Author: Rachel Gabel
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A Colorado ranching legacy further reaching than any executive order | GABEL
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Often referred to only as “Dan” or “Our Dan” by the media at the time, photos and articles about former Gov. Dan Thornton were mainstays in the state newspapers in the 1950s. He was Colorado’s own Gipper, born in California, educated in Texas and a West Slope cattleman who entered politics and served as governor…
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Agriculture the answer when security is the question | GABEL
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A country that can feed itself is a country that can defend itself. Algeria is rich in oil and gas, but food security and producing enough food in dry conditions remains a challenge. The African country grows a great deal of dryland crops like wheat and pulses, the edible seeds of legume plants, and even…
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Bottling up the pheromones that calm cattle | GABEL
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Sometimes the simple solution is the best. For most livestock producers in the state, fall is weaning time for calves which is a stressful but necessary event for livestock. Now, the only essential oils I’m into are the ones that run out of a taco, and I’m no proponent of the many fluffy stress reduction…
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Catch-a-Calf stories illustrate the dignity of hard work in Colorado | GABEL
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I’m currently researching and writing a history of the National Western Stock Show’s Catch-a-Calf program to mark its 90th year. The program began in 1935 with a group of boys who entered the fat steer show that year. Among them were Joe Beauprez of Boulder, Harry Bostrom of Sterling, Harold DeBacker of Boulder, and Dwight…
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Questions raised about right-to-farm resolutions | GABEL
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A show-cattle operation in Pueblo County is locked in a battle with the county commissioners and county planning commission about whether their cow-calf operation is technically a feedyard or not. Much of the fight seems lost in translation, and at the end of the day, an existing Planned Unit Development (PUD) that limits the number…
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Commemorating a 70-plus-year Colorado ranching legend | GABEL
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Marlin Eisenach is an institution in Colorado 4-H and FFA circles. I assume the Colorado State Fair, National Western Stock Show and Morgan County Fair would, in fact, occur if he weren’t present but I don’t want to risk it. Eisenach, who is the Morgan County Extension Livestock Agent, first entered the show ring when…
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Misinformation behind millions spent in Denver’s asinine anti-meat campaign | GABEL
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Rachel Gabel Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s $3 million campaign to urge Denver residents and visitors to eat less meat to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) is tone deaf at best. There is no need for widening the divide between people and where their food comes from, especially here and now. Attempting to influence people’s food choices…
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What wildfires mean for Colorado’s ranchers | GABEL
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Rachel Gabel On the plains, grassfires rip across miles of pasture, fueled by wind and drought, two things that carouse around together like two drunks with a pocketful of whisky money. Fires move fast and burn hot, fought by small volunteer crews, farmers pulling discs to create barriers, and ranchers who cut fences and push…
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Water war with Nebraska could cost Colorado a bundle | GABEL
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Rachel Gabel It’s a red state vs. blue state court case over the water that both states’ agriculture industries depend upon, with the most affected areas in Colorado being in Sedgwick, Logan, and Washington counties. The state of Nebraska has filed a suit with the U.S. Supreme Court against Colorado over the Perkins County Canal.…
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The man who led the U.S. through the farm crisis of the 1980s | GABEL
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Rachel Gabel My favorite interview last week was 90-year-old Illinois farmboy John “Jack” Block. Block was former President Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Agriculture from 1981 until 1986, the worst of the domestic farm crisis. He recently published a memoir, “Pigs, Politics and Persistence: The Life and Legacy of John ‘Jack’ Block”, which I read nearly…
