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Mississippi Cattlemen's Association
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Magnolia Beef Demo
 
Nancy Strickland demonstrated easy beef recipes from the National Beef Cookoff Contest winners at last week's Magnolia Beef & Poultry Expo in Raleigh.
Copies of the Cookoff winners' brochure are available by contacting the Mississippi Beef Council. |
Mississippi Beef Producer Survey
Please take a few moments to answer this short, 10 question survey to help MSU Extension and the MCA better reach you with important information regarding beef cattle production.
Click here to begin.
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White Sand Boot Camp
 
Beef Cattle Boot Camp will be held this Friday, April 20, at the White Sand Experiment Station in Pearl River County. Click here for details. |
Farm Families Fundraiser
The Farm Families Ad Campaign Dinner will be held April 26th at 7L Farms in Wiggins. Tickets for the dinner will be $20 and available at the local Farm Bureau office. Guest speakers will be Paul Ott and Greg Gibson of Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation. Donations will be accepted and are tax deductible.
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Cool-Season Forage Tour
The Mississippi University Forage Extension Program along with the Oktibbeha County Extension Office will be hosting a Cool-season Forage Tour at the Henry H. Leveck Animal Research Farm (South Farm) in Starkville, MS on April 30, 2012 at 5:00 PM.
This tour will cover some of the ongoing cool-season forage research, demonstrations and variety testing.
Registration is free and early registration is encouraged for meal purposes. Please contact Ms. Julie White at (662) 323-5916 for registration information.
A flyer is attached with more details. |
Largest Crop in 75 Years
Reuters reports that U.S. farmers will plant the most corn in 75 years to cash in on higher prices, topping expectations at the expense of soybean and spring wheat sowings, according to a U.S. government report.
The dramatic expansion raised hopes that the next harvest would ease razor-thin supplies that have kept corn prices near historic highs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a separate report, said supplies in storage as of March 1 were smaller than expected, making a big crop imperative.
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Get the Facts
Misinformation persists about Lean Finely Textured Beef (LFTB) in major media outlets and an even more blatant misrepresentation of the facts on social media sites.
Once again, sensationalism sells and perception trumps fact in many minds.
Get the facts here. |
World Agriculture Estimates
USDA released their monthly supply and demand report last Tuesday. With respect to beef, 2012 forecasted production was increased 50,000 pounds as higher slaughter weights are pushing total pounds of beef up. Slower pace of slaughter in the first quater of the year helped to off-set the production number a bit.
Per capita consumption was increased as well, from 54.9 pounds per person in March's report to 55.4 this month.
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| Statement on FDA Documents
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its intent to publish in the Federal Register, its final Guidance 209 and a draft proposed rule on veterinary feed directives.
Tom Talbot, a California beef producer, large animal veterinarian and current chairman of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's (NCBA) Cattle Health and Well-Being Committee, issued the following statement.
"Raising healthy cattle is the top priority for cattle farmers and ranchers. They work with veterinarians and animal health experts to implement comprehensive herd-health plans, which include the judicious use of antibiotics to prevent, control and treat any cattle health issues. NCBA is pleased that FDA has resisted unscientific calls to completely ban the use of antibiotics and antimicrobials in cattle and other livestock species. However, we remain concerned with regulatory actions that are not based on peer-reviewed science or that set the precedent to take animal care and health decisions out of the hands of veterinarians.
"NCBA raised concern with FDA's Guidance 209 in 2010 because the agency lacked the necessary science in its recommendations. Antimicrobial resistance is multifaceted, extremely complex issue that cannot be adequately addressed solely by focusing on the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture. Prudent and responsible evaluation of this issue must consider animal, human and industrial use of antibiotics. While we appreciate the agency working with industry on the implementation of Guidance 209, we remain committed that a strong science foundation is critical before moving forward with this guidance.
"The goal of giving veterinarians greater oversight of antibiotic use in food animals is commendable but cattlemen are concerned with the feasibility of implementing the veterinary feed directives given practical hurdles, including a current shortage of veterinarians in many rural areas throughout the country and the increased record-keeping burden it could have on the day-to-day requirements veterinarians currently face. We are pleased FDA has committed to working with farmers and ranchers, veterinarians and with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to seek additional information and address these concerns specifically to ensure family-owned farms and ranches are not negatively impacted by this regulation.
"Cattle producers have a strong track record of working with veterinarians in the prudent and appropriate use of antibiotics and other herd health tools. Through multiple industry-led initiatives, including the Beef Quality Assurance Program and the Producer Guidelines for Judicious Use of Antimicrobials, cattle farmers and ranchers work hand-in-hand with veterinarians to select and use antibiotics carefully and only when needed. NCBA will continue carefully reviewing FDA's documents and working with the agency on these and all other issues related to the health and well-being of America's cattle herd to ensure producers have the tools they need to continue producing the safest beef supply in the world.".
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Market Notes
April 13, 2012
Dr. John Michael Riley
Cash Cattle:
Cash trade ended the week mostly steady with last week's trade. The 5-Area live fed price was $122.08/cwt on Friday compared to $121.91 last week. The decline in prices at this time of the year is not uncommon, but appears to be happening earlier than normal. This backing up of the seasonal trend has taken place each of the last two years and it is looking like the same story is unfolding in 2012. Live cattle in Texas sold at $122/cwt, while Kansas live cattle traded at $122.50/cwt. In Nebraska, live and dressed cattle traded at $122-$123.50/cwt and $194-$195/cwt, respectively, on Wednesday. Feeder cattle in Oklahoma City were called steady to $2/cwt lower and calves were mostly steady. In Mississippi markets, feeder steers were $1-$10/cwt higher and feeder heifers were $2-$5/cwt higher. Slaughter bulls and cows were called $1-$3/cwt higher in Mississippi.
Futures:
Both live and feeder cattle futures were higher this week. All contracts were up strong Thursday as a result of improved cash trade. The sentiment seemed to snowball and buying brought on more buying. Some traders and economists think the sell-off went beyond the market fundamentals. Demand remains a large question mark heading into the summer grilling season. Prices improved more as the contract month moved further out.
Corn futures were lower on the week with old crop contracts suffering the steeper losses. The USDA released their monthly supply and demand report on Tuesday and projected corn ending stocks were unchanged which was a surprise to analyst that had expected a drop.
Beef:
Wholesale beef prices continued to slip. Choice boxed beef ended the week at $177.79/cwt, down $3.00. Select boxed beef was $177.20/cwt, down $1.52. Prices fell each day of the week until Friday. The milder winter and now spring could have retailers gearing up for summer grilling season earlier than usual, but it is still too early to know for sure.
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Calendar
April
19 Oktibbeha CCA 19 Lee CCA 20 Lauderdale CCA 21 Leake CCA 23 Panola CCA 26 Marshall CCA
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