News Update
March 23, 2011

Goggins to Receive Saddle and Sirloin Honor

Lifelong livestock marketer and Angus breeder Patrick K. Goggins has been named recipient of the 2011 Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Award. The award is among the livestock industry’s highest honors, bestowed on an individual person who has had a profound and lasting impact on American agriculture.

Since its inception in 1903, the Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Gallery is unequalled as a collection of oil paintings honoring outstanding leaders in the livestock world during the past three centuries. It is the gallery’s tradition to honor one recipient each year in November during the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE).

Goggins, who resides in Billings, Mont., has played a critical role each year not only as an innovative rancher and livestock marketer, but also as a strong and steady voice in advancing and protecting the interests of rural Americans.

“During the last 50 years, Goggins built his livestock auction business into one of the largest and most successful in the country,” says Terry Cotton, general manager of Angus Productions Inc. (API) and chairman of the nominating committee. “Pat also created the industry’s first-ever video feeder cattle sale, and pioneered the use of video sales in the marketing and promotion of seedstock — a venue through which millions of cattle are now bought and sold each year. Thousands of ranchers benefit each day from these improved transaction efficiencies.”

Goggins’ Vermilion Ranch produces and sells more than 1,000 purebred bulls per year, while the commercial Diamond Ring ranch sells in excess of 50,000 mainly Angus-sired feeders.

Goggins’ publication — Western Ag Reporter — is one of the most widely read newspapers in agriculture, and his columns not only influence the management of individual producers, but also the decisions of policymakers in Washington, D.C.

“Goggins is also a committed stockman, having built his registered Angus herd into one of the nation’s largest and most successful,” Cotton says. “His ranch is a model of environmental and sustainable stewardship. And, the genetics he’s developed can be found in herds across America.”

This year’s portrait presentation will be Sunday, Nov. 13, at the Kentucky State Fair and Exposition Center in Louisville. To contribute to the Goggins portrait, contact Terry Cotton at 816-383-5200.

— Release by American Angus Association.

Next Few Months Critical in Beef Operations

The next several months are crucial in securing potential profits in a majority of beef operations throughout the U.S.

“The No. 1 indicator of potential profits is the birth of a live calf, and to have a live calf next year, the cows need to become pregnant,” says Carl Dahlen, North Dakota State University (NDSU) Extension Service beef cattle specialist.

“The time from calving to rebreeding brings the most dramatic changes a cow will experience in her lifetime,” he adds. “During the span of just three months, cows in the herd will be expected to have a calf, start lactating, recover from calving and get pregnant again. With all of these changes occurring, producers need to concentrate on the successful delivery of calves, health of the cow and calf, and cow nutrition during the window of calving to rebreeding.”

To ensure the delivery of a live calf, producers must watch for cows that are starting to calve. Once those cows are identified, they must be monitored for signs of progress. If cows are having difficulty, producers may have to assist them.

Producers assisting with the delivery of a calf must work with the cow and her contractions. Pulling a calf is not a race, and any harm caused to the cow or calf may delay the start of the cow’s estrus cycles, increase the likelihood of calf mortality or reduce calf growth rates.

After a calf is born, having a good supply of colostrum for the calf is critical. Ideally, calves should consume colostrum within six hours after birth. Calves not suckling need help to suckle from their mothers or receive an alternative supply of colostrum or colostrum replacement products.

 “Be cautious with feeding colostrum from unknown sources or cows that may be infected with Johne’s disease,” Dahlen warns. “Johne’s can be transmitted through the colostrum to calves.”

A majority of calf deaths occur in the first months after birth, so producers need to identify and treat sick calves. They should monitor calves closely for signs of enterotoxemia (overeating disease), pneumonia, scours and other common calf illnesses and work with their veterinarians to identify appropriate preventative and treatment protocols.

Producers also should have appropriate medications on hand to treat calves as soon as they meet the herd’s established treatment criteria. Calves treated early after developing an illness are not only more likely to respond to treatment, but also are likely to perform better compared with calves not receiving timely treatment.

— Release by NDSU Extension.

Update on Corn Consumption

The corn market, along with most other commodity and financial markets, was negatively affected by the uncertainty created by the natural disaster in Japan and ongoing conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East. The Japanese situation is especially important for corn because Japan is the largest importer of U.S. corn, said a University of Illinois economist.

“Japan accounted for 33% of U.S. corn exports in 2008-2009 and 30% in 2009-2010, typically importing about as much U.S. corn as the next two largest importers, Mexico and South Korea, combined,” said Darrel Good.

The damage from the recent earthquake and tsunami has the potential to reduce Japanese feed demand and import capabilities in the short run. Most experts believe that long-term disruptions will be minimal and that Japan will continue to import large quantities of U.S. corn, he said.

New export sales of U.S. corn were large in six of the seven weeks ended March 10, averaging 41.6 million bushels (bu.) per week. Adjusting for Census Bureau export estimates through January, corn export sales now need to average only 21 million bu. per week to be on track for reaching the USDA export projection for the year, he said.

In its daily reporting of large sales, the USDA reported sales of nearly 18 million bu. of corn to South Korea last week. In addition, there was speculation that a sale of 4.5 million bu. of U.S. corn to unknown destinations was actually a sale to China. Similar rumors circulated earlier in the year, he said.

“Corn export prospects got another boost from the first official Argentine forecast of this year’s harvest. That forecast was 59 million bu. less than the most recent USDA forecast,” he said.

Although corn export sales have been large in recent weeks, weekly export inspections have mostly been smaller than the rate required to reach the USDA export projection for the year. Adjusting for Census Bureau export estimates, it appears that corn export inspections need to average 42.2 million bu. per week during the last 24 weeks of the marketing year in order to reach 1.95 billion bu. To date, exports have averaged only 33.3 million bu. per week. For the most recent five-week period, the average was 35.7 million bu., he said.

According to Good, prospects for domestic feed demand for corn got another boost from USDA’s March “Cattle-on-Feed” report. That report indicated that March 1 inventories in feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 head or more were 5% larger than inventories of a year ago. That continues the pattern of January and February.

The USDA’s quarterly “Hogs and Pigs” report to be released March 25 will provide another indication of potential domestic feed demand. In December, hog producers indicated they would reduce sow farrowings by only 1% in the winter quarter and that year-over-year reductions in the spring of 2011 would be about 2%, he said.

“Farrowings at those levels would point to pig crops near the levels of the previous year. The sharp increase in hog prices since December suggests that sow farrowings will be at least as large as indicated in December, even though feed prices have also increased. High milk prices are also likely, preventing any liquidation of milk cow numbers,” he said.

Ethanol production remains at relatively high levels. Production during the first two weeks of March was running about 5% above the average rate in March 2010. This is above the 3% increase from now through August that is thought to be required to use the 4.95 billion bu. of corn projected by the USDA, he said.

“There have been some legislative attempts to immediately discontinue the 45¢-per-gallon blender’s tax credit that is set to expire at the end of 2011. Such proposals are not expected to be successful. With a continuation of high crude oil prices and a large premium of gasoline prices relative to ethanol prices, demand for ethanol would remain strong even without the tax credit. Longer-term demand, however, would be more uncertain,” he said.

Prices for the 2011 corn crop have recovered most of the 60¢ decline that occurred between March 10 and March 16. Old crop prices have also recovered from the sharp decline, but remain about 50¢ below the high reached March 4. The March 1 “Grain Stocks” report to be released March 31 will provide an opportunity to re-evaluate the tightness of old crop inventories, he noted.

— Release by University of Illinois Extension

USDA Expands Access to Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for Schools Across the Nation

As authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill, USDA will expand assistance to state agencies for schools operating USDA’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) in the 2011/2012 school year, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today, March 23. The investment is part of the Obama administration’s efforts to improve children’s health by providing access to nutritious meals in schools. The assistance will provide free fresh fruit and vegetables to children throughout the school day.

The FFVP operates in selected low-income elementary schools in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. This year, USDA plans to provide $158 million in assistance to state agencies. States then select schools to participate based on criteria in the law, including the requirement that each student receives between $50 and $75 worth of fresh produce over the school year.

Depending on enrollment and the allotment spent on each child, USDA estimates the expanded assistance could help schools serve an additional 600,000 to 950,000 students in school year 2011-2012. Based on funding levels provided by the 2008 Farm Bill, subject to Congressional action, the school year 2011/2012 FFVP planned state allocations range from $27,167 to the Virgin Islands to $10,801,714 for California.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) oversees the administration of 15 nutrition assistance programs, including the FFVP, that touch the lives of one in four Americans during the course of a year. Visit www.fns.usda.gov for information about FNS and nutrition assistance programs.

— Adapted from release by USDA.

— Compiled by Shauna Rose Hermel, editor, Angus Productions Inc.