News Update
February 1, 2017
Importance of Winter Water
Cattle have to consume more feed during cold weather to generate additional body heat. A great deal of body heat can be produced by the breakdown of forages in the rumen, due to the heat of fermentation and digestion. In order to process the additional feed, however, the digestive tract needs adequate fluid.
A cow’s water requirement may not be as high in the winter as it is in the summer, but she needs to drink enough water in cold weather to handle the demands of ruminant digestion and increased metabolism to prevent dehydration and impaction. Thus, it is important to provide adequate water for livestock during cold weather.
Julie Walker, Extension beef specialist for South Dakota State University, says if cattle don’t have water, they won’t eat. Drinking and eating are closely correlated. If they don’t eat enough, they don’t have fuel to stay warm.
“Fermentation in the rumen generates heat and helps alleviate cold stress,” she says.
Cattle always need water, and the more they eat, the more they must drink in order to process the feed.
For more information, please view the full Angus Media news article online.
Register for Raising the Bar Conferences
The National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) hosts Raising the Bar leadership conferences each year as a way to encourage its members to travel, meet other NJAA youth and learn more about the Angus business. Raising the Bar conferences will take place in two locations this spring, and juniors are encouraged to take note of upcoming deadlines.
Raising the Bar conferences will be hosted in Baton Rouge, La., March 2-5; and Des Moines, Iowa, April 6-9. The tentative schedule for both conferences includes a campus tour, educational workshops, farm and ranch tours, as well as social activities and games. Go online to access a conference schedule for Louisiana and Iowa.
“The National Junior Angus Board has been planning some fantastic events in Baton Rouge and Des Moines,” says Chelsey Smith, American Angus Association assistant director of events and education. “We encourage all of our junior members to consider attending one of the conferences.”
Made possible through donations to the Angus Foundation, the NJAA’s Raising the Bar conferences are an opportunity for junior members to experience college campuses across the country, learn about careers in agriculture and connect with other cattle enthusiasts.
For more information, please view the full Angus Media news article online.
Bull Selection and Managing Risk
Consider this an invite to help beef producers manage risk. The greater the risk, the more likely the selected choice is wrong, and as producers, we want to minimize risk.
Bull buying involves risk because a bull without the desired genes will not meet management goals for expected calf performance. Bull-buying risk can be minimized by understanding the available genetic data for the desired bull through the implementation and utilization of the associated tools to access that data.
Although risk never can be eliminated, bull-selection workshops through the North Dakota State University Extension Service and Extension efforts across the country are offered to help producers decrease the risk of buying the wrong bull. These small workshops provide two to three hours of interaction with producers to help them better understand current opportunities to select bulls.
The workshops provide the ability to spend two to three hours with a few producers at a time. As producers express their goals and objectives regarding their current bull needs, time can be spent explaining the tools that are available to better meet each producer’s goals and objectives.
For more information, please view the full Angus Media news article online.
Confirm Judge Gorsuch, American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall Says
The following may be attributed to American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall:
“Judge Neil Gorsuch was nominated last night to the Supreme Court. If confirmed, he will assume the seat last occupied by Justice Antonin Scalia. He is a worthy successor. The American Farm Bureau Federation calls for his swift confirmation by the Senate.
“Like Scalia, Judge Gorsuch does the job he was appointed to do. He respects the law and the Constitution as written. We are encouraged by his past positions that courts should not blindly defer to regulating agencies, but should perform their constitutional role of interpreting the laws that Congress writes. That point alone is critical for many of the legal issues faced by farmers and ranchers today.
“Gorsuch has expressed an appreciation for the environment and is a conservationist — a philosophy shared by America’s farmers and ranchers who serve as caretakers for our lands.
“Judge Gorsuch’s qualifications are beyond question. In addition to a law degree from Harvard, he also earned a doctorate from Oxford University on a Marshall Scholarship.”
For more information, please visit the Farm Bureau website.
Animal Agriculture Alliance Celebrates 30th Anniversary
The Animal Agriculture Alliance, an industry-united nonprofit organization working to bridge the communication gap between farm and fork, is proud to be celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2017. The Alliance released a short video highlighting its accomplishments, which can be viewed at http://bit.ly/2ksiETQ.
The Alliance was launched in 1987 to serve as a unified voice on behalf of animal agriculture. During the past three decades, the Alliance has helped the industry to anticipate and respond to campaigns from anti-animal agriculture groups across the United States and engage with a public that is increasingly disconnected from production agriculture. Many things have changed since the Alliance was founded — household adoption of the Internet and the emergence of social media for example — but the organization’s passion and commitment to securing the future of animal agriculture remains steadfast.
Since the Alliance was founded…
- Its membership has grown from fewer than ten founding organizations to nearly 300 current members, sponsors and donors. Two members — the American Feed Industry Association and AFBF — have been part of the Alliance for all 30 years.
For more information, please view the full news release online.
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