This Christmas …
May your feeders be full and your socks be dry.
May your cows be content and your dog be by your side.
May your house be full and your heart be merry.
And may your soul be kindled in celebrating the birth of our Savior, who was born into this world to pay for our sin so He could raise us to heaven someday to sing 'Glory, hallelujah to the Father," with Him.
Merry Christmas.
Bryce Schumann
Association Perspective
Pathfinder® Plus and GeneMax™ protect and strengthen your investment in Angus.
A year ago at this time, the American Angus Association began a long-range strategic planning process that lasted for nearly six months until a document was drafted and approved by the Association Board of Directors in June 2011. One of the primary objectives of the plan is to grow demand for registered Angus cattle. In the coming months, Angus breeders will have two new opportunities that will do just that.
The first is called Pathfinder Plus, a voluntary, inventory-based maternal reporting system that will allow Angus breeders to more effectively capture reproductive trait data that will ultimately be used to create reproductive and long-term productivity selection tools. In addition to heifer breeding records, participating producers will also submit calf weight and disposal records and disposal codes for cows.
Read more.
How to Vitalize Federal Lands Grazing
Joe Guild, NCBA Federal Lands Committee chairman, and John Falen, Public Lands Council president, provide commentary on H.R. 3234, the Rural Economic Vitalization Act, and S. 1129, the Grazing Improvement Act of 2011.
The U.S. beef industry is diverse, with a presence in all 50 states. Despite that diversity, we all have common goals of raising healthy beef in an environment free of overly burdensome government interference and to pass down successful operations and healthy natural resources to future generations. These goals are threatened by the growing number of laws and regulations that govern what we do. Federal lands ranchers have unique challenges. In the West, where the federal government owns roughly half the land mass, more than 22,000 ranchers have the challenge of running our operations, in part, on federal land. Read more.
Tax Considerations
End of year brings significant tax implications for farmers.
As 2011 draws to a close, so do opportunities for farmers to take advantage of certain provisions of the federal tax code, according to Ohio State University (OSU) Extension educator David Marrison.
"The ability for bonus depreciation is changing, so if you're looking to make capital expenditures, this is the year to do it," said Marrison, one of the leaders of OSU Extension's Ag Manager Team. "You can depreciate 100% now, it will go to 50% next year, and after that it could go away completely depending on what Congress does." Read more.
What’s Inside …
In this December edition of the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA, you'll find valuable articles devoted to the management, marketing, and health and nutrition of your beef enterprise. Select from the tabs at the top of the page to access this month's entire offering by category. A few select features include:
- Another Bad Winter
- Cow Camp Chatter: Biological cycle of the beef cow
- Preconditioning Calves Prior to Sale
- New Feedstuffs Need New Mineral Strategy
- Controlling Lice in Beef Cattle
- Beef Must Win, Place and Show
- More Choices, Less Choice Beef
News Briefs …
The American Angus Association and its subsidiaries generate a wealth of information to keep members and affiliates informed of what's happening within the industry, as well as with the programs and services they offer. Click here for easy access to the newsrooms of the American Angus Association and Certified Angus Beef LLC and the Angus e-List archive.
Environment vs. Beef Production, 1977-2007
A recent study by Washington State University reported in the Journal of Animal Science (89:4249) compared the environmental impact (defined as resource use and waste output per unit of beef) in 2007 compared to 1977. Included were the cropping system, feed system, animal system and product system. To produce the same amount of beef, 2007 systems reduced the number of animals by 30%, feed by 19%, water by 12% and land by 33%, compared to 1977 systems.
Per pound of beef produced, there was a reduction of 18% in manure, 18% in methane and 12% in nitrous oxide. The author related the reductions to such things as higher energy density of finishing rations, more finishing of calf-feds (beef and dairy), less time from birth to slaughter, and less feed needed for body maintenance relative to weight gain. NOTE: These factors, to at least some extent, require greater use of grains and less of forages. The price of grains could well affect this situation.
Generations Bookend Rural America
Rural youth and elderly hold their own, but rural areas lag in working-age young adults.
A Center for Rural Affairs report released Dec. 2 finds that rural areas in the Great Plains and Midwest continue to lose population and are caught between "bookend generations" — the youngest and the oldest — with a demographic valley in between.
"Increasingly, rural America's greatest exports are our young people. We send them off to college and hope they return home after graduation; and often they want to return, but if the jobs and economic opportunity are not here, they will be drawn to the opportunity and bright lights of the city," said Jon Bailey, research director of the Center for Rural Affairs and author of the report. Read more.
Good for the Heart
Study confirms beef's role in a heart-healthy diet.
In a first of its kind study, researchers at Pennsylvania State University demonstrated that eating beef every day as part of a heart-healthy diet can improve cholesterol levels. Texas medical doctor and cattleman Richard Thorpe said the "Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet" (BOLD) study proves what he has known for years — lean beef not only tastes great, but it also plays an important role in a heart-healthy diet. Read more.
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