News Update
May 24, 2018
Kentucky Family Honored
for Historic Angus Herd
In 1967, James E. Doran and his wife Jane, Flemingsburg, Ky., purchased their first registered Angus heifers. This was the official beginning of Brookhill Angus and the family’s registered Angus herd, which is still in operation 51 years later.
The land on which the Dorans raise their cattle was purchased before the Civil War in 1840 and has remained in the same direct family ever since.
“When it came to choosing purebred cattle, Angus was the only choice for our ranch,” Doran said. “With proven success and heritage as a breed, we felt Angus would one day lead the beef industry.”
They purchased their first registered Angus heifers from Gordon Downing, a banker and Angus breeder, and their first registered bull from Charles Cannon, Stone Gate Farm.
James was one of the first breeders to artificially inseminate (AI) in his area, and over the years Brookhill Angus has evolved into a strictly AI-bred herd with no herd bulls, breeding 40 cows a year.
The 52-head herd is still managed by James and Jane to this day.
Visit www.angus.org for more information on the Historic Angus Herd Award and to view a list of awarded members since the program began in 1988.
USCA Applauds Introduction of Livestock Hauling Bill
On May 23 Senators Ben Sasse (R-NE), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Jon Tester (D), John Hoeven (R-ND), Tina Smith (D-MN), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Rand Paul (R-KY), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Doug Jones (D-AL) introduced the Transporting Livestock Across America Safely Act (TLAAS). This bill seeks to ease the burden of far-reaching hours of service (HOS) and electronic logging devices (ELD) regulations for haulers of livestock and insects.
USCA Transportation Committee Chairman Steve Hilker said:
“We asked, and Congress answered. This is a historic moment for livestock and insect haulers to finally be afforded needed flexibility in the restrictive HOS rules. We commend this bipartisan group of senators, led by Senator Sasse, for working with the industry towards a commonsense solution.
“Thank you to everyone who has put in many hours, many miles and many late nights to get this piece of legislation brought forth to the Senate floor. We look forward to working with the Senate — and the House — to get the Transporting Livestock Across America Safely Act across the finish line.”
Learn more in the full USCA news release online.
Initial Hay and Pasture Data Don’t Look Good
The recently released hay and pasture conditions report doesn’t look particularly good for producers across most of the country. The bearish May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report — higher production and larger ending stocks for 2018 — compounds the problem, but pasture conditions could very well improve as the season goes on.
May 1 hay stocks are down significantly across vast swathes of the country. Texas, Indiana, Missouri and Louisiana are all down 60% or more relative to May 2017 and another seven states across the West, Plains, and Midwest are down more than 40%. These reduced stocks are consistent with drought conditions that have persisted over the last few months. Other states across the Plains and Midwest have also seen declines.
However, some states have experienced significant increases. The deep South has recovered from drought conditions in the winter of 2016-2017 and stocks are up 15% in Alabama, 21% in Georgia, 44% in South Carolina, and a whopping 63% in Florida. The Northeast has also seen significant increases in hay stocks.
Turning to range and pasture conditions, things aren’t much better. I want to stress that it’s still early in the season, so things could certainly improve.
Read the full In the Cattle Markets news release online.
Cattle Farm Tour Shows How Shade Improves Profits
Cattle producers are invited to attend a field day at the Mingo Farm in St. James to learn how to use natural shade to improve their beef operation.
The field day begins at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 13 at the Mingo cow-calf operation, 25385 County Road 1000, St. James, Mo. University of Missouri (MU) Extension, MU Center for Agroforestry and MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources sponsor the event.
MU Extension specialists will tell how owner Brian Tomazi uses shade to improve cow comfort and increase profits. Specialists give a tour and discuss rotational grazing, equipment and portable breeding barns. They will explain how Tomazi manages timber, forages and livestock in an integrated system.
Over the years, Tomazi thinned hardwood trees at the edge of grazing paddocks and moved fences back to take advantage of the additional grazing area. This gives cows a place to cool before going back to the pasture to graze again or calve.
MU researchers found that access to shade improves weight gains for calves. Reducing heat stress also significantly improves pregnancy rates.
Continue reading this news release online.
Understanding the Value of Dollar Indexes
There currently are 28 expected progeny differences (EPDs) and dollar value indexes ($Values) available for producers to use when breeding quality Angus cattle. With so many traits to analyze, the paper can sometimes become a bit much to look at. There are indeed some herd sires that are superior across the board in all traits — curve benders, if you will.
Inevitably, with selection pressure emphasized in so many places, there will be a weak spot or two in a bull’s genetic makeup. These weak spots can become a reason not to purchase that bull or to use him as an artificial insemination (AI) sire. We must be cautious to not let one trait distract us completely from what could be a good breeding decision. Here is where $Values come into play.
$Values are complicated in nature, in regard to their establishment, but extremely simple and easy for producers to use. These indexes are a compilation of multiple traits brought together to form one number. The idea is that a producer can now study the index value of different sires compared to one another in an attempt to decide which bull will either make them more money or cost them less, depending on the index in question.
Keep reading this Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
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