News Update
March 28, 2018
Fiery Ag Advocate
“I never set out to be a beef advocate, but I started feeling gratitude to show people where beef begins. … I felt a privilege to show a beef operation from cows to calves to yearlings,” Ree Drummond shared with cattlemen and women in Phoenix, Ariz.
Drummond, who lives on an Oklahoma ranch with her family, is more famously known as The Pioneer Woman for her food blog, cookbooks and Food Network TV show. She delivered the keynote address at the opening general session of the 2018 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show.
The 49-year-old redhead shared a pictorial history of her upbringing and experiences that ultimately led her to start a blog. She explained that she grew up in Bartlesville, Okla. — on a golf course. After high school she couldn’t wait to leave the town of 35,000 to attend college in Los Angeles, Calif. She then settled in Chicago, but on a return visit to her hometown met Ladd Drummond. By 1996 she was a rancher’s wife living near Pawhuska, Okla.
Drummond told the audience that during her first year of marriage and ranch life she lived in a little house with mice in the walls, skunks under the porch, and “a lot of manure in the yard.”
Continue reading this Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
Easter Eggs for Your Basket Will be a Bit Higher This Year
Higher retail prices for several foods including eggs, orange juice, meat products, bagged salad, shredded cheddar and vegetable oil resulted in a slight increase in the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) Spring Picnic Marketbasket Survey.
The informal survey showed the total cost of 16 food items that can be used to prepare one or more meals was $51.05, up $1.02 or 2% compared to a year ago. Of the 16 items surveyed, nine increased and seven decreased in average price.
“Most of the increase in the marketbasket was due to higher retail egg prices. Easter eggs are going to be a bit more expensive — 37% higher than a year ago,” said John Newton, AFBF’s director of market intelligence. “U.S. egg exports were up nearly 50% in 2017 while egg production remained flat.”
A bird flu outbreak in South Korea contributed to the increase in U.S. export volumes.
“A surge in egg exports combined with relatively flat production led to the strong rise in retail egg prices,” Newton said.
“Orange juice was another significant driver for the increase in the basket, up 24¢ or 7.5%.
Learn more in the full Farm Bureau news release online.
New AgriLife Extension Range Website Now Available
“How Grasses Grow,” a new website resource for ranchers, land managers and landowners, is now available through the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
The multi-faceted site, https://agrilife.org/howgrassesgrow/, was developed by Morgan Russell, AgriLife Extension range specialist at San Angelo. It features information on vegetative reproduction of perennial grasses, a brief description of west-central Texas dominant grass-bud banks, fire effects on representative warm- and cool-season grasses, and published journal articles on bud banks.
“This website is meant to help the viewer gain a deeper understanding of how grasses grow and the many differences existing among native and non-native, perennial grass species,” Russell said.
The site serves as a database for species-specific information on some of the dominant grass species in Texas.
“These grasses are the lifeblood of our rangelands,” Russell said. “Our livestock and wildlife, ecosystem processes and overall plant-community function depend on these plants for many reasons. Learning about how grasses establish, reproduce and sustain their species populations are key for any range manager. So my continuing goal with this project is to grow the website with more grass species information and make this unique information more readily available with a click or two of the mouse.”
Read the full AgriLife news release online.
AFBF’s Duvall Awarded Distinguished 4-H Alumni Medallion
AFBF President Zippy Duvall received the Distinguished 4-H Alumni Medallion at the ninth annual National 4-H Council Legacy Awards. Nearly 450 business leaders, philanthropists, celebrities, prominent alumni, special guests and dignitaries joined National 4-H Council at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C., on March 20. They recognized the accomplishments of our nation’s youth and those individuals who make it possible for millions of young people to learn important life and leadership skills through 4-H youth-development programs.
Duvall joins a prestigious group of 4-H Distinguished Alumni Medallion recipients, including such 4-H alumni as Facebook “newsfeed” inventor Andrew Bosworth, actress and producer Aubrey Plaza, songwriter and musician Jennifer Nettles, and professor and best-selling author Temple Grandin.
“This recognition of Zippy Duvall’s life-long support of investing in young people with a demonstrated interest in not only farming and ranching but also agri-business and food-related careers is well-deserved,” said AFBF Executive Vice President Julie Anna Potts. In 2017, Duvall, a Georgia 4-H alumnus, was honored by National 4-H Council as a founding Alumni Luminary, an exclusive group of accomplished and influential 4-H alumni.
For more information, please read the full AFBF news release online.
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