrangements to the world.

I guess I wouldn’t call COOL a failure and I surely wouldn’t consider the proposed GIPSA Rule a “tremendous waste of industry dollars” as Mr Marshall stated – instead I would say it’s the best way to clean up the markets and promote an industry that is fair and above board for all.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and stand strong for GIPSA!

July 11, 2011

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Sure a lot of hay bales getting wrapped up – and still a ways to go.  The hay crop looks really good, but some are saying it’s less than last year – however, nobody seems to be complaining.

Well, not to change the subject, but sometimes it seems no matter how hard you try, you just can’t get done what you want to do.  My email this morning included a copy of an interview of Kansas Livestock Association president Frank Harper.  We all know that KLA is a died in the wool NCBA bed fellow.  The interview was regarding Mr Harper’s trip to Washington , DC , at the request of Pat Roberts, to testify in a hearing on the State of the Livestock Industry in the United States .

Now, I agree everyone is entitled to their own opinion, or that of the organization they represent, but some things just don’t make sense.  For instance, Mr Harper stated that “what he was asking for in Washington was the right to raise and sell cattle as he pleased, taking the risks and reaping the rewards for hard work.  He sees his cattle business as his own business to run the best way he can – contracting with whoever he wants and carrying through on his obligations.  He politely asked Washington ’s power brokers to stay the hell out.

This is the irony of it – do Mr Harper and his cohorts really believe they can actually raise and sell cattle as they please when someone else has a stranglehold on the markets.  Harper was referring to the proposed GIPSA rule which NCBA and the whole packer lobbyist groups are trying to kill.  He probably can raise and sell cattle as he pleases as long as his pleasure is in synch with NCBA and the Packer Monopoly.  But he certainly cannot do it if he were a true-blue independent cattle producer.

Other not-good-news this morning has rumors of the resignation of Tom Jones, Cattlemen’s Beef Board President.  We don’t know that Mr Jones has is resigning, but this is an issue that NCBA has pushed extremely hard, ever since it was discovered that NCBA had actually used check-off dollars in an unethical way.  Tom and the CBB have long proposed a stronger separation between the check-off and NCBA’s policy side, and now they are out to get him – and probably everyone who believes as he does that our checkoff dollars were intended to be used to promote beef for the benefit of livestock producers and our consumers.  You know what happens when you disturb the sleeping giant – anybody have a good sling-shot?

So much for that, I do want to remind everyone of the Stockgrowers Picnic to be held on July 17 at 1:00 pm at the park in Sturgis.  Sounds like a fun time – I think T.W. Schalesky and maybe Shane Kolb will be at the grill for burgers and hotdogs.  Other than that it’s potluck and maybe some volley-ball and water balloons and fun for the whole family.  Don’t forget July 17^th.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and mark you calendars for the Annual Convention September 21 -24.

This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Well, Good Morning everyone and did everyone get enough rain over the weekend? I have received 1.44 inches since last Monday, and I'm sure at the low side of the past few days rain totals.

I spent the week-end between the State High School Rodeo Finals in Belle Fourche and The Plains Quarter Horse Show here in Rapid. My purpose for both was interest in our young people and I don't know about everyone else, but I am mighty proud of our kids.

At the horse show I was videoing my granddaughter as she competed in various classes. She is headed for SDSU this fall as a freshman and was asked to provide some video of her working with horses.

My purpose at the State Rodeo Finals was two-fold - one, I have a grandson competing and secondly SDSGA is a saddle sponsor.

As I drove home last night I thought, we don't realize what a blessing we have in that generation! There was a handful of kids selected to go to the National High School Rodeo Finals in Gillette in mid July. But every kid that made it to that rodeo, or that entered the practice rodeos or enters the local horse show or rodeo is a winner. Rodeo and Horse Show kids alike spend hours upon hours working with their horses - practicing their techniques and at the same time many of them are working to pay their own way.

There is no end to what these young people learn - they have rules to follow - very strict rules, not just Mom and Dad's. Many of them win their events, but many more don't - that doesn't make them a loser - it makes them a stronger, better person than they were when they went in, because they know how to accept defeat and believe me that's a tough one.

These kids learn responsibility, they learn acceptance, they learn leadership, they learn teamwork, they learn sportsmanship, and they learn how to have fun! And believe me, I am proud to have these kids for our leaders in the years to come.

We have a lot to be thankful for for the Moms and Dads who haul these kids around - it takes a lot of time from the ranch or local business, but you almost always see both parents and brothers and sisters - not to mention lots of grandparents!! - they truly are family events. To quote one parent I talked to "some things don't get done, but these kids are here such a short time - they are my priority" To that I say Amen.

The next time you have the opportunity to attend a youth event, do it, - take pride in what these young people are doing - not just the ones receiving the first place trophy, because every single one of them is a piece of the whole picture. Each and every one is as important as the next one.

I have faith in God's Plan for our future generation.

Thanks for listening.

This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Good morning everyone - it's a misty/rainy morning here and kind of nice if you're not trying to get some haying done - not too hot, not too chilly. And it's a good thing because our heating/cooling system went on strike last week.

As some of you may know the U.S. House voted on the 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. Included in this bill was an amendment, apparently brought forth by lobbyists for the meat packing industry, which would effectively stop the proposed GIPSA rule.

In 2004 a jury of 12 men and women found in favor of a group of ranchers who were arguing that the markets were unfair and were being controlled by the large packing industry.

Although the jury awarded 1.28 billion dollars in damages due to market manipulation by Tyson, or at that time IBP, it was overturned by the judges who basically said it was 'business justification'. In other words IBP/Tyson would not survive if they were prevented from 'business as usual' and their competitors were not.

Because livestock producers have been pushing for a fair market for many years we were finally able to have a livestock title included in the 2008 Farm Bill and under that title USDA was instructed to put some teeth into the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Act better known as GIPSA. GIPSA administrator, J Dudley Butler was give orders to make the Act enforceable .

As you probably remember Mr Butler told us that when the rules are written those who have profited from the lack of rules for many years will stop at nothing to prevent their implementation.

Now we see an amendment introduced into the new Ag Appropriations Bill that will prevent funding of the proposed GIPSA rules. The Appropriations Bill did past in the House 217 to 203 with the amendment intact. So the way it stands at this time is no funds will be appropriated to bring about any changes in packer manipulation of our markets.

During House debate of the Bill only one member of Congress had courage enough to stand against the huge packer lobby in defense of our markets and that was Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, Iowa. Although our Representative Congresswoman Noem did not vote in favor of the bill and for that we are thankful.

Folks we have a fight on our hands as this now goes to the Senate - as I've said before, the packers have the money, but we have the numbers (of people) and we have a reason - that is survival of Rural America and independent businesses as opposed to global, multinational, conglomerate control.

Yes, we have a job to do and we can do it.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Good Morning everyone what a beautiful day we have again after another pleasant week-end. Attended a horse sale in Newcastle on Saturday - I'm glad I wasn't in the market for one - I don't think my checkbook would have stretched that far no matter how I might try. Good sale, good horses.

I've been thinking of all the food documentaries we have been seeing lately, whether it's a movie, a video or whatever everyone seems to be concerned with our food - and rightfully so whether it's the way it's born, raised, slaughtered or the way it's planted or the patents some multinational corporation holds it still involves the food we put on our tables.

I recently read an article written by a person who put much of the blame on agriculture's antibiotics, saying 90 percent of livestock antibiotics are routinely fed in squalid and crowded conditions to keep animals from becoming sick. He goes on to say we would not think of routinely medicating our childrens' water to prevent illness. Wonder what he thinks chlorine and fluoride are and who knows what else is there.

But what he doesn't know is that most feedlots - at least that we see - are not squalid, crowded pens. Our cattle are not routinely fed antibiotics - and in many cases doctored cattle are also recorded and kept track of.

I think every one of us needs to work on the education side of our care of our products whether it's cattle, sheep, wheat, corn, vegetables or whatever. Too many of these articles and documentaries are for the purpose of making money - not for producers or consumers, but for the author or video-movie producers.

The article I just referred to stated that the United States has an "industrial farming system that is a marvel for producing cheap food"

Now, I contend that an industrial farming system may be the cause of some of our food problems. Let's have more family farms/ranches - fields - feedlots and etc. Let's not look to large industrial multinational corporate owned corporations to feed our families and kill our rural economy by driving our family owned and operated businesses our of business.

OK I'm off my soapbox and I need to get this to the radio, so will wish everyone a great week and good weather and a great rural way of life.

Thanks for listening.

Margaret

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening

This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Good Morning everyone what a beautiful day we have again after a nice weekend and for those who like hot weather, I believe it's upon us. I went to Wall this weekend to watch the Regional High School Rodeo - I think these kids are tougher and faster than we ever were! What a great sport!

On the way I noticed at least one field of alfalfa is down - Yep, it's haying time!

Enough chit/chat I want to be sure everyone is aware of the Stockgrowers June Quarterly which will be held tomorrow, June 7, and this year it will be right here in Rapid City at the Stockgrowers office - thanks to the Missouri River situation in Pierre and the fact that some of us can't swim.

The board has asked for a 1 day meeting instead of our usual committee meetings on one day and business meeting the second.

With that in mind the committee meetings are scheduled for the morning 9:00 - noon. We'll start off with Federal Lands Committee and Ag & Natural Resources Committee meeting both meeting at 9:00 in separate rooms; Education Taxation and Legislation Committee and Wildlife Management Committee will meet at 9:30; Brand and Theft and Marketing will meet at 10:00, again separate rooms; 10:30 will see Animal Health & ID and Property Rights meeting and at 11:00 the Trade Committee will meet.

Everyone will be on their own for lunch and we will reconvene at 1:00 pm for the Board of Directors Meeting, which as with all Stockgrower meetings, is open to the public.

For anyone who is interested in the activities of the Stockgrowers or has concerns with the beef checkoff, the GIPSA rule, or the fact that Mexico and Canada are appealing to the World Trade Organization in an attempt to put a stop to Country of Origin Labeling - please plan to attend this meeting.

Also, the Stockgrowers finance committee has met and will present the 2011 - 2012 budget to the full board - again this is open to the public - except, of course, if or when an executive session is called.

Remember, Tomorrow, June 7 here at the Stockgrower Office beginning at 9:00 am - come on in and share your thoughts and ideas with us.

One other item of interest I want to share with you is that Kristi Noem has been assigned to the House Ag Committee - Congratulations Congresswoman Noem.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening

Good morning/afternoon. This is Margaret Nachtigall with the latest edition of the SDSGA Tallybook.

Well, the April showers may not have brought May flowers, but I'll bet the May showers will bring June hay - if and when the sun shines again.

First today I need to correct a mis-statement I made last week. But I think to do that I need to do a bit of backup work here - this is regarding the new Animal Disease Traceability program that replaces the old NAIS which we all fought so strongly.

In September of 2010 13 national organizations came together to put forth the type of program livestock producers would agree to. This group known as the Cattle ID Group or CIDG addressed the 3 steps in the new program 1) The Foundation or official identification of cattle over 18 months of age moving interstate - 2) Assessment or evaluation of Step 1 to determine if the system is competently functioning prior to implementation of the third step; 3) Phase in of all cattle.

The CIDG strongly suggested certain performance indicators be met according to Step 2 prior to consideration of step 3. Those indicators are:
1. A fully functioning electronic Interstate Certificate of Veterinary Inspection system be in place in all 50 states.
2. 90% of 18 month and older cattle moving interstate be officially ID'd and 90% of the official ID's collected at slaughter, retired and recorded in a data base.
3. Four Interstate Traceability Performance Standards suggested by USDA be met at 95% - These standards have to do with states/tribes responses as ID'd cattle move from one state to another. These responses range from 1 day to 7 days (depending on circumstances) as a state or tribe meets the traceability performances.
4. An independent or outside audit or review of the ADT step 1.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of what I was talking about last week when I mistakenly said we agreed to 70% completion of 18 month and over before the next phase.

The other issue I wanted to talk about today is the way those who are so opposed to the GIPSA rule are stating their opposition. A few days ago we received a press release with NCBA's byline titled "Congressional Letter corners USDA on proposed GIPSA rule" The gist of the news release was that a letter was sent to Secretary Vilsack signed by 147 US Representatives asking for the proposed GIPSA rule to be withdrawn and revised. I wonder how many of the 147 ( which by the way is less than 1/3 or the US House) actually knew the truth about what they were signing?

Many of you will remember J Dudley Butler, GIPSA Administrator, when he spoke to us a couple years ago at the Annual Convention. At that time he said "when those who have benefitted for so long from unenforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act see these rules, they will stop at nothing to prevent their implementation." NCBA and the packers have tried to discredit Mr Butler, but did not succeed - they are not very well learned in the process of 'cornering' if they think they can stop him that way.

Ironically, this same week Senators Johnson, Enzi from Wyoming, Grassley from Iowa, and Tester from Montana introduced a bill that will "target unfair meat packer practices that negatively influence and impact independent ranchers and farmers." Senator Johnson said "The top four multi-national meat-packing companies today control roughly 85% of the domestic slaughter capacity in the United States. It is increasingly tough for independent farmers and ranchers to gain fair market access. This bipartisan bill will keep our farmers and ranchers in the fold and ensure that they get a fair price for their product." Unquote

The bill is known as the Livestock Marketing Fairness Act. Isn't it great to have Congressional Delegates who actually understand the livestock business and where the backbone of the country is!

Until next Monday, this is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening. And remember June 7 Quarterly

Good Morning Everyone! This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

We definitely received some nice moisture last week, but for those who were trying to brand or for those who are trying to shear sheep, it probably wasn't quite so welcome - maybe yesterday worked better for those folks.

It seemed like last week was a short one, but probably because of being out of the office 2 days. On Tuesday I attended an Ag Unity Tax Exemption Task Force in Pierre. We heard input from the Revenue Department, went over a lot of information, and made plans for further work and information gathering in this area of South Dakota taxes. One of the reasons for "exemptions" ( as it's called in the tax code) is due to the fact that tax is charged on the final price of the product or service and to tax components would be double taxation. Of course, this is an over simplification of the process and will come under further scrutiny as we continue in this study.

The second day out of the office was to travel to Ft Pierre for Johnny Smith's funeral. Many of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Board of Directors were there as were many of the members. The funeral was held at the Casey Tibbs Center which was full, close to overflow. What a tribute to a great South Dakotan.

Other areas of interest to Stockgrowers are, for one, the new Animal Disease Traceability Framework which of course is the successor to the old National Animal Identification System better known as NAIS.  

President Kenny Fox has been following this quite closely and reports concern for the fact that the USDA has talked of not including the hot iron brand as an official means of interstate identification. He also reports that USDA is considering including feeder cattle in the program very soon which flies in the face of the agreement reached in previous negotiations. Earlier agreements would not include feeder cattle until 70% of the breeding age cattle were in the program and the program was running smoothly.

Another area of interest to our nation's producers is the push to activate free trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and South Korea. These agreements as they sit at this time are not in the best interests of our livestock producers. For instance, as with many of the previous Free Trade Agreements (FTA's), these agreements do not prohibit these countries from importing cattle from a neighboring country, slaughtering it and exporting to the US as their own beef. A good example of that is with South Korea who could import from China (who by the way has the 3rd largest cattle herd in the world) slaughter in Korea and export duty free to the US.

This agreement also would allow US packers to import from Canada and Mexico, export to these other countries at a great profit. This, of course does nothing for the US producer except diminish his export market - and his profit.

We'll be watching these areas quite closely and will do our best to help put pressure where it's needed to protect our farmers and ranchers.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and don't forget June 7, Ft Pierre for the summer quarterly - bring us your thoughts, questions and ideas.

Good Morning Everyone! This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Well folks, we lost a good one this week-end. Johnny Smith, Ft Pierre passed away Friday during his regular dialysis appointment in Pierre.

A lot of people have a lot of influence in our day to day lives, but I don't believe anyone has had more influence, given more support, with as much passion in the business of supporting the farm and ranch community as Johnny has. All you had to do was listen to him on his Saturday morning market report to know where he stood - he said it like he saw it, and he didn't pull any punches.

Johnny saw, and opened our eyes to a lot of the injustices that have been happening in the cattle industry, including captive supply, packer ownership of cattle, and other problems within our markets. He was passionate about the need for market reform and spent a good share of his life working to right the wrongs in our rural communities.

The Stockgrowers called upon him many times to speak at meetings or be the auctioneer for our fund-raising events. He never turned us down and he never charged us.

A friend of Johnny's, Mike Callicrate, Colorado Springs, Colorado said "Johnny was one of a kind. I don't know of anyone who has worked harder for truth, justice and the wellbeing of independent cattlemen than Johnny Smith. His death leaves a massive void in our hearts and in our industry.

I would like to dedicate today's tallybook to Johnny and to his family and I'd like to close with a piece written a his friend from the Bowdle area who tells me he scratched out these lines early Saturday morning when he could no longer sleep. Here it is:

By: Ernie Mertz

Johnny`s life work has come to an end
But his legacy will never end

The standard he set for independence was very high
And fearless determination for all to comply

One never had to wonder what Johnny thought
And you knew when he talked he could not be bought

Johnny was an advocate for youth and cowboys for sure
He was maybe bigger than the life he had to endure

We don`t honor the man, but the work he did best
His God given talents for us to do the rest

We will miss his Saturday radio voice
But remember his legacy, we have a choice

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening, and say a prayer for Johnny and his family.

Good Morning Everyone! This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

If you haven't heard by this time that Osama Bin Laden is dead you have either been in the calving barn all night and morning or your electricity is out and you don't have a phone or battery backup anywhere.
We must commend the Navy Seals and all of our men and women who have been and still are fighting for freedom.

The capture and death of Bin Laden, the horrendous tornados in Alabama and the blizzards in North Dakota and Montana are all major happenings that make our own challenges seem mighty small, but small as they are at this time, the long range effect of some of these challenges could, and will, be devastating to our industry if they're not held in check.

For instance I just read an article by Juan Forero, of National Public Radio (NPR) about JBS the Brazilian meat packer. Forero stated, and I quote "JBS grew from a one billion a year company a decade ago into a $40 billion Goliath. It did so in part by buying big American companies like Swift, a beef and pork processor, and Pilgrim's Pride, which produces chicken."
He went on to say "JBS has also bought plants in Argentina, Australia, Italy, and other countries. The company now slaughters 90,000 head of cattle a day, exports to 150 countries, and controls a quarter of the worldwide trade in beef. Quite an accomplishment for a company that started small, very small."
I agree it is quite an accomplishment, but it is devastating to livestock producers, small feedlot owners and consumers alike when a giant like that is allowed to control our lives to that extent.
Along that same line I read another article by a journalist by the name of Eric Schlosser in which he said:
In the spirit of limiting public awareness, companies such as Monsanto and Dow Chemical have blocked the labeling of genetically modified foods, while the meatpacking industry has prevented the labeling of milk and meat from cloned animals. If genetic modification and cloning are such wonderful things, why aren't companies eager to advertise the use of these revolutionary techniques?
The information contained in these two articles is just the tip of the iceberg of why we need to keep fighting for control of our own industry - this is why we absolutely need the proposed GIPSA rule that will help make the Packers and Stockyards Act enforceable. That of course, is just the beginning of what we need to hold on to our independently owned farms, ranches, feedlots, but it will be a beginning.
That, I believe, is the reason our ancestors came to America.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening, and don't forget June 7th for the Quarterly meeting in Ft Pierre at the Pizza Ranch.

Good Morning! This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

I wanted to say Happy Easter this morning, but it looks more like "Merry Christmas"! Sounds like we're in for about a week of unsettled weather - for some that's not too bad - for some it's not too good, but I guess, as I've said before - it is South Dakota and we can be mighty thankful we're not in line with all the tornados to the South and East of us.

South Dakota Stockgrowers along with a lot of other folks have been objecting to, and fighting against the genetically modified (GMO) crops we are seeing in this country. The big danger of course is that fact that seeds drifted with the wind can invade someone else's crop. Then when they go to market and the invasive seed shows up in that other persons harvest he/she can't sell it as a non-GMO crop. And besides that if the GMO seed is one that originally belonged to a corporation like Monsanto (an most of it does come from Monsanto) that crop then belongs to Monsanto.

I just recently found out that we're not the only ones concerned with this problem. According to this information Ireland is also quite concerned. A Tipperary farmer Richard Auler said Quote "the proposed introduction of GM crops by the new government is now the single biggest threat to the future of farming on this island. It would destroy all of our competitive advantages - including the least polluted topsoil in Europe, our mostly grass-based production system, and our famous clean green image." Unquote The Irish Cattle and Sheepfarmers Association also favors a ban on GM crops. A spokesperson from Slow Food International, said "Since we live in a global world, stopping the march of GM seeds and crops is not only very important for Ireland, but also for the developing world, where food security is paramount."

I don't know how long it's going to take for us to realize what's happening right before our eyes - and what are we going to do about it? These huge corporations are taking over the world. That folks, is one of the things we are fighting so hard with the new GIPSA rules. These rules, if implemented, will go a long way towards helping our Department of Justice and the USDA clamp down on some of this corporate greed. It's only one small step, but that's how we all learned to walk too!

That is also the reason the big packers and their deep-pocketed lobbyist are in Washington, DC thicker than the winter hair on a Shetland Pony.

I believe our help will come from the One who sacrificed Himself for our sins. I firmly believe He can and will lead us in the way we need to go, if we ask.

This coming Sunday we will celebrate the day of Christ's ascension into Heaven, but every day needs to be the day we ask Him to lead us; to show us the way to overcome these huge obstacles that prevent us from living a lifestyle that will make it possible to share the wealth of the land, and to leave a legacy for our sons and daughters.

May you all enjoy a blessed Easter and a beautiful Spring.

Some dates to remember are: June 7, 2011 - Quarterly Meeting at the Pizza Ranch in Ft Pierre, SD.
And September 21 - 24 our Annual Convention at the Ramkota in Rapid City.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

Good Morning! This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook, and we had a nice spring rain and then sunshine over the week-end. Hope it was as good where you are.

This again is one of those weeks when I really have to dig to find something to talk about that I didn't already cover in the past couple tallybooks.

All is quiet from the Board of Directors - I'm sure everyone is well into calving by this time and some are done and talking about branding - they say time flies when you're having fun. Branding time is another time when we don't see our directors - they're either branding their own or the neighbors - (let me rephrase that - they're either branding their own or helping the neighbors brand)

One thing we are watching and commenting on is the Columbia Free Trade Agreement. This agreement was negotiated by President Bush and Columbia's President in 2007 and is being brought to the forefront again by President Obama who met recently with Columbia's president. President Obama identified a number of serious and immediate labor concerns that needed to be addressed before he was prepared to submit the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (the "Agreement") for Congressional approval. These concerns included insufficient protection of internationally recognized labor rights under Colombian laws, regulations, and enforcement efforts; violence against Colombian labor union leaders; and inadequate efforts to bring to justice those responsible for killing labor union leaders.

The big question is whether the Columbian government will actually implement, or work with the new "Action Plan" as it's called. 52 unionists were killed in Columbia last year and very few killings are ever prosecuted. This year 6 have already been killed and 2 within the past 2 weeks.

Even if everything else was to the benefit of the United States, I don't believe we can agree to trade with a country with that kind of human rights beliefs. The last 2 who were killed were members of an agricultural union known as the Association of Peasant Workers.

I believe Columbia's Trade Agreement still contains some of the NAFTA type issues such as the investor to state phrase which allows a business in Columbia that sells into the United States to file suit against the US if their business begins to fail due to our laws on environmental or other laws that supposedly reduces their income. We have seen this played out as a result of the NAFTA agreement.

In other news our lobbyist Jeremiah Murphy has been working with members and others on the open fields problems and eminent domain issues that have been part of our ongoing issues for the past couple years.

Some dates to remember are: June 7, 2011 - Quarterly Meeting at the Pizza Ranch in Ft Pierre, SD.
And September 21 - 24 our Annual Convention at the Ramkota in Rapid City.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

Good Morning! This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Most everything on my computer this morning is not good news. I'm sure none of you, or very few of you knew my cousin from Wright, Wy who passed away last Thursday of a massive heart attack. She was 66, was widowed at a young age, and raised both of her daughters by herself, only to have them both precede her in death, within the past two years. This was not good news.

And this morning my emails are most all about Jeanne Charter, Shepherd, Montana who was killed in a 3 vehicle accident on Friday. I'm sure most, if not all, of you knew Jeanne or knew who she was. According to the Billings Gazette Jeanne's vehicle was hit from behind and pushed into oncoming traffic.

Many of you will remember Jeanne and her husband Steve when they fought the check-off battle, only to lose it in a Supreme Court Decision on another case.

I doubt that either of these ladies knew the other, but in their own way did everything they could to make this world a better place. Lucille was a kind loving person who would go out of her way to help a neighbor or anyone else who needed a helping hand, and did it with a smile. Jeanne was the same kind of person who went out of her way to make things right for those who struggled to keep the ranching community viable when it was nearly an impossibility.

In other parts of the world - did you know that South Dakota Stockgrowers Association was one of three organizations that founded the Western Junior Livestock Show? Also did you know that Western Junior, or the "Calf Show" as many of us call it, is the longest consecutively running event at the Central States Fairgrounds. Next year they will celebrate their 75th year - so get ready to take part in a great celebration for a great show!

Also, did you know that the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association was the originator of the 4-H Livestock Industry Trust Fund. I don't know what that has grown to, but I know it's over a million dollars.

As far as present Stockgrower business, it's really quiet here at the office. I'm working on the next magazine which I hope to have out within the next 10 days. Silvia is planning for the next Agri-tourism classes and is working with the last class with their ads which will be in the next magazine. She's also working on grant applications which will be available this Spring.

The GIPSA rule business has not yet been settled - of course the packers and their lobbyists are doing everything possible to derail it. We're staying in touch and doing what we can to support the folks in DC who are working hard for us.

We have two of our Stockgrower members representing South Dakota at the National Check-off level and doing a great job of it.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening, let's remain positive.

Good Morning! This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Last week I touched on the GIPSA Rule a bit, so thought I would go into it a little deeper today. Some of you, I'm sure, are tired of hearing about it while some of you may be wondering just what it's all about.

The 2008 Farm Bill was the first Farm Bill in which we were finally able to include a Livestock Title. In that farm bill USDA was instructed to write rules that would make the Packers and Stockyards Act enforceable. Now, this Act had been enacted in 1921, but has never had rules written that would make it enforceable.

The Grain Inspection Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has regulatory oversight of the Packers and Stockyards Act and is the agency that proposed those rules - better known as the GIPSA Rule.

The proposed GIPSA Rule covers the following areas:

1.) It clarifies unfair, unjustly discriminatory or deceptive practices
2.) It prohibits an individual from having to prove harm to the entire industry when filing a claim for harm to his/her own business
3.) It clarifies and prohibits undue and/or unreasonable preferences or advantages.
4.) It requires packers to maintain records and to justify different prices to same type cattle in same environments.
5.) It requires packers to submit a sample copy of their contracts which is posted on the GIPSA website.
(these are only sample copies - not actual sales as some have indicated)
6.) It would also prohibit packers from selling cattle back and forth with each other and prevents 2 or more packers from using the same buyer at the same market.

As you can see, these are some pretty definite changes from the P&SA from 1921 and the packing industry along with their lobbyists are fighting these changes in every way they can.

We are accused of wanting the cattle business to revert back 30 - 40 years which of course, is just one of the many accusations from the opponents of the rules. What we really want is an industry that does not follow that of the poultry and hog industries. We are standing on the brink of that right now and if we don't do something immediately we will be past the point of no return.

We have had very positive feed back from GIPSA and Secretary Vilsack who, as I said last week, in a letter to a few senators said "USDA has taken steps to improve enforcement of the P&SA including launching a USDA/DOJ task force to explore new opportunities for harnessing each other's expertise and improving enforcement of laws designed to protect producers."

We here at the Stockgrowers just ask that everyone stand in support of the GIPSA Rule for the benefit of our industry which is the mainstay of the economy of our state and of the nation.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening, let's remain positive - this morning someone promised sunshine by July 4.

Good Morning! This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

The meadow larks are back! I'm always excited to hear the first ones and when Dean was still with us he would always beat me to it- or anyway he said he did. When I was just out of high school and working in Hot Springs the first sign of Spring was the load limits posted on Highway 18. What are your first signs of Spring and do you have a race in your family to see who finds the first one?

One of the questions I have been asked lately is about the proposed United States - South Korea free-trade agreement. (and for the record, I hate the term "free-trade" because it's not free, equal, fair or anything else on most of these agreements)

I just read an article by Representative Brad Sherman, a member of the House subcommittee on ……..trade, and Asia and Pacific.

In the article he explains how the Kaesong Industrial Park is operated cooperatively by North and South Korea and lies just north of the demilitarized zone. At the present the factories that are run by South Korean industries employ 40,000 North Koreans and expect to eventually have several hundred thousand.
Their wages are not paid to them but must be paid to the North Korean Government which pays the workers according to North Korean standards.

Now that's neither here nor there as far as we are concerned - however, according to the proposed agreement, as it reads today, the products manufactured in Kaesong, whether products of North or South Korea, would be eligible for export to the Unite States.

According to Representative Sherman the proposed agreement only asks for an ambiguous "legislative approval". He states that if we are to benefit from this agreement it should not include North Korean exports and should require statue approval by an act of Congress.

I agree that we part of our trade deficit problem now is our generous access to our imports and our lack of access for our exports. Stockgrowers have always believed in trade with foreign countries, but it must benefit both partners equally.

Another question I am asked periodically is what's happening to the proposed GIPSA rule? At this time things are fairly quiet in that area.

We do have information that is Secretary Tom Vilsack's reply to a letter of inquiry in which the Secretary stated that the producers "want to have or maintain marketing option, they want transparency, they want access to markets, they have fewer buyers with whom to do business and they struggle with debt and face challenges accessing capital"

He said "USDA has taken steps to improve enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act, including launching a USDA?DOJ task force to explore new opportunities for harnessing each other's expertise and improving enforcement of laws designed to protect producers."

At this time the GIPSA group is analyzing over 60,000 comments received by them as a result of the combination workshops held around the country last year.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening, let's remain positive - it's less stressful.

Good Morning! This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

What a difference a week makes - last week we were in a deep freeze and this week the water is running - some places it's flooding.

However, I think probably everyone in this area would rather be here than anywhere else in the world. The devastation in Japan is unreal - we certainly need to say a prayer of two for those poor folks - I see the pictures, but I can't really grasp the full realization of the events that are happening there.

For those of you who may not have heard, Derry Brownfield died at home early Saturday morning from and apparent heart attack. As a strong promoter of family owned agriculture and an opponent of huge multi-national corporations he was a friend and spokesman for thousands. Derry didn't mince words - he said it like he thought it. He'll certainly be missed. Our condolences go out to his family.

Friday was the annual KBJM Farm and Home Show in Lemmon, SD. I don't know how many years they have been doing this, but we have been there for the last 2 years. It's always a great show - lots of agricultural booths and a chance to visit with a lot of ag folks. Also each booth usually has a drawing with winners being announced throughout the day. We gave a brand book that was won by Jim Petik, Keldron, SD. We had another drawing at our booth for everyone who became a new member that day or renewed a membership that day. That was a beautiful leather notebook cover that at the end of the day went to Karen Englehart, Bison, SD who renewed a longstanding membership.

I'd like to thank all the folks who stopped to visit - it's always good to hear new ideas, thoughts and try to answer questions. I also want to thank KBJM and all the folks who produced such a great one day trade show - what a job and well done. My only complaint is I didn't win the wii - maybe next year.

We're working on lots of ideas around here. Silvia is working on the business plan for the Agri-tourism program; keeping track of memberships; and planning for more Agri-tourism workshops.

I'm working on the Annual which will be in September - tentatively the 21st - 24th this year; our June Quarterly which will be in Pierre again; and the Apr, May, June magazine which will be coming out about the 20th of April. I'm also working with some of the directors to arrange some area meetings in the Bison and New Underwood areas. We also have some folks interested in reviving the Jr Stockgrowers Association which we hope to get underway this summer.

The hardest part of any of this is finding a day when ranchers aren't busy. I know, I've been there - I know that days of rest are few and far between on the ranch - but from the chair I sit in now, I also know how important it is to have some of these meetings to discover ways and means of preserving our agricultural heritage and being able to make it profitable.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

Good Morning! This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

The calendar says it's only 13 days until we officially have Spring - but when I look out the window, it's snowing - again!

This week at the Stockgrowers has been pretty quiet - I really don't have anything to report so I'm bringing some information sent to us regarding the old NAIS problem and the old beef export/import problem.

But first I want to address a phone call I received this morning. A gentleman called to inquire about the prairie dog bait called Rozol. Then as the conversation changed topics - as conversations do - we were talking about the pine beetle problem in the forest. He asked if the Stockgrowers were active in the fight to save the forest and I advised that at this time we certainly support activities that are designed to protect the forest from the pine beetle, but are not actively involved in anything. Maybe this is something we need to take a look at.

One year ago Secretary Vilsack announced that due to public input he would eliminate the National Animal Identification System aka NAIS, which he did do. Some time prior to that announcement several livestock organizations came together to help draw up a plan for Animal Disease Traceability that would work for all who were involved.

. The proposed program from the livestock organizations would address only the breeding herd at this time. Those cattle would be ID'd with various approved methods of identification including hot iron brands and most would be augmented with a small metal eartag.

Recently USDA has announced the new program called the Animal Disease Traceability Framework or
ADTF. However we see USDA's ADTF program would also include feeder cattle, an age group that were addressed by the group of organizations and it was decided to leave them out at this time and to revisit that possibility after the new program is working.

The second major back-step is USDA's plan would be to delist the hot-iron brand as a means of identification. As R-CALF pointed out in a letter to Secretary Vilsack, "delisting brands from the current list of official identification devices is to reduce, not maximize, flexibility to producers. He said it eliminates from official purview one of the longest standing and most effective means of identifying cattle.

One other concern that the Stockgrowers have is the reluctance of USDA to reduce or prohibit the import of cattle from know disease areas. One of the most serious being importing livestock from Mexico that bring Bovine Tuberculosis with them. According to R-CALF 67 percent of all bovine Tuberculosis cased detected at U.S. slaughter plants originated in imported cattle - most of which came from Mexico.

These are certainly issues that need to be addressed as we move forward with the new Animal Disease Traceability Framework.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

Good Morning! This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Anybody not tired of snow yet? We have about 10 to 12 inches at home which is considerably less than what a lot of you have, and the weather man says there's more on the way. I remember what it's like calving in this kind of weather and I sympathize with you - notice I said sympathize - not for hire.

We were finally able to go ahead with the Stockgrowers February Quarterly on the 18th in Pierre after being stormed out on the 8th.

The meeting was held at the Pizza Ranch with 24 directors, officers and staff on hand. Several items of interest were discussed including hiring Hazel Kalkbrenner, Wasta to procure magazine advertisements and Convention Sponsors. Hazel will be working on a commission basis and will begin work immediately. She will be a great asset to the organization.

Our Guest speaker was Jim Faulstich, a rancher from the Highmore area. Jim brought information and handouts regarding the Leopold Award. The Leopold award was inspired by the writings of Aldo Leopold who said " the landscape of any farm is the owner's portrait of himself. Conservation implies self-expression in that landscape." The award is sponsored by a variety of organizations through the Sand Count Foundation. Several folks there donated, but the board will make their decision whether to support at the June board meeting.

Other items of interest at the meeting included reports from the committees and discussion regarding appointees to various state boards .

Following the board meeting we met with Governor Daugaard at the Capitol. The Governor explained his budget cuts and reasons for such, answered questions and heard from some of the directors who had specific items of interest.

Dave Niemi, Buffalo area Director spoke on Eminent Domain and specifically areas of reclamation and abandonment of lines such as pipe lines etc.

President Kenny Fox, Belvidere asked for support from the State government regarding the new GIPSA rule which is now in the hands of US Secretary Tom Vilsack and the USDA. He also asked if he could give names of possible candidates for the Brand Board. Governor Daugaard assured him that he would take any names he wanted to give him at that time. Kenny gave Billy Hutchinson, Jim Reed and Rick Fox. The Governor asked for some follow-up information on each.

Larry Nelson spoke on the open fields doctrine which is actually in the legislature at this time. The Governor said he was well aware of the situation and will be acting on it.

All in all it was a very good meeting.

Then Friday the 25th several Stockgrowers met with Senator Johnson at his office in Rapid City.

One of the attendees was Vaughn Meyer, Chairman of the Marketing Committee who spoke in regards to the GIPSA rules and the Check-Off situation. He talked about the empty mainstreets in so many of our small towns and how the new rules will do more than keeping ranchers on the land, they are essential to the economy of our nation.

The Senator said he will contact Senator Harkin and others and will be working on it.

Several other directors spoke on issues such as the Government allowing Land and Water Funds ( which are actually off-shore drilling royalties ) to be used by environmentalist organizations who take privately owned land off the tax rolls by eventually turning it over to government ownership.

Othesr spoke of the wilderness areas and the fact that the intent of Congress was for multiple use vs wilderness for certain lands

Senator Johnson advised that he will look into the crop insurance mandates that are facing many of our producers.

We appreciate the Senator taking time to visit with us and to know we have people in Washington, D.C. who understand our interests.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening

Good Morning! This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Our condolences go out to our lobbyist Jeremiah Murphy who lost his father and his uncle in the past week. Also condolences to the families of Marvin Anders, Elm Springs and Bud Fortune, Quinn, SD

I apologize for not being here last Monday - the old flu bug kind of got hold of me and laid me pretty low for several days. Guess that's what I get for not getting a flu shot. I had just recovered from that when my daughter had surgery to remove a piece of her colon containing a couple possibly malignant growths. We'll know more about that today or tomorrow.

Our February quarterly Board of Directors meeting in Pierre which was scheduled for February 8th was postponed due to weather. We have a conference call planned for this evening to obtain board permission to reschedule in less than 10 days, hoping to reschedule for February 18th in Pierre.

Kenny is in Pierre keeping track of things there while Jeremiah is out. One of the bills Kenny called about this morning is House Bill ll89 which is designed to impose a fee on certain pipelines carrying crude oil and to create a crude oil pipeline compensation fund that may be used in the event of a crude oil spill. This bill will be up in the House Taxation Committee Tuesday morning 7:45 am Central Time.

Another bill that we are watching is House bill 1226 which would impose additional real estate transfer fees on certain agricultural land and apportion the revenue to local taxing districts.
Seventy-five percent of the revenue from the fee imposed would be deposited in the county general fund and used for the construction and maintenance of county roads. Twenty-five percent of the revenue would be apportioned and remitted on a monthly basis to townships.  This bill will also be up in the House Taxation Committee on Tuesday morning.

If you have thoughts on either of these bills please call today and leave a message for your representative.  This can be done by calling 605-773-3851.

And since it's Valentine's Day we have another call for you to make. A large coalition of agricultural organizations across the country are asking their members to make a call to the White House and to leave a message for President Obama. You are urging him to make sure USDA enforces the new GIPSA rules that we have been working so hard to support. The number to call is 202 456-1111, wait for the operator and then give her your name, your occupation - rancher - producer - consumer etc. and let her know how important these rules are for the survivorship of your business and our Rural economy. You may need to call back a couple times if the line is busy.

In other matters, Silvia is meeting today with 35 travel agents from across Europe to announce, for the first time, that we will be booking ranch vacations! This is pretty exciting and also a bit scary but is the continuation of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Agri-Tourism Venture which has been in the works for about a year now.

If you have questions on any of the bills or anything else please feel free to give us a call here at the Stockgrowers Office - Or stop by for a cup of coffee and conversation - we want your thoughts and ideas.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening

January 31, 2011

Good Morning!  This is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

My goodness, I’ll bet the long underwear and coveralls got put to use this week!  But someone told me Rapid area would see temps in the 40’s by Thursday – It is South Dakota .

It’s good to see so many of you at the Black Hills Stock Show.  There is a good omen in the fact that it seems the majority of ranchers in town are in the senior citizen range ( which of course starts at a very young 55!!) this tells me that we have a lot of young folks home doing chores and preparing to move into management roles.

We have lots going on right now not the least of which is the legislature – Thank Goodness we have Jeremiah Murphy in Pierre .  There is a bill that will be heard in the House Ag Committee Tues morning Feb 1^st that is very important to livestock producers.  The bill number is HB 1097 and is intended to make some changes in the new property tax assessments.  Under the new production based assessment land that, according to soil type, is assessed as crop land, if it is a certain type, whether it is being cropped or grazed.  HB 1097 would make changes to allow pasture land to be assessed as pasture land instead of cropland, if it meets certain standards, no matter what the soil type is.  This is very important to those of us who graze certain lands – always have and always will.  Please call the house message line and leave a message for members of the Ag committee to vote YES for HB 1097.  Or you may send and email by sending to: rep. last name @ state.sd.us.

Last week we say a bill to require legislative approval for state agencies to purchase large tracts of land – the bill was defeated.

There is also a bill SD 55 to permit shooting coyotes from a snowmobile – this was passed by the Senate Ag Committee. We supported the bill only after it was amended to restrict it to landowners or leasees.

Meanwhile at the Civic Center we are beginning day 5 of the Stock Show.  We have been busy – lots of folks stop at this time to purchase or renew their Stockgrower or R-CALF memberships.  We also are gaining a large number of signatures on a petition to show our congressional delegates our support of the proposed GIPSA rules which will go a long ways toward leveling the livestock marketing situation and the beginning of a way to gain more competition in that area – so if you get a chance to attend the Stock Show please stop by the booth – if for nothing else than a cup of coffee – we have it ready at all times!

And we definitely want to hear your opinion on these issues whether you agree with us or not.

Tomorrow morning our President Kenny Fox and Donny Ravellette will be addressing the Rapid City Rotary Club at the Stock Show sale area at 7:00 a.m.  If you’re around at that time stop by and hear what they have to say.

We also have two members who will be representing South Dakota in Denver this week regarding our Beef Checkoff.

As you see we have a lot of members going a lot of different directions – but the most important part of our work is to talk to you folks and get your ideas for the industry.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening – see you at the Stock Show!

January 17, 2011

Good Morning, everyone this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Definitively South Dakota weather today – sunshine and rain as I came to work this morning and a very short time later it’s overcast, cold and snow.

We had some good news Friday for those of you who are interested in the brand inspection and investigations in South Dakota .  We received word that Governor Daugaard, by executive order,  has moved the brand investigation arm of the brand program under the authority of the Attorney General with the Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI)doing the investigations.  We here at the Stockgrowers have long been  proponents of that move so are extremely excited to hear this.

We received our first of the season legislative update from Lobbyist Jeremiah Murphy.  He stated that 2 bulls relative to ag land valuation have been introduced HB1001 and HB 1002 both concerning the assessment of ag land and documentation of certain data concerning the process.  Stockgrowers would like to see use of the land included in order to correctly assess land that is used for grazing purposes although soil data indicates it could be used for crops.

Murphy said some legislators are circulating bills to require election of Brand Board members instead of being appointed by the Governor.  Also, three bills are being circulated that the Brand Board previously planned to bring forth.  The bills are in regard to opening shippers permits to include livestock moving East to destinations other than salebarns and slaughter plants; an annual permit for recreation livestock that move back and forth across the river; and another to allow order buyers to sign off on certain papers at the sale barn.

Jeremiah and President Kenny Fox attended the legislative breakfast sponsored by Ag Unity on the 13^th.

The February Quarterly for the South Dakota Stockgrowers will be held on February 8^th at the Kings Inn in Pierre .  The morning will be devoted to Committee Meetings as the need is indicated by Committee Chairmen.  The Business Meeting will begin at 1:00 pm CST and hope to conclude by 4:00 pm.  Jim Faulstich, Highmore will be a guest speaker during the business meeting.

Following the business meeting we will be holding our annual legislative mixer at the VFW.  This gives the Stockgrowers a chance to meet and become acquainted with legislators, especially new ones.  This is always a fun evening that we all look forward to.

Be sure to look for us again at the Black Hills Stock Show.  We will be in the same spot and will again be selling chances on a beautiful saddle made by Baxter Badure.  We will have Stockgrower members there every day to answer questions, make note of suggestions and of course, to collect dues from the folks who stop by every year for that purpose.

Silvia is again conducting an agritourism class – this one in Kadoka.  This class will be held every Tuesday through February 8, 2011,  She reported that this class is even larger than the class held here in Rapid last year which will be holding their One-Year reunion during the Stock Show.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening – Hope to see you at the Stock Show.

January 10, 2011

Good Morning, everyone this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Happy New Year everyone – it’s so good to be back! I know I’m about a week behind everyone else, but the cold/flu/sinus bug kind of laid me low for a few days. 

You know, it’s pretty exciting when you stop to think about having a brand new year in front of us!  It’s kind of like opening a Christmas present except you only see a little bit at a time – and that’s probably because God knows we humans can only stand to know a little at a time – good or bad. 

Everyone is making predictions, so I guess I can do the same – and I’m sure mine are just as apt to come true as the next guy, but I really feel we in agriculture have a chance at a brighter, more prosperous future based on what we have experienced in this past year.

As I said a couple weeks ago, the National Animal Identification System, as it was presented originally, is dead.  We are watching very closely the new Animal Disease Tracing Program which puts the states in the driver’s seat.  But more than that we are seeing our United States Secretary of Agriculture and his staff working for us – doing what we have been asking for years.  We are seeing the possibility of enforcement of a 90 year old law which will help producers and feeders alike.  It’s a good feeling and something we need to respond to in a positive way with support of those who are making it happen.

In another area, our state legislators are getting geared up for a brand new legislative session.  I haven’t heard much about new bills, although it sounds like the state budget may be a big part of it.  I know our lobbyist Jeremiah Murphy has been out and about for several weeks meeting and getting acquainted with new legislators.  We are truly blessed to have Jeremiah working for us, not only during the legislative session, but all year long from one session to the next.  Our battles are not won just by a day of testimony, but rather by the work that is done prior to that day, plus the day of testimony.

Besides legislative issues we are planning some area meetings this year – anyone who would like to see a Stockgrowers meeting in their area please call the office and we’ll get something going.  At present we are tentatively looking at a meeting in the near future in the Reva area.  I promise to keep you posted on that.

Those of you who knew that Johnny Smith spent a few days in a Sioux Falls hospital will be glad to know that he is home and back on the job, and yep, that was him you heard on the radio last week.

Before I close I want to say our hearts go out to the folks who lost loved ones in the tragedy in Tucson this week-end.  What a terrible unfortunate happening.  Are we coming to a time when our United States Congressional Delegates have to have the same type of protection that our Presidents have?? I don’t disagree with the Arizona Sheriff’s statement about irresponsible radio and TV shows.  I often wonder at the ‘anything-goes’ attitude of so many radio and TV talk shows.  Everyone who is able to speak is responsible for the words that come out of their own mouth.  If those words are intended to excite the general public to action, then the speaker must realize and accept that responsibility.  And must also realize that not everyone who hears him/her is a person of stable mentality.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying, Thanks for listening.

December 27, 2010

Good Morning, everyone this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and Santa brought everything you wanted.  My kids were all home, except for one step-son who with his family will be here sometime this week. I am truly blessed!

In looking toward the new 2011, I’ve been reminiscing a bit – it seems as though we have been really busy this year, but have we accomplished anything? And I believe we have.

At this time last year we were up to our necks in National Animal Identification problems.  We had introduced legislation for the past 3 years prohibiting federal mandatory identification.  Our lobbyist recommended not introducing legislation again – after much discussion the board agreed.  As he had suggested the US Secretary of Agriculture did indeed decide not to pursue the National Identification Program that we had been fighting for about 4 years.  So at this time any animal identification plan is up to the states – and South Dakota is at the top of the list as far as being able to readily identify and notify its producers  in case of any disease outbreak.

Also, at this time of year Silvia was putting together the first Agri-tourism class.  She had hoped for 20 participants and ended up with 30.  The class continued for 5 weeks – one night a week.  I believe from this class 12 families ended up with a beginning tourism project. And she is planning more for this year.

In early summer, in accordance with the 2008 Farm Bill, the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration wrote rules for the Packers and Stockyards Act which had been enacted in 1921, but without rules enough to enforce it.  Secretary Vilsack ordered it and GIPSA published the proposed rules in the Federal Register on June 22 and allowed for comments until August 23. Those who were opposed to the rules got the comment period extended to November 22.  At this time over 60,000 comments have been filed.  It will be some months before a decision is reached, but it looks promising for producers.

Last summer we received word that the National Cattlemens Association planned to reorganized their association and at least part of the restructuring would affect the Check-Off program.  While looking into the effects of this on the Check-Off we learned that NCBA/Checkoff monies were being audited.

At the same time, through a survey, the producers told us that they would rather have more of their 50 cents of the checkoff dollar kept here in the state.  At the time the SD Beef Council was sending almost 75 cents of the dollar to Checkoff/Federation which is under the NCBA umbrella.

In August, we took a busload of producers to Ft Collins to participate in the Department of Justice/ USDA workshops which were set up to hear the producers side of the proposed GIPSA rules.

And in December 3 of our SD Stockgrowers traveled to Washington , DC to take part in the final DOJ/USDA workshop.  They reported that most of the comments were in support of the rule – although we know the meat packers and processors are stopping at nothing to prevent the rules from being implemented.  They are going to a great extent in an attempt to unseat J. Dudley Butler who is the present administrator of GIPSA – in fact they have resorted to outright lies in an attempt to have him fired.

All in all we feel this year has been a pretty good year for the grassroots, on the ranch, producers – this is the first time in years that a Secretary of Agriculture has stood by us and supported us the way Secretary Vilsack has done this year.  We pray this will continue and we will support him all the way.

This is Margaret Nachtigall wishing you all a Great and Prosperous New Year!

December 20, 2010

Good Morning, everyone this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Seems that everyone is busy with end of the year and Christmas business this week.  It’s been really quiet here in the office except for the folks coming in to buy Beef Certificates.  They really are a great way to send gifts to those who don’t have their own beef and we can’t seem to keep up with the demand.

Some dates and events coming up are:

Tuesday, December 21, a rollover auction at Philip Livestock at 12:45 p.m. MST – this should be one heck of an auction since it’s also the same day as the full moon, the full eclipse of the moon, and the winter solstice!

Development Director Silvia Christen has another agri-tourism class lined up and about ready to go.

This one is in Kadoka beginning January 11^th and continuing every Tuesday for 5 consecutive weeks.  The classes run from 3:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. MST. This course is brought by South Dakota Stockgrowers in conjunction with Badlands/South Central Enterprise Facilitation and the Badlands and South Central RC&D Councils. If this is something that interests you please give her a call here at the office, or if you are unable to attend this one but are interested give her a call and she can probably work out something for the next one.

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, February 9^th for the Winter Quarterly Meeting at the Kings Inn in Pierre .  We will be holding committee meetings in the forenoon with the business meeting commencing at 1:00 p.m. CST. At 5:00 p.m. CST we will meet with our legislators for the legislative mixer at the VFW.

We’re doing the same as everyone else right now – just watching to see what’s going on with the lame duck Congress and wondering what the new year will bring.  We have been visiting with our lobbyist Jeremiah Murphy regarding the possible state legislation that we will be interested in. We do know that HSUS (Humane Society of the United States ) is in the state and has brought legislation in other states.

We’re not sure what’s happening with the GIPSA rules, but we do know that USDA received over 60,000 comments and over 30,000 of them were what they called unique – in other words they were not part of a carbon-copy letter.  Sec Vilsack said that they have set a special committee to thoroughly process all of the comments before he makes a decision.

Well folks, this is rather short, but it’s pretty quiet here right now which is just fine.  We hope each of you receives that special Christmas wish.

I pray that everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas whether it’s on the 25^th or not – and that we all remember to praise God for the Gift of His Son who is the Reason for the Season.

Thank you all.

December 13, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

And another beautiful day it is – crisp fresh air and we missed the storm that our friends to the East received this weekend.

Friday Kenny Fox and Vaughn Meyer stopped at the office for a few minutes upon their return from meetings in Washington D.C. Vaughn was a member of one of the panels that were set at the final Department of Justice/ USDA workshops.  These workshops were designed to study and receive comment concerning the proposed amendment to the Packers and Stockyards Act known as the GIPSA rule. This particular workshop was concerned mainly with the disparity between the producer end and the consumer end of the beef food chain prices.

This is a quote from Vaughn: “In the 1970 Farm to Retail spread of 98 cents; farmers received 38 cents(39%) and wholesalers received 60 cents (61%).  In 2002 the Farm to Retail Spread was $1.22 – farmers received 22 cents (18%) and the wholesalers received $1.00 (82%). In other words, Farmers lost 20% of the Farm to Retail spread while wholesalers gained 20%.”

Vaughn added: “This same Farm to Retail Spread for the first 9 months of 2010 was $2.40.  The farm share was 32.l cents or 13.3%” This of course would leave the wholesalers with almost 87% of the Farm to Retail Spread.

Kenny spoke from the floor in support of the proposed GIPSA rule and also stated that they had huge support from the consumers at this workshop.

Kenny said he, Bob Fortune and Vaughn were included in a meeting with Food & Water Watch which is a non-profit organization that advocates for common sense policies that will result in healthy, safe food and water, and is a strong supporter of the GIPSA rule.

He said they met with staff members from Senator Johnson and Senator Thune’s offices and also met with Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary Department of Agriculture and John Ferrell, Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In these meetings several issues were discussed including the Over 30 Months Rule which allows cows over 30 months of age to be imported into the United States .  This, of course, is the age most likely to be infected with BSE. Another issue brought forward in these side meetings was the problem of regionalization of certain areas of Brazil from which USDA plans to import cattle, beef, hogs and pork products.

All in all they had a good trip and made good use of their time in D.C. thanks to those who so generously donated to the cause.

Very quickly, I have two dates I would like you to put on your calendar: First of all December 21^st Philip is having a roll-over fundraising auction along with the regular auction.

 Second, Development Director Silvia Christen is getting geared up to hold another Agritourism class.

The class will be held in Kadoka beginning January 11 and will meet every Tuesday for five consecutive weeks.  For more information contact David Vinson, Badlands RC&D Council at 685-1239, ext 4 or South Central RC&E Council 669-2404 ext 4 or call the Stockgrowers Office.

 his is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.  

December 6, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

5 above this morning – it’s definitely winter, but we sure can’t complain about the fall we had or the winter we are having now – sometimes we don’t stop to think about how blessed we really are.

A quick update this morning – we have 3 members going to Washington , D.C. – leaving tomorrow and returning on Friday thanks to the generosity of you folks out there who donated to the trip. Your gifts are truly appreciated, and the only way we can thank you is to keep doing our best to preserve and protect our industry and our way of life.  Bob Mack is unable to go due to an illness in his immediate family, however,  Bob was part of a group who traveled to DC last month and met with ag staffers to answer questions and explain the GIPSA rules so our congressional leaders understand the need and benefit of having a viable Packers and Stockyards enforceable law – and to dispel some of the chaff and rhetoric that is being thrown around.

Other that that things are pretty quiet at this time, so I thought I would talk a bit about our standing committees and how important they are to the whole organization.

The first ones you would see in our policy book are what we call Standard Policy – in other words they are not the usual issue, but instead an overall policy in certain areas.  The first of these was implemented in 1997 and is titled Free Enterprise, meaning we believe in the right to have our markets established by supply and demand.  And that we resist legislation that goes beyond stewardship responsibilities in regulating production livestock agriculture.

Our second Standard Policy implemented in 2001 endorses Rodeo as the official sport of the state of South Dakota .

Number 3 says due to the fact that the interests of the industry often requires input and support from different political affiliations we will not endorse any political candidate and was implemented in 2002.

Number 4 implemented in 2000 simply says we support local control at every level of government – I believe this is a very basic policy that actually goes back to the intention of the founders of our Constitution.

And our 5^th and final Standard Policy came about last year when we learned that Monsanto was in fact requesting a patent for hog genetics – first it’s plants then it’s hogs – what is next?  Our resolution says, “South Dakota Stockgrowers Association calls on our state Legislature and US Congress to pass legislation banning the patenting of life.”

These are the resolutions that make up our Standard Policy. In the weeks to follow I will try to address a different Committee each week.  These committees are what make up the meat and potatoes of this organization and I believe it is extremely important for our members to have this information.

By the way our policy book can be picked up here at the office with no charge or can be mailed just for the cost of postage.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and remember – Santa Clause is watching!

November 29, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

It really is winter isn’t.  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving – I sure did – ate way too much as usual and brought home enough leftovers to last the week-end – which I really didn’t need!

I guess the decision has been made to go ahead with the Quarterly Meeting tomorrow in Martin, so I’ll briefly go over the plans for the day.

We begin at 8:00 am MST with committee meetings.  Each committee will hold a half hour meeting in which the audience can take part in discussions, suggestions, questions, and etc., but only committee members may vote in each specific committee.

At noon, Betty Linderbrink, will cater a beef dinner and the SD Cattlewomen who are meeting at the same time will join us for lunch.  At 12:30 Silvia Christen who led the tour through Chile and Argentina will give a presentation on the tour.

Following lunch we will finish up with the last 2 committee meetings and at 2:30 the Board of Directors will meet at the same location.

At approximately 1:30 we will draw for the door prizes.

Our lobbyist, Jeremiah Murphy will meet with us and bring us up to date on the new legislature, any bills that have been mentioned and will be there to answer any questions on the subject.

Everyone is invited – sounds like we should have good attendance since the wind and snow should blow out of here by this afternoon.

I also wanted to mention the fact that we have 4 Stockgrower members representing us in Washington , DC at the final DOJ/USDA workshop on December 8.  Kenny Fox, Belvidere , Vaughn Meyer , Reva, Bob Fortune , Belvidere and Bob Mack , Watertown will fly to DC on the 7^th thanks to our many Stockgrowers members who have opened their checkbooks to provide for this trip.  Our hats are off to all of you who so generously donated for this project – I assure you the gentlemen who are making the trip are well versed on the Packers and Stockyards Act and the GIPSA amendment.  Thank You.

With that I’m going to close today and get ready to head down the road so we can have everything ready for tomorrow.

Remember, all of our meetings are open to the public and the public is urged to attend.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and hope to see you in Martin.

November 22, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

We had a beautiful fall and now I guess it’s wintertime – we have about 4 inches and about the same here in town.  Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s coming fast.

Today is the deadline for GIPSA comments, so if you have not yet sent yours you can still do it by email today at comments.gipsa@usda.gov – It is vitally important for our industry.

Silvia and I spent a few days recently at various livestock auctions visiting with folks and sending comments at their request.

Stockgrowers enjoyed a very successful area meeting last Tuesday at Club 27 in Kadoka.  President Kenny Fox led the meeting.  Speakers included Cattlewomen Membership Chairperson Becky Littau,Winner, SD who explained what the cattlewomen do, who they are and invited more ladies to join.

R-CALF Director Johnny Smith, Ft Pierre Livestock Auction spoke on the Packers and Stockyards Act, the proposed new rules and told of several instances that would have had a much better ending if the Packers and Stockyards Act had been enforceable previously.

Everyone enjoyed a delicious beef dinner, good conversation, questions and answers and several folks at the meeting donated to the Stockgrowers travel fund for sending 3 or 4 spokesmen to Washington , D.C. for the final DOF/USDA GIPSA Workshop.  This final meeting will be a culmination of all former workshops and will target the disparity between the producer’s price and the consumer’s price.

I want to invite everyone to the winter quarterly which this year will be held at the Bennett County Library Meeting Room in Martin, on November 30 beginning at 8:00 am MST.  We’ll start the day off with short committee meetings, giving each committee a chance to hold a short business meeting and exchange ideas, questions and answers with the public. Stockgrowers lobbyist Jeremiah Murphy will be on hand to give us a preview of the new year’s legislation.

Lunch will be catered and at 12:30 Silvia Christen will present photos and interesting information on the trip to Chile and Argentina .  Sounds like the group had a fun time and seen a lot of agriculture from a nation different from our own.

We’ll continue with committee meetings after lunch until 2:00 pm when the Board meeting is scheduled to begin.

All of our meetings are open to the public and the public is urged to attend.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and hope to see you in Martin.

November 8, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

This is one of those Monday mornings when there is nothing new to write about except the GIPSA rule which I’m sure you’re all tired of hearing me talk about. No more campaign ads interrupting your favorite TV program.  Although I will say, the vilifying, denigrating stories that the packers and friends are scattering around are even worse than the campaign ads. Apparently the proposed rule is striking a nerve for the packer community, but that is not a reason for the hate articles that have been published regarding GIPSA Administrator J. Dudley Butler, R-CALF and/or anyone associated with them.  The proposed rule does nothing more than establish a fair market for all parts of the beef industry – something that was supposed to have been done in 1921.  It was needed then and is needed now – and finally we have a US Secretary of Agriculture and an agency that plans to put the Packers & Stockyards Act to work.

We are planning two meetings in the very near future.  The first will be an area meeting at Kadoka on November 16, one week from tomorrow at Club 27.  Be sure to come by about 6:00 pm on the 16th, have supper on Stockgrowers and join in the discussions, questions and answers on a variety of subjects of interest to South Dakota ranchers.

On November 30^th we will be holding our regular fall quarterly meeting at the Library Building in Martin , SD.   We will begin the day at 8:00 am with meetings of each of our nine committees from Ag and Natural Resources to Wildlife and everything in between.  At 2:00 pm we will hold our quarterly board meeting which, as with all of our meetings, is open to the public.

Some items of interest at the quarterly will be new proposed legislation from the State Brand Board, update on the wilderness proposal, update on the proposed GIPSA rule, and many others.

At Noon we will have Silvia Christen give a presentation on the trip to Chile and Argentina .

I will have more on the quarterly meeting in the next couple weeks.

I might add that Silvia and I will be at Faith Livestock Auction on Friday the 12^th of November, that is this coming Friday – Silvia will have her laptop and we will be prepared to write individual comments on the GIPSA rule for anyone who has not yet sent their comments in.  Also, Silvia will be at the Lemmon Livestock Market on Wednesday of this week for the same purpose – while I put the finishing touches on the magazine material.

As I said at the beginning – not much happening, but it seems like we’re awfully busy for not having anything to do.

When you’re in town we would love to have you stop in – let us know what’s happening in your part of the world and we always love to discuss the industry – just maybe we can solve all the world’s problems.

This is Margaret saying Thanks for listening

November 1, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Other than weaning, shipping calves, working cows and of course the election, the big news here is still the proposed GIPSA rule.  The opposition has definitely brought out their big guns in an effort to defeat this rule.  Which tells us what we know all along and that is the fact that the lack of enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act was quite beneficial to the Big 4 Packers and their support group.

I’m sure you remember the talk of the Department of Justice and USDA holding joint workshop listening sessions throughout the year and throughout the country.  The first of these was held in Ankeny , Iowa last March and the last will be held on December 8 at USDA in the Jefferson Auditorium in Washington , D.C.

Each of the 5 workshops was dedicated to one area of agriculture – the Ft Collins workshop, which was well attended by folks from our part of the country, was devoted to Beef Cattle, sheep, and hogs.  The upcoming meeting in D.C. will be a culmination of all previous workshops plus a study of the discrepancies between prices received by producers and prices paid by consumers.

Stockgrowers hope to have at least 2 members attending the December meeting and more if possible.  Anyone interested in attending please give us a call here at the Stockgrowers office as soon as possible.

Talking about the Big 4 opposing the rule, I just heard that the National Pork Producers Council, NCBA, the National Turkey Federation and the National Meat Association plan to release results of an “economic analysis” of their own.  This has “conveniently been done in conjunction with the National Farm Broadcasters Annual Convention in Kansas City , Missouri on November 10. These organizations are all strongly opposed to the new Packers and Stockyards proposed rule and have pulled out all stops in order to kill it.

I’m sure the National Farm Broadcasters are not aligned with either side, but the big press conference conducted by these organizations will definitely make the news.

November 22 is coming fast and is the deadline for sending comments on your thoughts regarding this proposed rule.  I can’t emphasize enough the importance of comments sent in by individual producers.

But we also need to let our consumer friends know the importance of this rule – AND that it is not one that will increase their prices at the meat counter unless the packing industry including wholesalers and retailers threaten to do so in their ongoing effort to kill this rule. (consumers can send comments also)

Again, the address is gipsa@usda.gov.  

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying Thanks for listening and remember one of the most important things you can do is go to the polls tomorrow and vote for the candidate of your choice - that is just one of the blessings and freedoms we have in this country.

October 25, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

I know many of you are gathering cattle, preparing for that fall calf sale, bringing the cows closer to home and finally we have enough moisture to cut the dust – what a pleasure that is. 

I really miss being in the corral, sorting cows and calves, riding with the fall leaves floating down and the rest of the preparation for winter – although I must say it’s kind of nice to be in where it’s warm and dry.

I wish our national situation had that same feeling of contentment.  I don’t know if I’m getting more cynical with age or if the campaign ads are worse, but I would really like to know what a prospective public servant really plans to do once he or she is elected.  I’m so tired of hearing pie-in-the-sky promises and opponent name calling that I don’t even want to hear what they’re saying.

Things here in the office are really quiet these days – Am working on the Oct-Nov-Dec magazine which will come out about mid November.  This one will be a little late so we can include information about the Stockgrower-KBHB sponsored trip to Chile and Argentine.  I think most of the folks got back home this week-end, although a few may have chosen to stay for 3 or 4 more days.

Those of you who are familiar with Face-Book may have seen some of the photos taken when they first arrived in Santiago , Chile .  I’m hoping Silvia will bring back photos so we can display them in the magazine also.

As I said things are pretty quiet here – we, of course are still staying on top of the GIPSA proposed rule and I am simply heartsick at some of the lies and innuendos that have been thrown out in the news media as truths.  I knew the opposition would be in attack mode, but didn’t realize just how bitter it would get.

The simple truth is; if the proposed rule is implemented cow/calf producers and smaller feeders will have a much more stable market for their livestock.  And those who have benefited from lack of enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act will have to give up a bit of the “frosting on the cake” that they have had the pleasure of enjoying for so many years.

Our request to those of you who hear and read the rhetoric that is being thrown around is: please research these stories – seek the truth before you make a decision and be prepared to let USDA and others in Washington , D.C. know your thoughts.  This is without a doubt one of the hardest battles we have ever had to fight to retain our right to a livelihood that has been inherently ours for the past 300 years.  If we fail to support USDA and the Packers & Stockyards Administration as they fight for our rights, we will have lost much more than just a battle.

OK, I’m off my soapbox, but please don’t let this one get away.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying Thanks for listening and I hope you’re all caught up on your fall work and are ready for winter.

October 18, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

What beautiful weather we have been having – unless you are looking for moisture which has been a bit scarce -  and corrals are a bit dusty – but I guess we can’t have everything.  Some calves have been shipped by now and others are about ready to go; and some are weaned and backgrounded in preparation for a late winter, or spring market.

I helped gather cows (and calves) west of Custer this past weekend where my son and 2 other ranchers share a grazing permit.  The weather was beautiful – more than a bit chilly in the mornings, but otherwise great.  The calves sure look good – And it sure felt good to be horseback – better then than it does the day after!  I didn’t think I had that many un-used muscles!

But it’s back to the office this morning and I need to bring a couple things to your attention – one being  the beef checkoff.  As you know your beef check off dollar goes to the SD Beef Council and they are obligated to send 50 cents of it to the national office.  The other 50 cents can be retained here for use in South Dakota – or we can use part of it in state and send part to areas such as New York City , Chicago or other areas of high population. We can also request the national office to send some to the high population areas if we choose to send more than the original 50 cents. However, if we choose to send the money through that channel we pay a fairly substantial implementation fee.  At the present time we are sending almost 75 cents out of state.  The SD Beef Council consists of 8 South Dakota Ag organizations, each represented on the council by 3 members.  Those organizations are: SD Beef Breeds Council, SD Cattlemen's Association, SD Cattlemen's Auxiliary, SD CattleWomen, SD Farm Bureau Federation,  SD Farmers Union, SD Livestock Auction Market Association and SD Stockgrowers Association.  If you have concerns about the use of your checkoff dollar I would suggest you contact any of these organizations that you may belong to and let them know what your thoughts are.

The other thing I wanted to mention today is a bill on food safety which has been introduced in the U.S. Senate.  This is S. 510 and is called the Food Safety Modernization Act.  The intentions of this bill may be good, but the far reaching regulations would basically put family farms, farmers markets and producers who sell direct to the consumer out of business due to the amount of record keeping and the need to comply with a “Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventative Controls”.

Senator Jon Tester and Senator Kay Hagan have introduced an amendment which should exempt and protect small direct marketing businesses, local facilities and etc.  We feel this amendment is absolutely necessary to protect our local businesses and give the consumer the ability to purchase fresh food locally.

I’m sure there will be pressure to kill the amendment by the industrial foods sector which is part of the same group that opposes the proposed GIPSA Rule. 

We are seeing more and more producers providing for the local community, giving the consumer the opportunity to purchase fresh, uncontaminated food for the family.  We will be watching this bill quite closely and pushing for the Tester-Hagan Amendment.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying Thanks for listening and I hope you’re all caught up on your fall work and are ready for winter.

October 4, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

This past week has been rather quiet; we’ve been following the interesting life of the beef checkoff, and will get more information to you on that in the near future.  However, I received some cattle industry price information from Bill Bullard and would like to pass that on to you in today’s tallybook.

Bill talked about how the GIPSA Rule will benefit all cattle producers. Of course when we talk of the packer/beef price we normally think of the slaughter-ready cattle.  However, we have to realize that all beef cattle prices are actually based on the “expected future value of cattle when they are ready for slaughter”.  Thus the fed cattle price affects all of us.

Bill explained that most fed cattle are sold in the cash market live-weight basis or carcass-weight basis.  The price received for cattle sold on a live-weight basis becomes the base price for cattle sold on a carcass-weight basis or cash cattle sold on a grade & yield premium/discount price.  In addition, the price discovered in the live-weight cash market also establishes the base price for the entire forward pricing market including forward contracts, formula contract and marketing agreements.

Currently the cash market has dropped to less than 40% due to the feeders not using the live-weight cash market for reasons such as: lack of timely access to the slaughtering plant, no quality rewards; no profit; forced to use forward contract for financing; forced to use grid by packers.

This has caused the live-weight cash market to fail to reflect a competitive price - so is mostly less than high-quality cattle.  What happens then is that the weak cash market is setting the base price for all cattle.

The packers and other organizations who oppose the proposed GIPSA Rule do not acknowledge that there is a problem.

As Bill said, “the solution to the problem is to first address the reasons that so many feeders are exiting the live-weight cash market to prevent that market from shrinking any further and to re-establish it as an attractive market that feeders may voluntarily decide to re-enter.”

To do this we must stop packer restriction of timely access to the market; stop packer coercion of feeders to exit the live-weight cash market; stop payment of preferential prices not based on quality, etc.; stop packers from procuring cattle from other packers; and stop more than one packer using 1 buyer.

The proposed GIPSA Rule will do this, and we need to promote it with every bit of power we have.

We also need to let folks who have questions, know that this rule will not limit, restrict or prohibit grid pricing, premiums or discounts, value-based marketing, or any legitimate form of alternative marketing agreement.

Mark November 22 on your calendar.  This is the last day to send comments on this rule.  Remember, send to gipsa@usda.gov.  Don’t let the cattle industry go the way of the hogs and poultry.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and yes one more comment makes a difference.

September 27, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

I think a couple weeks ago I promised to give you the results of caucuses and voting at the Annual Convention and I have so far neglected to do that.

First, a little background information on the structure of the organization:  The state is divided into 3 regions, 2 west of the river and 1 east of the river.  Region I is in the Northwest quarter and is made up of 6 districts; Region II the entire East River area has 3 districts and Region III in the Southwest has 8 districts.  Each region is allowed 1 Regional Vice President and each district is entitled to 1 Director for up to 100 members and an additional director for every 100 after that.

Regional Vice Presidents and Directors are elected by members in their respective Regions at the Annual Meeting each year.  Directors are elected for a period of 5 years and Vice Presidents may serve no more than 3 consecutive 1 year terms.

This year Linda Gilbert, Buffalo, SD; T.W. Schalesky, Faith, SD; and Marvin Jessen, Holabird, SD each had served for a 5 year term. Linda Gilbert chose not to run again to allow herself more time to tend to her recent appointment to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, a part of the national beef checkoff program.  T.W. was elected to an additional 5 year term.

All 3 Regional Vice Presidents were termed out this year.  Replacing Bill Kluck , Faith, Region I is Gary Deering, Hereford area; Marvin Jessen, Holabird replaces Bob Mack , Watertown, in Region II, and Bob Fortune , Belvidere will replace Marvin Jobgen , Scenic, in  Region III. 

This gives the Stockgrowers a great set of Regional Vice Presidents and a hard working board of directors.  I will say we will dearly miss Marvin Jobgen and Linda Gilbert both dedicated Directors as well as members and both crucial people to this organization.  We definitely will not let them fade into the background.

One other thing I wanted to mention again today is the importance of each and every rancher sending a note to the GIPSA committee. I’m going to quote a passage from a blogger that I read this morning.

Quote: “The proposed changes in the Packers & Stockyards Act, the new GIPSA proposals, have been allowed to get wrapped up in the tremendously emotional issue of the demise of rural America and the shrinking income of farmers and ranchers. How all these issues, many societal, got wrapped into the P&S is a real mystery”. Unquote. My question is: how in the world is it not involved in the demise of rural America and the producers’ constant lack of profit in this industry??  This is the reason we need literally thousands of comments from producers.

As I said last week, The comments need not be long or editorial – simply straightforward and honest. Just be sure to refer to: Farm Bill Comments Tuesday, June 22, 2010 Federal Register page 35338.  Comments are due November 22, 2010.

They can be emailed to gipsa@usda.gov  and PLEASE mail a comment – this is really a life or death situation for many livestock producers.  Our country has lost over 800,000 producers in the past 20 years.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and yes one more comment makes a difference.

September 20, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

First off I want to thank Mike Maher for donating the heifer for the roll-over auction at Faith Livestock last week and I want to thank Scott & Vance and the rest of the crew for a great job, as always.  I don’t have the final results, but I believe they took in approximately $3000, a portion of which will come to the SDSGA.  Thanks guys!

This morning I’m doing some plagiarizing, but I have permission so I guess it’s not plagiarizing is it?

These are 6 basic rules regarding the GIPSA Rule:

1.)It requires packers to show justification for any price differentials or deviations from a standard price including premiums and discounts.  They must have a good reason for giving different prices for same quality cattle and must keep records documenting that justification.

2.) In some cases a violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act can be proven without showing an injury to competition in general.  Plaintiffs would only have to prove injury to his/her own program.  Without the rule a plaintiff, in most cases, has to prove injury to competition in general within his/her industry.

3.) The rule would prohibit the packer from retaliating against a producer in response to the lawful expression, spoken or written.

4.) It will prohibit packers from purchasing livestock from other packers or other packer-affiliated companies, but would allow waivers in emergency situations.

5.) The proposed rule will set certain criteria for determining when a packer violates the Packers and Stockyards Act by giving differential treatment to producers solely based on volume of livestock.  Currently some packers might offer a better price to a producer who can provide larger volumes of livestock, but not offer the same terms to a group of producers what would collectively provide the same volume and equal quality.  This proposed rule establishes that USDA may consider this practice a violation of the Act.

6.) It will prohibit a bonded packer buyer from purchasing livestock for more than one packer.  Recently  where we have had 3 or 4 buyers on the seats at the auction barn we now have one buyer.  This definitely takes competition out of the market.

These are 6 reasons to send comments to USDA regarding this proposed rule.  We must have comments from every producer in the country.  The comments need not be long or editorial – simply straightforward and honest. Just be sure to refer to: Farm Bill Comments Tuesday, June 22, 2010 Federal Register page 35338.  Comments are due November 22, 2010.

They can be emailed to gipsa@usda.gov  and PLEASE mail a comment – this is really a life or death situation for many livestock producers.  Our country has lost over 800,000 producers in the past few years.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and yes one more comment makes a difference.

September 13, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

And a great morning it is – In the last 2 weeks we have taken a couple bus loads of folks to Ft Collins to testify at the Dept of Justice/ USDA Workshop; we have completed another magazine and got it in the mail; and we just wrapped up one more Annual Stockgrowers Convention – talk about a busy schedule.

Yes, it was a very busy schedule, but not without benefits – and the excitement of things like this moving fast is what makes it fun.  Seeing folks come together for a common cause and seeing support where you never expected it – a pat on the back, “a job well done” comment – these blessings received by our board and members is what makes it all worth while.

Thank you all who had a chance to attend the Annual Convention – we had an overflow crowd for lunch on Thursday, much of it due to the candidate forum we held at that time.  We started off with U.S. House of Representative candidate, Kristi Noem just prior to lunch.  Chase Adams, from KBHB radio did an excellent job of moderating and fielded numerous questions from the audience.  This was followed up with gubernatorial candidates Dennis Daugaard and Scott Heidepriem. The purpose of the forum was to give the ranchers and others a chance to ask questions face to face with the next governor of South Dakota .  The forum was very successful and many questions were answered at that time.

The opening ceremony again this year was by the Rapid City Central High School Color Guard under the leadership of Major Connelly who always brings us a great group of ROTC Students.

We almost had more vendor booths than we had room for, and almost had more banners than wall space, but what a good problem!

Our speakers covered a variety of subjects including property rights with Stockgrower Director Craig Shaver, Sturgis very effectively covering that subject.  We heard from Chuck Berdan, Belle Fourche BLM Lands & Wildlife Programs bringing us up to date on the Sage Grouse situation while Blair Dunn, General Counsel from SD Department of Ag spoke mainly on legal issues regarding wilderness areas and Federal Lands.

We heard Randy McKee, McKee Companies speak on estate issues and Brad Redlin National Agriculture Program Director for the Izaak Walton League who brought information on the Sod Saver bill.  We heard Rick Vallery who gave a very interesting presentation regarding the water situation -

Another exciting speaker was Mike Callicrate, feeder, entrepreneur and longtime supporter of producers, who gave a very interesting presentation regarding Global Trade, the WTO, and multinational corporate influence.

Our Keynote speakers were Reverend David Ostendorf, Executive Director for Center for New Community, based in Chicago Illinois . Rev Ostendorf spoke on labor as related to slaughter plants and relative issues.  And our Keynote speaker at Friday’s banquet was the ever popular Bill Bullard, CEO R-CALF USA who as always gave a very informative speech on the cattle/beef industry and the proposed GIPSA rule.

I am running out of time, so will bring more information next week regarding other business during the membership and board of director meetings.

If any of you are in the vicinity of Faith today be sure to stop in and bid a time or two in the roll-over auction for a heifer donated by Mike Maher , Isabel , SD.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and remember one person can make a difference.

September 6, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

I hope you all are able to take some time off to observe the Labor Day Week-end and some well deserved relaxation after a busy, busy summer.  Wonder who the guy was that sang about the Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer?  - which was an old piece of sheet music in my aunt’s piano bench when I was a kid.

Today is a vacation day, but I’m going to trade it for another so I can continue to prepare for the Stockgrowers Annual Convention on September 9^th and 10^th – just a couple more days.

This year it will be held at the new Comfort Suites & Convention Center at Exit 61, Rapid City .

Something a bit different this year is the map we will have at the registration table.  As you register you will be given a map pin to stick into the map at the place of your residence.  We will have different colored pins for directors, past presidents and members. Eventually we hope to have a pin for every member of the organization.  With a membership of approximately 1300 it should be quite interesting.

We also have some very dynamic and interesting speakers including dinner speakers David Ostendorf, Executive Director of the Chicago-based Center for New Community.  Prior to this he served on the national staff of Rural America in Washington , D.C. He began his organizing work in the coalfields of southern Illinois .  David will be speaking at the Thursday night dinner.  Our Friday night banquet speaker needs no introduction – Bill Bullard, CEO R-CALF USA is a popular and extremely well informed speaker who speaks with conviction and documented facts.

Throughout the 2 day we have speakers in nearly every committee including Brad Redlin, a Montana native who now lives in Minnesota and is the National Director of the Izaak Walton League Agricultural Program who will be speaking in the Education-Taxation- Legislation Committee.  You will also be able to hear Dr. Dustin Oedekoven who will be speaking for the first time at the convention as the South Dakota State Veterinarian; and Mike Callicrate who comes to us from St Francis, Kansas where he is a livestock producer, owner of Ranch Foods Direct which provides an outlet for local foods.

You will be able to hear lunchtime speaker Randy McKee of McKee Companies on Friday and on Thursday you can ask questions of our South Dakota Gubernatorial Candidates and Kristi Noem, candidate for the U.S. House.

We have many more exciting speakers such as Blair Dun, General Counsel for the SD Dept of Ag who will be speaking in the Federal Lands Committee; Rick Vallery, Pierre , SD will be speaking for the Ag and Natural Resources and Chuck Berdan, Belle Fourche , BLM Lands & Wildlife Programs.  Craig Shaver, SDSG Director from Meade County will speak in the Property Rights Committee.

Don’t forget the ever popular ice-cream social following Thursday’s lunch, and the silent auction items located at each of the vendor’s booths – you need to keep a close eye on those bid sheets to hold your item.

Probably the very most important happening either day is the General Membership Meeting at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.  This is when and where the membership of this organization sets the policy for the following year.  This is where each of you as members gives shape and direction to the organization.  This is extremely important for the survival of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association. 

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and remember one person can make a difference.

August 30, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

We did it!  We took 2½ bus loads and several cars load - approximately 150 folks from South Dakota , and several from North Dakota and Montana to the hearing at Ft Collins, Colo.

Two buses left Rapid City at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, picked up folks in Hermosa and Edgemont and arrived in Ft Collins at approximately 5:30 – in time for a standing room only rally at the Marriot Hotel in preparation for the big Department of Justice/USDA meeting the next day.

The meeting on Friday was scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. however, we were advised to be at the Lory Student Center at Colorado State University by 7:00 a.m. to get a seat in the main room and everybody was ready for the bus by 6:30.

Three panels spoke, the first included USDA Sec of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and US Attorney General Erick Holder.  Secretary Vilsack stated that in 1980 there were over 600,000 hog operations in this country and today there is a few over 60,000.  And at the same time, 1980 there were 1.6 million cattle operations and today there are barely 950 thousand.  He said this is the reason they have put together this joint task force to help determine how they can help.

Attorney General Holder said “too many are fighting tooth and nail to make a living which is why these workshops are cabinet level priority.”  He said the Department of Justice is committed to taking action with mergers, for example the JBS merger which he said was a small step.  He asked for us to let them know about similar areas.  He said anti-trust laws need to be enforced and price fixing and anti-trust laws not violated.

One of the questions Secretary Vilsack asked the first panel was how to bring young people into the business.  Many of the answers was that they need to make a profit. Many of us listening agreed that a profit has to be made, but before a profit can be made there MUST be a market and that’s what the proposed Packers and Stockyards rule is all about.

Three panels throughout the day were seated and each panel had a chance to hear speakers from the audience after the panel had discussed certain issues.

Of course panel members were from all areas of the livestock/meat industry, but I’m proud to say we had two from South Dakota – namely, Stockgrowers Region 2 Vice President Bob Mack , Watertown  and long time Stockgrower member Butch Livermont, Interior, SD. Both Bob and Butch knew their stuff and did a tremendous job answering questions.

We also had several Stockgrower members and directors who spoke in the public comment periods.  Most of the conversation on both sides was in regard to the proposed rule for the Packers and Stockyards Act.

I may be a bit prejudiced, but I do believe those who spoke in favor of the rule came forth with much better reasons than the opposition which consisted mostly of National Pork Producers members.

One of the best comments of the day was “if we had transparency in the markets there would be no need for regulations.”  That comment in answer to the many who opposed the rule because of too many government regulations.

All in all it was a good meeting and I just want to say we sincerely thank all you folks who took time from a busy schedule and left work undone at home in order to support and defend your industry. Thank You All.  This is MN saying thanks for listening and I know you made a difference.

August 16, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

We live in a land of plenty this year – plenty of rain, plenty of water in the dams, plenty of hay, plenty of grass, plenty of fat slick cows, and by golly we even have plenty of grasshoppers.  Imagine what it would look like if we didn’t have plenty of grass this year.

I hope you folks don’t tire of me talking about the meeting in Ft Collins, Colo ‘cause this is one of the most important meetings we’ll ever have a chance to attend.

The meeting is the result of pressure from you folks who have been asking for a fair shake in the livestock industry.

Last fall J Dudley Butler spoke at the Stockgrowers Annual Convention here in Rapid City .  At that time he was the newly appointed Administrator of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Act, better known as GIPSA. He said he had been directed to look at and do something about the market concentration in cattle, sheep, hogs and poultry, and that his orders from the top were write some rules to put some enforcement capabilities in the Packers and Stockyards Act.  He also told us that when that happens, those who have benefited from lack of enforcement for so many years will be on the fight.

A proposed rule has now been written and will be available for comment until November 22, 2010. One of the conditions in the new rule establishes that a producer who is filing a claim because of an injurious action by a packer need not show damage to the entire industry – only to his own operation.

When over 80% of the beef industry is controlled by 4 packers there is something terribly wrong with this industry – and now we have JBS, the Brazilian company coming back to buy another major feedlot in the United States.

I want to relay a little story about a poultry grower.

Alton Terry, a Tennessee poultry farmer researched the possibility of buying a poultry farm – he visited with Tyson, got all the details – everything sounded good.  So he purchased the farm, prepared for his chicken contract and went to work.  In the months that followed Mr. Terry realized all was not as promised.  He, as well as his fellow chicken growers, were experiencing on going problems and huge demands from the chick producers.  He and a group of growers formed the Tennessee Poultry Growers Association and informed growers of the legal rights.

When Terry was refused his lawful right to see his chickens weighed after being hauled to the plant he filed charges against Tyson.

The long and short of it is the judge ruled in favor of Tyson including awarding them attorney fees and Tyson made a “company decision” not to renew Terry’s contract.  He also is unable to find a buyer for his farm which of course is set up with expensive chicken growing facilities.

You can read the case history of this lawsuit by going to southdakotastockgrowers.org and clicking on Terry vs Tyson

The reason I bring this story is that the National Chicken Council is pressing the chicken processors to come up with 500 growers opposing the new rule.  And of course if you are a grower contracted with these processors what do you do?

With over 80% beef supply controlled by 4 packers where does that leave us.  We absolutely need to support Dudley Butler , GIPSA and the USDA on this.  The deep pocketed lobbyists for NCBA, the Pork Producers and the packers have more money than we ever will, but we have the people.  That’s why there is buses going to Ft Collins.  But if you are unable to take this trip you can still be heard by sending comments.  I will provide and address for that at a later date.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and remember just one more person can make  the difference.

August 9, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

When your work is a 5 day a week job you are a lot more aware of the week-end than you are as a 7 day a week rancher, but somehow even supposedly working 5 days you never really quit thinking and planning for whatever is on the horizon work-wise.  However, I did take off last Friday, put my work behind me and attended the Fall River County Fair along with Edgemont’s All-School Class Reunion.  It was a fun weekend and it was good to get away for a bit.

But it’s Monday morning and there’s work to be done.

Most of what’s happening with the Stockgrowers right now is plans the trip to Fort Collins, the trip to South America and the Annual Convention which is coming faster than I’m ready for.

I’m sure most of you know by now that the bus trip to Fort Collins , Colorado is in support of USDA’s proposed rule which will make enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act possible. For the first time producers will have a chance to take a stand against some of the non-competitive and deceptive actions that have prevented a reasonable profit for years.  We’re hoping for farmers, ranchers and main street business folks all to come together on buses to make that trip.

The Stockgrowers have a bus leaving from the K-Mart parking lot at 10:00 a.m. on August 26^th and returning to Rapid City following the hearing in Fort Collins on the 27^th. We will be making a lunch stop and probably a couple pit stops along the way.  For those of you in the Hot Springs , Edgemont area, if you give us a heads up we can stop to take on passengers in either of these places - just be sure to let us know ahead of time so we can save a seat. We have seats available at this time, but they are filling pretty fast. Call the Stockgrowers office at 605-342-0429.

There is also a bus leaving from Ft Pierre Livestock at 9:00 a.m. on the 26^th .  For more information on that bus call Johnny Smith at 605-223-2576

We will all have rooms reserved at the Marriott on Horsetooth Rd @ $50.00 each based on double occupancy.

I just received word that the Horse Slaughter Bill has jumped up again in the U.S. House.  Apparently it has passed unanimously through committee and is on the House floor for vote.  I have no ideas when that vote will take place, but it needs to be stopped or amended.  The bill would prevent the transportation of horses in a double deck trailer.  We just received word from Jim Korkow that the PRCA is presenting an amendment which would set some standards and still allow use of the double decks. For more information on this please call this office at 342-0429 or the PRCA office at 719-440-7255.  And please call your U.S. Representative and urge her not to support this bill without that amendment.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and remember just one more person can make  the difference.

August 2, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

I wonder how many of you, like me, are wondering what in the world happened to summer?

I don’t remember a year as green as this one nor one with as many hay bales as I see in the fields and the grass bales in some of the pastures.

Most of the wheat has been harvested – I do believe fall is around the corner. Most of my garden and flowers have also been harvested – by the grasshoppers.

Which brings me to the grasshopper problem.  Earlier this year U.S. Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD) and John Thune (R-SD) and U.S. Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD) announced that the USDA will provide $10.73 million in emergency Commodity Credit Corporation funding to respond to a possible grasshopper infestation across a number of western states, including South Dakota. That came a the result of a request by the delegation to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack asking for additional assistance.

In talking to Scott Guffey Supervisor Pennington Co Weed and Pest  Control indicated that it is almost too late at this time to stop this year’s infestation, however, Malathion, or a similar treatment can be used in buffer zone areas to protect a field or particular area.  When I asked if a kill of adults this year would lessen the hatch for next year, he indicated that many of the eggs had already been laid, but that it certainly could reduce that number. He also said that this may actually be a peak year and that next year may not be quite as damaging.

Information from the Farm Services Agency states that producers with NAP Insurance can apply for the Non-Insured Assistance Program which has a 50% loss payment.  The other program with them is the ELAP or Emergency Livestock Assistance Program where all crops are insured except pasture.  Producers need to establish the number of grazing days lost and their need to move or sell livestock due to grasshopper damage.

Other than grasshoppers today what’s on my mind is the Meeting in Ft Collins on the 27^th of this month.  This of course is the first time ever that the Department of Justice and the Department of Agriculture – specifically GIPSA has held a joint meeting to get input from producers.  We desperately need livestock producers, farmers and main street business people to be at this hearing session to show support for South Dakota and for GIPSA Administrator J Dudley Butler who received an unnecessary dressing down by the House subcommittee on Agriculture.  GIPSA folks were actually scorned by the committee members for their stand for enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act.

 This isn’t just about cattle it’s about having enough support to counter the packers deep pocket lobbyists.  They have the money, but we have the people and we have people who care enough to stand up for South Dakota in particular and Rural America in general.  That being said several buses from all over the country will be converging on Ft Collins on August 26.  The bus or buses from Rapid City will leave the K-Mart parking lot at 10:00 a.m. on the 26^th and return following the hearing on the 27^th.  A block of rooms has been reserved at the Marriot Hotel on Horsetooth Rd in Ft Collins.  The bus ticket is $40 and the room is $50.  The room rate is based on double occupancy.  These are payable to South Dakota Stockgrowers at time of departure.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and remember just one more person can make  the difference.

July 26, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your weekly South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

I’m doing things a little differently this morning – we have received an information piece from Bill Bullard of R-CALF USA and I want to read you parts of it – I wish I had time to do the whole paper, but I don’t.

This is in regards to the recently proposed rule which is designed to put some teeth in the Packers & Stockyards Act – for the first time in 90 years as I explained last week.

For more than two years, R-CALF USA ’s Marketing Committee has gathered information from independent cattle feeders to identify anticompetitive practices in the cash market for fed cattle. These practices cannot be halted unless the proposed GIPSA rule clarifies that cattle feeders do not have to show harm to competition in order to stop these practices that are reducing their profitability. This is because these practices are narrowly focused to harm only the independent cattle feeder. (I might note here that at this time a feeder must prove injury to competition in the entire cattle industry.) Listed below are some of R-CALF’s discovery’s from the past 2 years.

1. Independent cattle feeders will receive bids for their pen(s) of cattle only from one packer for an extended time period, and for the next extended time period, a different packer will step in to offer the only bid, and then the rotation continues. This rotation of packer bids means there is no competition for the cattle feeders’ pen(s) of cattle and even though there is more than one packer buying cattle in the feedlot, each packer is able to offer a take-it-or-leave-it bid to cattle feeders for each pen of cattle. And, this lack of competition in the cash market translates to a reduced price for all cattle contracted under alternative marketing agreements.

2. Independent cattle feeders will receive only below market-price bids for high-quality, slaughter-ready cattle from a packer that continually passes them over while offering either higher bids for similar or even lower quality cattle, or offering the same bid for green cattle, that all are a farther distance from the packer’s plant; and then, the packer will return after a week or even longer to offer the cattle feeders a market-price bid when the cattle are known to be overfed, which effectively reduces the profitability for the cattle feeders.

3. Independent cattle feeders may have more than one packer buying cattle in the feedlot, but only one packer will offer a live-weight bid, which is below market price, while the other packer will bid market price only on a grade and yield basis. To receive market price, feeders must choose grade and yield, which not only requires them to pay transportation costs to the plant, but also, it allows the packer to apply deep price discounts to the cattle without the packer having to provide any dispositive justification for the discounts. As a result, cattle feeders receive an even lower price for their cattle than if they had sold their cattle at the below-market bid offered by the only packer that would offer a live-weight bid.

The anticompetitive practices described above, we believe, are rampant in today’s cash market for fed cattle. Because these practices directly affect the profitability of only the individual cattle feeder, unless the proposed GIPSA rule makes clear that cattle feeders do not have to prove harm to competition in the entire cattle industry, these practices will continue driving independent cattle feeders out of business.

In addition to the serious problems in the cash market for fed cattle, U.S. cow/calf producers also have experienced a severe reduction in competition in the cash market for their cull cows and bulls. In the Midwest and West, several packers joined together to share a single cattle buyer for all of their plants. As a result, rather than having three or more packers bidding for the ranchers’ cull cows and bulls, only a single buyer was seated in the auction yards bidding for all the cattle needed by all the packers. The proposed GIPSA rule would end this anticompetitive practice.

If the entire U.S. live cattle industry does not step to the plate to help USDA-GIPSA to finalize this proposed rule so GIPSA can eliminate the ongoing, anticompetitive practices in the marketplace, then the U.S. cattle industry will soon be chickenized by the highly concentrated beef packing industry. Once the beef packers achieve their goal of forcing independent cattle feeders out of the cash market, they will dictate and control the terms of production and terms of marketing for fed cattle through contracts, just as they now do in the poultry and hog industries.

It is the independence of U.S. cattle producers that is at stake: nothing more, nothing less. And, the outcome will be decided based on whether independent producers support the proposed GIPSA rule.

To read R-CALF’s article in its entirety please go to the R-CALF USA Website.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

July 19, 2010

Good Morning this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

For your information – if you are still thinking that the Stockgrower trip to Chile and Argentina would be a fun thing, please, just give us a call here at the office 342-0429.  You can still book the trip, the only question after the July 15 deadline is that the airline ticket may not be the same.  However, you are free to book your own flight as long as you end up at the right place at the right time to join the tour.  We do have enough confirmations to go ahead and book the tour, but can still take 2 or 3 more.

This past week’s busyness seemed to be centered on the new rules proposed by the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Act (GIPSA) which would in fact put some teeth in the P&SA. If you remember last September when J Dudley Butler , new administrator of GIPSA spoke at the Stockgrowers annual convention, he said when these rules are brought forth there would be strong opposition and probably law suits from the packing industry.

We know he was absolutely right since the National Pork Producers Council NPPC and the National Cattlemens Beef Association both have requested an extension of 120 days for the comment period which is due to close on August 23^rd.  This of course would move everything to the end of the year and a possible change in the seats in congress following the election in November.

If you have a chance read Alan Guebert’s column this week. In part of the column he quotes the NPPC and NCBA thus “the rules will result in significant changes in how livestock are marketed and procured by meat packers.” Alan’s comment was “well duh.”

We are seeing some positive moves in this industry and it is up to us to keep them moving forward.  When Mr Butler spoke to us in September he said his orders were to enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act and he very emphatically stated that that is what he will do.  He also said “but..I need the support of every one of you who has an interest in this business because the big boys are not going to like it and they will fight back.”

Another move to the positive is the first time ever for a joint meeting of the Department of Justice and the United States Department of Agriculture.  These meetings are being held around the country somewhat like the hearing sessions that we saw regarding NAIS – and they worked!

We have a chance to attend one of these meetings in Ft Collins, Colorado on August 27, 2010.  Nearly every livestock organization I know of is planning to take a bus to Ft Collins.  South Dakota Stockgrowers will charter a bus to go from here on the 26^th.  There will be a rally on the evening of the 26^th and then the meetings on the 27^th.  We will return home following the meetings on the 27^th.  I think it is imperative that we show our support by filling this bus (and more if we can).  You don’t have to speak, but just being there shows the support.  There is no way we can compete with the kind of money that the packers, NCBA, NPPC and that type have, but if we have a government that is ready to fight for us and we can support them with our attendance at this meeting, then by all means let’s do it.  Please call us to reserve a seat on the bus – it’ll be a fun work day.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and let’s keep the momentum going our way.

July 12, 2010

Good Monday Morning this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

And a busy Monday it is – I don’t know what there is about Monday mornings, after all it’s only one day after Sunday – shouldn’t be any busier than another.

I can’t believe the winter wheat is almost ready for harvest and it’s only been a few short weeks since you could first row those little green shoots peeking through!

Haying is winding up in some areas and the pressure is on in other areas – please remember to take extra care – and especially remember to set an example for our young folks in the hay field who already believe they are invincible.

I hope everyone is looking forward to an October vacation and especially one in South America .  Sounds exciting doesn’t it!  South Dakota Stockgrowers Association along with KBHB is putting together a trip to Chile and Argentina , South Americ

The deadline is nearing for confirmation of the trip, so if you would like to be included please call this office @ 342-0429 or Leslie at Dakota Travel @ 605-341-0744.  Your refundable deposit is due this week.

This is going to be an exciting and interesting trip for ranchers, and anyone who is interested in agriculture, especially in other countries.

You will fly in to Santiago , Chile on October 12, 2010; spend 3 nights there with day trips to the surrounding areas of vineyards, cattle ranches and crop farms.  From there you will take a bus trip over the Andes Mountain range for some breath taking picture opportunities; some visits with small mountain villages; and marvel at the way people farm the steep slopes of these mountains.

You will arrive in Mendoza Argentina on Saturday evening and have Sunday to attend and Argentine church service, taste some local wine and just generally relax before you enjoy an afternoon drive through the Pampas region of Argentina .

The Pampas Region is agriculture and you will spend 3 days here touring one of the largest cattle feeding operations in the world; you will see a grass-fed Angus beef operation; a grain farm and elevator  and you will enjoy a traditional “Asado” steak BBQ with local ranchers – what a way to meet the grassroots folks from a different country!

As you move on to Buenos Aires , Argentina you will have a chance to visit one of the largest Cattle Markets in the world, the Liniers Cattle Market.

Since Buenos Aires is the birth place of the tango no trip would be complete without a visit to a tango show.  You will leave this city of 14 million people to land on home soil October 22, 2010.

Silvia tells me the trip is almost full as of this morning, but still have room for more, so make that call asap to get your name on the trip and begin looking forward to a fun and informative trip.

That’s all for now – this is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening – and don’t miss this chance of a lifetime – don’t wait too long.

June 21, 2010

Good Morning this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

What a beautiful day we have this morning – sunshine and blue sky.  But, lots of hay getting washed these last few days.  It’s a little frustrating to see such beautiful alfalfa fields and then in a matter of days the fields take on a pale sickly look as the weevils do their dirty work – there’s no waiting for the weather to settle, it’s “knock it down and hope the rains will bring a second cutting for a change.

Right now there’s a bit of sunshine and blue skies in Washington DC as they roll out the rules that should put some teeth in the Packers and Stockyards Act.  The rules being issued will give producers a better shot at some fair prices in a meatpacker controlled market.

The rule which is called the “undue preferences” rule is designed to prohibit meat packers from providing unreasonable and unfair advantages for certain sellers such as sweetheart deals to certain feedlots in order to

artificially establish a price lower than that of a fair market. It would also require them to provide written records to justify those price differences.

The rule establishes that a producer filing a claim against an unfair practice does not need to prove injury to the industry – only injury to his own operation.  At the present time if a producer files a claim stating an unfair practice he has to prove that that practice is harmful to the entire industry in which he participates.

It also more clearly defines marketing agreements, contracts and other terms used in the business which will present a stronger arena for producers’ claims in a court of law.

The rule prohibits meatpackers from buying and selling live cattle with each other.

As expected the reaction from the three major packers who control over 80% of the slaughter market are reacting to this rule somewhat like a stirred up hornets nest.  They, of course, have had control of the market since prior to the implementation of the Packers and Stockyards Act in 1921.  They were given special privileges at that time and the Packers and Stockyards has never really been enforced.

J. Dudley Butler, Administrator of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Act (GIPSA) told us last September when he spoke at the Stockgrowers Convention that when these rules come out he will need the support of every producer in the country because as he said “ there will be lawsuits filed by those who will oppose it”.

To my knowledge at this time the only livestock organization opposing this is NCBA.  They are calling it government intrusion and etc. 

I’d like to quote Mike Callicrate who said “The big packers and retailers have been robbing the bank.  Over $400 per head is currently being stolen from cow-calf producers. Meanwhile, NCBA is happily driving the getaway car. Thankfully, the current administration is working to stop the crooks”. Mike said – I welcome this new sheriff in town!” (unquote)

Folks this is great news for livestock producers and is just the beginning.  If USDA gets our support at this time we will continue to see good things come to our industry – but it cannot and will not be done without our support. We have 60 days to comment on this rule. We have a job to do – let’s do it!

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and don’t forget the Trip to Chile & Argentina call the office here at 342-0429 to reserve a seat.

June 14, 2010

Good Morning folks and a rainy one it is - this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

We sat in the rain at the Regional High School Rodeo in Sturgis Saturday and some rain on Sunday.  Most folks in their rain-gear and some 5 buckle overshoes in the area.  The problem is – when the monsoons follow an 8 or 9 year drought no one can find the slickers or overshoes – but what a nice problem – I don’t think anyone is complaining too much yet.

Last Thursday, June 10^th the Stockgrowers held their Summer Quarterly meeting at the beautiful Grand Lodge in Highmore , SD.

We had a great time – the town of Highmore welcomed us with open arms, made posters for us and provided a wonderful banquet for us on Thursday evening thanks to the Highmore Booster Club.

We had good meetings with committee meetings running from 8:30 am ‘til approximately 3:30 pm and was followed by the Board of Directors Meeting winding up at 6:30 – just in time to get to our supper.

One of the highlights of the meetings was Lobbyist Jeremiah Murphy’s report on upcoming issues that may impact our members.  Jeremiah listed 7 areas of interest for the coming year:

1.)    Animal ID which supposed to be a new Animal Disease Traceability Program that concentrates on animal disease traceability with the states taking the lead and no National Premises Registration involved.

2.)    One of the subjects that have come up in the Wildlife part of the Stockgrowers program is predator control which we need to stay on top of.

3.)    Animal Care vs Animal Cruelty is on the front page of almost every state legislature as HSUS attempts to take control of that area.

4.)    We have policy on Genetic Engineering of alfalfa, but this is something that we need to watch in other areas as well.  For instance we have received word that Monsanto has applied for a patent on hog genetics.

5.)    Eminent Domain will again be on the front burner as we look at its use in railroad and pipeline situations.

6.)    Although we are no longer involved in brand inspection, we are still interested in brand laws and regulations that impact our members and nonmembers alike.  We will still watch for changes in these laws.

7.)    Property Tax Assessments – apparently there needs to be some adjustments in the new property tax laws.  There was a bill introduced last year regarding pasture situations, but was killed. 

Jeremiah stated that there will be a big turnover in legislators this year as well as a turnover in legislative leadership that we need to stay in touch with.  Stockgrowers consider themselves lucky to have Jeremiah’s lobbyist knowledge and instincts to keep us informed on these issues and be there to fight for us when the time comes in Pierre .

On thing that was missing and is missing in many of our Quarterly Meetings is producer participation other than our directors.  We want you to know that your input is what we act on and we sincerely want to hear from you and need your criticisms and/or critiques.

Mark your calendar for August 27^th Ft Collins, Colorado – let’s load a bus to make ourselves heard in the Dept of Justice – USDA listening session

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying – Thanks for listening.

June 7, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

I don’t know about the rest of you but I don’t remember this country ever looking so good – it’s a beautiful sight!  Now, I know this is not a major problem, but I can’t seem to get my yard mowed – No, I’m really not complaining.

This week Stockgrower Directors and members travel to Highmore for the 2010 Summer Quarterly which will be held on June 10^th at the Grand Lodge in Highmore. 

We’ll start the day off at 8:00 Central Time when Shane Kolb chairs the Trade Committee as he sits in for Mike Maher (who used the excuse of having back surgery that day for not attending the meeting) followed by the Bill Kluck Animal Health & ID Chairman; Shane again as Membership Chairman; followed by Craig Shaver with Property Rights and Mark Tubbs bringing us up to date on Federal Lands issues.

Next up is the Marketing Committee where Linda Gilbert will be updating us on the happenings with the Cattlemens’ Beef Board (CBB) part of the Beef Checkoff.  Following that committee we will take a lunch break and hear Ernie Mertz speak, and answer questions, regarding the changes that may affect our Beef Checkoff Program following the Organizational Restructuring of the National Cattlemens’ Beef Association (NCBA).

After lunch we continue committee meetings with Jim Murphy , chairing the Brand & Theft Committee; Mark DeVries with the Wildlife Committee; Chance Davis heads up the Education/Taxation/Legislation Committee and Linda Gilbert will take us to break time with the Ag & Natural Resources Committee.

At 3:30pm we wind up the committee meetings with the Finance Committee led by Immediate Past President Larry Nelson .

At 5:00 p.m. or immediately following the Finance Committee meeting President Kenny Fox will call the Board of Directors Meeting to order.

The plan is to complete the business meeting before 7:00 pm since the Highmore Boosters Club has been generous enough to plan a supper for us at the East Wing of the Hyde County Memorial Auditorium at 7:00 p.m.– Thank You Highmore Booster Club!!

Also, for those of you who were planning to attend the farm/ranch/feedlot tour, we did have to postpone that to a later date.  Bob Mack who is our tour organizer will be driving his Dad to the Mayo Clinic and as you probably know a person doesn’t have a whole lot of say-so when it comes to setting those appointments.

I also want to remind everyone that our meetings are all open – we invite and urge everyone who has an interest in agriculture and/or the profitability and viability of our farmers and ranchers to meet with us. Help us determine the road to take for the benefit of our rural economy.  We need your help!

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and remember… just one more person can make all the difference in the world.

May 25, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Well, it sounds like our friends in Walworth County had a bit of a rough ride over the week-end.

I talked to Ernie Metz this morning – he said some of his neighbors lost basically everything and that the tornado was about 3 miles from his place.  He said he and all the rest of the neighbors were helping with the cleanups and he said the storm-chasers were still there also.  I commented that it was really nice of them to stay and help with the cleanup. His response was that that was not the reason they’re still there.

He said they are all thankful that there were no injuries and that they are watching the weather today.

As many of you know the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is restructuring their organization and that the restructuring also involves part of the Beef Checkoff Program in that it will impact the State Beef Councils, or Federation as it is also called.

Several grassroots organizations including South Dakota Stockgrowers have had a chance to examine the basics of this restructuring and see it as a NCBA takeover.  We here at the Stockgrowers and several other organizations sent a letters to the Animal Marketing Service (AMS) and to Secretary Vilsack to point out the objections we as check-off  payers have to that restructuring.

I think our attention to this paid off as we have received word that Secretary Vilsack advised NCBA that they must include the following fire walls:

1) There must be clear distinction between policy organizations and check off programs.

2) All funding decisions relating to check off activities must be made by the Federation and the Cattlement’s Beef Board and not by policy organizations.

3) Federation membes who serve on the Beef Promotion Operating Committee are to be nominated and elected only by the Federation.

4) Federation members do not vote on policy nor are the required to pay for seats in a policy organization.

5) A policy organization should not be permitted to influence or vote on check-off decisions. 

6) Secretary Vilsack stated that the Animal Marketing Service has statutory and regulatory oversight of the Federation and the Board.

7) And finally failure to meet these requirements would raise serious legal concerns regarding the restructuring plans and whether they comply to the Act and Order.

We are supportive and very appreciative of Secretary Vilsack’s stand on this – it has long been a thorn in the side of the grassroots producers who pay the lion’s share of the checkoff.

On other issues, we are working with the Black Hills Multiple Use Organization and others regarding the Wilderness Area Designation in the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.  If you have comments or concerns please drop a line here to the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association at 342-0429.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and remember… just one more person can make all the difference in the world

May 17, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

I seem to have lost some of my memory since selling our cows 3 or 4 years ago – that is I forgot that when you go to a branding you don’t just sit on the fence and take pictures as was my intention!  I am definitely stiff and sore today, but had a great week-end.

Why are numbers so hard to get your head around – or is it because the numbers I’m trying to make sense of have a dollar figure in front of them?  Maybe it’s because the computer keeps putting parentheses around so many numbers and coloring them red? Anyway I remember why I’m not an accountant.  And I know this is not a problem specific to this office – I guess it’s comforting to have company.  But these negative dollar figures are indicative of our industry and the Stockgrowers association is doing everything in our power to keep these present cattle prices on the upward trend and to help give South Dakota a strong economic rural economy.

Well, this past week has been a bit slower than the last ones – Kenny did make the trip to Kansas City regarding the new animal disease traceability information.  He said there are still some of the old NAIS proponents who don’t want to turn loose of it, but for the most part they are looking at something very similar to the 8 point program suggested by R-CALF which would basically put the program in the hands of the states and tribal nations with federal oversight.  It would also look at sources of disease such as wildlife, imports from countries with known disease; use of a small metal tag instead of the rfid; and would also look at tracebacks to the original slaughter facility, not just the final small distributor.

I’m sure most of you have received the post card that Silvia sent out regarding the trip to Chile and Argentine.  The requests for information are starting to come in but if you did not receive a card and have questions please give us a call here at the office.  In the meantime the dates for the trip are: arrive in Santiago , Chile on October 12 and arrive back in the US from Buenos Aires , Argentina on October 22.  The trip looks to be an exciting one with the main emphasis on agriculture.  Included in the tour are trips to cattle ranches, crop farms, vineyards, one of the largest cattle feeding operations in the world,  a grass-fed Angus ranch, and an Argentina Cattle Market, just to name a few.  Of course, the tour would not be complete without a trip to a Tango Show.

As I said last week, Congresswoman Herseth-Sandlin is hosting a 2012 Farm Bill Hearing in Sioux Falls tomorrow, May 18^th.  Someone from Stockgrowers will be attending, but not sure yet who or how many.

I will say I am quite disappointed in that I sent a request to that office 2 weeks ago requesting information on the structure of the meeting, who could speak and etc.  I finally received a reply late Friday showing 2 panels – the first made up of East River crop producers and the second biofuel interests from East River, Omaha and a forest products producer from Wyoming .  I asked if a later meeting was planned for West River livestock interests and was told that meetings had be held in Wyoming and Idaho addressing interests similar to the Stockgrowers.  Once again folks I think our wok is cut out for us.

Like I said, this is a pretty quiet week and I apologize for the short report today.  So I guess all what’s left for me is to go back to that exciting finance report.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and remember… just one more person can make all the difference in the world.

May 10, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

What a rainy day this is – I had about a half inch at 6:30 this morning and it was raining hard when I left. 

I hope all you mothers out there had a great Mother’s Day week-end. My Mother’s Day was spread out over several days since my kids were hauling my grandkids to a rodeo at Kyle, a horse show at Gillette, or a State Soccer Meet at Sheridan , Wyo. I am so thankful my kids are involved with their kids’ activities.  And..I received a phone call from a step-son in Surinam , South America .

In 2002 the US Forest Service recommended an area of the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands to be designated as Wilderness, and last Wednesday Senator Johnson introduced legislature making that possible.  We here at the Stockgrowers along with several other SD Ag organizations are strongly opposed to this designation.  Yes, the bill is written to allow grazing and many recreational activities that exist there today.  We are told that it will be managed as it is today and our question then is why not leave it as is?  The grazing is allowed to continue subject to reasonable regulations as deemed necessary by the Secretary of Agriculture.  However, the federal government doesn’t have a real good track record on managing prairie dogs.  If we see the same management of prairie dogs in this wilderness as we see in Wind Cave National Park for instance, we know the forage will be decreased and I’m sure the Secretary will deem it necessary to reduce the domestic livestock since wildlife is considered a priority in wilderness areas.

Many news articles state that a majority of the people wants the wilderness designation, however, we have seen just the opposite.  Many of you over the weekend received a card to be filled out and mailed back to Senator Johnson with your thoughts on this designation.  I would urge you to do this whether you are for or against.  If you have never called or written to a senator, or written a letter to the editor, please take 5 minutes and fill out this card and send it back.  There is no special protocol, writing technique, or anything other than be polite – just do it.

In other news Mark DeVries and Dave Fuoss will be representing South Dakota Stockgrowers in an ad hoc committee to review South Dakota Statutes regarding animal cruelty.  Nearly every state in the union has been the target of  the Humane Society of the United States  (HSUS).  The basic desire of this organization, (which is not that same as your local Humane Society) is to eliminate domestic livestock.

Several SD ag organizations have formed this committee to come together with a plan and legislation to prevent HSUS from doing harm to our number one industry and our rural economy.

President Kenny Fox leaves for Kansas City today for a meeting of interested parties regarding the new animal disease traceability system.  We are all hoping the outcome of this and future meetings will indeed be a new system, not the old NAIS with a different name, as some are saying.

Next week some Stockgrowers will be traveling to Sioux Falls to take part in one of the first meetings on the 2012 Farm Bill – plan on hearing more on this for the next 2 – 3 years!

Please mark you calendars for June 10 and 11 for the SD Stockgrowers June Quarterly in Highmore , SD which we will be holding in conjunction with the Cattlewomens’ meeting, so call the neighbor or get the hired man lined up so you can both get away to this meeting.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and remember… just one more person can make all the difference in the world.

May 3, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Well, as I promised last Monday the week was a rather busy one – not sure what we accomplished, but hope we did do some good.

I and some of the other Stockgrower members attended the Drive-In, Fly-In meeting that we were invited to at Ellsworth Air Force Base.  The purpose of which, of course, was the proposed expansion of the Power River Training area which is the training area for Ellsworth.  It was an interesting day in that we were given a tour of some of the facilities, had the chance to sit in a B51, and later sit in a flight simulation of the B51.  We were served a wonderful lunch and then the expanded training area was explained to us.  Several of the 30 some attendees at the meeting were pilots including Stockgrower members from the training area who use planes in the day-to-day operation of their ranches.  Colonel Taliaferro and his crew were most gracious, very hospitable, answered our questions, and appeared anxious to be able to work with the surrounding countryside. However, in the end the Air Force still believes they need to expand their training area and the ranchers still have to be able to operate their ranches.  I do believe there is a desire on both sides to get this worked out and I am very appreciative of the fact that Colonel Taliaferro and his crew are making an effort to work with us.  Their job is to protect our country – our job is to feed our country.  Somehow there must be a way for both to succeed.

On Friday Silva and I drove to Sioux Falls to set up the booth and attend the South Dakota Livestock Marketing Association’s annual convention.  We met some great folks down there, had a chance to talk about the Stockgrowers Association and to see the auction barn owners side of livestock marketing. We had a chance to tour the new (2005) Sioux Falls Regional Livestock Auction Barn near Canton . What a beautiful up-to-date facility.  Sometimes when we only know of something from one side we tend to have a slightly skewed idea of the whole picture.  I am well aware of the auction barn picture, but only from the seller and sometimes the buyer side of it.  One thing I do know for sure is that we could not survive without the auction barns and we here at the Stockgrowers Association are forever appreciative of the support we receive from them.

On our upcoming schedule is the beginning of work on the 2012 Farm Bill – didn’t we just get done with the 2008 one??  Yep, it was finally finished last year.  The good part of that is the fact that we finally got a Livestock Title in the Farm Bill which includes COOL, Packers and Stockyards Act enforcement, mandatory price reporting and interstate sales of state inspected meat.  We will be working to improve upon these issues, but also working with Trade, Animal Health and ID, Concentration and Consolidation, Food Safety, and Private Property issues, all of which will have areas of interest in the upcoming Farm Bill.

The US House Ag Committee is holding Farm Bill information gathering meetings around the country.  One of them is scheduled for May 18^th at Augustana College in Sioux Falls and one will be held at the Laramie County community College in Cheyenne , Wyoming tomorrow, May 4^th.  Anyone interested is welcome to accompany those of us who will be attending.

We also received word that the Department of Justice/ US Department of Agriculture joint meeting that is scheduled for Colorado has been changed to by one day to August 27^th 2010.  Again, we will be attending and would encourage anyone and everyone to join in.  If you doubt whether we have been heard, consider the fact that Secretary Vilsack cancelled the NAIS program after hearing from producers who attended the hearing sessions around the country.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and remember… if no one makes a move nothing will happen.

April 26, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

What a great rain we had over the weekend – hope yours was the same – up to 3 inches of welcome rain in many places.

Again we start the day with condolences, this time to Larry Schuelke and family.  They have really been hit hard.  Larry’s Dad Robert, passed away last Tuesday the 20^th and then his wife Jo Ellen died unexpectedly at the ranch at Mud Butte on Wednesday.  I’m not sure how many of you know Clade, Larry and Jo Ellen’s son, but he was the one who video’d the speakers at the Stockgrowers Annual meeting the past 2 years.  He did it for experience – didn’t want any pay.  The Schuelke’s have been big supporters of the Stockgrowers such as providing headstalls and rocking chairs and other items for the live auction at the annual meeting.  Jo Ellen usually stopped at the office when she was in town.

Some of you may have already heard the news, but if not get ready for a trip to South America !

That’s right the Stockgrowers have teamed up with KBHB and are sponsoring a trip to Chile and Argentina .  You will fly in to Santiago , Chile on October 12, take a bus trip to Argentina on the 15^th and fly out of Buenos Aires on the 22^nd. Most areas of interest are agricultural, such as visit to a farm, tour a large feedlot, a large cattle market selling 11000 head 4 days a week. And of course, you can’t leave Buenos Aires , the birthplace of the Tango without attending a Tango Show.  I believe trip confirmation has to be made by July 15.  For more information call the Stockgrowers Office.

In other news things were pretty quiet here in the office last week, but this week will probably make up for it.  Tomorrow some of the Stockgrowers have been invited to a Fly-In/Drive-In day at Ellsworth.  This is in conjunction with concerns raised regarding the proposed Powder River Training Complex.  As far as I know the attendees will be mostly those in the Northwest part of the state who will be impacted by this new training expansion.  This is a very serious matter especially for those who depend on their own airplanes for checking pastures as many of them do in that area.

On Friday Silvia and I will be traveling to Sioux Falls to set up the Stockgrower Booth at the South Dakota Livestock Marketing Association Annual Convention.  We’ll be there through Saturday, so if you’re in that part of the country and are out and about be sure to stop by and visit a bit. The livestock markets are an extremely necessary part of our industry and we believe in thanking and supporting them every chance we get.  Stop for just a minute and think what our industry would be like without them.

One of the things that is always on our not too distant horizon is Free Trade Agreements with foreign countries.  One of our congressional delegates offices called us last week to ask our opinion on the South Korea , Columbia and Panama Trade Agreements.  I haven’t been able to get together with Mike Maher who is our Trade Committee Chairman, but I’m quite sure we are still where we were last year, which is that most of the Free Trade Agreements are certainly not Fair Trade Agreements as far as the United States is concerned.

For one thing I haven’t heard that there have been any changes in the fact that we have not required those trading partners to have rules of origin.  In other words if rules of origin are not included the other country may procure beef from a 3^rd country, slaughter it and export to the US as their own.  Also, as far as I know, there has not been a requirement for special rules for perishable and cyclical products as was stated in the Trade Act of 2002.  These concerns along with the sanitary, phyto-sanitary concerns have not been met and until they are the Stockgrowers Association is opposed to these Free Trade Agreements.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying – please write to your Senators and Congresswoman to keep diseased livestock out of this country and keep our herd safe.  Thank you.

April 19, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

What a beautiful day we have today – with a promise of rain this week-end which is probably received differently according to when the branding is scheduled, whether the spring wheat is in and many other busy situations.  Last week I said the snow was about all gone, but the remainder of a few drifts can still be seen.

Our condolences go out today to the family of Stuart Bieber who was killed this week-end in a tragic water-skiing accident in Georgia .

Our work here at the Stockgrowers kind of centered around the old OTM/beef import area this past week in a couple different instances.

First we have received word that Brazil has requested regionalization of the state of Santa Catarina , Brazil for the purpose of exporting ruminants, ruminant products and swine and swine products although the surrounding states are not free of many diseases including Foot and Mouth Disease.

We have argued in the past against selecting one small area of a country that is purported to be free of disease while disease such as FMD is prevalent in the rest of the country.  In 2000 a regionalized area of Argentina was proposed, however within 1 year Argentina saw many outbreaks of FMD and USDA had to withdraw their proposal.  Some time later the same proposal was made for an area of Uruguay – within 4 months Uruguay had an outbreak of FMD.  The latest was in December of 2009 when South Korea requested a regionalized area and USDA agreed.  On January 6, 2010 just 4 days prior to the effective date South Korea experienced a large outbreak of FMD.  They are now in the process of destroying 30,000 head of cattle.

As if history wasn’t enough to put a stop to this idiotic type of trade, we have discovered that the rules that USDA has written are inaccurate.  The rules state that neighboring states to Santa Catarina are free of outbreaks since 2005, however, according to the World Organization of Animal Health Website one of the states bordering Santa Catarina experienced several outbreaks in 2006.

R-CALF USA and South Dakota Stockgrowers, and probably several others, have requested (prior to publication in the Federal Register) that the proposed rule be withdrawn until such time as they have correct information – and an explanation from USDA for falsified information.

However, as I checked the Federal Register this morning the false information is still in the proposed rule and it has been published.

We will be watching this very closely – Foot and Mouth Disease is one of the most devastating diseases that a country can have.

In other news we are pleased to see that North Dakota has been able to stop a proposed feedlot for the purpose of holding Canadian cull cows and bulls for scheduled slaughter in Minnesota .  We are still advocating an immediate overturn to the Over Thirty Month Rule that allows that age cattle to be imported into this country from a country that continues to have BSE problems. If we could accomplish that we probably would have no problem with Japan importing from us.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying – please write to your Senators and Congresswoman to keep diseased livestock out of this country and keep our herd safe.  Thank you.

April 12, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

The snow has almost all melted, ran down the draws and filled some dams, or almost filled some dams and some of the brandings have started – I think we’re in Spring and Summer is not far away!

Saturday night Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin was in town and invited the Stockgrowers to dinner and a meeting with her at the Holiday Inn.

She was interested in hearing our concerns on several issues such as Trade, the Anti-Trust hearings, and any other concerns we may have.

One of the first things mentioned was Brazil ’s intention of shipping beef out of one particular region in that area that is, at this time, free of foot and mouth disease.  We, of course told her we are totally opposed to any type of regionalization for the purpose of importing meat to the Unite States from a country that is not clear of Foot and Mouth disease or any of the other diseases mentioned.

We opposed that same attempt to ship meat from the Patagonia Region of Argentina and another region in Uruguay .  In 2000 an attempt was made to ship fresh beef from a particular region of Uruguay although the rest of the country was still seeing outbreaks of FMD.  A year later there was FMD reported in 18 Uruguayan states, including the one that was supposedly free of the disease.

Other areas of interest at the meeting with our Congresswoman included the Wilderness area proposed for parts of our Southwestern counties.  We explained that although exemptions can be written into a wilderness area document that would permit grazing, the same exemptions can be taken out at a later date.  We also explained that grazing probably would be allowed, but in the next year or the next or at some point the number of head allowed to grazed would be reduced.  As one Stockgrower has pointed out, when that number is reduced by 10 head or so you are basically denying the permittee number of head that is needed to meet expenses, or to try to meet expenses.  If there is a profit it has been taken away from him.  Congresswoman Herseth Sandlin listened and asked for comments that were sent to Senator Johnson’s office at an earlier date.

We also talked about the DOJ – USDA anti-trust meetings that are being held around the country this year.  The first one was held in Ankeny , Iowa . We explained that none of us were able to attend, but that we have heard very favorable reports and are excited about the fact that DOJ & USDA are doing this – actually for the first time ever.  We plan to attend the one held in Colorado in August – we hope to put a person on the panel there and also hope to take a large group with us.  I believe that one is August 26^th and if anyone wants to attend please let me know so we can begin to put together a plan.

In other news things are pretty quiet here – the magazine for Apr-May-Jun is at the publisher– you should have it in your mail box by the end of the week.  As always let me know what you like or don’t like about it – and for that matter, we operate on what you folks want us to do, so please stay in contact – give us a call, drop an email or stop in any time.

And I’m about out of time, so this is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening one more time.

April 5, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

I hope you all had a great Easter Week-end.  I know I did.  Friday was a day of vacation here at the office – we had worked some other days that were delegated days off, so we decided to close on Good Friday instead.  Hope we didn’t inconvenience anyone.

Not much to talk about here today.  Last week was a work on the magazine week – you should have it by the end of next week.

One of the subjects brought up in this issue of the Stockgrower Magazine was brought to us at this years Black Hills Stock Show by John Munsell a former small packing house owner from Miles City, Montana.

At that time John talked to us about recalls of contaminated beef and the inspection, or I should say lack of inspection in certain areas of the meat packing industry.  John has been bringing information to the public on this for several years, in fact he founded the Foundation for Accountability in Regulatory Enforcement in an effort to make some positive changes in this area.

As you will see in the Stockgrowers in the News part of the magazine is the comments that John took to Washington D.C. when he was invited to take part in a public hearing by USDA’s  Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

FSIS’s 4 basic requirements, as authorized by the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 are:

1.)    Mandatory inspection of livestock before slaughter

2.)    Mandatory inspection of every carcass.

3.)    Sanitary standards set for slaughterhouses and meat processing plants.

4.)    Provides for USDA inspections of slaughterhouses and meat processing plants.

The Federal Meat Inspection Act came into being partly because of a book by Upton Sinclair titled The Jungle   which was written about the Chicago meat packing industry.

President at that time, Theodore Roosevelt called for a report on Sinclair’s allegations. Shocked at what he found, wheels were immediately put in motion for regulation of the meat processing plants.

Maybe we’re finally seeing some attention to the meat packing industry of the present time with information brought forward by folks such as John Munsell.

As you will also see in this magazine Montana ’s Senator Jon Tester has introduced a bill called the “Meat Safety and Accountability Act” or simply the “Traceback Bill”

This bill makes it possible to trace contaminated meat back to the slaughterhouse of origin, also known as the big packer.  At present contamination is only traced back to the smaller, often family owned packing plants, or distributors who receive their meat from the large processor.

Thank you John Munsell and Jon Tester for taking this stand against the corporate giants

Folks, I just received word that Merton Glover passed away on Friday.  Merton was was President of the Stockgrowers from 1962 to 1963 and Chief Brand Inspector from 1986 to 1991.

Our condolences to Mabel and their children and grandchildren.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

March 29, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

Oh my Goodness what a beautiful day we have!  Two weeks ago you really had to look to find green grass coming, but today it’s everywhere!  I usually try to find the silver lining and last week I said the good thing about overgrazed pastures is that they are the first to look good in the Spring.

If you remember, a couple weeks ago I told you about Linda Gilbert being appointed to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, or CBB.  Well I visited with Linda this morning and she will be leaving on April 7^th to travel to a 2 ½ day orientation meeting in Denver .  She also asked that anyone who had comments and/or suggestions to give her a call. We are, of course, extremely pleased with this appointment knowing that Linda is there helping represent South Dakota .  I did however find out that maybe there are a couple folks who don’t exactly share our enthusiasm – it seems Gilbert’s right in the middle of calving. – Sorry Ray and Lloyd – we get her for a couple days!

The CBB is a large part of the beef checkoff.  Among the responsibilities of the Beef Board is oversight of the $1 checkoff and certification of the State Beef Councils.  The state beef councils may retain up to 50 cents of the checkoff dollar and then sends the remainder to the Beef Board.

The Beef Board then is responsible  for approving the annual budget of all national programs which are funded by the checkoff money.

The Beef Board also is responsible in part for all contracts used for research, foreign marketing, meat promotion and etc 

Along other lines – last week was fairly quiet.  We did send out a press release in appreciation of SD Attorney General Marty Jackley’s joint effort with 15 other attorney’s general recommendations which were submitted to the USDA and the Department of Justice.

The attorneys general are recommending a study of concentration in our market system for one thing; another is stronger enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act which was inacted in 1921, but not enforced.

Another concern of the Stockgrowers and something we are watching very closely is the new animal disease traceability system.  Many of you may have seen a You Tube video put out last week by former US Secretary Johanns that suggested that the new traceability system was simply another NAIS.

We have been of the opinion that it will actually contain the 12 points brought forward by a coalition of agricultural organizations last year at a meeting in Kansas City which basically says we approve of and support disease traceability, we don’t need federal premises registrations; we do need better control at the borders.

As I said, we are watching very closely and will keep you informed as best we can.

With that I’m pushing hard this morning to get this to the radio in time so will just say Thanks for listening; have a wonderful Easter Weekend.  And don’t forget to thank Him who gave His life for us. 

March 22, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with your South Dakota Stockgrowers Tallybook.

How do you like this kind of weather?  Yesterday was just about perfect where I was – lots of folks are in full swing with calving, some are almost done and some not yet started, but for the most part I think everyone will agree that calving this year is a bit different than it was at this time last year.

Many of you attended the Farmers Union Convention here in Rapid City, last week, and many of you I’m sure had a chance to listen to US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

In his speech he hit on several areas, but the main thrust of his talk (or at least what I heard) was on the loss of the family operations and the increase of corporate organizations.  He spoke of the necessity of a better set of rules and the need rebuild our market which we have lost due to lack of competition and an increase in concentration.  I sincerely hope this is what the administration is looking at and that they will work with us this year as we work to establish a fair market for our products.

I have visited with some of the folks who attended the first ever Department of Justice/USDA joint meeting held in Ankeny , Iowa last week.  Everyone I talked to thought it was a very productive and interesting meeting. This is one of several to be held around the nation this summer.  The one that will concentrate on beef cattle will be held in Colorado in late August.  We will be attending and are attempting to have a seat on that panel.  If anyone is interested in going please let us know here in the office. Preliminary plans are to go as a group, but we will work more on that as the time nears.

There has been a lot of talk, and in some states some action, regarding the handling of livestock, or as some would put it, the rights of the animals.  The bible says man shall have dominion over the animals, but apparently some folks who have more time and money than good sense seem to believe animals are human.  Most of these folks don’t realize, or don’t care, that livestock on our ranches actually receive the best of care. If they didn’t the ranch wouldn’t survive due to the fact that a healthy animal is key to survival of our rural economy.  Most of the abused animals we hear about are somebody’s idea of “collecting” whether it be dogs, or horses, or exotic animals, much as someone collects salt and pepper shakers or antique guns or whatever.

I came across a blog this morning from a Californian who is trying to fight the animal rightists.  As you know California has been hit hard by these folks.  Here’s what this blogger had to say is part of the problem:

1. Assuming that the lunatic fringe is the general public. We spend way too much time focusing on lunatics and not working with the public.
2. Being reactive rather than proactive.
3. Not working hard enough to build coalitions that include the public (consumers). Most of our coalition efforts are focused on bringing ag groups together. There aren´t enough of us, and we don´t represent enough votes.

I’m not sure what the answer is, but I do know there has to be a stop to these lunatics, as the Californian called them, before they have every grocery store and restaurant in the country forcing us to keep our livestock in heated rooms and making everyone a vegetarian.

For those interested the State Brand Board meeting is March 24, 10:30am CDT, 209 West Dakota Ave. Pierre , SD

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and eat beef – USA Raised Beef.

March 15, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with the SDSG Tallybook.

We have, hanging here in the Stockgrowers office, a beautiful Jon Crane numbered print called the “Silent Crossing”.  But there is more to the story.

Those of you who knew the brand inspectors that worked for the Stockgrowers knew Doug Pederson who was a brand inspector for 20 years at Winner, SD.  Doug was an especially good inspector and very loyal to the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association.  When the state took over the inspection program in 2008 Doug resigned and went to work as a fieldman for Winner Livestock Auction.  He passed away in 2009.

A couple weeks ago I received a phone call from Doug’s brother Clay who lives in Colorado .  He said the family would like to do something for the Stockgrowers in memory of Doug.  So a week ago Saturday Clay and the rest of the family all met with Jim Reed , some Stockgrowers and some inspector friends of Doug here at the Office and the family presented us with this beautiful print.

Doug was featured in the Stockgrower magazine in 1995 and at that time he said he began his employment as a brand inspector in October 1988 at Winner Livestock Auction Company.  He said “ I have thoroughly enjoyed working for the S.D. Stockgrowers Association.  All of the other inspectors and office staff are just great to work with.  I feel fortunate to have this job.  My only regret is I should have started sooner.”

We here at the S.D. Stockgrowers want to thank Clay, Keo, his Mother,  and all the rest of his family for this special gift in honor of his memory.

In other news, last week US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack named his appointees to the Cattlemens Beef Promotion and Research Board better known as the Cattlemens Beef Board or CBB.  We are proud to announce that 2 of them are South Dakotans and one of them is our very own Stockgrowers member and director Linda Gilbert, Buffalo , SD.   We have sent Linda’s name in numerous times as a nominee and are happy to see that persistence pays.  Linda will be a great representative of South Dakota and an asset to the board.

The other South Dakotan appointed was Danni Beer s who most you also know as a US Cattlemen member and rancher from the Keldron area.

Many of you will be hearing this tallybook report on KBJM, Lemmon , SD and we want to thank KBJM for the Farm and Home Show that Silvia and I attended on Friday of last week.  It was a great show, extremely well attended and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  We had a Stockgrowers booth and were able to visit with lots of folks from the surrounding area – and some from far away areas also.

Today is the National Farmers Union Convention here in Rapid City .  I hope many of you are able to attend and to hear U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack who is the keynote speaker today.

With that I just want to say Thanks for listening - this is Margaret Nachtigall and we’ll see ya down the road.

March 8, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with the SDSG Tallybook.

Nine straight days of fog according to the weather report this morning and I hear the folks in the northwestern part of the state are in fog again this morning.  If the 120 days following fog holds true this may be an extremely wet June!

This has been another busy week for everyone and the staff at the Stockgrowers is no exception.

Monday evening was the 4^th of 5 classroom sessions for the Agri-tourism group.  I finally had a chance to attend the full meeting.  It was extremely interesting and the 30 members of the group were fully involved in hearing speakers on liability and insurance and then breaking out into small groups for more work.

Along that same line we were pleased to hear that the State department of Ag has introduced legislation that will give added protection to landowners who are involved in agri-tourism. Previously the protection was there for a small number of activities such as hunting and fishing, however  SB 75 protects the landowner who is in a qualified agri-tourism program. If SB 75 sounds familiar, it’s because it was previously an NAIS bill that was sent to the 41^st day.  The Dept of Ag pulled it off the table, gutted it, gave it new language and here we go with a great addition to the agri-tourism program.  This is what in South Dakota is called a “hog-housed” bill.

On Wednesday of this week Silvia and I spent most of the night baking mini cornbread beef and cheese muffins to serve the next day at the Cattlewomen sponsored “Beef Day at the Capitol.” Our muffins were well received with a lot of requests for the recipe. 

On Thursday we also met with the South Dakota Cattlewomen at their meeting in Pierre .  We thoroughly enjoyed the meeting and will be working with them on other projects and will be holding some joint meetings with them in the future.

One point I want to make this morning is on Real Estate Tax assessments that came out this past week.

Some landowners have been receiving assessments up to 70% increase from last year.  According to the new law the taxable value on a county wide basis is limited to a 10% increase.  However, this doesn’t mean an individual property is limited to a 10% assessed value, although if I had a 70% increase I would be checking in with my assessor and or township board. A county cannot pull in more tax than it did last year – again, on a county wide basis. There is a website you can go to for more information.  Go to www.sd.gov  at the top of the page click on “state agencies” then “Revenue and Regulatory” next “property tax” and finally “Property tax productivity evaluation”.  The deadline for filing an appeal is March 11 and must be done in writing.

We’re pretty excited about Silvia’s agri-tourism program and the enthusiasm we see in the participants of this class. Tonight is graduation for these folks and I would just like to say if you’re at all interested in this or even just a bit curious stop by the Stockgrowers office today about 3:30 – sit in on this last class and stick around for the graduation ceremony.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and only 12 more days til Spring – according to the calendar.

March 1, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with the SDSG Tallybook.

Yesterday at church someone said the frosted trees were beautiful – my reply was yes, but I’m getting a bit tired of this ‘white beauty’.  However, this morning I was almost late for work because I spent too much time taking pictures!  It was as if God caused the ugliest tree and the ugliest little ole weed to bloom with beautiful white blossoms – I promise to quit complaining.

Stockgrowers are working in several areas, one of which is the beef checkoff situation where the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association NCBA has formed a Governance Task Force to assist them in the restructuring of their organization, including all aspects of the checkoff.  We are working with our representatives on the SD Beef Industry Council to see that we have the current information and let them know what our thoughts are especially regarding the Federation of State Beef Councils, Cattlemen’s Beef Board and other areas of interest to SD producers.

Last week we attended the regular meeting of the Black Hills Multiple Use Coalition as it was held in Hermosa. This was a very interesting meeting regarding, mostly concerns about the Wilderness Designation on Indian Creek and other areas.  The wilderness designation has been on the back burner since 2002, but until recently was not put into an actual designation.  Jane Darnell, Forest Service Supervisor for the Nebraska National Forest and the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands was on hand to answer questions and provide information. 

Another issue we have been watching quite closely is the pressure that the Humane Society of the United States is putting on some of the state legislatures.  I just learned this morning that Ringling Bros Circus has filed a RICO ( Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) lawsuit against HSUS and some other animal rights groups.  This HSUS  is not the same humane society that takes in stray dogs and cats in our local towns.  HSUS is a national organization that does very little for stray animals, although they would like us to believe that they do.  They have been charged with bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice and money laundering.  This may put a stop to some of the ridiculous agendas that we have seen regarding the animals that we are supposed to have dominion over.  If you want to learn more about HSUS go to HumaneWatch.org

Our own lobbyist Jeremiah Murphy is of course hard at work in Pierre .  Tomorrow in the Ag and Natural Resources Committee John Cooper, former Secretary of Game Fish and Parks will be nominated for a seat on the Game Fish & Parks Commission.  We here at the Stockgrowers question the validity of that nomination.

In other news we have received a report from Bill Bullard , R-CALF USA regarding a conference call he participated in sponsored by USDA for discussion of the new animal disease traceability program.  It sounds like USDA is working to help establish a program that will improve upon the present traceability of disease and will also work for producers. I quote USDA they said they “encourage producers to be supportive of the agency’s new direction and to submit their comments and concerns to the agency. USDA is trying to make a concerted and transparent effort to develop a low-cost effective system without causing an intrusion on producers. It is up to the states and tribes as to what type of system they want to use.” This is good to hear and is a long ways from the old NAIS.  I know everyone will be watching this program as will the Stockgrowers.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying 20 more days ‘til Spring - thanks for listening. -

February 22, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with the SDSG Tallybook.

Most of you may be aware of the agritourism project that South Dakota Stockgrowers is working on and today I want to update that a bit.

As you know Silvia Christen was hired as a Development Director – her duties being membership and finding a way for the Stockgrowers to receive an income and therefore continue to operate.  Not much of a challenge – right? Well I’m glad it’s her job and not mine!

The agritourism idea actually came from Tommy Tibbets a couple years ago.  And this is what Silvia has been working on.  In her research she was introduced to Jan Jantzen,  Emporia Kansas who had developed a course that would enable ranchers to establish a agritourism program for their own operation.

Silvia immediately began work on this project and I’m happy to say she is now preparing for the third of five classes.  They meet from 3:30 until 8 or 8:30 each Monday evening beginning on February 8.

Jan Jantzen is facilitating the course and Silvia is bringing in experts from South Dakota in their respective fields to provide information for the class attendees.

Mr Jantzen has said, and I quote “The goal is for participants to be ready to start their agritourism businesses at the end of the fifth class period.  He said “we want to help you think through what you have available on your farm or ranch and how you can turn that into a

successful agritourism destination. This is a result-oriented workshop, not an academic exercise”.

The class prepares the participants to put together a program according to their own interests such as hunting, trail rides, overnight guests, etc.  I sat in on a couple of the meetings and it is so exciting to see the amount of enthusiasm in these classes.

Silvia’s goal of 20 participants was reached before the press release invitation was a week old.  She actually ended up with 30 participants and a waiting list for the next class.

 The course is funded by some grants that Silvia has been able to procure plus the enrollment fee, and is looking to be a great success, with more classes in the future.  So if you are interested in this type of project give her a call here at the office and she can tell you what is on the horizon.

 This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

February 15, 2010

Good Morning, this is Margaret Nachtigall with the SDSG Tallybook.

I don’t know about you folks, but I’m ready for winter to be over – and I’m not involved in calving like some of you are.  My drive-way and the township road adjoining it are solid ice – and I don’t have my ice skates any more.  Last year we were seeing green grass the first week in March!

This morning’s report from our lobbyist, Jeremiah Murphy, indicates that the overriding factor in Pierre this year is the budget with a deficit that may be larger than originally thought, partially due to lower sales receipts and therefore lower tax revenue.

Jeremiah also mentioned HB1153 which was a bill to revise the requirements for corporation and the state to exercise eminent domain.  He said the bill had several positive features, but also many negative features and no input from landowners.  Stockgrowers opposed this bill which was tabled.

In other business, Stockgrowers and R-CALF had another successful Black Hills StockShow.  Although according to new media the overall attendance at the stockshow was suggested as being down, our booth had strong attendance with some days being busier than others.  Baxter Badure, Belvidere again made a saddle for R-CALF to be raffled off between Stockshow time and the matched bronc ride in Pierre the first week-end in June. Hundreds of tickets were sold and at the same time scores of folks stopped pay their annual dues to both organizations.

Several Stockgrower members met at Senator Johnson’s office with Darrel Schumacher, Chris Blair , Rapid City and with Matt Thornblad, Senator Johnson’s staffer from Washington DC on video conference regarding the Senator’s plan to introduce legislation designating part of the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands as Wilderness area.

We have previously registered out opposition to this designation both by phone and by letter, to the Senator’s DC office and recently signed onto a letter by the Black Hills Regional Multiple Use Coalition opposing a wilderness designation.

We have attempted to point out the fact that these grasslands are in the good condition that they now show because of human and domestic animal occupation not in spite of it.  These grasslands have been protected and nurtured by the livestock owners and permitees and other users of the land since the early 1930’s and the beginning of the Soil Conservation Service.  The reason these grasslands are now called “pristine” is because of the care by the people who used them, not because humans were kept out.  To designate this as a Wilderness area will be a move to return it to it’s previous uncared for condition.  The Wilderness Act describes wilderness as: A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.

If man does not remain in this area we will soon see prairie dog towns and Russian Thistle.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

February 8, 2010

Good Morning this is Margaret Nachtigall with SDSG Tallybook, and what can I say – it’s still winter.

Got home from the Stock Show late yesterday afternoon to find another 3 or 4 inches of snow and got up this morning to blowing snow.

Speaking of the stock show – it was a very successful event for SDSG and R-CALF.  We got the chance to visit with many, many of you folks.  Lots of people renewed their memberships and we don’t have a count yet, but we went through scores of raffle tickets for the saddle that Baxter Badure always builds for us this time of year.

This is really a good news day – Silvia had hoped for at least 20 participants for the agri-tourism workshop which begins today.  One week after the press release had gone out she had 25 registered participants and by mid-week last week she had to close registrations as they reached 28.  There is definitely a lot of excitement about this program.

The other good news, which many of you have already heard, is that US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has scrapped NAIS and will work on a new disease traceability program which will be administrated by the States and Tribal Nations.

Secretary Vilsack said “After concluding our listening tour on the National Animal Identification System in 15 cities across the country, receiving thousands of comments from the public and input from States, Tribal Nations, industry groups, and representatives for small and organic farmers, it is apparent that a new strategy for animal disease traceability is needed. He said I’ve decided to revise the prior policy and offer a new approach with changes that respond directly to the feedback we heard.”

One comment that I found especially interesting is that steps will be taken to lessen the risk from disease posed by imported animals.  We have long said we need to look at our borders for much of the disease in this country.  It was also noted that the program will apply only to interstate commerce, which in South Dakota  is covered by health certificates, and at least partially by brand.  The means of identification will be left up to the states.

According to information from USDA the program will focus on animal health –where diseased ones are – what other animals they may have been in contact with and is not a food safety program.

We here at the South Dakota Stockgrowers are extremely happy at this good news.  Of course we will keep our ear to the ground, but this gives us the chance we have been working for to be able to work with our state agencies in an effort to bring a program that will be beneficial to all parts of our industry.

You may find more information at the USDA Website, - you will find an extensive list of questions and answers, or call this office for more direction.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks to all of you who have worked so hard to put NAIS to rest.

January 18, 2010

Good Morning this is Margaret Nachtigall with SDSG Tallybook.

What a difference a week makes – last week we were more than knee deep in snow – and that wasn’t the drifts -  but this week it’s not quite that deep, the drifts are beginning to melt and the weather has been beautiful!

Even though most Stockgrower meetings were snowed out last week several of us attended the Harding County Stockgrowers meeting in Buffalo on Friday.  A South Dakota Stockgrower panel including Linda Gilbert, Larry Nelson and Shane Kolb brought forth several issues that are of concern and importance to Stockgrower members.  Subjects of interest included the Clean Water Restoration Act which would place all water under the control of the federal government.  At present only “navigable” waters are in that category.  Also discussed was the Power River Basin Training area which is an Air Force Training area from Ellsworth Air Force Base extending over parts of South Dakota , Wyoming and Montana . Larry brought out the fact that many of the ranchers in that area use airplanes to check their pastures and that the plan presented would in fact be a danger to these pilots.  He also questioned the plan of dropping “chaff” in the training area and what it would do to the pastures and livestock.  Another subject discussed was in the realm of livestock marketing. Shane discussed the need for competition in the market and the need for enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act which was implemented in 1921, but never enforced.

Linda also explained to the audience the need to become active in local organizations.  She advised that we can no longer ignore what’s happening in the world around us, but instead we must stand up for our industry.  An industry that is becoming smaller and smaller and requires more and more input from those of us who hope to keep our ranches and rural economy viable.  She stated “I’m not saying you have to belong to any particular organization – just belong to an organization of your choice for the sake of our industry so your voice can be heard.”

Last Wednesday, Silvia, Bill Kluck and Craig Shaver manned a booth and met with folks at the Vale Ag Fair in Vale, SD.

Stockgrowers were on hand again for the annual Ranchers Workshop which this year was held at Mission , SD with Directors Bob Fortune and Chris Harvey taking care of the booth.

I believe the old saying “it never rains, but what it pours” surely holds true for the Stockgrowers attending meetings this time of year.  On the 25^th some of us will be traveling to Pierre to take part in the annual Ag Fest at the Ramkota.  This is a one evening event with each organization having a booth and a chance to visit with legislators and other ag organizations prior to this year’s legislative session.

Then on the 26^th some of the Stockgrowers will be attending the Perkins County Livestock Association where South Dakota Stockgrowers will again conduct a panel discussion of various subjects of interest to the ranching community.

Last, but certainly not least is the R-CALF USA National Convention held right here in Rapid City at the Ramkota on January 22, and 23^rd.  You will again have a chance to hear J Dudley Butler, Administrator of GIPSA and a promoter of the Packers and Stockyards Act.  If you missed him at the Stockgrowers annual in September, make a special effort to attend this meeting.  He certainly speaks for those of us out here on the land.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and help us help you by keeping those memberships coming in.  Thanks a bunch.

January 11, 2010

 Good Morning this is Margaret Nachtigall with SDSG Tallybook.

 Well, needless to say, none of us were able to attend the meetings scheduled for East River and Bison that I talked about last week thanks to the 6^th road-blocking blizzard in 13 months.

The meetings with legislators in the East River area have been cancelled, but the Perkins County Livestock Association Meeting has been rescheduled. I don’t have the new dates yet, but I know it will be at Bison and the Stockgrowers will have a panel discussion as previously planned.

 Another meeting coming soon is the Harding County Stockgrowers Meeting.  The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association will also have a panel at this meeting which is scheduled for January 15 at Buffalo , SD

 Stockgrowers today will be sending letters to our congressional delegates to ask them to contact US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack regarding the Over Thirty Month ()TM) Rule which allows the US to import cattle from Canada that are older cattle and therefore more apt to carry BSE.

 We have reminded them that the federal district court remanded the OTM rule back to USDA, and USDA can now rescind that rule. Secretary Vilsack is apparently of the opinion that the BSE risk to the US is the same as Canada since the World Organization for Animal Health has designated both Canada and US as “controlled risk” countries.  We know this is not accurate information since Canada has had numerous cases of BSE since implementing their feed ban, and because of the OTM rule we now are in a position to receive those potentially diseased cows.

 Also, USDA’s risk modeling prior to implementing the OTM rule states that the United States will produce 2 to 75 BSE infections in US-born cattle over a 20 year period.  We don’t need to continue this over a 20 year period – we need to stop this potential BSE introduction now by USDA rescinding the Over Thirty Month Rule – now.

 We believe it is the duty of the Secretary of Agriculture, under the Animal Health Protection Act to prevent the introduction animal disease into the United States and we also believe the importation of these potentially diseased animals is a direct threat to our national herd and to the citizens of this country.

 In other areas of interest the Stockgrowers are looking toward this legislative session which begins in Pierre tomorrow.  We will be meeting with several legislators on the 25^th of January as we take part in the Ag-Fest at the Ramkota in Pierre , and we will also be hosting legislators at our annual Legislative mixer on the evening of February 9^th in Pierre .

 We will keep you informed on Stockgrowers legislative concerns as they come forward.

 This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and hope to see you in Buffalo , Bison or Pierre .

January 4, 2010

Good Morning this is Margaret Nachtigall with the more marks for the SDSG Tallybook

 Well, I hope everyone has been able to get together with their families for Christmas by this time, I think we celebrated the 12 days of Christmas trying to get everyone together.

 This week is going to be a busy one for many of the Stockgrowers board and staff.

 On January 7 Silvia will be traveling to Bison for the Perkins County Livestock Meeting where she and others will be working on membership business.  At the same meeting Vice President Shane Kolb , Director Linda Gilbert, member Dave Niemi and immediate past president Larry Nelson will be seated as a panel to discuss and answer questions regarding the many areas of interest for farmers and ranchers.  Areas of interest that Stockgrowers can be involved in and can work with them on, whether it’s in the state legislature, US Congress or where ever.  Perkins County folks always put on a great meeting so if you are anywhere near there I would sure plan to attend.

 At the same time President Kenny Fox, Director Bob Fortune , and I will be traveling East River to meet with legislators in an effort to acquaint ourselves with them, let them know who we are, what we stand for and to learn what their issues and concerns are.  We’ll be meeting in Aberdeen at the Pizza Hut at 11:00 am on Wednesday 6^th and the Waverly Steak House in Waverly at 7:00pm the same day. Then on Thursday we travel to Brandon where we meet at the Pizza Hut at 11:00 am. At 7:00 that evening we meet at Al’s Oasis in Oacoma.  We invite anyone who hears this message to join us at any of these meetings.  We have done this for several years and find that it is a good way to get to know the legislators prior to a busy legislative session. (Note: for those of you who heard me give these dates last week, I misquoted the dates – Jan 6 & 7 are the correct dates – sorry if I confused anyone)

 We will also be filing comments with USDA’s Ag Marketing Service; the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) regarding the plan put forth by the NCBA Governance Task Force.  We certainly have no problem with any entity working in an effort to strengthen and improve their organization;  however, we have some serious concerns about the Task Force’s proposal to restructure their organization in a way that would reduce the input from any group not strongly tied to NCBA. 

 It is apparent that some of the proposed changes will in fact reduce the true grassroots input and will move control away from the Federation of Beef Councils which is one of the most important parts of the system that controls the use of our check-off dollars, so we will definitely get our comments sent in and if anyone has any input please give us a call here at the Stockgrower office.

 This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and hope to see you at some of these meetings.

December 28, 2009  

Good morning/afternoon.  This is Margaret Nachtigall with the latest edition of the SDSGA Tallybook. 

 Is this De-ja-vu or what?  These blizzardy storms are getting to be a bit of a habit.  I know many of you spent a Christmas at home that had been intended to be over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house.  Yep, that’s what happened with our family.

Actually I was feeling a bit sorry for myself until the evening news showed the folks who only had the mission to go to.  I tend to forget how blessed I really am and how thankful I need to be.

 I’m hoping this blizzard didn’t take as heavy a toll on livestock as the one last November, although I really haven’t talked to enough folks to know what has happened around the area.

 And, as for what’s happening with the Stockgrowers – January is shaping up to be a really busy time.

 On the 7^th and 8^th, a carload of us will be traveling to the Eastern part of the state, as we do every year to meet with legislators prior to the 2010 session which starts the 12^th.

We’ll be meeting in Aberdeen , Waverly, Brandon and Oacoma.  These meetings are intended, not as lobbying, but rather a chance to meet legislators prior to the session and let them know who we are and basically what we stand for and to give them a chance to ask any questions they may have.

 On January 7, we have another group who will be conducting a panel discussion at the 2010 Perkins County Livestock Association Meeting. Again, this gives folks a chance to ask questions, discuss their needs and let the Stockgrowers know what we need to plan for the future.

 Then on the 15^th of January some of us will be attending the Harding County Stockgrowers Annual meeting.  This is always a fun and interesting meeting that we look forward to.  And we will again have a booth at the Rancher’s workshop which this year is being held in Mission on January 13.

 Silvia has some tentative dates set for the beginning meetings of the Stockgrower’s Tourism plan and I’ll have more on that for you at a later date.

 Mark your calendars for January 22^nd and 23^rd for the R-CALF annual convention held again this year in Rapid City at the Ramkota Inn.

 Then we have the Black Hills Stock Show that begins the 29^th of January and runs through the 7^th of February – no wonder time seems to go so fast!!

 Well, this kind of gives you an idea of where we will be and what we’ll be doing for the next few weeks.  As always, please stop in when you’re in town and/or drop us an email or phone call if you have questions or suggestions.

 Until next Monday, this is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

December 21, 2009

Good Morning this is Margaret Nachtigall bringing you the latest additions to the SDSG Tallybook.

And this morning I’m mighty happy to say Welcome to a new station KBJM 1400 in Lemmon , SD.   I’d like to thank Mike Switzer and Dennis Drayton for making this possible.  We are glad to have a chance to visit with all the folks in the KBJM listening area and please, if you have comments in any direction regarding tallybook just give us a call here at the South Dakota Stockgrowers office in Rapid City or on our Website.

We have a couple really nice days and now we have fog – big time.  Coming to work this morning was approximately ½ to l mile

Usually at this time of year we start remembering what the past year has been, what we have done, what we should have done etc.

Stockgrowers as an organization is no different.  One of the things on that list was a series of listening sessions conducted by USDA regarding the National Animal Identification System, better known as NAIS.  One of the sessions was actually held here in Rapid City with the largest attendance of any of the 16 sessions.  It was also one of the most orderly – no yelling, screaming, carrying-on that occurred at some of the other sessions.  Everyone that wanted to testify here had the chance to do so.  The outcome of all the sessions including the on in South Dakota resulted in 90% opposed to NAIS.  I think we actually got the attention of our federal government since USDA’s funding for NAIS has been cut from $14 million to $5 million, and because as of this date US Sec of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is still sitting on the decision to move ahead with NAIS. 

Another good happening this past year has been the Stockgrowers decision to hire Silvia Cristen as our Development Director in an effort to find a source of income which will enable the Stockgrowers to continue in their work towards the profitability and viability of farmers and ranchers and our rural economy.  Silvia is moving in a steady line with the potential of establishing a agritourism business which will not only provide added income for ranchers, but will especially provide a means of education to our urban cousins.  We will be able to give them hands on experience of caring for livestock, caring for the land and showing them that we ARE stewards of the land – that we do care for our livestock.  This looks to be a win-win situation.

We also were able to get Country of Origin Labeling implemented this past year.  This has been a long hard battle which is not really over yet, but has lots of promise.  We still need some stronger rules when it comes to the actual labeling, but that can all come in the future.

The Stockgrowers has a very successful annual convention in September.  We had several excellent speakers – I would hate to try to say who was the best – each had his or her own subject and all were very professional.  Our keynote speaker the night of the banquet was J Dudley Butler who is the new administrator of the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration, Washington , D.C. One of the things I believer we all remember him saying was that his orders are to enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act - something that has not been done in the past.  He was emphatic about the fact that he will need the support of every grassroots person on the land because those who have been benefiting from the lack of enforcement will put up a monumental fight.

These are just a very few of the things that we have helped accomplish in this past year – there are more and maybe I can get into that next time.  The thing we need to remember is that each and every one of us has a say in what goes on in our business and it is our responsibility to stand up and be heard.

I think I’m running out of time, so until next Monday this is Margaret N saying Thanks for listening.

12-14-09

Good Afternoon – this is Margaret Nachtigall bringing you the latest additions to the SDSG Tallybook.

 Well we have cold and we have snow, but nothing like the cow-killing blizzard we had in November a year ago, so I guess that is something to be thankful for.  Speaking of which, I understand that, at least in Pennington County , most of the Livestock Indemnity Program payments have been made to those who lost livestock in last year’s storms.

 I had planned to attend the Ag Unity meeting today in Huron, but since Silvia had to be in Brookings this week-end she agreed to take in the meeting in Huron on her way back.  Also one of the directors Joan Wollschlager is planning to attend.  Ag Unity’s agenda looked to be full and interesting as we all begin to look towards the new year and new legislative session.

 Last week we filed comments with USDA regarding APHIS’s proposed changes in the federal Bovine Tuberculosis and Brucellosis programs.  Part of the changes we agreed with such as increased import standards to reduce the number of untested cattle imported from Mexico, “enhanced efforts to mitigate disease transmission from wildlife”, and research and development of new vaccines.

 We did oppose the proposed plan to reduce testing including slaughter house testing in the United States .  We also opposed the plan to work with “zones” instead of states – we feel this is moving from state control to federal control – a move we strongly object to.  We also get major heartburn when they mention “modernizing the regulatory framework” in an effort to make it easier for APHIS to make changes as needed.  We believe this may lead to changes that affect us, but that we may be unaware of.

 Both Bangs and TB have been almost entirely eradicated in the United States under a program that was implemented in the early 1900’s.  However, we are still importing cattle carrying both of these diseases from Mexico and are still having disease reintroduced from the wildlife, mainly elk and bison, and from cattle imported from Canada where they also have a huge problem with the wildlife.

 One thing I would like to mention about comments is the fact that anyone can and should file comments any time there is a notification in the US Federal Register regarding changes that can affect your bottom line.  You can also go on line and read comments that have been filed by others.  The reason I bring this up is that in this particular case most of the comments filed were by individuals who wanted the cattle off the land – especially in the Yellowstone area – and wanted the bison able to roam free – no fences.

 By now everyone should have received their 4^th quarter Stockgrower Magazine – if you have and you haven’t read all the way through, be sure to turn to page 23 and take a look at the Christmas gift page.  Then give us a call here at 877-529-2333.

 This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening, and I hope you are more ready for Christmas than I am!

 This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening!

December 7, 2009

Good Afternoon – this is Margaret Nachtigall bringing you the latest additions to the SDSG Tallybook.

Last Monday and Tuesday most of the Stockgrowers Board of Directors, staff and some members were in Pierre attending the December Quarterly.  We had a little different agenda this time.  Monday’s meeting consisted of a full day of planning and organizing conducted by Stockgrowers’ new Development Director, Silvia Christen.  Silvia led us through several different and interesting exercises.  This was a new type of meeting for many of our members, but everyone I talked to afterwards were impressed with the amount of information that we pulled together that day.

One of the topics we worked on was a list of the positive work SDSGA has done this past year coupled with a list improvements that can make Stockgrowers a better organization.  This was an excellent way for each of us to begin thinking about our own responsibility to the organization.

We also put together a list of issues that the board believes need our attention in 2010 which will be prioritized at later meetings.

The regular SD Stockgrowers quarterly business meeting was held on Tuesday and was followed by a small NAIS meeting in the afternoon.

South Dakota Stockgrowers will be busy for the next few months as indicated by the list of events and happenings that we plan to take part in.  For instance: Tentative meetings in Bison, Martin and Kadoka in January; the regular legislative East River tour also in January; the Rancher’s Workshop in Mission ; the Valentine Bull Bash in Valentine, Neb. in February. These are just a few of the events planned for the first couple months in 2010.

The Stockgrowers along with R-CALF will again be tending a booth at the Black Hills Stock Show.  Some of our members will be manning booths at the Watertown Farm Show in February, the KBJM Farm and Home Show in Lemmon in March and the Bison Livestock Show in Bison in January.

Last Thursday I represented the Stockgrowers at a luncheon to hear Dr Barry Dunn who is one of the candidates for the next Dean of Agriculture at SDSU.  This week on Wednesday I again will attend to hear candidate Dr Ken Odde.  I believe we have some topnotch candidates for this position and also believe whichever candidate is chosen we can have a good working relationship with him.

I will be representing the Stockgrowers at the SD Ellsworth Development Authority which will be held on Tuesday at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Rapid City .  This meeting is to address “incompatible” development around Ellsworth.

These are just a few of the events we will be attending in 2010. As you can see Stockgrower members and Board of Directors will be busy this year, however, any time you have concerns or questions, or suggestions please feel free to call, email, or better yet stop by for a cup of coffee and a chance to visit.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening!

Good Afternoon – this is Margaret Nachtigall bringing you information from the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association.
We start today’s tallybook off with sadness – Kathy Kolb, wife of our Vice President Shane Kolb passed away last week following a terrific battle with cancer. The attitude and spiritual strength that Kathy showed for the full duration of her battle was absolutely amazing. Kathy’s funeral is Thursday Nov 19, 1:00 PM at the Bison School Gymnasium. Other information is available at Evanson-JensenFuneralHome.com. 

We learned today that the Department of Justice-USDA joint workshops, that we have been promised, have been set throughout the country. Five subjects will be covered – a different one at each workshop. The first one is March 12, 2010 at Ankeny, Iowa and involves issues for crop farmers. May 21st is basically for the poultry industry and will be held at Normal, Alabama. The Dairy Industry workshop will be June 7 at Madison, Wisconsin; and the Livestock Industry workshop which may include enforcement of the Packer and Stockyards act and concentration will be held at Fort Collins, Colo. on August 26, 2010. The 5th workshop addresses discrepancies between prices received by farmers and prices paid by consumers and will be held December 8, 2010 in Washington, D.C. According to information received “Each workshop may feature keynote speakers, general expert panels, and break-out panels. The public will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments. Stockgrowers will be issuing written comments prior to attending a workshop.

Next Monday the Stockgrowers finance committee will meet to look at the present financial conditions. On November 30, the quarterly meeting, which will be held at the King’s Inn in Pierre, will be dedicated to working on Stockgrower  goals, objectives, reviewing our mission statement and vision statement as well as beginning the process of setting a business plan for the organization.

The meeting will be conducted by Silvia Christen who is the Stockgrowers new Development Director. Silvia and Sherri have been putting in a lot of hard work lately on the membership program and I’m happy to report that we are receiving membership dues daily with many of them being previously expired members. 
Silvia also has been meeting with several different organizations as she works towards a new program to add to the Stockgrowers income. Silvia was hired when we realized any program we put into affect needs the complete attention of a full time employee and she certainly is doing the job.

I certainly would be remiss today if I didn’t again mention the devastating E-Coli ground meat recalls. I’ve been reading an interesting blog authored by Dr James Marsden who is a senior science advisor for the North American Meat Processors Association and an associate director of the Biosecurity Research Institute at Kansas State University. I guess I haven’t heard too much good about HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points), but I was a bit surprised to read Dr Marsden’s comment “I don’t believe that HACCP as it exists today was what the National Academy of Sciences had in mind in 1985”. 
HACCP was actually developed in the 1960’s for the production of in flight food for NASA.

It was designed to be a systematic method of detecting physical, chemical and biological hazards in the production line of any product, and was, I believe , adopted by USDA in 1985 for use in among other things, our meat supplies.
HACCP has not worked well in that area since that time, and many have called for a HACCP or other program that would effectively work to prevent such contaminations as E-Coli in our ground beef.

I tend to agree with a blogger who said the National School Lunch Program, which is an extension of HACCP should be followed by all ground beef programs. In the NSLP, 2 positive tests in a month puts the supplier completely out of that program. To my knowledge there has never been an E-Coli problem in the school lunch program. If it’s possible to provide uncontaminated ground beef for one program it’s possible to provide it for all programs – is it not?

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

Good Afternoon – this is Margaret Nachtigall bringing you information from the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association.

We had a taste of winter and now it seems we’re back to early fall – isn’t it great to live in a part of the country where we’re not bored by the weather?

I don’t know how many of you catch Good Morning America on TV – I usually hear it while I’m getting ready for work. This morning was interesting as they interviewed a person from USDA regarding the recent hamburger E-Coli contaminations. I was especially interested as quite often these interviews come to rest on the producer. That wasn’t the case this morning – USDA was in the hot seat and the point of contamination was at the packing houses. Of course, the answers were as one might expect – according to the USDA spokesman and Patrick Boyle, everything possible is being done to provide safe food. I’m glad this puts the point of contamination right where it is, however this certainly doesn’t do much to promote beef. I believe this is part of the reason we are seeing so much positive emphasis on local food suppliers, and rightly so.

In a not to distantly related issue, SDSGA has signed onto a letter with many other organizations in reply to USDA’s notice of intent to amend its BSE regulations regarding beef and beef products. The notice states that “country classification and commodity import would be closely aligned with those of the World Organization of Animal Health”
We are concerned with USDA’s plan to align with an organization whose BSE standards have proven to be basically ineffective. As I understand it, if we go with the World Organization of Animal Health policy in country classification and commodity import that leave our borders open and in effect relieve USDA of its responsibility of protecting the livestock and citizens of the United States.

We are requesting that our policy not be along those guidelines, but instead be brought back to those which are more closely in line with the majority of our trading partners and to our own past standards. We must act according to the needs of our consumers and that means setting policy that is of sound science and sound economics and does not place higher regard on our foreign trade than it does to the health of our national herd and our United States citizens. 

In other areas, most members and directors alike have been extremely busy with fall work, and even more so now that the weather has cooperated for a few days. However, Silvia is busy as can be with her preparations for our quarterly meeting in Pierre on Nov 30 and Dec 1 where the entire board will be doing some strategic planning and preparing to set goals and objectives for our proposed fund raising endeavors.

On that note, mark your calendars for November 30, and December 1, at the Kings Inn in Pierre, SD.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

Good Afternoon – this is Margaret Nachtigall bringing you information from the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association.

Wouldn’t it be nice to just take care of the cows; feed ‘em, calve ‘em, work ‘em no more often than needed, ride on ‘em when necessary; and forget about local, federal and global issues that constantly invade our workplace – the ranch. That being said, I doubt it will happen in the near future. However, I did just receive word that the United States blocked Canada and Mexico’s first request for a WTO panel examination of Country of Origin Labeling.

As I understand, according to WTO rules we can block the first request but the second will probably be made at the WTO’s dispute settlement body on November 19th. And I don’t believe we can block that one.

If you remember last week I talked about these two neighboring countries filing a complaint with the WTO in which they blamed the United States and COOL for damaging the trade with these countries. And hopefully you remember that according USDA’s U.S. trade statistics database the United States buys over $1billion worth of beef and product from Canada and Mexico than it sells to them. In other words we have a $1 billion dollar agricultural trade deficit with these 2 countries.

Personally, I don’t see how they can have any kind of grounds for filing a request for examination of our labeling rules, I don’t believe we are actually blocking any kind of trade; all we’re doing is allowing producers to differentiate their products and allowing the consumer to have a choice at the retail level. I think it’s called taking pride in your product and protecting your family. It’s what the United States of America is all about.

I also want to take a minute today to ask you all to count your blessings and to say a prayer for the Kolb family. As you know Shane is our South Dakota Stockgrowers Association Vice-President. Shane’s wife Kathy was diagnosed with colon cancer earlier this summer and has since been taking treatments. However, the doctors are now reporting that the cancer is no longer responding to treatment. Kathy is in the Hettinger West River Medical Center, Hettinger ND Hospital. 

As I said, please count your blessings – yes, cattle prices are in the hole, grasshoppers ate everything in sight, some of us didn’t get out of the drought, the new bull broke his leg, 
expenses are up, income is down, the wife lost her job in town; but if you have your health and that of your family – count your blessings.

In the meantime please take a minute to ask God for strength comfort for the Shane, Kathy, Justin, and Wil Kolb. BTW Kathy has a journal on www.caringbridge.org.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening.

Good Afternoon – this is Margaret Nachtigall one more time, bringing you information from the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association.

Well, we finally came out of the freezer and went from cold to hot. I helped my son and several other folks gather cattle in the limestone area Northwest of Custer this week-end. Lots of frost in the morning, but those ole cows and heavy calves sure felt the heat as the day wore on.

It’s always fun to get out of the office and horseback behind a bunch of cows – (well, for the first couple hours anyway, somehow it doesn’t take long to become work.)

Many of us were born into this lifestyle, but we’re not forced to stay. We stay because it’s what we want to do – it’s the kind of life we want for our kids. It’s the right to make our own decisions – be our own bosses. It’s the kind of life where the work and the fun often come with the same chore. It’s where neighbors help neighbors – it’s a social time as well as a work time.

It was all of that this week-end where I was and I’m sure it was the same for all of you.

The downside of it all right now is cattle prices – should we have sold early, should we wait ‘til later, should we make yearlings out of them, - and there doesn’t seem to be an answer. Of course that’s the question most years, but this year when the national herd is lower than it has been for over 50 years shouldn’t the supply and demand rule make for higher priced cattle now?

You may be hearing that MCOOL will cause us to lose our markets with Canada and Mexico and that COOL will do more harm than good. Well, the next time someone tells you that, you may want to let them know that according USDA’s U.S. trade statistics database the United States buys more than $1billion worth of live cattle, beef, and beef products from Canada and Mexico than it sells to them. In other words what would our domestic cattle prices look like if COOL brought that $billion back home?

Now if you know someone who believes COOL is harmful to the US cattle industry maybe you can also sell them some ocean front property in the Bad Lands.

The light at the end of the tunnel may be the word we received at the Stockgrowers Annual Convention from the new administrator of the Packers and Stockyards administration, J. Dudley Butler.

Mr Butler told us that the Packers and Stockyards Act WILL be enforced. He also said that he will need the support of all of us because when the enforcement puts the pressure on the entities that have received benefits from our losses there will be lawsuits from them against the PS&A He says when that happens his office needs our support bring the facts forward.

I don’t know how much this is going to help us, but I don’t believe we have any alternatives. I believe I know you folks well enough to know that we will not stand by and allow industrial agriculture to rule this land.

As I said we live this life because it’s what we believe in.

That being said, I have one more thing to tell you all. I was advised today that we no longer have a sponsor for the Tallybook and KBHB is making some timing changes, so I’m sad to say I’ll no longer be visiting over the air with those of you who hear me on KBHB. This is Margaret Nachtigall saying goodbye and thanks for listening.

Good Afternoon – this is Margaret Nachtigall bringing you the latest news and views from the SDSG Tally book.

If you recall, last Monday several of us had a chance to meet and ask questions of the US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack and Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.

Since South Dakota Stockgrower members was able to ask only one question, we have written a letter to Secretary Vilsack and our Congresswoman with further questions.

NAIS: We again stated that it is simply impossible for producers to comply with the requirements of 24 hr reporting, premises registration and others demands as listed in USDA’s Users Guide and Business Plan. We requested total disposal of NAIS as we know it today. Not being totally ignorant to the fact that there is some need for ability to trace animal disease, we would agree to a new plan brought forward IF all stakeholders in the food chain be at the table. This, of course, would include seedstock producers and cow/calf producers.

Our second item was MCOOL. We strongly urged USDA to prohibit the practice of using foreign beef in inventories of USA beef. This creates a false and misleading impression of our domestic production from a herd that is the smallest in over 50 years. It also drives our domestic live cattle prices to unwarranted lows. We also want to close the loop-hole that allows meat processors to apply a combination origin label with the inclusion of just one part of any day’s processing from a different country. In other words, just one animal from Canada included in one day’s processing allows the processor to label it as USA/Can. The original intent and purpose of COOL was to allow the producer to differentiate their product as born, raised and processed in the United States and to give the families who purchase that meat the satisfaction of knowing it is produced domestically.

One of the questions we did not get a chance to ask is, “What steps will the USDA take to see to it that family farmers and ranchers have access to competitive market for their cattle, hogs, sheep and milk?” We believe the Captive Supply Reform Act as introduced last year, and the ban on packer ownership of cattle are necessary for the survival of grassroots producers.

We also explained that we firmly believe our first line of defense regarding the health of our national livestock herds, as well as our own health, is at our borders. We believe the over 30 month rule (OTM) should be firmly in place, and enforced, until such time as Canada has been able to control BSE in their herd.

These were just 4 of the concerns that South Dakota Stockgrower members wanted to bring to the meeting.

We will continue to work with our national delegates and fight for what is right for the profitability and viability of our rural livelihoods.

This is Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening and don’t forget to call or email to let us know what your thoughts and ideas are. We work for you. margaret.sdsga@midconetwork.com 605-342-0429

Good Afternoon – this is Margaret Nachtigall with another entry for the SDSGA Tally book.

My sister-in-law asked me yesterday if everything except the mortgage had blown from her place to mine. I know if the leaves had had a little more color to them the trees would be bare. But it’s fall in South Dakota and a beautiful time of year.

I want to let everyone know that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack along with Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin will be in the state next Monday, October 5^th.

for a Rural Issues Forum at the Jim and Barbara Hundstad’s farm near Bath, SD located 4.5 miles south of Hwy 12 on Brown County hiway 16.

Anyone who would like to go, please call here at the Stockgrowers Office – we will be arranging rides to accommodate as many as possible.

I also wanted to talk a bit about a couple new resolutions set at the annual membership meeting the first part of Sept.

The first is Legislative Oversight of Gubernatorial Appointments: a resolution set for the benefit of preserving the separation of powers, those being legislative, executive and judicial.

This resolution asks the legislature to enact a law requiring legislative approval of all executive board and commission appointments.

Another is Grasshopper Reduction Program:

This states that the SDSGA believes it is cost prohibitive for producers in western South Dakota to pay $6 to $8 per acre for reducing grasshopper populations, and therefore is asking the state and federal governments to help find grant moneys for cost sharing the grasshopper reduction programs on private land in an attempt to keep the cost closer to $1.00/acre, which would be more in line with other states.

We also set a Cap and Trade Resolution saying we endorse a policy of delaying any Cap and Trade legislation until such time as certain concerns can be address and the full environmental, economic, and social impact is known.

Some the concerns were impact of cap and trade legislation on farmers and ranchers such as raised costs of input, energy, whether climate change is a result of manmade global warming or rather natural heating and cooling cycles which have existed forever.

The 4th and last resolution regards the Rangeland Insurance Program in which SDSGA encourages the current Rangeland Insurance Program to provide a program that is cost effective and helps SD producers. There is a lot more to this one which I will go into at a later date.

For now I’ll just say this MN saying thanks for listening to the SDSGA Tallybook.

Good Afternoon – this is Margaret Nachtigall with another entry for the SDSGA Tally book.

The 2009 Stockgrowers Convention is history – I want to thank all you folks who helped make this a great convention. Whether you donated items for the live auction, slaves for the slave auction, sponsored some meals, spoke at the committee meetings and/or meals times, or none of the above, but was there to hear the speakers and take part in the meetings, you are all the necessary ingredients that make up a successful convention – Again we thank each and every one of you.

For those of you who were unable to attend, I’d like to give a few highlights today.

The convention actually kicked off at 6:30 on Wednesday evening when the Stockgrowers hosted the past presidents of this organization and the cattlewomen’s organization. This is always a time to renew old acquaintances and of course make new ones, so we seldom have a program, and just enjoy a quiet evening of good conversation. and several people told me how much they enjoyed her presentation and how awed they were at her abilities.

We also tapped the Northwest for a couple other speakers: Namely, Pastor Jean Helmer, who was the Inspirational Breakfast speaker on Friday, and our new past president, Larry Nelson.

Pastor Jean gave an excellent presentation that was both entertaining and inspirational and used visual aids that eventually spelled STOCKGROWER demonstrating the need for balance in all areas of our lives.

Larry Nelson, who at that time was still President of the SDSGA gave a very resounding presentation on the needs of the ranching, and rural American communities. He explained that the poultry industry has lost its independent poultry farms; the independent hog farmers are almost in the same position and that those of us in the cattle business are standing right now at the brink of the same loss of our industry to large multinational conglomerates.

Our Friday night keynote speaker was J. Dudley Butler, Administrator of GIPSA , Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration, Washington, DC. He said USDA and the Justice Department have put together a task force and will be traveling throughout the country with a series of meetings to hear from the folks on the farms and ranches and rural communities.

I have never heard a more honest or emphatic or determined goal from anyone in his position. He said he will need help from all of us – that the pressure that will be brought upon him and his crew will be tremendous and that he will need comments and help from every one of us.

We ended the evening with a fun filled and profitable Live Auction with items donated by many members and local businesses.

I wish I could tell you about every one of the speakers that we heard – hopefully you were there, if not, call if you have questions or need information on any part of the convention.

Good Afternoon – this is Margaret Nachtigall with another entry for the SDSGA Tally book.

Just 10 more days until the 2009 South Dakota Stockgrowers Annual Convention and we’re a buzz of activity here in the office – I can’t believe the amount of work and planning that goes into a convention like this and then in a few short days it’s all over with.

I brought information to you last week about a couple of our speakers, and today I’ll be talking about a few more of them.

We’re proud to bring to you as our Friday night dinner speaker from Washington D.C, Mr. J. Dudley Butler the new administrator of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration. Mr Butler is an attorney and is also a certified mediator and arbitrator. He has been involved in cattle, timber and farming operations and helped bring about the Mandatory Price Reporting law in Congress that South Dakota fought so hard for at the state level. Mr Butler has also been very actively involved in protecting family farms and rural America in property rights issues.

Mrs Butler will be traveling with her husband and the two of them will be spending the weekend following the convention getting acquainted with rural South Dakota.

One of our members introduced me to Dwight & JoAnn Edstrom, members of Rapid City’s Toastmaster Club.

And they will be demonstrating a ‘model meeting’ at the Freedom Lunch on Thursday the 10^{th. I’m pretty excited about this – they’ll bring with them approximately 10 people who will hold a mock meeting. This is a little different from our regular speaker line-up and should be very interesting.}

Following the demonstration we will be holding an ice-cream social with ice-cream donated by SDSU and a different topping available at each vendor booth. We’ve been doing this each year and it has proven to be great fun and we do see some really original looking sundaes!

Another fun thing we do is a silent auction. Each vendor brings a silent auction item of their choice which is displayed at their booth along with a bid sheet. The lucky bidders will be announced on Friday following lunch.

And of course we are planning to repeat last year’s slave auction idea which helped us pay for our lobbyist and

provided the buyers of the “slaves” some much needed help. And don’t forget the Live Auction Friday as we wind up the convention with some really great items donated by members and businesses. We have everything from T-Shirts to rocking chairs at these sales.

Thursday night dinner, which we call the “Support Rural America Banquet”, this year our president Larry Nelson, Buffalo will be giving his “ Industrial Foods” presentation. In this day and age, when all of a sudden food safety is big in D.C., Larry’s presentation is indeed timely. In light of what’s happening with these giant multinational food factories I would say whatever you do, don’t miss this presentation - I have heard part of it in other meetings and I’ll guarantee this is something we need to listen to and act on if we want to save rural America.

Remember, September 10th and 11th at the Grand Gateway Hotel in Rapid City, Lacrosse Street and I-90

This Margaret Nachtigall saying thanks for listening – see you at the convention!