News Update
April 25, 2008

Delegate petitions will arrive soon

Preparation for the 2008 Annual Convention of Delegates, set for this November in Louisville, Ky., is already under way. In late March, delegate nomination forms were mailed to all active life and regular members.

The nomination period runs from April 1 through June 30. Each membership is allowed to nominate one eligible member who resides in the same state or district. Active members may nominate any one member from their state, including themselves. The candidate should be actively involved in the Angus business, willing to attend the meeting and able to represent Angus breeders.

Nominations must be received in the Association office no later than June 30, at which time every qualified nominee will be included on a state ballot. State ballots will be mailed to the membership in July to vote for the final slate of state delegates. When you receive the petition, send it in right away.

When the nomination form arrives, don’t set it aside and forget it. Fill it out and return it as soon as possible.

Details of the election process can be found in Article III of the Association’s Breeder’s Reference Guide, which was distributed in the mailing box with the March issue of the Angus Journal^®.

2008 National Angus Conference & Tour set in Oklahoma

Angus enthusiasts should mark their calendars for the 2008 National Angus Conference & Tour (NAC&T), set for Oct. 7-9 in Oklahoma City, Okla. The American Angus Association^® is pleased to announce that Purina Mills LLC, and Alpharma Animal Health are the major sponsors of this year’s event. The conference headquarters is the Clarion Meridian Hotel & Convention Center, where the conference, “125 Years — the Challenges of the Next Decade” will focus on production, marketing and performance. The Oklahoma Angus Association will host “An Angus Gathering,” a two-day tour of Angus operations, along with a museum and reining horse-training facility.

Look for more information about the 2008 NAC&T in the July Angus Journal or call the Association.

Western States Angus breeders to meet in Reno

The 2008 Western National Angus Futurity and 2008 Western Regional Junior Angus Show are set for April 26-28 in Reno, Nev. Activities are planned for both juniors and adults, including shows, a sale and Angus fellowship, so make your travel plans now.

If you can’t be in Reno for the Angus events, you can still view show results following the weekend activities at Reno Online.

Junior officers Raise the Bar in Baton Rouge

The National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) hosted a Raising the Bar Conference, April 18-20, in Baton Rouge, La. Thirty-four junior officers and advisors from seven states were provided the tools to build stronger state associations.

The workshops prepared and conducted by the NJAA Board of Directors included secrets of the American Angus Association, fundraising and budgets, membership brainstorming, public speaking, scholarships, awards and parliamentary procedure. The attendees participated in a team building activity at a ropes course, icebreakers, a crawfish boil and a Sunday morning devotional. Special guest speaker, Cheramie Viator, a former NJAA Board director, challenged the group to make positive choices for success as individuals and for their state junior Angus associations.

Raising the Bar is a highly intensive leadership training program designed for officers and advisors to develop stronger leadership teams within junior associations. It also cultivates regional relationships among participants. Raising the Bar is open to five officers and two advisors from each state in that region, and is funded by the Angus Foundation.

This is the fourth in a series of Raising the Bar Conferences to be held annually. The first three were held in Saint Joseph, Mo.; Wooster, Ohio; and Boise, Idaho.

The NJAA promotes the involvement of young people in raising Angus cattle, while also providing leadership and self-development opportunities for more than 7,000 active members nationwide. For more information about Raising the Bar Conferences or the NJAA, look online at www.njaa.info or call the Association at 816-383-5100.

U of M, State to hold workshops for northwestern Minnesota beef producers

University of Minnesota Extension, in cooperation with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, will host workshops April 29-30 in Thief River Falls, Bagley, Lancaster and Roseau focused on management practices as they relate to the state’s current bovine tuberculosis (TB) status.

The focus of the workshops is to provide beef producers with research-based information and strategies for managing cattle in the newly expanded regulatory area of the state known as the Management Zone.

The workshops are free of charge and preregistration is not required. Topics will include an update on Minnesota’s TB eradication efforts, establishing biosecurity on the farm, recordkeeping and marketing calves. Workshop times and locations are as follows:

• Tuesday, April 29 at 1 p.m. – Northland Community College Auditorium, Thief River Falls;
• Tuesday, April 29 at 6 p.m. – Bagley High School Auditorium;
• Wednesday, April 30 at 1 p.m. – Lancaster Legion Hall; and
• Wednesday, April 30 at 6 p.m. – Roseau City Center.

For more information about the April 29-30 workshops contact Clearwater County Extension, 218-694-6151; Pennington County Extension, 218-683-7030; or Roseau County Extension, 218-463-0294.

Minnesota’s bovine TB status was officially downgraded to Modified Accredited (MA), as called for by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Code of Federal Regulations, on Wednesday, April 9. This drop in status follows the discovery of four additional infected herds within the last 12 months and requires Minnesota cattle producers to conduct additional testing when shipping animals out of state.

For more information on the state’s TB investigation, TB transmission, testing requirements and biosecurity, visit the state’s bovine TB web site at www.mntbfree.com or call the TB hotline at 877-MNTBFREE (668-2373).

— release provided by University of Minnesota Extension

— compiled by Tosha Powell, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.