News Update
April 13, 2010

Certified Angus Beef Cook-Off Meets a ‘Challenge’

This summer one of the National Junior Angus Show’s (NJAS) most popular competitions, the Auxiliary-sponsored All-American Certified Angus Beef® (CAB) Cook-Off, will accompany a new competition — the All-American Certified Angus Beef Chef’s Challenge.

The Chef’s Challenge is geared much like televised cooking competitions such as the Food Network’s Iron Chef and will feature two age divisions: 1) adults, ages 21 and older; and 2) National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) members, ages 18-21.

Participants must prepare and serve a unique entrée using a specified cut of CAB and secret ingredients — such as vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices, condiments, etc. — provided by contest sponsors and announced by 9 a.m. the day before the challenge.

“It’s our intention that the new ‘Challenge’ contest provide a venue for senior NJAA members and adults who are passionate about cooking and promoting CAB with the ability to be creative while learning to prepare and promote our industry’s product,” says Anne Lampe, co-chairman of the Auxiliary’s Beef Education Committee, which coordinates the Cook-Off and Challenge contests.

The first-ever Chef’s Challenge and the Cook-Off will take place simultaneously during the 2010 NJAS, July 13 in Denver, Colo. Entries are limited to one or two people, and will be limited to 10 total entries. Read more.

Angus Scholarship Opportunities Available

The Angus Foundation and American Angus Auxiliary are providing several scholarship opportunities to Angus youth pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees.

The Angus Foundation will offer two $5,000 scholarships given in memory of former American Angus Association executive vice president Richard “Dick” Spader. In addition, a number of $3,000 scholarships and $1,000 scholarships will be awarded. As in past years, other specific and special criteria scholarships administered by the Angus Foundation will also be available.

Eligible Angus youth meeting the qualifications for the Angus Foundation’s 2010 Undergraduate and Graduate Scholarship Programs will be considered by the Angus Foundation’s Scholarship Selection Committee.

The American Angus Auxiliary will also award scholarships to qualifying graduating high school seniors. Junior members must first be chosen as a state auxiliary scholarship winner before advancing to the national competition. Check with state scholarship contacts for specific state association deadlines.

The postmark deadline for American Angus Auxiliary and Angus Foundation scholarship applications is May 1. Scholarship recipients will be recognized at the 2010 National Junior Angus Show (NJAS) in Denver, Colo.

For more information regarding American Angus Auxiliary scholarships, visit www.angusauxiliary.com or contact Auxiliary Scholarship Chair Barbara Ettredge at 1001 Berend Rd., Pilot Point, Texas 76258; or 940-686-2958.

For more information regarding Angus Foundation scholarship opportunities, visit www.angusfoundation.org or contact Milford Jenkins, Angus Foundation president, at 816-383-5100 or mjenkins@angusfoundation.org.

Progress on the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board

Now that the Ohio legislature has enacted an implementation bill and Governor Strickland has announced board appointments, the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board could soon begin developing standards for farm animal care in Ohio. Voters approved Issue 2, the constitutional amendment creating the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, in November of 2009.

The governor signed Issue 2’s implementation bill (House Bill 414) after legislators wrangled with two different implementation proposals for more than two months. A primary point of contention was funding — H.B. 414 originally proposed an increase of the commercial seed and feed inspection fee and allowed the transfer of at least $500,000 annually from the commercial seed and feed fund to the livestock care standards fund. A Senate proposed bill, S.B. 233, would have provided the livestock care standards fund with $162,280 transferred from the School Employees Health Care Board. Neither provision survived in the final enacted law, which instead requires the director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) to rely on existing funds within the department until the legislature appropriates money for the livestock care standards fund.

The final approved bill also establishes board member terms and vacancies, allows board member travel reimbursements but does not allow compensation, and requires the board to meet at least three times per year. The law requires the director of ODA to assist the board by hiring employees, submitting the board’s proposed rules for approval, enforcing the rules and investigating potential rule violations. According to the law, the director must obtain permission to enter premises for inspection purposes.

Two provisions in the law address animal identification (ID) and organic production — these provisions were in the Senate’s version and were added to the final bill. The new law states that the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board may not establish a statewide animal ID system and clarifies that standards of the USDA’s national organic program will prevail if there is a conflict between the organic certification standards and the Ohio livestock care standards.

Despite recommendations to do so, the new law does not define the term “family farmer,” but only reiterates the constitutional amendment’s requirement that three of the board members shall be “family farmers.” Nor does the legislature guide the board on the meaning of the “well-being” of livestock, which the board must address in its standards and rules. We hoped the new law would clarify whether “well-being” includes both physical and emotional well-being, an issue that could bring legal challenges in the future (see our earlier post on “Lessons from New Jersey”). The implementation law does define “livestock” as equine raised for any purpose and the following animals if raised for human food and fiber purposes: porcine (hogs), bovine (cattle, oxen, buffalo), caprine (goats), ovine (sheep), poultry, alpaca and llamas.

Soon after Governor Strickland signed H.B. 414, he announced his appointments to the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board. Information on the board appointments is available here. Once the speaker of the house of representatives and president of the senate each make one of the two final board appointments, the board can begin its work of developing standards for the care and well-being of livestock in Ohio.

Meanwhile, proponents of a second ballot initiative on farm animal welfare are currently circulating around the state seeking signatures to place another proposal on the November general election ballot. The proponents hope to tell the board, through a second constitutional amendment, a few standards that it must adopt, which includes prohibitions on certain types of confinement, requirements for humane killing of cows and pigs and restrictions against the sale or transport of downer cows. See our earlier post on “Ohio may see a second constitutional amendment on farm animal welfare.”

— Release by Agricultural & Resource Law Program at The OSU, a program supported by OSU Extension.

U.S. Exporting More Beef to Russia

In recent weeks, U.S. beef exports have been bolstered by a sharp increase in sales in Russia, ranging from 800 to 1,200 metric tons per week. Citing numbers from the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), MeatPoultry.com reports that recent weekly sales data show beef exports to Russia at levels not seen since mid-2008, a year in which exports to Russia reached a record $95.3 million.

“This is an area we are very enthusiastic and excited about at this stage in the game,” said Thad Lively, USMEF senior vice president. “We track the export sales on a weekly basis and we’re off to a start this year that could put us on track to equal the export volume we had to Russia in 2008, which was a record year. The Russian economy is coming back slowly, like most countries in the world. The price of oil is going up and that is going to play a huge role in anything that happens in the Russian economy.”

Lively says the other thing that works to the United States’ advantage is the Russian currency is strong compared to the U.S. dollar.

“All of these those factors combined with the fact there is a strong fundamental demand for our product in Russia, puts us in a strong position both competitively and in our ability to supply the market. We’re bullish. We think this is going to be a good year for exports to Russia.”

Russia is normally a mainstay market for beef liver and other variety meats, but Lively said the real difference recently has been the increase in muscle-cut demand.

— Release by USAgNet.

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