News Update
April 29, 2016
Cattlemen’s Boot Camp
Draws a Crowd in Washington
Continuing education is key to any business, and the beef industry is no different.
Today’s cattle producers are required to apply animal science, accounting and finance, marketing, and economics in their day-to-day operations. To meet the need for further education, the American Angus Association hosts Cattlemen’s Boot Camps each year at various locations across the country.
Most recently, 80-plus seedstock and commercial cattle producers attended a Cattlemen’s Boot Camp hosted at the Trac Center near Kennewick, Wash. In partnership with Washington State University (WSU), the conference provided timely information presented by academic and industry professionals.
“Cattlemen’s Boot Camp events are a fantastic opportunity for cattle producers to experience hands-on education right in their own home regions,” says Jaclyn Clark, Association director of events and education. “We are fortunate to have strong partners at universities nationwide who make events like this possible.”
For more information, please view the news release online.
Stockgrowers Respond to Investigation
of Cattle Price Collapse
Statement from South Dakota Stockgrowers Association (S.D. Stockgrowers) President Bill Kluck, Mud Butte, S.D.: “The price collapse that we saw in the fall of 2015 was a serious downturn in our industry and strained the finances of our family ranches. If you figure that the average ranch had $500 per head less income in 2015, that’s a lot of money that isn’t circulating in our rural economy right now. We appreciate that the leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee took this seriously and is conducting this investigation to make sure our markets aren’t being influenced unfairly.”
Statement from S.D. Stockgrowers Marketing Committee Chair, Vaughn Meyer, Reva, S.D.: “This investigation is great news, and we extend our thanks to Senators Grassley, Leahy, Lee and Klobuchar for their ongoing commitment to keeping our markets fair. The best way to keep our independent family ranches going is to keep our markets strong and competitive, so that we get fair prices for the high-quality cattle we’re raising.”
For more information, please view the full S.D. Stockgrowers news release online.
Purina Selects the RxExpress™ Platform for VFD Compliance
Purina Animal Nutrition has selected the RxExpress™ software platform from New Planet Technologies as its tool to help meet feed documentation requirements of the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD). This federal regulation mandates documentation of a veterinarian’s approval to feed or distribute feed additive antibiotics that are deemed medically important to production livestock. It goes into effect Jan. 1, 2017.
Livestock producers, feed manufacturers and feed distributors are required to retain documentation of VFD orders. A turn-key software solution, RxExpress can be used to generate, distribute and store electronic VFD orders.
For more information, please visit the RxExpress website.
Annual Cattlemen’s Steak Fry Set for June 11
The Missouri Cattlemen’s Association (MCA) is hosting its 13th Annual Cattlemen’s Steak Fry June 11 in the Agriculture Building located on the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, Mo. MCA Policy and Legislative Affairs Committee Chair Jimmie Long said the purpose of the annual event is to honor past MCA presidents and raise funds for the association’s Political Action Committee (PAC).
“This is a really fun event with an important purpose. Participants take time to recognize the efforts of the association’s past presidents and also raise significant funds for the PAC,” said Long, adding that last year’s event raised more than $40,000. “We open this event to the public and expect more than 400 people to attend.”
For more information, please view the news release online.
Texas Ag Forum to Feature Transportation
Agricultural transportation will be the focus of the 2016 Texas Ag Forum scheduled May 16 at the Hilton Austin Airport, organizers said. The forum will feature presentations from transportation experts and farm group representatives.
“We thought it would be good to bring the agricultural and transportation experts together in one room to see where we are now and what the future holds,” said Joe Outlaw, codirector of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist in College Station.
Few people think about the transportation infrastructure that moves agricultural production to national and international markets and its economic impact, Outlaw said.
“Texas’ top agricultural exports are grain sorghum, beef and cotton,” Outlaw said. “We are also a corn deficit-state, so we transport a lot of corn into Texas. It’s critically important to the future of Texas agriculture that these products move smoothly and efficiently.”
For more information, view the complete news release online.
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