News Update
December 23, 2015
Angus Offices Closed Dec. 24-25
The Angus Media and American Angus Association offices in St. Joseph, Mo., will close for the Christmas holiday Thursday, Dec. 24, and Friday, Dec. 25. The office will be open on Monday, Dec. 28. The Angus Media team wishes everyone a merry Christmas!
It’s All About Family
Next to our faith, there’s nothing more important than family. So, I believe it’s only fitting that my first column focuses on that topic — both my own family and the American Angus Association family.
Let me begin by telling you about my family. My wife, Venetta, and I have two grown sons — Lane and Ross. Lane is a technical writer for Accruent, a software company in Austin, Texas, where he’s also working on receiving his master’s degree in business administration (MBA) next summer. Our youngest son, Ross, attends Trinity University, where he is finishing up his MBA. Ross will graduate in May and then move to Houston, where he’ll be working for Deloitte, the large tax-consulting firm.
I’m a fourth-generation Texan. My father’s side of the family came from eastern Europe in 1854 and settled in south Texas. My dad, like many of your parents and grandparents, attended the same one-room schoolhouse that his mother did a generation before. Needless to say, our roots in the cattle business run deep.
But our story isn’t unique, because I’m guessing it’s a lot like yours.
Read the full Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
Sustainability: Doing More With Less
When it comes to defining sustainability, it can be an “infuriating word,” said Cameron Bruett, head of corporate affairs and sustainability for JBS USA. Bruett addressed more than 700 attendees Nov. 17 at the 24th biennial Range Beef Cow Symposium in Loveland, Colo.
He further explained that sustainability is challenging to define because it is defined differently by different people — and many people use the term as a means to “vilify agriculture.”
He noted that often the primary factor used to define sustainability relates to environmental perspective and preservation of natural resources. However, he clarified, sustainability must encompass more factors — from impacts on a community to the ability to attract the next generation to the industry.
“Sustainability needs to consider all these things,” Bruett said.
He shared several alternate definitions for sustainability:
- able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed;
- involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources;
- able to last or continue for a long time; and
- able to endure.
“At its core, sustainability means doing more with less,” Bruett added.
Read the full Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
Video Highlights California Farmer’s Struggles
With Federal Regulators on Water Issues
A new video produced by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) highlights the struggles a California farm family has encountered with federal water regulations. The video also illustrates how the climate regarding water regulations will likely become much worse and encompass the entire nation under the widely reviled Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.
As the enforcer of water regulations, the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has told fourth-generation tree, vine and wheat grower John Duarte, a member of Farm Bureau in California, that he broke the law simply by plowing his land in rural Tehama County, Calif. Experts say that under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WOTUS rule, the same type of regulatory enforcement could become commonplace, threatening farmers across the nation.
EPA has said that farmers have no need to worry about the rule because normal farming is exempt from regulation, but what’s happening to the Duarte family shows how the EPA and the Corps work around that exemption.
“The Corps and EPA aren’t trying to micromanage farmers. They’re trying to stop farmers,” Duarte said. “They’re trying to turn our farm land into habitat preservation. They’re simply trying to chase us off of our land.”
For more information, please view the full AFBF news release online.
Red Meat Club Names Ron Williams
Friend of the National Western
The Red Meat Club of Denver has announced that the coveted Friend of the National Western and Red Meat Industry award will be presented in 2016 to Ron Williams, chairman of the Board of the Western Stock Show Association, also known as the National Western Stock Show. The award will be presented at the Red Meat Club’s annual dinner promoting the red meat and livestock industry, which is set for Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, at the National Western Club.
A native of Farnam, Neb., Williams spent 35 years as the president and CEO of the Gary-Williams Energy Co., a Denver-based company engaged in crude oil refining, oil and gas exploration and production, real estate, investment management and community development. After Williams and his partner Sam Gary sold the company in 2011, Williams “retired” and took over the helm of the National Western as chairman in 2012.
Williams fulfilled a lifelong dream in 1996 when he assembled three separate ranch properties located in the Gyp Hills region of south-central Kansas between Medicine Lodge and Coldwater. He managed yearlings at first, building over a ten-year period a homegrown purebred Angus herd that now numbers around 1,000 bred cows and heifers.
For more information, please view the full release online.
Southern Soil Health Conference Set for January
To see the most precious resource on the planet, walk outside and look down.
With more than one million organisms in a single teaspoon of Earth, soil supports the ecosystem, purifies the air and filters and stores water. It is critical to agriculture, food production and environmental stewardship, making it literally the foundation for society.
To promote the value of soil health in agriculture, the Southern Soil Health Conference will be hosted Jan. 12-13, 2016, at the Ardmore Convention Center, Ardmore, Okla. Hosted by Green Cover Seed and sponsored in part by The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, the conference will focus solely on soil health, cover crops and grazing.
“We selected Ardmore because of our long-standing relationship with the Noble Foundation and their deep seated commitment to soil health,” said Keith Berns, Green Cover Seed president. “Partnering with the Noble Foundation in this educational endeavor makes sense because we share the common goals of educating farmers and ranchers about the importance of protecting, preserving and restoring our soil resources.”
The Southern Soil Health Conference is designed for landowners, and farmers and ranchers involved in production agriculture.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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