News Update
December 2, 2014
NFU Thanks USTR for Supporting Family Farmers, Ranchers, Consumers; Urges Congress to Keep Its COOL and Let Process Play Out
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson applauded the Nov. 28 decision by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to appeal the recent World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling on country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for family farmers, ranchers and consumers. Johnson also urged Congress to leave the labeling law alone and allow the WTO process to run its course.
“The decision today by the USTR to appeal the WTO ruling on COOL is the right thing to do for American family farmers, ranchers and consumers,” said Johnson. “The October WTO ruling found once again that the COOL law is WTO-compliant and acknowledged that the May 2013 USDA regulations were a significant improvement in terms of providing more accurate information to consumers. Nonetheless, the WTO incorrectly found the rules were noncompliant and an appeal is the obvious course of action.”
Johnson noted that this sentiment toward the labeling law is not echoed by large international meatpackers, who continually try to pressure Congress to repeal the law.
“American consumers have been crystal clear that they want to know where their food comes from and family farmers and ranchers are proud to provide it,” said Johnson. “The decision by the USTR to appeal the WTO’s erroneous finding demonstrates full support for American family farmers, ranchers and consumers.”
For more information, please view the full release here.
NCBA Environmental Stewardship Award Calls for Entries
Celebrating its 25th year, the Environmental Stewardship Award Program has opened its nomination season for the 2015 award. Established in 1991 by the National Cattlemen’s Foundation and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the program has recognized the outstanding stewardship practices and conservation achievements of U.S. cattle producers for more than two decades. Regional and national award winners are honored for their commitment to protecting the environment and improving fish and wildlife habitat, while operating profitable cattle businesses.
Seven regional winners and one national winner are selected annually by a committee of representatives from universities, conservation organizations, federal and state agencies, and cattle producers. The nominees compete for regional awards based on their state of residency, and these seven regional winners then compete for the national award. Candidates are judged on management of water, wildlife, vegetation and soil, as well as the nominee’s leadership and the sustainability of his or her business as a whole.
Any individual, group or organization is eligible to nominate one individual or business who raises or feeds cattle. Past nominees are eligible and encouraged to resubmit their application; previous winners may not reapply. Along with a completed application, the applicant must submit one nomination letter and three letters of recommendation highlighting the nominee’s leadership in conservation.
Applications for the 2015 ESAP award are due Mar. 6, 2015. For more information and a complete application packet, visit www.environmentalstewardship.org.
For more information, please view the full release here.
NCBA and PLC Accepting Summer Internship Applications
The NCBA’s and the Public Lands Council’s (PLC’s) government affairs offices in Washington, D.C., are accepting applications for the summer 2015 public policy internship. The deadline to submit an application is Feb. 9, 2015.
“NCBA and PLC provide opportunities that very few other internships can offer,” said John Weber, South Dakota State University animal science senior and spring 2014 intern. “They truly make you feel part of the team working on key policy issues that impact the beef industry. The internship gives you the opportunity to cover topics ranging from animal welfare to trade, and allows you the chance to advocate on behalf of the industry on Capitol Hill.”
The full-time internship will begin May 18, 2015 and end Aug. 21, 2015. To apply, interested college juniors, seniors or graduate students should submit the application, college transcripts, two letters of recommendation and a résumé to internships@beef.org. More information about the NCBA public policy internship is available on www.BeefUSA.org.
Conservis Announces New Functionality For Easier Crop Insurance Reporting & Settlements
Conservis Corp., the leading developers of cloud-based farm-management software, now offer farmers across North America a better way to submit crop insurance claims. This is the latest enhancement to the company’s flagship software platform that has helped farmers manage operations via desktop and mobile devices since 2009.
“Late fall can be an awful time for farmers,” said Pat Christie, Conservis CEO. “After the rush and exhaustion that comes from getting another harvest off the fields, producers are looking at their yields and assessing whether or not to submit an insurance claim. Whether it’s a revenue or yield protection claim, that can mean hours in the office hand-keying scale tickets, looking up historical production records and going back through a collection of input receipts, weather reports and more. More often than not, a claim like that will trigger a third-party appraisal and a lengthy delay in getting a check because so much information has to be re-keyed at every step of the process.”
“We have a better way,” Christie continued. “Conservis precisely tracks farm operations right down to the field level and in real-time. Claim documentation becomes ‘point-and click’ easy and quick, and insurers are more likely to accept claims as accurate and a settlement check is in your mailbox faster than ever. We’re calling on every farmer in North America to make this year the last year of hand entries, lengthy third-party verification and processing delays.”
Conservis’ farm-management software helps business-oriented operations keep more precise delivery records to know what’s leaving the farm, when and where it went, and generate more accurate inventory and ownership reports. The system is highly adaptable to farm needs from data gathering at the ground level to full-scale digital farm workflow and automation initiatives. The cloud-based, service-centric software comes with technical support and IT troubleshooting a phone call away.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Dee Ellis Receives 2014 International Association of Emergency Managers–USA Career Excellence Award
Dee Ellis, Texas’ state veterinarian and executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) was recently awarded the 2014 International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM–USA) Career Excellence Award. The IAEM–USA Career Excellence Award recognizes a national leader who has made significant contributions throughout his career to promote and improve the emergency management profession in the United States. This is the first time the award has been presented to a veterinarian.
Ellis has been involved with animal-related emergency response activities for more than 20 years. He played a major role for the TAHC in formalizing animal disaster plans for the state of Texas, as a result of numerous large-scale disease and natural disaster events that impacted the state. The TAHC is now considered the state’s lead agency for animal-disaster-related events and utilizes an all-hazard approach to ensure appropriate plans and response contingencies are in place for disease, man-made and natural disasters affecting animals.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Calving Schools Planned in January
With calving season just around the corner, Kansas State University (K-State) Research and Extension will host calving schools in five locations Jan. 6, 7 or 8, with a focus on challenges producers can face during this critical period.
Veterinarian Dave Rethorst, with the Beef Cattle Institute will address such topics as signs of calving, differentiating between normal and abnormal calving and how to manage a difficult birth.
“Producers have a significant investment in each cow and getting her to a full-term pregnancy. Losing calves at or near birth is an economic loss, but it is often a personal loss too and can leave producers asking themselves ‘what if’ type questions on how they might have saved a particular calf,” said Sandy Johnson, extension livestock specialist based at K-State’s Northwest Research-Extension Center in Colby. “Continued sharpening of our skills when it comes to saving calves is time well spent for anyone that calves cows.”
In addition to the calving portion of the program, producers can ask questions on any topic to Rethorst or K-State Research and Extension beef specialists Justin Waggoner and Sandy Johnson.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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