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This year Camp Cooley Ranch celebrates 20 years of
ultrasound performance in our Brangus herd. From this work results some
of the most powerful, performance proven Brangus, Angus and Charolais
bulls to ever sell at Camp Cooley. Your search for Quality in
Volume begins and ends at Camp Cooley Ranch. Give us a call or
stop by for a visit!
www.campcooley.com
1-800-251-0305
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Last week's issue of BEEF Cow-Calf Weekly launched a new look
and reading format for our 40,000 weekly readers. A handful of you wrote
to commend the look, and others to condemn it for the extra steps the
new format entails. I appreciate all your feedback.
For the record, I too prefer the all-in-one format. Unfortunately more
and more of the business side of publishing -- consumer and trade media
-- is being defined by the electronic side, which means we need hard
numbers to document that readers visit our electronic sites. The new
format -- by use of the links -- is designed to drive traffic to the Web
site, which the old format failed to do.
In addition, the ability to track the items that are most read allows us
to better tailor the content of BEEF Cow-Calf Weekly to the
information readers most desire and find useful. For instance, of the 26
items in last week's newsletter, the most read items had to do with
value-added calf programs, proposals on the new farm bill and industry
trends. We wouldn't know that based on our old format.
The new format is still in flux. You'll notice, for instance, that we've
linked fewer stories this week than last. Depending on the feedback we
get from you, the reader, we'll continue to tweak until we find the
optimum formula. In the meantime, pass on your thoughts to me at jroybal@beef-mag.com.
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Marketing is my passion. I'm 100% convinced that, as an industry, we
spent the better part of the last 30 years focusing on lowering costs
and improving efficiency, only to watch our market share and
profitability plummet. Don't misunderstand me; it's vital to be a
low-cost producer and to continually fine-tune efficiencies. After all,
they're the keys to survival in a commodity business.
Click here to read more of this story by Troy
Marshall.
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If there's going to be a U.S./Korean free trade agreement (FTA), it
must be submitted to Congress by March 30. That means that within the
next 30 days or so, the industry will know whether it will reach the
promised land or be sold down the river once again.
Click here to read more of this story by Troy
Marshall
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I've always loved the quote by Daniel Burnham: "Make no little
plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood." I've always felt there
was something magical when someone attached themselves to something
bigger than themselves, and those who changed the world for the better
usually set off in their own direction, not following the paths of
others.
Thinking big has been absolutely essential in ag because economies of
scale have been so important in a commodity business. With its big fixed
overhead costs, bigger has usually been better. Our industry has been so
good at making incremental improvements that the only truly sustainable
competitive advantage has gone to those who have been innovative and
developed a new way of looking at our business.
Still, I've always felt uneasy standing before a group of cattlemen and
quoting Tom Peters by saying: "Our challenge is to not only re-invent,
but re-imagine the very nature of our business." I'm uneasy not because
I don't believe innovation is far more important than optimization, or
that focusing on creating value rather than lowering costs is the way to
prosperity. I'm uneasy because, along with thinking big, there's the
implied concept of also taking big risks.
The relationship between risk and reward isn't new; it's one of those
universal laws we must always keep in mind. Being willing to try
something radical and bold, and setting big goals, are essential to
becoming truly successful.
I recently tried to think back about those in the industry who really
stepped out there and truly succeeded. They were willing to think
outside the box and do things that may not necessarily have been
mainstream at the time. Nichols Farms, John Burbank, Kit Pharo, Gardiner
Angus Ranch, Patsy Houghton, Certified Angus Beef, the American Red
Angus Association -- leading the way in the performance revolution, Five
Rivers, Superior Video Auctions, Jackie Moore, Gary Smith or Pat Goggins
are just a few who come to mind.
What separates such people from the pack is their ability to put
together a big vision while thinking small. They took big ideas and
visions, broke them down into small and achievable goals, and allowed
their expertise and understanding to grow as they progressed toward
their bigger goals.
I haven't had the opportunity to discuss these things in detail with all
of these individuals, but I'm willing to bet when they first conceived
their big ideas, they weren't in a position to achieve them, or they
lacked the capital, wisdom, etc., to fully implement them.
By starting small and taking action, they avoided the pitfalls of
thinking too big -- the lack of knowledge and expertise to implement the
full vision, and paralysis that comes with focusing only on the really
big things. By thinking small, they positioned themselves to do
something really big.
-- Troy Marshall
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Search, sort, select your seedstock.
The Limousin Exchange is an easy, efficient way to locate and sort bulls
and females that fit your specifications:
- State
- Breeder
- Percent Limousin
- EPDs
- Color
- Polled/horned
- Age
- More...
Search, sort and select your Limousin and Lim-Flex® seedstock
today.
www.nalf.org
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Japan today suspended beef imports from a Tyson Fresh Meats facility
in Lexington, NE, after being notified that a beef shipment was in
possible violation of the 20-month age limit. Kyodo News reports
an importer told an animal quarantine office on Feb. 5 that two boxes
among 473 boxes of frozen beef from the Lexington facility failed to be
covered by a U.S. government certificate identifying beef as from cattle
aged up to 20 months. A U.S. probe showed that the two boxes were
erroneously shipped to Japan, the Japanese government said.
The frozen beef arrived at Yokohama port on Feb. 1. No risk material was
found in the shipment, the government said.
The government said it will suspend procedures for imports from the
Lexington plant until details are made available. Imports from the plant
have totaled 23.5 tons since U.S. beef imports into Japan resumed last
summer, the report says.
-- Joe Roybal
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A new coalition, Trade for America, has been formed to urge Congress
to renew Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). TPA is the authority given to
the President to negotiate trade agreements with other countries and
requires Congress to approve the trade agreements without amendments.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the National Pork
Producers Council (NPPC) are members of the coalition, and maintain that
the president needs TPA to continue to negotiate trade deals, which have
been extremely beneficial to producers. "Expanding our market access and
lowering tariffs through trade agreements in the best way for U.S.
cattlemen to grow their businesses, and we need TPA to facilitate these
agreements," says NCBA chief economist Gregg Doud.
The effort to extend TPA will be met with stiff opposition from unions.
The United Steel Workers said, "Fast Track Authority must be replaced
with a new way of giving Congress authority to negotiate trade deals
that benefit workers first." TPA expires June 30.
-- P. Scott Shearer, Washington, D.C.,
correspondent
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High corn prices and fluctuating cattle markets have producers
facing some particularly challenging circumstances. That's why Kansas
State University (KSU) Extension is hosting nine Cattle Risk Management
Workshops throughout Kansas.
James Mintert, KSU livestock marketing economist, says participants will
gain hands-on experience in using Livestock Risk Protection Insurance,
forward cash contracts, futures contracts, and options on futures.
Mintert and Kevin Dhuyvetter, KSU Extension farm management specialist,
will lead the sessions.
Dates, locations and contact numbers for the 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
workshops include:
- Feb. 23 -- Tonganoxie, Leavenworth County Fairgrounds
Administration Building, 913-250-2300.
- Feb. 26 -- Newton, Harvey County Courthouse Community Room,
316-284-6930.
- March 13 -- Hoxie, 4-H Building, 785-675-3268.
- March 14 -- Anthony, Kanza Bank, 620-842-5445.
- March 15 -- Chanute, Chanute Memorial Building, 620-244-3826.
- March 20 -- Emporia - Lyon County Extension Office, 620-341-3220.
- March 21 -- Wilson, St. Wenceslaus Parish Hall, 785-472-4442.
- March 26 -- Sublette, Haskell County Fairgrounds Commercial
Building, 620-675-2261.
- March 27 -- Dodge City, Ford County Fairgrounds Fair Building,
620-227-4542.
-- Joe Roybal
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What they don't teach you in AniSci 101.
The Charolais-influence in your crossbreeding program adds an
exceptional boost of heterosis, economic value and cowherd
predictability. Charolais-influence adds value in virtually every
segment in the U.S. beef industry.
You choose your end-use target. Use Charolais genetics to get
there!
Click here for more
information.
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The first draft of the horse genome sequence is now in public
databases and available for use by biomedical and veterinary
researchers, leaders of the international Horse Genome Sequencing
Project announced last week. The $15-million effort to sequence the 2.7
billion DNA base pairs was funded by the National Human Genome Research
Institute (NHGRI), reports TheHorse.com.
The horse whose DNA was used in the Horse Genome Project (www.uky.edu/Ag/Horsemap) is a Thoroughbred mare
named Twilight from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Researchers
obtained the DNA from a small sample of the animal's blood. For more,
visit www.Thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=8890.
-- Joe Roybal
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For the second week in a row, retail gasoline prices were up, rising
5¢ to a national average of $2.241/gal. for the week of Feb. 12,
the U.S. Department of Energy reports. Prices remain 4.3¢/gal.
lower than at this time last year. The highest gasoline prices are in
the West Coast region at $2.536/gal., followed by the Midwest at $2.224,
the East Coast at $2.189, the Rocky Mountain area at $2.141, and the
Gulf Coast at $2.091.
Meanwhile, retail diesel prices also increased for the second
consecutive week, jumping 4.1¢ to $2.476/gal national average. The
price is exactly the same as at this time last year. The West Coast
sports the highest diesel prices at $2.777/gal., followed by the Rocky
Mountains at $2.517, the East Coast at $2.465, the Midwest at $2.429,
and the Gulf Coast at $2.394.
-- Joe Roybal
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The POWER of one BRAND can change your future in the beef
business.
Certified Angus Beef ®, the oldest, most successful branded
beef program in the industry returned more than $50 million in grid
premiums in 2003. The demand for CAB® brand products translates into
fed cattle premiums of $2-$5/cwt. Source-verified, high-percentage Angus
replacement females often top auctions by selling for $50-$100 per head
above cash market. Sale barn surveys conducted at nine auction markets
indicated premiums are paid, not for black-hided cattle, but for
high-percentage-Angus cattle.
One brand, one breed--the power of one can change your future in the
beef business.
www.angus.org
Certified Angus Beef® and CAB® are registered trademarks of
Certified Angus Beef, LLC
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Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), chairman of the House Ag Committee,
says USDA Secretary Mike Johann's comments regarding what he heard
during the farm bill forums USDA held across the country in 2005 and
2006 have him puzzled.
"I don't know who he was listening to because what he says is not what I
heard at our sessions," Peterson told farmers who crowded into a room at
the Pine Bluff, AR, Convention Center, Jan. 25, to hear his views on the
2007 farm bill.
Forrest Laws of Farm Press, a sister publication of BEEF
magazine, reports that Peterson says he's met several times with Johanns
since assuming his House Ag Committee chairmanship in January. "I've let
him know I think he's a little misguided in some of his thoughts on the
farm bill, and he would be well-advised to try to modify those so we can
try to work together," Peterson says.
On other items, Peterson said he wants to eliminate ad hoc disaster
programs, preferring a permanent disaster program with separate funding
to avoid the almost annual battle over providing needed disaster aid to
producers.
While Peterson says he expects a major emphasis on renewable energy
legislation in the next farm bill, he will urge a cautious approach.
"I was serving in the (Minnesota) state senate when we passed a bill to
help build the first ethanol plant in Minnesota," he says. "Not long
after that, oil dropped to $10/barrel and a lot of guys went broke."
Congress and the renewable energy industry will have to walk a fine line
between new and traditional markets for grain. "We don't want to hurt
the animal industry while corn growers are meeting this new demand for
ethanol," he said. "It's been my experience we can have high grain
prices and high livestock prices."
-- Forrest Laws, Delta Farm Press
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Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) introduced legislation to upgrade the
distribution system for alternative fuel. The legislation would provide
grants up to $30,000 to independent gas stations to help install ethanol
E-85 pumps. Rogers said, "My legislation helps us 'kick start' the
distribution system so more American families can take advantage of this
new technology and strengthen our economy, our national security, and
our environment." The legislation would:
- Create a federal "Fuel Economy Fund" by diverting up to $10
million of the CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) penalties currently
paid by automakers (roughly $20 million/year) from the general
treasury."
- Authorize the Department of Energy to use the fund to issue grants
for the establishment of alternative automobile fuel infrastructure.
- Use the Existing Clean Cities program, and allow qualified entities
to receive grants of no more than $30,000/grant and $90,000/station to
expand the availability of alternative fuel infrastructure.
- Explicitly bar "large integrated oil companies" from receiving
grants.
- Provide that no more than 3% of the fund can be used for
administrative costs.
Similar legislation was introduced in the Senate by John Thune (R-SD).
-- P. Scott Shearer, Washington, D.C.,
correspondent
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Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor
Committee, has introduced H.R. 800, the "Employee Free Choice Act." The
legislation would eliminate federally supervised secret-ballot elections
for workers to determine if they wish to join a labor union, and would
replace the current secret ballot elections with a process known as
"card check." If a majority of the employees signed a card indicating
their desire to join a union, the plant would become a union plant
without an election of the employees.
Miller said, "Today, the procedures for organizing a union and
bargaining for better wages and benefits are stacked against the
workers." The administration indicated its opposition when Secretary of
Labor Elaine Chao said, "A worker's right to a secret-ballot election is
an intrinsic right in our democracy that should not be legislated away
at the behest of special interest groups."
-- P. Scott Shearer, Washington, D.C.,
correspondent
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Repeal of the estate tax, or death tax, as it's often termed by its
detractors, has long been championed by ag commodity and small-business
groups. Such action is critically important to America's family farms
and small businesses, they contend. But is that really the case?
Click here to read more of this story by Joe
Roybal
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Agriculture is often viewed as both a business and a lifestyle, a
vocation where its practitioners generally consider themselves
caretakers of the family legacy. Utilizing the tools to ensure that the
birthright is financially healthy, structured to provide for the owners
in good health and bad, and passed on according to the wishes of the
owners is the purpose of estate planning.
BEEF magazine's 2007 Cow-Calf Issue, an annual single-topic issue
aimed at the cow-calf segment of our readership, is just off the press.
This year's special edition delves into the estate-planning process. The
issue is intended as a starting point for your family discussion on the
estate-planning subject. Its aim is to inform readers on the need for
such planning, familiarize them with the process and provide a few tips
and tools available in estate planning and transfer.
See all the content at www.beef-mag.com.
-- Joe Roybal
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Senators Tom Harkin (D-SD), chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, and
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), ranking member, announced this week the
subcommittee chairmen and ranking members. They include:
- Nutrition and Food Assistance, Sustainable and Organic
Agriculture, and General Legislation: Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman;
and Norm Coleman (R-MN), ranking member.
- Energy, Science and Technology: Kent Conrad (D-ND), chairman; and
John Thune (R-SD), ranking member.
- Domestic and Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant and Animal
Health: Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman; and Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
- Production, Income Protection and Price Support: Blanche Lincoln
(D-AR), chairman; and Pat Roberts (R-KS), ranking member.
- Rural Revitalization, Conservation, Forestry and Credit: Debbie
Stabenow (D-MI), chairman; and Mike Crapo (R-ID), ranking
member.
-- P. Scott Shearer, Washington, D.C.,
correspondent
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Researchers at the University of California-Davis School of
Veterinary Medicine are seeking a vaccine to prevent foothill abortion,
a bacterial disease that annually claims up to 90,000 calves at a cost
of $6.3 million to California producers.
Also known as epizootic bovine abortion, the bacterial disease is
transmitted by bites from the pajaroello tick, which lives in the soil
around trees, in dry brush areas and around rock outcroppings of
foothill rangelands. Although infected pregnant cows show no obvious
clinical symptoms, they abort their calves 6-9 months into the
pregnancy. Some infected cows deliver, but their calves are born weak
and fail to thrive.
Research has now identified a particular bacterium as the cause of
foothill abortion.
"There's evidence that the infected cows and their fetuses are producing
an immune response to the bacterium," says veterinary pathologist
Jeffrey Stott, who's leading the effort to develop a vaccine. "This is
encouraging because it indicates a properly formulated vaccine should be
effective in preventing this disease."
Stott and his colleagues are hopeful an experimental protein-based
vaccine can be available for immunizing heifers and cows in about three
years.
-- UC-Davis news release
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Scour Bos® at preg-check saves you time
Preg-check season is upon us and now is the time to protect against
scours. You can give Scour Bos 9 from Novartis Animal Heath US, Inc. at
the same time you're already running cows through the chute. Begin
protecting heifers up to 16 weeks pre-calving and give the annual
booster up to 10 weeks pre-calving. Click on the Scour Bos logo to learn
more.
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BEEF magazine's www.americancowman.com has launched a community
blog. Visit the site to exchange ideas with other family farm-based beef
producers about current industry topics. We want to hear what issues you
view as the biggest challenge facing cattlemen with herds up to 100 head
-- and how you're addressing them. You can also share your success
stories on how you market your cattle, what you've done to make your
operation more efficient and profitable, or simply what you enjoy most
about rural life.
In addition, the latest edition of American Cowman Update is now
available. This free, twice-monthly electronic newsletter offers timely
news, and production and management strategies. The latest issue
includes articles on the use of dried distiller's grains, the surge in
farmers markets, bovine viral diarrhea, and some country humor. Read it
at www.americancowman.com or sign up for regular home
delivery.
-- Joe Roybal
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Neonatal calf scours is a multifactorial disease, says Dave Smith,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Extension veterinarian. The ideal
scenario for an outbreak is to have susceptible hosts (naïve
calves) existing in an environment (infected communal calving area)
that's conducive to the proliferation of (and continued exposure of the
host to) the disease agent, be it E. coli, Salmonella,
rotavirus, cryptosporidia, etc.
Click here to read more of this story by Joe
Roybal
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