Copyright © 2015
Angus Journal

News Update

July 29, 2015

Final Product Education at the NJAS

The showring is only one small component of the beef industry, and the National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) carcass steer contest at the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS) teaches members about producing high-quality beef.

The carcass steer contest at the 2015 NJAS, hosted in Tulsa, Okla., July 13-18 had 28 entries from 12 states. Once checked in, the steers were tagged with an electronic ID tag (eID) and visual tag, weighed and loaded onto a semi, which took them to the Cargill Meat Solutions processing plant in Dodge City, Kan.

Within five days, carcass data was received and ranked by carcass merit. The top steers were announced at the NJAS awards ceremony July 17.

“The carcass steer contest is probably one of the most important contests we have based on our breed and our advantages,” says Jaclyn Upperman, American Angus Association director of events and education. “It teaches our juniors about producing a high-quality product.”

The top steers’ exhibitors were awarded contest premiums in addition to carcass premiums. Of the steers exhibited, more than 70% qualified for the Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB^®) brand. In addition to prize money, contestants — many of whom compete in the contest for several years — received carcass data back to inform future selection decisions.

For more information, please view the full Angus news release online.

— Adapted from a release by Kasey Brown, Angus Productions Inc.

Inspiring Youth, Chambers Angus

The late Thomas and Catherine Chambers of Chambers Angus, Ontario, Ore., were long-time Angus breeders passionate about the cattle and their Angus family.

Because of their dedication to the breed, it was always their intention to help others within the Angus industry. With no children of their own, in 1996 the couple chose the Angus Foundation as the sole charitable beneficiary of their estate — a generous gift to the future of Angus youth.

To recognize their dedication, the NJAA posthumously inducted Thomas and Catherine into the Honorary Angus Foundation during the 2015 NJAS in Tulsa, Okla.

“Thomas and Catherine were very modest, unpretentious and quiet individuals who were always thinking of the well-being of others before their own,” said Milford Jenkins, Angus Foundation president. “When visiting with the Chambers about Angus youth, their enthusiasm was evident when they smiled.”

The legacy of Thomas and Catherine Chambers will live on through their endowment fund to support Angus youth activities. The first awards presented through the Chambers Angus Endowment Fund will be scholarships to attend the Leaders Engaged in Angus Development (LEAD) conference. Selected award winners were named at the 2015 NJAS.

For more information, please view the full Angus news release on the Association’s website.

— Adapted from a release by Carrie Horsley, Angus Foundation.

TPP Must Deliver Say Beef Producers

Beef producers from five Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries are calling for a high-quality market access deal on beef to be secured at the TPP ministerial meeting in Hawaii this month.

Negotiators and trade ministers from the 12 TPP countries will meet in Maui in late July, with the goal of reaching agreement on the outstanding issues across the TPP agenda.

The Five Nations Beef Alliance (FNBA) says it is vital that a comprehensive, trade liberalizing deal be finalized.

In so doing, it would help to ensure that beef producers and their supply chain partners could reap the maximum benefits of the envisaged tariff cuts and that commercial entities can utilize the other trade-facilitating elements of the agreement as soon as possible.

After five years of negotiations, the TPP must not be allowed to drift or lose momentum at this crucial stage. There is so much to gain from trade reform — with more seamless trade rules, reduced costs and less red tape making it easier for food suppliers, such as the FNBA, to respond to growing global consumer demand.

For more information, please view the full NCBA news release.

— Adapted from a release by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

United States Cattle on Feed Up 2%

Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.2 million head on July 1, 2015. The inventory was 2% above July 1, 2014. The inventory included 6.91 million steers and steer calves, up 7% from the previous year. This group accounted for 67% of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 3.33 million head, down 7% from 2014.

The July 1, 2015, inventory of heifers and heifer calves is the lowest percent of total July inventory since the series began in 1996.

Placements in feedlots during June totaled 1.48 million, 1% above 2014. Net placements were 1.41 million head. During June, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds (lb.) were 350,000, 600-699 lb. were 250,000, 700-799 lb. were 336,000, and 800 lb. and greater were 545,000.

Marketings of fed cattle during June totaled 1.75 million, 5% below 2014. Marketings are the lowest for June since the series began in 1996.

Other disappearance totaled 69,000 during June, 8% below 2014.

For more information, please view the full National Agricultural Statistics Service release.

— Adapted from a release by the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Register for California Genomics Forum Aug. 4

The California Angus Association and the American Angus Association will host the California Genomics Forum Aug. 4 at Modesto Junior College, Modesto, Calif. Sponsored by Zoetis, the forum will start at 11 a.m. at the Agricultural Center for Education on the west campus. California breeders and commercial cattlemen may still register for the free event, which will explore genomic technology and how producers can use DNA testing in their operations.

Topics include a review of the basics, focusing on expected progeny differences (EPDs) and dollar value indexes ($Values) and genomic tools for seedstock selection, including use of high-density genomic profiles. Alison Van Eenennaam, University of California–Davis (UC–Davis) Extension specialist; Dan Moser, president of Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI); and Brady Jensen, AGI intern, will address genetic selection. Speakers will also discuss the expanding line of genomic products commercially available to cattlemen and how they can best be used in genetic selection.

Jeff Stott, professor and veterinary immunologist at the UC–Davis, will discuss foothill abortion and the vaccine that will soon be available to guard against the tick-borne bacterial disease.

There is no fee to attend the genomics forum and lunch will be provided.

For more information or to reserve your space at the forum, please contact Julie Reinhardt at barr6925@sbcglobal.net or Terry Cotton at tcotton@angusjournal.com.