News Update
June 18, 2012
$75,000 Card Challenge Deadline is June 30
For every activated Angus Platinum Visa® booked Jan. 1 through June 30, 2012, Intrust Bank will make a donation, up to $75,000, to the Angus Foundation.
As of May 24, 2012, there were only 351 cards that needed to be activated to reach the Angus Foundation's goal. Go activate yours today.
Animal Sciences and Industry Professor
Receives National Award
Melvin Hunt, professor of animal sciences and industry at Kansas State University (K-State), is the recipient of the 2012 R.C. Pollock Award from the American Meat Science Association.
The award is presented annually in honor of the first general manager of the National Livestock and Meat Board. Hunt will be honored at a special reception and awards presentation at the association's 65th Reciprocal Meat Conference Tuesday, June 19, in Fargo, N.D.
Pollock was dedicated to the advancement of meat science and was the moving force in the establishment of the Reciprocal Meat Conference. The award, sponsored by the American Meat Science Association Educational Foundation, honors a dedicated association member whose work through teaching, extension, research or service represents an extraordinary and lasting contribution to the meat industry.
Thomas Powell, executive director of the association, said, "Dr. Hunt's reputation as a preeminent meat color researcher is widespread throughout the world. His service to the meat industry and the meat science discipline spans two decades of teaching, mentoring and research."
For more information and the full release, click here.
Labeling of 'Frankenfoods'
The Vermont Legislature earlier this year considered a bill that would have required labels on foods that contain genetically-engineered ingredients. The House Agriculture Committee heard testimony from 111 citizens and hundreds more crowded the Statehouse to show their support.
Despite passing by a lopsided 9-1 vote in committee, the bill languished after Monsanto threatened to sue the state. Now, Sen. Bernie Sanders (R-Va.) has proposed an amendment to the farm bill that would let states require that any food or beverage containing genetically-engineered ingredients be clearly labeled.
Cosponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the amendment acknowledges that states have the authority to require the labeling of foods produced through genetic engineering or derived from organisms that have been genetically engineered.
The measure also would require the Food and Drug Administration and the USDA to report to Congress within two years on the percentage of food and beverages in the United States that contain genetically-engineered ingredients.
"All over this country, people are becoming more conscious about the foods they are eating and the foods they are serving to their kids, and this is certainly true for genetically-engineered foods," Sanders said. "I believe that when a mother goes to the store and purchases food for her child, she has the right to know what she is feeding her child."
For more information and the full release, click here.
Embryo Transfer Should Not Require Veterinary License
Official statement from the American Society of Animal Science Board of Directors:
The American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) believes embryo transfer in animals should not be defined solely as a veterinary procedure. Both veterinarians and specialized animal scientists have the knowledge and resources to perform safe and effective embryo transfers.
Embryo transfer is a procedure where embryos are recovered from a donor animal and a single embryo is transferred into the uterus of a recipient animal. This increases the number of offspring a genetically important donor animal can produce. Embryo transfer is a technique, like artificial insemination, that is not based on a medical diagnosis.
"Almost everything in this procedure has been developed by reproductive physiologists who are not veterinarians," said Cliff Lamb, assistant director of animal science programs and professor at the University of Florida's North Florida Research and Education Center.
Lamb said animal science students can work through master's and doctoral programs to receive the formal training and hands-on experience necessary to perform embryo transfer.
"There are a lot of non-veterinarians who are very proficient in it," Lamb said.
In a commercial setting, embryo transfer does require prescription pharmaceuticals purchased by a veterinarian. Greg Lewis, a research leader at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Dubois, Idaho, said animal scientists can work with veterinarians to develop a "practitioner/clinician" relationship and use these pharmaceuticals during embryo transfers.
Currently, whether animal scientists are allowed to perform embryo transfer varies by state. According to Lamb, animal scientists trained in embryo transfer can fill a void at U.S. farms.
"They are struggling to identify enough veterinarians who can come in," Lamb said.
"All of this comes down to understanding the animals and animal care and use," Lewis said. "I don't know why it cannot be a veterinarian or an animal scientist."
ASAS continues to support strong relationships between animal producers and veterinarians. ASAS supports compliance with veterinary practice acts.
Ballou Takes Top Honors at LMA's
2012 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship
Bailey Ballou of Elgin, Okla., proved his world-class status as a livestock auctioneer at the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC) held in Turlock, Calif. on Saturday.
Raised in southwest Oklahoma on a dairy farm, Bailey attended livestock auctions with his grandpa. Like many children, he was enamored with the auction chant and would try to emulate it while at play. When he realized, as an adult, that he would like to make a career of the art of bid calling, he set out for auctioneering school in Missouri. That was in 2003.
Nine years later, he assumes the title of 2012 World Livestock Auctioneer Champion on his fourth attempt, having competed previously in 2006, 2008 and 2010.
In his acceptance speech, Bailey spoke of the auctioneers that took him under their wing and taught him the business. One of those early influences was 1974 WLAC champion Ralph Wade, who let Bailey come stay with him and work with him as he developed his abilities and world-class chant.
For more information and the full release, click here.
Former Eastern Livestock Executives
Sentenced in $1M Livestock Swindle
Three former executives of now-defunct Eastern Livestock LLC, formerly of New Albany, Ind., were sentenced Tuesday in connection with a an "ongoing criminal collaboration that swindled Kentucky farmers out of nearly $1 million," Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway said in a news release.
Eastern's former CFO, Steve McDonald, 58, was sentenced by Barren-Metcalfe Circuit Judge Phil Patton to 10 years in prison, with the sentence to run concurrently with any federal prison sentence he might receive, according to the news release.
Company accountant Darren Brangers, of Louisville, and company affiliate Grant Gibson, of Lanesville, Ind., each were sentenced to five years by the circuit court, but the sentence was suspended pursuant to them paying restitution, according to the news release. Gibson is to fund $680,000 of restitution, and Brangers was ordered to fund $210,000.
For more information and the full release, click here.
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