| Scholarship Luncheon
On Saturday, February 11, the Mississippi Cattlemen's Foundation will present $45,000 to the children and grandchildren of MCA members. These awards are made possible by the sale of the "Cattlemen's" car tag.
The Wax Scholars will be recognized by The Wax Company and Mississippi CattleWomen's Association will also present their scholarships to deserving students.
New this year is the Bailey & Cheyenne Stewart/Two Rivers Restaurant Scholarship.
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Convention Live Auction
 Several items have been donated to the convention auction including a black/whitefaced heifer, complements of Punkin Ridge Polled Herefords of Beaumont.
Proceeds of the sale of this open heifer will benefit the Mississippi Junior Cattlemen's Association.
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Lafayette County Cattlemen
 
Lafayette County recognized James Redding as Cattleman of the year at their December meeting.
Directors are: Jim White, Keith Brown, Delaine Greene, James Redding, David Houston, Kenny Harmon and J.P. Baker. |
Reeves Names Senate Leaders
Congratulations to Senator Melanie Sojourner who was appointed chairman of the Senate Forestry Committee.
Billy Hudson will lead the Senate Agriculture Committee and Russell Jolly will serve as vice chairman.
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Cooking with Chef Louie
Chef Louie Bruno demonstrated easy beef recipes at the recent Holiday Open House at the Agriculture Museum in Jackson. Chef Louie will be preparing winning dishes from the National Beef Cookoff during the Dixie Farm Show in the Trade Mart on February 11. |
Save those wheels! 
Again this year, Merck Animal Health, maker of Ralgro, is offering to contribute $1.00 to our association's education fund for every Ralgro wheel that is turned in at the MCA convention. Bring them with you on February 10 or give them to one of our officers.
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Five Foods Not To Give Up
WebMD.com, considered one of the leading medical web sites, last week published a story called "Five foods you don't have to give up this year." Author David Grotto, a registered and licensed dietitian, listed beef as the number one food "worthy of keeping in your diet."
In his blog appearing on the website, Grotto quoted the latest checkoff-funded research showing the inclusion of lean beef in a low saturated fat, high-fiber diet can lower the risk of heart disease by reducing levels of total and LDL (bad) cholesterol.
The blog quoted Penn State University Distinguished Professor of Nutrition Penny Kris-Etherton, who led the study. "The take home message is that lean beef can be included in a heart-healthy diet and, best yet, there are 29 cuts of beef that fall into the lean category," she said.
Other foods making Grotto's top five were roasted nuts, chocolate, eggs and coffee. Source: Livestock Marketing Association News
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Estate Tax
As Congress begins the second session of the 112th Congress, NCBA has once again turned its attention to seeking permanent relief from the estate tax. For now, estates worth more than $5 million per individual or $10 million per couple are taxed at a 35 percent rate. Unfortunately, on Dec. 31, 2012, if Congress fails to take action, the estate tax will revert back to pre-2001 levels of a $1 million exemption and a 55 percent tax rate.
In this week's Beltway Beef newsletter, you'll read more about NCBA's work on the estate tax and updates on MF Global and comments NCBA submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the agency's proposal to require sampling and testing of beef trim for six additional strains of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. |
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MCA Convention
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Trade Show
February 10 & 11
Convention Schedule
Registration Form
Colin Woodall, Vice President of Government Affairs for NCBA in Washington, D.C. will join us on Saturday, Feb. 11.
He serves as NCBA's chief lobbyist on Capitol Hill and leads the Washington office in developing strategies to ensure that the cattle industry's voice is being heard by policy makers.
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Market Notes
Dr. John Michael Riley
January 6, 2012
Cash Cattle:
Cash fed cattle moved lower to start the year. Cash sales were light across all regions, especially dressed sales in the Northern Plains. Cash feds in the Texas feeding region were called at $121/cwt, $1 lower than last week. Kansas live sales were $120-121/cwt, down $1 versus last week. Live and dressed sales in Nebraska were, respectively, $121-122/cwt (steady compared to last week) and $196/cwt (down $4 compared to last week). Oklahoma City was closed on Monday. Feeders in Mississippi auctions were higher compared to pre-holiday sales. Only five markets operated this week keeping the number of head sold low.
Futures:
Live cattle futures were mixed this week. The holidays provided light sales volume giving little guidance, so everyone looked to outside markets. Equities came out of the gate strong for 2012, up 180 points January 3. Then, despite a better than expected jobs report on Friday, which showed an added 200,000 jobs in December versus 155,000 expected, stocks were down on the day. This puts the current unemployment rate at 8.5% compared to 8.7% in November. As a whole this pushed most agriculture futures prices lower.Feeder cattle were higher on the week resulting from lower corn and the on-going tight supply situation. Corn was lower as a stronger dollar led to 10 to 15 cent losses on Thursday. This wiped out a strong Tuesday resulting from uncertainty with respect to the South American crop.
Beef:
Wholesale beef prices were split this week as Choice ended lower by $1.45/cwt, while Select was up $0.85/cwt. The weekly average price for Choice wholesale beef was $192.34/cwt and Select was $179.82/cwt.
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Calendar
January
12 Calhoun CCA
12 Clay CCA 12 Hancock/Harrison CCA 19 Marshall CCA |
SAVE THE DATE
February 1 - 4 |
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