News Update
August 11, 2015
Executive Search Update
More information regarding the search for the American Angus Association’s next chief executive officer was posted to www.angus.org yesterday, including a letter to members from President Steve Olson and a link to more details and application procedures from Witt/Kieffer, the professional firm conducting the search.
More information can be found on the Association’s website.
Beef Industry Sustainability
An increasing world population and global demand for beef continues to challenge the industry to sutainably meet those demands. But several barriers exist that make it difficult to increase beef production.
Oklahoma State University’s Sara Place says beef producer’s average age, obstacles to young producers entering the industry, public perception of intensive management systems and public misinformation affect the beef industry’s ability to be sustainable.
“We always define it as producing safe, nutritious beef for human consumption, but doing it with long-term business viability, stewardship of natural resources and responsibility to community and family animals,” Place says. “First off, if we’re going to think about long-term business viability, all those things that producers have been doing to make sure that they’re going to able to pass that business onto the next generation, those fall under sustainability.”
Hear more on sustainability from Place in this week’s The Angus Report.
Eat Local During Ohio Local Foods Week
Would you spend $10 a week on local foods?
Ohio State University (OSU) Extension is encouraging Ohioans to pledge to do just that Aug. 9-15 during the first-ever statewide Ohio Local Foods Week. Before the week even started, nearly 100 people had already made the pledge online at www.localfoods.osu.edu, but organizers are hoping for many more.
“There are a lot of different ways ‘local foods’ can be defined,” said Patrice Powers-Barker, OSU Extension educator who helped organize the week. “It could be a certain geographic area, a radius of a certain number of miles or even a supply chain in which consumers buy directly from producers.
“There’s no one single definition of ‘local foods,’ but we encourage consumers to think about it and decide what local foods are to them, based on their own values.”
The website is the online presence of OSU Extension’s Local Foods Signature Program, which addresses local food system issues from production through consumption. It includes resources such as “Farm to Health” materials, which provide nutrient and phytonutrient information, as well as recipes for fruits and vegetables grown in Ohio.
For more information, please view the full release online.
College Agriculture Advocates Unite
It’s time for college students to step up and share their passion for agriculture and tell their story. This fall, for the seventh consecutive year, the Animal Agriculture Alliance will launch its annual College Aggies Online Scholarship Program (CAO) to help college students with a passion for agriculture become confident, positive and proactive communicators. Over the years, the program has continued to evolve to address new challenges and emerging social media platforms.
The nine-week competitive program will prepare students to become lifelong advocates of the agriculture industry. In addition to gaining valuable skills, the top three clubs and individuals will receive scholarships. The top three individuals will earn $2,500, $1,000 and $500 in scholarship awards, respectively. The top three clubs will be awarded $5,000, $2,500 and $1,000 prizes. The top three individuals and a representative from each of the top clubs will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to attend the Animal Agriculture Alliance annual Stakeholder’s Summit.
For more information, please view the full news release.
Adapted from a release by the Animal Agriculture Alliance.
Industry Leaders Explore Genetics, Public Health and Animal Welfare
On Aug. 13, the Livestock Industry Conference on Genetics will convene panels of internationally-regarded scientists to discuss the role of livestock genetics in addressing issues of animal health, animal welfare and public health. The conference takes place at the Granlibakken Resort in Lake Tahoe, Calif., and will provide up-to-date information on how advancements in animal genetics are providing concurrent solutions to issues of public health and animal welfare.
The scientists participating in the conference are among the most respected voices in livestock genetics and will present their most compelling breakthroughs on this subject matter.
Elizabeth Maga, from the University of California, Davis, will be speaking about her work to extend the benefits of human milk beyond infancy by genetically-engineering dairy animals to contain protective human milk antimicrobials.
Subramaniam Srikumaran will present the findings he made in developing a technique for producing cattle that are less susceptible to Shipping Fever, a multifactorial disease responsible for over $1 billion in losses to the U.S. cattle industry each year.
Helen Sang of The Roslin Institute has developed chickens that do not transmit the avian influenza virus to other chickens with which they are in contact.
For more information, please view the full release online.
Alabama Workshop on Antimicrobial Drug use in Food Animals
Regional leaders in livestock production, the veterinary community and the feed supply industry will be among the speakers at an Aug. 25 workshop in Hanceville, Ala.
Organized by Farm Foundation NFP, this workshop is an opportunity for participants to gain a comprehensive understanding of two Guidance for Industry (GFIs) issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the use of medically-important antimicrobial drugs in food-producing animals, as well as the FDA’s revised Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD). These actions mean some drugs will see label changes allowing only therapeutic uses, and veterinary oversight will be needed in the form of a veterinarian’s prescription for the drug, direct administration by a veterinarian, or a veterinary consultation on disease management protocols.
The Aug. 25 workshop is targeted to pork, cattle, poultry and sheep producers, as well as veterinarians and feed suppliers in Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee and Missouri. The workshop will be 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT at the Bailey Center Auditorium, Wallace State Community College, 801 Main St. NW, Hanceville, Ala.
For more information, please view the complete article online.
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