News Update
Aug. 29, 2008

Virginia Angus Association Hosts Field Day

The Virginia Angus Association 2008 Field Day was Aug. 23 at Four Locust Farm in Keysville, Va. There were more than 115 people in attendance from several different states. The day began with registration and cattle equipment and displays. Participants were invited to put their name in a raffle drawing for later in the day and received Beef Checkoff bags filled with the day’s schedule as well as information on other topics including upcoming Virginia Angus Association events.

A DVD on premises registration provided by the American Angus Association® was also available for attendees to view. Zach Tucker gave a hay grinding demonstration later in the morning. Steve Furrow then made some brief announcements and introductions, and lunch included Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) Prime Rib. 

Following lunch, Bryce Schumann, chief executive officer (CEO) of the American Angus Association, gave an overview of the Association; and Jim Johnson, director of sales for Pfizer Animal Genetics, spoke on transforming livestock breeding and management. 

The day concluded with the presentation of an award to Zach Tucker and the crew at Four Locust Angus for their hard work and support in hosting the Field Day, as well as the drawing of two door prizes.

The Virginia Angus Association would like to thank Four Locust Angus for hosting this event, as well as the entire Field Day committee for all of their hard work:  Jerry Gustin, Zach Tucker, Pete Henderson and Steve Furrow.  For more information on Field Day events and pictures or any other Virginia Angus Association event, please contact the Virginia Angus Association office at 540-337-3001 or email vaangus@vaangus.org.

— Article provided by the Virginia Angus Association.

Eight Guidelines to Economical Ingredient Selections

With volatile feed costs, it is an increasing challenge for producers to manage their bottom line. Selecting the right ingredients has always been essential in providing animals with proper nutrition. Now, making the correct ingredient decisions is even more critical for operations to stay as efficient as possible. By making well-informed ingredient decisions, producers are able to keep their animals healthy and garner more dollars down the road.

Dan Schimek, a nutritionist with Hubbard Feeds, offers the following guidelines to help producers make educated decisions when selecting feed ingredients.



1. Consult your nutritionist to design a program that fits your operation. Each herd has unique nutritional requirements and a nutritionist can tailor fit a program to progress toward your operational goals.
2. Look at feeds as nutrients rather than feeds. For example, look at replacing protein sources rather than replacing soybean meal with distillers’ grains. An alternative diet can be effective as long as the nutrients are meeting the livestock’s requirement.
3. Build your nutrition program around your homegrown feeds. By utilizing these low cost sources, the total feed cost is lowered.
4. Take advantage of byproduct feeds available from ethanol, sugar, brewing, canning industries and other sources. Some of these byproducts include distillers’ grains, brewer’s grain and beet pulp.
5. Be sure to consider the location of the plant and feed mill to avoid high transportation costs. This becomes especially important when wet feeds are being considered.
6. Building relationships is key to finding the best value on feed. Some of the best people to know are plant personnel and independent trucking companies who are hired to remove feed from plants and often sell it for a discounted rate.
7. When opportunity allows, go directly to the plant to attain discounts for purchasing larger quantities.
8. During colder months, wet feeds have an extended shelf life in the freezer-like conditions. Smaller operations are able to enhance their use of these feeds during this time.

— Article provided by Hubbard Feeds.

Agronomist Gives Tips for Wheat Planted at Non-Optimal Times

In a perfect world, all wheat would be planted at the ideal time. But several factors can cause producers to plant wheat either earlier or later than the recommended time — including grazing intentions, weather delays and late row crop harvest, said Kansas State University (K-State) agronomist Doug Shoup.

“Wheat yield potential is greatest in south-central Kansas when planted between Sept. 25 and Oct. 20, and in southeast Kansas when planted between Oct. 5 and Oct. 25,” said Shoup, who is the southeast area crops and soils specialist with K-State Research and Extension.


When wheat is planted earlier than that, the plants often produce too many fall tillers, he said. The result is an increase in competition between plants, which reduces the number of spikes and overall yield in the spring. In addition to tiller competition, wheat planted early generally has a higher incidence of insects and disease.


“Hessian fly, aphids and wheat curl mites are more likely to invade earlier-planted wheat, causing damage and vectoring viral diseases such as barley yellow dwarf and wheat streak mosaic,” Shoup said. In that situation, management practices should be adjusted somewhat.


“If planting early, the best management practice against insects and disease is to select resistant varieties with good yield potential,” he added. “Systemic insecticide seed treatments may provide a benefit against some insects and the viral diseases they vector; however, these can be costly and are an added expense if insects are not present.”

On the other extreme, if planting is delayed past the optimal window, the yield potential also will likely be reduced unless the growing conditions are favorable. Planting later in the season will reduce the number of highly productive fall and productive spring tillers, reducing the overall yield potential, the agronomist said.


If planting later than optimal, producers should increase their seeding rate to account for the limited time for fall tiller production by individual plants, Shoup added. Planting extremely late, into the winter, is not recommended as yield potential will likely be very limited unless growing conditions are favorable, he said.


More information is available at county and district K-State Research and Extension offices and in K-State’s Wheat Production Handbook, C-529, at www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/CRPSL2/c529.pdf.


— Release provided by K-State Research and Extension.

USDA Awards $35M for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced Aug. 27 that 639 individuals and businesses in 43 states and the Virgin Islands have been selected to receive $35 million in grants and loan guarantees for renewable energy systems or to improve energy efficiency in farm and business operations.

The grants and loan guarantees are being awarded through USDA Rural Development’s Section 9006 Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements program. The program provides financial assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to support renewable energy projects across a wide range of technologies encompassing biomass (including anaerobic digesters), geothermal, hydrogen, solar and wind energy. It also provides support for energy efficiency improvements, helping recipients reduce energy consumption and improve operations.

Of the $35 million, $27.5 million are grants and $7.4 million are guaranteed loans.

For a complete list of recipients, go to www.rurdev.usda.gov/rd/newsroom/2008/08-27-2008-0996rl.pdf.

— Release provided by USDA.

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