Photo credit this morning goes to our wonderful Larry Turner — Jeff Ballew, Wood River Valley, Fort Klamath, Oregon.
Fenced Out follows Fallon ranch family’s fight over Navy expansion
For Justin and Adrienne Snow, the Navy’s Fallon Range Training Complex expansion means losing winter grazing that their family’s ranch depends on.
A new documentary, “Fenced Out,” follows the couple’s fight for compensation they say reflects the full impact on their operation. In Leanna Lehman’s reporting, the Snows describe selling two-thirds of their cattle herd, buying additional feed and leasing pasture farther from home.
The Navy says its valuation accounts for losses in permit value, forage, improvements, and business value. The family disputes whether that calculation adequately reflects what losing nearby winter range does to the entire ranch.
The Snows support the military’s training mission. Their unresolved question is how their ranch—and the next generation—can survive the loss of the land supporting it.
Screwworm reaches Arizona as officials establish another movement-control zone
Arizona has its first confirmed New World screwworm case, adding another state to the Southwest’s expanding animal-health response.
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced Oct. 28 that testing confirmed the parasite in a dog in Cochise County. Samples were verified at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa.
Federal and Arizona officials are establishing a 20-kilometer, approximately 12.4-mile, infested zone around the detection. Their response includes animal-movement controls, increased surveillance and trapping, sterile-fly releases and outreach to producers, veterinarians and nearby communities.
For southeastern Arizona ranchers and livestock haulers, the immediate question is whether their animals, property or planned movements fall within the controlled area. The announcement does not establish widespread infection among Arizona livestock, but it raises the importance of checking animals and confirming requirements before hauling.
APHIS advises owners to inspect animals daily for enlarging or draining wounds, maggots, egg masses, and signs of discomfort. Suspicious wounds or infestations should be reported immediately to a veterinarian or animal-health official.
The precise zone boundaries and signed state movement order were not available for this update. Producers should obtain current instructions directly from Arizona animal-health officials.
APHIS’s status page, updated Oct. 29, still lists Nov. 30 for the planned Nogales cattle-port reopening. The new detection does not, by itself, establish that USDA has changed that schedule.
Dyed-diesel relief comes with state-by-state questions
Temporary federal relief could give ranchers and livestock haulers another fuel option, but using dyed diesel on the highway still requires checking the rules along the route.
USDA announced Oct. 29 that 31 states have taken or announced measures supporting the federal dyed-diesel initiative. The department did not identify those states in its release or establish that their rules are identical.
The underlying IRS announcement provides federal highway-use penalty relief retroactive to Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2026. Ordinarily, dyed diesel is intended for uses exempt from highway fuel taxes, including qualifying farm operations.
During the relief period, the IRS is suspending certain collection and enforcement activities and providing relief from specified reporting and recordkeeping requirements. However, the federal action does not override state fuel taxes, penalties or dyed-fuel restrictions.
There is another important distinction: suspended enforcement does not necessarily mean every underlying tax obligation has been permanently canceled. The IRS’s Oct. 14 announcement anticipated further guidance concerning postponed payments and possible elimination of deferred amounts.
Its Oct. 23 frequently asked questions also explain that records independently required for other taxes, exemptions, credits or refunds remain necessary. Guidance addressing residual red dye in tanks after the relief period remains unresolved.
Before fueling a highway vehicle, producers and haulers should confirm applicable state requirements, including those in states they will cross. USDA’s projected savings are estimates; actual savings will depend on fuel prices, availability and the rules governing each transaction.
USDA backs proposed Texas beef plant with loan guarantee
A proposed beef-processing facility in Dimmitt, Texas, has received a project-specific financing announcement that could eventually give Panhandle cattle producers another place to market livestock.
USDA announced Oct. 29 that its Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program will support the facility, which is backed by a $24.6 million commercial loan.
According to USDA, 36 local investors involved in raising cattle initiated the project to develop an alternative to major national processors. The department projects capacity of approximately 400 cattle per day and 220 jobs once the facility is operating.
For producers, the potential benefit is another buyer and processing outlet in a major cattle-producing region. Whether the plant delivers those benefits will depend on construction, financing, inspection readiness, operating costs, and its ability to secure both cattle and customers.
This announcement is separate from USDA’s recently announced SPUR processing-loan program. The Dimmitt project is being supported through the existing Business and Industry program, which guarantees qualifying commercial loans for rural businesses.
The announcement does not establish that the plant is open, that cattle are being processed or that producers have received better prices. The projected capacity and employment figures remain expectations.
The next questions are practical: When will financing close? When will construction begin? Who will operate the facility, how will cattle be purchased, and where will the beef be sold?
Additional processing capacity matters most when a plant becomes a dependable, financially viable part of the livestock market.
USDA plans food purchases totaling up to $472.5 million
USDA plans to purchase up to $472.5 million in American agricultural products for charitable food networks and other nutrition assistance programs, creating potential demand for dairy, pork, poultry and several other commodities.
The department’s Oct. 29 announcement includes $165.5 million in dairy products, $41 million in pork and $20 million in chicken. The published list does not include a specific allocation for beef or lamb.
Other planned purchases include chickpeas, lentils, split peas, dried fruit, raisins, citrus, hazelnuts, almonds, rice, Pacific whiting and farm-raised catfish.
The purchases will use Section 32 authority, a longstanding mechanism USDA uses to purchase agricultural commodities and support markets. Products acquired through the Agricultural Marketing Service are distributed through federal nutrition assistance channels.
For livestock and dairy operations, the potential benefits would come through purchases from participating processors and suppliers. Additional orders could support product movement and the businesses that process, package, and transport food.
However, this is an intent-to-purchase announcement, rather than confirmation that contracts have been awarded, products delivered, or producers paid. It is also not a direct payment program open to every farm or ranch.
The practical effect will depend on the specifications, delivery schedules, awarded quantities, and businesses selected through the procurement process. Suppliers should watch the actual solicitations before assuming their products qualify.
The announcement identifies a substantial potential buyer. Whether that translates into stronger producer returns will become clearer as contracts are awarded and purchases move forward.
Wyoming irrigation proposals move through environmental review
Two Wyoming water projects have advanced through environmental review, proposing changes to irrigation delivery and flood protection in agricultural communities near Farson and Evanston.
NRCS published notices Oct. 29 for the Big Sandy Watershed Project in Sweetwater and Sublette counties and the Bear River and Yellow Creek Watershed Project in Uinta County.
For Big Sandy, the agency announced a completed environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact. The proposal includes lining approximately 2.4 miles of Eden Canal, replacing approximately 11.5 miles of open canal in the Farson and E-33 laterals with pressurized pipelines, and replacing a sand trap.
NRCS is working with the Bureau of Reclamation and coordinating with the Eden Valley Irrigation and Drainage District on that proposal.
The Bear River and Yellow Creek assessment describes piping and pressurizing 10.2 miles of Old City Ditch, replacing turnouts, constructing flood-conveyance pipelines and a detention basin, and installing a screening structure at the Bear River diversion. The project combines agricultural water-delivery improvements with flood protection for Evanston.
For irrigators, the questions include delivery reliability, construction disruptions, operating responsibilities, and how the proposed systems would serve existing users.
NRCS’s program page still lists both projects as planning projects. Completed environmental review does not establish that construction has started, funding is fully committed, or additional water rights have been granted.
The next reporting step is obtaining the assessments, financing plans and construction schedules—and identifying what participating agricultural users would be expected to contribute.
BLM reports 323 horses gathered north of Reno
BLM’s North Complex horse gather north of Reno ended Oct. 22, with 323 horses gathered, 322 shipped and one death, according to the agency’s operational record.
An Oct. 29 news release described the completed operation across the Dogskin Mountains, Flanigan and Granite Peak herd-management areas in Washoe County.
BLM cited drought, limited forage and water, and wildfire damage as reasons for removing horses. The agency says the Bug and Fred Mountain fires burned portions of the herd-management areas, reducing available forage and complicating recovery.
The gather log records one death: an 11-year-old stallion euthanized Oct. 19 after suffering a broken hind leg at temporary holding. BLM attributed the injury to likely fighting in the corral. That explanation is the agency’s account.
The operational page estimated 424 horses within and just outside the complex before the gather, compared with an established appropriate management level of 101 to 157. Those figures should not be treated as a verified post-gather population count.
BLM says gathered horses were taken to its Litchfield corrals in California for veterinary evaluation and preparation for adoption or sale.
For neighboring ranches, the longer-term questions concern forage recovery, shared water, remaining horse numbers, and future management. The published updates do not establish that livestock grazing authorizations have been restored or provide a complete accounting of transportation and holding costs.
Those outcomes will require follow-up beyond the number of horses removed.
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