News Update
Nov. 24, 2010

Office Closing and Notice

The American Angus Association and Angus Productions Inc. will be closed Nov. 25-26, 2010, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Also, due to Thanksgiving weekend, weekly updated expected progeny differences (EPDs) will not be online until 8 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30.

Wallace Named Miss American Angus

The crowning of Miss American Angus is a long-held tradition during the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) — and an opportunity for one young Angus woman to promote the breed both inside and outside the showring.

Paige Wallace, Stotts City, Mo., was crowned the 2011 Miss American Angus, Monday, Nov. 15, in Louisville, Ky. Read more.

Alpharma Student Video Contest Voting Has Started

Harvest is complete, farmers have been “high-fived” and videos thanking them for the food, fuel and fiber they provide have been submitted. These videos have been completed by students from universities across the country for the Reach Teach Learn student video contest. Now it’s your turn to check out these wildly creative videos and vote for your favorite. Voting began on Tuesday, Nov. 23 and runs through Dec. 14, 2010.

To see the videos and place your vote, click the voting link on www.farmerhighfive.com.
Students from the following schools have submitted entries:

• University of Minnesota
• University of Illinois
• University of Wisconsin-River Falls
• Virginia Tech
• Texas A&M
• Texas Tech
• Cal Poly
• Oklahoma State
• Sam Houston State
• Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

The video with the combination of the most votes and judges’ score will receive $5,000 with second and third place receiving $2,000 and $1,000 prizes, respectively. Additionally, the winning team’s college will receive a $1,000 scholarship along with the opportunity for the team to work with a professional video studio to see how professional videos are produced. The top three videos will also be posted on YouTube and other social networking sites where visitors will be able to see the video and have a better understanding of modern agriculture and the hard work and dedication of America’s farmers in producing our food supply.

To learn more about Reach Teach Learn, the video contest and its official rules, please visit www.farmerhighfive.com and look for us on Facebook and Twitter.

— Release by Alpharma.

Revamped Master Grazer program has successful year

With the launch of a new program and the return of an old favorite, specialists with the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture were able to educate more Kentucky forage and livestock producers this year through the Master Grazer educational program.

The Kentucky Agricultural Development Board partially funded the program in which producers learned how to improve and extend their current grazing operations and increase their bottom lines.

“2010 was a successful year for the Master Grazer Program in that the producers we reached through the grazing schools, field days and county programs have been able to graze their pastures longer through drought than before due to increased grazing management,” said Adam Probst, UK Master Grazer Program coordinator. “They have been able to reduce their stored feed needs and increase their profitability.”

The Applied Master Grazer Program, which began this year, differs from the traditional Master Grazer program in that producers get hands-on field experience as well as classroom instruction. UK specialists will offer 11 programs and impact an estimated 400 producers in 42 counties in 2010. During the program, participants tour area farms where county agents with the UK Cooperative Extension Service and farm managers discuss what does and does not work in their operations, ways to improve problem areas, and new strategies and techniques to increase grazing efficiency.

After a several year hiatus, the Kentucky Grazing School returned in fall 2009. Interest among forage and livestock producers was so high that program organizers offered two programs in 2010 in Central and Western Kentucky.

Both two-day schools reached maximum capacity with a waiting list for 2011. Participants represented 44 counties and six other states and collectively had an estimated 22,000 acres and 8,800 livestock.

During the schools, producers received hands-on training on the practical management of grazing systems for ruminant livestock, including beef and dairy cattle, goats and sheep. Along with field exercises, participants received classroom training and toured UK forage demonstration plots. While both schools covered many of the same topics, some were region specific. By the end of the school, participants designed a grazing system based on their own property.

At the end of the class, participants indicated some of the most common grazing practices they would incorporate into their own operations included developing a rotational grazing system, decrease hay feeding by extending the grazing season, renovate pastures with legumes, and soil test and apply lime and fertilizer to pastures. These improved practices have an estimated direct economic impact of more than $1.5 million.

“With our grazing schools, two-thirds of the producers that attended have been able to increase forage utilization by using temporary fencing and are able to harvest more of the pasture that they produce,” Probst said. “Over 60% of the producers that have graduated from one of our grazing schools have also increased pasture quality by incorporating legumes, such as clover, and they have extended their grazing season by stockpiling the tall fescue that they already have.”

The next grazing school will be April 13 and 14 at the UK Research and Education Center in Princeton. Preregistration is required. Those interested can preregister by contacting Probst at 859-257-0597 or at adam.probst@uky.edu or their county Extension agent for agriculture and natural resources.

The Master Grazer Program also established 42 demonstration farms across the state. Demonstration farm owners receive cost-share dollars to make grazing improvements like installing watering systems and growing different forage varieties. Through this program, participating producers have been able to either maintain their herd size and decrease the amount of days they feed hay, feed a larger herd on the same amount of stored feed, or maintain their herd size and the amount of stored feed but stocker farm-raised calves and sell heavier. These improved grazing practices have an estimated economic impact of $234,000. In return, these farms host field days for local Extension and Master Grazer programs where they highlight their grazing efficiencies.

More information on the Master Grazer Program is available at county Extension offices or by contacting Probst.

— Release by UK College of Agriculture.

Cost of Classic Thanksgiving Dinner Up Slightly in 2010

Menu items for a classic Thanksgiving dinner increased about 1.3% in price this year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) 25th annual informal price survey.

According to the survey, the average cost of this year’s feast for 10 is $43.47, a 56¢ price increase from last year’s average of $42.91. This year’s meal is actually $1.14 cheaper than what shoppers paid two years ago, when the total was $44.61.

The AFBF survey shopping list includes turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a relish tray of carrots and celery, pumpkin pie with whipped cream and beverages of coffee and milk, all in quantities sufficient to serve a family of 10.

The meal’s centerpiece — a 16-pound turkey — was actually cheaper this year, at $17.66, a decrease of about 6¢ per pound, or a total of 99¢ per whole turkey, compared to 2009.

A gallon of whole milk increased in price by 38¢ per gallon, to $3.24. Other items that showed a price increase from last year were: a 30-ounce (oz.) can of pumpkin pie mix, $2.62, up 17¢; two nine-inch pie shells, $2.46, up 12¢; ½ pint of whipping cream, $1.70, up 15¢; three pounds of sweet potatoes, $3.19, up 7¢; a one-pound relish tray of carrots and celery, 77¢, up 5¢; a dozen brown-n-serve rolls, $2.12, up 4¢.

A combined group of miscellaneous items, including coffee and ingredients necessary to prepare the meal (onions, eggs, sugar, flour, evaporated milk and butter) also increased in price, to $3.22.

Joining the turkey as items that decreased in price this year were: one pound of green peas, $1.44, down 14¢; and a 14-oz. package of cubed bread stuffing, $2.64, down 1¢.

Another of the traditional Thanksgiving items, fresh cranberries, was unchanged from last year, with a 12-oz. package selling for $2.41.

More than 112 volunteer shoppers from 34 states participated in this year’s survey. Farm Bureau’s survey menu has remained unchanged since 1986 to allow for consistent price comparisons.

— Release by the American Meat Institute.

Beef Cattle Conference Slated For Northwest Oklahoma

Cattle producers in northwest Oklahoma can mark their calendars for the Oklahoma Beef Cattle Conference — Managing Cost to Improve Ranch Profitability.

The conference will take place in four locations. The first meetings will be on Dec. 2 in Alva at the Woods County Fairgrounds from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and in Woodward at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Southern Plains Range Research Station from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Dec. 6 is the date for the next set of meetings which will take place in Enid at the Garfield County Extension Center from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and in Ponca City at the Pioneer Technology Center from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Meetings are free to those who attend, but are asked to RSVP by Nov. 30 to the Woods County Extension for the Alva meeting at 580-327-2786 or Woodward County Extension at 580-254-3391 and RSVP by Dec. 3 to the Garfield County Extension at 580-237-1228 or Kay County Extension at 580-362-3194 for the Ponca City meeting.

Greg Highfill, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension area livestock specialist, said those who attend will get the chance to listen to specialists who can assist them in improving their bottom line.

Topics include Finding Efficient Cows and How to Manage Them; Management Options During Weaning, Preconditioning and Winter Stocker Programs; Cost Effective Winter Feeding and New Trichomoniasis Testing Rules.

Meal sponsors include Walco Animal Health, Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, Oklahoma Beef Council, Northwest Cattlemen’s Association, Purina Mills, Boehringer-Ingelheim and Pfizer Animal Health.

— Release by Oklahoma State University Extension.

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