News Update
December 11, 2013
Kansas Angus Youth
Receive $16,000 in Scholarships
Fourteen scholarship winners for the 2013-2014 school year were recognized during the annual Kansas Livestock Association (KLA) Convention Dec. 6 in Wichita. The Kansas Livestock Foundation (KLF) presented a total of $16,000. Three were awarded to Angus juniors.
Evan Woodbury has been awarded the $2,500 Cattlemen’s Scholarship from GoBob Pipe & Steel and KLF. Woodbury is the son of Howard and Elise Woodbury from Quenemo. He is attending Kansas State University and majoring in agricultural education.
Brady Jensen is the son of Kevin and Sheila Jensen from Courtland, and was awarded, through KLF, $1,000 Wheels for Bucks Scholarships. He is a junior at K-State majoring in animal science.
Esther McCabe, daughter of Randy and Varee McCabe from Elk City, is a sophomore majoring in animal science at K-State. She received a $1,000 “Youth in Agriculture” scholarship from KLF.
KLA is a trade organization protecting the business interests of independent ranchers, feeders and dairy farmers. Members of the association are involved in all segments of the livestock industry, including cow-calf production, backgrounding, cattle feeding, swine, dairy and sheep.
UK Ag Weather Center Warns of
Cold Stress Emergency for Livestock Producers
It’s not even officially winter according to the calendar, but Kentucky has already seen a fair amount of winter weather and cold temperatures will prevail the next few days. Agricultural meteorologists from the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture, Food and Environment warned that arctic cold the next few nights will create a livestock cold-stress emergency.
“The lows the next couple of nights will be chilly, in the teens,” said Tom Priddy, UK agricultural meteorologist. “Wind chill temperatures will get as low as 5° F during this period.”
Priddy said the combination of cold air and winds will put most parts of Kentucky into periods of dangerous and emergency categories for livestock cold stress.
Livestock producers should make sure animals have adequate shelter, water, dry bedding and feed to make it through this cold spell. Pet owners should bring pets indoors. UK livestock specialists said animals have a higher requirement for energy in the colder months, so producers should have high-quality grains and forages on hand to meet their needs.
Ambient temperatures can impact the amount of dry matter cattle eat, providing an opportunity to compensate for increased maintenance energy needs. Producers either need to increase their animals’ feed intake or increase the energy density of the diet by feeding higher-quality hay or adding more grain or fat to the grain mix, said UK beef specialist Jeff Lehmkuhler.
He said to consider separating younger and thinner cows that may not have the same internal insulation as conditioned older cows and supplement them accordingly or offer them higher-quality forage if available. Coleman said equine owners can employ similar strategies and separate animals according to body condition score.
“Producers should move cows to fields with natural windbreaks or provide man-made windbreaks, which are not the same as a barn,” Lehmkuhler suggested. “Poorly managed barns combined with poor ventilation may actually hamper efforts to improve the environmental conditions. Lastly, remember it is energy or calories that are really needed. If the protein level in the forage is adequate, do not make supplement decisions based on protein level; rather purchase the most affordable calories. Stay warm and keep the waterers flowing.”
Priddy said warmer weather, with a good chance of rain, will arrive by Dec. 14.
USDA Announces Support for Mental Health Facilities
in Rural Areas
On Dec. 10 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the USDA has set a goal of investing up to $50 million to increase access to mental-health care in rural areas during the next three years. The funding will be used for the construction, expansion, or equipping of rural mental health facilities and will be provided through the Community Facilities direct loan program. USDA’s effort to provide better mental-health care in rural areas is part of President Obama’s ongoing commitment to address mental illness.
“We need to be sure that every American has access to quality mental-health services, including Americans living in rural areas,” said Vilsack. “As part of the Obama administration’s effort to expand access to treatment for those suffering from mental health problems, USDA investments in mental health care facilities will reduce the difficulty many rural families face in accessing mental-health help. These funds can also help expand and improve upon the services already offered by mental health facilities in rural communities, many of which increasingly are focused on helping military veterans.”
The funding announcement builds on key steps the administration has already taken to reduce the stigma associated with seeking help for mental illness, and to ensure that millions more individuals have health insurance that covers mental health and substance-use-disorder services at parity with medical and surgical benefits.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Marketing, Management Program Offered
for Agriculture Producers
The Master Marketer Program, only offered in a region about every five years, is set to return to the Rolling Plains in 2014, according to Stan Bevers, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist in Vernon.
The training dates will be Jan. 22-23, 2014, at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center near Vernon. The 64-hour curriculum is offered as four two-day sessions hosted every two weeks, and is the most intensive marketing and risk-management training provided by Extension anywhere in the United States, Bevers said. Other dates are Feb. 5-6, 2014; Feb. 19-20; and March 5-6.
The Master Marketer Program is a national, award-winning curriculum that provides in-depth, intensive risk-management education training. It teaches participants how to develop marketing plans, evaluate marketing alternatives, manage production and price risk, and helps teach the skills and discipline necessary to execute those plans, he said.
“It’s been six years since the last Master Marketer training was in Vernon,” Bevers said. “If a producer ever thought about attending the training or a past graduate wants a refresher, they need to sign up early. It may be their last chance for a while.”
The registration fee is $340, which includes meals and materials. The registration fees fall short of covering all costs of the program, he said.
Most of the costs are covered by grants and partnerships with other organizations, including the Texas Corn Producers Board, Texas Grain Sorghum Producers Board, Texas Farm Bureau, the Cotton State Support Committee, Texas Wheat Producers Board and the USDA Risk Management Agency.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal’s Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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