News Update
August 15, 2016
Future Beef Technology
Innovative technology has allowed the beef cattle industry to reach new heights in recent years; combining powerful genomic data that express an accurate picture of an animal’s genetic performance. Just 10 years ago, that science was considered uncharted territory.
Mark Allan, with Trans Ova Genetics, says the next level of genetics will require even greater progress from the entire industry: “If we look at what happened over the last hundred years of agriculture, which is just phenomenal, and even the beef industry, we’re looking at the next 50, and it’s going to have to be much greater.”
“It’s going to take the use of a lot of different technologies and finding the mix and match of what works,” he continues.
Watch the complete interview with Allan in this week’s The Angus Report online. You can also catch the show at 1:30 pm. CST Saturday and 7 a.m. CST each Monday morning on RFD-TV.
Keeping Science Simple
If you’re into research, science or even raising beef cattle, it’s easy to fall into the jargon or inside language of the trade. Specialized knowledge is great, but Melissa Brewer, director of communications for Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB), suggested more universal words can be better.
“Our consumers are inundated with so many messages, we have to figure out a better way to be able to engage them, eventually to be able to share the science behind how food is raised,” she said.
Daily interaction with consumers gives Brewer an understanding of how those who don’t know agriculture see the beef industry. She shared that in a “TED”-style talk with animal scientists from all over the country during the Joint Annual Meetings (JAM) of the American Society of Animal Science this July in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“It’s hard to let go of the scientific terms, charts and graphs. But if you want to be heard in a soundbite society, it’s crucial to think like a consumer and engage in a simpler way,” she told the group.
Read more in the Angus Media news article online.
Exceptions to the Rule
A number of years ago, noted meat scientist Dell Allen asked a great question: If we produce more Premium Choice beef, will it become “commodity” and no longer generate price premiums?
Today, with great improvements in quality grade, many producers are now posing the same question. Many of us took economics 101, where the instructor early in the course drew a supply/demand figure explaining how prices are established.
More of any commodity drives prices lower while less supply moves them higher. Certainly great examples of the latter would be the drought of 2007 driving corn prices up and the cow herd liquidation driving cattle prices higher in 2014. So we do know this supply/demand concept works.
But are we producing too much Choice and Premium Choice beef today? Let’s look at some numbers.
Continue reading in the Angus Media news article online.
McNeese State University Heifer Enhancement and Development
McNeese State University is preparing for its 11th annual Heifer Development Program. The program is designed to assist producers in selecting and managing for replacement heifers. It offers producers relief from providing additional facilities, labor and feed to retain young heifers.
The program is designed for heifers ranging in weight from 400-600 pounds (lb.). Heifers are entered into the program in mid-October and fed through mid-March. Producers are issued a monthly report on the performance of each heifer in the program with information including birth weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), ribeye area (REA), rib fat (RF), intramuscular fat (IMF), and a relative temperament rating.
Additionally, heifers can be entered into the breeding program and be artificially inseminated at the conclusion of the feeding period. To date, nearly 2,200 heifers of various pure and mixed bred breeds have been through the program. Heifers have gained on average 1.7 lb. per day in the program ranging from 1-3 lb. ADG.
For more information or to visit the facility, contact Bill Storer cell: 225-266-1821, office: 337-475-5690.
Beef Production and the Environment, Free Webinar
Many consumers have minimal understanding of where their food comes from, how it is produced and how production, particularly of beef, impacts the environment.
A program, “Does Climate Change Your Plate” was developed to address that and other issues such as the difference between weather and climate, the amount of greenhouse gasses linked to all sources including agriculture and looking particularly at the contributions from beef production.
Topics such as how changing climate may impact a consumer’s pocketbook, nutrition and health concerns associated with beef, how consumers can adapt to higher costs and better food choice options and finally how they, through their food buying and eating choices, can ensure that resources used during production are not wasted are also addressed.
Great Plains Grazing team member and Oklahoma Cooperative Extension food specialist, Barbara Brown, will present “Does Climate Change Your Plate” in a free webinar at 1:30 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, Aug. 23.
For more information, view the K-State news release online.
Editor’s Note: The articles used within this site represent a mixture of copyrights. If you would like to reprint or repost an article, you must first request permission of Angus Productions Inc. (API) by contacting the editor at 816-383-5200; 3201 Frederick Ave., Saint Joseph, MO 64506. API claims copyright to this web site as presented. We welcome educational venues and cattlemen to link to this site as a service to their audience.