News Update
September 11, 2013
Raising the Bar Conference
Set for Nebraska
Each year, the National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) hosts several leadership trainings across the country that encourage Angus youth to “raise the bar” for their state and regional junior associations. The next Raising the Bar conference takes place Oct. 17-20 at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL). Registration is due by Sept. 15.
“The NJAA has been conducting Raising the Bar conferences for seven years now,” says Jaclyn Upperman, American Angus Association director of junior activities. “The workshops are terrific opportunities, because they travel to different locations nationwide and equip juniors with the tools they need to make a positive impact on their respective organizations.”
Made possible through financial support from the Angus Foundation, Raising the Bar is open to five state officers and two state advisors from each state in the region. The intensive leadership training encourages officers to work together to build stronger teams, as well as develop regional relationships for both youth and adults.
The UNL conference will include workshops prepared and conducted by the NJAA Board of Directors, in addition to tours across the area. A few of the stops include the UNL campus; Feller & Co., Wisner, Neb.; and Cargill Meat Facility, Schuyler, Neb. For more information, please view the full release here.
Allyson Tjoelker Named Executive Director
of Agricultural Competitions and Exhibits
at Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Former managing director of agricultural competitions Allyson Tjoelker was named executive director of the agricultural competitions and exhibits division at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
“Allyson has been a member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo family for six years, with the responsibility of managing the Houston Livestock Show™ competitions,” said Joel Cowley, president and CEO of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and former executive director of agricultural competitions and exhibits. “Her history and experience with the livestock industry and the Show made her an excellent choice for this position.”
Tjoelker joined the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2006, after a three-year stint with Rodeo Austin. For the past six years, she has worked alongside more than 2,500 volunteers on 12 show committees to facilitate the world’s largest livestock show, which boasted more than 27,000 entries in 2013. She has managed three full-time employees in the livestock competitions department, and more than 60 student interns. In her new capacity as executive director, Tjoelker will oversee not only the Houston Livestock Show, but the Rodeo Uncorked!® wine events and auctions.
Raised in Raceland, La., Tjoelker was actively involved in showing Brahman cattle through her local 4-H and FFA programs. She first attended the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo as a Brahman cattle exhibitor in 1982, and continued exhibiting through her junior high and high school years. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in animal science in 2002, and with a master’s degree in agricultural economics in 2003. She and her husband, Jay, have a 2-year-old son, Landon.
— Adapted from a release by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Stockgrowers to Host 122nd Annual Convention
The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association (SDSA) is set to host its 122nd Annual Convention and Tradeshow and will be joined by the South Dakota CattleWomen Sept. 27-28 at the Best Western Ramkota Convention Center in Rapid City. The two-day convention will feature a long line-up of speakers and panelists along with policy discussions, annual business meetings for both organizations and several other activities.
Headlining the convention this year will be Jolene Brown, a champion for family agriculture and a family business consultant who is sure to keep everyone’s attention. Jolene Brown understands the unique challenges facing parents, siblings, in-laws and “outlaws” who work together on multi-generational agriculture operations. She brings a humorous twist to the very serious business of estate planning and generational transfers on family operations. Her presentation will begin at 1 p.m. Sept. 28.
Friday’s program will feature Margaret Byfield of the American Stewards of Liberty at 10:30 a.m., discussing the issues of private property rights and the federal government, as well as her father Wayne Hage’s legacy of private property rights. American National CattleWomen President Barbara Jackson will speak at the Friday luncheon along with South Dakota State University Dean of Agriculture Barry Dunn who will discuss the effort to build a new cow/calf research facility at their campus.
Other topics and speakers on Friday include Mike Lees from the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources; Ty Eschenbaum, South Dakota Department of Ag Value-Added Ag division; Stockgrowers Executive Director Silvia Christen discussing 2014 legislative priorities; and a brand and theft committee meeting. R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard will address the Friday evening banquet.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal’s Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
Ohio State University Promotes Farm Safety
Through Awareness of Farm Safety Week Sept. 15-21
From tractors and heavy machinery to long working hours and isolated working environments, agriculture can be among the most dangerous industries to work in, according to safety experts from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
While farming is a rewarding, challenging career, it is also among the most deadly to work in for farm families in Ohio, which averages 24 farm-related fatalities statewide each year, said Dee Jepsen, state safety leader for Ohio State University (OSU) Extension.
In fact, during the past 10 years, there have been 229 farm-related deaths in Ohio, many of which (95 deaths) involved tractors or heavy machinery, Jepsen said.
“Some 41% of the farm-related deaths in Ohio over the past 10 years involved tractors, with tractor roll-overs among the leading cause of tractor-related farm deaths,” she said. “Having a roll bar and seatbelts installed and both used each time a tractor is driven could likely have prevented some of these fatalities.
“Another safety measure that could lessen the potential for tractor-related deaths or injuries includes the concept of one-seat, one-rider, which would prevent incidents where extra riders fall off the tractor as its being driven and are rolled over by the tractor.”
Jepsen said one of the reasons why tractors pose such a widespread threat to farm families is because they are used by a majority of farmers.
“Every farm has at least one tractor — regardless of the crops planted or the size of the farm operations,” she said. “Farm machinery with moving or self-propelled parts is the No. 2 cause of injuries and fatalities statewide.
For more information, please view the full release here.
OQBN Fall Sale Dates Set
This year’s slate of Oklahoma Quality Beef Network (OQBN) fall certified sales will include two new sites in western Oklahoma.
Cherokee Livestock and Elk City Livestock will serve as first-time hosts of OQBN Vac-45 certified sales Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, respectively. OQBN also will return to Jordan Livestock in Caddo County Nov. 5.
“We’ve never really been in western Oklahoma, and I think we’ll gain a lot of new producers from the area participating in the OQBN program,” said Gant Mourer, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension beef value enhancement specialist for OQBN.
In addition to new locations, the fall schedule has been expanded to 10 sales, three more than in 2012, in response to buyer feedback requesting more opportunities to purchase OQBN cattle.
Other locations and dates include OKC West (Nov. 6 and Dec. 4), McAlester Stockyards (Nov. 19), Blackwell Livestock (Nov. 23), Tulsa Stockyards (Dec. 2), Durant Livestock (Dec. 5) and Pawnee Livestock (Dec. 7).
Mourer said the goal is to move a minimum of 5,000 OQBN Vac-45 and PRECON certified cattle by the end of the year.
“It’s early yet, but we’ve had a lot of interest in the sales,” he said. “We’ve gotten some rain across the state, and corn and feed prices are falling, so all those things have put producers in a good position to possibly participate. We hope they will.”
OQBN, a joint project between OSU Cooperative Extension and the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, is dedicated to educating producers on best value-added management practices. As a result, buyers know they are getting healthy, high-quality cattle through OQBN certified sales events.
For more information, please view the full release here.
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