News Update
January 9, 2012
Fundraising Event Planned for
Angus Foundation and 2012 NJAS
The Angus Foundation, 2012 National Junior Angus Show (NJAS) host states and Spruce Mountain Ranch of Larkspur, Colo., invite you to an event to remember. “Angus Night on the Mountain,” hosted by Tom and Lois Ames at their Spruce Mountain Ranch Jan. 11, during the National Western Stock Show (NWSS), will be an exciting evening and fundraising event that Angus breeders and friends of our breed will not want to miss.
The event is free and open to anyone, with transportation provided by Spruce Mountain Ranch. Buses will pick up attendees at the Denver Marriott City Center Hotel and NWSS starting at 5:30 p.m. and following the NWSS Angus Bull Sale. Spruce Mountain Ranch will provide the bus transportation to and from the ranch; however, the ranch will be open beginning at 3 p.m. for those who would like to drive out early and see the facility and cattle before dinner begins at 7 p.m.
Following dinner, the Angus Foundation will offer at auction a limited number of items. Examples of confirmed packages include a scenic getaway trip for two to Arkansas, a west Tennessee outdoor experience for two Angus couples, a weeklong stay in beautiful Anthem, Ariz., an antelope hunt in New Mexico and an Advanced Reproductive Technology Package from Trans Ova Genetics. Full descriptions of the packages are available at http://www.api-virtuallibrary.com/meetings_calendar/Mtg_01-11-11NightOnMountain.htm.
In addition to the packages offered at auction to benefit the Angus Foundation’s education, youth and research programs, the 2012 NJAS committee will be offering at auction a heifer pregnancy from Gardiner Angus Ranch, Ashland, Kan., to help raise funds for the show.
Spruce Mountain will offer 12 elite lots of the ranch’s finest Angus genetics.
Assisting the Angus Foundation in event management is Larry Cotton and his team at Cotton & Associates.
The event will conclude with socializing and entertainment provided by Spruce Mountain Ranch. Those who wish to attend the event can look for signs at the NWSS that will detail bus information.
Log on to www.angusfoundation.org for more information about “Angus Night on the Mountain.”
AgriLabs Announces 2012 NCBA Scholarship Program
For the fifth consecutive year, AgriLabs will donate $1,500 to be awarded as scholarships to deserving youth by participating state cattle association affiliates. Selection of the participating organizations will be made during the National Cattleman’s Beef Association (NCBA) Convention in Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 1-3, 2012.
Each of the three days the convention’s trade show is open, one lucky attendee will be selected to choose the affiliate organization that will receive a $500 scholarship grant. In turn, the organization — which must be a state affiliate of either NCBA or the American National Cattle Women (ANCW or the ANCW foundation) — will award the $500 educational scholarship to a deserving youth during 2012.
Convention participants can register to win and select their participating organization by registering at the AgriLabs booth (#436).
“Educating the youth of today who will be the leaders of our industry tomorrow is an important responsibility,” says Adam Yankowsky, business unit manager, AgriLabs. “Partnering with the NCBA and ANCW allows us to convert producer participation at the AgriLabs booth into scholarships totaling $1,500.”
Kansas State to Take Over Plum Island’s Pathogen Studies
New York’s aging Plum Island Animal Disease Center — a major biosafety level 3 animal disease research facility — is preparing to be phased out by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, NBAF, currently being built in Manhattan, Kan.
While NBAF is not projected to be fully operational until 2018, the pathogen work at Plum Island will not stop. Instead, much of it will transition to the Kansas State University (K-State) Biosecurity Research Institute at Pat Roberts Hall before eventually transitioning to NBAF.
Stephen Higgs, research director at the Biosecurity Research Institute, or BRI, and the associate vice president for research at K-State, spent two weeks at Plum Island in September 2011, in part to discuss the Plum Island-BRI transition process.
“Essentially, the BRI is going to be a springboard to get NBAF research going as soon as possible after it opens,” Higgs said. “As Plum Island ramps down, we are making sure that there is not a drop-off in research and training on these pathogens. That’s important, because we cannot afford to have a period where there’s not work being done on these diseases should one of them happen to come to America.”
Although no definitive date has been set for when projects will begin transferring to the BRI, Higgs said that university and Manhattan-based U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers are already working on some research projects related to the current disease studies at Plum Island, and are procuring the necessary approvals in order to soon begin on others — including African swine fever and high-path avian influenza.
Additionally, an insectary was recently completed at the BRI that will help its scientists work on insect-spread diseases like Rift Valley fever and blue tongue viruses. The insectary is something Plum Island is not equipped with, but may be a part of the research at NBAF.
While visiting Plum Island, Higgs also met with researchers about transboundary animal diseases, those occurring in multiple counties and capable of being carried to new ones. Higgs taught classes on Rift Valley fever virus and on mosquito-virus interactions, and gave talks on the BRI and NBAF.
“Moving these projects from Plum Island to the BRI really opens up new possibilities for infectious disease research at K-State that hasn’t been possible in the past,” Higgs said. “These are high-priority pathogens of major concern because they are a threat to our agricultural system. I really see this as being a whole new era at Kansas State University.”
Farmers Can Develop Succession Plans
at 32nd Annual Conference
Farmers looking toward the futures of their family businesses can begin to develop succession plans at Purdue Extension’s Farming Together Workshop Jan. 27-28 in West Lafayette.
The workshop will focus on developing adult children, employees or other interested individuals into the future owners and managers of a farming operation. It will take place in Room 314 of the Stewart Center, 128 Memorial Mall, on Purdue’s main campus.
“This is an excellent program for farm families who are interested in adding a family member to the family farm business or developing a plan for transferring the family farm to the next generation,” said Alan Miller, Purdue Extension farm business management specialist.
Participants will have the opportunity to interact with Purdue Extension specialists and professors from the Department of Agricultural Economics. Their session topics are:
- “Effective communication in the Family Business” by Janet Ayres.
- “Developing a Shared Vision for the Future” by Maria Marshall.
- “Developing a Management Succession Plan” by Angela Gloy.
- “Being in Business Together — Assessing Your Resources” by Nicole Olynk.
- “Different Ways to Share Ownership and Management” by Miller.
- “Organizational Structure and Job Descriptions” by Craig Dobbins.
Each session involves brief presentations followed by work sessions, when the participants separate into family/business groups and work together on structured planning activities to start laying the groundwork for their future business arrangements.
“For that reason, it is important that all the key players in the planned transition from each business be present to participate in the planning process,” Miller said.
Also included will be a legal question-and-answer session with Purdue Extension agricultural economist Gerry Harrison, followed by a peer interview of farm family businesses.
For the “Assessing Your Resources” session, Olynk will work with case study farms to illustrate the key resource issues involved in successfully transitioning additional individuals into the farm business. However, workshop participants can submit their own financial information and receive confidential financial analyses for their farm businesses. Those interested need to submit financial data in advance.
Participants also are asked to submit questions in advance for the legal Q&A session.
Both financial data and legal question submission forms are available on the conference website www.agecon.purdue.edu/extension/programs/farm_together.asp.
Registration is $120 per farm by Jan. 14. After that, registration is $150 per farm. A brochure and registration form are available at the Web address listed above.
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