Assemblymember Natha Anderson, Chairman of the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Natural Resources invited Nevada Farm Bureau President Bevan Lister to make a presentation to the committee for their February 25^th meeting.  Lister was asked to include in his presentation:

·      The role of Farm Bureau in Nevada and the industries that the Bureau helps to support

·      Current trends and challenges in agriculture

·      Alfalfa production in Nevada, including the contribution to rural economies and challenges faced by the industry

The Power Point presentation to the committee is found here.

Nevada Director of Agriculture, JJ Goicoechea also presented to the Interim Committee, preceding Farm Bureau’s presentation and covering the current programs that the Department of Agriculture and how the new elements of various updated programs are coming about.  Director Goicoechea’s presentation is found here.

Members of the committee were very engaged in each of the two agricultural presentations with a number of questions and interactions with each presenter.

This is an early – add to your calendars - the next meeting of the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Natural Resources is planned for Wednesday, March 25^th, where they will join with the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Growth and Infrastructure in covering data centers.

It is important that you plan to join the Nevada Division of Industrial Relations for their March 3^rd Wildfire Smoke Workshop.  This workshop will be seeking public input on their proposed permanent regulations dealing with wildfire smoke. This will be the opportunity for you to weigh in and share your thoughts on the proposed regulations.  It begins at 1 p.m.  

This packet includes the link which provides for your participation, using Microsoft Team Access to the workshop by a virtual connection.  The packet of information identifies that this “workshop” “Is not a notice of intent to act on the regulation,” but later in subsequent pages the “Hearing Agenda” is provided for the meeting.

The packet also has a section which reports on the Small Business Impact Statement that the agency carried through, beginning January 6^th.  There were a number of small businesses who responded with an indication that the impact of this regulation would have a negative economic effect on their businesses.  The agency noted that while their might be impacts, the regulations would also have positive effects by reducing health impacts on employees who would be affected.

The final section of the packet covers the proposed regulation that the agency plans to implement, when they finish going through the required processes.  Nevada Farm Bureau will oppose the proposed regulations and we would encourage you to speak up on the foundational focus of the agency to require strict adherence to a regulation where it is highly unlikely that as an employer, you will have monitoring data to know what the air quality index number is.  Regardless of whether your area has monitoring equipment to measure the levels of wildfire smoke, employers with 10 or more employees will fall under the consequences that the regulations the Nevada Division of Industrial Relations have written.

In their most recent Market Intel backgrounder,  American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) economist, Daniel Munch and Faith Parum, Ph.D. have combined to share the details of the programs being included in the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026.  This is the draft markup that the House Agricultural Committee is hoping to pull together to update the 2018 Farm Bill after three extensions that were necessary to keep some of the Farm Bill sections continuing to operate.  The new committee date for conducting the markup will take place on Tuesday, March 3^rd, starting at 5 p.m. (Eastern Time) and will likely spill over to more work on Wednesday, March 4^th.

A real benefit of this Market Intel piece is the clarity that the authors have captured to dig into the sections of the Farm Bill which didn’t fit into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and are now being dealt with in this new effort.   Those sections include:

• Title 1 – Commodities
• Title II – Conservation
• Title III – Trade
• Title IV – Nutrition
• Title V – Credit
• Title VI – Rural Development
• Title VII – Research, Extension and Education
• Title VIII – Forestry
• Title IX – Energy
• Title X – Horticulture, Marketing and Regulatory Reform

Thanks for the input that we’ve had in regard to the concerns of the current elk populations around the state.  This has greatly assisted us in putting together a general idea of what we will be noting in our comments to the Nevada Wildlife Commission’s Elk Management Committee when they meet March 12 in Boulder City, NV. Over the past couple of weeks, we shared the “Elk Management Committee” work of planning for the elk management process for Nevada.  

We’re still anxious to hear more from those who will be impacted, if you believe that the numbers of elk in your area should be increased, left the same or reduced, participating in this process could make a difference on what happens.  

At the March meeting they will be making their recommendations to the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners. Those recommendations will include population objectives (which could allow increases or decreases in the identified 2025 Population Estimates and Objectives column with the range of up to 10 percent increases or 10 percent decreases) …things could also be kept the same. They will also be covering hunting seasons and hunting limits.

Based on the plan outline, the consideration of managing of the statewide program will be carried out on the basis of treating designated elk herds on a herd-by-herd basis (mostly connected to “Unit Groups”) that are presented in this Map.

This table ties in with the Map and shows the corresponding details of herd sizes, population make-up, 2025 Population Estimates and objectives.

If ranchers within these designated herd areas see reasons for not increasing or perhaps supporting decreases based on range conditions, exceptional overabundance of wild horses or heavily decreased grazing AUMs being held in suspension for whatever reason the BLM or Forest Service have decided – these points could be made at the county meeting as well as shared with the Nevada Farm Bureau…email Doug Busselman at doug@nvfb.org. 

In addition to the Map and Table noted above with their links, we also offer a couple of brochures on elk related (Damage Compensation) and (The Elk Incentive Tag Program – for private landowners.

The Nevada Division of Water Resources held a public hearing on Wednesday, February 25.  This hearing covered the proposed designation order for the Lower White River Flow System in Southern Nevada.  The proposed designation can be found by clicking here. Persons wishing to submit written testimony or documentary evidence may submit the material by March 27, 2026, by e-mailing to jhenson@water.nv.gov or by mailing to the following address: Nevada Division of Water Resources at 901 S. Stewart St, Ste 2002, Carson City, Nevada, 89701. 

Kyle Reber, Nevada Farm Bureau Federation’s Southern Field Representative joined the hearing by way of the provided Zoom link.  His notes on the speakers who participated in the hearing can be found here.

Tuesday, February 10^th the Federal Register carried an announcement that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was putting out the call for nominations to the National Wildhorse and Burro Advisory Board.  There are six seats that need to be filled and the deadline for submitting nominations is April 13, 2026.

The call for nominations seeks to fill three currently vacant positions that represent wild horse and burro advocacy, veterinary science, and public interest (with a special knowledge of natural resource management). The call also seeks nominations to fill three positions representing humane advocacy, wildlife management, and livestock management, which will become vacant in September 2026.

This link to the highlighted wording) to the Wild Horse Advisory Board webpage will give you the details of what the Advisory Board does and possibly the location for you to submit nominations to be a member of the group.  A number of Nevadans have served in various roles on this Advisory Board over the history of the Board.

Nevada Farm Bureau has also been approached by members who would like our Letter of Support for their nomination.  We’d be happy to consider such support for others who might be qualified for filling open seats.  Please contact us at doug@nvfb.org.