News Update
July 11, 2017
Beef Leaders Institute Instills Industry Knowledge
Nearly 20 American Angus Association members recently traveled five days across the country for an in-depth industry tour through the Beef Leaders Institute (BLI) hosted by the American Angus Association. BLI is a complete pasture-to-plate experience for young leaders in the Angus industry that explores quality genetics, performance programs, genomic technology, herd health, Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) and much more.
The Angus Foundation-sponsored event was hosted June 19-23 and started at the Angus Association’s headquarters in Saint Joseph, Mo.
“BLI is designed to provide Angus producers the opportunity to see all sectors of the beef industry after cattle leave their farms,” said Caitlyn Brandt, event coordinator for the American Angus Association. “By having the chance to network with other producers, feeders, packers, processors, retailers and other industry experts in the areas of genetics, reproduction and marketing, participants go home with knowledge and information that provides better insight into making production decisions on their operations.”
The mission behind BLI is to provide young producers between the ages of 25 and 45 the opportunity to network with their peers in the Angus breed while learning more about the Association and sectors of the beef business after cattle leave the ranch.
For more information, please view the Angus news release online.
Staying Power
A cow needs to remain in production long enough to generate revenue to offset the costs of her development and maintenance, explained Scott Speidel, assistant professor of animal science at Colorado State University (CSU). Speidel explained the significance of stayability and random regression in the cow herd during a June 1 breakout session focused on efficiency and adaptability at the 2017 Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Symposium in Athens, Ga.
Speidel defined stayability as the probability of a beef cow surviving to a specific age, given that she’s had the opportunity to stay in that herd.
In partnership with the Red Angus Association of America, Speidel and his CSU colleague Mark Enns have been working to determine the effects of “alternate definitions of stayability” in conjunction with new models of genetic evaluation.
Traditionally evaluated within-breed, stayability is not a trait that proves particularly simple to determine, specifically because of differences in definition across breeds. The CSU program aims to improve the quality of data submitted to the breed association and to generate more accurate expected progeny difference (EPD) values, especially in female traits like stayability and heifer pregnancy, Speidel explained.
Read the full Angus Media news article online.
2017 Meat Production Estimates Trimmed
U.S. meat production is growing more slowly than previously expected. Many analysts have trimmed their estimates and USDA, in the latest monthly estimates, reduced forecasts for 2017 beef, pork and poultry production from earlier levels. Total red meat and poultry production is expected to total near 100 billion pounds (lb.), a new record level. However, slower growth in meat production, combined with improving trade balances for all meats, is holding meat consumption estimates close to year-ago levels. Per capita retail beef consumption is projected to increase less than 1% while pork and broiler consumption may be slightly lower year over year.
Beef production is currently projected to increase 3.4% year over year. Cattle slaughter for the year to date is still running about 6% higher year over year but slaughter rates for most classes of cattle have moderated recently and are expected to have smaller year-over-year increases in the second half of 2017.
Sharply lower carcass weights so far this year have held year-to-date beef production increases to roughly 4% over year-earlier levels.
Learn more in the full Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
Economic Benefits of Synchronized Artificial Insemination
The disciplined application of estrus synchronization and artificial insemination (AI) can have a lasting economic advantage. University of Tennessee Reproductive Physiologist Justin Rhinehart thinks these complementary technologies would be more widely used if commercial cow-calf producers understood how adoption could impact profitability.
“Estrus synchronization and AI can improve both short-term and long-term profitability,” Rhinehart told an audience gathered for the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Research Symposium and Convention hosted May 31-June 3. Rhinehart’s presentation was part of the National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB) Symposium convened in conjunction with the BIF Convention in Athens, Ga.
Rhinehart lamented the fact that fewer than 10% of all beef producers utilize estrus synchronization and AI. Among the reasons many producers say they shy away from the reproductive technologies are perceptions regarding labor, time and facility requirements, as well as the overall cost. There was a time that synchronized AI typically was more expensive than natural service. However, considering current bull purchase and maintenance costs, Rhinehart advises producers to re-evaluate the alternative.
Continue reading this Angus Media news article online.
Working with the BLM
“By a show of hands, how many of you hate the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) or the Forest Service?” asked John Reese, a BLM range conservationist from Kanab, Utah. Reese addressed a group of young ranchers at the Idaho Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference Jan. 27, 2017.
A few timid hands rose.
“C’mon really,” said Reese, “how many of you hate the BLM or the Forest Service?”
This time, hands shot up as the audience sensed Reese’s own animosity for the agencies that govern grazing on public lands.
The range conservationist is also a registered Angus breeder, and his family a BLM permittee, so he identifies with both sides of the aisle.
“When I was a kid, my grandpa hated the BLM. He absolutely hated his range [conservationist], hated to deal with him.
Because of all the policy and the regulations, they were constantly telling him what he could and couldn’t do. So I grew up hating the BLM,” said Reese candidly.
As a 16-year-old, Reese decided to put his dislike aside and took a BLM summer internship position. Read this Angus Media news article online.
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