News Update
January 11, 2017
Future Farmers
If you’re considering moving back to the family farm or ranch, you’re about to join one of the most capable and progressive groups of young producers the agricultural industry has seen. With greater focus on a college education, quick access to markets and information via social media and technology, and perhaps the most steadfast and hardworking generation as our predecessors, we are the generation with the momentum to shift farming and ranching into an even higher gear. With that said, planning for the return is more important today than it’s ever been.
The first step young, first-time farm and ranch managers need to take is managing risk, says Carl Horne, outreach manager for Farm Credit Services of America’s Young, Beginning and Small Producer Program. The program focuses on providing financial services and creating opportunities for small or beginning farmers and ranchers 35 years old or younger, or who have been actively managing the operation for 10 years or less, or small operations with a gross annual income of $250,000 or less.
For more information, please view the full Angus Media news article online.
New Grassroots Leaders Take Farm Bureau Forward
Delegates at the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) 2017 Annual Convention elected members to serve as board and committee leaders for the organization.
Don Tuller, president of Connecticut Farm Bureau, was elected to a two-year term on the AFBF board of directors, representing the Northeast Region. Chuck Fry, president of Maryland Farm Bureau, was re-elected to the board for a two-year term, representing the Northeast Region.
Fourteen other state Farm Bureau presidents were re-elected to two-year terms to represent their regions on the board: Richard Felts, Kansas; Richard Guebert Jr., Illinois; Craig Hill, Iowa; and Kevin Paap, Minnesota (Midwest Region); Jeff Aiken, Tennessee; Ronnie Anderson, Louisiana; Russell Boening, Texas; Tom Buchanan, Oklahoma; Gerald Long, Georgia; Mike McCormick, Mississippi; and Larry Wooten, North Carolina (Southern Region); Mike LaPlant, Washington; Don Shawcroft, Colorado; and Paul Wenger, California (Western Region).
Re-elected to two-year terms on the AFB Women’s Leadership Committee (WLC) were Sherry Saylor, Arizona; Isabella Chism, Indiana; Marieta Hauser, Kansas; Lorenda Overman, North Carolina; Debbi Tanner, Connecticut; and Carol Guthrie, Idaho. Saylor was re-elected WLC chair, which makes her a member of the AFBF board of directors. Chism was re-elected WLC vice chair.
For more information, please view the full FB news release online.
USDA Licenses Diagnostic Kit
to Improve Management of Johne’s Disease in Cattle
The USDA has issued Thermo Fisher Scientific a Veterinary Biological Product License for its Applied Biosystems VetMAX-Gold MAP Detection Kit, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based solution designed to detect the bacterium that causes Johne’s disease. The debilitating condition costs the dairy and beef cattle industries up to $350 million each year in the United States alone.
A serious problem among production and dairy cattle worldwide, Johne’s disease is a chronic and sometimes fatal condition caused by the presence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in the small intestine of ruminants. Diagnosis of clinical infection is usually confirmed by the detection of the causal organism in feces or in intestinal tissues postmortem.
Approval of the VetMAX Gold MAP Detection Kit is based on the successful completion of the USDA’s stringent review process to ensure safety and effectiveness of the test and evaluation of production and quality systems compliance at the manufacturing site. With the addition of this recent license, Thermo Fisher now offers six USDA-licensed molecular diagnostic tests for customers, more than any other company in the animal health space.
For more information, please view the full news release online.
Tax Experts: Farmers and Ranchers
Should be Ready for Changes
From estate taxes to capital gains and cost recovery, House Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump are floating proposals to make significant changes to tax provisions important to farmers and ranchers. Speaking at the 2017 AFBF Annual Convention & IDEAg Trade Show, tax experts discussed the impact of potential tax changes for those involved in agriculture.
Both House Republicans and the president-elect have proposed eliminating estate taxes. However, while the House Republicans haven’t said anything about stepped-up basis — an essential provision for farmers and ranchers — Trump would do away with stepped-up basis for estates greater than $10 million. Trump would also subject transfers at death to the capital gains tax, with protections for small businesses.
“We’re quick to say, ‘Repeal the estate tax.’ But if they impose the capital gains tax where the estate tax would be, then you’ve really just replaced one tax with another. It’s still a transfer tax,” explained Brennis Craddock, CPA, chief operating officer of Tennessee Farm Bureau’s Farmers Service Inc. Craddock was joined on the panel by Pat Wolff, AFBF senior director of congressional relations.
For more information, please view the full FB news release online.
UK College of Agriculture Inducts
2017 Hall of Distinguished Alumni
The University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture, Food and Environment inducted four new members to its Hall of Distinguished Alumni. This year’s recipients include a university chancellor, college dean and advocate for African-Americans in agriculture, beef breeder and an agricultural economist.
The late Charles E. Boyd returned to May’s Lick after graduating from the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment in 1964 where he then built the family’s cattle enterprise into the well-known and respected beef operation it is today. Boyd Beef Cattle is recognized as one of this nation’s top seedstock producers of two major beef cattle breeds. He also worked tirelessly in promoting and advancing livestock, and he built a true family operation for future generations. Boyd mentored youth and adults in livestock evaluation and in profitable production and management of quality cattle. He hosted and made his cattle available for 4-H, FFA and collegiate judging teams from more than 20 states. He was also one of the most sought after purebred livestock judges, having served that role in most every state.
For more information, please view the full UK news release online.
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