News Update
June 8, 2012
Magagna to Serve on Advisory Committee for U.S. Forest Service Planning Rule
On June 5, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack named the members who would be on the advisory committee for guiding and making recommendations to the U.S. Forest Service in implementing the recently adopted Planning Rule. Wyoming Stock Growers Association Executive Vice President Jim Magagna will be representing private landowners and grazing.
More than 220 people applied to serve on the committee and only 21 members were selected. The selected members represent an array of interests and wealth of knowledge with varying backgrounds, communities and locations. The group of members will provide feedback about the issues in implementing the planning rule to the Secretary of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service, according to a USDA news release.
Upon learning of the appointment, Magagna said, "I welcome this opportunity to work with other diverse interests in providing input that can lead toward implementation of the rule in a manner that serves all users of Forest Service lands, in particular the livestock industry. While WSGA continues to have serious concerns with certain provisions in the rule, including the 'viability' language, it is important that we become engaged in the implementation phase."
For more information and the full release, click here.
Catlett to Discuss Future of Cattle Industry at Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course
The Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course will feature a New Mexico State University economist who will address the future of the cattle industry and economic trends during the Aug. 6 general session in College Station.
Lowell Catlett, a Regents professor, dean and chief administrative officer in the university's College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, will provide insights and an outlook on the agriculture industry, specifically beef-cattle production, plus the overall current state of the economy.
The short course is coordinated by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and scheduled for Aug. 6-8 on the Texas A&M University campus.
For more information and the full release, click here.
High Plains Ag Lab June Field Day is June 21
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) High Plains Ag Lab Field Day, scheduled for June 21, will highlight UNL research into forages, cover crop cocktails, alternative crops, pest management and dung beetles, and also provide an opportunity to compare winter wheat varieties in the test plots.
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. at the High Plains Ag Lab shop. Tour topics and speakers include:
- Forage Quality and Yield of Cool- and Warm-Season Grasses: Gary Hergert, UNL soil and nutrient management specialist;
- Winter Canola and Fenugreek: Dipak Santra, UNL alternative crops breeding specialist;
- Cover Crop Cocktails and Water Use: Drew Lyon, UNL dryland cropping systems specialist;
- Benefits of Dung Beetles in Rangeland: Sean Whipple, UNL post-doctoral research associate in entomology;
- Grazing Forage Cocktails: Alex Titlow, UNL graduate student;
- Winter Wheat Varieties: Stephen Baenziger, UNL wheat breeding specialist; and
- Management Options for the Wheat Stem Sawfly: Jeff Bradshaw, UNL entomologist.
The field day will conclude by noon. An optional tour of organic winter wheat variety plots will immediately follow the field day.
To get to the High Plains Ag Lab office, take U.S. 385 to the Huntsman Elevator (6 miles north of Sidney or 7 miles south of Gurley), then drive about 2 miles west, then ½ mile north. The shop is about one-half mile east of the office.
EPA Approves Kansas' List of Impaired Waters
EPA has approved Kansas' list of impaired waters, which removes 561 waters from the previous impaired waters list and adds 121 waters. Today's decision brings the total number of impaired waters in the state to 1,330.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) submitted its impaired waters list to EPA for review and approval as required by the Clean Water Act. The act requires EPA to review the state's list of impaired waters to determine if the state reasonably considered available water quality-related data, and identifies waters to be listed.
"The list of impaired waters is used by federal, state and local agencies to set priorities for development of pollution controls and restoration of polluted waters," said Karl Brooks, EPA regional administrator. "KDHE should be commended for the progress that has been made to improve Kansas lakes and streams."
A water body is placed on the impaired waters list when monitoring finds that pollutant levels prevent the lake, river or stream from attaining its beneficial uses. Beneficial uses in Kansas include human recreation, agricultural water supply and maintaining healthy aquatic life.
EPA's June 5, 2012, decision letter provides a more detailed description of EPA's review and the basis for this action. The decision letter, including the 2012 impaired waters list, is available here.
CSU, UNC Researchers Developing Drug to Combat West Nile Virus, Other Related Viruses
Professors at Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado are developing a drug that can stop replication of the West Nile, dengue and yellow fever viruses that continue to plague two-thirds of the world's population with no clinically useful antiviral drugs available.
The research of Brian Geiss, assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology and Susan Keenan, associate professor and director of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado, appears this week online in the peer-reviewed Journal of Virology.
West Nile and dengue fever are vector-borne viral diseases — pathogens that can be transferred from an insect to a human — in a family of viruses known as the flaviviruses. The National Institutes of Health considers a number of flaviviruses priority pathogens because they cause life-threatening illness with few drugs or vaccines available and have the potential to be used as biological weapons.
For more information and the full release, click here.
Export Success Fuels USMEF Partnership with FAS
The time-tested relationship between the United States' Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has been built on collaboration in a shared mission of expanding agriculture exports, and the "bright spot" that FAS sees in the form of increased red meat exports and jobs creation is an important measurement of success, according to FAS Administrator Suzanne Heinen.
"FAS and USMEF have a strong partnership, and a partnership that works," said Heinen in her address to USMEF's membership recently at the organization's Board of Directors meeting in New Orleans. "Our success is measured by the level of growth of exports and the barriers (to trade) eliminated."
Heinen noted that a 65% increase in red meat exports during the past five years is not only an excellent return on investment for the USDA Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) program funds provided through FAS to USMEF, but a "positive sign for the grain industry, as well, since what we export in meat is just grain turned into another product. It's good for the American economy since we're adding value and holding jobs here at home."
For more information and the full release, click here.
Range/Pasture Program Slated for July 2 in Brownwood
The Texas AgriLife Extension Service office in Brown County will conduct a range and pasture program beginning at 5 p.m. July 2 at the Brown County Fairgrounds in Brownwood.
The fairgrounds are on U.S. Highway 377 South towards Brady.
"This program will focus on brush control," said Scott Anderson, AgriLife Extension agent in Brown County. "Along with some top speakers and timely topics, participants can enjoy a great meal and earn five Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units."
Speakers and program topics will include Mechanical, Aerial and Chemical Controls, Charles Hart, AgriLife Extension range specialist, Stephenville; Herbicide Selection and Use, Ralph Porter, Dow AgroSciences, Abilene; Insect Pest Considerations, Chris Sansone, AgriLife Extension entomologist, San Angelo; USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Cost Share Programs, Ricky Marks, conservationist, Brownwood; Pesticide Laws and Regulations, Paul Weiser, Texas Department of Agriculture inspector; and Current Brush Control Research in Brown County, Anderson.
RSVP by June 27 to the AgriLife Extension office in Brown County by calling 325-646-0386, so an accurate meal count can be made. Individual preregistration is $25 by June 27 and $30 thereafter. Both fees are payable upon arrival the day of the event.
Farmers, Ranchers and Consumers Fight USDA Animal ID Scheme
A coalition of agriculture and consumer organizations from across the nation are challenging the USDA decision to push ahead with a complicated and expensive Animal ID program. The organizations sent a joint letter to the Congressional Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this week arguing that the rule should be sent back to the USDA because of the impacts it will have on family farmers, ranchers, related businesses and other citizens who own animals.
The letter cites research from North Dakota State University, which estimated the costs for cattle as more than five times greater per animal than the USDA estimate, potentially creating costs of over a billion dollars per year.
The letter from the coalition also points out that USDA, "Arbitrarily assumed that only 30 million cattle" would be subject to the new regulatory requirements, even though this assumption was "contradicted by the publicly available data on the cattle industry."
By underestimating both the number of animals affected and the cost per animal, the USDA estimated the fiscal impacts at under $100 million, claiming that the rule is not "economically significant" and placing it on the fast-track to be finalized after review by the OMB, which serves as the fiscal review agency for all regulatory matters.
For more information and the full release, click here.
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