News Update
Oct. 28, 2009

Angus Potential in Russia

Sparked by Angus pioneers in the 1870s, ingenuity and perseverance built the U.S. Angus herd into what it is today. But like those early Angus adopters, Sergey Goncharov is starting at square one.

The Russian entrepreneur and owner of Sputnik Angus Farm is working to build the Angus breed in northwest Russia near historic Saint Petersburg — an area sparsely populated by dairy cattle and egg hatcheries. Goncharov and fellow Russian cattlemen see potential in their vast grasslands and hope to expand the country’s agricultural industry. The key to expansion, Goncharov says, lies in Angus cattle.

Goncharov visited the Association Monday, along with Kate Zimina, Sputnik’s veterinarian and certified ultrasound technician; and Oxana Shvedova, farm manager and embryologist. Read more.

Dell Allen Scholarship Established at Kansas State University

A researcher, teacher and businessman, Dell Allen has devoted his career to the U.S. meat industry, pioneering advancements in food safety, meat quality and industry viability. To honor Allen for his industry contributions and to support the next generation of meat scientists, Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health has created a scholarship at Kansas State University (K-State) in his name.

The establishment of the Dell Allen Scholarship was announced last night at the Meat Industry Hall of Fame banquet in Chicago where Allen was one of the inaugural inductees to the Hall of Fame.

“Allen has played a significant role in shaping today’s U.S. meat industry,” says David Yates, associate director of production technologies, Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health.

“Whether in the classroom, lab or boardroom, he has spent his career working to make our industry, and the people in it, even stronger.”

Allen became a faculty member at K-State after completing his doctorate and taught at the university for 22 years in the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry. In 1988, he left K-State to work for Excel Corp. as director of quality and training. During his tenure at Excel, which became Cargill Meat Solutions, Allen was an influential speaker at international food safety conferences and collaborated with government agencies, agriculture industry groups and consumer advocates. He held various leadership roles before retiring in 2004 as vice president of technical services and food safety.

“We are grateful to Allen for his years of service to K-State and his lasting influence on our program and students,” says Ken Odde, professor and department head, Animal Sciences and Industry at K-State. “The Dell Allen Scholarship is a prime way to support the future of the industry while honoring one of today’s leaders.”

The Dell Allen Scholarship will be provided to a K-State meat science graduate student. Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health will fund the scholarship for a minimum of three years.

For more information, contact Jim Miles with Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health via e-mail at jim.miles@sp.intervet.com.

Environmental Provisions to Protect Livestock Industry Passed

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has succeeded in getting two important environmental provisions included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Department of Interior/Environmental Protection Agency (DOI/EPA) appropriations bill. Both amendments pertain to the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and were approved for inclusion during a conference committee meeting last night.

An amendment by Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) will provide a one-year delay in the implementation of any EPA rule that requires mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from manure management systems. Studies currently are under way around the country to better comprehend the level of emissions from livestock operations, but the data have yet to be formulated. Without this amendment, producers would have been placed in the position of reporting emission levels with little ability to ascertain their accuracy.

The second amendment included in the bill was put forth by Rep. Todd Tiahrt and Sen. Sam Brownback. It will prevent EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions through the implementation of a “cow tax” under the Clean Air Act.

According to NCBA Executive Director of Legislative Affairs Colin Woodall, the inclusion of these two provisions in the appropriations bill is a “huge victory in the fight against increased environmental regulation of cattle operations.” The bill now goes back to the House and Senate for a final vote. Bills passed in conference committee are not amendable, so these provisions will remain in the bill when it is submitted to President Obama.

— Release by Kansas Livestock Association.

TSCRA Encourages Texans to Vote for Proposition 11

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) President Dave Scott joined Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, State Representative Frank Corte, the Texas Wildlife Association, and the Texas Association of Realtors at a press conference today to rally Texans to vote for Proposition 11 in the upcoming November state constitutional amendment election. Scott made the following statement:

“We’re here today to support Proposition 11, and to remind Texans why it is so important to vote in favor of this proposition. When we talk about eminent domain, people tend to limit that to farmers and ranchers losing their farm and ranchland. While that is very important, especially to the families who farm and ranch millions of Texas acres, rural Texans are not the only ones affected by lax eminent domain laws.

“Any Texan, inside or outside the city limits, who owns a home or property can have it taken away by government if stronger protections are not put in place.

“Those protections begin with the passage of Proposition 11, but they do not end there. As Texas continues to grow, we must continue our work to level the playing field for property owners. We must remember that there is more work to be done during the next legislative session on reforming the eminent domain laws.

“Proposition 11 is a great start, and Texans must take advantage of this opportunity by voting yes.”

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is a 132-year-old trade organization and is the largest livestock association in Texas. TSCRA has more than 15,000 members who manage approximately 4 million head of cattle on 51.5 million acres of range and pastureland, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma.

— Release by TSCRA.

UK Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center Construction Moving Ahead

In 2008, the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture broke ground on a $28.5 million expansion and renovation of UK’s Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center (LDDC). A year later, the construction is progressing briskly and was recently celebrated with a “topping off” ceremony to signify that all structural steel for the expansion is in place.

LDDC Director Craig Carter said two 10,000-pound alkaline digesters should be installed before the end of the year.

“We’re looking forward to the facility being ‘dried-in’ soon,” he said. “Hopefully by mid- to late summer our new necropsy facility and a new administration wing will be finished as well.”

Carter said the expansion is what enabled the center’s recent full, national accreditation.

“It will also help us move forward in joining the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, which is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA),” he added. “On a practical level, the new space will open up a lot of lab space in the main building and bring with it updates in air quality and biosafety, which are invaluable improvements. We’ll have more room to conduct testing, an increased capacity for necropsies, and it will enable us to better handle any large disease outbreak.”

The LDDC is a full-service animal health diagnostic facility. Its faculty and staff handle one of the largest caseloads in the nation, seeing 60,000 clinical cases and averaging more than 3,000 necropsies (animal autopsies) each year. The laboratory also protects public health by diagnosing many diseases that can potentially cross over into the public sector.

— Release by UK Research and Extension.

Director Named at UK Research and Education Center

Lloyd Murdock, a longtime professor with the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture, was recently named the first director of the college’s Research and Education Center in Princeton. The director’s role is to facilitate and support the efforts of faculty and professional staff in establishing innovative programs and projects and developing a team-oriented, mission-centered agenda for UK Research and Extension Center (UKREC). Murdock will be the liaison between the faculty and staff and the college administration. His responsibilities include budget oversight, long-term planning, strategic programming, and shorter-term prioritization.

— Release by UK Research and Extension.

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