News Update
December 11, 2014
Cattlemen’s Boot Camp Hosted
this March in Florida
Cattle producers are invited to gather for a Cattlemen’s Boot Camp March 9-10, 2015, at the Jackson County Agricultural Center in Marianna, Fla. The event is hosted by the American Angus Association in partnership with the University of Florida, and provides purebred and commercial producers timely information presented by academic and industry professionals.
Registration is now available online and open until March 2, 2015.
“We are looking forward to hosting cattlemen in Florida this March for an extensive program aimed at improving operations of all types. There is something for everyone,” says Ashley Mitchell, Association assistant director of events and education.
Open to all cattle producers, the event is funded by the Angus Foundation and features a day and a half of educational speakers and hands-on activities to help improve their herd operations. The workshop is packed with pertinent information including bull selection, reproductive technologies, genetic markets, forage management and much more.
Registration is $75 per person, and includes meals and educational materials. Registration forms are due March 2, 2015, and can be submitted electronically or mailed to Ashley Mitchell at the American Angus Association, 3201 Frederick Ave., Saint Joseph, MO, 64506. Late and walk-in registrations are not accepted.
Hotel rooms are available at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Marianna for $83 plus tax until Feb. 1, 2015. Use code “Angus Cattlemen’s Boot Camp” to receive the group rate.
A tentative schedule can be found here.
Iowa Family Honored for Historic Herd
The Historic Angus Herd Award is presented to Angus breeders or immediate families who have been in continuous production of registered-Angus cattle for 50 years or more. To honor their dedication to the breed, the American Angus Association is proud to recognize A.D.D. Angus Farm, Arlington, Iowa, as a Historic Angus Herd.
Arnold Rueber knew exactly what he wanted in 1963 and wasn’t going to settle on the “baby beeves” style of cattle that were too small to suit him. He knew his commercial market was selling 1,200 pound steers to the Chicago Stock Yards for the high-Choice low-Prime market; and he knew he needed to find cows and bulls big enough to get that job done.
He eventually found the size he needed in 12 registered-Angus bred heifers; six of which were Earl Marshall descendants. All 12 heifers cost Arnold just more than $3,000. When he began looking for a good-sized bull to put with them, Arnold ran into another wall. Big bulls were hard to find. By that time, Arnold knew he couldn’t be the only person searching for size and decided to enter the purebred ring and supply the market with larger animals. Just a few years later, in the late-1960s when the type change came, that decision proved itself.
From that point forward, Arnold and his two sons, Doug and David, enjoyed great success in the showring and the auction ring with their Angus cattle. Bulls such as Keyban Bardolier 179, Barbarian Jumbo 13Y, Old Town Lancelot, Grassy View Marshall and Ed Rene Black Enchanter gave A.D.D. Angus Farm a great foundation to build upon, and the herd grew to about 200 cows. In 1978, A.D.D. Angus Farm owned the Iowa Bull of the Year, GD Lightfoot 16.
In the early 1980s the family took a hard look at the future of showing cattle, and the farm decided to place less emphasis on the show circuit and more on performance cattle. It was an easy transition to make for the family, since performance had always been important. They also had kept official Angus Herd Improvement Records (AHIR®) on their cattle since the late-1960s.
For more information, please view the full release here.
NFU Strongly Objects to Anti-family
Farmer Provisions Snuck Into Appropriations Bill
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson and United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) President Danni Beer sent a letter Dec. 10 to the House and Senate leaders strongly objecting to three anti-family farmer and rancher provisions slipped into the 2015 Appropriations Act in the dark of the night, without a single congressional hearing or an ounce of public discussion.
“NFU and USCA are very concerned that the report language included on Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) could be used as an opportunity to stop the appeals process at the World Trade Organization (WTO) or re-open the legislation that mandated COOL, both of which are unacceptable,” notes the letter. “Congress should not intervene in the WTO process.”
Formally known as Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, the bills are being considered before both the House and the Senate this week. The joint letter points out that also hidden inside the Act is a provision that orders the Secretary of Agriculture to refrain from implementing a reformed beef checkoff program, with the irony that the closing period on public comments for the beef checkoff is today.
“National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is so fearful of losing its $40 million-plus revenue stream through the beef checkoff that it has lobbied for this language to be included in the report rather than allowing producers the ability to have their comments recognized and addressed through the commenting process. NCBA has lobbied Congress on a mandatory producer checkoff program that they control,” notes the letter.
Also contained in the proposed Act is a legislative provision that prohibits the USDA Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration (GIPSA) from implementing regulations on the livestock and poultry industry that would address an array of fraudulent, deceptive, anti-competitive and retaliatory practices.
The letter points out that gutting the GIPSA law “would deny farmers protection from retaliation when they use their first-amendment rights to speak with congressional representatives, deny them the right to a jury trial and deny them the right to request information on how their pay is calculated. This provision is unconscionable. Its inclusion in a funding bill is unacceptable to NFU’s and USCA’s members.”
“We strongly object to the use of the appropriations process as a mechanism to limit the secretary’s authority to uphold the COOL law, to respond to the dire need for reform of the beef checkoff, and to address anti-competitive market concerns.”
Read the letters in their entirety here.
Farm Bureau Member Asks House Subcommittee
to Pass Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act
Farm Bureau member Stacey Forshee called on Congress Dec. 10 to help consumers understand the difference between real food safety concerns and marketing ploys by passing H.R. 4432, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act. Forshee, who is also a Kansas Farm Bureau board member, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.
“As a hard-working American family who lives off the land and the products it provides, we would never allow a product we grew or raised to enter the food supply unless we knew it was safe,” Forshee said. A farmer and cattle rancher with her husband in north central Kansas, Forshee has seen firsthand the marked benefits of biotechnology crops, including higher yields over fewer tillable acres, reduced pesticide use and improved soil conservation.
The Forshees are not alone in seeing these benefits. Since 1996, more than 17 million farmers have added in excess of 110 million tons of soybeans and 195 million tons of corn to the world’s food supply. Farmers also avoided using 1.2 billion pounds of pesticide by choosing to grow genetically enhanced crops over conventional corn and soybeans.
Forshee praised the Food and Drug Administration’s science-based approach to labeling food products for safety, health and nutrition information. Labeling foods with biotechnology traits “will mislead consumers into believing such food products are materially different, create undue risk and should be avoided — all of which are scientifically false,” she said. Veering from FDA’s safe and proven approach would undermine the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers across the country, while doing nothing to further food safety, Forshee said.
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