News Update
October 24, 2017
Angus Juniors Navigate North Carolina
National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) members traveled to Raleigh, N.C., for the Leaders Engaged in Angus Development (LEAD) conference to develop as leaders and experience agriculture in different parts of the United States. Juniors from 27 states, as well as two juniors from Canada, attended this year’s conference, Aug. 3-6, to partake in the annual event sponsored by the Angus Foundation.
“There are very few conferences in America that could even compete with the LEAD conference’s ability to network,” says National Junior Angus Board (NJAB) leadership director Tim Mardesen.
The LEAD conference is hosted for youth ages 14-21, and this year’s theme was “Navigating North Carolina.” While in North Carolina, participants spent two days focused on agriculture, visiting Eastern North Carolina Crawfish Farm; the Tobacco Life Museum; a sweet potato and tobacco farm, Scott Farms; an Angus operation, Wood Angus; and Caterpillar Inc.
Eastern North Carolina Crawfish Farm is an industry-leading crawfish operation using deep-water ponds, which allows for increased production. NJAA members were able to see firsthand how crawfish are raised on a commercial scale and even handle live crawfish.
Continue reading this Angus Journal article online.
Genetics, Drought and Mineral Management
at Upcoming Range Beef Cow Symposium
Genetic tools for selection and marketing, management decisions during drought, and range mineral nutrition are the topics of just three of the more than 20 presentations to be shared with attendees at the upcoming Range Beef Cow Symposium that will be hosted Nov. 28-30, 2017, at the Little America Hotel and Resort in Cheyenne, Wyo.
The popular event, which is hosted biennially and is a joint effort coordinated by the Extension programs of South Dakota State University, Colorado State University, the University of Nebraska and the University of Wyoming, aims to provide practical management and research information to cattle producers across the region. The event rotates between Colorado, western Nebraska, western South Dakota and Wyoming, and 2017 marks its 25th anniversary.
Attendees at this year’s symposium will hear from two producers. South Dakota Red Angus breeder Craig Bieber will share the management decisions his family operation has made to adapt to drought. Also from South Dakota, cattleman Troy Hadrick will share the genetic tools he has utilized for selection and marketing.
The symposium begins Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 9 a.m., with an update on international beef trade and insight into factors affecting the 2018 outlook for livestock and feed grain prices.
For more information, visit http://rangebeefcow.com/.
Daily Livestock Report — Cattle on Feed
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released their monthly Cattle on Feed report on Friday, Oct. 20 (the full report is available here). Just like last month’s report, the year-over-year changes were within the ranges of prereport estimates for animals marketed, placed and the overall on-feed count. Importantly, just like last month all those ranges were wide, especially for placements. Finally, as happened a month ago, head placed came in near the highest of the prereport estimates and was significantly above the average.
To summarize the year-over-year changes reported by NASS compared with the prereport estimates:
- Animals placed during September were up 13.5%, the prereport average increase was 7.5%. The difference in terms of head between the prereport average and the reported number was 113,000 head.
- Cattle marketed by feedlots were 2.9% above 2016’s, while the prereport average was for an increase of 2.6%.
- The inventory of cattle in feedlots as of Oct. 1 was up 5.4% from a year ago, compared to a prereport estimated jump of 4.7%.
Read the entire report online at www.dailylivestockreport.com.
Oklahoma Ranchers Seek Supreme Court
Intervention in State Checkoff Referendum
On Oct. 23 Oklahoma members of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) joined together to file with the Oklahoma Supreme Court an application for original jurisdiction requesting the court enter a declaratory judgment and prohibit the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry from certifying the Oklahoma beef checkoff program referendum.
The legal application is in response to the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association’s attempt to create a new Oklahoma state beef checkoff program through a referendum that began Oct. 2, 2017. If passed, the new beef checkoff program would mandate all Oklahoma cattle producers pay the Oklahoma Beef Council an additional one dollar for every head of cattle they sell. Currently, under a federally mandated beef checkoff program, all cattle producers are required to pay one dollar. This state referendum would effectively double Oklahoma cattle producers’ beef checkoff fees by requiring an additional tax of $3.2 million dollars a year.
The legal documents filed with the Oklahoma Supreme Court outline a series of constitutional and legal irregularities relating to both the petition signature gathering and election processes.
Learn more in the full R-CALF news release online.
Select Sires Honors Ripley and Hanson
for Industry Contributions
During a ceremony Oct. 2, 2017, Select Sires Inc. dedicated their Westby, Wis., production facility as the Roger L. Ripley Production Facility in honor of retired Accelerated Genetics President and CEO Roger L. Ripley. On the same day, the Roger Hanson Laboratory was also dedicated to honor Hanson who served Accelerated Genetics as vice president of production and laboratory manager for nearly 26 years and the industry for more than 40 years.
Ripley served Accelerated Genetics cooperative as president and CEO for more than 24 years (1984-2008). His innovative and visionary leadership elevated the cooperative to become a respected global force in the genetics industry.
After graduating from South Dakota State University with a bachelor’s of science in dairy science and a master’s degree in advanced animal breeding, he focused on a career in the dairy genetics industry. Ripley joined Accelerated Genetics (Tri-State Breeders Cooperative) in 1970 and through the course of his 32-year tenure, served as regional marketing manager in Minnesota and Iowa, sire analyst, sire procurement manager, vice president of genetics and finally, president and CEO starting in 1984.
For more information, read the Select Sires news release online.
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