News Update

News Update
April 25, 2007

Make Plans for Angus Foundation Golf Tournament

The 7th Annual Angus Foundation Golf Tournament will be Tuesday, July 3 at the Forest Ridge Golf Club in Broken Arrow, Okla., in conjunction with the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS).

This event provides an opportunity for Angus enthusiasts of all ages to join together in a day of fun and recreation while raising money to support the Angus Foundation’s education, youth and research programs.

Many levels of sponsorship are available for the tournament. For planning purposes, payments for sponsorships must be received by Tuesday, May 1, 2007. Prior year sponsors will be given first consideration.

Player entry fees will again be $100 for adults and $75 for junior Angus members. Player registrations must be received by Friday, June 15, 2007. A late fee of $10 will be applied to players registering after June 15. Teams of four will compete for top prizes. Players can form their own teams or be assigned to a team the day of the tournament.

To receive your sponsorship or player registration brochure, contact the Angus Foundation at 816-383-5100, or go to www.angusfoundation.org to download the forms.

— Release provided by the American Angus Association.

Global Warming to Affect Colorado Grasslands

New research results from Colorado State University (CSU) suggest that the effects of rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and global warming will lead to an increase in grass production and a decline in forage quality for grasslands of eastern Colorado and Wyoming.

Study results suggest that both elevated CO₂ and warming will increase grass production, but the quality of the vegetation will decrease due to lower nitrogen (N) concentration in the forage. William Parton, researcher from CSU’s Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL) and researcher Jack Morgan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS) studied the effects of warming, increased CO₂ levels and the combination of both factors on eastern Colorado grasslands to predict how global warming will affect these ecosystems.

Results revealed that elevated atmospheric CO₂ levels always increase grass growth; however, warming can have both positive and negative effects on plant production.

“The potential impact of elevated CO₂ levels on Colorado and Wyoming grasslands is mixed since grass production will likely increase while digestibility of forage and cattle weight gains will likely decrease,” Parton said. “Increased air temperatures will have a mixed impact with plant production increasing in wet years and decreasing in dry years.”

These predictions are based on results from an ecosystem model developed using data from locally observed climatic change experiments that will continue during the next five to 10 years.

In this experiment, CSU and ARS scientists were able to use empirical knowledge from relatively short-term experiments combined with ecosystem models to predict long-term ecosystem responses to the effects of global warming. The scientists used results from a five-year-long CO₂enrichment experiment conducted in northern Colorado to test CO₂ impacts in the Daycent ecosystem model. They also used field data from the experiment site, Prairie Heating and CO₂ Enrichment or PHACE, located in southern Wyoming that will continue for the next five to 10 years.

The scientists observed that doubling CO₂ levels caused strong and consistent increases in grass growth, which was due to improved water-use efficiency. Under the elevated CO₂ levels, it was also found that plant nitrogen content was declining in native grasslands. This is a critical matter for livestock and for native animals that have grazed these prairies for thousands of years. Increased CO₂ dilutes nitrogen concentration in grazing vegetation. Animals require sufficient forage protein nitrogen to sustain normal weight gains.

— Release provided by CSU.

AMI Urges Congres to Minimize Effects of Ethanol Policy

American Meat Institute (AMI) President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) J. Patrick Boyle submitted testimony last week to the House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures. Boyle stated Congress and the Administration should consider tax incentives and other legislative vehicles to support energy-based opportunities for animal agriculture because of the increased demands on corn from the ethanol industry.

Boyle said that dramatically increased demand for corn has pressed market forces to demand higher feed prices. As a result, animal agriculture producers are considering alternatives to their feeding, nutrition, and dietary regimen, which, Boyle stated, affects meat and poultry quality, consumer offerings, livestock and poultry farm efficiency, and the management of livestock and poultry operations

Boyle urged Congress to take actions to mitigate the effect of dramatically increased corn demand, noting that doing so would “ultimately place the United States in a more competitive position in terms of energy security, diversity and availability.”

For more information, visit www.meatami.com.

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