We can't hold on to it no more now. Capurro's working collection of antique farm equipment. Photo by J.D. Wilson. Capurro blames it on the same process that paved over the original ranch - growth. Over the past 40 years, Capurro has watched the cities of Reno and Sparks push outward, enveloping prime pasture along the way.
Expansion is just the most visible threat to ranchers.
The cost of doing business has gone up, and the price of beef has gone down. To compound the problem, Capurro says foreign beef that meets the same regulatory standards is sold on the same market. Consumers often don't know whose beef they're buying. Capurro sees the environmental movement as a threat, too. He qualifies this by saying the original ideas are good, they just carried too far.