News Update
July 11, 2016
Skip Ahead in Herd Planning
“I’ll just DVR it,” someone might say if they can’t make plans to be in front of the television when their favorite show or special report is scheduled to air.
It’s become something of a verb, like suggesting you do an Internet web search by “Googling it.”
We don’t have cable and haven’t gone to the expense or trouble of getting a digital video recorder (DVR) to help us keep up with the three network stations we draw in for free.
I’m conflicted. It probably means we watch less TV than the average person, but I’m also very interested in efficiency and realize that when we do watch a show it probably takes us twice as long.
Enter the example from my parents’ house: They don’t turn on the 10 o’clock news until it’s 10 or 15 minutes after. By DVR-ing it and skipping commercials, they can watch more than one show in the same half-hour slot. My dad claims he can view an entire NFL football game in two hours now, compared to the all-afternoon event it once was.
Read how this concept applies to herd planning in the Angus article online.
American Farm Bureau Names Brett Hom CFO
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) announced that Brett Hom, a finance professional with more than 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, will serve the nation’s largest farm organization in the newly created position of chief financial officer.
Hom, who joins the AFBF staff on July 11, will develop financial strategies and measure their performance in relation to the organization’s goals and objectives. He will also develop annual budgets and forecasts and supervise the finance and accounting staff.
As CFO, Hom will play a critical role in analyzing investments and negotiating future acquisitions on behalf of AFBF.
For more information, view the AFBF news release online.
Beef Industry Military Appreciation Day July 26
The North Dakota Beef Commission, the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association, the North Dakota CattleWomen, the North Dakota Soybean Council and the North Dakota Corn Growers are teaming together to salute active duty military, reserve and National Guard personnel and their families at the 12th Annual Beef Industry Military Appreciation Day July 26 at the North Dakota State Fair in Minot, N.D.
The free beef meal will be hosted from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CST near the Commercial II Exhibit Building on the State Fairgrounds. Additionally, the event will include children’s activities, face painting, roping lessons and door prize drawings. More than 1,600 servicemen and women and their family members were honored during the event last year.
For more information concerning Military Appreciation Day, visit the North Dakota State Fair website at www.ndstatefair.com.
Viator Joins Westway Feed Products
Cheramie Viator has joined the Westway Feed Products team as marketing manager. In this role, she will work with the management team to implement marketing and advertising strategies. While based at the company’s headquarters in Tomball, Texas, Viator will assist the Westway sales teams across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Viator, a Louisiana native, has spent the last four years as cattle genetics, photography and marketing business owner. Prior to this, she worked for Silver Spur Ranches and Camp Cooley Ranch. At these large seedstock and commercial cattle operations she coordinated and /or was involved with cattle marketing, genetic strategies, audit programs, performance programs and commercial heifer AI systems.
She is a Texas A&M University graduate and member of the 1992 Livestock Judging Team. Viator also served on the National Jr. Angus and Brangus Board of Directors. Today, she remains active in judging cattle shows across the country and working with young cattle producers.
For more information, visit the Westway Feed Products website.
Cattle, Wheat Pricing Highlight Conference in Wichita Falls
The Cattle Trails Wheat and Stocker Cattle Conference July 26 will cover how producers can meet pricing challenges in 2016 and prepare for 2017.
The conference, sponsored by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the MPEC Event Center, 1000 Fifth St., Wichita Falls, Texas.
The information will be directed at producers in Southwestern Oklahoma and the North and Rolling Plains regions of Texas, said Stan Bevers, AgriLife Extension agricultural economist at Vernon.
Bevers said important changes are coming to the way producers manage their cattle due to the Veterinary Feed Directive regulation from the Food and Drug Administration.
“This regulation becomes effective January 2017 and will require the producer to have a valid veterinarian-client-patient relationship,” he said. “If a producer does not have a veterinarian, now is the time to begin finding one. Stocker cattle that will be purchased this fall could be covered under this regulation.”
For more information, visit the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events.
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