News Update

March 23, 2016

Retallick Joins AGI

Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI) welcomes Kelli Retallick to its team as the director of genetic service. AGI is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Angus Association and provides a conduit for developing and implementing new technologies in the beef cattle business.

Retallick was raised on her family’s registered-Angus seedstock operation where she remains actively involved in decision making and marketing. Growing up, she was involved in 4-H, FFA and the National Junior Angus Association (NJAA), which fueled her passion to remain within the livestock industry. Retallick served on the National Junior Angus Board (NJAB) for two years.

Retallick joined the Angus team March 21, and her primary duties include assisting in coordinating genetic education and outreach programs tailored to Angus breeders and commercial cattle producers.

Learn more about Retallick in the full Angus news release.

— Adapted from a release by Shelby Mettlen, Angus Media.

Cattle Production Veterinarian Hall of Fame

Five renowned cattle veterinarians have been nominated and voting is under way for the 2016 Cattle Production Veterinarian Hall of Fame, which was created in 2011 to honor exceptional individuals who have made lasting contributions to the veterinary profession.

Five organizations founded and sponsor the Hall of Fame — Merck Animal Health, the Academy of Veterinary Consultants (AVC), the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP), Bovine Veterinarian and Osborn Barr.

Voting is currently under way and will remain open until Aug 6. Members of the AVC and the AABP may vote for one beef and one dairy nominee. AVC members may vote during the organization’s spring and summer conferences or online at www.avc-beef.org/halloffame. AABP members may vote online at www.aabp.org/halloffame. The sixth annual Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at this year’s AABP Annual Conference in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 15-17.

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

— Adapted from a release by Hannah Gardner, Osborn Barr.

USDA Seeking Information on Foot-and-mouth Vaccine Makers

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published a notice March 14 seeking sources for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine as part of its FMD preparedness initiative. FMD, a foreign animal disease endemic in Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East, can affect all cloven-hoofed animals, including pigs, cattle and sheep.

FMD rarely infects humans and isn’t a food-safety issue, but an outbreak in North America, which currently is free of it, could negatively affect meat exports and domestic meat sales.

According to USDA, the goal of the request for information is to identify vaccine manufacturers that can supply the types of FMD vaccine needed, in the amounts needed and in the appropriate timeframe.

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

— Adapted from a release by the National Pork Producers Council.

Farm Bureau Pleased by USDA Checkoff Decision for Cuba

The USDA’s announcement that commodity checkoff funds can be used to help market U.S. farm products in Cuba lets America’s farmers invest directly in the growth in trade between the two nations, according to American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall.

“American-grown foods hold a clear competitive advantage in the Cuban marketplace, and the use of farmer- and rancher-generated funds to promote and market U.S. farm goods fits the checkoff mission perfectly,” Duvall said.

AFBF and other farm groups have been working closely with USDA in hopes of lifting the prohibition against using agricultural checkoff funds in Cuba. Checkoff funds are raised through a direct assessment on farmers, ranchers and agricultural businesses and are not taken from U.S. treasury funds.

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

— Adapted from a release by the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Below Freezing Temperatures May Concern Kansas Wheat

Minimum air temperatures across Kansas dipped well below freezing March 19 and 20, which could pose a problem for some of the state’s wheat crop, said Mary Knapp, assistant climatologist with the Weather Data Library at Kansas State University (K-State).

“Most of the state was exposed to minimum temperatures below freezing, with the exception of small isolated pockets. The western half of the state had minimum temperatures below 24° F, the threshold below which there can be damage to the wheat’s growing point when at the jointing stage of development. Even more concerning, the far western fifth of the state had minimum temperatures in the single digits,” Knapp said.

In this case, counties along the western border, neighboring Colorado, were exposed to as many as 27 hours below 24° F over the past four days, Knapp said. In general, the western half of the state had more than 11 hours of temperatures below 24°.

For more information, please view the full K-State news release online.

— Adapted from a release by Steve Watson, K-State Research and Extension.

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

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