News Update
February 14, 2013
If You Want to Keep the Bloom on the Rose, Follow These Tips
On Valentine’s Day, everyone longs to speak those three little words: “Roses? For me?”
Whether you’re the recipient or the giver, you can prolong their beauty, said Teresa Lanker, assistant professor and coordinator of the floral design and marketing program at Ohio State University’s Agricultural Technical Institute. Her students devote an entire day in their Post-Harvest Flower Care class just to the care and handling of roses.
If you’re the one buying the roses, your job starts with selection. “In the floral industry, we work hard to extend the vase life potential of flowers,” Lanker said. “Potential” is the operative word, because roses that receive optimal care from the grower, wholesaler, retail florist and consumer will last longer. Ones that don’t, not so much.
It’s reasonable to expect traditional florist roses and their diminutive cousins, sweetheart roses, to last seven to 10 days. Other varieties may last a longer or shorter time.
“Garden roses, which might also go by the name of old-fashioned or cabbage or David Austen roses, are very popular right now,” Lanker noted. “They have big, peony-like flowers with ruffled petal edges, but they also start to show wear faster and often have a shorter vase life — five or six days.”
At the opposite end of the spectrum are spray roses, which have multiple flowers on a stem. They can last as long as two weeks.
Regardless of variety, make sure you buy roses that are fresh, advised Lanker.
“Look for vibrant color, deep green blemish-free leaves, and give them the squeeze test.” Fresh rose heads should be firm — not as hard as a golf ball nor as soft as a marshmallow.
Don’t be a cheapskate. “Cheap roses are cheap for a reason,” Lanker said. “They might be seconds from the grower or old ones from the wholesaler. If the florist won’t let you gently squeeze the roses, go somewhere else.”
For more information and the full release, click here.
Statement by NCBA President Scott George
on Possible FSIS Furlough
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s (NCBA) membership is highly concerned by statements from USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack regarding the sequestration process and a possible 15-day furlough of all Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) employees, including food safety inspectors. NCBA President and Wyoming cattle producer Scott George made the following comments in response to the situation:
“Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and other related legislation, Congress has charged the USDA with providing federal inspection of meat, poultry and egg products at government expense. This places a legal duty on the USDA and the administration to carry out this service, a duty which the USDA has recognized as ‘essential’ in the past. And while we understand the hardships placed on the agencies through the possibility of sequestration, we are severely disappointed Secretary Vilsack has chosen to take this path of threatening to halt FSIS inspections.
“Secretary Vilsack is using America’s cattlemen and women as pawns in the agency’s political wrangling with Congress. While we are certain the USDA contains other ‘non-essential’ employees, the Secretary has chosen to announce the consequences of sequestration in terms of a furlough of FSIS inspectors, essentially threating to close down all production, processing and interstate distribution of meat. This action has already cost cattle producers significant amounts of money with the downward slide in the futures markets caused by rampant speculation, with untold effect on producers through further regulatory uncertainty.
“Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act and the Egg Products Inspection Act the production, processing or interstate distribution of meat, poultry and egg products is prohibited absent federal inspection. Such a move would impact approximately 6,290 establishments nationwide and the agency estimates the move would cost over $10 billion in production losses. Industry workers, they estimate, would experience over $400 million in lost wages, consumers would experience limited meat and poultry supplies and potentially higher prices, and food safety could be compromised.
“NCBA will not stand by while the administration threatens this kind of action against the industry. We are calling on producers to contact their senators and congressional representatives to send a clear signal to the USDA that this is not an acceptable exercise of executive authority.”
Grazing Improvement Act Reintroduced
in the U.S. House of Representatives
The Public Lands Council (PLC) and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) strongly support the Grazing Improvement Act of 2013, introduced last night in the U.S. House of Representatives. Reps. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), Mike Simpson (R-ID), Jim Costa (D-CA), Mark Amodei (R-NV), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Kristi Noem (R-SD), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Scott Tipton (R-CO) and Greg Walden (R-OR) introduced the bill as companion legislation to S. 258, which was introduced in the Senate last week by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)
The bill seeks to improve the livestock grazing permitting process on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS). The bill was debated during the last session of Congress in both the House and Senate; it passed the House with bipartisan support as part of the Conservation and Economic Growth Act (H.R. 2578). PLC Vice President Brenda Richards, an Owyhee County Idaho rancher, expressed PLC’s support for the bill, adding that the uncertainty surrounding grazing permit renewals is threatening the ability of federal-lands ranchers to keep their businesses operating.
“This legislation will contribute greatly to providing a stable business environment to federal lands ranchers, who face ever-increasing uncertainty as to the future of our livestock grazing permits,” said Richards. “By increasing the term of grazing permits from 10 to 20 years, ranchers will have certainty that their operations will remain in business and continue to operate without the fear of losing their permits on process-based grounds.”
NCBA President Scott George, a dairy and beef producer from Wyoming, said that the bill is commonsense legislation, as it proposes to allow the BLM and USFS to renew federal-lands grazing permits under existing terms and conditions while the backlog of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses is being addressed.
“These ranchers risk the loss or delay of their grazing permits due to the BLM and USFS’ overwhelming NEPA backlog, and this bill would alleviate this problem,” said George. “Most of this backlog is caused by extremist environmental groups, who frequently file lawsuits on minor paperwork issues in an attempt to put ranchers out of business. Decreasing the backlog will conserve agency resources and create more efficient government processes, allowing agency personnel to focus on actual range management, out in the field.”
Calving Difficulty This Season Can Affect Next Year, Too
Calving difficulty not only is the prime cause of baby calf mortality, it can also markedly reduce a cow’s reproductive performance during the next breeding season.
Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension emeritus livestock specialist, cited a 1973 study by animal scientists J.S. Brinks, J. E. Olson and E.J. Carroll that documented cattle suffering from calving difficulty had pregnancy rates decreased by 14%, while those that did become pregnant calved 13 days later than projected as their next calving.
“Watchful producers willing and able to lend a hand often make all the difference,” he said. “Results from a 1984 Montana study showed that heifers receiving assistance in early stage two of parturition returned to heat earlier in the postcalving period and had higher pregnancy rates than heifers receiving traditionally accepted obstetric assistance.”
In this study, heifers were either assisted about one hour after the fetal membranes appeared or were assisted only if calving was not completed within two hours of the appearance of the water bag.
“Heifers that were allowed to endure a prolonged labor had a 17% lower rate of cycling at the start of the next breeding season,” Selk said. “In addition, the rebreeding percentage was 20% lower than their counterparts that were given assistance in the first hour of labor.”
First-calf heifers should deliver a calf in approximately one hour. The starting time is the first appearance of the water bag and ends with complete delivery of the calf. Mature cows that have calved previously should proceed much faster and deliver the calf in about a half hour.
“Prolonged delivery of a baby calf — a delivery in excess of 90 minutes to two hours — often results in weakened calves and reduced rebreeding performance in young cows,” Selk said. “Always check and be certain that cervical dilation has been completed before starting to pull the calf.”
For more information and the full release, click here.
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