Only a few months ago, ranchers who graze their
animals on federal lands were bracing themselves for significant
fee increases proposed by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. But
intense pressure from the livestock industry forced Babbitt to
jettison the attempt (HCN, 1/23/95). Now, under the federal
formula, fees will decline this year by 19 percent, from $1.98 an
animal unit-month to $1.61. An animal unit month (AUM) is the
amount of forage consumed by one cow-calf pair or five sheep in one
month. “Isn’t that wonderful?” Babbitt asked in the Washington
Post, “The reduction in the grazing fees illustrates the deficiency
in the current formula and underlines the need to revisit this
issue.” Established in 1978, the formula for grazing fees takes
into account such factors as wholesale meat prices, production
costs and private-land grazing fees. This year’s reduction stems
from a crash in the price of beef, says Reeves Brown of the
Colorado Cattlemen’s Association.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Grazing fees drop.
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