Author: Rachel Gabel

Rachel Gabel Greg Sykes is a big man. A cowboy. A rancher with big hands marked by working every day of his 50-some years. But last week when he knelt down to carry his best dog’s body back to the house, he must have seemed much smaller. The dog in his arms, he said, replaced…

Rachel Gabel A new study published in Nature Climate Change, a reputable journal, said ruminant meat, dairy and rice production are guilty of 75% of the study’s predicted warming between now and the end of the century. According to the study, if all people globally reduced their ruminant meat consumption to one serving per week,…

Rachel Gabel The real cost of wolves is yet to be seen. The fiscal impact statement associated with Prop 114 – the reintroduction of wolves – estimated the effort would increase state spending by $300,000 in state budget year 2021-22 and $500,000 in state budget year 2022-23 for public outreach and development of a gray wolf reintroduction…

Rachel Gabel Bob Schultz raised buffalo not far from where I grew up. He was a colorful character and he posted signs all along his long, winding driveway leading to his ranch headquarters. The one I remember – and can repeat in print – read “If you trespass on this ranch you better be able to cross…

Rachel Gabel There are three main groups that represent cattle producers across the country. Without getting too far into the weeds, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is the well-funded, well represented power player. R-CALF USA is a much smaller, grassroots group of fiercely independent ranchers who leverage litigation to attempt to move the needle.…

Rachel Gabel The grand champion steer at the Western Live Stock Show in 1906 was a product of the Colorado State University beef herd. It was the inaugural year for the event, and it took place in a borrowed big-top circus tent at the Denver Union Stock Yards Company. Known then as Colorado Agricultural College,…

Rachel Gabel Wolves are a wildlife species that possess no magical or mystical powers that exempt them from the need for management. They are a species of wildlife and in a world where people and wildlife exist on the same landscape, wolves must be managed. Though the discussions about the draft wolf management plan have…

Rachel Gabel Marketing that doesn’t concentrate on your product’s strengths and benefits, but instead criticizes and casts doubt and fear on your product’s competition, isn’t marketing. Call it fear mongering or just the trashy behavior your mama raised you to avoid but, either way, it’s not good business and it has no place in the…

Rachel Gabel In one classroom, a little boy sat and listened as a man in cowboy boots read. He showed the students the pictures on each page as he read about Hereford steers and auctioneers. He leaned closer to inspect an illustration of a sale barn with ring men taking bids. He had never heard…

Rachel Gabel The shortage of veterinarians, especially large animal and food animal practitioners in rural areas, is a palpable problem the livestock industry must cooperatively address. Deferring to the legislature to solve the problem, with animal rights groups in their ears, is dicey, though a solution may require changes to current laws. I anticipate a…