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Mississippi Cattlemen's Association
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 Congratulations and thanks to our top recruiter, Ricky Ferguson of Pontotoc County, who signed 40 new members in the Gold Buckle Farms Membership Drive. The other winners in the North were Issac Jumper and Danny Wilkerson. In the South Region, Price Wallace, Greta Thornton and Roger Jefcoat were the winners. The associations that reached their goal are: Amite, Covington, George/Jackson, Hancock/Harrison, Jones, Jasper, Jones, Lafayette, Lauderdale, Marshall, MSU Collegiate, Newton, Pontotoc, Rankin, Simpson, Smith, Tate/DeSoto, Walthall, Wayne and Yazoo. Thanks also goes to the following farms and ranches that sponsored the contest. B&B Cattle Co. Bozeman Farms Caldwell Hereford Ranch Calyx Star Ranch Clear Creek Cattle Co. Deep South Bull Group Dyess Farms GLB Farms JRW Farms Rogers Bar HR Sedgewood Plantation Southern Shine Pastures Tanner Farms Thames Angus Farms Town Creek Farm |
The cow that stole Christmas
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the first case of BSE discovered in the U.S., an event that changed the beef industry forever. Trade barriers, feed bans, processing changes and extensive surveillance measures quickly followed.
To date, over 1 million animals have been tested and USDA continues to test 40,000 high-risk animals annually. Since the first cow discovered in Washington State, only three additional animals have tested positive for BSE and none of those animals entered the U.S. food supply. There has never been a documented case of vCJD, the "human form" of the disease, related to eating beef in the United States.
The incidence of cases of BSE is dramatically decreasing with only 29 cases of BSE worldwide in 2011, which is a 99 percent reduction since the peak in 1992 at more than 37,300 cases.
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 Beef Council member Price Wallace delivered the Dukes Steakhouse plaque for finishing in the "Top 10" in Mississippi's Best Steak Contest to Carol and Gene Dukes.  Becky and Dwayne Moak presented the "Top 10" plaque to Johnny Stewart of Two Rivers Restaurant.
Other winners were:
Beechwood Restaurant, Vicksburg
Como Steakhouse, Como
Cowbells Sports Grill, Starkville
Golden Horn Restaurant, Columbus
Maisano's By the Glass Wine Bar & Bistro, Ocean Springs
Nail's Deli, Stewart
Shapley's Restaurant, Ridgeland
Wynndale Steakhouse, Terry
Expert judges are traveling to the top finishers to sample the steaks and the winner will be announced on February 11th during Beef Night at the Dixie National Rodeo.
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Save the Date!
MCA's Annual Meeting will be held Saturday, February 1st.
Awards for county and individual membership recruiters will be presented at the noon luncheon followed by the annual business meeting.
That evening, The Wax Company, CattleWomen's Association and Cattlemen's Foundation scholarships will be presented during the awards dinner.
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 Again this year, Merck is offering our association cash for each empty Ralgro wheel turned in before February 1st. Drop your wheels by the office, give them to any association officer or bring them with you to the MCA annual meeting at the Trade Mart on February 1.
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 | | NCBA December Policy Update with Colin Woodall |
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Cattle Market Notes
Dr. John Michael Riley
December 20, 2013
Cash Cattle:
Cash fed cattle were mostly steady in this week's trade. The five-area live steer price finished the week at $130.03, down 13 cents per hundredweight, dressed steers were at $207.43. Live cattle sales in the Texas Panhandle and Southwest Kansas were called at $130. In Nebraska cattle transactions were, respectively, at $129-$130 and $207-$208. In the Western Cornbelt live and dresses cattle trade was a bit lower at $130 and $206, respectively.Oklahoma City feeder steers and heifers were steady compared to two weeks ago since the last week's sale was canceled. Steer calves were $3 lower to $6 higher depending on the type and background while heifers were steady to $3 higher. In Mississippi auction markets this week feeder steers were steady to $1 lower and calves were mixed. Feeder heifers were steady to lower and heifer calves were steady to $1 higher. Cull cows and bulls were much stronger this week, up $3-$6. Futures:
Live cattle futures slid a bit early in the week before rallying late. Lackluster cash beef and cattle markets provided the bulk of the pressure but outside markets were in the mix as well. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced they would slowly, ever so slowly, start pulling back on their quantitative easing program. While the news in and of itself should be perceived as bearish, equity markets rallied hard - reaching new highs for both the S&P and Dow Jones indices - giving weight to knowing what to expect as opposed to making guesses (knowledge is power, right!). The news came out after futures markets had closed so they joined the party on Thursday. On Friday, U.S. third quarter GDP received another revision and is currently estimated at a 4.1% growth, better than expected. This helped keep spirits bright. Finally, USDA released their monthly Cattle on Feed report late Friday afternoon and it showed fewer cattle in feedlots than expected. This should keep the cattle market in a jolly mood to start next week's Christmas holiday shortened session.
Corn futures rebounded a bit this week. Hot temps for South America's crop is creating some concerns but the bulk of the gains came on Thursday when USDA reported strong export numbers for U.S. corn. Informa Economics (an ag consultancy firm) released their expectations for the 2014 crop acres and they expect corn to garner 91.8 million.
Beef:
Wholesale beef prices ended the week mixed with Choice falling and Select rising. Choice beef averaged $198.22 for the week, down $3.10. Select averaged $188.56, up $1.19.
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January
9 Oktibbeha CCA 9 MS/LA Dairy Conference 18 Greene CCA February
1 MCA Annual Meeting 4-7 Cattle Industry Annual Meeting 7-8 Ag-Tastic, MS Trade Mart
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Register Online
Registration is open for the 2014 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in Nashville Tennessee.
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