Fallon farmers discuss support and challenges of USDA

Ag Secretary Torres Small visits Abe's Hay'n' Feed in Fallon:

In August, U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres-Small visited L.C. Schank and Sons in Fallon, most commonly known as Abe's Hay 'N' Feed.

Deputy Secretary Torres-Small was present to tour the farm and understand the Shanks' effective water efficiency and irrigation practices in Northern Nevada's arid climate.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has committed to investing hundreds of millions of dollars in irrigation districts across twelve states in the West.

The Truckee Carson Irrigation District will receive funding to improve water delivery to farms in Fallon.

History of L.C. Schank and Sons:

Ernie Schank is the great-great-grandson of German-Swiss Latter-day Saints who fled religious persecution in Europe and migrated to the U.S. around the turn of the twentieth century.

Ernie's great-grandfather. L.C. Schank was a distinguished vocational agriculture student at the Agricultural College of Utah, now Utah State University.

In 1939, L.C. Schank, a teacher in Fallon, bought the family's first plot for farming and ranching land. The farm was initially focused on dairy, but Ernie Schank later shifted the focus to predominantly growing alfalfa, along with rotation crops of corn and wheat.

"My grandfather told me for 168 acres, he paid 4,000 dollars," Ernie Schank said.

Ernie and his son Abe are the third and fourth-generation owners, respectively. The original 160 has grown to more than 900 acres.

Water Rights and Irrigation in Fallon:

Ernie Schank has extensive knowledge of local and federal irrigation and water rights politics.

"I spent 24 years on the irrigation board; I was 20 years as the president. We made a huge settlement that has allowed us to live in relative peace for the last six years. We settled lawsuits that have been on the books for 30-plus years," said Ernie Schank.

For two decades, Ernie Schank served as the President of the Truckee Carson Irrigation District. During this time, he spent a significant amount of time in Washington D.C., collaborating with Senator Harry Reid, other congressional members, and educating federal regulators about the realities of farming in Northern Nevada.

"And, that's one of the problems we have dealing with Washington D.C., everybody and a lot of the ones that are on the Ag Committee are from places where they get rain. A lot of them have never been here and they don't understand irrigation, they don't understand putting water on the soil," said Ernie Schank, "So, I spent a lot of my life trying to educate people."

The majority of Ernie Schank's land is designated with "land conservation easements" under agreements with Naval Air Station Fallon, meaning most of the Schanks' land will never be developed into housing or infrastructure in perpetuity. Ernie Schank did this to keep farming the family business.

Naval Air Station Fallon Land Conservation Easements: 

"I figured if my sons and grandson eventually get tired, well, they're not going to get the premium," said Ernie Schank. I want to preserve the farm. I want to preserve the legacy that my grandfather and my father gave to me, and that I am giving to my son and grandsons."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has pledged hundreds of millions to build out water irrigation in the West.

"If we could line our dirt ditches with pipe or concrete, we would get more irrigation," said Ernie Schank.

Ernie's son Abe, who started the new operation "Abe's Hay 'N' Feed" several years ago, which has become a huge business, is concerned that the federal funding will not be used efficiently.

"We don't have sprinkler irrigation in this valley, so if somebody wanted to use the funds for that, which could be done, it's kind of an unknown in this valley," said Abe Schank.

We joined national Washington D.C. agriculture reporter Jerry Hagstrom who is a prize-winning agricultura journalist, book author, and commentor. In addition to his own daily emailed newsletter, The Hagstrom Report,  he was an Ag columnist for the National Journal, He reaches farmers, ranchers and agribusiness throughout the country with his work for the Ag Progressive Farmer/DTN news service in Omaha, Nebraska.

In addition to spending the bulk of his time in Washington D.C., Hagstrom owns his farm between Wilton and Regan, North Dakota. It's nearby the original Scandinavian homestead his great grandparents settled around the turn of the 20th Century.

From Wilton to Washington D.C. - The Remarkable Journey of Jerry Hagstrom.