News Update

November 21, 2016

American Angus Auxiliary
Celebrates 65 Years

This year, the American Angus Auxiliary celebrated 65 years of bringing together likeminded women and fostering connections through a love and passion for the Angus business. The Auxiliary women pour their hearts into the breed’s future by connecting women, providing opportunities and guidance to Angus youth through scholarships, and educating consumers about the Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB^®) brand.

Women from across the country and Angus breed gathered for the Auxiliary’s annual events, held in conjunction with the Angus Convention Nov. 4-7 in Indianapolis, Ind. The organization hosted its Annual Meeting, Annual Auxiliary Breakfast, Miss American Angus competition, executive meeting, exclusive brunch and other social events.

The Auxiliary’s Annual Meeting on Nov. 6 saw the election of the organization’s 2016-2017 officers and regional directors. Members of the newly elected officer team are: President Julie Murnin, Huntley, Mont.; President-elect Leslie Mindemann, Sullivan, Wis.; Secretary/Treasurer Cindy Ahearn, Wills Point, Texas; and Advisor Shally Rogen, Brandon, S.D.

For more information, view the Angus news release online.

— Adapted from a release by Shelby Mettlen, Angus Media.

United States Cattle on Feed Down 1%

Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.7 million head on Nov. 1, 2016. The inventory was 1% below Nov. 1, 2015.

Placements in feedlots during October totaled 2.17 million head, 5% below 2015. Net placements were 2.11 million head. During October, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds (lb.) were 610,000 head, 600-699 lb. were 525,000 head, 700-799 lb. were 471,000 head, and 800 lb. and greater were 565,000 head.

Marketings of fed cattle during October totaled 1.71 million head, 5% above 2015.

Other disappearance totaled 57,000 head during October, 24% below 2015.

For more information, view the USDA NASS report online.

— Adapted from a release by USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Attention Turns to Trump for Ratification of TPP

Now that President Obama has indicated he will not push Congress to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement before he leaves office Jan. 20, 2017, attention is turning to President-elect Donald Trump. Various voices are offering their views to the incoming president on the TPP, the 12-nation Asia-Pacific trade agreement that candidate Trump said he would tear up.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has congressional jurisdiction over trade, urged Trump not to withdraw from the agreement, which was concluded a year ago after six years of negotiations. He also advised him not to back away from the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The TPP deal, which includes the United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, would eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers on a host of U.S. products, including pork. Also weighing in this week was Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who said U.S. failure to ratify the TPP could shift attention to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which is being led by China and which does not include the United States.

For more information, view the NPPC news release online.

— Adapted from a release by the National Pork Producers Council.

Massachusetts Bans Animal Confinement;
Oklahoma ‘Right to Farm’ Fails

Massachusetts’s voters passed a measure that prevents farmers from confining egg-laying chickens, breeding pigs and calves raised for veal in small cages and bans the sale of food products from animals raised in such spaces.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Center for Food Safety and Center for Science in the Public Interest were among those who endorsed the measure, which passed by a wide margin.

The law, which will take effect in 2022, will require the state attorney general to issue regulations and enforce it, including a $1,000 fine for each violation, according to media reports.

In Oklahoma, voters rejected a “right to farm” amendment to the state’s constitution that would have created guaranteed certain rights for farmers and ranchers, according to local broadcast reports.

The measure, as described by a local television station, was supported by the Oklahoma Pork Council and Oklahoma Farm Bureau, among other groups.

Learn more at www.meatingplace.com.

— Adapted from a release by Meatingplace Editors, MeatingPlace.

Southwest Beef Symposium

The Southwest Beef Symposium, a two-state educational program jointly hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Cooperative Extension Service, is set for Jan. 11-12 at the Roswell Convention Center, 912 N. Main St. in Roswell, New Mexico.

This year’s theme will be “What’s to Follow Historic Times?” said Bruce Carpenter, AgriLife Extension livestock specialist in Fort Stockton.

Individual early registration is $75 and includes a steak dinner on Jan. 11, lunch on Jan. 12, refreshments and symposium proceedings. Early registration is required by Jan. 6. To register, and for more information, visit the symposium website, http://swbs.nmsu.edu, or contact Carpenter at 432-336-8585, BCarpent@ag.tamu.edu.

For more information, visit the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events.

— Adapted from a release by Steve Byrns, Texas AgriLife Communications.

— Compiled by Paige Nelson, field editor, Angus Media.

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