News Update
January 16, 2013
Angus NWSS Show Coverage Available Online
American Angus Association members gather in Denver, Colo., this week for annual Angus events in conjunction with the 2013 National Western Stock Show (NWSS). The festivities begin Wednesday, Jan. 16, and continue through Saturday, Jan. 19. Using the resources described below, those at the meeting — or at home — can stay up-to-date with the latest show results and news.
- Watch live coverage from the showring
- Access the show results website, using a computer or cell phone
- Download the Angus Mobile app on a smartphone
- Join Angus on Facebook and Twitter for instant updates
- Visit www.angus.org
- Purchase candid showring photos online (use coupon code “NWSS2013”)
For an entire show schedule and more information, click here.
Cook-Off Seeks Healthy Recipes from Home Cooks
The 30th National Beef Cook-Off is calling on home cooks across the country to start grilling, broiling, roasting, stir-frying and stewing on their healthy beef menu ideas for the 2013 recipe competition, funded in part by the Beef Checkoff Program.
From Jan. 15 to April 15, 2013, home cooks can submit their best beef recipes online at www.beefcookoff.org for a chance to win $25,000 and a trip to the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show in Washington, D.C.
This year’s contest theme is “Making the Most of MyPlate,” to encourage delicious, healthy recipes from a variety of food groups. Entrants are asked to develop original and tasty beef-focused recipes that include broadly appealing ingredients from the fruit and vegetable, grain products and dairy products groups. (The MyPlate initiative is led by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and is designed to help consumers make better food choices.)
“Healthy recipes are some of the most desired and searched for on the Web. That’s why we’re excited this year’s contest is focused on asking Americans to create healthful recipes that include a variety of food groups, including lean beef,” said Sherry Hill, Cook-Off program director at the American National CattleWomen Inc. (ANCW), a contractor to the Beef Checkoff Program. Every beef farmer, rancher and importer contributes to a fund called the beef checkoff, which is used to support the National Beef Cook-Off program effort.
For more information and the full release, click here.
Cattlemen’s Day at Gudmundsen Focuses
on Producers’ Challenges
This year, cattle producers will be faced with some tough decisions. The severe drought of 2012 has depleted pastures and feed inventories. The beef industry is ever changing, and drought management will be key in 2013.
The Cattlemen’s Day Feb. 15 at the Gudmundsen Sandhills Lab near Whitman, Neb., will focus on the tough questions. Grazing during and after a drought, nutritional considerations of cows in a drought, challenges and opportunities of the beef industry, results of May calving systems, and a producer panel dealing with high input costs will provide insight for another dry year.
Please preregister for the sponsored meal by Feb. 6 to the Central Sandhills Extension Office (1-800-657-2113 or 308-645-2267) or Ellen at 308-696-6701.
Jerry Volesky, University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) Extension range specialist, will start the morning with considerations for grazing and forage for another dry year, or if the drought breaks. “Carryover grass (from 2011) supported fair stocking rates in 2012 for many regions,” said Volesky, “but most pastures have utilized all available forage.”
Reduced stocking rates, delayed turnout, or no turnout are considerations for the upcoming year. Seeding on cropland with annual forages may also produce much needed forage, but “seeding date and rates are critical.” Don’t wait until turnout, stressed Volesky. Planning for multiple scenarios should be done this winter to optimize pasture health.
If you are contemplating a May calving system, Rick Funston, UNL Extension beef specialist, will cover an array of considerations. He will discuss the need for winter supplementation and its effects on cow pregnancy rates and subsequent progeny performance, as well as the effects of winter gain on heifer pregnancy rates and the effect of supplementation during the breeding season on heifer and first-calf heifer pregnancy rates.
For more information and the full release, click here.
Ag Secretary Vilsack Challenges AFBF Members to
Pursue New Partnerships
During an address Jan. 14 to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted the unlimited potential of rural America and challenged rural Americans to embrace a proactive message that highlights this opportunity for the rest of the nation. Vilsack urged farmers and producers take advantage of innovation, job creation partnerships and to share their story of a modern, innovative, inspiring rural America to new audiences.
“Rural America is leading innovation in this country today,” said Vilsack. “Rural areas can benefit tremendously through the bioeconomy, whether producing cutting-edge new products or advanced biofuels from crops and plant products. We are learning more about what can be made from wood and forest products. We are discovering groundbreaking medical benefits associated with many homegrown products — and much more.”
Vilsack said that there is unlimited opportunity to grow the rural economy by harnessing the potential of this work. He highlighted a number of ways in which USDA is working to create new markets for innovation.
“At USDA, my goal in the coming years is to work with our partners to promote rural investment through research and collaboration. We must create new agricultural products that provide a renewed opportunity for the next generation of American farmers,” Vilsack said. “We are particularly focused on developing new foreign and domestic markets and promoting conservation and recreation in our rural communities. We must also continue to strengthen the biobased economy.”
For more information and the full release, click here.
NFU Begins Grassroots Policy Discussions
The National Farmer’s Union (NFU) Policy Committee is meeting in Washington, D.C., this week to begin revising the organization’s policy. This year’s committee is comprised of Jeff Eschmeyer of Ohio (chairman), George Davis of California, Tom Wingfield of Colorado (representing Rocky Mountain Farmers Union), Daniel Truelove of Illinois, Mary Howell of Kansas, Tim Velde of Minnesota, Ronda Throener of North Dakota, and Kent McAninch of Oklahoma. The committee members are all outstanding leaders in their state/regional Farmers Union organizations and were nominated by their respective state’s president to serve on the committee.
“The Policy Committee members play a vital role in carrying on the tradition of grassroots policy formation in our organization,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “The committee is tasked with reviewing our current policies and offering changes and additions for the delegates to vote on at our upcoming convention. This policy is what we will advocate for during the course of the next year.”
Over the next several days, the committee will hear from a number of White House, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Capitol Hill staff to ensure members have a broader working knowledge of current legislative issues as they revise NFU’s organizational policy.
For more information and the full release, click here.
Merging Values, Technology to Feed the World
With the world’s population projected to reach more than 9 billion by 2050, the challenge of feeding a growing global population is daunting. Nevertheless, current trends and research show that meeting this challenge is doable. This year’s National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) Annual Conference, April 15-17 in Louisville, Ky., will focus on two key factors — technology and values — that need to marry to make feeding the world’s growing global population a consumer-acceptable reality. Speakers at NIAA’s Annual Conference “Animal Agriculture’s Vision to Feed the World: Merging Values and Technology” will address and delve deep into these two key areas. General topics include:
- Meeting the demand for food through technology and knowledge
- Using technology and values to tackle catastrophic disease events and natural disasters
- Translating and communicating advancements in agriculture to consumers
“The past two conferences brought these two topics — technology and consumer values — to the forefront, and we need to examine the best ways to merge the two for the benefit of consumers, animal agriculture and a growing hungry world,” states Robert Fourdraine, co-chair of NIAA’s Annual Conference.
For more information and the full release, click here.
U.S. Forest Service Announces Rural Schools Funding Details
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that more than $323 million will be paid to 41 states and Puerto Rico in two distributions to support local schools and roads as part of the Congressional one-year reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act.
“These payments are part of the Department of Agriculture’s long-standing commitment to rural communities, schools and American youth,” said Vilsack. “Our century-long support of America’s public schools and roads is one of many ways in which the Forest Service, as a good neighbor and partner, contributes to rural communities becoming self-sustaining and prosperous.”
The actual amount of each state’s payment is determined by a number of factors written into the law, including how many counties ultimately decide to share in that payment. Each county’s share of their state’s payment amounts can be found on the Forest Service website at www.fs.usda.gov/main/pts/securepayments/projectedpayments.
For more information and the breakdown of state’s funding, click here.
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