News Update
February 11, 2015
Reserve a Trade Show Booth, 2015 National Angus Convention
Nearly 1,800 cattlemen and women attended the first National Angus Convention & Trade Show last fall in Kansas City, Mo., and now it’s time for exhibitors to plan for what promises to be another successful event in 2015.
This year’s Angus Means Business National Convention & Trade Show takes place Nov. 3-5 at the Overland Park Convention Center, just south of Kansas City. The larger venue will allow for expanded networking opportunities on the trade show floor, as the American Angus Association presents one of the beef industry’s most thought-provoking events for cattlemen serious about producing quality beef.
The early deadline for Association members to reserve a booth in the trade show is Feb. 15.
“We look forward to having even more Angus ranches and farms on display during the National Convention and Trade Show,” says Becky Weishaar, Creative Media director and lead for the event. “The three-day convention is a fantastic meeting place for all sectors of the business, and it’s a marketing opportunity you won’t want to miss.”
In its inaugural year, the trade show featured more than 100 exhibitors consisting of both allied industry partners and Angus breeders. Feedback from the event has been extremely positive, Weishaar says, and many exhibitors quickly signed up to be back in 2015.
“It has been probably the best first-year show I’ve ever been to,” said Dave Thornberg of SweetPro during the 2014 convention. “The level of quality here is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. Even on some of the more mature shows, so you guys have gone really the extra mile and beyond to make this a very formidable, [high] quality presentation.”
Reserve a space for your Angus farm or ranch by contacting Kathy LaScala, trade show sales manager, at 913-486-7184 or katelascala@gmail.com.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Zoetis Genetics Gives Special Offer to Angus Producers Through March
Zoetis Genetics announces a special offer for Angus producers ordering HD 50K or GeneMax® Advantage™ tests through March 31, 2015. To cattlemen ordering any combination of the tests, the company will send one Port Authority vest as a thank you for each 10 tests ordered, up to a maximum of 10 vests per farm or ranch. Customization, including ranch name and/or logo, will be included on all 10 vests for orders of 100. Vests not customized will include the “Angus: The Business Breed” logo.
HD 50K for black Angus assists producers in predicting genetic merit of young, unproven Angus cattle without waiting for progeny data. Results are included in the American Angus Association’s National Cattle Evaluation, enhancing expected progeny differences (EPDs) with the animal’s genetic profile.
GeneMax Advantage helps cattlemen identify females with superior maternal and feeder-cattle traits. Producers benefit from three economic index scores (Cow Advantage, Feeder Advantage and Total Advantage), Smart Outlier Reporting to pinpoint genetic extremes and Sire Match powered by HD 50K. A Q&A explaining GeneMax Advantage is available on the Angus website.
For more information about the vest offer, click here, or visit www.genemaxadvantage.com or www.hd50k.com.
USDA Designates Natural Disaster Areas in Western and Southwestern United States Due to Drought, Opens Door to Assistance
The USDA has previously designated natural disaster areas in 256 counties across Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah due to drought conditions in 2015. USDA wants to remind producers affected by disaster that the 2014 Farm Bill, which was signed into law one year ago by President Obama, has paved the way for qualified farmers and ranchers in affected counties to apply for a variety of safety-net programs and loans.
Farmers and ranchers in designated areas may qualify for low-interest emergency loans through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. Each loan application is considered on its own merits and based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. Visit www.fsa.usda.gov/farmloans to learn more.
In addition to drought, USDA’s FSA also provides assistance for natural disaster loses resulting from flood, fire, freeze, tornadoes, pest infestation and other calamities. These programs include:
- Livestock Indemnity Program compensates eligible livestock producers that have suffered livestock death losses in excess of normal mortality due to adverse weather. Eligible livestock includes beef cattle, dairy cattle, bison, poultry, sheep, swine, horses and other livestock as determined by the secretary.
- Livestock Forage Disaster Program compensates eligible livestock producers that have suffered grazing losses due to drought or fire on publicly managed land.
- Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish provides emergency assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish that have losses due to disease, adverse weather or other conditions, such as blizzards and wildfires, as determined by the secretary of agriculture.
- Emergency Conservation Program helps farmers and ranchers to repair damage to farmlands caused by natural disasters and to help put in place methods for water conservation during severe drought.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Slow Snowpack Development for Much of the West
An unusually warm, dry January slowed snowpack accumulation in much of the West, according to data from the second 2015 forecast by the USDA’s National Water and Climate Center (NWCC). California, Arizona and New Mexico, as well as parts of Colorado, Utah, Oregon and Nevada, remain in prolonged drought.
“January is usually a big month for snowpack accumulation,” NWCC hydrologist Cara McCarthy said. “But most of the West didn’t see significant gains this month. With isolated exceptions, only Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Montana received near-average precipitation last month.”
“This is as low a snowpack as I’ve seen across the Sierra Nevada and Cascades for many locations at this time of year,” said NWCC Director Mike Strobel. Several Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) sites in those ranges are snowless, which is very unusual for this time of year.
The Cascades of Oregon and Washington have received normal levels of precipitation this water year, but it’s mostly fallen as rain instead of snow. California’s Sierra Nevada has seen little rain or snow. The extreme drought in California may be further aggravated by reduced streamflow in other parts of the West.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Colorado State University Summit Reimagines the Future of Agriculture
What will it look like to feed an additional 2 billion people by 2050? How will American farmers and ranchers help meet that demand? What changes will be needed in Colorado’s agriculture and food industries to ensure continued prosperity?
Some of the country’s leading influencers and thinkers in agriculture will assemble at Colorado State University (CSU) to explore creative and collaborative responses to these challenges.
The “Advancing the Agriculture Economy Through Innovation” summit will be hosted March 18-20 at CSU’s Lory Student Center. The event will demonstrate the broad scope and significance of the industry within Colorado and the world, while connecting innovators prepared to reimagine its future.
The summit will open with an executive leadership roundtable exploring the obstacles and opportunities of agriculture’s next decade, followed by master classes on big data and climate-smart agriculture.
The final two days of the event will feature provocative panel sessions focused on topics such as sustainable water technologies, the global food system, the fast and fresh food revolution, and creative approaches to agricultural financing.
In addition to a number of featured CSU experts, speakers will include Brian Kelley, president and CEO of Keurig Green Mountain; Federico Peña, former U.S. secretary of energy and transportation; Marley Hodgson, chief strategy officer and co-founder of MAD Greens; and Bill Stoufer, chief integration officer and chief operating officer at Ardent Mills. Former Fox News executive and anchor Alexis Glick will moderate the event.
The public is invited to attend an Innovation Fair, running concurrent to the summit on March 19 and 20, that will showcase emerging ideas and technologies from businesses, faculty, students and the public sector. The fair will culminate with a Pitch Slam event, where a select group of field-tested ventures will compete for cash prizes before a panel of experts and investors.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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