News Update
July 11, 2013
Congratulations to the 2013 National Junior Angus Showmanship Winners
The finals for the 46th National Junior Angus Showmanship Contest, hosted in conjunction with the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS), took place at 8 a.m. today in Kansas City, Mo. The contest, under the supervision of the Junior Activities Department of the American Angus Association, began with the preliminary round Tuesday, July 9.
Winners of the top five awards were Paige Wallace, Stotts City, Mo., first; MacKenzie Flory, Baldwin City, Kan., second; Luke Nord, Wolverton, Minn., third; Kayla Widerman, Good Hope, Ill., fourth; and Brady Jensen, Courtland, Kan., fifth.
The 49 contestants from 25 states were selected in state contests conducted by their state Angus associations. Coverage of the top 15 winners and honorable mentions will be included in the September issue of the Angus Journal.
See further coverage of the winners at www.angus.org. For more highlights from the show, visit the Facebook pages of the NJAA and Angus Journal.
NFU to House: Strongly Oppose Splitting
Nutrition Programs from Farm Bill
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson sent a letter today to the members of the U.S. House of Representatives urging a vote against the rule and final passage of H.R. 2642, a bill that divorces the nutrition title from the rest of the Farm Bill and repeals permanent law.
“Splitting the bill is a shortsighted strategy that would effectively undermine the long-standing bipartisan coalition of rural and urban members that have traditionally supported passage of a unified bill,” said Johnson. “We are also very concerned that including a provision that would repeal permanent law did not receive any outside scrutiny or ability to weigh in through hearings.”
Repealing permanent law would remove the element in the bill that would force Congress to act on a piece of legislation that provides a safety net for farmers, ranchers, the food insecure and protects our nation’s natural resources. Last week, NFU led a coalition of 532 organizations in writing a letter calling for the House not to split the bill. This broad-based coalition, composed of agriculture, conservation, rural development, finance, forestry, energy and crop insurance companies and organizations is now being undermined by extreme partisan political organizations that do not represent constituents affected by the farm bill.
Click here to read the letter.
North Carolina Agribusinesses Welcome Student Leaders
Agriculture Future of America’s (AFA’s) national Student Advisory Team is traveling to North Carolina July 11-13. While there, students will visit several agribusinesses and meet with state and regional agriculture leaders to gain insight and share the AFA message.
“Because our student advisory team is responsible for planning and facilitating our national AFA Leaders Conference, it is vital that they have a broad perspective of agriculture,” said Russ Weathers, AFA president and CEO.
The nine-member team will meet with executives of Caterpillar, BASF, Bayer CropScience and Syngenta. In addition to these visits, the team will also host a dinner for area industry and education professionals.
“These meetings and the dinner are designed to help facilitate an exchange between students and professionals,” said Weathers. “We want our students to be able to share their experiences and express how valuable it is when professionals invest in the future leaders of agriculture. We also want to expand our student leaders’ understanding of agriculture. We are able to accomplish both of these through our summer visits.”
Following their industry visits, the team will meet with AFA staff to continue developing the AFA Leaders Conference program. Since developing a conference theme in April, the team has worked to develop a program that will inspire delegates to Fuel the Future: Feed. Unite. Educate. Lead.
To learn more about the conference, visit www.agfuture.org/2013conference. To learn more about the team, visit www.agfuture.org/currentleaders.
Governor Signs Bill Putting Career and
Technical Education in Spotlight
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signed H.B. 542. Missouri Cattlemen’s Association (MCA) President Chuck Massengill says H.B. 542 will strengthen career and technical education in Missouri.
“Career and technical education programs, such as agricultural education, provide young people hands-on education that can make them successful in their chosen field,” said Massengill. “I am glad the governor supports our youth on this issue. This allows more emphasis to be put on programs like FFA and will ensure that career and technical education remains a vital component of coursework in Missouri schools.”
The career and technical education portion of H.B. 542 was sponsored by Sen. Brian Munzlinger (R-18).
Massengill says the legislation also includes language that will pave the way for the Missouri Department of Agriculture to allow producers to apply official identification ear tags to their cattle in accordance with the Animal Disease Traceability law. He says this will save cattlemen costly fees.
Massengill said MCA mobilized its members on this priority issue and cattlemen were present in the state Capitol every week during the legislative session to stress the importance of H.B. 542. He said MCA members made their voices heard and certainly contributed to the passage of this legislation.
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