I’m not sure what a “robust” membership drive is but NCBA has launched one. I’m passing this along because one of my Tweeple (http://twitter.com/jaegermaister) sent it to me saying that ” . . . one of our tactics is to use social networking to help spread the word and hopefully touch a lot of potential members that we normally would not reach.” Very wise choice Nate. Consider it done. Hey Forrest, are you on Twitter yet?
This year, the U.S. Congress will address many legislative issues that directly affect cattlemen’s bottom line – including property rights and environmental regulations. “The industry needs a stronger voice that represents the forceful, unified influence of America’s beef producers,” said Forrest Roberts, NCBA’s chief executive officer, when announcing the new “Spring Roundup” membership campaign.
“NCBA intends this intensive drive to significantly expand its 31,000-member producer base, grow its state affiliates’ member base, and strengthen the state-national membership position as a political force to be reckoned with—in state and federal legislatures,” Roberts added. “The old adage, that there is ‘strength in numbers’ has never been truer as the industry continues to be bombarded with challenges to the agricultural way of life.”
“As an industry, we need to come together and get serious about defending ourselves and our way of life. Many extreme advocacy groups have millions of members and millions of dollars. They will ensure their viewpoints are front and center with lawmakers,” Roberts said. “NCBA has a solid membership base and can claim many legislative and regulatory victories, but to continue that success, we need to strengthen and solidify our sphere of influence.”
What is it about blogs that are so addicting? Is it the ability to write about whatever your passions are? Is it the opportunity to peak inside the life of someone else? Is it a break from the work routine, a chance to escape and think about something fun? Is it a great way to be informed and meet with others that are interested in the same things as you? Is it a replacement to daily news reports? What is it?
Thanks to a heads up from the 
Besides the new 
Some of the vaccines are single dose, some require more than one injection – and most are designed for healthy pigs over the age of 3-4 weeks. A number of studies have been done on the vaccines available and what producers can expect when using them. Some of those studies were presented at the 
Dr. Paul Yeske with the Swine Vet Center in Minnesota talked about the effect of different PCV2 vaccine protocols on weaned pig performance to slaughter weight. “We learned that the vaccination for PCVAD is effective no matter which vaccine they use,” Yeske said. The main difference they found was that the single dose vaccines resulted in less treatments overall for the animals. “Certainly anytime we can reduce labor is helpful for producers.”
Dr. Joel Nerem with Minnesota’s Pipestone Veterinary Clinic compared the efficacy of a couple of different vaccines on the market, and once again found very little significant difference between them. “What we found was that the one dose CircoFLEX at weaning was equivalent to the two-dose product we were on,” Dr. Nerem said. But a big difference they did find was in mortality, “The CircoFLEX was the only treatment that was statistically different from controls.”
Porcine circovirus type 2 – better known in the swine world as PCV2 – has become increasingly important for hog producers to control through the use of vaccines. 
After just getting home I saw that my copy of the Jeff Jarvis book,