News Update
December 18, 2013
Express Ranches Donates
the 2014 Angus Foundation Heifer
Express Ranches of Yukon, Okla., has donated the 2014 Angus Foundation Heifer Package to benefit Angus youth, education and research through an auction to take place at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 15, 2014, in the Beef Palace Auction Arena at the National Western Stock Show (NWSS) in Denver, Colo.
The chosen female is EXAR Royal Lass 2068 (AAA Registration No. 17160657), born Jan. 8, 2012, and sired by EXAR Upshot 0562B. Royally bred, 2068 is the maternal granddaughter of the now deceased record-setting $263,000 in 2009 calving ease sire EXAR 263C and the dam of BR Midland, BR Royal Lass 7036-19. EXAR Royal Lass 2068 is bred to Sitz Top Game 561X and is due to calve Feb. 13, 2014.
Express Ranches is America’s largest seedstock operation, selling more than 4,800 head of registered cattle per year. Express Ranches owner Bob Funk believes in the cattle industry and is an advocate for America’s youth. Funk has supported the Angus Foundation in many ways in the past, including hosting “That Old West Magic” gala and auction for the Angus Foundation in Oklahoma City, Okla., in 2008, which raised more than $345,000 in gross proceeds.
“We at Express Ranches feel it is a great honor and privilege to have the opportunity to support Angus youth through the donation of the 2014 Angus Foundation heifer,” Funk says.
For more information, please view the full release here.
USDA Brings Additional Relief to
Landowners Affected by Hurricane Sandy
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Dec. 18, the selection of approximately $19.2 million in funding for floodplain easements to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy and prevent future damage in flood-prone areas in the Northeast region. Vilsack also announced that another round of applications for easement funds will be accepted starting in January. Funding is provided by Congress through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP-FPE).
“As we help Northeast residents overcome the tragic devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, we can also work together to improve resilience and protect folks from flooding and other threats in the years to come,” said Vilsack. “This funding is helping residents ensure that when disaster strikes, all possible measures have been taken to mitigate damage from floods, protect communities and save lives. The new floodplain easements we’re announcing today are one part of a comprehensive approach to learn from Hurricane Sandy and increase our resilience for the future.”
Landowners in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York are voluntarily placing their land into floodplain easements, which will be restored to natural conditions and help to prevent damages from future storms. When lands are enrolled into the NRCS floodplain-easements program, homes, structures, dikes or other obstacles to water flow are removed, allowing water to move naturally across floodplains when streams and rivers rise beyond their banks.
For more information, please view the full release here.
How to Effectively Calculate Grazing Land Values
Pastureland has been in short supply in recent years throughout the Midwest primarily due to record high grain prices and other commodity pressures. It appears the trend has peaked for corn and is headed back to a “new normal” trading range for grain. Pressure may still be on grazing lands in the short term as livestock producers looking to expand or find new grazing opportunities stay competitive in the market and bid pasture prices higher than national averages. Over time, pasture values tend to follow cattle and corn prices. Following those prices and local land rent for cropping systems will help determine pasture prices in your region. The main focus when leasing pasture is for both parties to receive a fair value for the land resource and grazing opportunity.
For Midwest producers to prosper in the cow-calf or stocker business, they must have access to reasonably priced pasturelands from May-October. National pastureland prices are generally benchmarked from the Flint Hills area, and Kansas State University does a nice job of laying out the prices paid for pasture based on rental surveys. Determining the market value for pasture is influenced by many factors.
Anyone wanting to discuss a pasture lease agreement can contact Kevin Gould at gouldk@msu.edu or 616-527-5357. For additional cattle management resources, visit the Michigan State University Beef Team website.
For more information, please view the full release here.
AgriLife Research Scientist Investigating Benefits of Glutamate
Glutamate, an abundant amino acid found in milk and meat, is getting a closer look by Guoyao Wu, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist and distinguished professor in the department of animal science at Texas A&M University.
Wu’s research suggests a diet containing sufficient glutamate can aid both animals and humans. Glutamate can aid the production of milk by lactating females (for example ,pigs and women), while improving breeding success rates of sows and providing nutrition in newborn pigs.
“When I first came to Texas A&M, everyone in the field of animal nutrition knew about amino acids, but there was no data on glutamate,” Wu said. “That’s why I wanted to develop methods for glutamate analysis and gather data, while conducting my primary research on biochemistry and nutrition of protein and amino acids.”
Glutamate was also in the spotlight two months ago in Galveston at the 13th International Congress on Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins.
“There were more than 200 people from 34 countries attending,” Wu said. “That’s where glutamate really began to be discussed more in-depth among nutrition scientists. We walked away with some great ideas and momentum going forward.”
Most recently, Wu discussed the merits of glutamate as a functional amino acid for animals and humans at a conference on Dec. 12 in New York, “Frontiers in Agricultural Sustainability: Studying the Protein Supply Chain to Improve Dietary Quality.”
For more information, please view the full release here.
BEEF 2020 Conference to be Jan. 7-9 in Brookings, S.D.
South Dakota State University (SDSU) Extension hosts BEEF 2020 from Jan. 7-9, 2014. Designed to provide an intensive, hands-on, educational opportunity to enhance the understanding of the production and marketing of high quality, high value beef, BEEF 2020 is for beef producers and all those involved in the beef industry.
The event will be hosted in Brookings at the SDSU Animal Science Complex located at 1029 North Campus Drive. The event begins at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 7 and ends at noon Jan. 9.
Demonstrations and topics include: evaluation of live market cattle; beef carcass grading and pricing; feeding and management strategies to improve carcass quality; genetic prediction of carcass merit; marketing the calf crop; meat/food-safety technology; beef carcass fabrication; factors that affect eating quality; and a product taste panel.
Registration deadline is Dec. 31and the fee is $75, which includes meals and all materials for the program. Registration is limited to the first 30 participants due to the intensive, hands-on nature of this program.
To register, contact SDSU Extension Meats Specialist Keith Underwood at 605-688-5439 or visit the online registration, which will be available after Dec. 9.
For more information, please view the Angus Journal’s Virtual Library calendar of upcoming events here.
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