News Update

News Update
Feb. 27, 2007

Colorado Cattlemen Urge Feds for Aid

Hundreds of southeastern Colorado ranchers met at a community center in Springfield, Colo., Feb. 25 to urge state and federal representatives to provide assistance in offsetting winter-related losses, according to an article from the Denver Post.

In fact, cattlemen in 10 counties in the Eastern Plains haven’t received any financial assistance to help recover from the winter storms that hit the region earlier this winter. According to the article, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) denied the disaster relief because the losses did not meet 30% of production.

Producers told the Denver Post actual losses have been hard to figure, but with additional feed costs, equipment and snow-removal bills as well as decreases in animal weights, some area ranchers are estimating losses at $100,000 or more.

Ohio Workshop Teaches Calf Rearing

Livestock producers looking to brush up on their calf-rearing skills have the opportunity to attend an Ohio State University calf care and management workshop.

The Neonatal Calf Care and Management Workshop II will take place March 20-21 at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster, Ohio. The workshop is sponsored by The Extension Center at Wooster, Veterinary Preventive Medicine and the Department of Animal Sciences.

Registration is $190 per person and includes resource materials, weigh tapes, growth charts, two sets of disposable coveralls, booths and gloves for lab work, lab supplies, lunches and refreshments. Registration is $155 for those who participated in the 2006 Neonatal Calf or Heifer Care and Management Workshops. Be sure to bring your reference notebook. Registration is $155 per additional person. A $10 discounted rate is available for Ohio Dairy Producers Association members. The workshop will run from 9:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on March 20 and from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on March 21.

Topics of discussion will include diagnosis, treatment and prevention of calfhood diseases; assessing calf health; dehydration and fluid therapy; nutrition and growth; hygiene; and managing the calf enterprise. The workshop will also include lab work, roundtable discussions and an optional evening session on March 20.

For more information or to register, contact Dianne Shoemaker at (330) 257-3377 or shoemaker.3@osu.edu, or log on to http://dairy.osu.edu. Registration deadline is March 16, or until the workshop is full.

MU Thompson Farm Hosts Beef Workshop

A nutrition and reproduction workshop will be at the University of Missouri (MU) Thompson Farm at 4:30 p.m., March 13.

The session will cover recent advances in beef breeding research conducted at the farm, said David Patterson, MU Extension beef specialist. The farm is part of the MU Agricultural Experiment Station. Patterson will discuss synchronizing cows and heifers to be artificially inseminated (AIed) in one day.

Daniel Schafer, of MFA livestock division, will report on the value of using proven sires in AI breeding. Chris Zumbrunnen, regional livestock specialist, Milan, Mo., will discuss using ethanol byproducts as supplemental feed for cows on winter pastures, while MU Extension farm business specialist Joe Koenen will discuss beef-cow economics.

The program will run from 4:30 to 8 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m., said David McAtee, manager of the Thompson Farm. The program is free; however, advanced registration is required. Call Tamie Carr at (660) 895-5121 at the MU Forage Systems Research Center at Linneus, Mo.

USDA Announces International Assistance

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns Feb. 22 announced plans for more than $200 million in international assistance under the USDA’s Food for Progress and McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition programs for fiscal year (FY) 2007. The assistance will provide more than 330,000 tons of agricultural commodities that will benefit 17 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, the USDA reports.

The Food for Progress allocations announced today will benefit more than 1.4 million people in 10 countries. These new allocations are in addition to those previously announced that benefited another 718,000 people in two countries. The projects will be implemented by nonprofit organizations and the United Nations’ World Food Program.

The Food for Progress program provides U.S. agriculture commodities to developing countries and emerging democracies committed to introducing and expanding free enterprise in the agricultural sector

— compiled by Crystal Albers, associate editor, Angus Productions Inc.