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As wildfires scorch the West, Eastern Oregon ranchers deal with major losses

Aug 9, 2024
It’s been a big fire season so far across the West, including in Oregon where more than 1.2 million acres have burned this season. On the eastern side of the state, the fires have left many cattle displaced or dead, leaving ranchers with significant losses.
Jared Smull points out burned land at the beginning of the drive into Rye Valley, where he and his family grazed their cattle for many years before the Durkee Fire on July 31. The Smull family lost thousands of acres of grazeable land in the fire.
Anna Lueck/OPB

Family ties, history connect rancher with troublesome wild mustangs

Nov 16, 2023
In Nevada, cattle and wild horses sometimes compete for food because they graze the same land. That creates challenges for some ranchers, but that doesn't mean they want the horses gone.
Rancher Will DeLong’s cows compete with wild horses for limited grass in the arid countryside. He’d like to see them “managed to the right numbers.”
Ashley Ahearn

For Western ranchers, harsh weather has meant brutal losses during prime calving season

May 4, 2023
Because calves are born wet they have to get dry, get a drink of milk, and warm up quickly. And the brutal weather has made that tough.
A herd moves slowly with their new calves in snowy conditions in April in Wallowa County, Oregon.
Courtesy of Angie Nash

Killing the "death tax": Is it fair?

Nov 20, 2017
Depends on who you ask.
A member of College Republicans National Committee dresses as Grim Reaper as he marches on Capitol Hill to call on the Senate to eliminate the death tax June 8, 2006 in Washington, D.C.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Ken Lenox: Don't overreach!

Mar 25, 2015
A Missouri rancher learned his financial lesson the hard way.

Where's the beef? (Raised, slaughtered and processed?)

Nov 19, 2013
Meatpackers and ranchers are fighting each other over new labeling rules.

For public good, not for profit.

The aging economics of cattle ranching

Oct 29, 2013
We check back in with cattle rancher Ken Lenox in Rolla, Mo.

Raising beefier cattle just got harder

Aug 19, 2013
Merck withdraws, at least temporarily, a supplement widely used to bulk up cattle at feedlots.