News Update
April 7, 2016
Angus Convention
Hits the Road to Indianapolis
Quality-focused cattle producers are invited to save the date for the 2016 Angus Convention Nov. 5-7 in Indianapolis, Ind. The American Angus Association’s three-day event offers industry-leading education, keynote speakers and entertainment.
This year’s convention is the first to be hosted in the nation’s Corn Belt, and there’s much in store for participating cattlemen and women.
“The 2016 Angus Convention starts a new format of holding it on the first weekend in November,” says Becky Weishaar, Creative Media director for Angus Media and lead contact for the convention. “The new format creates more opportunity for cattle producers to fully participate in the Angus Convention and capitalize on expanded educational sessions, networking and entertainment.”
More than 2,100 attendees participated in the 2015 Angus Convention in Overland Park, Kan., and Weishaar says the American Angus Association looks forward to building on that success at new locations across the country.
Indianapolis, Ind., will be a meeting place for Angus breeders and commercial cattlemen with one common goal: increasing high-quality beef production.
For more convention details, access the Angus news release online.
Counties Throughout Kansas Battle Wildfires
Multiple wildfires have been reported across Kansas this week, as weather continues to challenge suppression efforts. The current wildfires in Kansas are separate incidents from the recent Anderson Creek wildfire in south-central Kansas.
The Kansas Forest Service, Kansas Division of Emergency Management, Office of the State Fire Marshal and Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center have been working closely on this wildfire response. The legislation that establishes the Kansas Forest Service states that one of the powers and duties of the agency is to provide assistance for the prevention and suppression of forest, brush or grassland fires in nonfederal and unincorporated lands. The Kansas Forest Service Fire Program has assisted on fires in the state, in addition to national fire incidents that have occurred in the past.
Fire departments across Kansas have been taxed incredibly in the last two weeks, and despite heroic efforts and dedication, they are exhausted, and equipment is in need of repair. Each successive day of extreme fire activity makes it harder to secure needed equipment and volunteers.
For more information, please view the full K-State news release online.
Nominations Sought for the Kurt Bucholz Award
The Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust is seeking nominations for the Kurt Bucholz Award, which honors an individual who exemplifies the core beliefs held by Bucholz during his lifetime of dedicated public service and commitment to conservation.
The award was created in memory of Kurt Bucholz, a veterinarian, legislator and rancher from Saratoga, Wyo. His wife, Laura Bucholz, and the Stock Growers Land Trust Board of Directors established the award in Bucholz’s name in 2008. The award is presented each year to an individual who represents his conservation values, especially the conservation of working ranches.
The Kurt Bucholz award is presented by the Stock Growers Land Trust at its Annual Roundup Barbeque, which will be hosted in Buffalo, Wyo., on Aug. 27, 2016.
Submissions are due by May 16, 2016. Please direct questions to Eric Schacht at 307-772-8751 or eric@wsgalt.org. Nomination forms can be found, and submitted, online at www.wsgalt.org.
For more information, please view the full release online.
Experts to Discuss Narrative Around Antibiotic Use
Antibiotic use in animal agriculture has been a dominant theme of media coverage and public discussion over the past year, with several restaurant and retail chains announcing new policies for suppliers. An expert panel representing distinct perspectives will share ideas of how the industry can change the narrative and effectively communicate about this complex topic at the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2016 Stakeholders Summit coming up May 5-6 in Arlington, Va.
The “Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture: Changing the Narrative” panel will feature:
- Richard Raymond, food safety and public health consultant and former undersecretary for food safety with the USDA;
- Leah Dorman, director of food integrity and consumer engagement, Phibro Animal Health; and
- Christopher Doering, reporter covering food and agriculture, USA Today.
For more information, please visit the Animal Ag Alliance website.
Avoiding Endophyte-Free Tall Fescue
At the end of the day, beef farmer Darrel Franson asked fellow farmers at the school if they knew the difference between the three kinds of fescue. They are toxic-endophyte fescue, endophyte-free fescue and novel-endophyte fescue.
The Tall Fescue Renovation School at the University of Missouri (MU) beef farm told the dangers from toxic fescue, the widespread Kentucky 31.
Franson, who converted his farm near Mount Vernon, Mo., to the first novel-endophyte fescue, is a regular speaker at fescue schools. From experience he told the story of farmer friends who attended the school but bought the wrong fescue to renovate their toxic pastures.
Earlier, other speakers explained that fescue without an endophyte fungus won’t survive under grazing.
“Endophyte-free sounds good,” Franson said. “The farmers tell me, ‘But endophyte-free fescue cost half as much.’”
To continue reading, access the news release online.
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