As I write this blog post, I'm wrapping up my first official day as the Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor for the UC Cooperative Extension Central Sierra office, based in San Andreas! While I'm new to this office, I feel a bit like I'm coming home again – I grew up just to the south outside of the town of Sonora. I'm excited to be back!

I suppose I should introduce myself! For the last seven years, I've served as the Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor for Placer, Nevada, Sutter, and Yuba Counties. Working with ranchers and rangeland managers, my research and extension program focused on increasing adaptive capacity in the face of intensifying drought and enormous wildfires. I also worked with producers to better understand options for decreasing livestock-predator conflicts (including both compensation programs and livestock protection tools). With increased interest in prescribed grazing and small ruminant production, I developed hands-on workshops on grazing management and animal husbandry, including the Sierra Nevada Cattle and Sheep Grazing School and the Shepherd Skills Workshop Series. Finally,  I helped lead a variety of agricultural business and peer-to-peer business planning workshops focused on economic viability for farmers and ranchers.

While most of my extended family is still in Tuolumne County, my wife Sami and I raised our daughters in the community of Auburn. We lived in Placer County since 1994. Sami, who passed away in 2023, was a large animal veterinarian; I also operated a part-time commercial sheep and targeted grazing business. With both of our daughters living out of state (one works for the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the other is a senior in rangeland management at the University of Idaho), I decided to accept a transfer closer to my family, to help care for my parents.

As you might imagine, moving 30 years' worth of accumulated “stuff,” including livestock and ranch equipment, has been quite a process! But I'm happy to be back in this part of the foothills. I'm excited to be working with some of the ranching families I've known since my first post-college job with the California Cattlemen's Association back in the early 1990s, and I'm excited to meet new ranchers and rangeland managers throughout El Dorado, Amador, Calaveras, and Tuolumne Counties!

While I suspect that much of the work I've been doing will be applicable in my new communities, I'm also excited about checking in with ranchers and land managers in the Central Sierra region to better understand your questions, concerns, and priorities! Over the coming months, I hope to meet with as many of you as possible!

Speaking of programs, I do have several workshops and webinars coming up!

• Prescribed Grazing for Consumption of Wildfire Fuels Webinar(hosted by the Yosemite-Sequoia Resource Conservation and Development Council) – October 17 @ 10am (register at: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/7b652431-0d3f-4597-a7e2-079086b3c156@5567effc-fa65-4b6b-ac58-4e233007351f)
• The Benefits of Multi-Species Grazing Webinar (hosted by the American Solar Grazing Association) – October 24 @ 4pm (Contact ASGA at https://solargrazing.org/ for more information).
• Climate-Smart Sheep Grazing Practices Field Day (at Cronan Ranch Regional Park near Pilot Hill, CA) – October 29 @ 10am (register at https://ucanr.edu/2024climatesmartsheep).

In the meantime, please don't hesitate to contact me! My email is dmacon@ucanr.edu. While I'm working on updating my website, I will regularly post new information to this blog! You can also follow me on social media:

• Facebook Foothill Sustainable Ranching: https://www.facebook.com/FoothillSustainableRanching)
• X (formerly Twitter): @flyingmulefarm
• Instagram: @flyingmule

I'm also part of a trio of folks who produces the Sheep Stuff Ewe Should Know podcast (available on Spotify or Apple Podcasts) - we try to cover everything from managing a livestock business to working with your veterinarian. I hope you'll check it out!