News Update

August 4, 2015

Premiums for Quality Genetics

History, especially recent history, has proven market incentives, like premiums, have a direct influence on genetic selection decisions at the cow-calf level. The current market is no different, and as herd expansion continues, producers are continuing to be rewarded for quality calves.

Lee Schulz of Iowa State University contributed to the Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) brand auction market study, showing that calves known to be primarily Angus received almost a $7 premium per hundredweight compared to contemporaries.

“What I think that really points to, even at record high prices, we’re still adding a premium on top of that, because of the quality cattle and also realizing that we’ve seen more black-hided cattle that are eligible for the CAB program,” Schulz says.

He adds that consumers shop with dollars, and those dollars filter back through the beef industry segments, creating strong signals of what consumers are willing to pay for.

Catch the full interview on this week’s The Angus Report. You can also tune to RFD-TV this Wednesday at 5 p.m. CDT or Saturday at 1:30 p.m. CDT to watch the weekly recap of beef cattle news headlines.

— Adapted from The Angus Report.

Army Corps Criticizes EPA for Flawed Rulemaking

Internal memos released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee reveal the Army Corps of Engineers, the primary regulator over Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule, believes that the rule will not hold up in the courts and that it grossly misinterprets Corps data.

“Corps data to EPA has been selectively applied out of context, and mixes terminology and disparate data sets,” one memo from General Peabody to Assistant Secretary of the Army reads. “In the Corps judgement, these documents contain numerous inappropriate assumptions with no connection to the data provided, misapplied data, analytical deficiencies and logical inconsistencies.”

Enforcement of the rule is set to begin Aug. 28, but the more than 50 pages of released documents clearly illustrate the discrepancies between the two agencies that share jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act.

“These documents clearly show that EPA is not ready to begin enforcement of this flawed rule and demonstrate why this rule should be withdrawn and rewritten with input from all stakeholders,” said Philip Ellis, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) president.

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

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

2015 Minnesota Farmfest Kicks Off Today

Farmers from across the Midwest flocked to Redwood Falls, Minn., for the opening of the 2015 IDEAg Minnesota Farmfest on Aug. 4, the nation’s third-largest outdoor agricultural exposition.

Minnesota Farmfest has been a premier ag event for more than 30 years — and that’s no surprise thanks to its first-class programming and speakers, great vendors and engaged attendees.

“For Midwestern farmers and suppliers, Minnesota Farmfest is the place to be,” said Ray Bianchi, senior director, expositions and events, for the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and IDEAg Group. “From new equipment demos to policy talk on innovation and broadband, the show grounds are already buzzing.”

Opening day got off to a historic start as Lt. Gov. Tina Smith declared Minnesota’s first Rural Broadband Day live from the Wick Building’s Farmfest Center. The Governor’s Task Force on Broadband then kicked off a full day of discussions and panels focused on expanding broadband access throughout the state and across rural America.

Find more information about the Minnesota Farmfest online.

— Adapted from a release by IDEAg Group LLC.

Wet Spring, High Mosquito Numbers

Scientists at Colorado State University (CSU) have detected a notably high number of Culex mosquitoes in northern Colorado this season, which could translate into high infection rates of West Nile virus. But so far there is no indication that the virus is spreading quickly from mosquito populations to birds, horses or people.

A wet spring and summer and the resulting large mosquito population create high potential for the spread of the virus, but to date it has turned up in only a small number of mosquito samples, according to a CSU expert.

Still, public health agencies advise precautions. Key steps include draining standing water in the yard and garden; wearing long sleeves and pants, especially from dusk through dawn, when mosquitoes are most active; and using insect repellent with DEET. For more tips, visit the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s “Fight the Bite” website.

The year’s first human case of the disease in Colorado was detected in a Mesa County man on July 8. On July 24, the CSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories confirmed the state’s first two equine cases of West Nile virus, in horses from Boulder County and Alamosa County.

For more information, please view the full CSU release online.

— Adapted from a release by Jeff Dodge, Colorado State University.

Beef Cattle and Brush Management Program
Slated for Aug. 14 in Texas

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service offices in Bastrop and Travis counties will present the second session of the Beef Cattle and Brush Management series Aug. 14 in Garfield, Texas.

The program will be from 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the Haynie Chapel United Methodist Church Hall, 16415 Greenwood Drive, said Rachel Bauer, AgriLife Extension agent for Bastrop County.

Topics will include application and timing of brush herbicides; common mistakes when using herbicides; an update on new brush herbicides; targeting weeds for chemical applications; managing armyworms, grasshoppers and the Bermuda grass stem maggot; and an outlook on the beef cattle market. Speakers will include experts from AgriLife Extension in the areas of range management, entomology and economics.

Lunch will be from noon-12:45 p.m. and is included in the program cost. RSVP is required to ensure an accurate meal count. Registration is $25 per person if paid by Aug. 11 to the AgriLife Extension office in Bastrop County, 901 Pecan St. in Bastrop, or the AgriLife Extension office in Travis County, 1600-B Smith Road in Austin.

For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.

— Adapted from a release by Paul Schattenberg, Texas A&M AgriLife Communications.

— Compiled by Paige Nelson, field editor, Angus Journal.