Merck and Beef Checkoff Sponsor Stockmanship & Stewardship Events

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Five 2019 sessions of the Stockmanship & Stewardship program were announced at the Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show last week. The events are made possible through sponsorship from Merck Animal Health and will be coordinated by the producer education team at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and local host organizations. Additional funding and support for the program is provided by the beef checkoff-funded Beef Quality Assurance program.

The dates and locations are:
Tulare, Calif. March 20-21
Ames, Iowa June 28-29
Fort Collins, Colo. TBD August
Manhattan, Kan. September 20-21
West Monroe, La. October 4-5

“For the third year, we’re thrilled to be able to hold these sessions that focus on proper cattle handling and stewardship,” said Chase DeCoite, director of BQA at NCBA. “Producers who have attended these events in the past have gone home with greater understanding of the best practices in working with cattle in their particular area of the country.”

Stockmanship & Stewardship events include live cattle demonstration and hands-on opportunities. They also include BQA training and classroom sessions highlighting issues that affect cattle producers in each region. In addition to cattle handling and effective stockmanship, possible elements of regional sessions include sustainability and environmental stewardship, animal health and regional issues and hot topics.

Learn more in this press conference from #CattleCon19 with DeCoite, Angela Baysinger and Amanda Welsh with Merck Animal Health Merck Animal Health/NCBA Press Conference

2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

Official Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show virtual newsroom

USDA Tracking Farm Bill Implementation

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Now that the federal government is back at work, USDA Deputy Secretary Steve Censky says they are moving as quickly as possible to implement the new farm bill.

During a Farm Foundation Forum on the realities of implementing the 2018 farm bill, Censky said USDA is using a “Fitbit” type of approach to tracking goals. “We have our own ‘FBit’ we call a Farm Bit at USDA and it’s a Farm Bill Implementation tracker,” said Censky.

Censky chairs USDA’s Farm Bill Implementation Working Group that includes representation from each of the agency’s mission areas. “We have asked all of our agency’s to fill out this ‘FarmBit,’” said Censky. “We look forward to sharing more details of what the timelines are going to be in the next few weeks.”

The Farm Foundation Forum also comments from Senate Agriculture Committee chair Pat Roberts (R-KS) and a panel with Barry Flinchbaugh, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University; Tara Smith, Vice President of Federal Affairs with Michael Torrey Associates; and Alan Bjerga, Senior Vice President of Communications with the National Milk Producers Federation.

Listen to Censky’s comments here:
USDA Deputy Secretary Steve Censky at Farm Foundation Forum

CrystalBlox™ at the #CattleCon19 Trade Show

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CrystalBlox™ is the newest block form developed by Crystalyx Brand Supplements. It combines the economical nutrient delivery and fortification of compressed blocks with the consistent and predictable intake of low moisture block technology. CrystalBlox will fit a wide variety of feeding situations, where protein delivery is critical.

CrystalBlox is designed and formulated to provide supplemental protein to help improve forage utilization by increased forage intake and improved fiber digestibility. In situations where forage crude protein levels are low due to drought or with advanced maturity such as fall and winter forages, CrystalBlox can provide the supplemental protein to help extract more energy and nutrients from your forage supplies.

We sat down with Mark Robbins, Crystalyx, during the 2019 Cattle Industry Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Trade Show to get the scoop on the benefits of CrystalBlox. Listen to the interview or watch the video below:
Interview with Mark Robbins, CRYSTALYX® Brand Supplements

2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

Scholarships Presented at #CattleCon19

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Two University of California-Davis students seeking their doctorate degrees received $15,000 W.D. Farr Scholarships for 2018-19 from the National Cattlemen’s Foundation. Emily Andreini and Sarah Klopatic each received the award, which were presented at the Best of Beef Breakfast during the 2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show in New Orleans.

The Farr Scholarships will allow these students to further their study in fields that will benefit the cattle and beef industry. Andreini is seeking her Ph.D. degree in animal biology while Klopatic is studying for her Ph.D. in animal science.

In addition, ten $1,500 scholarships for the next school year were awarded by the National Cattlemen’s Foundation to outstanding students pursuing careers in the beef industry. The scholarships are sponsored by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME).

Also receiving a trip to the 2019 Cattle Industry Convention as the overall winner of the scholarship was Olivia Willrett of Illinois, a student at Colorado State University. Willrett wrote an essay for her scholarship entry titled “Tracing Beef from Farm to Fork.”

2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

New Beef Leadership Elected in New Orleans

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Jennifer Houston of Tennessee was named president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association at the organization’s annual meeting in New Orleans last week, as Marty Smith of Florida became NCBA president-elect. Jerry Bohn (Kansas) was elected NCBA vice president. Don Schiefelbein (Minnesota) was elected chair of the NCBA Policy Division and Todd Wilkinson (South Dakota) was elected vice chair. Laurie Munns (Utah) was elected chair of the NCBA Federation Division and Buck Wehrbein (Nebraska) was elected vice chair.

Houston and her husband, Mark, own and operate East Tennessee Auction Market in Sweetwater. She has been active in the beef industry for more than 30 years, first serving at the state level and has been an NCBA board member since 1996.

Smith is a rancher and an attorney from Wacahoota, Florida where he operates Smith Brothers-Wacahoota, LLC, a cow/calf operation that has been in continuous operation since 1852. He is also the son of Jo Ann Smith, the first woman president of NCBA in 1985 and first chair of the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board in 1986.

Elected to serve on the Beef Promotion Operating Committee from the Federation, joining Munns, Wehrbein and ten members elected from the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, were: Katie Brenny (Minnesota), Gary Deering (South Dakota), Bradley Hastings (Texas), Chris Jeffcoat (Pennsylvania), Clark Price (North Dakota), Jeff Rudolph (Nebraska), Don Terry (Tennessee) and VeaBea Thomas (South Dakota).

Listen to interviews with Houston and Smith here:
New NCBA president Jennifer Houston

NCBA president-elect Marty Smith

2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

Official Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show virtual newsroom

NCBA Announces Policy Priorities at #CattleCon19

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As over 9,000 members of the cattle industry gathered for the Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show last week in New Orleans, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) released its official Policy Priorities for 2019.

While the Policy Priorities book fills almost 140 pages, the organization will focus on four main issue areas this year – fake meat, trade and market access, dietary guidelines, and regulatory reform and implementation.

NCBA was successful in 2018 in arguing for the USDA to have primary jurisdiction over the inspection and marketing of lab-produced and plant-based fake meat. Now in 2019 the group will work to ensure that a regulatory framework that protects the health of consumers, prevents false and deceptive marketing, and ensures a level playing field for real beef products.

Trade priorities will focus on a bilateral trade agreement with Japan, securing swift passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and expanding access for U.S. beef in key markets like China, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

NCBA will be working to protect the scientific credibility of Dietary Guidelines and promote accurate information about the nutritional advantages of beef as part of a balanced diet as the federal government begins the process of updating the guidelines.

Regulatory priorities includes implementation of the 2018 Farm Bill; finalizing a new water rule to replace the 2015 Waters of the U.S. rule; modernizing and streamlining the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and federal grazing regulations; and promoting antimicrobial stewardship by producers and preserving access to key veterinary technologies.

NCBA Senior Vice President of Government Relations Colin Woodall talks about the policy priorities in this interview –
Colin Woodall, NCBA

2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

Official Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show virtual newsroom

Secretary Sonny Urges Cattle Producers to be Transparent

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Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue had the opportunity to address about 9,000 cattlemen and women during the closing general session of the Cattle Industry Convention on Friday and challenge them to be transparent and let consumers know what they do to produce beef.

“We don’t have anything to be ashamed about in the U.S. beef industry,” said Perdue. “No longer can we stand behind the cattle guards of our farms and ranchers and say ‘we just grow it, y’all take care of it from here.’”

Listen to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue’s address to the 2019 Cattle Industry Convention –
#CattleCon19 Secretary Perdue comments

2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

Official Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show virtual newsroom

Animal Ag Bites 2/4

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  • Kent Nutrition Group is offering a new line of supplements for pigs — NutriVantage® Nutrition Optimizer® — a research-driven, unique blend of natural ingredients, vitamins and minerals that impact performance at every stage.
  • In comments submitted to the FDA this week, Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative called on the agency to “take immediate action” to enforce existing regulations that define dairy foods as originating from cow’s milk.
  • Benny Cox of San Angelo, Texas, was elected president of the American Sheep Industry Association, to succeed Mike Corn of New Mexico.
  • In light of the recent outbreaks of African swine fever and other animal diseases, the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) has been working on a multi-pronged action plan to: research science-based solutions for mitigating the risks of virus transmission through feed, and communicate any new information and recommendations to the industry and producer groups. As part of this effort, AFIA announced that it has released an updated version of its biosecurity guidelines.
  • The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research launched the International Consortium for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Agriculture, a public-private partnership to advance research on antimicrobial stewardship in animal agriculture and improve animal health and welfare.
  • Dairy Management Inc. used Super Bowl weekend to advance its Undeniably Dairy campaign. The organization created two very entertaining 30-second spots to appear on Facebook Feb. 1-4 via a paid promotion. The videos are designed to extend Undeniably Dairy, which was created to grow trust in and relevancy of dairy. Watch Video 1 and Video 2 here.

Secretary Sonny Perdue visits #CattleCon19

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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, visited with the media during the Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show prior to his remarks at the closing general session.

The first topic of the press conference was on trade and it was obvious he really wanted to talk about it. He said the top priority for ag groups is trade, trade, trade. You can hear his summary of where things stand with trade negotiations and the impact on agriculture in his remarks below.

He ended the conference answering a question about forest fires and management. It is encouraging to hear him talk about allowing proper management of our forests to ensure we don’t have the devastating fires we’ve seen recently.

Listen to or download the press conference below.

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue press conference audio –
Secretary Perdue Press Conference

2019 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

Official Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show virtual newsroom

Barn Sentry Launches at Develop with Deere

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John Deere dealers attending the Develop with Deere Conference in Chicago were among the first to see a new barn monitoring system with the launch of Barn Sentry from New Boundary Technologies and Mel Foster Company.

The product is designed especially for farmers with hog, turkey and chicken operations and it has the ability to send data from New Boundary’s RemoteAware service into the John Deere Operation Center. Farmers can then see alerts and data with the Operation Center or in a mobile app.

“We believe the John Deere dealer network is the ideal network to work through, because of their close relationships with their customers, and the fact that we are already sending the data into Operations Center, we feel that they will find more value in that than maybe some other dealers will,” said Martin Miller, Application/System Engineer with Mel Foster Company.

Barn Sentry includes a monthly monitoring service that provides the cellular service and the RemoteAware application service. The system is easy to install in new or existing barns. Barn Sentry is available through Mel Foster Company and its authorized dealers. For information, contact Martin Miller, martin@melfoster.com.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Martin here: Interview with Martin Miller, Mel Foster Company

2019 Develop with Deere Conference Photo Album