25 Years: Wyoming Livestock Roundup celebrates silver anniversary

Casper – In 1989, Bill Glanz of Worland got frustrated when he couldn’t find any news about Wyoming agriculture. 

“I was doing a lot of calving at night, sitting in a little trailer and reading stock newspapers,” says Glanz. “None of them were for Wyoming, and none of them would say anything about Wyoming.”

“I thought, we ought to have something in the state to talk about farmers and ranchers in Wyoming,” he continues. 

From there, Glanz casually mentioned the idea to an area newspaper editor.

“He came back about five days later and asked if I was interesting in being part of a state-wide livestock newspaper,” Glanz says, noting that he jumped on board. “Don Hall and I worked together for a few years in getting the Roundup started.”

Challenging beginnings

Starting the Wyoming Livestock Roundup wasn’t an easy venture, Glanz comments, and was challenging in many ways.

“We borrowed a little money to get started and got it paid off eventually,” he says. “The biggest problem was circulation. It was also hard to sell ads without circulation.”

Establishing a subscriber base was one of the more difficult tasks. Glanz notes they began by distributing complimentary subscriptions across the state.

“We sent farmers and ranchers free papers and encouraged them to subscribe,” he says. “It finally took hold.”

Subscriptions to the Roundup in 1989 were only $12.50.

“When we started writing articles about the different ranches throughout the state, it drew a lot of interest,” he adds. “Those articles put ranchers in touch with other ranchers.”

As the subscriber base built, advertising sales became less challenging, and Glanz says after several years, the Roundup began doing well.

New directions

“I was with the Roundup for 12 years,” says Glanz. “When Del wanted to move it to Casper, I sold my share to him. The paper started with only three people, and when I left there were eight.”

Del Tinsley made the Roundup part of his life in the fall of 1989, when he became and investor and advertising representative for the paper.

“Del was really helpful,” says Glanz. “He was a good salesperson and businessman.”

Tinsley was involved in the publication business before getting involved at the Roundup,and he was employed with the Wyoming Stockman Farmer and the Record Stockman.

With a vision of improving the Roundup, Tinsley bought out his partner and moved the publication to Casper.

With lots of time communicating with Wyoming’s agriculture industry and hard work, Tinsley continued to improve the paper each year.

Some things change, some stay the same

Glanz notes that he has seen a number of changes through the years, while a number of things have stayed the same.

“Writing personal stories really helped the paper,” he says. “I also did a column every week.”

Today, the Roundup still features ranchers from across the state. However, the paper also publishes six special editions in addition to the regular paper. 

As in the past, the paper has provided agriculture, wildlife and natural resources news to Wyoming’s farmers, ranchers and agribusiness community, as well as those citizens who are interested in the state’s third largest industry.

Changes have been seen through the years in layout with improvements in technology and changing times in agriculture, but the Roundup remains committed to providing non-biased news to its readers by generating all original material and providing follow-up on important stories.

“The Roundup has changed a lot,” adds Tinsley. “I took it to a certain level, and when I sold it to Dennis, I expected him take it to the next level, and he has.”

Successful paper

“The only reason the Roundup is successful is because of the Wyoming people supporting it,” comments Tinsley. “Wyoming people support Wyoming people, and the livestock auctions, the banks, seed and feed dealers, implement dealers and all the others have supported the paper.”

“It is the industry that has made the paper successful,” Tinsley adds. “Wyoming agriculture is a pretty close knit group.”

“The Roundup was a really good experience,” Glanz comments. “I learned a lot. If I had the chance to do it again, I would.”

“The Roundup has as bright a future as Wyoming’s agriculture has,” adds Tinsley. 

Saige Albert is managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at roundup@wylr.net.