WyomingLivestockRoundup

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Last Updated on Saturday, 22 October 2011 01:00

Written by Marcia Masters Powers

By Marcia Masters Powers, Dayton

My dad Leonard Masters was a prominent rancher in the Tongue River Valley between Ranchester and Dayton. He and his wife Marg operated a beautiful ranch at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains.

My dad loved Hereford cattle and ran purebred cows and calves from Oliver Wallop’s herd in Big Horn.

The meadows on the ranch along the highway were always lush and green. I believe the neighbors were envious of Dad’s success. His irrigation system was canvas dams and a shovel, which he used a lot. I remember seeing him out in the field with that shovel, watching the water travel down the ditches.

A newspaper article from the Sheridan Press in the late 1940s features Leonard Masters’s haying rig – a beaver slide and cage – and calls it a landmark in the valley during haying season.

“Although the slide is used extensively in some sections of the country, the cage is Masters’s own brainchild,” says the article. “The invention has saved him labor, time and money. (When approached on his cost of haying, he said simply: ‘You wouldn’t believe me.’)

“The cage was dreamed up during the war years when labor was scarce but he liked it so well he kept it, and this is the fourth year he has used it.

“In size it is 20 feet wide, 22 feet long and 18 feet deep and holds about 10 tons of hay. It is a huge, box-like frame covered with hog wire on three sides. The back side is open, with weighted steel cable dropped from the top for use in keeping the stack’s shape but allowing the cage to be moved away from the stack. When the cage is filled, Masters’s 30-caterpillar moves the structure forward on its two rear wheels and front skids and another stack is started

“The slide, up which is conveyed hay from the bull rake, is 36 feet long and 18 feet wide. It permits loads about two or three times the size handled by an ordinary stacker to be hiked up and into the cage. The caterpillar raises and lowers the stacker by moving backward and forward.”

Using a man on the caterpillar, one on the bull rake one cutting and two in the cage, the article reports that 50 tons of hay could be stacked each day on the Masters place.

Leonard said in the article that this type of stacking dovetailed perfectly with the feeding end of his business.

“Since he uses a unique cable system for loading hay for feeding, the uniform-sized stacks are a big advantage,” continues the article. “A feeding platform 20 by 12 feet is pulled up alongside a stack, a cable from the tractor is looped around the top third of the stock and is drawn off onto the platform by the tractor.”

Leonard said that by using this method of loading from the stack for feeding he could feed 500 head of cattle in about two hours.

Leonard and Marg had two children, Dick and myself, and we felt fortunate to be raised on a ranch and to be outstanding 4H members.

Leornard and Marg were community leaders. Leonard served in the Wyoming Legislature for several years and on agricultural boards and as a member of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. Marg was state president of the Wyoming CowBelles. They were both 4H leaders, in beef and clothing.

They, together as a team, contributed much to the communities of Ranchester and Dayton, Sheridan County and the state of Wyoming.

The ranch is still operating and has become a landmark of the valley. Leonard died in 1979 and Marg in 1996. Our family still enjoys this land and hopes to have this privilege for many years to come.

The Roundup welcomes your stories and photos of agriculture’s past. Submit them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or mail to PO Box 850, Casper, WY 82602.

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Last Updated on Saturday, 22 October 2011 01:00

Written by Ondi Shepperson

By Ondi Shepperson, Hat Two Ranch

This year’s Wyoming Stock Grower’s Agriculture Land Trust picnic was a celebration for many reasons.

The festivities entailed white linen tablecloths beneath beautiful white tents, a two-piece band, an abundance of flowers and gorgeous views of the Absaroka Mountains. The celebration served numerous functions, but primarily as a benefit auction and a showcase of our ranch. The Hat Two Ranch, north of Meeteetse, was placed in a conservation easement with the Wyoming Stock Grower’s Agriculture Land Trust (WSGALT) in 2010.

The conservation easement began in 2008 with the application and selection process. We first investigated the conservation possibilities to maintain the ranch. A buyer had made an offer on our place, and although the offer was tempting, the family decided to persevere. Times are tough, and even tougher when operating on borrowed money year after year. A ranch is profitable when the land is paid down. We decided not to sell and we began the process of selling the conservation easement to the Wyoming Stockgrower’s Agriculture Land Trust. We did this to maintain ownership – to remain in the ranching business and to NOT sell out.

This is not the place to provide details of how a conservation easement works – for further details on the opportunity to help preserve open spaces of Wyoming, I encourage you to visit the WSGALT at wsgalt.org.

Our Hat 2 Ranch, north of Meeteetse, was selected for conservation purposes because of its wildlife habitat, its close proximity to other conserved acres and our family’s intent to keep it as a working cattle ranch. Yes, we did donate two-thirds of the easement to the Wyoming Stock Grower’s Agriculture Land Trust. This eased our family of the huge financial strain of paying for and maintaining our ranch. We are now at liberty to stay under-grazed with our cattle herd, leaving ample habitat for the numerous wildlife. We can now have a comfortable living standard and we even went on our first family vacation, ever!

The 2011 WSGALT Banquet celebration at our place in Meeteetse was more than a celebration of this conservation easement. It was more than a celebration of maintaining the ranch for our children and grandchildren. The bipartisan efforts to see the easement project to success was reason enough for the celebration at the Hat 2 Ranch. I offer my deepest gratitude to everyone who helped and supported in the success of this project.

I consider myself a conservative of today’s political realm. Politics are leaning further to the left regarding the issues concerning the ‘Green Agenda’ of this century. My voice is effective, not only in defending nature, because I have put my money where my mouth is, but also in advocating the necessity of both political parties coming together to conserve open spaces and our way of life for future generations.

We are all stewards of conservation, whichever side of the political fence we ride, or write. No one wishes to see the wide-open spaces of Wyoming developed. With this notion, that each of us is a conservative, I write of the only plausible conclusion generated from the successful WSGALT banquet. The agriculture community, the recreation community and the oil and gas community of any political affiliation all see one common goal of maintaining freedom of our private and state lands. To maintain our state’s sovereignty, we must work together. We must work together, now, to preserve our natural resources as well as multiple use of our lands.

I challenge you, the citizens of Wyoming: ranchers, farmers, professionals, hunters, anglers, students, rednecks, roughnecks and environmentalists to come together again to be national advocates to other states seeking to maintain state control of our unique wild resources.

Ondi Shepperson writes from her family’s ranch near Meeteetse. More of her work may be read at olshepp.wordpress.com.

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Last Updated on Friday, 23 September 2011 13:41

Written by Gov. Matt Mead

By Wyoming Governor Matt Mead

Looking back at spring, I was pleased to see good economic results for Wyoming ag producers for the first quarter of 2011. According to a Wyoming Economic Summary from July 2011, our state’s agricultural industry has benefited from a variety of factors, including increased exports and some recovery in domestic demand. In the first quarter of 2011, which ended March 31, these trends resulted in total farm earnings in the state reaching $220 million, the highest since the third quarter of 2005. It was also reported that with global economic recovery, a strong beef export market has benefitted ranchers.

I hope this good news continues for the rest of 2011 and into the future. Agriculture is Wyoming’s third-largest industry, and its success bodes well for the economy of our state.
With summer upon us now, our thoughts turn to rodeos, community festivals and county and state fairs. Summertime is show time in Wyoming. Carol and I, and our children Mary and Pete, have been making the rounds to as many rodeos and fair events as we can, and we have enjoyed every minute of it.

The 99th celebration of the Wyoming State Fair is fast approaching and will take place from Aug. 13 to the 20th. It will be a great week to be in Douglas. Among all the marvelous events, it will be gratifying, as it always is, to see the many young exhibitors who have earned their way to the State Fair by competing successfully with their animals and exhibits at Wyoming’s county fairs. It will be show time in Douglas, and I wish good luck to all the exhibitors and good times to all those attending. Perhaps we’ll see each other there.

When the summer season ends and another school year begins, we will turn to fall harvests and hunting, to the last of the farmers’ markets, bringing the cows home and getting ready for winter. I hope the fall is a bountiful time for everyone in the Wyoming ag community.
The beginning of winter will close out the year. I believe we will be able to look back at 2011 and say it was a very good year and we will look forward to 2012 as another one. We are very fortunate to

live in Wyoming in every season of the year, and none of us take it for granted – we work hard spring, summer, fall and winter to make sure Wyoming remains the best place to live, work, play and raise a family. Thanks for all you do toward that end.

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Last Updated on Friday, 23 September 2011 13:18

Written by Gov. Matt Mead

I have often made the analogy that agriculture in Wyoming could be compared to the best supporting character in a blockbuster movie. Other industries like energy and tourism often get top billing, but without agriculture there would not be the accessible land for wind farms, drilling rigs and coal mines nor would there be the ranches, traditions and wide open spaces that draw so many visitors to Wyoming. In other words we would not have the box office success we do without the role agriculture plays in our state.

A similar analogy could be made for sheep, which do not always receive the attention that beef gets. Yet sheep and wool have tremendous value and their producers do a lot for Wyoming, often out of the spotlight.  We would not have the success we do without the role sheep producers play in our state.  And so our history shows.

Since statehood, sheep ranchers have been an integral part of Wyoming – our agriculture, politics and culture. At the height of sheep production in Wyoming there were nearly six million head. This was back in the 1930’s. Now there are fewer than half a million. By comparison, in 2007, there were 1.3 million head of cattle in Wyoming.

Despite the drop in sheep numbers, Wyoming’s lamb and wool industry continues to be among the best in the nation. Wyoming’s lamb and wool are recognized, not only nationally but internationally, as some of the best in quality. Wyoming is the number two lamb producing state; we are the number two wool producing state, and we are the number one range sheep state in the country. The production of two important commodities, food and fiber, are positive for our economy, and sheep for the table is good for our nation’s food security too. Thanks to the hard work, dedication and perseverance of those engaged in the industry today, the sheep business remains a vital and strong component of Wyoming’s list of natural resource industries.

Sheep owners, herders and shearers face numerous challenges. These challenges include the significant effects of predation on a herd, the ever-rising weight on U.S. markets of cheap foreign imports and weather.  While spring storms may bring needed moisture, they can also be devastating and claim the lives of many newborn lambs. Wyoming’s sheep producers have become adept at tackling adversity and successfully seeing their way through it.

Sheep producers do more for Wyoming than just provide jobs, revenue, food and wool. There are several other less tangible or obvious, yet equally important, benefits which our State enjoys because of its strong sheep industry. Well-managed grazing by sheep, as well as goats, is now recognized and used as a holistic tool to restore and rehabilitate degraded or otherwise compromised sagebrush habitats.  Wyoming continues to face the potential that sage grouse could be added to the Endangered Species list.  If listing were to occur, the effects on our overall economy and many industries other than agriculture would be quite harmful. The well-timed use of sheep and goat grazing is important to sage grouse, and this is one more tool available to us as we work to protect and enhance sage grouse habitat and population and keep the bird off the list.  Another benefit of grazing by sheep and other livestock is its documented importance as a tool to reduce fire loads from vegetation – a wildfire preventative measure.

I am bullish about our sheep industry. Since taking office, I have engaged in the long fight to return control of wolves to the State of Wyoming. It has been challenging, but after hearing from many people in Wyoming, notably among them sheep producers in western Wyoming, I started pursuing a workable compromise with the Department of the Interior. The plan we have reached agreement on, if approved by the Legislature, would create a new flex area. This is an area where wolves would be classified as trophy game part of the winter and predators the rest of the year. As they have for nearly two decades since wolves were dropped back in Wyoming, sheep producers will feel the impact from this change most because the flex area runs through several sheep producers’ private land. Still, it is with the cooperation of these producers and many others like them that I am optimistic about the possibility of Wyoming managing wolves in the next year. And, all things considered, state management is best for everyone. We owe these producers our thanks and then some.

I want those who produce wool and lamb to know that they have an ally in Cheyenne. I want readers to know that I have taken note of the challenges sheep producers face and the contributions they make to Wyoming. These men and women and their families, working hard year in and year out, make Wyoming special – a place we are all so proud to call home.

By Governor Matt Mead