News Update
November 25, 2013
2014 Miss American Angus Crowned
During the weeklong Miss American Angus competition, Catherine Harward, Richfield, N.C., says she kept thinking back just two years ago when her older sister, Brooke, was vying to become the 2012 Miss American Angus.
“I can still hear Brooke’s name being called out as she stood on the green chips at the North American,” Harward says. “We were all so excited for her.”
Déjà vu hit the Harward family Monday, Nov. 18, when Catherine’s name was announced as the next Miss American Angus. She was crowned prior to the grand drive during the Super-Point Roll of Victory (ROV) Angus Bull Show at the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE).
“After watching Brooke’s experience, I knew this was something I wanted,” Harward says. “This next year as Miss American Angus is more than simply wearing the jacket and crown. It’s my opportunity to give back to the organization that has shaped my life, and a year of experience I will never be able to replace.”
A freshman at North Carolina State University, Harward is pursuing a degree in animal science with a business emphasis. She is the daughter of Marcus and Patricia Harward and has five sisters, Lorie, Brooke, LeAnn, Marcie and Mattie. Together, they own a show cattle business named the Harward Sisters.
The annual Miss American Angus contest and program is hosted by the American Angus Auxiliary, and provides one Angus junior an opportunity to serve as a breed ambassador for a yearlong term. Miss American Angus assists with shows, educational events and field days to educate others about the beef industry, and the benefits of Angus genetics.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Putting Beef Sustainability Into Context
In grocery stores across the United States, many favorite national and local brands of foods, particularly meats, might also bear labels that include “grass-fed,” “organic,” and “hormone-free.” With the varied products available, consumers undoubtedly have many food options to accommodate their preference and diet.
Jude Capper, who is an expert in beef sustainability, said she hopes consumers are aware of what the labels truly mean so they can make informed choices.
“I would hope that we buy any beef — whether it’s conventional, organic, local, grass-fed — whatever our choice is, it must be an informed choice,” Capper said. “It isn’t simply on the basis of, ‘Well, I think it must be better, because I feel like it is somehow.’ We have to base our choices on facts, and if we do, we are always making a good choice.”
Capper is an independent sustainability consultant who also has adjunct and affiliate positions at Washington State University and Montana State University. She was a featured speaker at Kansas State University (K-State) Nov. 19 and presented, “Is Your Hamburger Killing the Planet?” The presentation was part of the Upson Lecture Series hosted by the Food for Thought student organization at K-State.
For more information, please view the full release here.
New Resource Guide Assists Veterans in Agriculture
A new resource guide developed by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and the Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) Partnership is now available.
Farm Bureau and the FVC are working together to train beginning farmers, make equipment available to veteran farmers and help find farm ownership or employment opportunities for members of the military transitioning into the civilian workforce.
“Through this partnership, I am optimistic returning veterans will learn how to continue their service to our country by helping feed its citizens, nourish its land and make its rural communities more viable through the many entrepreneurial opportunities agriculture has to offer,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman.
The resource guide provides Farm Bureaus with a simple framework outlining the many ways that are available to participate in the new partnership and assist returning veterans interested in staking their futures on agriculture and rural America.
“We’re working to cultivate a new generation of farmers and food leaders, in addition to developing viable employment and meaningful careers through the collaboration of the farming and military communities,” said Michael O’Gorman, executive director of the FVC.
“We believe that veterans possess the unique skills and character needed to strengthen rural communities and create sustainable food systems for all,” O’Gorman continued. “We believe that food production offers purpose and opportunity, as well as physical and psychological benefits.”
Service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have become the latest group of veterans in need of employment and who, by some measures, may be the most likely young people to enter agriculture and other rural-based businesses. Only 17% of the U.S. population calls rural communities home, yet 44% of military recruits come from rural America.
For more information, please view the full release here.
SD Stockgrowers to Host Open House
The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association will host an open house and holiday celebration Saturday, Nov. 30, in conjunction with Rapid City’s 2013 Festival of Lights, in which Stockgrowers are being honored as parade marshal. Stockgrowers will serve coffee and hot cocoa, as well as beef stew and chili to visitors during the parade.
“We invite all the ranch families and everyone who has sent donations and offered support for our Ranchers Relief Fund to join us during the Festival of Lights parade,” said Stockgrowers President Bob Fortune. “We are honored to be a part of the parade this year and we want to thank everyone who has supported our ranch families in the aftermath of the blizzard.”
The Stockgrowers office is located at 426 Saint Joseph St. and the open house will be hosted from 5:30 p.m. until one hour after the parade ends. Everyone is welcome to attend.
For more information, please view the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association website at www.southdakotastockgrowers.org/.
AgriLife Extension Sets Dec. 5 Farm Bill Update in Abilene
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will host a Farm Bill Update from 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 5 at the AgriLife Extension office in Taylor County, 1982 Lytle Way.
The update, which is free and open to the public, is in conjunction with the regular monthly meeting of the Taylor County Marketing Club, said Robert Pritz, AgriLife Extension agent in Taylor County.
“Joe Outlaw, co-director for the Agriculture and Food Policy Center and an AgriLife Extension economist at College Station, will discuss what is taking shape as a result of the House-Senate conference committee meetings,” Pritz said.
“While they haven’t reached a full agreement yet, there is more agreement than disagreement at this point,” Outlaw said.
Other speakers are Mark Welch, AgriLife Extension state grain marketing specialist at College Station and William Thompson, AgriLife Extension economist at San Angelo. Welch will be discussing the differences in crop insurance coverage between yield protection and revenue protections policies, and how both policy types use the futures market to determine coverage levels.
“A solid understanding of crop insurance is absolutely necessary to successfully navigate the new direction Congress has taken in providing a safety net to agriculture,” Pritz said. “This program will be ideal for those still needing some guidance in this somewhat complicated area.”
Thompson will end the session with a demonstration of an online decision aid available to producers, designed to help them through the complexities of signing up for the new program. The program allows them to integrate commercial crop insurance with provisions of the new farm bill.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal’s Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
NMSU, Texas A&M to host Southwest Beef
Symposium in Clayton
While rangeland conditions improved in the latter part of the growing season, Southern Plains cattle producers still have a lot to evaluate as thoughts of rebuilding herd inventories continue. Cattle industry experts will address global industry issues, timely nutrition and health-management strategies, and the economics and risk associated with restocking ranches during the Southwest Beef Symposium.
The annual symposium and tradeshow will be Thursday and Friday, Jan. 9-10, 2014, at the Clayton Civic Center, 124 North Front St., Clayton, N.M. As is customary with the symposium format, the opening afternoon session will address big-picture emerging issues in the global beef industry. Leann Saunders, co-founder and president of Where Food Comes From Inc. and chair-elect of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), will open the symposium at 1 p.m. Thursday with a discussion on the “Effects of Global Meat Exports on U.S. Beef Producers.”
Additional afternoon outlook sessions will address the changes in agriculture lending policies, emerging beef sustainability issues by major beef purveyors and a short- and long-term weather outlook.
On Friday, Cooperative Extension Service specialists and university faculty from Texas A&M AgriLife, Kansas State University and New Mexico State University will provide strategies and considerations on rebuilding regional beef herds specifically focused on the economics of re-stocking, defining current pasture lease rates and effectively selecting and managing the nutrition and health programs for stocker calves and cows.
The symposium will wrap up with a panel discussion by regional ranch managers on their individual perspectives of rebuilding regional cattle inventories. Individual registration is $70, which includes a steak dinner on Thursday, lunch on Friday, refreshments and symposium proceedings. Online registration and payment will be available Dec. 2 and the registration deadline is Jan. 3.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal’s Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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