News Update
September 15, 2016
Making Room for Next Generation
With the average age of farmers and ranchers steadily increasing, many are looking to the next generation to return home and take control of the family operation. However, many times the farm must diversify its operations in order to support another family.
“As new members come back to the farm, we ask them to come with a plan where they are going to contribute to our economic well-being,” says Don Schiefelbein of Schiefelbein Farms, Kimball, Minn. “Oftentimes what happens as family members come back as a replacement for Dad and Mom, and the reality is that Dad and Mom are still there and everyone has to live poorer.
“Coming back with a value-added proposition and proving how each member will pull their own weight protects everyone involved,” he says.
Schiefelbein also says a struggle over power and money are major causes for concern regarding the well-being of the farming operation. By being honest and truthful to one another, the operation can grow and allow for families to come together.
Watch more of Schiefelbein’s interview in The Angus Report. You can catch the show at 1:30 p.m. CST Saturday or 7:30 a.m. CST each Monday on RFD-TV.
Website Assists with Veterinary Feed Directive
Beginning Jan. 1, 2017, livestock producers will have to obtain a veterinary feed directive (VFD) prior to administrating antibiotics. With this change, several agricultural organizations have launched a new website to provide information regarding the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new policy.
Producers will be required to have a veterinarian supervise when antibiotics are used. This is in an effort to help address the public concern of antibiotic resistance among livestock.
“This policy ensures that the antibiotics classes we need as humans are only administered to food animals when medically necessary to fight disease,” said Alexander Mathews, president and CEO of the Animal Health Institute (AHI). “Most importantly, the policy protects animal health and well-being while providing consumers with the safest food possible.”
The website is available to help the general public and producers understand the importance veterinarians will have regarding this new policy. Go online to learn more.
Reduce Risk with a Sound Grazing Lease
Leasing grazing land has long been a way for beginning ranchers to get started, and for existing operations to expand. Considering today’s real estate prices, Stephen Diebel believes leasing grassland can help mitigate risk.
“Remember that your reputation precedes you. Word gets around,” advises Diebel, reminding producers that their previous management histories and the stability of their existing operations are factors that landowners often consider when scrutinizing potential tenants.
“Never undermine a current lease agreement in order to swing a deal your way,” he says, warning that disrespecting others usually backfires, bringing the accuser’s own integrity into question.
Continue reading in the Angus Beef Bulletin article from September 2016 online.
Falling Meat Prices
The University of Missouri Extension says producers can expect meat prices to continue to drop. Within the last year, the United States has added 3 billion pounds of meat to the market, and that rate has continued.
“As long as we keep increasing record amounts of meat each year, prices will decline,” says livestock economist Scott Brown. “Producers respond a lot faster to rising prices than they do to falling prices. We’re still expanding breeding herds.”
Brown says the issues lies with how to market this extra protein and says, currently, cutting prices is all that can be done. Producers have grown accustomed to volatile markets, yet Brown says they sometimes need a fresh perspective.
“What producers fail to remember is that the new low beef prices are better than calf prices were for a long time,” Brown says. “Cow-calf returns are still at the eighth-highest year since 1990.”
For more information, visit www.extension.missouri.edu.
Pregnancy Technology at Your Fingertips
The Kansas State University (K-State) Beef Cattle Institute (BCI) recently launched a new mobile app, Pregnancy Analytics, which allows chute-side data input regarding pregnancy and will produce usable data to the producer.
The app is designed to help evaluate breeding success, project calving dates and provide a benchmark for comparison against other herds in the area.
“The Pregnancy Analytics app offers easier data entry than using a pen and paper while providing the immediate data assessment and visualization of a chute-side computer,” said Robert Larson, the Roger E. and M. Elizabeth Coleman chair in food animal production medicine at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “Additionally, the data and report can be emailed to the client or stored on the device, and the data can be converted to a spreadsheet for further appraisal.”
The Pregnancy Analytics app can be downloaded on Apple and Android markets. For more information, visit www.beefcattleinstitute.org.
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