News Update
Sept. 18, 2007

Process Verification and Quality Systems — Qualifying for Market Access Workshop
Beef processors selling beef to Japan must have documentation the cattle are less than 20 months of age. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) has developed guidelines that processors, cattle feeders and cow-calf producers must follow to be eligible for export to Japan. Currently, cattle with proper documentation are receiving a $25-per-head premium for age verification.

Beef producers have two options to meet the age verification requirements — a process verified program (PVP) or quality system assurance (QSA) program. Both programs require documentation to prove your age claim, but have differences in cost and marketing options.

Producers who would like to learn more about age verification and getting paid for keeping beef records can plan to attend a workshop cosponsored by the Iowa State University (ISU) Extension Service, the Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity (TCSCF) and AngusSource® Thursday, Sept. 20, beginning at 6:30 p.m., at the ISU Armstrong Research Center near Lewis, Iowa.

Sara Moyer, director of AngusSource; Brantley Ivey, Iowa Beef Center; and John Woltmann, manager of the TCSCF Cooperative will explain age and source verification programs through both a PVP and QSA and the advantages and disadvantages of both. A light supper will be served at 6:30 p.m.

For more information contact Darrell Busby, ISU Extension beef specialist, or John Woltmann, TCSCF manager, at 712-769-2600; or Bud Beedle, East Pottawattamie County Extension, at 712-482-6449 for details.

AngusSource Featured at Upcoming Sales
The following upcoming sales, scheduled through October, feature AngusSource lots. For further information contact the respective sale barn manager or Ty Groshans, American Angus Association director of commercial programs, at 816-383-5100 or tgroshans@angus.org.

• Fort Scott Livestock Market, Fort Scott, Kan.
  Sale Dates: Sept. 29, Oct. 20, Nov. 10
• Woodward Livestock Auction, Woodward, Okla.
  Sale Dates: Oct. 9, 12; Nov. 13, 16
• Staunton Union Stockyards, Staunton, Va.
  Virginia Angus Association and Shen-Valley Angus Association
  Sale Date: Oct. 16, 6 p.m.
• Pratt Livestock Inc., Pratt, Kan.
  Sale Dates: Oct. 18, 25; Nov. 1, 8
• Saint Onge Livestock Co., Saint Onge, S.D.
  Sale Date: Oct. 26
• Faith Livestock Commission Co., Faith, S.D.
  Sale Date: Oct. 29
• Russell Livestock Exchange, Russell, Kan.
  Sale Dates: Nov. 1, Dec. 6

Reserve Your Invitation to the Angus Foundation Supporter Recognition Event in Louisville
Join the Angus Foundation Nov. 10 in Louisville, Ky., for its fifth annual Supporter Recognition Event. Billed appropriately as “Focused on the Vision,” the Angus Foundation will recognize supporters this fiscal year to the Vision of Value: Campaign for Angus. This ambitious $11 million fundraising campaign is working to enhance the Foundation’s education, youth and research activities.

Campaign Leadership Cabinet Chairman Howard Hillman and Angus Foundation staff will update attendees on the progress of this exciting fundraising initiative benefiting and advancing the Angus breed.

All Angus supporters who have contributed $250 this fiscal year to the Angus Foundation will be invited to attend this special donor celebration in Louisville.

A special feature of the event will be the offering at public auction of the naming rights to the prestigious 16,000,000 registration number of the American Angus Association. Your $250 contribution can count toward the purchase of this piece of Angus history.

The time to guarantee your reservation to the event is drawing near. If you haven’t supported the Foundation in the last year, you can still secure your reservation now by contributing $250 or more by Sept. 30. To contribute online by Visa or MasterCard, visit www.angusfoundation.org and click on the “Donate Online” link.

Your contribution, payable to the Angus Foundation, can also be mailed to the Angus Foundation, 3201 Frederick Ave., Saint Joseph, MO 64506. Payments must be postmarked by Sept. 30. For more information call the Angus Foundation at 816-383-5100.

— Release provided by the Angus Foundation.

Despite Strong Calf Prices, Rising Costs Keep U.S. Beef Herd Expansion at Bay
Historically high calf prices and improved forage conditions in some key production areas sound like the right ingredients for an expanded U.S. cattle herd, but producers so far have resisted.

“We’ve had nine years of positive returns for cow-calf producers,” said Kansas State University (K-State) agricultural economist James Mintert. “That suggests we should be expanding beef cow herds, but economic incentives are not as strong as you’d think.”

Mintert, who is the K-State Research and Extension state leader in agricultural economics, said rising costs of production are curbing producers’ interest in growing their herds.

He, along with K-State agricultural economist Rodney Jones, spoke at K-State’s Risk and Profit Conference Aug. 16-17. They cited recent survey information that indicated lease rates on summer pasture in Kansas have climbed 16% in the past five years. Interaction with producers shows that in many cases, rates have increased faster than that, the economists said.

Reduced forage options stemming from several years of drought in recent years have been largely responsible for holding back beef cow herd expansion, Mintert said. The weather situation has now improved in some important cattle areas, including Kansas, but worsened in others.

Surging corn prices are another “input” that have made cattle producers reluctant to expand herds, Jones said.

“In past years when corn prices have spiked, they would only stay up for a few months at most — not long enough to influence forage program prices significantly,” he said. That situation has changed, with corn prices holding strong because of demand for corn from ethanol producers, livestock feeders and export markets.

Corn demand will ultimately affect grazing rates as corn growers are pressured to put pastureland into crop production, and as there is increased demand for forage-based production systems, Jones said.

Kansas corn prices in mid-July averaged $3.46 per bushel, down 38¢ from a month earlier, but up $1.11 from mid-July 2006, according to the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service.

In addition to rising costs of feeding cattle, be it on pasture or on feed, cattle producers are also facing higher fuel and utility costs, just like the rest of the nation.

Based on current data and with no immediate relief in sight for high fuel prices, Jones and Mintert said they expect little to no expansion of the U.S. cow herd in the near term.
“A sound management information system is more important than ever for cow-calf producers,” Jones said.

— Release provided by K-State Research & Extension.

Johanns Announces $22.7M in Value-Added Producer Grants
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced the selection of 162 recipients in 40 states and Puerto Rico to receive $22.7 million through the Value-Added Producer Grant program.

Approximately one-third of the grants, 56, will go to recipients who requested $50,000 or less in federal assistance.

Value-Added Producer Grants may be used for planning activities or to provide working capital to market value-added agricultural products and farm-based renewable energy projects. A value-added product is created when a producer takes an agricultural commodity, such as milk or vegetables, and processes or prepares it in a way that increases its value to consumers. Rural Development has committed more than $158 million to value-added agricultural investments since 2001.

A complete list of grant recipients is available at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) web site at www.rurdev.usda.gov.

— compiled by Crystal Albers, associate editor, Angus Productions Inc.