News Update
July 13, 2015
Register Now for the
Nebraska Angus Tour
Registration is now open for the 2015 Nebraska Angus Tour, which is scheduled for Aug. 20-22. This year’s tour will feature southeast Nebraska with visits to several Angus ranches, local agricultural companies and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Registration for this year’s event is $50 per person or $75 per couple before Aug. 1.
The tour, entitled “Explore Nebraska … Angus Country,” will showcase a large number of Angus enterprises that encompass the state.
View the tour’s complete schedule in the full Angus news release.
Transportation Standards
Canada’s multispecies livestock transportation training and certification program could be the model for a similar program in the United States. Alberta-based livestock-handling specialist Jennifer Woods provided an overview of Canadian Livestock Transport (CLT) during the Cattle Transportation Symposium May 14-15 in Fort Collins, Colo. Also present was Texas A&M University Meat Scientist Dan Hale who talked about progress toward developing a program for certifying U.S. livestock transporters.
Jennifer Woods said an important aspect is learning to determine, prior to loading, if animals are fit for transport. She said the transport of unfit animals puts animal welfare and public perception of the livestock industry at risk.
Calling it the product of industry-led initiative, Woods said CLT began as an Alberta-only program that has spread throughout Canadian provinces. CLT is a standardized, comprehensive training course, offering species-specific training modules for handlers and haulers of cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry and (meat) horses.
According to Woods, participants learn how stress impacts animal welfare and health, but also meat quality. They learn principles of animal behavior and low-stress handling, with particular attention to loading and unloading.
Read the full Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
Record Number of Certifications Under
2014 Farm Bill Conservation Compliance
The USDA announced that more than 98.2% of producers have met the 2014 Farm Bill requirement to certify conservation compliance to qualify for crop insurance premium support payments.
Implementing the 2014 Farm Bill provisions for conservation compliance is expected to extend conservation provisions for an additional 1.5 million acres of highly erodible lands and 1.1 million acres of wetlands, which will reduce soil erosion, enhance water quality and create wildlife habitat.
USDA has gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that every impacted producer knew of the June 1, 2015, deadline to certify their conservation compliance. For example, all 2015 crop insurance contracts included conservation compliance notifications. USDA has sent out more than 50,000 reminder letters and postcards to individual producers, made more than 25,000 phone calls, conducted informational meetings and training sessions for nearly 6,000 stakeholders across the country, including in major specialty crop producing states with affected commodity groups, and more. Since December 2014, USDA collaborated with crop insurers to ensure they had updated lists for agents to continue contacting producers to also remind them of the filing deadline.
For more information, please view the full USDA release online.
Two Workshops will Examine Livestock Nutrition
at NMSU’s Corona Research Center
Production of cattle, sheep and goats makes up a significant portion of New Mexico’s agricultural industry. Ensuring these ruminant animals receive the proper nutrition they need is a goal of ranchers and the focus of an upcoming two-part series.
Ruminant nutrition will be the topic of a Beyond the Roundtable seminar July 22 at New Mexico State University’s (NMSU’s) Southwest Center for Rangeland Sustainability in Corona.
“This is nutrition I and will deal with the basic nutritional function of the rumen, rumen bacteria and what is known today about the rumen requirements,” said Shad Cox, superintendent of NMSU’s Corona Range and Livestock Research Center. “Nutrition II will be a month later in August and will build on this knowledge and is geared to the actual nutrients such as protein, energy, minerals, etc. and the complexity of balancing the diet for range ruminants.”
The July 22 program will begin at 10 a.m. with a presentation on rumen kinetics and digestion by Eric Scholljegerdes, NMSU ruminant nutritionist. At 11 a.m., a presentation will be given on rumen bacteria and effective changes by Shanna Ivey, NMSU rumen microbiologist.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
AgriLife Extension sets Menard County
New Landowner Conference for July 31
New landowners seeking information on a variety of topics should attend the Menard County New Landowner Conference scheduled 1-5:30 p.m. on July 31 at the Murchison/Whitehead Memorial Youth Complex in Menard, Texas.
The conference, conducted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, will deal with an array of issues new landowners should know, said Lisa Brown, AgriLife Extension agent in Menard County.
“It’s not enough to just know about animal agriculture, though we will be discussing that topic; today’s landowners also need to be aware of a host of other issues they’ll face when owning land,” Brown said.
“Our conference topics will be a mix of issues we feel every new landowner should be aware of. But the talks should also prove useful to landowners who maybe aren’t so new, but who want a refresher or in some instances, to be brought up to date on the latest news or possible regulations now in place.”
Individual registration is $10, due upon arrival.
Topics and speakers will include Agricultural and Wildlife Special Use Appraisals, Kayla Wagner, and the Menard County Appraisal District Chief Appraiser.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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