News Update

December 1, 2016

Cattlemen’s Boot Camp
Hosted February in Kentucky

Cattle producers are invited to gather for a Cattlemen’s Boot Camp Feb. 17-18, 2017, at the Fayette County Extension Office in Lexington, Ky. The event is hosted by the American Angus Association in partnership with the University of Kentucky and provides purebred and commercial producers timely information presented by academic and industry professionals.

Registration is now available online and will be open until Jan. 16, 2017.

Open to all cattle producers, the event is funded by the Angus Foundation and features educational speakers and hands-on activities to help improve herd operations. The workshop is packed with pertinent information including bull selection, reproductive technologies, genetic markets, forage management and much more.

Registration is $75 per person, and includes meals and educational materials.

Please view the Angus news release online.

— Adapted from a release by Chelsey Smith, American Angus Association.

Agricultural Prices Update

The October Prices Received Index (Agricultural Production), at 80.8, decreased 6.6% from September 2016. The Crop Production Index, at 79.5, decreased 5.4%. The Livestock Production Index, at 82.4, decreased 7.1%. Producers received lower prices for cattle, broilers, hogs and milk but higher prices for corn, strawberries, wheat and sweet corn. Compared with a year earlier, the Prices Received Index is down 9.3%.

The Crop Production Index decreased 1.0% and the Livestock Production Index decreased 21%. In addition to prices, the indexes are influenced by the monthly mix of commodities producers market. Increased monthly movement of soybeans, corn and cotton offset the decreased cattle, milk and broiler sales. The Food Commodities Index, at 84.2, decreased 6.1% from the previous month and is down 10% from October 2015.

The October Prices Paid Index for Commodities and Services, Interest, Taxes and Farm Wage Rates (PPITW), at 103.9, is down 0.8% from September 2016 and down 4.5% from October 2015.

For more information, view the NASS report online.

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

ST Acquires Shares in Inseme

Global livestock reproductive services innovator Sexing Technologies (ST) is growing its operations in Europe by acquiring shares in Italian A.I. company Inseme.

The move allows ST to incorporate genetic advancement lessons learned through its cutting-edge research into Inseme’s robust breeding program. The acquisition will also increase the number of A2A2 positive sires available to ST.

Inseme, one of the two largest A.I. companies in Italy, currently markets semen under the Semenitaly and Inseme brand names. Customers will notice little change in the way Inseme conducts business other than the company will begin offering ST’s signature product, SexedULTRA™ sex-sorted semen. SexedULTRA boasts conception rates rivaling conventional semen.

Inseme will continue to source its bulls from Italy, focusing on animals with excellent conformation and outstanding production traits that influence cheese yield, milk quality and productivity.

— Adapted from a release by ST Genetics.

Stress Less This Holiday Season

If the holidays are supposed to be so great, why is everyone so stressed out this time of year? There are plenty of reasons, said Jim Bates, field specialist in Family Wellness for Ohio State University Extension.

“Expectations are high during the holidays and trying to meet all of those expectations can be exhausting,” Bates said.

“We’re expected to travel to visit family and friends or host guests for meals or parties, which means preparing food for everyone. There are a lot of arrangements to make, and if you’re lucky, you can take time off work, but that can mean negotiating with supervisors and co-workers. And when school lets out, working parents need to arrange for childcare.”

But you don’t need to simply keep calm and carry the expectations on your back like an overstuffed sack of Santa’s toys. Bates recommends some tried-and-true techniques for navigating through the holidays.

For more information, view the news release online.

— Adapted from a release by Martha Filipic, Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

MSU Rental Meeting for Landlords & Farmers

On Dec. 9, Michigan State University will host an afternoon meeting in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., that will be a fast moving review of some of the issues and options that farmland owners and tenants/renters consider when setting a reasonable farmland rental rate. Some of the current market prices are having an economic impacting on land rents. We will take a look at where rents are heading.

We will try to consider both sides (landowner and tenant) of the farmland rental agreement issues and provide an overview of information that may be helpful in the development of a win-win farmland rental agreement. RSVP is required. District Farm Business Management Educator Dennis Stein will be the lead presenter for this program.

For more information, view the complete news release online.

— Adapted from a release by Michigan State University Extension.

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

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