News Update
Jan. 15, 2009

Blue Sells

“Blue,” the AQHA 2-year-old blue roan gelding  donated by the Spader family to benefit the American Angus Auxiliary scholarship fund, sold Wednesday evening, Jan. 14, to Tucker Link of Kiamichi Link Ranch, Tulsa, Okla., for $11,000.

Trained by Angus Productions Inc. (API) Web Services Department manager and sales coordinator Rich Masoner, Blue is sired by Blue Max Hancock and was auctioned at the Trowbridge Family and Friends Sale at the Brown Palace during the 2009 National Western Stock Show (NWSS).

Other NWSS News

Callie Bayer, Ringle, Wis., won the NWSS Junior Angus Heifer Show Tuesday with Gamble’s WB Lady 6047, a June 2007 daughter of BR Midland. Tess Steckline of Garden Plain, Kan., won reserve grand champion with McCurry Blackcap 7018, a February 2007 daughter of SAV 8180 Traveler 004. Click here to see full results of the junior show.

Bayer’s heifer also won grand champion female in yesterday’s Super Roll of Victory (ROV) Angus Show. Zane Barragree, Absarokee, Mont., won reserve champion with HCA Estella 782, an April 2007 daughter of Plainview Lutton E102.

Larry Simmons Farms of Coolville, Ohio, and Champion Hill of Bidwell, Ohio, had the grand champion cow-calf pair, featuring Champion Hill Lucy 5619, a July 2006 daughter of SAV Peacemaker 3179. Cork Cattle Co. of Wentworth, Mo., won reserve grand champion with a pair featuring Corks Elga Erica 006 6132, a February 2006 daughter of SAV 8180 Traveler 004.

For complete results of yesterday’s female show, click here.

In this morning’s judging, Oklahoma State University claimed the grand champion bull among the sale bulls with OSU Orion, a December 2007 son of BC 7022 Raven 7965. Wilson Cattle Co. won reserve grand champion with Frey’s KJH Hustler M35 R61, a March 2006 son of BC Marathan 7022. For full results, click here. The bulls sell this evening at the National Western Angus Bull Sale. For a salebook, click here.

ROV bulls show tomorrow; carloads and pens show Saturday.

Free Grain-Marketing Seminars to be Held Throughout the State

FCS Financial is sponsoring seven grain-marketing seminars around the state of Missouri. The seminars are designed to help producers learn more about grain marketing plans and other risk management tools. 

Mark Gold of Top Third Ag Marketing will share how to manage grain market volatility and risk, including 10 simple steps to help market grain in the top one-third of the market. Gold is a veteran marketing expert with 20 years experience as a pit trader and floor broker with the Chicago Board of Trade.

All seminars except one are scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Hannibal seminar will begin at 5:30 p.m. Lunch or dinner will be provided. Space is limited and advance reservations are required; call FCS Financial at 1-800-444-3276.

• Jan. 26 – Thiebaud Auditorium, 105 E. 11th Street, Lamar
  
• Jan. 27 – Players Restaurant, 627 E. Russell, Warrensburg
  
• Feb. 2 – Stoney Creek Inn, 1201 Woodbine Road, Saint Joseph
  
• Feb. 3 – Mervyn Jenkins Expo Center, 10808 LIV 235, Chillicothe
  
• Feb. 17 – Trigg Banquet Center, 300 O’Fallon Plaza, O’Fallon
  
• Feb. 17 – Quality Inn & Suites, 120 Lindsey Road, Hannibal
• Feb. 18 – Peach Tree Catering and Banquet Center, 120 E. Nifong, Ste. D, Columbia
  

— Release provided by FCS Financial.

AFBF Delegates Applaud IFB’s Call to Defend U.S. Livestock Production

Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) delegates led a push at the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) annual meeting to keep the national organization focused on its strong support of domestic livestock production.

In the face of attacks from animal activists, ballot initiatives and local livestock siting controversies, delegates attending the AFBF annual meeting overwhelmingly approved IFB’s proposal for an aggressive defense of animal agriculture.

“The challenges to our livestock industry aren’t going away by themselves, and that means we need to kick it up a notch and get our message out there,” said IFB president Philip Nelson.

The directive calls for AFBF to engage with livestock and allied organizations to develop actions plans this year. The Illinois resolution also asks the AFBF board to “continue to implement and dedicate resources to the Ag Challenges Program to protect the long-term viability of animal agriculture in the United States.”

As part of the program, eight Illinois livestock producers have received AFBF speaker training and are presenting information about their operations to service clubs and other interested non-farm groups.

AFBF delegates adopted an IFB policy calling for regulations or legislation that would increase the ethanol blending standard to a level greater than 10%.

Delegates passed a series of resolutions to position Farm Bureau to be actively engaged in the global climate change debate, which included support for market-based solutions to achieve reductions in greenhouse gases (GHG).

Delegates supported Illinois’s revisions to a first ever AFBF policy on sustainability that states that “agriculture is only sustainable when it is profitable.”

AFBF went on record against mandatory state or federal (GHG) emission reduction requirements and carbon impacts resulting from indirect land use changes in other countries in the carbon life cycle analysis of biofuels.

Continuing concern over a lack of convergence between cash grain and futures prices prompted AFBF to open the door for government intervention in futures and options markets. In addition, delegates said they support regular and thorough review of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and commodity markets.

At the urging of major cattle-producing states, delegates threw their support behind increasing the beef checkoff.

They also approved an IFB proposal calling for the seed industry to dye seed corn different colors to denote various biotech traits. Illinois delegates argued it could help farmers keep better track of biotech varieties and possibly prevent fields from being “killed off” by inadvertent herbicide usage.

Delegates passed new language urging that as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) implements country-of-origin labeling (COOL), the new rules should not create undue compliance costs, liability, recordkeeping, or verification requirements on farmers and ranchers.

Illinois pushed through a couple of flood control policies, including a call for better cooperation between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state and local government to quicken response to flooding disasters.

Farm Bureau will join banking groups to ask the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to permanently increase its guarantee on individual and small business bank accounts from $100,000 to $250,000. The temporary guarantee ends at the end of 2009.

AFBF delegates adopted a policy opposed to any effort to rewrite the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

For more information contact John Hawkins, IFB news service director, at  309-557-2237.

— Release provided by Illinois Farm Bureau.

Rural Residents Work to Strengthen Their Communities

America’s rural communities face a challenge of declining populations and with this a drop in capital resources that make it difficult to improve services and enhance the quality of life for rural residents.

The AFBF has targeted rural development as a top priority, one that is vital to the future health of U.S. agriculture. During a seminar at AFBF’s annual meeting, representatives from three state Farm Bureaus explained successful programs they used to enrich farm communities.
Priority one for rural development is to develop a stream of funding, stressed Carolyn Dunn, a Farm Bureau leader from Saint John, Kan. She said community foundations are “one of the best kept secrets around” and are “remarkable development tools.”

Community foundations provide a charitable tax advantage and offer a constant stream of funding every year. “The funds are generally kept local and can support almost anything. Community foundations are vital for providing resources for rising community needs with rural communities facing declining resources due to declining populations.”

Dunn said she encourages people in her community to will 5% of their estate to community foundations. “Most of the money is going to their children who often leave their hometowns. If community foundations could capture just 5% of that money, the impact would be huge,” she said.

Heather Hartlerode, a medical student and resident of Harrison, Ark., explained how the “MASH” program encouraged her as a high school student to attend medical school. MASH stands for “Medical Applications of Science for Health” and is a two-week summer program for Arkansas high school students that allows them to “shadow” doctors, nurses and other health care professionals and learn more about a career in medicine.

The Arkansas Farm Bureau is a co-sponsor of the MASH program that is designed to improve access to affordable, quality health care in rural settings. “MASH encourages people who love living in rural communities to go into medicine,” Hartlerode said. “This is a lot easier than encouraging people from the cities who want to go into medicine to move to rural communities.”

Steve Gauck, an Indiana Farm Bureau leader, said agriculture must be part of the development of rural communities. He encouraged farmers to work closely with people in town such as elected leaders, local merchants and local newspapers and radio stations. “Farmers must play an active role in the debate,” he said.

— Release provided by the American Farm Bureau Federation.

— compiled by Shauna Hermel, editor, Angus Productions Inc.