News Update

News Update
Jan. 7, 2008

Kansas State University student wins beef scholarship

Ten outstanding students pursuing careers in the beef industry have each been awarded a $1,500 scholarship provided by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME) Group and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation (NCF). The CME Group has sponsored this scholarship program for 18 years.

Each scholarship winner wrote a 750-word essay that identified key issues confronting the beef industry and suggesting possible ways of dealing with those issues.

The overall scholarship winner, Rebecca Tokach of Saint Anthony, N.D., was awarded an all-expense-paid trip to the 2008 Cattle Industry Annual Convention and Trade Show in Reno, Nev., where she will be recognized during the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Awards Program Lunch Feb. 9.

Tokach, a National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) Director, is a junior at Kansas State University (K-State) in Manhattan. As a student, the award will allow her an opportunity to gain a better and broader understanding of the cattle industry.

The additional nine scholarship recipients are:

Annie Doerr, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Mollie Dorrance, Colorado State University
Clinton Laflin, Eureka (Kansas) High School
Bryan Edward Luark, Colorado State University
Elise Marchant, Oakley (Idaho) High School
Amanda Nolz, South Dakota State University
Jared Williams, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
J.W. Wood, Colorado State University
Jason Zwilling, Oklahoma State University

“We are very proud to be partnering with the CME Group to offer young people the opportunity to advance their careers in the beef industry,” noted Bob Josserand, chairman of the NCF Board of Trustees.

EU Ambassador accuses U.S. of double standard on beef trade

The U.S. has a double standard when it comes to beef trade rules around bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), according to Ambassador John Bruton, Head of the European Union (EU) Commission Delegation to the U.S.

“For example, the EU and the U.S. worked together in 2005 in the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) to forge a global agreement and recognition of the fact that boneless beef, under 30 months of age, does not pose any BSE risk. This very agreement is used to promote U.S. beef exports in Asia, yet, at the start of 2008, EU exports of boneless beef under 30 months to the USA are still blocked — supposedly because of BSE. This is a double standard,” Bruton said in a news release.

“The EU has yet to receive OIE designation for BSE,” U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Press Secretary Keith Williams told Meatingplace.com when asked to comment on Bruton’s charges.

Bruton also voiced concern that the latest semi-annual regulatory agenda for U.S. government agencies did not include specific planned actions to address the concerns of European exporters about the U.S. market.

“We need to make more progress toward equivalence in the meat sector…we need to move more quickly toward risk-based inspections and away from the costly blanket approach,” he said, questioning why USDA inspectors will spend more than 300 days in 2008 between January and September inspecting European meat plants, while EU inspectors will spend only about 30 days in the U.S. during this period.

Williams said there’s a reason for that. “Each of the EU nations has different standards and its own methods. Thus, auditing more than 20 countries’ varying food safety systems is quite different than auditing plants within one country’s system,” he said.

— From a Meatingplace.com report.

Brazilian team headed to Europe to fight beef restrictions

Brazil is beginning the New Year with a resolution to renegotiate with the EU following its decision last month to place new restrictions on Brazilian beef imports effective Jan. 31.

A Brazilian delegation is slated to visit Europe Jan. 14 to resume discussions and has asked that the European Commission present technical information on which it based its restrictions.

“If they can’t present us one technical claim, I think Brazil needs to file a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO),” Antenor Nogueira, president of Permanent Forum of Livestock Cutting, a division of the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CAN), told Meatingplace.com. “The EU needs to respect Brazilian production. Brazil comprises 33% of the world’s beef trade.”

In 2008, the EU will need 800,000 metric tons of imported beef to satisfy the demand of its 27 member countries.

“Ireland and England are pressuring the EU to restrict imports from Brazil because they need to raise their beef prices,” Nogueira said. “Their cost of production is very high, so Brazil’s absence boosts their prices.”

According to Nogueira, Spain, Portugal, Holland and other major beef distributors support Brazil’s efforts.

Several other Brazilian missions to Europe and to the OIE for negotiations aimed at eliminating the restrictions are planned for the latter half of January.

But in Brazil, meatpackers are having difficulty finding cattle ready for export to Europe because Brazil’s Central-West region, the country's largest cattle production region, hasn’t received enough rain to develop enough grass to sufficiently feed livestock.

— From a Meatingplace.com report.

Nine steps to herd health planning

A health program is essential for improving efficiency on any cow-calf operation, including evaluating herd health goals and developing a written document that summarizes the needs of the operation. This process of planning health needs for the entire year can result in considerable cost savings and assures product availability by contracting arrangements with animal health suppliers.

The following steps from Glenn Rogers, cow-calf veterinary operations manager for Pfizer Animal Health, guide producers through developing a health plan to fit the goals of their operation.

Developing a herd health plan

Work with a local veterinarian. A veterinarian will help you tailor a plan to fit your specific operation’s goals.
Determine the optimal time of year for calving/breeding season. Because the circumstances are always changing, the season should be periodically reevaluated.
Determine the optimal length for calving/breeding season. This depends on the goals of your operation, management resources, geography, breed and other factors.
Research diseases and parasites significant in the region. Local veterinarians are knowledgeable about regional issues and can help offer the right solutions for your operation.
Determine the ideal time to administer preventive measures for each disease/condition. Vaccinating at the correct time can help maximize performance.
Determine which health and management practices will require cattle handling. Then, package the health management practices into a limited number of working sessions.
Develop a one-page plan summary. Successful planning combines immunology, management and economics into a simple, cost-effective program.
Select reputable products that are backed by research results that prove their levels of effectiveness.
Periodically update programs. As management changes occur and improved products make their way to the market, the health plan should be adjusted to be most efficient for the operation.

— From a Pfizer Animal Health release.

Crop and Livestock Insurance Programs Offered

A series of meetings designed to help Kansas and Colorado crop and livestock producers learn about Adjusted Gross Revenue-Lite (AGR-Lite) and other risk management programs is planned for several locations in the two states.

The nine meetings are sponsored by Kansas State University’s (K-State) Department of Agricultural Economics and K-State Research and Extension; Colorado State University; the USDA Risk Management Agency; and Farm Credit Associations of Kansas.

Topics to be covered at each meeting include: an update from the USDA Risk Management Agency, an introduction to AGR-Lite, a description of what is covered under AGR-Lite, a description of how is coverage established and how are claims calculated; and issues with AGR-Lite.

Each meeting will also include examples and time for questions and discussion. The dates, locations and contact information for each location are:

Jan. 21, Wichita, Kan. — Farm Credit of Central Kansas office, 7940 W. Kellogg Dr.; Ed Frey, 316-721-1100;
Jan. 23, Garden City, Kan. — Clarion Inn, 1911 E. Kansas Ave.; Holly Pruitt,
620-275-4281;
Jan. 24, Manhattan, Kan. — K-State’s International Grains Program Conference Center, 1980 Kimball; Janet McPherson, 785-776-6955;
Feb. 5, Larned, Kan. — High Plains Farm Credit office, 605 Main St.; Curt Schmidtberger, 785-625-2110;
Feb. 8, Ness City, Kan. — Historic Bank Building, 102 W. Main; Eldon Pfannenstiel, 785-798-2278;
Feb. 18, La Junta or Rocky Ford, Colo. — Location to be determined; Norm Dalsted, 970-491-5627;
Feb. 19, Brush, Colo. — Events Center/Morgan Co. Fairgrounds; Norm Dalsted, 970-491-5627;
Feb. 20, Colby, Kan. — Community Building, 285 E. 5th St.; Virgil Jones, 785-462-2382; and
Feb. 21, Baldwin, Kan. — Frontier Farm Credit office, 1270 N. 300 Rd.; Janet McPherson, 785-776-6955.

All of the meetings, except the Colby meeting, will begin at 1p.m. and end at 4p.m. The Colby meeting begins at 10a.m. and runs until 5p.m., with a meal included.

More information about the meetings is available by calling the contact person listed for the site of interest.

— From a K-State Research and Extension release.

— compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc. (API).