News Update
June 7, 2017
The Effects of Wolf Attacks
New research from Oregon State University confirms that cattle that have witnessed wolf attacks display physical signs associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It’s is the first study of its kind to reveal PTSD biomarkers in cattle, and the findings were recently published in the Journal of Animal Science.
Reinaldo Cooke, the project’s lead scientist, says wolf attacks create negative memories in the herd and cause a stress response known to result in decreased pregnancy rates, lighter calves and a greater likelihood of illness.
The latest findings confirmed the researcher’s hypothesis: a cow’s stress response was expressed in certain biomarkers in their blood and brain cells, linked to (PTSD) in humans and other mammals. Visit www.extension.oregonstate.edu to read more from the study.
This story was featured in this week’s The Angus Report, and you can watch online to learn more. You can also catch the show at 1:30 p.m. Central Saturday or 7:30 a.m. Central every Monday morning on RFD-TV.
EPA Nominee Susan Bodine
American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall has asked leadership of a Senate committee to approve the nomination of Susan Bodine to assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Duvall’s letter to Chairman John Barrasso and Ranking Member Tom Carper of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works praised Bodine for her many years of fair and effective leadership in the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the Bush-era EPA.
“In her decades of experience in private practice, for Congress and EPA, Susan Bodine has proven her leadership skills and her deep understanding of our nation’s environmental laws and how they affect ordinary citizens and small businesses,” Duvall wrote. “We believe she will strictly enforce our nation’s environmental laws, using the hammer when necessary. We also believe she will bring back an effective yet underutilized tool in EPA’s toolbox — compliance assistance. Farmers and ranchers across the nation look forward to a new era of firm, but fair enforcement.”
Read the full Farm Bureau news release online.
No Nonsense in the Rockies
“If you have good heifers, you have good bulls.”
Terry Walter settles back into his chair. It’s not to add effect to the statement; his shift allows time for others to catch on to what the Colorado rancher knows to be true. Good cattle come from good cattle, and there’s no sense denying the importance of the dam.
“There’s people out there who are more terminal-focused, and that’s not us,” he says matter of factly. “Our No. 1 priority is females. The bulls will follow.”
With that, he leans in to his kitchen table. Another point has come to mind, and Terry’s not one to leave it unsaid. He knows where he stands, and his cattle reflect that. If they don’t, they’ll be his cattle no more.
Hudson, Colo., is an outskirts town, its dirt roads no match for nearby big-city Denver. The views are another story.
“The closer you get to them, the less you see the ranges and the farther you get away, you see less and less. So we’re in a pretty ideal place right here,” Tyler (Ty) Walter says.
Continue reading this Angus Journal feature story online.
R-CALF USA Seeks U.S. Probe into JBS Scandal
R-CALF USA recently sent a comprehensive, 11-page request to President Trump, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue for a full investigation and strict antitrust enforcement action in the wake of the unfolding corruption charges against JBS.
Citing news reports that JBS admitted bribing nearly 2,000 politicians, R-CALF USA wrote that JBS’s business model included unlawful practices to influence policy makers and it was as likely as not that JBS deployed that same corrupt business model in the United States.
JBS is the second-largest beef packer in the United States and owns the nation’s largest cattle feeding company, which the group contends was used by JBS, in conjunction with imported cattle and beef, to manipulate the cattle markets in 2015 and 2016, causing fed cattle prices to fall by more than $850 per head.
For more information, view the R-Calf news release online.
MU Summer Tax School Centers on Farm Taxes
University of Missouri (MU) Extension will sponsor a Summer Tax School July 6 at Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center, Columbia.
MU Extension agricultural business specialist Mary Sobba says the program centers on farm tax issues.
Speakers include a tax law professor, a retired Internal Revenue Service agent and a Missouri Department of Revenue employee. Topics include dynasty trust details, tax-planning strategies for farmers, estate planning, IRS collections, long-term care planning, charitable trusts in estate planning, identity theft and protection, and new Missouri tax legislation.
For more information, visit the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events.
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