Aging Cattle by Dentition
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Gelbvieh Field Day
Gelbvieh breeders invite all cattlemen to attend a field day on Saturday, May 4th at Drs. Lowell and Karen Rogers near Sanford. Gene Star and AGA representative Dr. Jim Gibb will be one of the speakers. Live demonstrations will include Border Collies working cattle.
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Mississippi Angus Association members will hold their annual meeting Friday, May 3rd at Hinds Community College. Then on Saturday, the association sale will begin at noon. Go to the Angus Association website to pre-register for dinner and download the sale catalog.
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Baseball Beef Promotion
| Beef Day at the Ballpark |
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Body condition scoring and other management practices are available on the MSU YouTube channel. | Body Condition Scoring Beef Cattle |
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Making Tracks 2013
Mississippi Junior Cattlemen's Association's Making Tracks Leadership Camp will be held June 17 - 19 on the Mississippi State University campus. For the 21st consecutive year, the camp is sponsored by The Wax Company.
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Following an announcement by House lawmakers that they will introduce legislation to address issues with the federal Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) urged Congress to reform the biofuels mandate. Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R - Va.), Jim Costa (D - Calif.), Steve Womack (R - Ark.) and Peter Welch (D - Vt.), at a press conference last Wednesday said they would introduce the Renewable Fuel Standard Reform Act to "help ease concerns created by the ethanol mandate and protect consumers, energy producers, livestock producers, food manufacturers, retailers and the U.S. economy." The RFS last year required 13.2 billion gallons of corn - based ethanol to be blended into gasoline; it mandates that 13.9 billion gallons be blended in 2013, an amount that will use about 4.9 billion bushels of corn, or about 40 percent of the nation's crop. NCBA and other livestock groups last fall called on lawmakers to make changes to the RFS, following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) refusal to use the safety valve built into it to waive the biofuels mandate in the wake of a severe drought that drastically cut the corn crop. In November 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied a request to waive the RFS due to crippling drought conditions that affected 70 percent of cattle country. "Cattlemen and women are self - reliant, but in order to maintain that we cannot be asked to compete with federal mandates like the Renewable Fuels Standard for the limited supply of feed grains," said NCBA Policy Vice Chair Craig Uden, an Elwood, Neb., cattle feeder. "In light of the worst drought to hit our country in over 50 years and the ever increasing renewable mandates, we are seeing many of our members not only failing to profit, but taking a loss. Cattlemen and women want a level playing field the Renewable Fuel Standard Reform Act of 2013 will help in achieving that goal." Uden added that NCBA is asking for a reform bill that ensures market stability, feed availability and the long - term sustainability of rural American economies.
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Comments on MCOOL Rule
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) submitted comments last week on the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) proposed amended Mandatory County of Origin Labeling Rule (MCOOL). In comments, NCBA stated that the proposed rule changing MCOOL will not satisfy the World Trade Organization (WTO) or the beef industry's largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, who originally brought the WTO complaint.
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Callicrate Suit Voluntarily Dismissed
Michael Callicrate has filed a 'plaintiff's notice of voluntary dismissal' of the lawsuit he filed August 10, 2012, against USDA, its Agricultural Marketing Services branch, the Cattlemen's Beef Board, and the Operating Committee, seeking an injunction against NCBA use of checkoff dollars. This comes after the release of the USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) report of its audit of Agricultural Marketing Service's oversight of the Beef Checkoff Program and found no audit issues (or "exceptions") to the Beef Board's management of checkoff funds. The lawsuit had been voluntarily stayed pending the outcome of the OIG report.
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Cattle Market
Notes
Dr. John Michael Riley
April 12, 2013
Cash Cattle:Cash cattle in the Southern Plains were at $127/cwt on a live basis as of Wednesday. In Nebraska, live and dressed sales were at $127.50-$128/cwt and $202/cwt, respectively. Western Cornbelt cattle trade was light, but called at $127/cwt live and $199-$202/cwt. Trade continues to be light, which is indicative of tighter supplies and, more importantly, that feeders and packers are not motivated. In Oklahoma City, feeder steers were steady to $3/cwt lower and feeder heifers were steady to $2/cwt lower. Calves were steady to $2/cwt higher in OKC. In Mississippi auction markets feeder steers and heifers were $2-$5/cwt lower, while cull cows and bulls were steady. Futures:
Live cattle futures ended lower on Friday compared to the previous Friday's close. Losses were larger as the contract month moved further out. The fed market continues to search for positive traction, while cold (in some parts, wintry) weather continues to dampen grilling spirits. Friday's consumer sentiment report came in at 72.3, much lower than last month's 78.6 and lower than the expected 78.5 number. This too is concerning for beef and cattle prices, because a sour consumer typically passes on high value middle meat cuts. Corn prices rallied and cash feeders were lower this week, which pushed feeder futures much lower. If any positive news could be found this week it was in the monthly supply and demand report that indicated previous estimates of beef supplies might have been on the high side. USDA lowered their beef production estimate for 2013 to 24.88 billion pounds, compared to 25.11 projected last month. Lower carcass weights and ever tightening supplies are the likely reason. Corn futures finished higher this week. The sharp drop of two weeks ago looks to have been a bit of overkill. The expected corn carry-over amount from Wednesday's supply and demand report was lower than expected which also helped push prices higher. Beef: Wholesale boxed beef prices were lower this week. Choice finished with a weekly average of $190.60/cwt, down $0.70, and Select finished at $185.44/cwt, down $2.84.
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April
15 Alcorn CCA
16 Kemper CCA
16 Noxubee CCA
18 Oktibbeha CCA
19 Boot Camp, Brown Loam
20 Pike Field Day
22 George/Jackson CCA 25 Neshoba CCA 25 Stone CCA
30 Marshall CCA
May
9 Jones CCA
18 Beef & Forage Field Day, Tylertown
23 Lauderdale CCA
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