News Update
September 21, 2017
Angus Offers Support of
Hurricane Irma and Harvey Victims
In the wake of this historic hurricane season, the American Angus Association offers heartfelt empathy and support to those in Irma and Harvey’s destructive path.
The devastating flooding in southeast Texas has impacted nearly 150 Association members in multiple counties in Texas. Irma’s high winds have affected numerous cattlemen in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, as well.
“The damage in Florida is really widespread,” said Jim Handley, executive vice president of the Florida Cattlemen’s Association. “I don’t know of a large number of livestock that have been lost, most were able to get them to higher ground. We are letting the water recede and doing a lot of chainsaw work to clear the trees off fences.”
Florida cattlemen are hanging tough, he continued. The longer the water sits, the more prone mosquitos are to hatch and create problems for producers in the south. For the most part, other commodities such as dairy and citrus are in the most need of resources, he said. With fuel shortages happening across the state, dairymen are having a tough time running generators to keep their milking barns open and milk supplies cold.
Continue reading this Angus Media news article online.
Perdue Urges State Foresters to
Demand Congress Fix Fire Funding Problem
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue Sept. 20 urged State Foresters to join in calling on Congress to address the way the U.S. Forest Service is funded. Currently, the agency has to borrow money from prevention programs to combat ongoing wildfires. Perdue believes Congress should treat major fires the same as other disasters and be covered by emergency funds so prevention programs are not raided. Perdue made his remarks at the National Association of State Foresters’ annual meeting in Charleston, W.V.
“Every one of you has a member of Congress, and you all are well-respected in your states and in your industry. You’ve got influence there,” Perdue told the State Foresters. “I want to implore you to leave this meeting and just write a note to your Congressional delegation saying, ‘Please support the permanent fire funding fix so the U.S. Forest Service can manage its forests in a way to get ahead of these forest fires.’ ”
Last week, wildland fire suppression costs for the fiscal year exceeded $2 billion, making it the most expensive year on record.
For more information, read the USDA news release online.
International Beef Initiative Launched by
Texas A&M Animal Science
A new international beef initiative is under way by the Texas A&M University Department of Animal Science, emphasizing research and educational activities related to cattle adapted to subtropical and tropical climates.
Cliff Lamb, department head, said two new faculty positions have been created to lead this effort.
The initiative includes establishing a steering committee of state, national and international stakeholders, funding agency representatives and Texas A&M faculty. Partnerships with stakeholders include Texas A&M AgriLife agencies, departments, industry partners, commodity groups, private organizations, breed associations, and federal, state and local government.
“We want to continue to help Texas beef cattle producers be at the forefront and help give them the competitive edge,” Lamb said. “With the state having endured the worst drought ever in 2011 and having gone through several periods of drought over the previous decades, finding new breakthroughs in breeding, genetics, nutrition and other areas can only make Texas beef cattle producers better with regards to adaptability and becoming more profitable.
“We look forward to entering new partnerships with industry and breed associations to move this effort forward.”
Learn more in the full AgriLife news release online.
Fon E. Owings named 2017 Missouri Livestock
Person of the Year
Fon E. Owings, a long-time veterinarian from Unionville, Mo., will be honored at the 2017 Missouri Livestock Symposium Friday, Dec. 1, 2017, when he will be inducted into the Missouri Livestock Symposium’s Livestock Person of the Year Hall of Fame. Hill is the 15th person to be selected for this honor. Those selected have made significant contributions to the livestock industry in northeast Missouri and beyond.
Owings was born and raised in Putnam County and graduated from Unionville High School with the class of 1947. After high school he attended the University of Missouri School of Veterinary Medicine and graduated with the class of 1955. Owings opened a private veterinary clinic in Unionville, which he has continued to run for the past 59+ years.
He is a lifetime member of the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association, served on numerous committees of the Missouri Veterinary Association, and is an honor roll member of the American Veterinary Association. He was veterinarian in charge for the Putnam County Feeder Calf Sale from 1960-1990, Unionville Livestock Market and Unionville Sale Barn for 55 years, and the Centerville Livestock Market in Centerville, Iowa, for 30 years.
Read the full MU news release online.
NIAA Presents 7th Annual Antibiotics Symposium: Collaboration and Commitment Key
The National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) announces the seventh in its series of antibiotics symposia to be hosted Oct. 21-Nov. 2 in Herndon, Va. — Antibiotic Stewardship: Collaborative Strategy for Animal Agriculture and Human Health.
All sectors of the animal food production industry and partners in human medicine and public health will come together for collective and continued dialogue around one of the most important topics in animal and human health today.
Since 2011, the NIAA-hosted Antibiotics Symposium has provided a setting for a thoughtful exchange of ideas for the betterment of animal and human health. Through six symposia, NIAA and its partners have been at the forefront of bringing stakeholders together to analyze, evaluate and discuss the use of antibiotics and the threat of resistance.
Steven Solomon, co-chair of the NIAA planning committee for this symposium answers the question: Why are we doing this again?
“This year’s symposium builds on the foundation that has been set up year by year since the series began. This is an incredibly complex and difficult topic,” he says. “It was never going to be solved in a year, or two years or seven.”
For more information, visit the Angus Journal Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events.
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