News Update
August 25, 2010

Black-Ink Interactive List

Many Angus producers learned more about the Black-Ink email network through an article in the current Angus Journal (www.angusjournal.com/aj_article.html?cid=7806), and hundreds now share ideas through this convenient medium. The increasingly popular Black Ink® series from Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) is also expanding from monthly column in farm papers to sites in social media such as Twitter.com.

Recent discussions have shared perspectives from across the U.S. on average age of cows in the herd, size of those cows, the surprisingly bullish and volatile cattle market and the $ contribution of grilling steaks to overall carcass values.

An example recent post discusses whether the ideal cow size should relate to ideal finished weight of steer progeny. One producer commented on uniformity and efficiency: “I have 250-pound (lb.) difference in my 4-year-olds. Having culled out all serious disposition problems, I am focusing now on efficiency, starting with smallest weaning weight combined with lowest weight-per-day-of-age. But our program here in northeast Kansas is geared for replacements and retaining ownership on the top cut of steers on feed 45 days after weaning in September.

“No doubt there are programs where the smaller cow works because the calves fit into a stocker program where they grow some frame cheaply enough that they pencil out going to the yard as yearlings.”

Black-Ink is sponsored by CAB to facilitate discussions about profitable production of high quality beef. To join the list, visit www.cabpartners.com/listserv.php or e-mail steve@certifiedangusbeef.com.

— Release by CAB Partners.

NCBA and NPPC to Hold GIPSA Rule Press Briefing  

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) will be hosting a press briefing on Aug. 26, 2010, in Fort Collins, Colo., prior to the upcoming public workshop to examine competition in livestock markets hosted by the U.S. departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Justice (DOJ). Specifically, the press briefing will focus on USDA Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) proposed rule, announced June 18, on livestock marketing. The workshop, to be Aug. 27 at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, is the fourth in a series of five joint USDA/DOJ workshops focused on competition and regulatory issues in agriculture.

The press briefing will be at the Hilton in Fort Collins from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. with a pork and beef barbeque provided subsequent to the event. To register for the briefing, please click here. If you already registered, please disregard this request. Media unable to attend this event may also participate via conference call (information below).

What: NCBA/NPPC GIPSA Rule Press Briefing BBQ
When: Aug. 26, 2010, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. BBQ starts at 6:30 p.m.
Where: The Hilton located at 425 West Prospect Road, Fort Collins, Colo.
Conference Call Info: 1-800-954-0584

— Release by NCBA.

Beef Day at MU South Farm, Sept. 16

The fifth annual beef field day, Sept. 16 at the University of Missouri South Farm, will highlight news and information on cattle nutrition, health, management and genetics.

“Our goal is to showcase the beef research and Extension programs conducted here at the farm and provide timely and valuable information concerning the beef industry,” said Justin Sexten, MU Extension beef nutritionist.

The morning program will feature walking tours of projects at South Farm’s Beef Research and Teaching Center. The 30-minute tours will highlight finishing, background, weaning and grazing management.

Speakers will include Corbitt Wall, who heads the USDA livestock market graders in the state. Wall will conduct a grading and judging clinic focusing on cull cow and feeder calf evaluation. Sexten said Wall’s talk will provide producers an opportunity to understand cattle grades, learn how to interpret market reports and find out how sorting can improve marketing opportunities.

Lonny Duckworth of the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association will present a legislative update while John Kleiboeker of the Missouri Beef Industry Council will talk about the beef checkoff program.

Bob Weaber, MU Extension beef geneticist, will offer advice on getting the biggest bang for your feed buck.

“I’m going to talk about selection and management strategies for improving feed efficiency at the individual-animal level and in the production system as a whole,” Weaber said. MU researchers have been able to collect precise data on feed efficiency using GrowSafe feeders, which automatically monitor individual animal feed intake.

MU Extension veterinarian Craig Payne will talk about prevention and management of bovine trichomoniasis, a venereal disease in cattle that results in early pregnancy loss.

“Up until the last few years this disease was almost nonexistent in Missouri, but now it is being diagnosed with greater frequency throughout the state,” Payne said.

The day will conclude with a pasture walk focusing on recent summer and fall grazing systems research.

Attendees will have the opportunity to visit displays by sponsors and industry vendors. MU graduate students will serve a complimentary beef lunch for those who RSVP to Angie Gallatin at 573-882-2829 or gallatina@missouri.edu.

The free event begins at 8 a.m. with registration and a reception. Walking tours begin at 8:30 a.m.

The beef farm is located behind the KOMU-TV tower on Highway 63 south of Columbia. Turn east on Old Millers Road just south of the station’s radar dome. The farm sign and entrance are just behind the tower.

For more information, see http://animalsciences.missouri.edu/research/brtf/ or call the farm at 573-882-2829.

— Release by MU Extension.

UK College of Agriculture Announces Formation of Food Systems Innovation Center

As the local food movement has picked up speed and Kentucky Proud products have become a recognizable brand across the state, many small-scale producers have considered producing and selling value-added products. But making small batches of a family recipe to sell at the local farmers market is very different from producing large batches for a mass consumer base. Recognizing the need for a central location to provide technical expertise to small-scale producers, the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture has created the Food Systems Innovation Center.

“We have felt a need within our many faculty groups to produce a suite of products that will help the small company,” said Nancy Cox, associate dean of research in the college. “This dovetailed with the Kentucky Proud efforts and other efforts of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and our other partners.”

The UK College of Agriculture has always provided educational programs and support to Kentucky’s farmers and entrepreneurs, but the new center offers a blending of the many capabilities that exist in the college in terms of marketing and technical product development services and support, said Tim Woods, UK agricultural economics professor and one of the center’s primary investigators.

“There’s a lot that goes into commercializing any food product,” he said. “There are a lot of quality assurance issues that folks need to attend to. Either because they’re new or because they’re small, they may have limited access to some of the kinds of resources, such as product testing, shelf life studies, and the various quality assurance kinds of tests that a larger-scale food processor would normally run in their own labs.”

The Food Systems Innovation Center offers validation studies on processed, vacuum-sealed and ready-to-eat items to assess their safety, accurate nutritional analyses and labeling information, taste tests using trained sensory panelists and technical support to analyze shelf life.

UK agricultural economists, in collaboration with the new center, conduct consumer studies as well as demand, economic impact and feasibility studies. And the center offers Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points and food security/defense training.

Angela Anandappa, the center’s coordinator, believes entrepreneurs would be wise to take advantage of all the center has to offer them. As an entrepreneur with several start-up companies under her belt, she said plunging into a new enterprise without doing some prep work can sometimes pay off, but it is very risky.

Working out technical and marketing problems through the center first “absolutely will save them (the entrepreneurs) a lot of money in the long run,” she said.

Joining Woods and Anandappa in the center are Wuyang Hu, associate professor in agricultural economics and Melissa Newman and Gregg Rentfrow, associate professor and assistant extension professor, respectively, in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences.

Kentucky Agricultural Development Board funds are helping to get the center off the ground, but its staff recognizes that if they are to be sustainable as a long-term program, they have to take on some larger projects. Already they have committed to helping researchers at Kentucky State University develop pawpaw and sorghum products; the Kentucky Milk Commission has set up a project, and the Grape and Wine Council is in the process of setting up one.

For more information on the UK Food Systems Innovation Center, contact Anandappa at 859-257-7272, ext. 286 or angela.anandappa@uky.edu or visit the center’s website www.kyfsic.org/.

— Release by UK College of Agriculture.

— Compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.