News Update
March 10, 2008

American Angus Association Launches Producer Priority Finder

The American Angus Association® has created an online tool to help commercial cow-calf producers identify the most important management priorities for their individual operations. This interactive tool allows producers to assess where they are the strongest and weakest in their management strategies to determine where they should place their management priorities in order to increase profitability in their cow herd.

“We realize that there are so many management areas that affect profitability on the ranch,” says Ty Groshans, Association director of commercial programs. Some management areas, such as labor and herd health, producers can control; others, such as the climate and the economy, are somewhat out of their reach.

“The Producer Priority Finder allows producers to look at 15 management practices to evaluate where they might need to place more emphasis to make their operation more profitable,” Groshans explains.

The Producer Priority Finder is an online tool that allows producers to rank on a scale of 1 to 5 their strongest and weakest areas of 15 management categories, based on the results of a 2006 study conducted by Tom Field titled, “Priorities First: Identifying Management Priorities in the Commercial Cow-Calf Business.” Once a producer ranks the management strategies, the Priority Finder results reveal the five areas of greatest weakness, areas where the producer should place more emphasis on his or her operation.

“Cow-calf producers are overwhelmed by their workload along with the massive volumes of available information and advice on individual aspects of their business. We hope producers find this tool useful in staying profitable,” Groshans says.

The Producer Priority Finder can be accessed online at www.angus.org. Producers who want more information about the top 15 management priorities can access an online version of “Priorities First” or request a printed copy of the 32-page report by contacting the Association’s Communications Department.

— Release provided by the American Angus Association.

USDA Announces No Partial Crop Payments

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced March 4 that, because market prices are high, producers with corn, grain sorghum, soybeans and/or other oilseed base acres enrolled in USDA’s Direct and Counter-cyclical Program (DCP) will not receive partial 2007-crop-year counter-cyclical payments.

Average market price projections are above levels that would trigger these payments. The 2002 Farm Bill requires that, if triggered, these payments be made for the 2007 crop after the first six months of the marketing year, which began on Sept. 1, 2007, for these commodities.

More information on the DCP is available at local Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices and on FSA’s web site at www.fsa.usda.gov.

California Tourism Launches Rural Tourism Campaign

The California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC) has announced the release of the first ever strategic marketing plan for rural tourism in California. The development of the Rural Tourism Strategic Plan is a part of the recently approved $50 million California tourism marketing budget.

“Rural tourism is a major segment of the California tourism experience and a crucial element of California’s travel and tourism industry,” said Caroline Beteta, Executive director of the CTTC. “The new Rural Tourism Strategic Plan will allow us to more effectively target our marketing efforts, while working comprehensively with our rural tourism partners and stakeholders.”

Rural tourism in California accounts for $27 billion in travel spending and supports 357,000 jobs, according to data from the CTTC.

The Rural Tourism Strategic Plan is available from the CTTC at www.visitcalifornia.com.

For more information about the CTTC and for a free California vacation packet, go to www.visitcalifornia.com.

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