News Update
July 27, 2009

Ettredges Honored as Advisors of the Year

One inspiring word or action can have a ripple effect. In fact, many of our industry’s finest leaders started because of a simple push in the right direction.

As advisors, Mike and Barbara Ettredge, Pilot Point, Texas, have been the driving factor behind the success of Texas Junior Angus Association (TJAA) members. Their encouraging actions and words have helped members discover their full potential.

“The Ettredges invest themselves in the youth of the TJAA. They have been willing to share all of their contacts and knowledge with our members; anything to help them succeed,” says Andy Holloway, a current advisor for the TJAA.

“Mike and Barbara have pressed all of us to get involved. Without them, many of us wouldn’t be such strong advocates of the TJAA and the Angus breed as a whole,” says Jennifer Ann Smith, past president of TJAA.

To recognize their commitment to the youth of the TJAA, the Ettredges were honored as the 2009 National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) Advisors of the Year at the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS), July 19-25 in Perry, Ga.

In their nine years as TJAA advisors, they have been major contributors to the unification of the TJAA. The couple encouraged participation at national shows. Under their supervision many Texas youth participated in their first contests at NJAS. 

“They always said that we were not only representing ourselves at a show, but we were representing Texas — they wanted the state of Texas to do as well as the individuals within it,” Smith says.

At the state preview show, Barbara continued their advocacy for contest participation. “She was a wizard at the non-cattle part of our show; Barbara provided an opportunity for all kids to have great success, even if they didn’t have a grand champion calf. She organized all of the contests and encouraged everyone to participate,” Holloway continues.

Mike and Barbara have served three separate terms as advisors for the TJAA, which boasts more than 150 members each year. January 2009 marked the conclusion of the couple’s third term, and most likely their last, as their daughters are finishing their eligibility with junior activities.

The couple’s effort for the American Angus Association® will continue after their work as advisors ends. Barbara serves as the secretary-treasurer of the American Angus Auxiliary and the couple works together to manage Circle E Farm. Mike has traveled extensively to shows and sales across the country.

TJAA consists of outstanding families and kids dedicated to leadership in the Angus breed, and Mike and Barbara Ettredge have helped lead the group to success. 
“We call them the encyclopedia of the TJAA and NJAA. They know this group backwards and forwards and are always willing to share their knowledge. With their support, we have become an association that we are extremely proud of.”

The TJAA is proud to see Mike and Barbara receive this honor, “I don’t think they realize what they have done for not only the entire group, but for each individual. TJAA sends a big thank you to them. No one is more deserving than them,” Smith says. 

— Release provided by the American Angus Association.

Planning Next Year’s Grazing Today

Extra grass is not normal. If you are lucky enough to have more grass than needed this year, don’t forget that next year could be hotter and drier than this year — producing less grass.

But you can boost carrying capacity and gains on next year’s pasture by strategically managing your extra grass this year.

Start by identifying pasture improvements that could help future grazing. Control weeds, accumulate enough growth on warm-season grass pastures to conduct an effective prescribed burn next spring, or select pastures where stressing the existing stand will help you establish legumes next spring. All these practices temporarily reduce pasture growth, but they can provide long-term benefits. Thus, it is better to do them when you have extra grass rather than when grass is short.

Another way to help next year's growth is to avoid overgrazing this fall unless you are doing it intentionally to prepare for interseeding next spring. Heavy fall grazing weakens plants as they go into winter and causes them to grow less vigorously after spring green-up. If you do graze heavy this fall, do it on pastures that will be used last next spring. This will give them extra time to recover.

A particularly valuable way to manage extra grass is to begin to stockpile some growth now for either grazing this winter or to start grazing extra early next spring. This could save on winter hay needs or give you an area to get animals away from mud next spring. Plus, it’s usually good for your grass, too.

Take advantage of extra grass to begin long-term pasture improvements. It happens so rarely that next year might be too late.

— by Bruce Anderson, professor of agronomy, of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, which provided this article at http://beef.unl.edu/stories/200907240.shtml.

‘Making Money in Hard Times’ Planned for Beef Industry Aug. 13

Fluctuating fuel and feed costs during the past couple of years have made the business of beef production particularly challenging. To help producers maximize their resources and operations, Kansas State University (K-State) Research and Extension will host a K-State Beef Conference Thursday, Aug. 13.

Titled “Making Money in Hard Times,” the conference will be in Frick Auditorium at K-State’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

“The conference is especially geared for cow-calf producers and designed to provide take-home knowledge that will enhance their ability to improve profitability,” Extension veterinarian Larry Hollis said.

Troy Marshall, beef producer and a Beef magazine contributing editor, will be the featured speaker. His presentations, “Issues Facing the Beef Industry” and “Opportunities Facing the Cow-Calf Producer,” will open and close the conference.

The conference will begin with registration at 8 a.m., and the program starts at 9 a.m.

Other conference presentation topics and presenters will include:

• Replacements: Raise them or buy them? — Sandy Johnson, K-State animal scientist.
  
• Animal welfare: It’s your business! — Dan Thomson, K-State Beef Cattle Institute.
  
• Management strategies affecting calf marketability — Karl Harborth, K-State animal scientist; Lee Schulz, K-State agricultural economist; and Kevin Dhuyvetter, K-State agricultural economist.
  
• Options to extend the grazing season: Cool season annuals — Stacy Gunter, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS).
  
• Options to extend the grazing season: Crop residues — Rick Funston, University of Nebraska animal scientist.
  
• Mineral needs to complement ethanol by-product feeding — Justin Waggoner, K-State animal scientist.
  
• Managing price risk in cow-calf operations — Kevin Dhuyvetter, K-State agricultural economist.

For planning purposes, organizers are asking that the $60 conference registration fee be paid by July 31, but registration will also be available at the door. The fee includes morning and afternoon refreshments, a noon meal, and conference materials. A complimentary parking pass will be mailed to those who register and request them prior to July 31 and will also be available the day of the event. More information and registration forms are available on the web at www.asi.ksu.edu/beefconference, or from Linda Siebold at 785-532-1281 or lsiebold@ksu.edu.

— Release provided by K-State Research and Extension.

Program Offers Resource Management Strategies for Cattle Farms

Purdue University’s School of Veterinary Medicine and College of Agriculture will host the seventh annual Indiana Beef Integrated Resource Management Program Aug. 12 at a West Lafayette-area farm.

The field day, scheduled for 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Bob and Margaret Coon Farm, West Lafayette, will focus on improving the environment for cattle.

“The Coons have implemented management-intensive grazing (MiG), improved pastures, added a unique watering system, built a hay pad for hay storage and developed a no-mud feeding area for cattle during the winter,” said Mark Hilton, Purdue veterinarian and clinical associate professor of beef production medicine. “Our goal is to show the improvements the Coons have made over the last five years and to have them and our guest speakers help farmers take this information home with the ability to implement it as soon as the next day.”

The day’s speakers include Keith Johnson, Purdue Extension forage specialist and professor of agronomy, and Susannah Hinds, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) grazing land specialist and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) expert.

In addition to talking about grazing, Hinds also will discuss ways farmers can ensure they have the best chance for success in securing funds from EQIP.

The free workshop will run from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner. The cost of dinner is $8 per person and can be paid at the event. Participants are asked to register for the event by Aug. 4 to Rachel Heitkamp at 765-494-9234.

More information is available by contacting Hilton at 765-494-8559 or hiltonw@purdue.edu.

The Bob and Margaret Coon Farm is located at 3020 N. 650 W., West Lafayette.

— By Jennifer Stewart of Purdue University, which provided this article.

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