News Update

November 19, 2015

Jera Pipkin Crowned
Miss American Angus

As the fifth-generation on Clearwater Farm near Springfield, Mo., a passion for the Angus breed has been with Jera Pipkin her entire life.

With a giant smile and enthusiastic personality, she captivated the judges and was crowned the 2016 Miss American Angus during the American Angus Association’s Awards Recognition Breakfast Nov. 5, hosted as part of the National Angus Convention & Trade Show in Overland Park, Kan.

“The red jacket is an opportunity for me to tell my story,” Pipkin said. “It’s an opportunity for me to connect with breeders and younger kids to tell them my own experiences and how Angus can change your life.”

A freshman at Oklahoma State University, Pipkin studies animal science and agricultural communications. She is the daughter of Jim and Joann Pipkin. Founded in 1933, Clearwater Farm has been recognized as a Historic Herd by the American Angus Association and that family history and heritage is something Pipkin treasures.

Read more about her in the full Angus news release online.

— Adapted from a release by Jena McRell, Angus Media.

WOTUS Guidance Would Result in Continued Confusion

If federal agencies are left the task of developing implementation guidance for the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, the result will be a continuation of the rule’s “liabilities, confusion and chaos.” Issuing guidance can’t fix a broken rule, according to a letter the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and other farm groups sent to members of the Senate who voted to oppose bipartisan legislation (S. 1140) seeking to revise the rule.

The groups encouraged the Senators to support any new effort in the Senate “to direct the agencies not to implement this rule and initiate a new, more responsible, balanced and lawful rulemaking.” According to the letter, if the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers are allowed to issue guidance for the implementation of the WOTUS rule, such guidance will be of no assistance to address the rule’s flaws, since many stem directly from the language used by the agencies in the final rule.

For more information, please view the Farm Bureau news release online.

— Adapted from a release by the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Lacey Sutherlin Joins ABS Global

Working in western Montana, Lacey Sutherlin will be delivering the full array of ABS products and services. She will be providing turn-key breeding projects with synchronization, heat detection and a portable breeding barn, as well as providing nitrogen fill service for semen customers.

Sutherlin has successfully conducted artificial insemination (AI) schools and will arrange AI training as needed throughout Montana and parts of northern Wyoming. Lacey will be leading a team of ABS representatives and assisting them with sales and breeding services.

Sutherlin’s previous work at ORIgen has allowed her to develop many relationships within the purebred industry, both nationally and internationally. That experience has given her key insight into the cattle industry for emerging trends, needs, concerns and future direction.

For more information, view the ABS release online.

— Adapted from a release by Andy Zich, ABS Global, Inc.

A Farmer’s Share of Thanksgiving

National Farmers Union (NFU) released a special Thanksgiving version of its popular Farmer’s Share of the Retail Food Dollar publication. The Thanksgiving version compares the retail value of traditional Thanksgiving food items to the amount the farmer receives for each item.

“Farmers and ranchers today are receiving only 15.8¢ for every dollar spent on retail food items,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “Thanksgiving is the perfect time to raise awareness of this fact and give thanks to farmers for what they do every day to put food on your dinner table.”

Johnson noted that the 15 food items of the Thanksgiving Farmer’s Share averaged just 19.4¢ out of every food dollar for the American farmer.

Among some of the more startling statistics include: wheat farmers receive just 7¢ from the $3.39 consumers spend on a 15-ounce box of stuffing; turkey farmers net just over half (93¢) of the retail value for a pound of turkey ($1.78); and pumpkin farmers receive 25¢, a mere 6.4%, of the $3.89 spent for canned pumpkin pie mix.

For more information, view the full NFU news release online.

— Adapted from a release by Andrew Jerome, National Farmers Union.

BIG Conference Features Cattle Marketing, Welfare

Cattle marketing options, animal welfare standards and herd restocking will be featured topics at the 2016 Blackland Income Growth (BIG) conference set for Jan. 5-6 at the Waco Convention Center.

The beef session will feature the following topics and speakers: animal welfare standards, five freedoms of cattle, Ron Gill, AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist and associate department head for animal science at Texas A&M University, College Station; cattle marketing options, Jason Banta, AgriLife Extension livestock specialist, Overton; restocking and growing a quality herd, a panel discussion.

Beef session attendees will receive 2.5 Beef Quality Assurance credits, and several sessions will award continuing education units. Producers can download the brochure at http://bit.ly/1WwKzd4 to see specific continuing education credit allocations, sessions and speakers.

For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.

— Adapted from a release by Blair Fannin, Texas AgriLife Communications.

— Compiled by Paige Nelson, field editor, Angus Journal.