Drought, fire and high diesel prices 'addin' up tough' for Oregon ranchers
Ranchers in Oregon are facing economic hardship due to a combination of persistent drought and high diesel prices. Despite rising calf prices, inflation has outpaced income, making it difficult for small-scale cattle operations to remain profitable.
Why it matters
It illustrates the real-world economic pressures on the agricultural sector and the impact of national inflation on rural livelihoods.
HARNEY COUNTY, ORE. - Late bloomin' rabbitbrush – wads of swaying ochre – stud the roadsides and steep eroded-basalt buttes rising up from the basin floor outside of Hines, Oregon.
In a broad open field, horses munch standing hay as Katie Baltzor watches her black angus cattle on this fall day.
We've ridden out here in a side-by-side vehicle – it's like an overgrown golf cart with a pickup bed in the back made for rough ranch work.
All the animals are quiet. Happy. With their heads down grazing.
"You see that horse, how he's got speckled colors?" said Baltzor with a smile in her voice. "Looks like country gravy, I guess that's why they called him Gravy."
Diesel prices remain near record highs , despite recent actions by President Trump as the mid-term elections get closer.
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