News Update

May 10, 2013

Youth in Agriculture
Supported by Missouri

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signed legislation today to allow youth to work on farms and ranches in the state. The legislation (SB 16/HB 334), introduced in the Senate by Sen. Brian Munzlinger (R-18) and in the House by Rep. Tony Dugger (R-141), exempts farm work performed by children under the age of 16 from certain child labor requirements.

“I believe the bill was brought to the forefront as a result of the Department of Labor proposing a federal rule that would have essentially banned youth 16 years of age and under from working on farms and ranches that were not owned by their parents,” said Mike Deering, executive vice president of the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association (MCA). “MCA is pleased to see the Governor, Missouri General Assembly and Missouri Department of

Agriculture taking a solid stance in support of youth in agriculture.”

Deering said it is becoming increasingly difficult to encourage young people to become involved in production agriculture partly due to overregulation and red tape.

“Rather than strapping our hands behind our backs and preventing youth from learning the ropes of food and fiber production from today’s farmers and ranchers, government should work with farmers and ranchers to ensure the rules on the books are workable. We are proud, that here in Missouri, we have done just that,” Deering said.

— Adapted from a release by the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association.

McDonald’s To Drop Angus Third Pounders

MeatingPlace.com’s Dani Friedland reported this morning that McDonald’s Corp. had confirmed it is taking Angus Third Pounder burgers off of its daily menu. The future for the Angus snack wraps was also reported to be in question. For the MeatingPlace.com article, click here.<

Memorial Day weekend to play key role in beef demand

Extended cold weather, abundant supplies of competing meats, high gas prices and increased payroll taxes have all played a part in limiting beef demand this spring; however, several of those factors have now changed.

Choice boxed beef reached record levels above $200 per hundredweight last week, with fed cattle prices not far behind. The late spring rally comes after boxed beef and fed markets appeared to have topped in March.

Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension livestock marketing specialist, said the recent rally in Choice boxed beef can be attributed in part to beef purchases for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

“Though the weather has moderated somewhat recently, winter conditions still occurred as late as last week,” he said. “Purchases now seem to be more in the tone of insisting that the weather will warm up for the first big summer holiday, in the absence of concrete improvement in the weather so far.”

Beef demand also is getting a boost in the form of lower gasoline prices and strength in competing meat prices. Broiler breast meat has made a strong increase, leading to the highest prices since 2010. On the pork side, ham prices have recovered dramatically since Easter lows, although pork loin prices remain relatively weak.

“The supply side of the market also is part of the recent rally and will play an even larger role in the coming weeks,” Peel said.

Despite year-over-year increases in steer and heifer slaughter in the last two weeks of data, combined steer and heifer slaughter is down 2.3% for the year to date. Total cattle slaughter has decreased only 1.5% so far this year, thanks in large part to a 1.7% percent increase in cow slaughter, which had helped mitigate the drop.

“Though feedlot marketings and cattle slaughter typically increase seasonally in May and June, the increase this year may be muted as steer and heifer slaughter will continue to be relatively tight given lower placements in recent months,” Peel said. “Cow slaughter is expected to decrease as the unexpected increase in beef cow slaughter the last five weeks will likely drop sharply in the coming weeks.”

Carcass weights are up from year-ago levels, but are only modestly higher compared to last year’s strong year-over-year increases.

Total beef production is projected to be down approximately 2.5% in the second quarter; unfortunately, total beef production is expected to drop sharply by 5% in the third quarter and even more in the fourth quarter of the year.

Both boxed beef and fed-cattle prices are expected to decrease seasonally into the summer. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of uncertainty as to the amount of the decrease.

“Reduced cattle slaughter moving into the third quarter will provide supply support,” Peel said. “There is reason to expect a smaller fed cattle price decline than would be normally expected this summer.”

Peel said fed-cattle prices may pull back below the $125-per-hundredweight level for summer lows and then rebound back toward the $130-per-hundredweight level in the fourth quarter of the year.

“Beef demand is and will remain the key,” he said. “A warm Memorial Day holiday with strong beef sales may do much to spur stronger beef demand through the summer.”

— Adapted from a release by Donald Stotts, Oklahoma State University

Florida Bull Test entries due June 15

The deadline to enter bulls in the Florida Bull Test 2013 is June 15. Bulls must be born between Aug. 15 and Dec. 31, 2012.

Bulls will be accepted at the North Florida Research and Extension Center (NFREC)–Marianna Beef Unit July 30, with on-test weights taken Aug. 20-21 and off-test weights collected Dec. 10-11. The bulls will be fed a grain- and forage-based ration with ad libitum access to hay to target an average daily gain of 4.0 lb.

The bulls will be scanned by ultrasound 30 days prior to the end of the test and will undergo breeding soundness exams. Qualifying bulls will be sold in the test sale Jan. 19.

Additional entry information is available online at http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/fl_bull_test/index.shtml.

For additional information on current bull tests, visit the listing of Central Bull Test Programs in the Angus Journal Virtual Library, available here. In addition to the Florida Bull Test, recent updates have been made for the following tests:

North Alabama Bull Evaluation
Clemson Bull Test
North Carolina Butner Bull Test
North Carolina Waynesville Bull Test
University of Georgia Calhoun Bull Evaluation
University of Georgia Tifton Bull Evaluation
Cal Poly Bull Test

— by Angus Journal staff.

Deforestation Will Impact Kansans for Many Years to Come

High crop prices are great for the Kansas economy, but the conversion of trees along streams and rivers into cropland will cost everyone in the long run, warn conservationists in Kansas. Removing riparian forests, forestland adjacent to streams and rivers, negatively affects water quality and quantity.

Agriculture is a key player in deforestation because of the current high commodity prices. Urbanization and urban sprawl also are clearing many acres of forestland. Deforestation is becoming a problem across the country, especially in the state of Kansas.

According to Bruce Yonke, district conservationist with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) in Jackson County, “Many trees are being removed without regard to the environmental benefits they provide and before my office can make wetlands determinations.”

Riparian forests will have the most influence on water quality where field runoff follows direct, shallow flow paths from the uplands to the streams. Landowners should consider leaving a distance of two times the active channel width in timber on both sides of their streams and rivers.

The trees along the streams are critical for surface-water quality. They filter pollutants and stabilize the stream banks by holding the bank together so they don’t fail and wash all the sediment downstream. The trees also cool the stream, which is good for fish because cooler water holds more oxygen.

“Surface-water quality is a significant environmental issue in Kansas, and removing riparian trees is a serious threat to water quality,” said William Beck, Kansas Forest Service watershed forester, “especially because in the eastern part of the state we have all of these reservoirs where people get their drinking water from, and when all the sediment flushes into these reservoirs they fill up and the storage capacity is reduced.”

The Kansas Forest Service’s main concern is that these reservoirs are filling up with sediment. Sediment refers to soil particles that enter streams, lakes and other bodies of water from eroding land, including plowed fields, construction and logging sites, urban areas and eroding stream banks.

According to Tracy Streeter, director of the Kansas Water Office, “Kansas’s federal reservoirs, like Tuttle Creek and Perry Lake, are the municipal and industrial water source to more than two-thirds of the state’s population.”

“During years of drought, like Kansas is facing now, there could be water shortages because of decreased storage capacities of the storage reservoirs,” said Beck. “When the water is filled with bacteria, nutrients and sediment, filtration at the treatment plant can be very expensive. That, and storage loss, is why awareness of water quality in these lakes is currently being pushed so hard.”

A Kansas State University economic analysis on Tuttle Creek Reservoir suggests that stream bank stabilization from riparian forests can save $42 million in annual dredging costs to prolong storage capacity.

Riparian forests protect water by acting like a filter and provide the best water quality benefits during floods when most sediment enters streams and reservoirs. Trees have huge elaborate roots systems and their large stems slow down the water during high flow events. The reduction in speed, allows nutrients and sediment to settle out and absorb pesticides and nutrients and “break down” pollutants before they hit the streams, rivers or lakes.

To read the full release, click here.

For more information, visit the Kansas Forest Service website, www.kansasforests.org.

— Release by K-State Research & Extension.

— Compiled by Shauna Rose Hermel, editor, Angus Journal