News Update
May 24, 2013
Offices Closed for Memorial Day
The Angus Journal and American Angus Association offices will be closed Monday, May 27, for Memorial Day so staff members can be with their families to celebrate and honor all those who have served in the military. Offices will reopen at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
Experts Offer Tips on Memorial Day Grilling and Food Safety
With Memorial Day weekend approaching, many people are preparing their grills and menus for a cookout. To help ensure a trouble-free time, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts have offered some advice on grilling and food safety.
“It’s extremely important that people take extra care if planning to grill outdoors, especially in open areas,” said Joyce Cavanagh, AgriLife Extension specialist in family development and resource management.
Cavanagh said before making plans for a cookout in a public area, check to see if there’s a burn ban in effect in that area.
“It’s not only dangerous to ignore or defy a burn ban, but there can also be some pretty stiff fines for doing so,” she noted.
Along with fire safety, food safety is another important factor to consider when grilling, said Jenna Anding, AgriLife Extension program leader, food and nutrition.
“You don’t want to remember Memorial Day as the day you or someone in your family got sick from a foodborne illness,” Anding said. “To keep cookouts safe, it’s important to ensure a clean grilling workspace and safe food preparation.”
She said maintaining food quality and freshness by ensuring proper temperatures during its storage and when cooking are vital to food safety. In addition, foods on a grill can brown quickly and look as though they are sufficiently cooked when they are not, so a food thermometer is the only way to ensure cooking to a safe internal temperature.
For the complete release, as well as more information on outdoor cooking, please click here.
House Agriculture Committee Moves Forward on Farm Bill
After a lengthy discussion, the House Agriculture Committee cleared its version of the 2013 Farm Bill during a markup session which ended late May 15.
For the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), portions of the House farm bill included priorities important to cattlemen, such as permanent disaster programs along with the elimination of the livestock title, maintaining of conservation programs and a strong research title.
NCBA President Scott George, a Cody, Wyo. cattle and dairy producer, lauded the House Agriculture Committee for including disaster assistance in the legislation, stating that it would provide certainty to cattlemen who are affected by disastrous weather events and continue to contribute to the nation’s strong agriculture industry.
“Farmers and ranchers endure extreme weather conditions — from drought to flood to freezes to the extreme heat — and still work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to provide the country and the world with food and fiber,” said George. “Including disaster assistance programs in the House farm bill is a positive step toward providing a strong safety net for our producers. We appreciate the work of Chairman Lucas and his committee on this important issue.”
Also included in the House version of the farm bill is an amendment introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) that would prohibit states from setting production standards for foods brought in from other states. The amendment would render federal production mandates such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)/United Egg Producers (UEP) proposal, untenable.
“We are encouraged by the amendment introduced by Rep. King, which would keep decisions regarding how to raise livestock and poultry in the hands of farmers and ranchers, where they belong,” said George.
USDA Food Safety Tips for Areas
Affected by Severe Storms and Tornadoes
In the wake of the recent tragedy and destruction in Kansas and Oklahoma, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing recommendations to help affected residents minimize the potential for foodborne illnesses as a result of long-term power outages and compromised food storage.
Some steps to follow after a weather emergency include:
Check the temperature in the refrigerator and freezer. Food is safe if the thermometer reads 40° F or below.
If no thermometer was used in the freezer, check each package. If food still contains ice crystals or is at 40° F or below when checked with a food thermometer, it may be safely refrozen.
Discard any perishable food (such as meat, poultry, fish, soft cheeses, milk, eggs, leftovers and deli items) that have been kept in a refrigerator or freezer above 40° F for two hours or more.
Save undamaged, commercially prepared foods in all-metal cans and retort pouches (for example, flexible, shelf-stable juice or seafood pouches).
Follow the Steps to Salvage All-Metal Cans and Retort Pouches in the publication Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency.
- If the water supply is affected, use bottled water or boil tap water for safety.
- Never taste food to determine its safety!
- When in doubt, throw it out!
Steps to follow to prepare for a possible weather emergency:
- Keep an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator and freezer to help determine if food is safe during power outages. The refrigerator temperature should be 40° F or lower and the freezer should be 0° F or lower.
- Have coolers on hand to keep refrigerator food cold if the power will be out for more than 4 hours.
For more information on food safety, please view the <em>full release here.
SDSU Extension to Host Seedstock Symposium
South Dakota State University (SDSU) Extension is partnering with the S.D. Beef Breeds Council to host a Seedstock Symposium, June 27-28, in Sioux Falls at the SDSU Extension Regional Center.
“Producers have been utilizing ratios and EPDs (expected progeny differences), to make changes to their herds for more than 30 years. There are new tools available due to the mapping of the bovine genome. These tools can help producers make more accurate mating decisions, thus making changes to their operations at a much faster rate,” said Heather Gessner, SDSU Extension livestock business management field specialist. “Feed costs represent the single largest production cost to the cow-calf or feedlot operation. Enhancing efficiency has benefits to the industry as a whole.”
“The Symposium is designed to move all producers to a higher level of understanding about DNA and genetic testing. We will start at the ground floor and move up through the two days,” Gessner said. “There will be something for everyone.”
Symposium speakers will cover DNA mapping, the genetics of feed efficiency, reproduction and disease susceptibility, and the future of the cattle industry during the two-day symposium hosted at the SDSU Extension Regional Center located in Sioux Falls.
For more information on the event, visit Angus Journal’s Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
AgriLife Extension Offers
New Hurricane Preparedness Materials
In conjunction with the state’s Hurricane Preparedness Week this month, as well as other preparedness efforts, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is making Texans aware of its many disaster and emergency-related materials.
“With hurricane season approaching, AgriLife Extension is again reminding Texas residents of our various hurricane preparedness and recovery resources, including two recently added publications,” said Andy Vestal, AgriLife Extension director for homeland security and emergency management, Texas A&M University, College Station.
Vestal said the two newest AgriLife Extension publications are specific to protecting households, farms and ranches.
The first publication, Texans, Get Ready! Be Prepared to Survive a Disaster, explains how to protect a household during and immediately after a catastrophe by making a disaster plan and preparing a disaster kit.
“Special considerations in this five-page publication include keeping food safe to eat, sheltering-in-place and how to discuss a disaster with children,” said the publication’s co-author Joyce Cavanagh, AgriLife Extension specialist in family development and resource management.
The second publication, Farmers and Ranchers, Get Ready! Protect Your Operation Before, During, and After a Disaster, provides agricultural producers with information needed to prepare for weather-related and other emergencies by creating a disaster plan. Its contents address the steps farmers and ranchers need to take to protect people, animals, crops, machinery, feed, chemicals and the environment.
Vestal said both these new publications are available at no cost as a print download or in e-book format.
For more information, please view the full release here.
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