News Update
Aug. 3, 2009

Grant Accepts Public Relations Post With American Angus Association®

Eric Grant has been appointed director of public relations for the American Angus Association. In this capacity, he will oversee the Association’s advertising, public relations and communications programs.

Grant is a 24-year veteran in agricultural communications, public relations and advertising. “For more than two decades, Eric has been an advocate of rural America and rural Americans,” Bryce Schumann, Association CEO, says. “We look forward to taking a more aggressive and innovative approach to public relations, advertising and communications. We believe Eric’s ideas, energy and execution will help accomplish this and strengthen the position of the Angus breed.”

During the last two decades, Grant served as assistant editor for the National Cattlemen’s Association, senior contributing editor for Farm Journal/Beef Today, and contributing editor for the American Cowboy and Range magazines. He has written for Angus Journal for more than 10 years. His award-winning photography and articles have appeared in more than 100 publications around the world.

A native of Colorado, Grant formed Wahoo! Productions in the mid-1990s. Wahoo provided marketing and advertising consultation to a wide array of clients, including Pfizer Animal Health, Sotheby’s International and DuPont Agricultural Products. He also served Path-Wise Corp., a San Francisco-based company developing online auctions and other e-commerce applications.

Grant joined the Association in 2007 as manager of Creative Media, a division of Angus Productions Inc. (API), specializing in video, photography and marketing communications for producers and agricultural companies.

Most recently, Grant produced I Am Angus, a documentary series that tells the stories of people whose lives are shaped by Angus cattle and the Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) brand.

A graduate of Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kan., Grant lives in Saint Joseph, Mo., with his wife, Patti. They have two sons, Ryan and John.

— Release provided by the American Angus Association.

Stannard Assumes Director of Activities and Events for American Angus Association®

Shelia Stannard has been named the director of activities and events for the American Angus Association. She assumed her new responsibilities Aug. 1. Stannard has been with the Association nearly 11 years, starting as assistant director of public relations and most recently serving as director of communications and events.

As director of activities and events, Stannard will continue planning educational and leadership events for the membership, including Cattlemen’s Boot Camps, Beef Leaders Institute (BLI), the National Angus Conference & Tour and the Annual Convention. She will coordinate the Association’s participation in open shows and oversee the Roll of Victory (ROV) show program as well.

“Shelia brings a wealth of attention to detail and organizational skill to this position,” Bryce Schumann, Association CEO, says. “She is familiar with all Association programs and services and the diversity of our membership. She will continue to be a tremendous asset as her role at the Association evolves.”

Stannard is a western Nebraska native and a graduate of Kansas State University, with a bachelor’s in agricultural journalism and animal science. During her tenure at the Association, she has been instrumental in developing educational adult programs such as the  BLI, Cattlemen’s Boot Camps and Angus Leaders’ Boot Camps. She also managed the conversion of the Communications Department from film to digital media. She recently completed nine years on the advisory board to the National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) Board of Directors, and in 2008 was inducted into the Honorary Angus Foundation.

— Release provided by the American Angus Assciation.

Fatalities Caused by Cattle From 2003-2008

During 2003-2007, deaths occurring in the production of crops and animals in the United States totaled 2,334. Of these deaths, 108 (5%) involved cattle as either the primary or secondary cause (1). During the same period, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska accounted for 16% of the nation’s approximately 985,000 cattle operations and 21% of the nation’s cattle and calf herd (2).

To better characterize cattle-caused deaths in these four states, investigators reviewed all such deaths occuring during the period 2003-2008 that were detected by two surveillance programs, the Iowa Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (IA FACE) and the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health (GPCAH). This report summarizes that investigation, which identified 21 cattle-related deaths.

These deaths occurred throughout the year, and decedents tended to be older (aged 60 years, 67%) and male (95%). Except in one case, the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head or chest. Circumstances associated with these deaths included working with cattle in enclosed areas (33%), moving or herding cattle (24%), loading (14%), and feeding (14%).

One third of the deaths were caused by animals that had previously exhibited aggressive behavior. To reduce the risk of death from cattle-caused injuries, farmers and ranchers should be aware of and follow recommended practices for safe livestock-handling facilities and proper precautions for working with cattle, especially cattle that have exhibited aggressiveness.

In this analysis, cases were defined as occupational fatalities caused by cattle that occurred in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri or Nebraska during 2003-2008. Fatalities that occurred when motor vehicles crashed into cattle on roadways (such as while cattle were being herded with an all-terrain vehicle or pickup truck in a pasture) were excluded.

— Provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

USDA Seeks Public Comment on the New Conservation Stewardship Program

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is seeking public comment on the new Conservation Stewardship Program, which is designed to encourage agricultural and forestry producers to maintain existing conservation practices and adopt additional ones in their operations. The public can submit comments for 60 days and the comments must be submitted on or before Sept. 28, 2009. For full details about the new Conservation Stewardship Program, please visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/new_csp/ or visit your local NRCS field office.

“It is important for Americans to provide feedback about the programs that their government provides on their behalf and they now have this opportunity to comment on the Conservation Stewardship Program,” Vilsack said. “We developed the interim final rule for this program in order to appeal to our diverse customers and offer them an equal chance to participate.”

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) authorized the Conservation Stewardship Program. Congress renamed and revamped the former Conservation Security Program to improve its availability and appeal to agricultural and forestry producers. The Conservation Stewardship Program will be offered in all 50 states, District of Columbia, and the Pacific and Caribbean areas through continuous sign-ups with announced cut-off application dates for ranking periods. Congress capped the annual acreage enrollment at 12,769,000 acres nationwide.

Comments on the Conservation Stewardship Program interim final rule can be submitted online, or through regular mail, e-mail, fax or in person. Information on how to submit comments is available at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-NRCS web site at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/farmbill/2008/index.html and at the Federal Register at www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/.

Type in Conservation Security Program in the Quick Search box and submit your search request.

USDA is particularly interested in the public’s comments on several aspects of the rule, including the best procedures for establishing annual payment rates; weighting ranking factors to maximize environmental benefits; and determining contract renewal criteria, state allocations and priority resource concerns. The Conservation Stewardship Program final rule is expected to be completed in fiscal year 2010.

USDA administers the Conservation Stewardship Program, a voluntary conservation program designed to encourage agricultural and forestry producers to adopt additional conservation activities and improve, maintain and manage existing ones. Individual landowners, legal entities, and Indian tribes may be eligible to apply for Conservation Stewardship Program assistance. Eligible lands include cropland, grassland, prairie, improved pastureland, rangeland, non-industrial private forestland — a new land use for the program — and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe.

Under the Conservation Stewardship Program, potential applicants are encouraged to use a self-screening checklist first to determine whether the new program is suitable for them or their operation. The checklist highlights basic information about Conservation Stewardship Program eligibility requirements, contract obligations and potential payments. It is available on NRCS web sites and at NRCS field offices.

The agency developed a new conservation measurement tool (CMT) to estimate the level of environmental performance to be achieved by agricultural and forestry producers implementing conservation activities. Field staff will conduct on-site field verifications of pre-approved applicant’s resource inventory information prior to contract approval. The conservation performance estimated by the CMT will be used for applicant ranking.

The Conservation Stewardship Program has an annual payment limitation of $40,000, and contracts must cover the eligible land in the entire operation. A person or legal entity cannot exceed $200,000 for all contracts entered into during any five-year period. Contracts can be renewed for an additional five years under specific criteria.

The new program will offer two types of payments — annual and supplemental. A Conservation Stewardship Program participant’s annual payment will be determined by estimating conservation performance improvements using the CMT and computing it by land use type for enrolled eligible land. An additional supplemental payment is also available to approved program participants who agree to adopt a resource-conserving crop rotation, such as the addition of alfalfa to a small grain, row crop rotation.

— Release provided by USDA.

— Compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.