News Update
Oct. 5, 2009

AMI Urges Baltimore City Public Schools to Drop 'Meatless Mondays'

The American Meat Institute (AMI) is urging Baltimore Public Schools to reconsider its decision to initiate “Meatless Mondays,” noting that meat and poultry products are an essential part of a balanced diet.

“Meatless Mondays” is an initiative sponsored by the Grace Spira Project at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The name Spira refers to animal rights activist Henry Spira, founder of Animal Rights International. Baltimore’s school system is the first to adopt the initiative, and the move means 80,000 students will have no meat option on Mondays. Three out of four students in the Baltimore Public School system are eligible for free and reduced meals and school meals may be the only significant source of meat and poultry in their diets.

“Surely you have always offered a vegetarian option on your menu,” AMI President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle wrote in a letter to Andrés Alonso, CEO, Baltimore City Schools. “Now you are removing a meat or poultry entrée on Mondays and depriving children and their parents of the ability to determine what is appropriate for their diets and their own personal circumstances.”

Boyle urged Alonso to visit the Project’s series of videos at www.MeatTrix.com to better understand the organization behind the initiative. These videos seek to manipulate and mislead children through a cleverly produced, but factually inaccurate cartoon takeoff of the film “The Matrix.” Ultimately, the group seeks an end to the United States’ efficient and advanced food production system that delivers to Americans the most abundant and affordable food supply in the world.

“I am confident that you are concerned not just about the education of your students, but also about their health and nutrition status. I urge you to reconsider this decision and allow children every day that they attend school to access the most nutrient dense food available:  meat and poultry products. Your children, in particular, deserve this choice,” Boyle concluded.

To view this letter in its entirety, click here.

Four universities to Offer 2009 Ag Insurance Workshops

Kansas State University (K-State) Research and Extension is teaming up with the University of Nebraska, Oklahoma State University and Colorado State University to offer a series of workshops focusing on insurance issues in agriculture.

The workshops will be:

• Nov. 10 in Brush, Colo., at the Event Center, Brush Fairgrounds;
  
• Nov. 11 in Grand Island, Neb., at College Park, 3180 W. (U.S.) Highway 34;
  
• Nov. 12 in Salina, Kan., at the Salina Ramada Inn, 1616 W. Crawford; and
• Nov. 13 in Enid, Okla., at the Autry Technology Center, 1201 W. Willow.

Speakers will include agricultural economists from the Extension services in each state university, as well as commercial banking representatives and officials with the Federal Reserve Bank.

Presentations at each workshop will include:

• The Economic Situation — Are We on the Road to Recovery?
  
• Managing Risk With the New Farm Income Safety Net.
  
• How Will SURE Change Crop Insurance Decisions and Farm Program Participation?
  
• Grain and Oilseed Outlook — Short-Term and the Long View.
  
• Actuarial and Underwriting Changes for the 2010 Crop Year.
  
• The Risks and Rewards of Agricultural Contracting.

Cost to attend is $85, if paid at least five days in advance of the desired workshop. The fee is $100 if paid within five days of the event or at the door.

More details, including online registration and hotel information, are available on the Web at http://cropinsure.unl.edu/or by phone at 800-535-3456.

— Release by K-State Research and Extension.

MU Calf-Weaning Workshop

A “Weaning Calf Management Workshop” will take place from 5 p.m.-8 p.m., Oct. 15, at the Forage Systems Research Center (FSRC) in Linneus, Mo.

The workshop will present new research on calf weaning along with proven practices from years past, said David Davis, superintendent of the University of Missouri (MU) farm in Linn County. All the tips aim to make the old problem of separating calves from their mothers easier.

Rob Kallenbach, MU Extension forage agronomist, and Justin Sexten, MU Extension beef nutritionist, will talk about weaning and receiving calves. Emphasis will be on weaning calves on pasture rather than in drylots to reduce stress and illness. That system promotes continued gains during the transition away from cow milk.

“One system that most producers don’t believe until they see it is fenceline weaning,” Sexten says. “Weaned calves are kept within sight of their mothers, across an electric fence.

“That requires a very hot fence,” Sexten added. “When weaning, you want the calves very close to their mamas — or very far away. When calves are kept within sight of the cows, the weaning process is much quieter.”

The MU specialists will explain ways to wean or receive newly purchased calves without a complete standstill in average daily gains.

Sexten will explain feed supplements for weaned calves. Byproducts from ethanol plants can reduce costs and fill nutritional needs of calves.

The specialists will talk about the quality of hay needed and how to feed it for best intake if calves are weaned in drylots.

Kallenbach and Davis will emphasize the pasture forages to feed the calves. They will tell how to grow good-quality pastures.

Davis said that FSRC is testing nose flaps on calves to wean those left with cows in the herd.

The workshop is free, but Davis asks attendees to preregister by calling 660-895-5121. “A head count will help us prepare handouts — and refreshments,” he said.

To reach the farm, go west from Brookfield, Mo., on U.S. Highway 36, then north six miles on Highway FF to Genoa Road. Go west 1.5 miles to the headquarters. Signs are at the intersections.

FSRC is a part of the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station in the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. For more details, see http://aes.missouri.edu/fsrc/.

— Release provided by MU Research and Extension.

Ag Secretary Announces $9.8 Million in Grants

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Friday announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing $9.8 million in grants to repair rural housing and make energy efficiency improvements in 48 states and Puerto Rico. The funds are being awarded through USDA’s Rural Development Housing Preservation Grant program.

“These grants will help rural residents and rental property owners repair leaking roofs, plumbing or crumbling foundations, as well as add insulation, caulking and energy-saving windows and doors,” Vilsack said.

Housing preservation grants ensure that rural single and multifamily housing stocks are adequate, meet current safety standards and are accessible by individuals with disabilities. Grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations, local governments and Native American tribes, who in turn provide loans, grants or loan and grant combinations to eligible applicants.

— Release provided by USDA.

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