News Update
April 6, 2015
Top Beef Cattle Headlines
via ‘The Angus Report’
The week's top news includes what sustainability means to McDonald's, the relationship between quality grade and beef demand, North Dakota's plans to double its beef checkoff, continued concerns with proposed rules for waters of the U.S., important Angus youth deadlines and more.
Watch The Angus Report online or tune in at 5 p.m. CDT Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. CDT Saturday or 7:30 a.m. CDT each Monday to catch the show on RFD-TV.
Beef and Pork Prices Up, OJ Too
Higher retail prices for several foods, including sirloin tip roast, ground chuck, deli ham and orange juice, resulted in a slight increase in the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Spring Picnic Marketbasket survey.
The informal survey shows the total cost of 16 food items that can be used to prepare one or more meals was $53.87, up $.60 or about 1% compared to a survey conducted a year ago. Of the 16 items surveyed, eight increased and eight decreased in average price.
“Several meat items increased in price, accounting for much of the modest increase in the marketbasket,” said John Anderson, AFBF’s deputy chief economist. “The 1% increase shown by our survey tracks closely with the Agriculture Department’s forecast of 2% to 3% food inflation for 2015,” he said.
Price checks of alternative milk and egg choices not included in the overall marketbasket survey average revealed the following: 1/2 gallon regular milk, $2.24; 1/2 gallon organic milk, $4.47; and one dozen “cage-free” eggs, $3.57.
The year-to-year direction of the marketbasket survey tracks closely with the federal government’s Consumer Price Index (http://www.bls.gov/cpi/) report for food at home. As retail grocery prices have increased gradually over time, the share of the average food dollar that America’s farm and ranch families receive has dropped.
“Through the mid-1970s, farmers received about one-third of consumer retail food expenditures for food eaten at home and away from home, on average. Since then, that figure has decreased steadily and is now about 16%, according to the Agriculture Department’s revised Food Dollar Series,” Anderson said.
Using the “food at home and away from home” percentage across the board, the farmer’s share of this $53.87 marketbasket would be $8.62.
AFBF, the nation’s largest general farm organization, began conducting informal quarterly marketbasket surveys of retail food price trends in 1989. The series includes a spring picnic survey, summer cookout survey, fall harvest survey and Thanksgiving survey.
According to USDA, Americans spend just less than 10% of their disposable annual income on food, the lowest average of any country in the world. A total of 86 shoppers in 29 states participated in the latest survey, conducted in March.
For more information, please view the full release here.
OSU Extension Offers Herd Bull Purchase
Tips For Livestock Producers
Beef cattle producers who want to boost their profit potential need to consider several factors when purchasing a herd sire, says a beef cattle expert in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the Ohio State University (OSU).
While beef cattle producers have a wide range of criteria when purchasing a herd sire based on their production goals and the size of their herd, price and calving ease usually become high priorities, said John Grimes, beef coordinator for OSU Extension and a member of the OSU Extension Beef Team. Given the value of feeder cattle and the level of expenses associated with beef production today, producers have to make sure that any potential herd sire they consider buying is able to get the cow pregnant and produce live calves, Grimes said.
“It’s like buying a car or life insurance, it’s never as easy as it sounds,” he said. “A lot of folks have calves on the ground and breeding season isn’t far away.
“Just like anything, price is going to come into the conversation. Cattle are so valuable now because of supply and demand, so we’ve got to produce live calves. The two most important traits in any potential herd sire are fertility because we’ve got to get the cow pregnant and then calving ease to help get a live calf on the ground.”
The full article will be in the April issue of the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA. Subscribe to the free monthly online publication.
Permian Basin Horse Short Course set for May 16 in Midland
Whether you’re a roper, a pleasure rider or enjoy some other aspect of horsemanship, the Permian Basin Horse Short Course set for May 16 in Midland, Texas, will have topics of interest for everyone, organizers said.
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will conduct the event beginning with registration at 8:30 a.m. at the Midland Horseshoe Arena, 2514 Arena Trail.
“This is the first time in years we’ve offered a regional horse program of this magnitude,” said Marvin Ensor, AgriLife Extension regional planning leader at San Angelo. “Horses are not only an integral part of our culture, they are also a serious business and recreational outlet for many West Texans. This short course has been planned to meet the needs of those seeking the most up-to-date information on horse health, feeding, pasture management and a number of other topics.”
Ensor said the educational event will go beyond the typical program by pinpointing the latest developments in traveling horse care, what a prepurchase exam should tell you, and selection and fitting of western tack. He added that many of the topics will accompany live demonstrations with plenty of hands-on and speaker interaction time scheduled.
Individual preregistration is $20 by May 12 and $30 thereafter and at the door. Participants may also register online at http://agrilife.org/westresults/registration/.
To RSVP, call Nanette Johnson at 325-653-4576, ext. 216.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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