Mississippi Cattlemen's Association

7.15.13

Homeplace Board Sale

The Homeplace Producers Sale will be held Monday, August 5, 7:00 p.m., Hattiesburg Stockyard. Over 20 load lots of feeder cattle will be offered for delivery to be determined by the seller.
Video of the cattle will be available on the MSUCares.com website prior to the sale date.

Grilled Cajun Chuck Roast with Spicy Cheddar Grits

Total recipe time: 2 1/4 to
2 3/4 hours

Makes 6 servings

Cattlemen's College, August 28, 29

Dr. Robin Falkner, Zoetis Manager of Beef Veterinary Operations, will discuss herd health at Cattlemen's College.
Pre-register now to join us at Cattlemen's College on Wednesday, August 28 at Cain Cattle in Pickens or Thursday, August 29 at JRW Simmentals in Seminary.

Open Invitation to Cattlemen

Monroe County cattlemen invite everyone to attend a special program, "Welfare and Humane Treatment of Cattle", on July 29th presented by Dr. David Smith.
Click for details.

Replacement Heifer Sale

The 12th Annual Southern Producers Replacement Heifer Sale will be held on Saturday, August 31st 1:00 p.m. at SE Miss. Livestock Sale Barn in Hattiesburg.
300 plus replacement heifers bred 3 to 8 months, vet checked and pelvic measured, will be offered.
Early consigners are: Mose Mallett, MG Farms, Hollis & Kyle English, Marcus & Michael Ladner, Joe Tally, Tyler King, T3Brangus, Tony Thames, Layton Family, Remington Lott LLC, Major Jefcoat, Tim Jefcoat, Jacob Megehee and Bob Robinson.

Beef Commodity Conference

All cattlemen are invited to the Mississippi Farm Bureau® Federation Summer Beef Meeting on Tuesday, July 23, at the Farm Bureau Federation Building in Jackson.
Registration begins at 9:30 with lunch provided.
Featured speaker will be Polly Ruhland, CEO of the Cattlemen's Beef Board (CBB). Ruhland has served the beef industry for more than 20 years, most recently as vice president of planning and evaluation for CBB.
Learn the latest from your beef checkoff at this meeting.
Please contact Farm Bureau at 1-800-227-8244, ext 4230 or nbritt@msfb.org to pre-register.

Just in case you missed it............

Last Friday was National Show-a-Cow-You-Care Day

Area Leaders Meetings

Meetings for county cattlemen's association officers, membership committee members and Extension Agents are scheduled in 6 locations.

July 23 Jackson, MCA office

August 1 Batesville, Extension Building

August 13 Starkville, MSU Bull Barn

August 15 Brookhaven, Civic Center, Fairgrounds

August 31 Hattiesburg, Southeast Stockyard

Simplifying Beef Names, Labels

The beef checkoff participated in the Uniform Retail Meat Identity Standards (URMIS) Label Term Review and Application (ULTRA) initiative aimed at decreasing confusion and increasing consumer satisfaction with beef product offerings, in turn increasing beef sales at the meat case.
The two key results of the URMIS/ULTRA project are this:
* Simplified names for beef cuts that consumers previously found confusing and, in some cases, even offensive. For example, the former "Beef Shoulder Top Blade Steak, Boneless, Flat Iron" is now, simply, a "Flat Iron Steak" and "Beef Loin Porterhouse Steak Bone In" is now a "Porterhouse Steak." Likewise, the "Beef Ribeye Steak Lip On Bone-In" that consumers found offensive is now the "Ribeye Steak".
* New labels for fresh beef cuts that include the simplified, consumer-friendly names, (such as Porterhouse Steak), in addition to cut characteristics (i.e. Beef, Loin, Bone-in), and information that tells consumers the best preparation method or other helpful cooking information for the specific cut - such as "Grill for best results" or "Marinate then Grill" or "Slow Cook for best results."
The complete list of beef name changes/adjustments achieved is available online.

Policy

House Passes Farm Bill

Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives in a 216 to 208 vote passed the 2013 Farm Bill (H.R. 2642).

NCBA President Scott George issued the following statement on the passage of the legislation:

"First, we thank House Agriculture Committee Chairman Lucas of Oklahoma, who in this very difficult environment produced a farm bill that passed out of the House and continues the process toward providing farmers and ranchers the certainty they need. Passage of a 2013 Farm Bill is the top priority for NCBA, and the House took the unprecedented step in separating the nutrition title from the farm bill, and passing a bill that only encompasses agriculture. This step is a major departure from the usual business of agricultural policy, but I am pleased that cattlemen and women are one step closer toward final legislation which not only provides certainty for producers, but also incorporates priorities important to the cattle industry.

"We are very pleased that this legislation includes disaster programs for our producers, which will extend disaster assistance for five years and retroactively covers losses in 2012 and 2013. The legislation authorizes conservation programs important to cattle producers as a tool to leverage private dollars with some federal support to further protect the land and natural resources. It contains language to prevent the United States Department of Agriculture from moving forward on the proposed GIPSA rule from the 2008 Farm Bill.

"There are also important amendments included in the legislation which rein in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These amendments provides regulatory relief to cattle producers, prevent EPA from releasing producers' personal information to third parties such as environmental activist groups and prohibit EPA from regulating forest roads under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

Cattle Market Notes

Dr. John Michael Riley

July 12, 2013

Cash Cattle:

The five-area cash price ended the week mixed with live cattle trading at $121.24/cwt on a live basis, up $1.66, while dressed sales came in at $191.73, down $0.86. In the Southern Plains, live cattle sold at $119/cwt. In the Western Cornbelt, live and dressed cattle were respectively at $121/cwt and $191-$193/cwt.

In Oklahoma City, feeder steers were $3-$5/cwt higher (with 900 pound calves upwards at $10/cwt higher), while heifers sold steady to $2/cwt higher. Calves were called firm. In Mississippi auction markets, feeder steers were $1-$5/cwt higher and heifers traded $2-$4/cwt higher. Slaughter cows were steady while bulls were $1-$3/cwt higher.

Futures:

Live cattle futures slid lower this week for nearby contracts, with the lone exception being a strong rally on Tuesday. Deferred contracts were mildly higher and have been strong since mid-June. The current glut of cattle and lackluster sales have current market prices depressed, while the notion of even tighter supplies in the face of a stronger economy have been encouraging for contracts further out. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index closed at it's highest level on Friday (15,464.30), which should provide some positive support for cattle and beef prices moving forward. Similar trends were seen this week in the feeder cattle markets with nearby contracts falling, while deferred contracts were steady to slightly higher.
Corn futures finished the week 18 to 20 cents higher. From the supply/demand report on Thursday, old crop corn ending stocks were lowered to 729 million bushels (mbu), but higher than expected. New crop ending stocks were raised to 1.959 billion bushels as minor downward revisions for production were more than offset by decreases to use (feed use was lowered 50 mbu to 5.15 billion bushels).

Beef:

Wholesale boxed beef prices were lower this week. Choice carcasses finished the week $3.65/cwt lower at $193.30 and have slid $17.17 since the high's set in late May. Select finished at $185.08/cwt, down $2.07.

Calendar

July

18 Marshall CCA

18 Lee CCA

23 FB Commodity
Conference

23 Area Leaders Mtg
MCA office

29 Monroe CCA

August

1 Area Leaders Mtg
       Batesville

5 Homeplace Board
Sale

6 Monroe Field Day

8 Copiah CCA

8-9 Stocker Conference
        Athens, GA

13 Area Leaders Mtg
         Starkville

13 White Sand Field Day
            Poplarville

15 Area Leaders Mtg
         Brookhaven

21 Stocker Meeting
        Collins

28 Cattlemen's College
        Pickens

29 Cattlemen's College
        Seminary

31 Producers Heifer
        Sale, Hattiesburg

31 Area Leaders Mtg
     Hattiesburg

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