News Update

News Update
Oct. 2, 2007

Kansas Angus Association Seeks Consignments for Commercial Angus Female Sale

The Kansas Angus Association (KAA) will sponsor the 16th annual commercial Angus replacement female sale at Pratt Livestock, Pratt, Kan. The sale is set for 1 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 1, and the KAA is currently seeking consignments of young age cows, bred and open heifers.

Females must be consigned in minimum five-head lots, with all females being seven years of age or younger. To qualify for this special sale, the females must meet Certified Angus Beef ^® (CAB^®) program phenotypic specifications — predominantly black-hided; (black-white faces and/or “baldies” will be accepted); have typical beef-type conformation (no visible dairy influence); and be without long floppy ears and hump (no visible Brahman influence).

The sale welcomes bred cows and heifers to calve in the spring of 2008; fall pairs, cows or heifers to calve in the fall 2008; and open heifers.

Those interested in consigning cattle to the sale may contact Gordon Stucky at 620-532-3220 or e-mail circlesangus@pixius.net or Mike Lewis at 620-672-5961. Entries will be accepted up to Nov. 19. A significant regional and national advertising program is planned to inform potential buyers of the sale and individual consignments. The sale will also offer online bidding at www.cattleusa.com for buyers unable to attend the sale in person.

Angus seedstock producers are encouraged to help inform their commercial bull customers of this sale as an option for producers to market source-verified Angus genetics. The AngusSource^® program sponsored by the American Angus Association will also be promoted at this sale. Consignors do not have to be members of the KAA.

Another KAA commercial female sale will be next spring at JC Livestock in Junction City, Kan. For more information on the KAA and its projects, visit www.kansasangus.org or contact Anne Lampe, Secretary/Manager at 620-872-3915 or kansasangus@wbsnet.org.

— Release provided by the American Angus Association.

Study Says Great Plains Vulnerable to Rising Energy Costs, Biofuels Demand

It’s harvest time on the Great Plains, and a new study shows how energy prices and the demand for biofuels are affecting the nation’s breadbasket.

The study by researchers at Colorado State University (CSU) and the University of Michigan reveals that, although Great Plains agricultural production, population and income trends have been surprisingly stable during the past 100 years, the recent rise of energy prices offers challenges and opportunities for the future of the region.

Published in the October 2007 issue of BioScience, the study examines whether it is possible, in the long term, to maintain agriculturally-orientated populations in the Great Plains region as well as in similar regions around the world. In the United States, the Great Plains region encompasses the broad expanse of prairie and steppe east of the Rocky Mountains.

“Great Plains agricultural production has increased, while rural populations and agricultural income have remained stable during the last 40 years. These trends are a result of large increases in irrigated agriculture, livestock production and federal farm payments,” said William Parton, senior research scientist at Colorado State’s Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory.

The study shows that the region is not homogeneous, with different experiences in three broad categories of counties: those with metropolitan cities, those with rural populations and irrigated agriculture, and those with rural populations but without irrigated agriculture. Metropolitan counties grew rapidly in the Great Plains during the past 75 years, just as they have elsewhere in the United States.

“Our key findings apply to rural, agricultural areas,” said Myron Gutmann, director of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research and professor of history at the University of Michigan. “Rural areas with irrigation have done surprisingly well, sustained by increases in production of crops and livestock. Their ability to produce large quantities of corn gives them great potential because demand for biofuels has doubled the price of corn. Even though rural areas without irrigation lost population prior to 1970, their populations, agricultural production and incomes have kept up fairly well since then.”

Despite long-term stability and positive future potential, price increases of the past three years create uncertainty about the sustainability of recent trends. Growing demand for grain can increase profits for farmers and produce work that will add to population. At the same time, agriculture on the Great Plains uses large amounts of energy for irrigation and equipment, and energy prices drive up the cost of fertilizer. It is not yet possible to see how well farmers, their employees and their neighbors will do in the changing environment of rising prices for the energy they consume and the food and fiber they produce.

This study of sustained trends indicates that many of the potential threats to the Great Plains that have worried the local population, scientists and policy makers in the past are less significant in a long-term context than those threats may have appeared at one moment or another. Nevertheless, the region’s reliance on agriculture, the variability of weather and the ever-changing demands of the market means that nothing is ever settled for long and that changes are always just around the corner. For more information, visit www.icpsr.umich.edu/PLAINS.

— Article provided by CSU. Dennis Ojima, senior scholar-in-residence at the H. John Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, Washington, D.C., co-authored this paper with Parton and Gutmann.

Safety Concerns Demand Extra Attention During Harvest

With the harvest in full swing, a lot of grain must move from field to storage, demanding extra safety precautions.

“The first rule is that the harvest is no place for children. There are really no safe play areas around harvesting equipment,” said Bill Casady, University of Missouri (MU) Extension agricultural engineer.

“Never allow children to climb into grain trucks or wagons. Children have been lost to grain-drowning or sucked into a stream of flowing grain. Just remember that neither a child nor an adult can escape from flowing grain,” he said.

Multiple injuries or fatalities also can occur in stored grain. The force required to free a trapped worker in grain is often as much as four times the weight of the person. It is worse with flowing grain. There is no footing to pull from, and the victim cannot hold on tightly enough to be freed from the grain.

“Never enter a bin alone. Wear a full-body safety harness and an approved rope. Have an informed person on the ground who can get help. Lock out any controls that could start the equipment,” Casady said.

A portable auger and close quarters is an electrocution hazard. Electric utilities are often lower than surrounding bins and other structures. Multiple accidents or deaths can occur as a second person attempts a rescue.

Public highways are another source of danger for farm machinery operators. Farm machinery travels slowly. Use flashing lights and a slow moving vehicle (SMV) emblem. Replace old SMV signs with newer ones. They’ve been improved, and the older ones have probably faded. Run with lights on, Casady said.

Never get out of the combine without shutting off the header. If a part needs repair, idle down and shut off the threshing components.

— Article provided by MU Extension.

USDA Awards $22.3M for Distance Learning, Telemedicine Grants

Acting Agriculture Secretary Conner yesterday announced the selection of 78 grant recipients for Distance Learning and Telemedicine grants totaling $22.3 million in 31 states.

“These grants connect rural communities to educational programs and medical services that bridge the miles between doctors and patients and provide classroom teaching at the touch of a button,” Conner said.

The Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program was created to improve access to education and medical services through the use of technology. Of the grants announced, 38 will provide access to medical services and 40 will be used to improve educational opportunities. The grant funds will be awarded to the selected recipients contingent upon meeting the conditions of the grant agreement.

A complete list of grant recipients is available at www.icpsr.umich.edu/PLAINS.

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