News Update
March 1, 2012
Kurt Kangas Joins the American Angus Association
The American Angus Association welcomes Kurt Kangas of Bakersfield, Calif., as the new regional manager for Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.
"There's nothing better than a herd of Angus cattle out on pasture," Kangas says. "I have a real appreciation for the cattle in the Angus breed, but it's the people behind the cattle that I really enjoy."
Expect to see Kangas at Angus events, as well as at sales throughout the region. He says his main goal is to visit with members and commercial producers, get to know their herds and see how he can assist in fostering a mutually beneficial relationship.
"Kurt will be a great asset to our team as we continue look to the future of the business breed," says Bryce Schumann, the Association's CEO. "It's an exciting time to be in the Angus business, and it's a privilege to work with talented people like Kurt."
A native of California, Kangas is a graduate of Montana State University in Bozeman with a bachelor's degree in range science. He has previously served as a rangeland consultant for HartCo. Environmental Services in Gallatin Gateway, Mont., and worked at Basin Angus Ranch for more than a decade until the herd dispersed in 2010.
Just prior to joining the Association, Kangas was a representative for Country Sweet Produce and remained involved with area cattle operations.
"I feel very fortunate to be part of the Association and look forward to getting to know our members and other ranchers in the Western region," Kangas says.
Contact Kangas at kkangas@angus.org or 661-706-2041 for help locating Angus seedstock or to answer questions about Association programs and services.
Kentucky Grazing Schools Focus on Improving Pasture Management
The University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture will host the Kentucky Grazing School at two different times and locations this year to help producers better manage their grazing systems.
The first grazing school will be April 10-11 at the UK Research and Education Center in Princeton. The second school is scheduled for Sept. 11-12 at the Woodford County Extension Office in Versailles. For both sessions, days one and two begin at 7:30 a.m. and end at 5:30 p.m. local time.
The grazing schools are open to anyone. Agendas for both programs cover regional-specific grazing information. Participants will visit field sites, participate in field exercises and tour demonstration plots. Hands-on activities include assessing pasture yield and designing and building a paddock and watering system.
UK College of Agriculture specialists in forages, beef cattle, dairy cattle and veterinary science will present a variety of topics ranging from grazing math concepts to implementing a grazing system. A grazing land specialist from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will discuss available cost-share programs, and a representative from a fencing company will share fence-building tips. Local producers will share their experience and management practices using rotational grazing.
In one of the unique features of the program, participants design a grazing system based on their property. They should bring a printed aerial map of their farm to the school. Maps are available through the local Farm Service Agency (FSA) or online through Google Maps.
Preregistration is necessary as both schools are limited to the first 45 registrants. Applications are available online at the UK Grazing website at http://www2.ca.uky.edu/grazer or through the local office of the UK Cooperative Extension Service. Registration costs $50 and includes all materials, grazing manual, breaks and lunch for both days.
Co-sponsors include the Master Grazer Educational Program, Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund, UK College of Agriculture, NRCS and the Kentucky Forage and Grassland Council.
U.S. House Passes Legislation to End 'Man-Made Drought' in California
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act (H.R. 1837) in a bipartisan vote of 246 to 175. The legislation, introduced by Congressman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) will end a "man-made drought," which is the result of water intended for California farm and ranch land irrigation being cut off and diverted to the San Francisco Bay in the name of protecting a 3-inch minnow, the Delta smelt.
"For far too long, radical environmental groups have abused environmental laws and trampled on the private water rights of cattlemen. In this instance, they did it in the name of protecting a three-inch fish. This is absurd. While the water diversions for the fish have produced negligible benefit, some of the most productive agricultural land has been left fallow and thousands of Californians have been put in unemployment lines," said Joe Guild, chairman of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) federal lands committee and a Public Lands Council (PLC) board member. "We commend Congressman Nunes for his leadership on this issue and for the 246 bipartisan members of Congress who voted to provide certainty to agricultural producers by demanding commonsense policy. We will continue working to stop extreme environmental groups from obstructing the on-the-ground conservation and sound land and resource management practices cattlemen and women provide each and every day as they work to produce food for a growing global population."
Decades-old water policy in the state of California has ensured that more than 27 million water users in the central and southern regions of California have access to water via a complex network of water storage and delivery systems. However, lawsuits brought by environmental radicals claiming that the water pumps were the primary factor in the population decline of the Delta smelt led to water delivery being restricted and in some instances completely prevented from being delivered to Central Valley farmers and ranchers.
Dustin Van Liew, NCBA director of federal lands and PLC executive director, said while it is important to fix this issue and restore certainty to California farmers and ranchers, this is further proof that it is time to take a look at reforming the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which has not been updated or improved in nearly 25 years.
"ESA was intended to protect species from the endangerment of extinction. Over the years, however, environmental extremists have exploited that well-intended law as a means to achieve their goal of blocking responsible use of land and resources and ending animal agriculture," Van Liew said. "The House Committee on Natural Resources has held a hearing on the costly challenges created by ESA. We encourage the committee to look to this issue as further proof of the need for commonsense, feasible and achievable ESA reforms."
Rural Business and Lifestyle Network Debuts on DISH Channel 232
Rural TV, the world's first television network devoted to rural interests internationally, began broadcast operations debuting on Dish satellite TV channel 232 Feb. 15. This is Rural Media Group's (RMG) second 24/7 television network building upon the success of RFD-TV, which recently celebrated its 11th year anniversary in serving the needs and interests of rural America.
"The meaning of the word rural has no borders," stated Patrick Gottsch, founder and president of RMG. "The launch of a second network, Rural TV, is in response to unprecedented audience growth and demand for RFD-TV programming, and it expands upon our popular format combining agriculture, equine and Western lifestyle, along with traditional music and entertainment programming."
The foundation for Rural TV's daily program schedule focuses on the business of rural America and includes international programming. Each weekday morning, Market Day Report provides 5 hours of live coverage of agribusiness news, weather and commodity market coverage in continually updated half-hour wheels. Afternoons feature new opportunities for expanding the popular auction broadcasts of cattle, horses, farm equipment and ranch real estate. The Rural Evening News begins the primetime lineup, with dedicated news bureaus in Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Sao Paulo; and the United Kingdom.
Rural TV launched its new website that works in synergy with Rural TV. Myruraltv.com is the "24-hour" go-to destination featuring the latest coverage of breaking news, commodity market updates, geopolitics, weather, rural lifestyle features and original, interactive content. Offering full social media sharing options, myruraltv.com includes community-driven news stories, opinions and polls.
Dish is the first national distributor to offer Rural TV channel 232 and was the first to offer RFD-TV channel 231 in December 2000. Dish is offering a free preview of Rural TV in the month of March to nearly all subscribers. Dish offers Rural TV in its America's Top 250 programming package and in its new Heartland Package, which also now features more than 3,000 popular children's and family titles on demand through select Dish set-top boxes and online.
Rural TV is broadcasting its first "live" event tonight, March 1, with a television town hall featuring U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who will be discussing A Rural America Built to Last at 9 p.m. (EST)/8 p.m. (CT). The Rural TV Town Hall will also be simulcast on RFD-TV.
Nutrient Labeling for Beef Cuts Begins Enforced Today
Today Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will begin enforcing mandatory nutrition labeling for 40 major cuts of beef, pork, lamb, veal and poultry, along with ground single-ingredient products. The original date of enforcement was Jan.1, 2012, but NCBA and other industry partners requested a delay to allow more time for FSIS to finalize their materials and industry to gain a better understanding of what would be required.
The beef checkoff has funded resources for the industry to utilize in adhering to the mandatory labeling regulations at www.beefretail.org and a nutrition database is available at http://beefretail.org/nutritionlabeler/ to help create label options.
See the February Angus Beef Bulletin and the March Angus Journal for more details.
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