News Update
March 28, 2013
Angus Offices Closed Friday, March 29
The American Angus Association and the Angus Journal offices will be closed Friday, March 29, 2013, for our employees to observe Good Friday with their families. Have a happy Easter!
‘Building an Angus Legacy!’ Granite Planter
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be recognized on the first of four total granite planters as part of the “Building an Angus legacy!” Brick Naming Drive, with net proceeds benefiting activities supported by the Angus Foundation. The four planters will be prominently displayed at the remodeled entrance of the American Angus Association. The four planters will be the only opportunities to have a brand or logo engraved into the granite. With the purchase of recognition on this first planter, you will have the option to:
- (1) Have two faces of the planter engraved with your information, one with text (maximum of 5 lines, 26 characters per line), and the other with a brand or logo (the other two faces will include the silhouette of an Angus cow on one side and the silhouette of a bull on the other, same generic silhouettes on all four planters); and
- (2) The option to choose which location you would like to place this planter (four column options, two close to the road and two close to the building).
Construction on the project will begin fall 2013. Call Katie Allen, Angus Foundation director of marketing and public relations, 816-383-5175, with any questions. The Angus Foundation reserves the right to determine the appropriateness of all personalized orders.
To place your bid today, click here.
Cattle Rancher in Running for National Cintas and
Carhartt Cold Crew Contest
Cattle rancher Dawn Martin from Beulah, N.D., is one of nine finalists in the 2nd Annual Cintas & Carhartt Cold Crew contest. Voting will take place through March 31 at the official contest website and one grand prize winner will be selected based on the public’s votes.
During calving season, Dawn bundles up in her Carhartt gear every two hours to check on her cattle in freezing temperatures, bringing newborn calves into the barn immediately after they are born. On top of her cattle, Dawn also cares for more than 900 other animals on her ranch in North Dakota. “Ranching is a tough way of life, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” says Dawn.
Cintas Corp. and Carhartt launched the Cintas & Carhartt Cold Crew contest in September 2012. The contest targets workers in the U.S. and Canada whose jobs require them to withstand tough conditions in cold temperatures.
The Cintas & Carhartt Cold Crew grand prize winner will receive an all-expenses-paid trip for two to the 2013 CMA Music Festival from June 6-9 in Nashville, Tenn.
To vote for Dawn, click here.
Beef Checkoff Represented at the First New England
Meat Conference
The beef checkoff, through the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative was positively represented to more than 250 New England packers, restaurant operators, retailers, producers, and meat cutters at the first-ever New England Meat Conference hosted in Concord, N.H., March 22-23, 2013.
Honored as a Porterhouse sponsor, the beef checkoff had a presence at the two-day trade show during the conference where beef educational materials, cut charts and merchandising materials were distributed. Attendees also had the opportunity to enter the “Best of Beef” raffle basket, which included a signed copy of the Art of Beef Cutting by Kari Underly, founder of Range® Inc. and a 5-piece “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner.” kitchen steak knife set, among other promotional materials.
The conference kicked off with a beef-checkoff-sponsored 60-minute educational demonstration presented by the James Beard-nominated author, Kari Underly, who broke down a square chuck primal for the attendees. Underly demonstrated the beef value cuts from both the beef shoulder clod and chuck roll in an effort to highlight the value potential and variety of cuts available from the beef chuck contrasted to the more traditional cuts fabricated from this primal.
“By having a presence at the first New England Meat Conference, the beef checkoff was able to be reach a large crowd of influencers in the New England meat industry and for some of the attendees, this was their first interaction with the beef checkoff program,” notes Christie Brown, director of retail and foodservice for the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative. “The conference provided attendees with a very unique occasion for producers, packers, chefs and retailers to all come together and openly discuss the opportunities and challenges throughout the production chain.”
For more information about your beef checkoff investment, click here.
Threat of Corn Flea Beetle Moderate to Severe in Ohio this Spring; Slightly Higher Potential for Stewart’s Bacterial Wilt
Growers scouting their fields this spring should be on the lookout for corn flea beetle as the relatively mild winter Ohio has experienced this year is expected to cause a moderate to severe infestation of the pest, an Ohio State University (OSU) Extension entomologist said.
Corn flea beetle, which targets corn through the spread of the bacterium that causes Stewart’s bacterial wilt and leaf blight on both field and sweet corn, will likely be seen throughout much of the state this year, said Ron Hammond, who also has an appointment with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC).
Adult beetles that overwinter become active in the spring when the soil temperature reaches 65° F, and are most active on sunny, warm, windless days. Higher populations of the flea beetle survive during milder winters, such as that experienced this year, than during cold winters, he said.
Using a “flea beetle index” that calculates the average sum temperature of December, January and February to predict the likelihood of the disease threat, OSU Extension researchers have found that all areas of the state except for northern areas have indexes above 95, suggesting that the risk is moderate to severe for the pest this year.
Northern areas were found to have indexes higher than 90, suggesting a low to moderate risk this spring in those areas, Hammond said.
Most growers, particularly those who use transgenic hybrids, don’t have to apply additional treatments as seeds already come with an insecticide treatment applied, Hammond said.
“But growers who plant non-transgenic corn may need to consider using a commercially applied insecticide seed treatment labeled for flea beetles,” he said.
“Crop growers should scout their fields for flea beetles, especially if they have planted a hybrid that is susceptible to Stewart’s disease,” he said. “Growers that have experienced the disease in past crops and are planting susceptible hybrids can mitigate the damage if they scout their fields early.”
For more information and the full release, click here.
Forage Webinar Captures Highlights of Winter Extension Meetings
On March 21, Michigan State University Extension offered the second of two webinar programs in the Online Crop and Forage Highlights webinar series. The idea was to provide condensed presentations on key topics by speakers from in-person winter agronomy meetings hosted across Lower Michigan, and to make them available statewide. Anyone with a dependable, high-speed Internet connection was able to participate from home or office free of charge. In addition, 11 hosted viewing sites were arranged across the state, including three in the Upper Peninsula. Participation at a viewing site required a small registration fee to cover the costs of host travel, refreshments and copies. It is noteworthy that very few of the 50 or so registered people signed up for viewing sites.
The webinar was recorded and is available for viewing online by clicking here.
HUD Allocates $125 Million to Help Missouri and
Joplin Recover from 2011 Disasters
U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan today allocated more than $125 million to the state of Missouri, including more than $113 million directly to the city of Joplin, to help these communities recover from severe storms and a devastating tornado in 2011. These grants, part of $514 million allocated among nine states nationwide, are provided through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program to support long-term disaster-recovery efforts in areas with the greatest extent of ‘unmet need.’
The state of Missouri will receive $11,844,000 to support long-term recovery activities in the hardest-hit areas following severe storms, tornadoes and flooding in the spring of 2011. In addition, the city of Joplin will receive $113,276,000 directly from HUD to support its efforts to recover from a devastating tornado in May of 2011. The funding announced today supplements the nearly $54 million HUD allocated in January of 2012.
For more information and the full release, click here.
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