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Industry Update — Upcoming Events

Range Beef Cow Symposium
Food Supply And Bio-Security Topic of Annual Workshop
S.D. Stockgrowers Plan for December Meeting in Brookings

Range Beef Cow Symposium
Angus Productions Inc. (API) will provide online real-time coverage of the 2003 Range Beef Cow Symposium, December 9-11. Boehringer Ingelhiem Vetmedica, Inc., will sponsor the site.

The Web site www.rangebeefcow.com will feature highlights of the three-day event to be held at the Scotts Bluff County Fairgrounds Events Center at Mitchell, Neb. Producers can logon to the site to view synopses and photos from the event, as well as download audio recordings of the presentations.
“We are excited to provide coverage of another industry event to those producers who can not get away from home,” says Angie Denton, director of Web Marketing for API. “Even those who do attend the Range Beef Cow Symposium can review the information given and review speakers’ presentations from their own computers when they get home from this event.”

Range Beef Cow Symposium is a biannual educational program co-sponsored by Departments of Animal Science and the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Wyoming, University of Nebraska, South Dakota State University and Colorado State University.

For more information about the online coverage of this event or other real-time coverage sites contact the API Web Marketing department at 1-800-821-5478 or webmarketing@angusjournal.com.
API is a division of the American Angus Association and produces the Angus Journal and Angus Beef Bulletin.


Food Supply And Bio-Security Topic of Annual Workshop

Maintaining a secure and safe food supply for the United States in the wake of global terrorism will be the topic for the annual Nick Petry workshop beginning at 9:45 a.m. Dec. 12 in the stadium arena at the National Western Stock Show complex in Denver. The workshop is sponsored by Colorado State University's Western Center for Integrated Resource Management and the National Western Scholarship Trust.

The workshop will feature nationally-known experts including Colorado State researchers, who will address animal disease and bioterrorism, and an animal identification expert from Conti-Beef.

Colorado State President Larry Penley will give remarks about the university's land-grant response to animal industry issues such as animal disease and bioterrorism.

Keynote speaker Don Ament, Colorado commissioner of agriculture, will address animal industry issues specific to the state of Colorado.

Dr. Terry Spraker, veterinarian and Colorado State professor of microbiology, immunology and pathology, will address chronic wasting disease in Colorado. Spraker works primarily with wild and domestic mammals and birds and has been instrumental in developing a diagnostic test that identifies and monitors chronic wasting disease in wildlife and livestock.

Mike Thoren, animal identification expert with Conti-Beef, will discuss the company's strategies for tracking animals to address animal disease and bioterrorism issues in the food supply. Conti-Beef is among the largest animal feeding operations in the world and has been an industry leader in using new technology to track individual animals. The company boasts a reputation for its environmentally-friendly management strategies. Its corporate offices are located in Boulder.

Gary Smith, Monfort chair and professor of meat sciences at Colorado State, will discuss changes in the beef industry since 9/11 and the subsequent creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Because bioterrorism could be directed toward animal agriculture, Smith will discuss how the implementation of birth-to-consumption, complete and rapid trace-back capabilities would be effective in minimizing the extent of and deterring an act of agricultural or food bioterrorism.

Dr. Dick Bowen, veterinarian and Colorado State professor of biomedical sciences, will discuss the impact of West Nile virus on agriculture. Bowen will discuss how West Nile virus is an example of an emerging pathogen that has been known for decades in parts of Africa, Asia and Europe. Its appearance in 1999 in New York was followed by dissemination throughout most of the continental United States, as well as into Canada and Mexico. Humans and horses are the two species most commonly affected by West Nile virus. In both species, a majority of those infected either fail to develop any disease or have a mild, flu-like illness. However, a significant fraction of people and horses infected with this virus suffer severe disease and die from the infection. Bowen will discuss control efforts that are focused on development of vaccines for both humans and animals and on enhancing methods for control of mosquito populations.

The workshop will conclude with a question-and-answer session with Bowen, Spraker, Thoren and Smith; State Veterinarian Wayne Cunningham; and Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture Don Ament.

Lunch is provided at the workshop and RSVPS are required. For reservations, call Andrea at 303-297-1167 or e-mail admin@nationalwestern.com.


S.D. Stockgrowers Plan for December Meeting in Brookings
Issues to discuss: Harding County Land Lockout, Canadian Border

South Dakota Stockgrowers Association President Ken Knuppe, Buffalo Gap, S.D., invites everyone to attend their upcoming Quarterly Meeting at the Staurolite Inn in Brookings, S.D., December 1-2, 2003.

"We have a great lineup of speakers covering a wide range of topics - there will surely be something for everyone there." Knuppe said, adding that the Stockgrowers hope that professors and students from South Dakota State University will plan to take part in the event. "Lots of us are alumni of SDSU, and we’ve got great memories of the college. We’re looking forward to catching up with some old friends and meeting new people too."

Knuppe says some of the speakers that SDSU professors, students, local producers and legislators might find interesting include R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard, Game, Fish and Parks Commissioner and Harding County rancher Merton Clarkson, owner and manager of an independent beef processing plant, Randy Jones, SDSU’s own Dean of the College of Ag and Bio, Dr. Fred Cholick.

Mark Devries, Belvidere, S.D., chairman of the Wildlife Management Committee, where Merton Clarkson will speak, says, "I encourage everyone to attend our committee meeting on December 1st at 4:30 to hear Mert speak. He’s planning to discuss the land lockout taking place in Harding County and the issues they’ve addressed the state Game, Fish and Parks about. The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association supports the efforts of those landowners to communicate with the Game, Fish and Parks and we look forward to some positive changes within the agency."

Rick Fox, South Dakota Stockgrowers Association Vice President from Hermosa, S.D., says that since the USDA proposed rules for re-opening the border with Canada to live cattle, that will be a hot topic of discussion in the Marketing Committee meeting. "I’m sure the border issue will be on the front of everyone’s minds." Fox said. "To address concerns and answer questions about that and other trade and marketing issues, we’re excited to have Bill Bullard, the CEO of R-CALF USA speak during dinner on December 1st. R-CALF has been the voice for independent cattle producers on a national level. They aggressively support a number of issues important to the independent livestock industry, including Country of Origin Labeling. We encourage everyone with an interest in the ag industry to hear Bill speak."

For more information visit www.southdakotastockgrowers.org.

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