News Update

November 30, 2015

Saddle & Sirloin Club
Welcomes Dave Nichols

Induction into the Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Gallery is the highest honor bestowed in the livestock industry. Founded in 1903, the gallery is the largest collection of noted artists in the world devoted to a single industry, and honors the most influential men and women who have significantly contributed or furthered livestock production.

Angus breeder Dave Nichols, Bridgewater, Iowa, was honored as the 2015 inductee during a ceremony Nov. 15 at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky.

“This is the most humbling experience I’ve had in my lifetime — to be hung in the Saddle and Sirloin Club with those absolute giants of the livestock industry,” Nichols said. “What’s even more rewarding is the letters of support that were written for me, and the gracious and interesting people who have played a part in my life.”

Nichols was raised on his father’s small cattle feeding operation. Starting as a tenant farm, Nichols Farms has grown under his leadership to now encompass 5,500 acres, 1,500 head of breeding stock and a small feedlot.

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

— Adapted from a release by Jena McRell, Angus Media.

CattleFax Shares Market Outlook

Lance Zimmerman believes farmers and ranchers have a divine calling. He cites Psalm 104, Verse 14 as evidence. That’s the one noting God’s provision of the ways and means for men to “bring forth food from the earth.” Of course, the Lord never said it would always be easy.

During an Angus University session of the National Angus Convention hosted Nov. 3-5 in Overland Park, Kan., Zimmerman allowed that calf and feeder-cattle marketing in 2014 was about as easy as it gets. Cow-calf and stocker producers reaped a harvest of record-high prices. More recently, prices have been less favorable.

“The industry just came out of a perfect storm,” said Zimmerman, explaining how prolonged drought in the central United States was a “market maker.” Reduced supplies of grazed and harvested forages led to high hay prices and a dramatic reduction in national cow numbers. Corn prices were high, too, spurred not only by increased demand for livestock feed, but competition from the ethanol industry.

“It resulted in supply shock and demand shock for the cattle industry,” Zimmerman added, noting how fewer cows, smaller calf crops and fewer cattle going on feed translated into smaller beef supplies.

Read the full article in the Newroom at www.angusconvention.com.

— Adapted from a release by Troy Smith, Angus Media.

Task Force Wants Antibiotic Resistance Solutions

A national task force report on the growing problem of antibiotic resistance in animal agriculture spotlights the need to make finding solutions a top public health priority, said Willie Reed, dean of the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Reed serves on the 14-member Task Force on Antibiotic Resistance in Production Agriculture composed of agricultural educators, industry leaders and animal health specialists.

In its report released Oct. 29, the task force recommended that a centralized research organization be created to coordinate public and private efforts to curb antibiotic resistance, which the group says, “threatens human, animal and environmental health.”

“Our goal is to elevate antibiotic resistance to the top of the national agenda as a public health threat, while leveraging the collective strengths of the nation’s educational, professional and policymaking sectors to enhance our knowledge of this biologically complex and poorly understood phenomenon,” Reed said.

Read the full Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.

— Adapted from a release by Darrin Pack, Purdue University News.

Certified Angus Beef Reaches High in 2015

Demand for quality Angus beef continues to grow — as reflected in the most recent sales figures from Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB). The world’s largest branded beef program reported its ninth year of record sales for Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) brand product among its licensee partners.

That milestone also reflects growing demand for registered-Angus genetics, with a 27.5% increase in acceptance rates.

“Fiscal year 2015 might go down as the best year in Certified Angus Beef history,” CAB President John Stika said. “Not necessarily just because it marks the 11th year of consecutive growth and the ninth record year that we’ve had, but primarily when you look at the fashion in which it was done.”

Stika went on to list challenges CAB faced like the fourth straight year of cattle number declines; however, 2015 was still the third largest supply of CAB carcasses ever.

Watch the full Stika interview on this week’s The Angus Report.

— Adapted from The Angus Report.

NDSA Feeder Council to Host Beyond the Bunk Workshop

The NDSA Feeder Council will host its 2015 Beyond the Bunk Workshop Dec. 16 at the Ramada in Bismarck. This year’s workshop features an in-depth look at North Dakota State University feedlot research, a review of a volatile cattle market climate and a discussion of future feeder cattle marketing opportunities in the region.

NDSA President Steve Brooks of Bowman, N.D., will open the meeting with a welcome and issues briefing. Jeff Russo, vice president of cattle procurement at New Angus LLC’s packing plant in Aberdeen, S.D., will discuss recent updates to the facility in preparation for its upcoming re-opening. He will also review the plant’s future specifications and the classes of cattle the group plans to handle.

Rob Maddock, North Dakota State University (NDSU) associate professor, will discuss feeding cull cows for market and several research projects concerning the contributing factors to beef carcass value and meat processing. Chanda Engel of NDSU’s Carrington Research Extension Center will highlight several ongoing research projects within the university’s feedlot research program.

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

— Adapted from a release by the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association.

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