Author: Rachel Gabel

Rachel Gabel The Endangered Species Act was established in 1973 in response to declining populations of species of plants and animals, and this year marks its 50th anniversary. The act is stringent in its language, but it lacks a clear path and clear thresholds for species to be considered recovered and delisted. An ESA listing…

Rachel Gabel The nation’s cowherd size varies due to drought in various regions of the country, and other factors. But its size heading into 2024 is too low. According to Oklahoma State University economist Derrell Peel, the Jan. 1 beef cow herd of 28.9 million head is the smallest since 1962. Peel said he expects the…

Rachel Gabel With Halloween approaching, I present to you a frightening tale. In Colorado, proponents of a bad idea, no matter how ludicrous or misguided, can play by a short set of rules and put that bad idea before voters who are periodically swayed by misinformation. The bad idea can entirely sidestep any stakeholder engagement…

Rachel Gabel The Bureau of Land Management’s Rock Springs Resource Management Plan (RMP), though in Wyoming, has the potential to set a dangerous precedent for all states with large amounts of BLM-managed acres. Colorado, of course, is one of those states. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon has not minced words about the RMP and the many…

Rachel Gabel There’s much ado about labeling requirements for plant-based and lab-created foods these days. Dairy producers have been locking horns with food companies who use dairy terms like milk to describe products that are not milk on the grocery product labels. The nomenclature nightmare has been ongoing since “almond milk” hit the scene some…

Rachel Gabel When I was writing a children’s book about her, I lovingly referred to Maxine Lungren Clark Allen as the “Peach Queen,” though not to be confused with the Peach Queen crowned in Palisade annually. On a trip to the Western Slope last week, I learned the Peach Queen passed away in late 2022.…

Rachel Gabel September is a month of change in farm and ranch country beyond the change in routine from summer to school and mornings that hint at fall temperatures. Cattle producers around the state are preg-checking cows and heifers in anticipation of springtime calving but the event that truly marks fall is weaning. Cow calf…

Rachel Gabel Food ought not be a partisan issue, but California’s Prop 12 has made the battle lines abundantly clear. Wide opposition to addressing the consequences of the measure that forces pork producers around the country to adhere to California’s animal rights-driven production requirements makes that fact an undeniable one. The Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression,…

Rachel Gabel In 1985, the journalists at the Des Moines Register were reporting on the number of farm foreclosures that plagued American agriculture. Iowa was at the epicenter and the journalists had a front-row seat. People gathered on courthouse lawns as white crosses were hammered into the grass, each signifying a farm in the county…