NEWS

Old Plains ranching, farming traditions disappearing Tom McNeil is the kind of American little boys and grown-up men, movie stars and even presidents dream of being: tall and weather-beaten, spare with words, wearing a hat and boots that clearly are tools instead of ornaments. McNeil is a real cowboy in Loup County in central Nebraska, one of the disappearing ranchers and farmers of the northern Great Plains. He’s a man riding reluctantly, sadly into the sunset of a civilization that once was seen as among the great achievements of the American nation. It’s a place where we get much of our food. And it’s a place where we’ve gotten many of our best people. Now, isolation, harsh weather, more and more food imports, the ever-increasing size of farms and ranches and the economic and social pull of large population centers threaten to turn this vast region in the middle of the United States into a mostly empty Outback....
Kansas town reflects plains' past, present future The roiling sky above this northwest Kansas town one April afternoon was a fitting symbol of the battle Oberlin is waging against the natural, social and economic forces that are emptying it and many other towns in the Northern and Central Great Plains. Gripped by a three-year drought and dependent on surrounding wheat farms, Oberlin residents watched hopefully as the dark clouds of a rain-laden thunderstorm moved in from the southwest. But it soon became clear that the rain so clearly visible in the distance was evaporating before hitting the parched ground. Mayor Kenneth Shobe watched and just shook his head. In many ways, this area in far northwestern Kansas reflects the past, present and future of the Northern and Central Plains, once a promised land for optimistic farmers, now struggling to staunch population hemorrhage and facing a bleak future....
A good yarn: Wool prices dip to record lows, but sheep ranchers find a way to stay in business Broadus sheep rancher Rebecca McEuen saw the beginning of the end in 1997. The population of sheep in the state had been dropping for decades and the price of wool was headed for an all-time low. By 1998, fleece was bringing about $1.80 per sheep and it cost $2 to sheer the sheep. "It was time to change the old way of ranching," said McEuen, who with her mother and husband, Dennis, have been raising sheep in the Broadus area for more than 20 years. McEuen's mother introduced the American Cormo breed to the area when the family moved there in 1978 from Southern California and they weren't ready to give up on sheep yet. The McEuens, along with a rancher friend, Charlotte Carlat, decided first to expand their natural wool yarn business. During the winter of 1998-1999, they spent more hours than they could count cleaning 800 pounds of wool, tugging small sticks and mud and burrs and who knows what else out of the raw wool by hand. "Our fingers got real sore," she said....
Unsettling times: Few folks in the big open Calvin Thomas, a rancher who came in to the Sand Springs Store for a 5-gallon jug of drinking water, is on his second cup of coffee as he tells how it used to be in Sand Springs. "At one time Sand Springs was pretty big," he says. "It was runner-up for county seat." That honor eventually went to Jordan, 20 miles east on Highway 200. Jordan is losing population, too, but with about 350 people it's by far the largest town in Garfield County. Sand Springs reached a population peak of about 50, Calvin says, but now the only full-time resident is Daisy Dutton, who owns the store. "They used to have a sign," Calvin says: "End of the world, 12 miles. Jordan, 14." It might not be the end of the world, but it does feel like the middle of nowhere. Garfield County takes in 4,668 square miles, but with a population of only 1,279 at the time of the 2000 census, it had 0.27 people per square mile. That gave Garfield the lowest population density in Montana and very nearly the lowest in the continental United States....
Weekend cowboys Clinging to their saddle horns, the inexperienced riders fought to stay astride their horses as they plunged into a rocky ravine where eight stray cows hid in the brush. The heifers initially ignored their shouts and then grudgingly shuffled up a steep hill to join the rest of the herd for the drive to greener pastures. For three days over a recent weekend, a group of city dwellers rounded up strays and herded cattle, paying $700 each to work like the cowhands they'd watched on the silver screen. These "City Slicker"-style roundups at the Varian family's V6 Ranch in Monterey County help pay the bills and ensure the 20,000-acre spread remains open space for future generations....
Rancher of the Year to be honored Saturday There are seven nominees and one of them will be recognized Saturday at the Cowboy Roundup USA as Rancher of the Year. Everything around Amarillo was once ranch country, said Quien Stapleton, Cowboy Roundup USA president. Ranching is the heritage of the Texas Panhandle. Stapleton said his organization figures the Coors Ranch Rodeo next week is the perfect time to recognize a Rancher of the Year. Sponsored by Duncan & Boyd Jewelers and KGNC Radio, the Rancher of the Year will be named at the Saturday night performance of the Coors Ranch Rodeo in the Amarillo National Center, Stapleton said....

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