News Update
Feb. 2, 2010

Enhancing Profitability in Chaotic Times

During recent years, beef producers have repeatedly heard market analysts advise careful attention to risk management. The reason cited is market volatility. However, volatility also creates opportunity to improve profitability when savvy producers apply some time-tested business tools.

At the 2010 Cattle Industry Annual Convention and NCBA Trade Show in San Antonio, Texas, Cattlemen’s College® attendees heard how the principle of arbitrage and increased asset turnover ratio can be used to take advantage of market volatility. According to session speakers Barry Dunn and Kim McCuistion of Texas A&M University’s King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management, commodity producers have profited from their use for more than 100 years. Read more.

Apply Now for Beef Leaders Institute

The American Angus Association will host its third annual Beef Leaders Institute (BLI) June 2-4, 2010. Applications are now being accepted for the event and are due March 1.

Limited to 20 participants, BLI is designed for Association members 25-45 years old to provide insight into all beef industry segments while enhancing their knowledge of the Association and strengthening leadership skills.

BLI includes three days of tours, including a beef harvesting and packing facility, retailer, fabricator, feedlots and other industry segments, including the Association.

“Beef Leaders Institute started as an outlet for the Association and Angus Foundation to educate our younger members about all segments of the beef industry, and we have seen it become that, but it also has evolved into an awesome networking and leadership opportunity for many enthusiastic producers,” says Shelia Stannard, Association director of activities and events. “Many of the first two years’ alumni are active in their state Angus associations and other agricultural organizations.”

The Association will provide transportation, lodging, meals and materials during BLI. Attendees will be responsible for round-trip transportation between their home and either Kansas City or Saint Joseph, Mo.

Coordinated by the American Angus Association to strengthen leaders and enhance the educational opportunities for young cattle producers, BLI is funded through the Angus Foundation.

Applications are available here or by contacting the Activities Department. Questions can be directed to Shelia Stannard at sstannard@angus.org or by calling the Association at 816-383-5100.

President Slashes Conservation Funding for FY 2011

“At a time when we most need to invest in our strategic natural resources and keep them healthy for the future, the President has proposed cuts to key farmland preservation, conservation, and water quality programs,” says Jon Scholl, American Farmland Trust (AFT) President. “The fact of the matter is, slashing these programs will do nothing significant to address our nation’s budget problems while it will dramatically reduce our ability to protect the resources that supply abundant food and a cleaner environment. So we’re concerned that it is penny-wise now, and will be very pound-foolish in the future.”

Despite the administration’s rhetorical desire to support conservation and agriculture, and address such issues as climate change and renewable energy, “reductions of over one-half billion dollars in mandatory conservation program spending will make it much more difficult for farmers and ranchers to make changes necessary to protect our air, land and water,” Scholl adds. “These cuts represent nearly a 20% cut to working-lands conservation programs, yet agriculture is the most cost-effective solution to these very real environmental challenges.”

The President’s proposed budget would cut hundreds of millions of dollars from working lands conservation programs that were promised under the 2008 Farm Bill. Some of the key cuts concerning AFT include:

• Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) — A cost-share program that helps farmers keep their land in agriculture in perpetuity has been slated for $55 million in cuts over the next two years. Typically in this program every $1 the government invests in conservation easements is matched by $3 from farmers, local and state programs;
  
• Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) — The conservation program that encourages landowners to install buffer strips between fields and streams, fence livestock out of waterways and more, would be slashed by $380 million, or by 31% in 2011; and
  
• The Conservation Security Program (CSP) is to be cut by hundreds of millions of dollars. Depending on the final reimbursement rate per acre used, this could be as high as a
  $331 million loss. CSP is a program that provides cost-share monies to farmers to assist in implementing on-farm stewardship practices on working farm and ranchland.

“On a more positive note, the administration is building on new programs for producers by developing local and regional food systems through new programs under the 2008 Farm Bill. During the last year, we’ve been excited by the USDA’s “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative and its potential. AFT believes that new economic opportunities that connect farmers with local consumers have numerous benefits, and especially when programs underscore the fact that food comes from farmland nearby, and how without land there would be no food,” Scholl notes.

“During the last year, USDA has moved forward in conservation and environmental programs. They have worked to make programs more efficient, and make constructive policy changes to improve programs. More generally, the administration has acknowledged and defended agriculture’s role in improving the environment, and that’s a good thing,” Scholl says.“However, we were very disappointed today that the administration has undercut the work that they’ve begun by not recognizing that the environmental benefits to society gained over the long run through agriculture far outweigh the investments made by the public now. That’s why we believe this 2011 budget proposal is penny-wise and pound-foolish.

“We look forward to working with members of Congress and the administration to highlight our concerns, re-examine the President’s budget and recalibrate the priorities for agriculture. We simply must address loss of farmland, and the potential of farms and ranches to maximize their production of environmental benefits like cleaner water and air, sequestering carbon, renewable energy and more. This is a critical time to invest even more cost-share money, not less,” Scholl concludes.

The President’s proposed budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can be seen in their entirety here: www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Overview/.

— Release by AFT.

AMI Urges FSIS to Revise Non-Intact Beef Risk Assessment Based Upon New Analysis

The American Meat Institute (AMI) today urged USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to revise the agency’s “Comparative Risk Assessment for Intact (Non-Tenderized) and Non-Intact (Tenderized) Beef, March 2002” in light of a new analysis of foodborne illness outbreaks linked to tenderized products.

In a letter to the agency, AMI said it had conducted a review of available information regarding illness-related recalls linked to mechanically tenderized beef products. “From this review, AMI has determined that all of the recalls due to outbreaks were related to the consumption of marinated or enhanced steak products,” said AMI Vice President of Food Safety and Inspection Services Scott Goltry. AMI recently posted a new Fact Sheet about tenderized meat products and clarified that there are two types of tenderized products: those that are blade-tenderized only and those that are marinated by needle injection or tumbling. The fact sheet is available on MeatAMI.com by clicking here: www.meatami.com/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/56759.

Marinated or enhancement solution-added products were not differentiated in the 2002 risk assessment. That is, the types of steak products that have caused illnesses have not been addressed in the agency’s risk assessment, Goltry noted.

“It is an imperative that the process of manufacturing beef steaks be understood so that the risk assessment of mechanically tenderized beef steaks is meaningful and both benefits public health and provides useful information to the regulated industry,” Goltry said. “Because the marinated or enhanced mechanically tenderized products are a small portion of the entire beef steak production volume, a more focused approach will more likely help the agency and the industry as we collectively work to prevent illnesses associated with mechanically tenderized and marinated steak products.”

To view AMI’s comments, click here: www.meatami.com/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/56916.

— Release provided by AMI.

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