Farmers, not bureaucrats, know best

Farmers, not bureaucrats, know best

Rep. Steve King

Advocates for Agriculture

Chances are you may have heard about antibiotic resistance and the “threat” it poses to public health. Antibiotic resistance is a serious issue. However, finger pointing and meritless attacks on America’s farmers as the culprit for declining human health is misguided at best, and at worst, a travesty.

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Blocking Bloat

Blocking Bloat

Progressive Farmer/DTN

Changes in diet can give livestock a bellyache. Bill Pinchak, Texas AgriLife research animal nutritionist, is trying to determine why and how bloat sometimes turns deadly.

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Vermont Bill Would Authorize HSUS to Oversee Livestock Commerce in the State

Vermont Bill Would Authorize HSUS to Oversee Livestock Commerce in the State

Oklahoma Farm Report

It’s almost unbelievable- but a Vermont lawmaker has introduced a bill that would authorize that "An inspector who is a representative of a the humane society of the United States, a Vermont-domiciled humane society, or similar organization approved by rule of the secretary, shall be present to observe a slaughterer, packer, or stockyard operator when engaged in the practice of bleeding or slaughtering livestock."

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Ohio: Animal cruelty issue possibly heading to fall ballot again

Ohio:  Animal cruelty issue possibly heading to fall ballot again

Leonard Hayhurst

Chillicothe Gazette

The Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board has yet to be formed or meet, but a movement now is on for voters to again face the issue of animal care in the state.

Ohioans for Humane Farms, a state ballot committe sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States, submitted a petition Monday to the Ohio Attorney General’s office to place an anti-cruelty measure on the November ballot.

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Four activist movements that are doomed to fail

Four activist movements that  are doomed to fail

Mike Barnett

Texas Agriculture Talks

I’ve been accused of preaching a lot of doom and gloom lately. Seems both Gene Hall and I have been detailing the negatives on how the climate changers, animal rightists, "industrial agriculture" critics, the anti-GMO crowd and others are adversely affecting agriculture.

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Missouri Beef Industry Council Launches Farmer Freedom

Missouri Beef Industry Council Launches Farmer Freedom

cattlenetwork.com

The Missouri Beef Industry Council has launched a social media Web program called "Farmer Freedom" to keep Missouri’s 60,000 beef producers informed about activist attacks on agriculture and equip them to become "pro-activists."

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Exit on Beef’s Fast Lane?

Exit on Beef’s Fast Lane?

Angus.org

Cattlemen know marbling is important, and they keep hearing about ways to give it a head start. Early weaning onto a high-starch grain ration sounds promising but could it be risky? The price of corn and potential for lighter carcass weights keep some producers from taking that route.

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Two sides to every story

Two sides to every story             

PETTUS L. READ

Murfreesboro Post

My name is Pettus Read and I’m a meat eater. No bones about it (no pun intended), but I do enjoy a good steak every now and then. I have been known to eat chicken that is finger licking good, headed to the border for a beef taco, asked many times “Where’s the beef,” and just like actor Sam Neill from the movie Jurassic Park fame, I also promote the human instinctive manner of searching out the smell of cooking steaks at cookouts.

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National Foodservice Beef Backer Award Winners Announced

National Foodservice Beef Backer Award Winners Announced

EON

The Beef Checkoff program announced the 2009 National Beef Backer Award winners in foodservice on Friday, January 29th, at the Annual Cattle Industry Conference in San Antonio, Tex. The Beef Backer Awards recognize independent and chain restaurants that set the highest standards in menuing and marketing beef.

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Reforming the Meat Market

Reforming the Meat Market

Monica Potts

The American Prospect

Last week, after leaving the post vacant for a year, President Barack Obama nominated Dr. Elisabeth Hagen to be undersecretary for food safety at the Department of Agriculture. The appointment comes after years of food-borne illness outbreaks spread by everything from spinach to peanut butter, and after George W. Bush weakened biotechnology oversight as he was headed out the door.

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Cattlemen begin new year with a ‘bang’

Cattlemen begin new year with a ‘bang’

Pat Kopecki

Wilson County News

Bill Hyman, executive director of the state’s Independent Cattlemen’s Association, addressed members of the South Central Texas Independent Cattlemen’s Association Jan. 21 at the annual business meeting in the American Legion Hall. Hyman addressed issues affecting the cattle industry, ranging from diseases to the reorganization of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

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HSUS Must Return Donations After Misleading Haiti Fundraising

HSUS Must Return Donations After Misleading Haiti Fundraising

Scoop

Humane Society of the United States Has a History of Deceptive Pitches

The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) is calling on the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to return all the funds it has raised under the pretense of “saving” animals in the wake of Haiti’s devastating earthquake.

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BAM! Where There Was One Steak, Now There are Two

BAM! Where There Was One Steak, Now There are Two

Pennsylvania State University Animal Science

Beef retailers listened intently as Kari Underly of Range, Inc., Chicago, IL, demonstrated the fabrication of beef value cuts from the chuck and round at the recent Beef Boot Camp in Boston, MA.  They were intrigued and seemed to enjoy watching the seemingly easy-to-cut steaks and roasts being made in front of them.

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Reality TV: The New Way to Reach Consumers

Reality TV: The New Way to Reach Consumers

Gary Truitt

Hoosier AG Today

It an established fact that American agriculture needs to do a better job of communicating with the non-farm public, but how to accomplish this is a matter of considerable debate. Lots of different techniques have been tried – from expensive PR campaigns to giving away free food.

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Recession still impacting beef

Recession still impacting beef

Delta Farm Press

Beef continues to be one of the most nutritious products U.S. consumers can buy in the grocery store. But the form that consumers buy it in can make a big difference to the U.S. cattle industry. John Lundeen, executive director of market research for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, talked about what the NCBA is doing to try to regain profitability for producers at the Cattle Industry Winter Meeting in San Antonio.

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