News Update
July 25, 2014
Register for the South Dakota
Annual Angus Tour
Angus breeders can now register for the South Dakota Annual Angus Tour scheduled for Sept. 22-23. The tour allows Angus breeders to meet new people, learn more about Angus cattle and visit ranches across southeastern South Dakota. This year’s tour features 21 Angus farms in the state and begins in Mitchell, S.D.
“We are ready to showcase Angus in South Dakota,” says Malynda Penner, event co-chair. “We always look forward to meeting Angus producers who share the same passion for Angus cattle that we do.”
Registration costs are $100 per couple or $75 for a single person before Sept. 1. After that date, registration increases to $125 per couple or $100 for a single person. Registration includes meals for both days, a hotel room and transportation.
Angus farms included on this year’s tour are Moore Angus, Blacktop Farms, Geppert Rock Creek Angus, Callies Angus, Bruns Angus, Hyland Angus, Cotton Angus, Buseman Angus, JK Angus, Bussmus Angus, Carter Angus, Peterson Angus, Roth Angus, Mogck & Sons Angus, LaGrand Angus, Mogck Angus Farms, Koupal Angus, Koupal’s B&B Angus, Varilek Angus, Mohnen Angus and Soulek Angus.
For more information on the event or to register, contact Malynda Penner at 605-929-7314 or mrs.penner@hotmail.com.
For more information, please view the full release here.
White House Rural Council Announces $10 Billion
Private Investment Fund to Finance Job-creating Infrastructure Projects in Rural America
The White House Rural Council announced July 24 the creation of the new U.S. Rural Infrastructure Opportunity Fund through which private entities can invest in job-creating rural infrastructure projects across the country. An initial $10 billion has been committed to the fund with greater investment expected to follow. Target investments will include hospitals, schools and other educational facilities, rural water and wastewater systems, energy projects, broadband expansion, local and regional food systems, and other rural infrastructure.
CoBank, a national cooperative bank serving rural America and a member of the Farm Credit System, is the fund’s anchor investor, committing $10 billion to get the fund off the ground. Capitol Peak Asset Management will manage the new fund and work to recruit more investors to add to CoBank’s initial commitment. The USDA and other federal agencies will help to identify rural projects that could be potential beneficiaries of financing through this new fund and other private sources.
The creation of the new fund was announced during the first-ever White House Rural Opportunity Investment Conference in Washington, D.C. The conference brought together business and financial community leaders, Administration and other government officials, rural development experts, and others to promote investment opportunities in America’s rural communities.
“This fund represents a new approach to our support for job-creating projects across the country,” said Tom Vilsack, USDA secretary and chair of the White House Rural Council. “USDA and other agencies invest in infrastructure through a variety of federal initiatives, but our resources are finite, and there are backlogs of projects in many parts of the economy. We know where investment opportunities exist, so we are in a position to help promote these projects among investors. With new efforts like this, we can move beyond existing programs and help encourage substantial private investment in projects that grow the economy and improve quality of life for millions of Americans.”
The Rural Infrastructure Opportunity Fund will allow America’s rural economy to continue its forward momentum by enhancing access to capital for rural infrastructure projects and speeding up the process of rural infrastructure improvements. The fund is immediately open for business, and more investors can now add to the initial $10 billion in available capital.
The fund will allow a wide variety of new participants, including pension funds, endowments, foundations and other institutional investors that have not traditionally had access to these markets to invest in rural development. In some cases, projects may be funded entirely through private sector dollars. In others, private dollars may be leveraged with and extend critical government loan and grant programs.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Women Agriculturalists Recognized at the
2014 Missouri State Fair
The 2014 Missouri State Fair announced July 23 two outstanding female agriculturalists, selected in a second annual contest sponsored by Monsanto. Tammy Bartholomew of Archie received the contest title of Missouri Woman in Agriculture, and Ashlyn Richardson of Lincoln received the title of Missouri Woman in Agriculture Rising Star. Each winner will receive a $1,000 cash donation from Monsanto for a nonprofit organization of her choice.
Bartholomew, the winner of the 31-year-old and over age division, is a retired agriculture education teacher and FFA advisor and has served as the first female president of the Missouri Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association. She has been actively involved in several other agriculture-related groups including the National and Missouri Cattlemen’s associations and the American and Missouri Angus associations. She and her husband, Steve, and daughters Hannah Bartholomew and Rachel Kagay and her husband, Bryant, raise registered-Angus cattle.
Richardson, winner of the 18-30-year-old age division, is a senior at the University of Missouri–Columbia studying Agriculture Education–Leadership and serves as a College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) Student Ambassador. She is an active member of Missouri FFA and 4-H, serving as an officer in each of those organizations. Richardson has attended the Missouri State Fair each year of her life, participating through 4-H and FFA exhibiting cattle.
The state fair will further emphasize women’s roles in the industry in a pictorial exhibit of women involved in agriculture on display Aug.7-17 on the lawn of the Woman’s Building.
Free gate admission for all women will also be offered Aug. 14, as part of the focus on Missouri women agriculturalists. Special activities that day will include the Missouri First Lady’s Pie Contest, sponsored by Starline Brass and AgriMissouri, at 10 a.m. in the Home Economics Building, and the Missouri Travel Council’s trade show, A Celebration of Women, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Lowell Mohler Assembly Hall. Several prizes will be given away during the event, and a free Missouri craft beer and wine tasting event will start at 4 p.m. A wristband for the tasting will be available starting at 11 a.m. at the trade show, while supplies last.
The 112th Missouri State Fair, themed “Harvest the Fun,” will be Aug. 7-17 in Sedalia. For more information about the events on Aug. 14 and other highlights during the Fair, visit www.mostatefair.com, follow the Fair on Facebook and Twitter, or call 1-800-422-3247.
For more information, please view the full release here.
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