Larry Turner: director of UK’s Cooperative Extension Service, Crash Victim

Larry Turner: director of UK’s Cooperative Extension Service, Crash Victim

By Art Jester

LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

With the death of Larry Turner, 51, the University of Kentucky lost a forward-looking agriculture leader whose efforts had earned him national as well as statewide respect, colleagues said yesterday.

Turner, who grew up on a farm in Rising Sun, Ind., began his career with the UK extension service in 1978. Since 2002, he held the influential post of associate dean for extension and director of the Cooperative Extension Service in UK’s College of Agriculture.

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Extension director dies in plane crash

Extension director dies in plane crash

From Drovers Alert

Larry Turner, director of the University of Kentucky agricultural extension service, was one of the people who died in the Comair plane crash Sunday morning in Lexington, Ky. Prior to assuming his administrative responsibilities, Turner was noted for his work in livestock facility design and management. For a statement by University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd Jr., follow this link.

Ranchers in need of assistance get relief

Ranchers in need of assistance get relief

Western Livestock Journal

— Range cubes derived from ethanol byproducts aid displaced cattle.

Fires in Nebraska have scorched approximately 70,000 acres impacting several ranchers’ livelihoods by eliminating grazing acreage for thousands of cattle. The state has approximately two million head of cows and nearly seven million head of cattle and calves making it the third largest cattle state in the center of corn country. Along with mass cattle production, Nebraska is third in corn production and second in ethanol production. These statistics have enabled Nebraska cattle producers to have an advantage over other drought and fire stricken regions by having access to more feasible, plentiful feed sources despite burned rangeland. Most of the fire damage was seen on pasture ground, rather than crop ground, which provoked the Nebraska Corn Board (NCB) to lend support.
“Eighty percent of the corn in our state is irrigated, so it wasn’t affected as much by the fires or drought,” said Don Hutchens, NCB executive director. “Much of northwest Nebraska was hit with significant range fires. Cattle producers lost a lot of feed, and there’s a lot of displaced cattle needing roughage.”

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There’s more to like about Grass Fed Beef

There’s more to like about Grass Fed Beef

By MARIAN BURROS

Chef Ann Cooper

FROM Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Westchester County and Sparky’s All-American Food in New York to Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago and Acme Chophouse in San Francisco, more diners are switching to rich, juicy and tender grass-fed beef, which is fast losing its reputation as tough and tasteless but good for you.

My own delicious research shows the industry has taken giant steps. When I wrote about grass-fed beef in 2002 there were about 50 producers, and most of what they raised was not very good. Now there are about 1,000 of them, and after I grilled rib-eyes from 15 producers for friends, it was clear that more of them are learning to get it right.

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Through the Eyes Of The Intern At The Nebraska Beef Council

Through the Eyes Of The Intern At The Nebraska Beef Council

Cattlenetwork.com

Kearney, NE (August 30, 2006) It was the pride that I felt at the age of ten as a young 4-Her when I showed “Twinnie” my bucket calf at the county fair and won Grand Champion. My excitement was repeated the next year after I again won Grand Champion Bucket Calf with my second calf, “Alberta”. The impact when walking from the show ring, leading a calf that weighed twice as much as I did, a trophy that barely fit in my hands, smiling ear-to-ear, dripping in sweat, and being high-fived by my friends and relatives wouldn’t be fully realized until nearly 15 years later. It was those meager beginnings that I now reflect on that were instrumental factors in my developing appreciation for the beef cattle industry.

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Animal welfare bills increasing in number

Animal welfare bills increasing in number

Western Livestock Journal

— Efforts to regulate animal agriculture a result of changes in society, misperceptions.

Public scrutiny of farm animal welfare and the industry’s common practices is growing each year. Animal rights activists have been working ‘round the clock to pass both state and federal statutes which dictate how animals must be treated. This includes not only pets, but also livestock and poultry.

The general public has lost its contact with rural life and, for the most part, has little understanding of agricultural practices. When coupled with the support of celebrities—who paint agricultural practices with a broad brush showing extraordinary practices—the general public often becomes willing to turn on animal producers.

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Smithfield says would consider buying Oscar Mayer

Smithfield says would consider buying Oscar Mayer

Reuters

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA (Reuters) – U.S. meat company Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) would be interested in the Oscar Mayer meat unit of Kraft Foods Inc. if it became available, but the price may be too high, a top Smithfield executive told Reuters on Wednesday.

Talk has circulated that Altria Group Inc. (MO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) may soon spin off Kraft (KFT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) of which it is majority stockholder.

“Oscar Mayer is the only piece of that that we would have any interest in at all,” said Smithfield president and soon- to-be chief executive officer C. Larry Pope. “That’s probably going to go at a price we are not going to like.”

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