The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) 139th Cattle Raisers Convention is set for April 8-10 at the Fort Worth Convention Center. The annual event will offer multiple School for Successful Ranching sessions for ranchers and anyone interested in learning more about the industry. Twenty-eight sessions will provide practical insights on topics from range management, animal health, nutrition, lease … Read More
France Confirms Isolated BSE Case
The French Ministry of Agriculture released a statement this morning confirming that a single case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as Mad-Cow Disease, had been detected in a five-year-old cow from the country’s Ardennes region. The diagnosis was confirmed on March 23 by the Reference Laboratory of the European Union (LRUE). This single, isolated case is the third … Read More
Coalition Urges FSIS to Adopt Grassfed Label Standard
A coalition of nine agricultural and consumer organizations sent the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) a letter this week that urges the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to reinstate a meaningful grassfed label for meat. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) had overseen a voluntary label program for grassfed livestock products since 2007, but that standard was withdrawn in January. … Read More
NCBA Names New CEO
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has named Kendal Frazier its new chief executive officer. I spoke with after the announcement to learn more about his priority issues leading the cattlemen and women forward. “My priorities as CEO will be working with NCBA’s stakeholders and other organizations to vigorously oppose the continued assault by the government on private property rights; … Read More
Angus Announces Routine Calibration of GE-EPDs
American Angus Association® and Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI) will release newly calibrated genomic-enhanced expected progeny differences (GE-EPDs) in mid-April. The process is the fifth of its kind since introducing GE-EPDs in 2010, and further refines how DNA test results are incorporated with pedigree, performance measures and progeny data into the selection tools released through the Association’s weekly National Cattle Evaluation … Read More
Cattle Health – Your Opinion Needed in NAHMS Survey
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) asks their members to participate in USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) beef industry cow-calf study in 2017. In order to craft the most informative survey possible, and to derive data that will be most beneficial to the cattle industry, NAHMS is asking producers to take a preliminary survey by answering 10 short … Read More
US Gains Full Access for Beef Exports in Peru
The U.S. government has reached agreement with the government of Peru to remove barriers for U.S. beef exports to Peru for the first time since 2003, opening one of the fastest growing markets in Latin America to American beef and beef products. The United States exported $25.4 million in beef and beef products to Peru in 2015 and the export … Read More
Cattle Industry Fighting BLM Land Use Plans
An amicus brief was filed on Tuesday by The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the Public Lands Council (PLC), along with support from the Idaho Cattle Association, the American Farm Bureau, and the Idaho Farm Bureau regarding restrictive land management plans from theBureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. The land management plans, specifically the sub-regional Greater Sage … Read More
Cargill Acquires FPL Food
Cargill recently announced that the company has finalized the acquisition of the FPL Food, LLC ground beef processing plant in Columbia, S.C. The purchase of the 100,000-square-foot plant, which employs more than 200 people, complements Cargill’s meat processing facilities in Georgia and Pennsylvania, and greatly enhances the company’s ability to serve eastern retail and foodservice customers. “Cargill ground beef customers … Read More
Cattleman Testifies to Importance of Voluntary Conservation
Frank Price, co-owner of Frank and Sims Price Ranch in Sterling City, Texas, testified on behalf of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) to the importance of voluntary conservation during the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry hearing “Voluntary Conservation: Utilizing Innovation and Technology”. Price, recipient of the 2014 NCBA Environmental Stewardship Award, told the committee that given the … Read More