Honored rancher says time to adapt
GRANGEVILLE, Idaho — Carl Crabtree, the first northern Idaho rancher to be named Idaho’s Cattleman of the Year, is encouraging his colleagues to concentrate more on the future of their industry rather than living in its past.
Crabtree was awarded the prestigious honor last week by the Idaho Cattle Association.
The 52-year-old Grangeville rancher said he can help ranchers bridge the gap between the traditional Western lifestyle and the shrewd business of raising cattle in a competitive, modern world.
“If these cattle producers don’t become part of the future, they won’t exist,” he says. Yet persuading ranchers to accept progressive thinking is not always easy.
Crabtree was raised on a ranch in Kooskia and graduated with a degree in plant sciences from the University of Idaho.
Along with his wife, Carolyn, Crabtree operates a Limousin cattle ranch in Grangeville and a grass cattle-feeding business.
He has served on a number of state and national beef and cattle associations and is now on the National Cattlemen’s Beef Board, which helps educate ranchers and promote beef products around the world.
Many ranchers are resistant to changes in technology, such as new animal identification proposals that would allow individual animals to be traced back to their herds of origin. But such identification would be helpful in case of an outbreak of disease such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as mad cow disease, he said.
Still, many ranchers want to stick with the old method of hot-iron branding and strongly oppose the new methods, which involve microchip implantation and electronic scanners.
The new method would be costly if ranchers paid for it themselves. The federal government could do it for free, but then it would have access to all the data from the identification process.
The issue is not settled yet, but Crabtree says it’s inevitable — the market will eventually demand instant identification and traceability.
“There’s still guys fighting it, but you know what? Japan doesn’t care. And they’re the customer. The customer says they want (individual animal identification) and you’d better provide it.
“We’ve got to find a way to make this work. I don’t care which way it goes, but we’re going to have to do it.”
Crabtree says he understands why many ranchers feel the way they do.
“I was raised in the ranching way of life. But unfortunately, you can’t exist in an environment built entirely of tradition. You have to have the passion that comes from this heritage, but you also have to integrate that with a solid business plan.”