News Update
September 28, 2016
Place Bids to Support Angus Youth
The American Angus Auxiliary is proud to present the inaugural edition of the “Full Circle Online Auction,” a national Angus consignment sale. The online auction will take place Sept. 28-29, hosted by www.AngusLive.com. Proceeds will support the Auxiliary scholarship fund and Angus youth programs.
The “Full Circle Online Auction” is a web-based consignment market that offers Angus breeders, families and allied industry the opportunity to both sell and buy, while also making a substantial contribution to ensure the Auxiliary’s ongoing support of Angus youth.
Auction categories include embryos and semen with proven genetics and service packages from the industry’s leading companies, such as Ranch House Designs, Focus Marketing Group, Legacy Livestock Imaging, ORIgen Genetics and Stock Show University. There will also be original offerings from various Angus families and Auxiliary supporters. Go online to place your bids today.
North American Beef’s Advantages, Disadvantages
“We are the center globally of grain-finished beef production,” says Glynn Tonsor of Kansas State University. “We compete with grass-finished beef, and there is some growth in grain-finished beef elsewhere, but around the world the U.S. and Canada are the core of [grain-finished beef].”
Tonsor says the infrastructure here in the United States plays a large role in allowing for the production of high-quality grain-finished beef. The feedlots, roads, trains and other infrastructure allow North America to be the leaders in the industry.
With this high quality comes a price, and the United States struggles to achieve a competitive price advantage. Yet marketing and promoting a satisfying eating experience allows the United States to market this beef to higher end markets.
watch more of Tonsor’s interview in this week’s video news release from Certified Angus Beef LLC and the American Angus Association.
National Cattlemen’s Foundation Scholarship
Sponsored by CME Group, the National Cattlemen’s Foundation is now accepting applications for 2017-2018 beef industry scholarships. Ten $1,500 scholarships will be awarded to outstanding students pursuing careers within the beef industry.
“By helping the next generation of cattlemen and women further their education, CME Group is helping to advance the future of the U.S. agricultural economy,” says Tim Andriesen, CME Group managing director of agricultural products. “Our partnership with the National Cattlemen’s Foundation and NCBA has spanned nearly three decades, and during that time, we’ve underscored the importance of risk management to the beef industry while contributing to the education of tomorrow’s industry leaders.”
Students looking to pursue a degree in food production, education, communication, production, research or other ag related industries should consider applying. Applications are due Oct. 31.
Beef Sustainability App
Merck Animal Health has launched a new app, the Meat Sustainability Calculator. Designed to help producers, suppliers and others in the food chain better understand how the beef production systems and technologies used impact the environment.
The app allows users to evaluate their own impact on sustainability by comparing their results to the North American average. Users input the number of head or the total pounds of meat produced and select production technologies used. This then generates the environmental impact of the operation and identifies opportunities to improve the sustainability of the operation.
“Regardless of a person’s role in the chain, the calculator helps assess an operation’s greenhouse gas emissions, as well as water and land usage,” says Jennie Hodgen, senior account manager, Veterinary and Consumer Affairs Team, Merck Animal Health. “Armed with this data, users can be more mindful of their environmental footprint by making a conscious effort to use fewer natural resources to raise healthy animals.”
The app is available on both the Apple and Android app stores.
Fishy Findings
Along America’s Angus Trails still carries scars and welts from the mandatory beef labeling conflagration. It’s in at least something of a pause at the moment, as the latest Farm Bill seemingly ended it.
Without taking sides in that well-worn controversy, with some very good arguments on both sides, we can at least see how well the federal bureaucrats could be counted on to enforce such a mandate, if it were ever implemented. There’s a great example unfolding right before our eyes, in America’s seafood industry.
The environmental group Oceana has conducted a large study with more than 1,200 samples from 700 different stores and restaurants in 21 states. They found that one out of every three fish were mislabeled, in violation of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations. The numbers were even worse in America’s biggest cities, such as New York, Los Angeles and Boston.
Of course, the feds and environmentalists have leaped into the breach so far to no effect. FDA has set up a program called SCALE, which stands for Seafood Compliance and Labeling Enforcement.
Continue reading in the Angus Media article online.
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