- The 2021 Cattle Industry Convention Winter Reboot is a two-day virtual event and will be held Feb. 23-24, featuring 15 unique educational sessions. The title sponsor of the event is Corteva Agriscience.
- Registration is now open for the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2021 Virtual Stakeholders Summit, themed Obstacles to Opportunities. To register, visit http://bit.ly/AnimalAgSummit.
- The Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame has announced its 2021 inductees and award winners who will be recognized at its 12th annual banquet to be held Aug. 9, 2021, in Nashville, Tennessee. Johnny Trotter, president and CEO of Bar-G Feedyard in Hereford, Texas, and Steve Gabel, founder of Magnum Feedyard in Wiggins, Colorado, are the newest inductees into the Hall of Fame, which annually honors two leaders who have made lasting contributions to the cattle feeding industry. Gary Smith, visiting professor in the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University, is the recipient of the Leadership Award. George Eckert of Green Plains Cattle Company in Leoti, Kansas, and Gaspar Martinez of Harris Feeding Company in Coalinga, California, were named Service Award winners.
- The Minnesota Turkey Growers Association and the Minnesota Turkey Research and Promotion Council are excited to reveal their new website, www.minnesotaturkey.com/ to turkey farmers, agriculture stakeholders, and the general public. Resources to help farmers, educators, and consumers were added to the user-friendly site.
- Leaders of Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB) and the United Dairy Industry Association (UDIA) recently announced election results to lead national dairy checkoff strategies and programs to protect and grow sales.
- While schools are closed and millions of kids learn virtually at home, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin (DFW) and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) share a unique opportunity for kids to visit a farm without leaving the house. The two groups joined forces to create and launch a virtual farm tour of Scientific Holsteins in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, hosted by Julia Nunes, Wisconsin’s 73rd Alice in Dairyland. The virtual farm tour is geared toward grades 3-5 with an emphasis on fourth grade and is available for download at WisconsinDairy.org/Farm-Tour.
- Cattle producers Hugh Sanburg, Norman Voyles, Jr. and Jimmy Taylor are the new leaders of the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion & Research Board (CBB). This officer team is responsible for guiding the national Beef Checkoff throughout 2021.
- A series of videos developed and released through a new partnership between the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, and Chef’s Roll, Inc., reached more than 1.3 million viewers in its initial launch. The videos highlight the importance of the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program for the ranchers who raise the cattle, and the chefs who serve high-quality beef to their customers. Each video follows a chef as they visit a local cattle operation to learn about how BQA practices are used to sustainably and responsibly raise high-quality beef. The beef farmer or rancher then visits the chef’s kitchen to gain an understand of how beef is prepared and featured on the chef’s menu. The experience is rounded out with a shared beef meal.
- Applications are being accepted for college scholarships that are awarded by America’s dairy farmers and importers through the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB). Eleven scholarships worth $2,500 each will be awarded, as well as a $3,500 James H. Loper Jr. Memorial Scholarship to one outstanding recipient. NDB funds, in part, Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), which manages the national dairy checkoff program. Applications can be found at www.usdairy.com/about-us/dmi/scholarship. Completed applications must be received no later than May 7 at 11:59 p.m. CST.
