The Fence Post

The United States reopened the Arizona border to Mexican cattle on Aug. 24, but the Agriculture Department’s Foreign Agricultural Service noted that the inability to export to the United States had changed the Mexican cattle industry. The U.S. closed the border two years ago due to the presence of New World screwworm in Mexico.

A federal judge in California last week ruled that the Labor Department’s overhaul of minimum wage rate calculation for H-2A foreign agricultural workers did not follow required rulemaking procedures and was unlawful. The United Farm Workers filed the case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the Ranchers First Initiative, a sweeping package of actions to continue rebuilding the Great American Beef Herd and put America’s ranchers back at the center of our nation’s food supply. Building on USDA’s October 2025 Plan to Fortify the American Beef Industry, the Trump Administration is delivering again. American ranchers embody the independent spirit that drove the founding of America, 250 years ago.

Livestock producers may think about using pasture, range and forage insurance for this coming year. Photo by Troy Walz PRFInsurance-RFP-083126 The use of Pasture Range and Forage Insurance in Nebraska has increased significantly over the last several years as producers have used this tool to help offset forage production losses due to lack of precipitation. In 2025, over 315 million acres of perennial forage production was insured for precipitation in the United States.

BOISE, Idaho — For decades, the U.S. beef industry fought an uphill battle to increase consumer demand. Today, that story has changed. Consumers continue buying beef despite historically high prices, creating one of the strongest demand environments the industry has experienced in decades, according to Dave Weaber, senior research analyst for animal protein at Terrain.

At the recent Latin American and Caribbean Buyers Conference, the U.S. trade policy presentation focused the use of tariffs and demonstrated how the trade deficit has been invoked as a political messaging point by every U.S. president for the last 50 years.

Peggy 2022 June portrait, WYO Writers Frankly, my dear, I am tired of city people telling farmers and ranchers we have to be more “transparent” and “open” about the way we do our work. How in the heck do they think they have the right to even question us? Is there any other career where non-professionals — actually unknowledgeable people — seek to tell professionals how to do their jobs?

President Donald Trump recently decided to import up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef tariff free over a 90-day period to reduce beef prices for consumers. The result was lower prices for cattle ranchers just at the mention of importing more beef. I’m not sure, but I don’t think it has made much of a dent in the price of beef in the grocery stores. This is not the way to grow the U.S. cattle herd, and it does not put Farmers First, which is one of Trump’s mantras.

WILLIAM CARL SANOWSKI III Provided Photo December 22, 1947 – July 28, 2026 William Carl Sanowski III, born December 22, 1947, in Cobleskill, New York, died July 28, 2026. Known to family and friends as Bill, he lived a life shaped by service, family, horses, the outdoors, and an enduring connection to the American West. Bill graduated from Bend Senior High School in 1965.

RYAN RAY SCHONEMAN Provided Photo January 18, 1978 – August 11, 2026 Ryan Ray Schoneman, 48, of Platteville, Colorado, passed away on August 11, 2026. Ryan was born on January 18, 1978, in Greeley, Colorado, to Burt and Deborah (Olin) Schoneman. He was raised on the family farm, Olin Farms, where he developed a deep love for the land and farming. He continued farming there throughout his life, carrying on a family tradition that meant so much to him.