News Update
November 19, 2013
Angus Foundation Wraps Up
2013 Donor Recognition Event
The Angus Foundation would like to thank all who attended its 2013 Donor Recognition Event. Themed, “Rooted in the Future,” the event honored all Angus Foundation supporters who have contributed $250 or more during the past fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2012-Sept. 30, 2013). The event was hosted Nov. 16 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Louisville, Ky., in conjunction with the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE).
“It’s our pleasure to offer this wonderful event that enables us to convey our heartfelt gratitude to our generous financial supporters,” says Milford Jenkins, Angus Foundation president. “Through their charitable gifts, these benefactors and hundreds of others are making an immeasurable difference in the lives of Angus breeders and our youth across the country. We believe this year’s theme, “Rooted in the Future,” appropriately captures the spirit of our organization’s tireless efforts to help our members advance their Angus herds, the Angus breed, and the beef cattle industry that is our livelihood.”
Nearly 300 attendees listened to emcees Jacy Alsup, Gravette, Ark., chairman of the National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) Board of Directors; Lucas Nord, Wolverton, Minn., foundation director of the NJAA Board of Directors; and Angus Foundation Board of Directors Chairman John Elbert Harrell of Opelika, Ala.
Highlights of the event included recognizing, among others, Camron “Cam” Cooper of The Talon Ranch, Twin Bridges, Mont.; Jerry and Sharon Connealy of Connealy Angus, Whitman, Neb.; Charles and Judy Herbster of Herbster Angus Farms, Falls City, Neb.; and the 2012 National Junior Angus Show (NJAS). These honorees are considered “Angus Builder” donors with contributions of cash, gifts-in-kind, etc., totaling more than $100,000 during the fiscal year.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Ohio State Agricultural Economist Offers 2013 Farm Bill Update
As the farm bill progresses through Congress’ legislative process, several major differences exist in the House and Senate versions of the bill, an economist with Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences said.
Carl Zulauf, an ag economist in the college’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, recently offered a comprehensive update of the 2013 Farm Bill process in a policy brief that he co-authored with Jonathan Coppess, clinical assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The conference process involves select members of the House and Senate working together to resolve differences in their two versions of a bill, Zulauf said. These differences must be resolved because the U.S. Constitution requires that the House and Senate pass the same bill before it can be sent to the president for approval or veto.
In the brief, Zulauf and Coppess highlight some of the key differences in the House and Senate versions of the bill, including nutrition assistance programs and types of multiple-year crop programs.
“Both of these issues revolve around a broader issue, the degree of distortion that farm programs can introduce into farmers’ crop planting decisions,” the brief says. “In particular, how much does distinction increase when current planted acres and fixed reference prices are used?”
Differences also include crop insurance and dairy programs.
Though the cuts to the nutrition programs in the farm bill have received extensive media attention, Zulauf and Coppess write that there are many components of the legislation that are likely to cause debate among members of the conference committee.
“It is easy to point to nutrition programs as the likely reason that a new farm bill will not occur,” they wrote. “However, we think the farm safety net issues are just as, and maybe more, divisive.”
For more information, please view the full release here.
Deadline Approaches to Preregister for Western
Sustainable Ag Crops and Livestock Conference at Ogallala
Nov. 27 is the deadline to preregister for the Annual Western Sustainable Ag Crops and Livestock Conference, scheduled for Dec. 7 at Ogallala.
The theme for this year’s conference is “Using cover crops in western Nebraska,” and speakers with experience in sustainable, organic and holistic agricultural operations will share their expertise in using cover crops, as well as vegetable growing, grazing management, wheat breeding, and the impact of bees on food production.
The conference will take place from 8:45 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Ogallala Extended Campus of Mid-Plains Community College at 512 East B Street, South.
To download a brochure and registration form, go to http://ckb.unl.edu. For more information about the conference or exhibitor booths, contact Extension Educator Karen DeBoer at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) Extension Office in Sidney, telephone 308-254-4455 or email kdeboer1@unl.edu.
Sponsors include University of Nebraska Extension, Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society (NSAS) and Organic Crop Improvement Association Nebraska Chapter 2.
Keynote speaker Dale Strickler’s topic is “Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: Looking to the Short Grass Prairie for Inspiration.” Strickler, agronomist with Star Seed Kansas, will share his 25 years of experience working with farmers and ranchers in the Great Plains from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border on forage systems and cover cropping.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal’s Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
Three-Day Training School to Teach Students the Latest
and Best Methods of Artificially Inseminating Cattle
The ABS Global AI Management School will be Jan. 18-20, 2014, from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. with classroom work at the Northeast Georgia Livestock Cafeteria and cow practice at the Northeast Georgia Livestock Pens. The school offers students the opportunity to learn AI techniques and herd management under skilled supervision. The curriculum includes Anatomy and Reproduction; Reproduction and Fertility; Heat Detection; Nutrition; Principles of Genetics and Sire Selection; Herd Management Success; Semen Placement; and Insemination Practice. Also, Synchronization of Beef Cattle and Planned Breeding of Dairy Heifers will be introduced. This is a comprehensive course consisting of 24 hours of instruction: 14 hours in the classroom and 10 hours in the lab working with cattle.
The registration fee is $350 for adults and $300 for college and high school students. This covers the cost of supplies and practice cows used at the school. This program is limited to 15 students in order to ensure as much one-to-one help during practice as possible. Therefore, registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. We offer a $50 discount on the second or third attendee from the same family or farm operation.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal’s Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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