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Farm Bureau warns of shrinking sheep herd, low crop margins and water uncertainty
Summary
Nevada Farm Bureau leaders told the committee that sheep numbers have fallen for decades, hay and crop margins are under pressure, and water-right certainty and transportation costs are key barriers to rural agricultural viability. They urged the legislature to press federal partners on grazing and to support water-right stability.
Bevan Lister, president of the Nevada Farm Bureau Federation, told the committee Nevada’s agricultural sector is facing persistent market and input pressures that affect family farms and ranches. He described commodity price declines for row crops and steep input-cost increases, and said alfalfa growers faced an average loss of about $203 per acre in 2025.
"Next year is gonna be better," Lister said, acknowledging the optimism that producers often express even while margins remain tight. He provided an estimate of Nevada’s sheep herd at about 68,000 head and traced the decline in sheep numbers to market pressure, labor shortages and increased competition from lower-cost imports.
Lister emphasized water-rights certainty as the single most critical policy lever for Nevada agriculture. He warned that conjunctive-management proposals and basin-combining actions at the state-engineer level could alter priority rights and harm producers who rely on senior water claims. "When we make those little changes to law, sometimes the implications are extensive," he said, asking the committee to consider water-right stability in future interim work.
Other items raised included transportation costs that sometimes make shipping hay uneconomic and the need to coordinate state aid or federal advocacy on bridge payments and farm-bill implementation. The Farm Bureau offered to work with the committee and the delegation on letters or outreach to USDA to ensure hay and specialty-crop issues receive attention.
Why it matters: the presentation connected statewide economic indicators to on-the-ground survival of family farms and rural communities, focusing legislative attention on water, transportation and trade as determinants of agricultural viability.
Next steps: Farm Bureau representatives suggested the legislature consider advocacy outreach to USDA and congressional delegation, and recommended the committee keep water-right certainty and grazing policy on its interim agenda.
