News Update
February 12, 2014
Complete Angus Journal Coverage of Cattle Industry Convention Available
The 2014 Cattle Industry Annual Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Trade Show was in Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 4-7. Full event coverage by the Angus Journal editorial staff is available at www.4cattlemen.com.
Coverage includes general session business; keynote speakers Captain Richard Phillips and former NFL quarterback Archie Manning; Cattlemen’s College® summaries; CattleFax outlook summaries; policy updates from NCBA, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB), the Federation of State Beef Councils and American National CattleWomen Inc. (ANCW); and much more. Visit www.4cattlemen.com.
UGA Bull Sale Rescheduled for Mon., Feb. 17
Due to a winter storm expected to pass through areas of North Georgia on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Focus on EPDs (expected progeny differences) Bull Sale scheduled for Thurs., Feb. 13, in Athens, Ga., has been postponed until Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. The sale site is the Livestock Teaching Arena located on South Milledge Ave. Lunch will be available at 11 a.m. with the sale beginning at noon.
Please call any of the following if you have any questions or need any assistance regarding the sale: Carroll Cannon at 229-881-0721; Mike Mathis at 706-614-2864; or Karl Halbig at 229-445-0424.
NCBA Honors Angus Communications
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) recognized communications and journalism professionals at the 2014 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show for outstanding work in 2013.
According to NCBA President Scott George, the intent of the award program is to offer well-deserved recognition to individuals who are staunch advocates of the U.S. cattle industry. Among those honorees was Crystal Albers, American Angus Association assistant director of communications, for Excellence in Breed Communications and Public Relations.
Albers has served the Angus breed and its members for more than a decade, and continues to grow in her role each year, serving in multiple communication capacities throughout her tenure. Most recognizably, Albers delivers the week’s top cattle industry news on The Angus Report at 7:30 a.m. CST each Monday on RFD-TV. She is also the writer, host and producer of the weekly 30-minute news program.
“The American Angus Association’s television efforts in recent years, simply put, could not have been possible without Crystal Albers,” says Eric Grant, Association director of public relations and communications. “Her innate storytelling ability, coupled with a genuine interest in the agriculture business makes her a tremendous asset to the Angus breed and its membership. Crystal is certainly deserving of this honor, and we look forward to her contributions yet to come.”
Communicating to farmers and ranchers comes naturally for Albers, Grant says, because she lives that life every day. Together with her husband, Mark, and two children, Hannah and Michael, the Albers family runs a diversified crop operation in northeast Kansas.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Resources Available on Winter Spreading
From a manure management standpoint, when and where manure is applied can have a large impact on the risk to surface water quality. In the Michigan State University Extension News article “What is your manure strategy?” three questions were answered. What is winter manure spreading? What are the risks associated with winter spreading? What are winter manure management strategies? Reducing the environmental risks associated with winter manure spreading requires access to information and planning tools. The following resources and tools are available to help livestock farmers evaluate, on a field-by-field basis, the risk of winter spreading.
Regardless of the size of the livestock operation, producers in Michigan should understand and follow the guidelines provided by the Michigan Right to Farm Generally Accepted Agriculture Management Practices (GAAMPs) for Manure Management and Utilization. “Section V — Manure Application to Land,” outlines specific practices for winter application of manure in Michigan. The GAAMPs state that application of manure on frozen or snow-covered soils should be avoided but when necessary solid manures should be applied to fields with slopes of 6° or less; and liquid manures should be applied to fields that have a slope of 3% or less.
The GAAMPs emphasize that in fields where winter manure will be applied conservation practices (such as vegetative buffer strips) should be utilized to control runoff and erosion to surface waters. Livestock producers should pay particular attention to field slopes and manure application rates. The GAAMPs also recommend maintaining a 150-foot buffer from surface-water inlets and areas of concentrated flow.
For more information, please view the full release here.
What’s on the Consumer’s Mind?
A look around the local grocery store might show images of consumers reading meat labels or checking the expiration date on a gallon of milk. Each consumer has a set of values when making food purchases, and the level of importance placed on each value by consumers allow for food producers and distributors to better meet the needs of their end user.
A recent nationwide online survey of U.S. consumers by Kansas State University (K-State) found that freshness and safety were the most important values consumers placed on buying popular livestock products — milk, ground beef, beef steak and chicken breast. The findings for livestock-specific products were consistent with prior research examining consumers’ general food values.
Ted Schroeder, professor and livestock economist for K-State Research and Extension, worked with other faculty and graduate students in the Department of Agricultural Economics on this research. Schroeder said as consumers make decisions to purchase food products, they might think about taste, underlying production practices, concerns they have about production, safeness, freshness, quality and price, to name a few.
“It’s about a host of things that might go through consumers’ minds as they purchase a product,” he said. “As you compile those into a list, how do they rank? And do they rank the same for different products?”
For more information, please view the full release here.
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