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Hinds Cattlemen
Hinds County Cattlemen's Association members cooked ribeye steak sandwiches, beef burgers, and all the trimmings at the street festival in Raymond. Proceeds from the event will benefit the association's scholarship fund and other projects. |
Angus Association Sale
Mississippi Angus Association conducted another successful annual meeting and sale in Raymond last weekend. Buddy Jones was recognized as the Progressive Breeder of the Year and the Randy Walkers were recognized as the Angus Family of the Year. The 72 lots averaged $1837.
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Gelbvieh Field Day
Mississippi Gelbvieh Association members and friends gathered at Hill Farm Saturday in Oakland for their annual field day. Area Extension agent Lance Newman and Susan Willmon, from the American Gelbvieh Association presented programs on estrous synchronization and breed improvement. That morning a short program for the juniors on livestock judging was lead by Lance Newman and John Huston, AGA Director. | |
| Corn Ethanol Loses More Support
Rising food prices are prodding lawmakers in Washington to rethink support for corn ethanol.
Two dozen Republican senators on Friday -- including Republican presidential candidate John McCain -- asked the Environmental Protection Agency to ease requirements mandated by Congress in 2007 to blend more ethanol and other renewable fuels into the gasoline supply.
The lawmakers said the mandates are contributing to a sharp increase in food prices. Sen. McCain has been a critic of ethanol subsidies.
The move by the Republican Senate group is the latest sign that Washington's support for turning corn into motor fuel is wavering in the face of soaring food prices, despite the popularity of ethanol subsidies in farm states critical to the November election. |
PETA Offers $1 Million for Test-Tube Meat
In search of meat produced without slaughtering animals, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is offering $1 million to scientists across the globe for a way to produce meat in the laboratory. In vitro meat production would use animal stem cells reproduced and grown in a medium. The result would mimic flesh that could be cooked and eaten. Some advancements have been made toward this technology, but it will be several years before in vitro meat could be publicly available.
To be eligible for the $1 million prize, researchers must produce an in vitro chicken-meat product that has a taste and texture indistinguishable from the real thing and be ready to sell by June 30, 2012. The contestant must also produce the product in commercial quantities in at least 10 states. |
Farm Bill Update
The Conference Committee on the Farm Bill finally adjourned for the weekend at 1:00 a.m. Friday.
Of interest to NCBA members was the consideration of the conservation and livestock titles. The members of the conference took action on the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) in regards to the total funds available for an EQIP contract. It was agreed to by both the House and Senate that individual EQIP contracts will not exceed $300,000 over six years. However, the Secretary of Agriculture may grant a waiver for environmentally significant projects which would boost that number to $400,000 over six years. After agreeing to this provision, the entire conservation title was accepted.
The livestock title was then brought up for consideration. After debate on the provision, the Senate put the packer ban up for a vote. The packer ban was voted down by a resounding voice vote, and the proponents of the packer ban did not even call for a recorded vote of each individual Senator's position.
Since it failed on the Senate side, the House did not have to vote and the packer ban was removed from the farm bill. In addition, the Office of Special Counsel was removed from the farm bill before the members of the conference had to vote on it.
All titles of the farm bill have been considered and accepted, but they are not quite done yet. A handful of outstanding issues, such as AGI caps and payment limits, still have to be worked out. House and Senate Ag Committee staff were instructed to work over the weekend to try and find a solution to these issues, and Chairman Harkin expects to reconvene the conference committee next Tuesday afternoon to finish the bill.
The last hurdle for the farm bill will be whether or not the President will sign it. Although he has not made a formal statement that he will veto the bill, he made several comments last week that he would. The principal members of the conference met with Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer and Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner all day on Tuesday to try and find a way to satisfy the White House. If the President does veto it, the House and Senate will have to find a way to override the veto or we will revert to the 1949 permanent law or a long-term (up to 5 year) extension of the 2002 farm bill. |
Rethinking Renewable Fuel Mandates?
Policy makers at both the state and national level are showing increasing signs of "buyer's remorse" with regard to the massive renewable fuels mandates passed in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which passed last December.
Texas Governor Rick Perry has petitioned the EPA to issue a 50 percent waiver of the new Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), which mandates 9 billion gallons of feedgrain-based fuel production this year and 15 billion gallons by 2015.
"We appreciate the good intentions behind the push for renewable fuels. In fact we're diversifying our state's energy portfolio at a rapid rate," said Gov. Perry. "But this misguided mandate is significantly affecting Texans' family food bill."
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Cattle Market Notes
Friday, May 2, 2008
Dr. John Anderson
Mississippi State
University
Last week, feeders got mostly $92 for their cattle - considerable improvement over prices about 3 weeks ago but still none too high in comparison with current break-evens. On Thursday, pretty active trade developed at prices just about steady with last week. Prices were a little stronger on Friday, with some cattle moving at $93 to $93.50 in Nebraska and Colorado.
Improvement in the fed cattle market (and the seasonal abundance of grass) has helped calf markets a good bit lately. At Oklahoma City this week, prices on all classes were called $1 to $3 higher. At Lexington, Kentucky, feeder steer prices were steady to $2 higher; and feeder heifer prices were $2 to $4 higher. Stocker steer prices were steady to $2 higher; and stocker heifer prices were steady to $3 higher. At Arkansas auctions this week, prices on all classes were firm to $3 higher.
At Mississippi auctions this week, prices on steers were $2 to $4 higher; prices on heifers were $3 higher. For the week, feeder steer prices in Mississippi were as follows: 200-300 pounds, $120-$130; 300-400 pounds, $110-$120; 400-500 pounds, $100-$110; 500-600 pounds, $90-$100; 600-700 pounds, $82-$90; 700-800 pounds, not reported. Prices on slaughter cows were steady this week. For the week: boners (850-1,200#), $45-$55; lean (850-1,200#), $45-$52.
Live cattle futures started the week on pretty firm footing following last week's improvement in fed cattle prices. Live Cattle futures closing prices on Friday (with change from last Friday's close in parentheses) were as follows: June $92.12 (-1.25); August $98.25 (-0.82); October $104.40 (+0.50); December $104.10 (+0.18); February $105.97 (+0.12).
Feeder Cattle futures fell this week after staging a pretty good run through most of April. Volatility in the corn market due to planting delays and uncertainty did not help feeders this week - nor did Thursday's big drop in Live Cattle. Feeder Cattle futures closing prices on Friday (with change from last Friday in parentheses): May $105.65 (-2.10); August $108.15 (-2.50); September $109.10 (-2.70); October $110.250 (-2.25); November 110.05 (-1.95).
Corn futures were fairly volatile this week. May Corn closed on Friday at $6.02, up 24 ¾ cents from last week's close. |
Don't Miss NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen- On this week's episode, airing Tuesday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m., Duane Lenz of Cattle-Fax discusses beef prices and inventories as we move toward the summer grilling season. We hear from a Nevada rancher about the impact the Death Tax has had on his operation, and key members of Congress offer their thoughts on the importance of Death Tax relief.
Be sure you tune in to NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen on RFD-TV. For more information or to check out past episodes, visit www.cattlementocattlemen.org |
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Calendar of Events
May
8, 9 NCBA Region II,
Columbus, GA
10 Stars & Stripes
Brangus Sale,
Raymond
19 Rotational Grazing
Seminar, Video Conf.
24 Southern Heritage
Angus Sale,
Holly Springs
June |
| 7 Hereford Field Day,
MSU
7 Angus Field Day,
Raymond |
| Making Tracks
2008
Attend the 17th annual Making Tracks Wax Leadership Camp
June 23 - 25
sponsored by Mississippi State University, MississippiCattlemen's Foundation, and The Wax Company.
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| Beef & Dairy
Economic
Challenges
Seminar
Wednesday, May 7
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon
Via Interactive Videoconferencing Network
Contact your county MSU Extension office
for your nearest location
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