News Update
March 4, 2015
Top Beef Industry Headlines
from ‘The Angus Report’
This week in the news: a resolution to the West Coast labor debacle, Japan continues to open its doors to U.S. beef imports, an update on transportation and trade legislation affecting cattlemen, the latest on efforts to harmonize trichomoniasis regulations, and much more.
Watch the entire episode online, or tune to RFD-TV this evening at 5 p.m. CST for this week’s The Angus Report. The program also airs 1:30 p.m. CST each Saturday and starts the week at 7:30 a.m. CST on Monday.
Roundtable on Sustainable American Beef Created
A group of U.S. beef value chain participants including producers, processors, retailers, foodservice operators, packers, allied industry and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) announced March 3 the launch of the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB). The multi-stakeholder roundtable will identify sustainability indicators, establish verification methodologies, and generate field project data to test and confirm sustainability concepts for use throughout the United States. The USRSB adopts an approach whereby social, economic and environmental considerations are balanced to achieve sustainable outcomes.
“Research tells us American consumers are increasingly interested in the social, economic and environmental impacts of the beef they purchase,” said Nicole Johnson-Hoffman, vice president of Cargill Value Added Meats and interim chair of USRSB. “For the first time, the entire U.S. beef value chain, including representatives who raise cattle and produce, market and sell beef, in addition to representatives from the NGO community and allied businesses, are coming together to establish metrics and criteria that will be used to benchmark the present and help measure improvements in the sustainability of American beef going forward.”
USRSB’s mission is to advance, support and communicate continuous improvement in U.S. beef sustainability through leadership, innovation, multi-stakeholder engagement and collaboration. Utilizing the definition for sustainable beef recently released by the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB), the USRSB will develop sustainability indicators relevant to the various beef systems in the United States, as well as a means to verify sustainable progress in a transparent manner that can be shared. Similar to GRSB, the USRSB will not mandate standards or verify the performance of individual beef value chain participants.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Development of a Certification
in Sustainability for Certified Crop Advisors
The United Soybean Board (USB), American Society of Agronomy (ASA) and the International Certified Crop Adviser (ICCA) Program have partnered to develop new training for a specialty certification focused on sustainable agricultural practices.
Consumers and the food industry are demanding that sustainable products be produced. Farmers, too, have a vested interest in sustainability as they are stewards of the land. “Best management practices” help growers protect the environment, produce abundant, safe food and generate profit.
“The majority of U.S. soybean farmers are using sustainable practices, but we want to continue to improve our operations,” says Bill Beam, USB farmer-leader and soybean farmer from Elverson, Pa. “Programs such as this will help to create credible resources for farmers who are looking to implement more of these practices on their farms.”
Increasingly, farmers are turning to professionals to advise them about how to manage their land. Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs) and Certified Professional Agronomists (CPAgs) are trained in the field of agronomy — the study of plants, soils and their environment. To become certified, CCAs and CPAgs have undergone rigorous training and testing and must continue with professional development to keep their certification. Additional training will be required for the new Sustainability Specialization Certification.
“CCAs are the single best influencers to work with local producers,” says Luther Smith, Director of Certification. “They can help growers adopt more sustainable crop production practices that will satisfy the future demands of the food industry and consumer.” There are currently 13,000 CCA/CPAgs certified by the ASA/ICCA program.
The partnership between USB, ASA and ICCA brings together the best minds from the public and private sectors. They will define sustainable crop production, best CCA practices and develop standards for CCA certification in sustainability.
For more information, please view the full release here.
March 15 Deadline for Nominations
to the Meat Industry Hall of Fame Class of 2015
Now celebrating its seventh year of honoring the best in the industry, the Meat Industry Hall of Fame is requesting nominations for Members of the Class of 2015. Eligible candidates must meet three key qualifications:
- Candidates must have spent a significant portion of their professional careers in an industry-related field (animal agriculture, food processing, government, academia, retail)
- Candidates must have contributed significant innovation, achieved notable business success or otherwise positively impacted their organization, institution or larger industry segment
- Candidates must have successfully undertaken significant community service or philanthropy
To nominate someone who’s worthy of membership in the Meat Industry Hall of Fame, simply request a nomination form by contacting Chuck Jolley at Chuck@MeatIndustryHallofFame.com or 913-205-3791.
A list of qualified candidates will be assembled and ballots will be sent to Board and members of the Meat Industry Hall of Fame on April 16. Their votes will be tallied and six new members will be announced on May 18.
For more information please view the full release here.
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