Ohio Beef Newsletter available

The June 28, issue # 493, of the Ohio BEEF Cattle letter is now posted to the web at: http://fairfield.osu.edu/ag/beef/beefJune28.html

While there may have been some high quality hay made early this year . . . that’s not been the case for most of us around Ohio in recent weeks. This week we discuss the “cost” of making hay, and also the issue of delayed hay harvest versus cutting it and having it rained on.

Articles this week include:
* Forage Focus: Hay – To Mow, or Not to Mow?
* The Cost of Making Hay
* New Diagnostic Testing for Johne’s Disease in Ohio
* Weekly Roberts Agricultural Commodity Market Report

Stan
———-
Stan Smith
Program Assistant, Agriculture
OSU Extension, Fairfield County
831 College Ave., Suite D
Lancaster, OH 43130

e-mail: smith.263@osu.edu
voice: 740.653.5419 ext. 24
fax: 740.687.7010

Senate Takes Action Regarding Beef Trade with Japan

Senate Takes Action Regarding Beef Trade with Japan

Angus e-list

Members of the Senate took retaliatory action against Japan June 22 in response to a delay in beef trade resumption.

Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a trade agreement with Japan last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee attached a statement to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Agriculture Appropriations Bill calling for sanctions on Japanese products if Japan does not resume imports of U.S. beef by the enactment of the bill.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) announced its support of the legislation, as well as Senate bill S. 3548, a bill introduced June 21 by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), calling for tariffs on Japanese exports if Japan does not open its borders to U.S. beef by Aug. 31, 2006.

Problematic pastures: Tall fescue threatens wildlife

Problematic pastures: Tall fescue threatens wildlife

Habitat loss, livestock difficulties are associated with dense grass covering many fields in Missouri.

By BILL GRAHAM
The Kansas City Star

Bob and Karli Foreman’s 160-acre hobby farm near Smithville seemed perfect for wildlife.

Fescue grass kept the pastures a friendly green.

“But I’d never been able to get quail here,” Foreman said, “even though I’d planted food plots.”

Now the Foremans know why.

Tall fescue — the green giant that once helped build Missouri’s almost $1 billion cow and calf and beef cattle industry — is also an ecological nightmare and livestock health hazard.

“In the eastern United States, fescue is the number one threat to wildlife,” said Steve Clubine, grasslands biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation.

FULL STORY

Seminar aimed at increasing food safety

Seminar aimed at increasing food safety

Liz Mitchell
Staff Writer, Culpeper Star-Exponent (VA)
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

If you’re interested in food safety, today’s organic seminar is for you.

Located at Bealeton’s newest retail and slaughtering service, called Fauquier’s Finest Country Butcher Shop, several speakers will educate interested farmers on how they can regulate food safety and improve relations with beef consumers.

Jess Peterson, the director of government relations for Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund (R-CALF) United Stockgrowers of America, will be speaking on beef labeling and the importance of identifying the beef’s country of origin.

Shae Dodson, spokesperson for the Montana-based R-CALF, said U.S. Congress passed a law in 2002 requiring origin labels on all beef products. However, at the request of meatpackers stating the new program would be too expensive, the implementation of “Country Of Origin Labeling,” or COOL, has been delayed until 2008.

Dodson says R-CALF argues that if all imported beef bear a mark of origin, then U.S.-produced beef would not need a label, which would only increase costs for foreign producers.

FULL STORY

Farmers, ranchers exploring bio-fuels

Farmers, ranchers exploring bio-fuels

BY SCOTT BLAKE
FLORIDA TODAY

KISSIMMEE — – Florida’s agricultural industry could play a key role in developing bio-fuels that someday could have far-reaching effects for consumers, agricultural officials said Monday.

They said using the state’s farms and ranches for production of ethanol, methane and other bio-fuels could be a way to help keep agricultural profitable while meeting the nation’s needs for alternative energy sources.

FULL STORY

Fodder for thought

Fodder for thought

Pueblo grower touts wheat grass for cattle

By CHRIS WOODKA
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

ROCKY FORD – A Pueblo County grower is sold on the health benefits of wheat grass and says it could give cattle producers something to chew on as well.

Richard Sandquist, who raises gourmet hydroponic lettuce at his Vineland greenhouse, last week gave the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District a sales pitch for growing cattle feed indoors in trays as a way to maximize water resources.

Hydroponics is growing plants without soil, usually in a greenhouse.

“They’ve been using this system in Australia for 10 years,” Sandquist said. “They’re really fodder factories. A 2,500-square-foot greenhouse can produce 2 tons of feed per day.”

FULL STORY

Waiting for rain

Waiting for rain

By LAUREN DONOVAN
Bismarck Tribune

ELGIN – Last time folks around Elgin saw good rain, the Easter Bunny brought it.

That’s 10 very long weeks ago, and people are counting. They’re counting far fewer hay bales an acre and they’re counting the ever-dwindling number of days before it’s too late for parched grass and wheat to recover.

They’re looking anxiously to the west, brows creased. Rain comes from that direction, when it comes.

FULL STORY

Ranchers seek alternative income source

Ranchers seek alternative income source

Tucker Jankosky
KWCH 12 Eyewitness News
Monday, June 26, 2006

Joe and Nancy Moore have always been just like any other traditional ranchers in Southwest Kansas, struggling to cope with the dry conditions.

The Moore family has no choice but to get rid of more than 200 of their longhorn cattle.
But instead of just suffering the loss, they’ve decided to do something truly untraditional.

They now sell longhorn cow skulls online. The Moore family has sold skulls and hides on the internet before but this year they’ve had to rely on it more than ever.

“It’s been a time to have to step back and go out and look into the grass and realize it’s not growing and that’s when you have to come to the determination that something has to be done,” says Nancy More.

FULL STORY

Ottawa sets tougher rules on animal feed to fight mad cow disease

Ottawa sets tougher rules on animal feed to fight mad cow disease

By Jim Brown
Yahoo News, Canada

OTTAWA (CP) – The federal government is moving to strengthen its ban on the use of cattle tissue in animal feed in an effort to fight mad cow disease and reopen export markets to Canadian beef.

Under new rules, to be phased in over the next year by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, risky cattle parts will be banned from all animal feed, not just feed destined for cows. The parts will also be banned from pet food and fertilizers to avoid the risk of inadvertent cross-contamination of feed on farms and ranches.

FULL STORY

FDA Statement on Canadian Rule to Control BSE Risks

FDA Statement on Canadian Rule to Control BSE Risks

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is aware of the release of a final rule by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to extend protections in Canada against the risks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), so-called Mad Cow disease. The rule is an addition to existing Canadian measures to ban risky ingredients in animal feed — measures that have provided significant safeguards to protect the health of both United States and Canadian cattle fed animal feed from Canada, and thereby have protected consumers of beef in both countries.

The Canadian approach to BSE prevention is similar to FDA’s approach, and the public health agencies of both countries have been in close touch as they have developed their respective regulations. Both countries’ BSE feed rules are designed to forestall the spread of the disease and its related human form, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, through BSE-infected animal feed. The FDA BSE feed rule, which has been in effect since 1997, has proved its effectiveness as a key component of a tiered firewall against BSE; to date, there have been only three cows found with BSE in the United States, and each of them was either imported, or old enough to have consumed animal feed manufactured before the regulation took effect.

Nevertheless, since the detection of the first BSE-positive cow in the United States, FDA has been actively exploring various ways to further strengthen its existing feed rule which prohibits the use of certain mammalian protein in feed for cattle and other ruminants. Even though the risk of BSE is extremely low, in October 2005, the agency issued a proposed rule that would prohibit the use of certain high risk cattle materials in all animal feed to further reduce an already low probability event. The agency is in the process of analyzing and evaluating the approximately 800 public comments submitted to the FDA about this proposal.

FDA and HHS are committed to continuing to protect animal health and consumers against the spread of BSE through animal feed in the United States . After FDA considers the public comments on the proposal issued in October 2005, the agency and HHS plan to develop and issue a final rule as expeditiously as possible.

Grazing 102 workshop set for livestock producers

Grazing 102 workshop set for livestock producers

Richmond Palladium-Item

Grazing 102, a two-day workshop for livestock producers, will be July 7-8 at the Feldun-Purdue Agriculture Center in Lawrence County, Ind.

Better understanding of forage options can help livestock farmers maximize their profits, said Brad Shelton, Purdue Extension educator. Grazing experts from Purdue University and the University of Kentucky will discuss forage quality, health issues, water usage, fencing systems and the economic implications of grazing.

Pre-registration is required by Wednesday due to limited space. Cost is $65 and forms can be downloaded from http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ ext/forages. For more information on the workshop or registration, call Shelton at (812) 883-4601 or Richard Huntrods at (812) 279-8854.

FULL STORY

ID/INFO EXPO 2006 To Cover NAIS, Other Animal ID Developments

ID/INFO EXPO 2006 To Cover NAIS, Other Animal ID Developments

Cattlenetwork.com

Bowling Green, KY—ID/INFO EXPO 2006 will provide the latest information on the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), as well as broad coverage of technical developments, traceability systems, state programs and various views on animal identification (ID), according to program chairman Robert Fourdraine, the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium.

The conference and trade show will be held August 22-24 at the Westin Crown Center in Kansas City. ID/Info Expo is brought to you by the National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA), and serves as the premier national meeting on animal ID. In attendance will be hundreds of leaders and stakeholders from government, industry, producer organizations, and academia.

“The overall objective is to have an agenda with topics that will interest a wide audience. Although NAIS is a key component, this year’s ID/INFO EXPO will feature a wide variety of topics,” says Fourdraine.

FULL STORY

Farmland Bankruptcy Complete

Farmland Bankruptcy Complete

Cattlenetwork.com

The 2002 bankruptcy of Farmland Industries, the once giant farming collective that sold its pork operations to Smithfield Foods, was completed last week, with creditors receiving an unusually generous payout of 100 cents on the dollar plus the maximum interest allowed by the company’s reorganization plan.

FULL STORY