Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced progress on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) comprehensive approach to address the many, complex competition issues in agricultural markets and create a fairer playing field for small- and mid-size farmers. In support of these efforts, USDA has finalized the first in a series of rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act, which is aimed at helping contract poultry growers compete more effectively and better understand the terms of their agreements with major processing companies.
The USPOULTRY Foundation awarded student recruiting grants totaling $297,580 to six U.S. universities with Poultry Science departments and 20 other institutions with industry-related programs. The Foundation provides annual recruiting and retention funds to colleges and universities to attract or connect students to their poultry programs and the industry. The grants were made possible in part by gifts to the USPOULTRY Foundation from companies, individuals and families, in addition to funds earned over the years from the International Poultry Expo, part of the International Production & Processing Expo.
The long-term demand trends for dairy products indicate butter, cheese and other full-fat dairy foods will continue to grow in sales and volume for the foreseeable future. U.S. consumers have shifted away from margarine and reduced fat dairy foods over the last decade as nutritional science surrounding saturated fats has evolved. As a result, butterfat levels in the national milk supply have risen sharply in response to changing demand patterns and dairy market dynamics. According to a new report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange, the butterfat boom will continue as the entire dairy supply chain is capturing additional value from milk with higher fat and protein levels. The economic incentives for a supermajority of the nation’s dairy farmers are firmly in place to produce milk with more butterfat.
Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, the third largest dairy cooperative in the country based on milk volume, hosted a workshop on meaningful milk pricing reform in northwest Iowa. The session aimed to shed light on the cooperative’s efforts to reform the U.S. milk pricing system through the Federal Milk Marketing Order hearing process and legislatively through the farm bill. American Foods Group sponsored the event.
Farm Journal Foundation and the Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC) are launching a new program to support climate-smart grazing practices among Native American cattle farmers and ranchers. The program, which will work in partnership with Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC) and the Yield Lab Institute, will offer a combination of direct incentive payments, technical assistance, and education to producers who adopt certain conservation practices on their grazing lands. It will also better enable Native American cattle producers to participate in carbon and branded commodity markets and create pathways to join U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs. This new program, developed through support from the USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative, officially launched at IAC’s Eastern Oklahoma and Southern Plains Regional Summit.
The next NCBA Cattlemen’s Webinar Series event is scheduled for Nov. 16 at 6:00 pm. CST. As winter progresses, winter nutrition, supplementation, and environmental stress on cows are a concern for cattle producers. Proper nutritional management affects the profitability and performance of the cow and her future calf. Hear from beef cattle specialists, Karla Wilke, PhD, University of Nebraska, and Maggie Justice, PhD, University of Arkansas discuss the importance of building a nutrition program and considerations for your operation. Register here.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) strongly opposes the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to allow Paraguayan beef imports starting next month. NCBA has repeatedly raised concerns with USDA over Paraguay’s history of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and the outdated information used to justify Paraguay’s access to the U.S. market. NCBA is concerned that USDA’s failure to use information from recent site visits in the risk assessment may pose great risk to the safety of the U.S. cattle herd.
Experience Cattlemen’s College all week long during CattleCon from Wednesday, January 31st to Friday, February 2nd. Extend the opportunity for education and networking from classroom style sessions to sessions on the trade show floor.
