News Update
May 6, 2013
Angus Breeders up for
‘Farm Mom of the Year’
Go online and vote for the 2013 National “Farm Mom of the Year.” Five women were selected as regional winners to compete for the title, including two who are involved in the Angus business — Aimee Hachigian-Gould, 7 Bar Heart Registered Angus; and Betty Rosson, Quaker Hill Farm.
Votes must be cast on AmericasFarmers.com before May 12, Mother’s Day, when the winner will be chosen. Each regional winner was awarded a $5,000 cash prize from Monsanto, and the National “Farm Mom of the Year” will be presented an additional $5,000 prize.
The Angus community celebrated the 2012 “Farm Mom of the Year” rancher Debbie Lyons-Blythe, White City, Kan., who manages 250 registered-Angus cows, along with a commercial heifer-development program.
Hachigian-Gould, Ulm, Mont., is part of the 7 Bar Heart Registered Angus family operation. Hachigian-Gould says the entire family works together to run the 4,000-acre ranch. Sustainable agriculture is at the forefront of the ranch’s philosophy. She says the family works to utilize the maximum resources available at the homestead while minimizing the environmental impact of everyday tasks.
Rosson, Louisa, Va., is a member of the Quaker Hill Farm, which is now in its fifth generation of family farming. Betty, along with her husband and their two sons, Charles and Lee, operate the 3,000-acre farm consisting of hay, pasture and grain crops. The family manages 750 brood cows, plus two cattle production sales per year. Rosson says they also raise show pigs and Boer goats to help supply youth with a 4-H and FFA project.
More about Hachigian-Gould, Rosson and the other nominees can be found at www.AmericasFarmers.com. The other three 2013 regional winners are Mary Ann Bansen, Ferndale, Calif.; Tina Hinchley, Cambridge, Wis.; and Sue Roehm, Leesburg, Ohio.
America’s Farmers Mom of the Year is an element of Monsanto’s America’s Farmers program, an advocacy effort promoting, recognizing and supporting U.S. farmers through communications, awards and special programs that highlight the importance of agriculture.
Event Planning Intern Joins Angus
Carrie Horsley joined the Angus team as the event-planning intern May 6. She is a student at Oklahoma State University and is originally from Illinois.
She will be instrumental in finalizing details and helping with the Cattlemen’s Boot Camps and Beef Leaders Institute, as well as playing an integral role in in the National Angus Conference & Tour this summer.
NFU to USDA: Stand Strong on COOL
With the May 23 deadline looming for the USDA to issue a final rule on country-of-origin labeling (COOL), in order to comply with a WTO ruling, National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued the following
statement:
“Opponents to COOL, principally packer-producer organizations, are suggesting that Canada will pursue retaliatory responses to the strengthened COOL language. It is important to understand that these organizations have never supported COOL because they can make more money by blending foreign products into American meat and pass it off as U.S.-produced.
“National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Scott George said in the organization’s COOL comments, ‘The Canadian government has already confirmed that they will consider all options, including extensive retaliatory measures.’ According to Article XXII of the WTO’s dispute settlement rules, the Canadians can consider all they want, but they can’t act unless WTO allows it.
“A letter of support for the COOL rule was signed by a broad range of 229 farmer, rancher, rural, and consumer-organization organizations. A 2008 Consumer Reports poll found that 95% of consumers believe that processed or packaged food should be labeled by its country of origin and that this information should always be available at point of purchase. It is clear that the public supports COOL.
“We look forward to USDA’s final ruling and urge them to stand strong and keep COOL. Furthermore, we impress upon Congress to leave COOL out of the impending farm bill discussions.”
Click here to view the letter.
Cold, Snow At Start Of May Could Injure Corn Seeds
Plummeting temperatures in Missouri could mean poor stands of corn and seed damage.
The unseasonable weather might cause chilling injury to corn seeds prior to emergence, said University of Missouri Extension agronomy specialist Bill Wiebold.
Seeds contain 6%-8% moisture when they go into the ground, then they rehydrate themselves with moisture from the soil. At low temperatures, the hydration process can rupture seed cell membranes. Cell contents can then leak out and become a food source for invading pathogens, leading to death or injury of the seed.
“It can be devastating,” Wiebold said. Damage during seed imbibition (the taking on of fluid) could take out 90% of the stand, he said. “We’re going to see it happen this year. Be ready to think about replanting. Seed in the bag is usually not affected by cold temperatures.”
Emerging seedlings may also face field conditions such as crusting. No-till fields typically have lower soil temperatures and greater soil moisture. Well-drained soils fare better than claypan soils.
Producers who haven’t planted corn yet are feeling pressure to start soon to avoid yield losses. Wiebold and MU Extension corn specialist Brent Myers said there is still time to get high yields.
“We’re not at the point where we’re getting significant yield loss yet,” Myers said, “but we’re getting close.”
For more information and the full release, click here.
USDA Announces New Rules to Fund
Broadband Service in Unserved Rural Communities
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new rules to better target Community Connect broadband grants to areas where they are needed the most. The USDA remains focused on carrying out its mission, despite a time of significant budget uncertainty.
“These rules give communities better access to the benefits that broadband service provides,” Vilsack said. “The Obama Administration is working to ensure that rural residents share in the opportunities provided by modern Internet service.”
USDA Rural Development’s Community Connect Grant program serves rural communities where broadband service is least likely to be available, but where it can make a tremendous difference in the quality of life for citizens.
The changes:
- Simplify the application process by requiring a single project summary and map.
- Allow grant applicants to use a USDA web-based mapping tool to define their proposed service area. The old rules did not accommodate some of the most rural communities, which often are not Census-designated places or were not recognized by a commercial atlas.
- Give grant applicants more flexibility on the types of resources, in-kind services and monetary contributions that can be used to meet the 15% matching fund requirement.
- Allow USDA to consider giving funding priority to projects in persistent poverty counties; communities experiencing population declines; and the most rural areas.
USDA's Rural Utilities Service plans to publish information on Community Connect funding opportunities, including application deadlines and the amount of assistance available, in the Federal Register soon.
For more information and the full release, click here.
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