News Update
September 5, 2012
Southeast Select Sires Inc.
Announces AI School
Southeast Select Sires Inc. has scheduled an Artificial Insemination (AI) School for Oct. 8-10, 2012, at the Calhoun Stockyard on Hwy. 53 near Calhoun, Ga. The class will begin at noon on Monday and will finish at noon on Wednesday.
The cost is $350 per person. If you plan to attend, please mail your $150 deposit to Southeast Select Sires Inc., 3789 Old Port Royal Rd., Spring Hill, TN 37174. The deadline for this application is Sept. 26, 2012.
The training course will consist of classroom sessions and lab sessions on live cattle. Some of the topics that will be covered in the class include anatomy and physiology, AI technique, semen handling, heat detection and estrous synchronization. You will need to bring rubber boots and coveralls.
For additional details, please contact Mike Bailey at 404-353-7497 or mfleet56@yahoo.com.
NJAA Internship Deadline Oct. 1
College students looking for experience planning events and working with youth across the country can now apply for the National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) January-August internship. New to the NJAA this year, the program allows students to spend eight months assisting with junior programs and shows, and traveling to a number of events.
"This new internship offers students a chance to practice their skills in a real-world working environment," says Robin Ruff, American Angus Association director of junior activities. "We're looking for a detail-oriented, outgoing individual who would enjoy being part of the Angus team."
The deadline to apply for the paid internship is Oct. 1. Aimed toward college sophomores, juniors or seniors, applicants must be enrolled in an agriculture-related major and have the ability to move to Association headquarters in Saint Joseph, Mo., during the entire internship.
"The eight-month time period really allows for the selected intern to take more ownership in their project, carry out details from start to finish, and bring a fresh perspective to our NJAA programs and events," Ruff says.
Responsibilities include daily in-office tasks, preparation for NJAA sponsored shows and conferences, working with the Green Coats: Coast-to-Coast program and much more depending on the intern's interests. They will also assist with the NJAA website, Directions newsletter, National Junior Recognition Program, and other programs available to the NJAA membership.
For more information and the full release, click here.
The Angus Report Celebrates Its First Year On the Airwaves
A year ago, the corner of the American Angus Association's basement was a storage space for magazines and sale books. Today, it's a television studio, completely revamped with cameras, video-editing equipment and a team of writers and videographers who produce the organization's weekly news program, The Angus Report, as well as other television and online video programming.
The Angus Report, which celebrates its one-year anniversary as a nationally televised program this week, is geared toward cattle producers and includes regular segments on industry news, market analysis, management and marketing advice and personality profiles. It airs every Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. Central on RFD-TV.
In just the last 12 months, Angus TV programming — including the documentary series, I Am Angus — will reach in excess of 3 million viewers — an audience well above expectations.
"What's surprised us more than anything is how quickly our audience has grown since we launched last fall," says Eric Grant, Association director of public relations and communications. "We're very excited about our relationship with RFD-TV. Not only are we seeing our Nielsen ratings strengthen, we're also seeing substantial growth in our online viewership for all our video content."
For the full release, click here.
NCBA Urges EPA to Not Lower the Dust Standard
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) clearly spelled out its opposition to any attempt by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to lower the coarse particulate matter (PM) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) in its official comments submitted to the agency last week.
PM, which includes both urban and rural dust, is regulated under the Clean Air Act. Cattle ranches in arid states can have a difficult time meeting the PM standard due to windblown dust and dust kicked up by cattle movements. Because of arid climates and natural phenomenon, it is difficult for some cattle operations to ensure compliance with the current standard despite the use of best management practices.
"The fact is there is only so much that farmers and ranchers can do to mitigate dust on their operations. Mother Nature controls the rest," said Ashley McDonald, NCBA deputy environmental counsel. "Our members implement dust control measures, ranging from soil conservation to fugitive dust control plans using best available control measures, which they implement every day of every year while supplying America with the food that it needs."
If EPA chooses to lower the dust standard in the final rule, cattle producers may be faced with increased regulation and other negative consequences.
"A more stringent PM standard will lead to employment impacts and economic dislocation. Current operations have a difficult time meeting the current PM standard and further tightening the standard would have disastrous effects on America's rural economies," the comments state, adding that a tougher standard would, "disproportionately affect those very areas where rural, coarse PM predominates and would result in economic dislocation with documented health impacts."
For the full release, click here.
Solum's Ames Soil Test Lab Receives State Certifications
Solum Inc., a leader in advanced field measurements for commercial agriculture, announces that it has received state soil laboratory certification for both Iowa and Minnesota for its new facility in Ames, Iowa.
State-level laboratory certification is an important component of soil-testing quality assurance for U.S. agriculture. To be granted certification, participating laboratories are required to measure nutrients from a set of standardized test soils and report results back to the testing programs. These results form the basis of state-level certification in many states.
"Quality is a cornerstone of our lab process, and we are pleased to share this news with our Iowa and Minnesota customers," says Mike Preiner, Solum co-founder and president. "We look forward to continuing to expand our state-level certifications as demand for field-moist soil analysis continues to increase."
Earlier this year, Solum expanded in the Midwest by opening a new, state-of-the-art soil analysis facility in Ames, Iowa. At this facility, Solum provides field-moist soil sample analysis for all soil nutrients for growers, consulting agronomists and agricultural service providers. The Company's 12,500-square-foot facility includes a full soil preparation and analysis lab as well as business offices.
For the full release, click here.
Hage Forage Right Trial Ends, BLM and U.S. Forest Service Employees Found in Contempt
A weeklong show-cause hearing ended with Chief Federal District Court Judge Robert C. Jones finding Tonopah Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manager Tom Seley and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Service ranger (USFS) Steve Williams in contempt of court. The contempt, including witness intimidation, occurred during the pendency of the five-year-old forage right case, U.S. v. Estate of E. Wayne Hage and Wayne N. Hage.
Seley was specifically found having intent to destroy the Hages' property and business interests. "Mr. Seley can no longer be an administrator in this BLM district. I don't trust him to be unbiased. Nor can he supervise anybody in this district," the judge stated in his order from the bench.
The contempt finding was the result of the USFS and BLM having filed suit against Wayne N. Hage and the Estate of E. Wayne Hage in 2007 but then also seeking alternative remedies while the case was pending in derogation of the court's jurisdiction.
Counts against Seley and Williams included filing on top of the Hages' vested and certificated stockwater rights with intent of converting those rights to a new permittee; sending 75 solicitations for 10-year grazing permits in the Ralston allotment aiming to destroy the Hages' grazing preferences and water rights; issuing temporary permits to third parties, in particular Gary Snow of Fallon, Nev., with the knowledge that Snow's cattle would drink the waters belonging to the Hage family; and, finally, the assessment of fines, penalties and judgments on third parties whose cattle were under the legal possession of Wayne N. Hage.
For the full story, click here.
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