News Update
June 23, 2010

Delegate Nominations Due June 30

The deadline to nominate state and district delegates for the Annual Convention of Delegates this fall is approaching. Signed nomination forms must be received in the American Angus Association office no later than June 30 in order for

the name to be placed on the ballots.
Ballots to elect delegates to the Annual Meeting will then be prepared and mailed mid-July to all active regular and life members.

All ballots must be received in the Association office by Tuesday, Aug. 17, to be counted. To ensure a valid ballot, vote for no more than the designated number of delegates listed at the top of the ballot and remember to sign the document.

Elected delegates will conduct Association business at the 127th Annual Convention of Delegates Nov. 15 during the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) in Louisville, Ky. If a delegate cannot attend, an alternate delegate can then attend and vote.

OSU Website Offers Food Safety Information

The website, http://foodsafety.osu.edu, offers consumers, health professionals and people who are at high risk of foodborne illness easy-to-understand, “plain talk” information that they can incorporate easily into their day-to-day life, said Lydia Medeiros, food safety specialist with Ohio State University (OSU) Extension and one of the leaders in developing the site.

“We focused on information that helps people build skills,” said Medeiros, who is also a scientist with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) and professor of human nutrition in the College of Education and Human Ecology. “Knowledge is good, but having the proper skills is the necessary factor that people need to implement their knowledge.”

The site contains numerous photos to illustrate food safety concepts for consumers in the “Ask Mom” area of the site, Medeiros said, including how to properly wash hands, test meat with a food thermometer, and prevent cross-contamination in the kitchen. The area for health professionals, “Ask the Doc,” provides food safety fact sheets that can be downloaded and shared with patients or clients who have been diagnosed with cancer or HIV/AIDS, who have had an organ transplant, who are pregnant or who have chronic conditions that make them more vulnerable to foodborne disease. In the “Ask the Teacher” portion of the site, educators have access to a PowerPoint presentation they can download to teach food safety concepts.

More materials will be added to the site, Medeiros said. “This is a dynamic website that will get deeper and broader as we add information to it,” she said.

In addition, the site offers users a way to ask Ohio State’s food safety professionals questions by e-mailing foodsafety@osu.edu or calling Ohio State’s Food Safety Information Line at 1-800-752-2751 (toll-free in Ohio) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The website and food safety e-mail and phone line are made possible by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Integrated Food Safety Initiative; The Kroger Co., which also supports a broader food safety outreach program through its in-store educational campaign; and the Center for Innovative Food Technology, which helps support the Food Safety Information Line.

— Ohio State University News and Media Relations.

OSHA Announces Additional Stakeholder Meetings on Injury and Illness Prevention Programs

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will host two stakeholder meetings on Injury and Illness Prevention Programs, in addition to those meetings announced on May 4. The meetings were scheduled in order to accommodate overwhelming interest.

OSHA plans to use the information gathered at these meetings in developing an Injury and Illness Prevention Program proposed rule.

The additional meetings will be held July 20, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., in Washington, D.C., and Aug. 3, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., in Sacramento, Calif.

The deadlines for confirmed registration at each meeting are July 6 and July 20, respectively.

For more information, go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-15041.htm.

— Release by the American Meat Institute.

Smallgrains Forage Field Day set July 22 at Stephenville

A Texas AgriLife Extension Service multi-county, smallgrains field day July 22 at Stephenville will include something new this year: test results for overseeding clovers and cool-season forages in improved grasses under local conditions.

The field day will take place 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Stephenville, at 1229 N. U.S. Hwy 281. The event will be free and open to the public, and a catered lunch will be provided, said Darick Chabot, AgriLife Extension agent for Hamilton County.

“We get a lot of calls about overseeding clovers and legumes in coastal and Tifton 85 Bermuda grasses,” said Josh Blanek, AgriLife Extension agent for Somervell County. “Producers are looking for a way to offset the cost of nitrogen fertilizer. We also get several calls on overseeding winter smallgrains for winter grazing. However, with an annual rainfall of 32 inches a year and with the cost of seed and the competition during spring green-up, the question is if overseeding is economical.”

In response, Blanek, Chabot and Texas AgriLife agents in Hood, Comanche and Erath counties tested 26 varieties of clovers, oats, wheat, triticale, barley and ryegrass for their forage performance, Chabot said.

Standard forage analysis was done on all entries, and information on crude protein, total digestible nutrient content, acid-detergent fiber and net lactation energy will be given at the field day, Chabot said.

In addition to the summary of the smallgrain forage tests, there will be presentations on the effects on Bermuda grass yield when overseeding with legumes, insect management, legislative updates, triticale vs. wheat for grazing, and weed and disease control on smallgrains, Chabot said.

Pesticide applicators licensed by the Texas Department of Agriculture will be eligible to earn three continuing education units, two in the general category and one in integrated pest management, toward the renewal of their licenses, Chabot said.

Those who plan to attend should RSVP to their AgriLife Extension office in their county to ensure an accurate meal count, Chabot said.

The contact information for Comanche County, http://comanche-tx.tamu.edu/ is 325-356-2539; Erath County, http://erath-tx.tamu.edu/, 254-965-1460; Hamilton County http://hamilton-tx.tamu.edu/, 254-386-3919; Hood County, http://hood-tx.tamu.edu/, 817-579-3280; and Somervell County, http://somervell-tx.tamu.edu/, 254-897-2809.

 — Release by Texas AgriLife Research and Extension.

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