News Update

News Update
April 17, 2008

Secretary Schafer Will Address USMEF Board of Directors Meeting

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer will be the keynote speaker at the general session of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Board of Directors meeting in Las Vegas Wednesday, May 21.

Secretary Schafer, a former governor of North Dakota, was sworn in as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Jan. 28, 2008. He is expected to speak about beef access developments, the status of the Doha Round trade talks and the future of U.S. agriculture.

As governor of North Dakota, Schafer worked to expand that state’s agricultural exports to China. He led efforts to upgrade North Dakota’s communications infrastructure and make high-speed voice and data networks available to farmers, ranchers and rural businesses.

The USMEF Board of Directors Meeting & Product Showcase is scheduled for May 21-23, 2008, at the JW Marriott in Las Vegas. A brochure and hotel registration information are online at www.usmef.org.

Maine Angus Association Holds Annual Meeting

The Maine Junior Angus Association (MJAA) hosted a Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) Prime Rib dinner for the Maine Angus Association’s annual meeting April 5, 2008, in Manchester, Maine. The dinner was dedicated to the memory of Wixon Street, Chelsea, Maine, lifelong member of the Maine Angus Association, who died Feb. 26, 2008. The juniors posthumously honored Street’s support of the MJAA by presenting his wife, Mary Street, with a framed Angus picture.

The dinner helped raise funds that enable the MJAA to participate in youth-based education and leadership activities, including this year’s National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) events. In addition to hosting the dinner, the juniors held a silent auction and door-prize drawing that featured Angus-themed and local homemade items. A scholarship in the amount of $200 was awarded to MJAA member Mitchell White, Shapleigh, Maine.

Swine, Poultry Genetic Firms Form Alliance

Newsham Choice Genetics, West Des Moines, Iowa, and Groupe Grimaud, France, announced April 14 they have entered into an agreement to form a long-term strategic alliance. Newsham is currently the second-largest supplier of swine genetics in the North American market, according to a company release. Grimaud is the second-largest multi-species poultry genetics group supplying customers in more than 100 countries from its European, U.S., Brazilian and Asian facilities.

Beef Board Officers to Appear on RFD-TV

On April 28, Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) officers will head to Nashville, Tenn., to participate in a live broadcast of RFD-TV. CBB Chairman Dave Bateman, farmer-feeder from Oregon, Ill.., Vice Chair Lucinda Williams, dairy producer from Hatfield, Mass., and Secretary/Treasurer Dan Dierschke, cow-calf operator from Austin, Texas, will open the evening with a checkoff overview hosted by WGN’s Max Armstrong and wrap up the 1-hour live session with a Q&A from the call-in audience.

If you miss the live show, there are two re-broadcasts — the following Tuesday morning, April 29 at 10 a.m., and Sunday, May 4 in an overnight time period, 3 a.m. Eastern.

— Release provided by CBB.

JBS to become a banker

JBS S.A., the world’s largest beef producer, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has received permission from the Central Bank of Brazil to open a bank with $17.8 million (U.S.) in starting capital, according to news reports at Meatingplace.com.

The bank will provide financing and investments for commercial clients, Meatingplace.com reports. Competing beef producer Sadia S.A. also is awaiting the central bank’s blessing to open a bank.