News Update
November 3, 2014
National Angus Convention & Trade Show: This week in KC
Cattlemen from around the country are gathering in Kansas City, Mo., this week for the first-ever Angus Means Business National Convention & Trade Show. Hosted by the American Angus Association, the convention will be hosted Nov. 4-6 at the KCI Expo Center, just minutes from the airport. The Association is also opening its doors today, Nov. 3, for a homecoming tour and special ribbon cutting to commemorate the Angus Foundation’s Building an Angus Legacy! project.
“The National Angus Convention and Trade Show is open for anyone associated with the Angus business,” says Bryce Schumann, Association CEO. “Our programs and events will be of interest to Angus seedstock breeders, commercial cattlemen and anyone with an interest in targeting your herd toward the Certified Angus Beef® brand.”
Attendees traveling to Kansas City are encouraged to download the Angus Mobile smartphone application for instant updates and a full schedule of events. In addition, there are several ways to stay up-to-date on news from the convention.
- Web coverage — The Angus Media communications team will be providing updates in the online newsroom at www.angusconvention.com, including speaker summaries, audio and other key announcements.
- Social media — Join the conversations online by connecting with the American Angus Association’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts, as well as the Angus Journal’s Facebook and Twitter.
- Television — A convention-focused episode of The Angus Report will air at 7:30 a.m. CDT on Monday, Nov. 17 on RFD-TV.
- Magazine — Editorial coverage from the Angus Journal will be shared in the January issue.
Registration for the complete event is $50, and day-only passes are available for $25, which includes access into educational workshops, speakers and entertainment. Association members may attend the Candidates Forum and the Annual Convention of Delegates free of charge.
For more news from the Angus Means Business National Convention & Trade Show, visit www.angusconvention.com. Media representatives interested in covering the week’s events are encouraged to contact Crystal Albers, director of communications, at 816-273-3001.
California Adopts Gray Wolf Listing
The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) met in Mount Shasta to make some decisions on finalizing the details of listing the gray wolf as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The findings on the agenda included the Commission’s rationale for determining that the species is “endangered” within California under CESA, despite the fact that no gray wolves are present within the state.
The process began with a 2012 petition submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity, Big Wildlife, the Environmental Protection Information Center and the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center that asked the Commission to list the wolf under the CESA.
While speakers from both sides of the argument shared their thoughts, Commissioner Michael Sutton pointed out that the decision had already been made at the June 4 meeting in Fortuna — the wolf would be listed. The decision at stake for the Mount Shasta meeting was whether or not to accept the language in the draft findings that support the Commission’s decision to list the wolf.
According to the Commission, an animal is considered for the list if the species is “a native species or subspecies of a bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile or plant, which is in serious danger of becoming extinct throughout all, or a significant portion, of its range due to one or more causes, including loss of habitat, change in habitat, overexploitation, predation, competition or disease.”
While there are currently no established wolf populations in California, the Commission’s draft findings determined that a species does not have to have a continuous breeding population to meet the endangered or threatened definition.
The California Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) represented producers at the meetings to “express our conviction that the Commission has exceeded its legal authority by listing the gray wolf and to address the legal and factual inadequacies of the Commission’s findings of fact.”
CCA members also appeared at the hearing. Ultimately, however, the Commission voted 2-1 to ratify its findings (with Commissioner Jacqueline Hostler-Carmesin — the sole dissenter against the Commission’s June decision to list the wolf — voting not to ratify the findings.)
The findings detailed in the draft share that the Commission believes that wolves historically existed in California and were distributed throughout the state, although not in large numbers.
The document also states that evidence shows that wolves were extirpated from the state by the end of the 1920s, based on a 2012 report prepared by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
For more information, please view the full release here.
A Voice as Big as Texas!
The top four finalists have been selected for the second annual National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) National Anthem Contest and we need your help in selecting the winner.
- Mollie Beaver (11) Wichita, Kan.
- Talli Heid (17) Yuma, Colo.
- Hannah Segrist (14) Lubbock, Texas
- Cassidy Thompson (16) Limon, Colo.
The participant entry videos can be seen on www.beefusa.org or the NCBA Facebook page. Online voting will take place Oct. 31 through Nov. 24 (one vote per day, per person). The winner will be determined by the most public votes and will be announced on Dec. 8. Cast your vote today! Be sure to tell your friends and family to vote online to help spread the word about these talented contestants. The winner will win a variety of great prizes including:
- One hotel room for three nights in San Antonio during the convention;
- Free registration for two to the 2015 Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio;
- Sing the National Anthem at the opening general session of the 2015 Cattle Industry Convention;
- Sing the national anthem at the Friday night event;
- Meet and greet with entertainment talent at the Friday night event; and
- Win a pair of boots, pair of jeans and a shirt from Roper or Stetson.
Help support these budding young stars by voting today!
Animal Grazing Behavior Topic of Nov. 6 Webinar
Understanding animal grazing behavior is an important part of grazing management. Landowners can learn more about the most important issues at a Nov. 6 webinar by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service ecosystem science and management unit.
“How Livestock Eat: Understanding Grazing Animal Behavior for Improved Livestock and Resource Management” is next in the Texas Range Webinar Series, scheduled on the first Thursday of each month. Each webinar is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m., said Pete Flores, webinar coordinator in Corpus Christi.
“Knowing how grazing animals eat, how they learn to eat and when they eat provides a basis for using grazing behavior to interpret how much forage is available for grazing,” said Bob Lyons, AgriLife Extension range specialist and presenter.
“When and how often supplemental feeds are offered can affect time spent grazing, as well as herd interactions,” Lyons said. “An understanding of grazing behavior relative to grazing distribution is critical for understanding the relationship between grazeable acres and carrying capacity.”
This webinar and others in the series can be accessed at http://naturalresourcewebinars.tamu.edu.
For more information on the webinars, contact Flores at Pete.Flores@ag.tamu.edu.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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