News Update
Oct. 13, 2010

Angus Cattle and YouTube: 300,000 Views and Counting

American Angus Association’s YouTube channel achieved a significant milestone this week: 300,000 total views.

YouTube, a social media website where Internet users can upload and share videos, is playing an increasingly influential role for both pro- and anti-agricultural groups.

The Association has developed its YouTube presence into an important vehicle for advancing agriculture’s positive story to both rural and urban Internet users.

Currently, the Angus channel is receiving between 700 and 1,000 views per day — up significantly from last year’s 250 views per day.

“Right now, our YouTube channel allows us to share our story with people around the world,” says Eric Grant, Association director of public relations. “In addition to our accelerating presence on nationwide television, we are now reaching a very wide audience every hour of every day through our use of YouTube. Not only has it allowed us to promote the Angus breed, but also inform our members and others about Association programs and services.”

Several newly posted videos can be viewed on www.angus.org, the Association’s website. To locate them on YouTube, visit www.youtube.com, and use the search terms “I Am Angus.”

Proven Marketing Opportunity For Commercial Angus Females

The Kansas Angus Association (KAA) will sponsor the 19th Annual commercial Angus replacement female sale at Pratt Livestock, Pratt, Kan., on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010, at 1 p.m., and is currently seeking consignments of young age cows, bred heifers, and open heifers. This sale has had tremendous success in the past 18 years; sellers have earned top prices and buyers have bought top quality replacement females from reputable sellers.

Females must be consigned in minimum five head lots, with all females being seven years of age or younger. To qualify for this special sale, the females must meet Certified Angus Beef® live specifications: be predominantly black-hided; black/white faces and/or “baldies” will be accepted; have typical beef-type conformation (no visible dairy influence); and be without long floppy ear and hump (no visible Brahman influence).

The sale welcomes bred cows and heifers to calve in the spring of 2011; fall pairs, cows or heifers to calve in the fall 2011; and open heifers.

Those interested in consigning cattle to the sale can find entry criteria and submit entry consignments online at www.kansasangus.org. To discuss the offering or consignment possibilities, contact sale chairman Gordon Stucky at 620-532-3220 or e-mail gordon@stuckyranch.com. Entries will be taken up to Nov. 19. A significant regional and national advertising program is planned to inform potential buyers of the sale and individual consignments. The sale will also offer online bidding at www.cattleusa.com for buyers unable to attend the sale.

Angus seedstock producers are encouraged to help inform their commercial bull customers of this sale as an option for producers to market source verified Angus genetics. The AngusSource® tagging and marketing program sponsored by the American Angus Association will also be promoted at this sale. Consigners do not have to be members of the Kansas Angus Association and consignments from out-of-state are welcome.

The sale is sponsored by the Kansas Angus Association. Another KAA commercial female sale will be held in the spring at JC Livestock in Junction City, Kan. For more information on the KAA and its projects visit www.kansasangus.org, or contact Anne Lampe, secretary/manager at 620-872-3915, kansasangus@wbsnet.org.

— Release by KAA.

Annual On-Stage Sale

The Northern Virginia Angus Association will hold its annual On-Stage Sale on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010, at 1 p.m. at the Clark County Ruritan Fairgrounds in Berryville, Va. Consignors have dug deep to bring some outstanding heifers and steers to be purchased. The sale will offer top-notch steers and 15 excellent heifers. All animals purchased will be eligible for a special jackpot class at the Mid-Atlantic Junior Angus Classic (MAJAC) in the spring of 2011.

Please make plans to join the Virginia Angus Association at the Stage with Virginia’s finest registered Angus steers and the 2010 Virginia Futurity this Sunday.

For more information please contact Chuck Alexander at 540-955-1517 or Felicia Roberts at Virginia Angus Association at 540-337-3001. We look forward to seeing you there.

— Release by Virginia Angus Association.

‘Field to Fork’ Workshop to Guide Ag Producers, Others Interested in Marketing Food Products

Kansas State University (K-State) and Butler Community College are teaming up to offer “Field to Fork and Recipe to Reality — Bringing Your Food Product to Market,” a Nov. 9 conference focused on giving agricultural producers and others information about commercializing a food product.

The conference will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the K-State Research and Extension Sedgwick County Education Center at 7001 W. 21st St. North in Wichita. Experts in food processing, regulations, labeling, marketing, distribution and business development will give presentations and be on hand to discuss what it takes to bring a food product to market.

“This is for anyone who is interested in sharing great tastes with the world and making money in the process,” said Tonya Bronleewe, Sedgwick County Extension educator.

The event, sponsored by K-State Research and Extension and Butler’s Kansas Small Business Development Center (KSBDC), is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Mark and Nancy Galloway of Blacksmith Coffee Roastery will give a keynote presentation about developing their business in Lindsborg, Kan. Other featured presentations include:

• “Food Labeling and Regulation” – David Arvelo, small business representative, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA);
  
• “Best Food Practices” —Fadi Aramouni, food scientist, K-State; and
  
• “Planning and Promoting Your Food Business” — KSBDC consultants.

Other presentations include: “Food Trends That Will Shape Your Business,” “The Basics of Starting Your Own Food Business,” “Writing an Effective Business Plan,” “Distributing and Marketing Your Food Product,” and “Avoiding Production Pitfalls in a Growing Business.”

The fee to attend the conference is $30, and it includes breakfast, beverages and a barbecue lunch. Online registration is available at http://fieldtofork.eventbrite.com/. More information is available by calling the Sedgwick County Extension Education Center at 316-660-0100.

— Release by K-State Research and Extension.

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