Articles

All our thoughts, opinions and discussions.

Conservation

Oil Trends in Far-West Texas

Mineral revenues can be very good for wildlife practices. NOTE: This article initially appeared at OilPrice.com on March 24, 2017 Shell’s New Permian Play Profitable At $20 A Barrel OPEC’s worries about the booming U.S. oil production have increased significantly with the big three oil companies’

Bio-Diversity

The Dirty Little Secrets Behind Earthworms

Earthworms are disappearing from our farm and range lands.  Two articles on this topic appear below. #1: New York Times attributes this to plowing, but #2: Science shows glyphosate (Roundup) use associated with GMO’s and brush control is worse.   NOTE: This post initially appeared on WSJ.com on June

Conservation

A Reduction in US Drought Over the Period 1901-2014

Does global warming mean global drought? “It would appear that instead of making droughts worse, the global warming/climate change experienced over the past century appears to have ameliorated them.” NOTE: This paper was published on CO2Science.org on May 25, 2017 Paper Reviewed by McCabe, G.J., Wolock, D.

Bio-Diversity

Best Tools for No-Till Farming

These principals readily apply to ranching. Keeping desert rangeland covered with plants is the rancher’s most important challenge. NOTE: This post initially appeared on MotherEarthNews.com this month First, the bad news: We’ve lost millions of tons of soil from croplands in the United States annually for the

"Invasion Biology"

TPWD Mule Deer Habitat Advice

I was surprised to learn at a TPWD mule deer seminar that the way we graze cattle at Circle Ranch harms plants and water function. So I read all the studies on which these conclusions were based and found they did not study what they claimed to study. I wrote

Animal Development

Foodies Can Order Meats From a Single Animal

Consumer demand for wholesome food is the driving force behind sustainable food production. NOTE: This post initially appeared on WSJ.com on October 5, 2016 Throwback to getting your sirloin ground at the butcher shop emerges with ‘single origin’ cuts In grocery store cases stuffed with exotic grass-fed and organic

Animal Growth

MDF / Lado Ranch Wildlife Water Project

In far-West Texas water additions like these are the very best, cheapest and quickest wildlife practice. Free water hurts nothing and helps everything. VIEW ON FLICKR: April 29th, 2017 – Lado Ranch near Van Horn, Texas Funded by the Mule Deer Foundation On April 29th more than 30 volunteer conservationists from

Africa

High Above, Drones Keep Watchful Eyes on Wildlife

We have found drones to be a useful management tool. However the simplicity of drones is greatly overestimated, especially the notion of flying them by video monitor at great distances from the operator.   NOTE: This article was originally published on NYTimes.com. Drones seemed like the perfect anti-poaching tools. But

"Invasion Biology"

Reds on Shrimp, Gulls on Reds

On May 21, 2011 we were fly fishing for redfish in the lower Laguna Madre.  Here’s a wonderful photograph of a redfish pod feeding on shrimp, and gulls trailing the redfish to pick up their leavings.   You might wonder why this picture has been entered on a blog dedicated

"Invasion Biology"

Where's a Real Environmentalist When you Need One?

Many of the strongest advocates for planned grazing of cattle and other domestic animals to maintain and restore habitat health – ourselves included – started out opposed to grazing, which the agencies and universities have taught 4-generations to believe is bad for plants and animals. NOTE: This post initially appeared in Range

"Invasion Biology"

Millions of Bees Dead After South Carolina Sprays for Zika Mosquitoes

No pesticide – any chemical used to kill plant or animal ‘pests’ –  is selective. This story should give pause to those who think the ‘feral hog apocalypse’ and routine use of range poison is a good idea. NOTE: This post initially appeared on WashingtonPost.com on September 1, 2016   On Sunday

"Invasion Biology"

Did Humans Live in California 100,000 Years Earlier Than We Thought?

At our Circle Ranch Indian Cave,  Arizona State University found charcoal that radiocarbon dating says is 25,000-years older than the 10,000 BC date which most scientists say is when humans arrived in North America.  This extraordinary date change would be small compared to what is discussed below. NOTE:

minerals

West Texas Mineral Classifications Explained

Much of far-West Texas is ‘mineral classified’. This important feature of land ownership is a major reason why West Texas ranches are such great investments. Enacted in 1919, the Relinquishment Act, as interpreted by the Courts, reserves all minerals to the State in those lands sold with a mineral classification

Animal Development

Circle Ranch Game Camera Videos

Wildlife videos from our high-desert mountains, captured in the winter of 2015.

"Invasion Biology"

Cancer Worries Over a Common Weedkiller

California has recently acknowledged what the medical community has known for years: Glyphosate (Roundup) causes cancer. It is implicated in other diseases like alzheimers, gluten intolerance, diabetes, infertility and more. Glyphosate residuals are found in most everything we drink, eat and wear. Efforts to move away from glyphosate dependance in

Big Bend Ranch State Park

Big Bend Still Breathtaking After All These Years

Big Bend and far-West Texas is the most overlooked part of the West. NOTE: This post initially appeared on SAExpressNews.com on April 27, 2017. Feature photo by: Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK — Since its opening in 1944, breathtaking Big Bend National Park has drawn visitors from

Bio-Diversity

Pesticide Maker Tries to Kill Risk Study

Like the tobacco companies before them, for decades now the agrochemical companies have worked the system to avoid consequences from the health hazards of their products. According to the left, Big Government stands between the public and Big Businesses including the agrochemical giants. According to the President, a smaller EPA

"Invasion Biology"

New York Today: Prospect Park Goes to the Goats

Even the folks in New York City have figured out that animal impact – in this case ‘exotic’ goats –  can better maintain open space than machinery or chemicals.  This insight puts them ahead of Texas’ mainstream wildlife ‘managers’. NOTE: This post initially appeared on NYTimes.com on May, 2016 To help

Adele Davidson

Life on the San Antonio River

A profile of Circle Ranch Co-Owner Josie Negley Gill,  from Texas Monthly Magazine.   NOTE: This article initially appeared in Texas Monthly: A family breathes new life into a historic King William home with their eclectic style. View as Slideshow Nine-year-old Tres Davidson and his seven-year-old brother, Wells, fling open the

Agri-business

Eco Profits - Whose Money Harms The Environment?

Author Dan Dagger says in part, “Environmental corporatism is guilty of the same offense of which it has made a career of accusing capitalism, the free market, and private enterprise: Getting rich at the expense of the environment. And its consumers are just as blind to the damage they cause

Bighorn

US Drought Falls to Record Low

Good news for quail and wildlife: It looks like we will dodge the drought bullet for the moment. Now is the time to implement the range recovery practices that will mitigate the next dry cycle. NOTE: This post initially appeared on TheGWPF.com on April 28, 2017   Drought in the

"Invasion Biology"

On The Iberico Trail

In Spain, free-ranging pigs which forage for themselves and fatten on seasonal acorns produce hams that can bring $2,000 apiece.  In Texas, free-ranging pigs which forage for themselves and fatten on seasonal acorns are considered unfit to eat. Why the difference? Anticompetetive regulations which favor Big Pork, and bureaucratic

Conservation

This Farm Is Trying To Change The Future Of Organic Pork

It is possible to create a humane, self-sustaining, and profitable hog farming system and to make organic pork more widely available. NOTE: post initially appeared on RodalesOrganicLife.com on December 12, 2016 The Rodale Institute’s hog facility has one goal: Show farmers everywhere how to create a humane, self-sustaining,

Conservation

Land-Rich Farmers Still Struggle to Survive

Heavy subsidies of agriculture have not made farming and ranching profitable. Nor can they. NOTE: This post initially appeared on WSJ.com on December 21, 2016 The farmer is the only businessperson who buys his inputs at retail and sells at wholesale, all the while hoping (and praying) for good

far-West Texas oil & gas

Far-West Texas Mineral Classifications

As explained below, far-West Texas ranches often come with mineral ownership that cannot be severed from the surfaces. This is an important investment feature. By John McFarland I have recently been reading “The Big Rich: the Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes,” by Bryan Burrough. It has