News Update
May 19, 2014
Cattlemen’s Boot Camp
Cattle Producers: You are invited to attend the next Cattlemen’s Boot Camp, hosted by the American Angus Association and the University of Missouri–Columbia, and sponsored in part by the Angus Foundation. The Boot Camp, set for July 14-15, will provide leading information on topics ranging from forage management, expected progeny differences (EPD) technologies and reproduction to carcass value and selection tools to increase value in your herd.
Registration for the Boot Camp is $75, which covers meals, materials, speakers and parking. Interested participants can view the full schedule and register online by clicking here or by printing and mailing the registration form to the American Angus Association Events & Education Department by June 27. Late registrations and walk-ins are not allowed.
Rooms have been reserved at the Hampton Inn. Reserve yours today by calling 573-214-2222 and asking for the American Angus Association rate.
We hope to see you at the Boot Camp July 14-15 at the Animal Science Research Center building at the University of Missouri–Columbia. You will find we’ve planned an educational program with a broad subject base for all cattle producers.
Feel free to contact amitchell@angus.org or call 816-383-5149 with questions. We’ll see you in July!
Missouri Legislature Sends Agricultural Education
Bill to Governor
On May 16, the Missouri Senate passed H.B. 1189 with a bipartisan 29 to zero vote. The legislation requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to develop a high school graduation policy that allows agricultural or career and technical education courses to satisfy certain subject-specific graduation requirements. The Missouri Cattlemen’s Association (MCA) President Jim McCann said this is yet another bill supported by MCA to strengthen agricultural education in Missouri and empower youth interested in agriculture.
“Last year, MCA supported legislation that embraces youth working on farms and ranches and another bill that helps to keep career and technical education vibrant in Missouri. This bill is another step in the right direction,” said McCann. “Agricultural courses incorporate science, math and other subject matters into practical and technical application.”
The bill was sponsored by Rep. David Wood (R-58) and led in the senate by Sen. Mike Kehoe (R-6). The legislation now goes to Governor Jay Nixon for consideration. McCann encourages Governor Nixon to sign the legislation.
“This bill is good policy,” he said. “It only makes sense that DESE recognize agricultural and career and technical education as vital components of high schools in Missouri. We commend Representative Wood for bringing this legislation forward and urge Governor Nixon to quickly sign the bill into law.”
Sterilex® Ultra Powder Shown Effective Against PEDv in Study
A recent study entitled, “Virucidal efficacy of Sterilex® Ultra Powder against PEDv (porcine epidemic diarrhea virus)” has been completed by Sagar Goyal at the University of Minnesota. A summary of the study can be found at www.sterilex.com/?p=463.
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) is a coronavirus infecting the small intestines of a pig,
causing diarrhea and often death. While the virus was first noticed in Europe, it spread throughout the United States in 2013, killing more than 1 million piglets and resulting in higher hog prices. Until recently, there were no known disinfectants, which have been proven to eliminate PEDv in controlled environments.
Sterilex Ultra Powder is an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered disinfectant/sanitizer that can either be dissolved in water and applied to surfaces as a spray/foam, or the product can be used as a dry-floor surface sanitizer applied to surfaces as a dry granule for slow release.
“Sterilex Ultra Powder is currently used by producers and processors across the United States as a key tool in their fight against resistant organisms,” said Alex Josowitz, Sterilex’s director of business development. “Providing industry with a versatile, validated means to kill swine pathogens will be a key factor in slowing the virus’s spread.”
Western Stock Show Association Announces
Four New Board of Directors
The Western Stock Show Association announced four new members to the board of directors during the annual meeting May 16 at the Stadium Arena at the National Western Complex. The announcement was made by Paul Andrews, president and CEO of the National Western Stock Show (NWSS) and Complex.
“We are excited to welcome Justin Cumming, Doug Jones, Leslie Lange and Terrance Carroll to the board of the Western Stock Show Association. They are all great leaders in their field and share the passion for the NWSS and our vision, values and mission”, stated Andrews.
The new directors join the Association with a wealth of experience and accolades.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Preventing the Spread of Costly Herbicide-resistant
Weed Calls for Zero Tolerance
If you see even one Palmer amaranth, pull it up — fast!
Otherwise it could be the worst mistake you’ve ever made in your farming career, according to a researcher from Ohio State University’s (OSU) College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Palmer amaranth, a glyphosate-resistant weed also known to many cotton and soybean farmers in the South as a “pigweed on steroids,” has already begun showing up in Ohio fields, said Mark Loux, an OSU Extension weed specialist.
The concern is that this weed could become a significant problem in Ohio if it continues to spread in the state, he said. It has already had a substantially negative impact on yields and profitability for cotton and soybean growers in Southern states.
“We’re on the cusp — we’ve already identified Palmer amaranth in roughly nine sites in Ohio, ranging from a few plants to one site that had multiple plants on several fields,” Loux said. “This weed has more potential to impact the profitability of our corn and soybean production than any of our other resistance problems.”
The need for aggression is clear, Loux said, based on results released last week of a study in Arkansas cotton fields to determine the effect over time of releasing 20,000 glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth seeds in a patch within a one-square-mile area.
According to the study, the first growing season resulted in a separate patch of Palmer amaranth emerging 375 feet from the original location. Resistant plants expanded to reach field boundaries and infested 20% of the entire area in the second growing season, resulting in decreased cotton yield and interference with harvest, Loux said.
By the third growing season, Palmer amaranth had completely colonized the fields, making cotton harvest impossible, he said.
Palmer amaranth, which can grow three inches (in.) a day, can release nearly a half-million seeds per plant. And because the weed is glyphosate-resistant, many growers in Southern states, in addition to spraying, have had to hire workers to go into their fields to chop down the weeds with hoes and pull them by hand, Loux said.
“The only way to keep this weed from spreading is for farmers to scout to see that none of the plants go to seed. If you see Palmer amaranth out there before it produces seeds and you don’t pull it out, it may be the worst mistake you make in farming.”
Growers with fields that have been spread with manure from animal operations using cottonseed products as a feed need to be particularly aware, as this manure may contain Palmer amaranth seed, Loux said.
Images of the weeds and more information on them can be found at the OSU weed management website, www.agcrops.osu.edu/specialists/weeds.
For more information, please view the full release here.
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