You know they still shoot cattle rustlers in Nevada. Lots of empty desert between Fernley, Fallon, Reno, Winnemuca..........
Fernly's just another small town with run-amok devolpement. Those cows were there long before you were and Farmer "Jones" probably has every right to be upset. What was once his 1000's of acres of grazing land is now someones subdivision. And no one bothered to ask Farmer Jones if they could encroach on his place.
Leave his cattle alone. Whats a little fertilizer gonna hurt? Heck, with the poor soil there, you need all you can get.