Nevada Farm Bureau has submitted a comment letter for the programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for utility-scale solar energy production.  In offering the organization’s comments, the organization highlighted the need for a different alternative than the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had selected as their preferred alternative.

“From our understanding of the proposed alternatives, Alternative 3 – the preferred alternative – in Nevada the impact on the amount of land would be nearly 6.7 million acres.” Farm Bureau’s comment letter stated.  “Alternative 5, from a Nevada perspective would only impact 1.5 million acres.”

Nevada Farm Bureau quoted directly the language from the EIS “Common impacts:  Until such time that cattle grazing under solar panels becomes feasible, grazing activities would likely be excluded from areas developed for utility-scale solar energy production.  Livestock grazing allotments are affected by solar energy development ROW authorizations through reductions in acreage/or loss of animal unit months.”

With this in mind, Nevada Farm Bureau urged that design/installation requirements for utility-scale solar projects need to provide for solar panels being elevated to allow for grazing activities to occur under the solar panels.  Without this approach the facilities will be fenced off and exclude grazing to take place within the locations that are chosen for siting utility-scale solar projects.

Nevada Farm Bureau President Bevan Lister and Executive Vice President Doug Busselman attended the 2024 Free Roaming Equids and Ecosystem Sustainability (FREES) Network conference that was held in Elko, NV this year (April 15-18).  In addition to presentations which featured wildlife and Wild Horse interactions and scientific research updates, the conference spent a day in the field viewing the consequences on range conditions of high levels of excessive horses. The tour included background information from rancher Ken Jones whose livestock grazing allotment has to contend with the over-populations of Spruce Pequop Horse Management Area.

Nevada Farm Bureau has been a regular participant in the FREES conferences that have been held throughout the West, starting in 2016.  This year’s conference focused on the importance of appropriate management levels in order for maintaining healthy range conditions.

There are a number of take-home messages regarding agriculture’s sustainable contributions which warrant recognition on this year’s Earth Day celebration.

30 years ago farmers would have needed 100 million more acres in production to match what they are producing today.  300 million acres of privately owned farmland has been dedicated to climate smart practices – on a voluntary basis.

Beef production in our country has increased by 25 percent while per-unit emissions have decreased by 17 percent.  Dairy production has witnessed an increase in milk production by 53 percent with per-unit emissions decreased by 26 percent.  Hog production has increased by 76 percent while per-unit emissions have decreased by 23 percent.

Perhaps an even more telling key message came about On April 11^th when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that agriculture was the leading economic sector reducing greenhouse gases over the course of the past year of documented data.  In their report of the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 1990-2022, it is highlighted that over the past year agriculture reduced emissions by almost 2 percent.  Farmers and ranchers contributed a decrease of 12 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents from 2021 to 2022.  This is the lowest level of U.S. agricultural greenhouse gas emissions since 2012.  Overall American agriculture is under 10 percent of the country’s total emissions.  

American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Economist Daniel Munch offered an in-depth analysis of the EPA report in this Market Intel.

A Farm to Fork Dinner to celebrate local foods is being planned to take place on April 27^th at 5:00 p.m. at one of Chef Mark Estee’s Restaurants, the Overland Restaurant & Pub in Gardnerville, NV.  Those joining the fun will enjoy a three-course meal with locally sourced ingredients provided by farms and ranches in Northern Nevada. The meal will be prepared by Chef Tommy Linnett. If you would like to participate in this great event and learn more about it, please use the Eventbrite link below to purchase your ticket: 

Farm to Fork Dinner – Celebrating Local Foods: 

https://UNRfarmtofork.eventbrite.com

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) recently urged USDA to reverse its decision to cancel livestock and crop surveys that are crucial to the success of America’s farmers and ranchers. The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) recently announced it would no longer provide a July cattle inventory survey, as well as county-level estimates for crops and livestock and the objective yield survey for cotton.

AFBF President Zippy Duvall sent a letter to USDA to emphasize the importance of the surveys, particularly the July cattle report. “NASS’ two reports regarding the total U.S. cattle inventory, published on January 31 and in late July, give farmers, ranchers, researchers and other data users a full picture of supplies in the U.S. cattle sector at the beginning and in the middle of each year. This allows for a fair assessment of the cattle market for the next six months. Eliminating the mid-year report puts the market in the dark for the second half of the year, removes market transparency and increases market volatility. Data will only be available to those who can afford to collect it, further threatening competition in the packing sector.”

Farmers are price takers not price makers and have no control over the markets in which their livestock is sold. Market transparency is essential where four companies control 85 percent of the cattle market.

The loss of the Objective Yield Survey for cotton may also increase the level of uncertainty throughout the summer and early fall for cotton markets, and the elimination of county yield estimates will undercut the research upon which risk management programs, including crop insurance, are based.

“Eliminating county-level yield and production data for crops and livestock will also severely impact research from our land-grant institutions and only place the U.S. farther behind its trade competitors,” President Duvall wrote. “Recent research by USDA’s Economic Research Service showed that the U.S. trails its global competitors in public agricultural research.”

Farm Bureau is disappointed in NASS’ decision to discontinue these critical reporting tools and urges the department to reconsider its decision.

Extension Director Jacob DeDecker has distributed through various channels, including Nevada Farm Bureau, a request for spreading the word about openings the University of Nevada, Reno Extension is recruiting for two positions to be located in Fallon, NV. 

He shared that they would appreciate any assistance you can provide for dissemination of information about this opportunity to your contacts, colleagues and graduates. 

Livestock Specialist- 

Extension Ag Educator-

BLM Conservation Regulations Released

On April 18^th, the Department of the Interior announced their final rule to establish a system for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to initiate “conservation” as a “multiple use.” Over the coming days Farm Bureau and other advocates for actual multiple use will be reviewing the final rule in order to understand what (if any changes) the agency incorporated in light of public comments that were submitted.

The agency has been very committed to creating their own set of definitions for processes and designations to eliminate actual multiple uses that the law that Congress adopted to mandate multiple uses.

Interestingly, the news release that the agency wrote to announce their decision they felt it necessary to share that their regulation also “complements the President’s America the Beautiful initiative, a 10-year, locally led and nationally scaled effort to protect, conserve, connect and restore the lands, waters and wildlife upon which we all depend.”