Reputation and Reward
Troy Smith
Angus Beef Bulletin
It was no secret, but neither did Wayne and Chris McGilvray go out of their way to attract publicity. They, along with fellow Texas cattleman Scott Weatherford, thought it best to avoid attracting too much attention too soon. They would wait until the time was right to make some noise.
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Check-Off Dollars are Far-Reaching Tools
LaRayne Topp
Calf News
Wording in the act clearly states how checkoff dollars can – and can’t – be spent. The dollars can’t be used to influence government actions or for lobbying. But they can be used to advance the image and desirability of beef and beef products to stimulate sales in the marketplace; to fund food science research and new product development; to design nutritional information to assist people in the purchase and preparation of beef; and to educate the public about production practices and its effect on the environment, food safety and the animals themselves.
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Information about important traits assists with feeder-calf decisions
Farms.com
Producers make tough decisions every day that directly affect the profitability of their herd. Fall brings decisions about feeder calves and questions about retaining ownership. Kevin Good, senior analyst, Cattle-Fax, says cow/calf producers should strongly consider holding onto feeder calves this fall.
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Sampling Corn Silage Fields to Accurately Determine Moisture
Joe Lauer, Corn Agronomist
University of Wisconsin
Corn must be ensiled at the proper moisture to get fermentation for preservation. But, determining when to harvest corn at the right whole plant moisture is difficult.
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TIME magazine makes blunder
Codi Vallery-Mills
The Cattle Business Weekly
You will notice this week’s cover story is about TIME magazine’s recently published article called “The high cost of cheap food.”
The Beef Checkoff did its best to offer fact and figures to the magazine for it in regards to the beef industry, but it seems the information was disregarded and the story ran anyway.
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Japan’s New Leaders Seen Tougher on US Beef
Thebeefsite.com
Forbes reports industry sources as saying that Japan was once the top export market for US beef but that business dropped sharply after December 2003, when the United States reported its first case of mad cow disease. Now Japan buys about one-fifth of its previous high volume but the US meat industry has been working to recover more of that lost business.
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Micro Beef Technology Set to Provide Age, Source Verification for Foundation’s integrity Beef Program
Cattle Today
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation has teamed with Micro Beef Technologies to age- and source-verify the organization’s Integrity Beef Program.
The Noble Foundation’s Integrity Beef Program is a comprehensive management system that assists participants in producing consistent, high-quality beef cattle by addressing herd establishment, animal health and forage management.
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The politics of food: Veal
Drew Long
D.C. Foodies
Vegetarians swear off meat because they believe we no longer need to consume animals. Animal rights protesters picket restaurants to protest the use of certain ingredients. In the past few years, some of these groups have gone so far as to vandalize restaurants, intimidate staff and harass customers because they disagree deeply with the products on the menu.
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Fair or not: Country living is far from ‘Little House’
Jim Mullen
Jewish World Review
If you tried to figure out what farm life is like judging by what you see at the state fair, you’d get the impression that today’s farmer spends his entire day driving in demolition derbies, eating fried dough, racing tractors, playing cow-plop bingo, eating deep-fried Twinkies, eyeballing teenage girls wearing low-rise jeans and wrapping pizza slices in bacon. How much more down-home can you get?
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Beef industry woes could ease
Topeka Capital-Journal
The pain of recent record losses in the U.S. cattle feeding industry won’t diminish soon, but tightening supplies could lead to a modest rebound in late 2010, according to agricultural economist James Mintert.
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Local beef herds face disease threat from imported cattle
JAMIE HENNEMAN
The Statesman
A herd of over 400 feeder cattle from Canada being held at a ranch near Northport are causing concern with local cattlemen who suspect the possibly illegal band of animals are not vaccinated for the highly contagious diseases of Tuberculosis or Brucellosis. It has been reported that the imported cattle have been commingling with domestic herds on the Colville National Forest and may be spreading the disease if it is present in the Canadian cattle.
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Cattle market could improve in late 2010
KTIC
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The pain of recent record losses in the U.S. cattle feeding industry will not diminish soon, but tightening supplies could lead to a modest rebound in late 2010, according to agricultural economist James Mintert.
Speaking at Kansas State University´s Risk and Profit Conference Aug. 21, Mintert said that consumers have responded to the U.S. economic downturn by saving more and spending less. Not a bad thing on the face of it, but what consumers are saving means that they´re spending less on some foods, such as beef.
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Grazing management workshop set for Sept. 25
Derek Scasta
Corsicana Daily Sun
When it comes to beef cattle production, reducing animal stress can increase animal performance and the profitability of an operation. With that in mind, a Grazing Management and Stockmanship Workshop will be held in Corsicana at the Navarro County Exposition Center on Friday, Sept.. 25.
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Scratching out a living: Local farmers feeling sting of U.S. recession
BEN KLEPPINGER
AM News
Garrard County dairy farmer Gilbert Edgington is having a tough time selling milk. He can barely sell it for the same amount he got in 1976.
“With the times the way they are, we’re putting more in than we’re getting out,” he said. “If we keep going that way, then we’re all going to have to quit.”
While financial markets were collapsing around the globe last year, U.S. farms were booming — 2008 was the farming industry’s most profitable year ever.
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Vegetarians weak because of lack of meat
Codi Vallery-Mills
The Cattle Business Weekly
I have often wondered what a nursing home full of vegetarians would look like. Now I know, arthritic, hunched over, wheel-chair bound and all with hip replacements.
News is out about new research that confirms what we already know – meat is source for essential nutrients. Skip out on it and you become a rag doll.
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