Mineral Rights Considerations
Oil and gas lease seminar discusses broad range of issues.
Despite an extended downturn in oil and gas prices, a large contingent of landowners recently attended a workshop at Texas A&M University in College Station to learn more about surface rights and leasing for exploration.
“The best thing a landowner can do when negotiating an oil and gas lease is to negotiate terms that best protect your surface,” said Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agricultural law specialist, Amarillo.
If you’ve acquired land but not the mineral rights, an existing lease may have been executed in the 1950s or even earlier, Dowell Lashmet said. The best time to negotiate a surface agreement is when the oil and gas company needs something from you. Read more.
Alex Tolbert
Association Perspective
Should you raise or buy replacement heifers?
Third and 20 on their own 45-yard line with 2 minutes left to go before the half. Coach calls for a pass, so he relays the call, and they break the huddle.
As they approach the line of scrimmage, he surveys the field and assesses the defense — four down linemen, no linebackers in the box, corners playing off the line and safeties over the top.
Upon his assessment of the defense, he calls a change in plan via an audible, then he hands the ball off to Knowshon Moreno for a 28-yard dash followed by a touchdown. Read more.
Modern Ag in a Facebook Culture
Nutritionist emphasizes need for producers to share their stories to help build understanding of the need of technology.
Gary Sides, a beef cattle nutritionist with Zoetis, shared a sad but true reality during his Cattlemen’s College® presentation in San Diego, Calif., Jan. 27, 2016.
“Simple lies are more palatable than complicated truths,” Sides pointed out as he noted the public’s misunderstandings of food and agriculture.
In today’s Facebook- and social media-driven culture, Sides shared several examples where consumers have chosen to demonize beef and the beef industry rather than listen to scientific findings. Examples related to fat, growth hormones, food safety, animal welfare and the environment. Read more.
Ag Industry Failing to Attract Next Generation
Land O’Lakes Inc. survey shows only 3% of college graduates have or would consider a career in agriculture.
The world’s demand for food will surge by 2050, with a projected 10 billion people requiring a 70% increase in food production. The question is, who will lead the way to find solutions for this demand and ensure the world’s people will be fed?
On March 15, National Agriculture Day, the stark shortage of agricultural talent, as well as lingering misperceptions about ag careers are of pressing concern to agricultural groups, universities, and agriculture and food companies. Read more.
What’s Inside …
In this March 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:
- Is Solar Energy Right for Your Farm?
- Beef Talk: Shifting calving from March to May
- Brisket Disease Research: It’s Not Just a High-altitude Disease
- Nitrogen, K-31 Caution
- Emerging Cattle Health Research & Issues Working Group
- Are Rough Times Coming?
- The Source: Farm show fascination
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 Journal Daily archive available in the API Virtual Library.
Justin Sexten
On Target
Starting at the end.
The great success stories in business, manufacturing and agriculture have at least one strategy in common. They identify what potential customers want and need — often within a predictable price or premium range — before setting out to provide it.
That used to be obvious and easy in agriculture — just produce the necessities for food and clothing. In the cattle business, you simply produced and sold calves, stockers or finished cattle to the next buyer. However, the market has become more transparent, with price signals differentiating some cattle as more desirable. Read more.
Beware of Complacency
When Working with Anhydrous Ammonia
Anyone who handles anhydrous ammonia needs to understand the potential for injury and know how to respond in an emergency.
It’s easy for farmers to get complacent when working with anhydrous ammonia, said Kent McGuire, safety and health coordinator with the Ohio State University (OSU) College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Yet injuries from accidental exposure “could get very serious, very quickly,” McGuire said.
Anhydrous ammonia is one of the most widely used sources of nitrogen fertilizer among corn growers. The product is stored in tanks, called nurse tanks, as a liquid under pressure. Once it is released into the soil or the air, it turns to vapor.
Anyone who handles anhydrous ammonia needs to understand the potential for injury and know how to respond in an emergency, McGuire said. Read more.