Baxter Black Is Environmentally Friendly

Chuck Zimmerman

Baxter BlackIn a highly applauded encore appearance, Baxter Black, entertained at the CBB annual dinner.

Baxter is the voice of Checkoff producer communications radio spots. He says it’s very important for producers to know what’s going on with their investment.

One observation he made when I spoke with him is how things get done here. He says it’s stunning to him that anything gets done. He was in some of the committee meetings and he says you hear all kinds of different opinions, sometimes arguing, but at the end of the day it seems like the best decision is made. Baxter also says that the Checkoff program is very important and needs to continue to be funded.

Listen to my interview with Baxter here: cisc-08-black-interview.mp3

For those of you who haven’t ever heard Baxter tell a story then check this one out. In it he tells about how cowboys are environmentally friendly: cisc-08-black-poem.mp3

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Audio, Cattle Industry Conference

Beef Quality Assurance Awards

Chuck Zimmerman

BQA Award WinnersThe first ever winners of the BQA Award were announced today.

Quality. It’s not only a word written in an instruction manual but a responsible action – one must live it and then teach it. That was the underlying theme this week as two producers were honored with the national Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) award, created to recognize outstanding beef and dairy producers from across the country who incorporate BQA principles as part of the day-to-day activities on their operations. The winners were selected based upon their commitment to beef quality assurance while operating sustainable cattle operations.

This year’s winners were Jim Docheff, Diamond D Dairy from Longmont, Colo., and Anne Burkholder, Will Feed Inc. from Cozad, Neb.

A common trait among the two winners is a strong desire to continually improve BQA on their operations while successfully encouraging others around them to implement BQA. The National BQA award winners are selected annually by a committee of representatives from universities, state beef councils and cattle industry groups. For more information about the beef checkoff or BQA program, visit www.bqa.org, www.dbqa.org or www.beefboard.org.

Listen to my interview with Jim and Anne here: cisc-08-bqa.mp3

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

Joe Schuele Says So Long

Chuck Zimmerman

Joe Schuele and Melissa TessitoreIn a real show of gratitude, we allowed Joe Schuele, USMEF, to attend the media reception here at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. We even let him say a few words. We did it because we appreciate all his hard work in the media room for years.

Joe let us know how much he enjoyed doing it and said that we’d be taken care of very well by Grace Webb and Melissa Tessitore, pictured here with him.

We know where to find Joe though.

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

Merial Adding Value

Chuck Zimmerman

MerialMerial is the sponsor of the media room at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference once again. Here’s our sponsors at the media reception last night at the Buffalo Exchange.

The man behind a lot of microphones here has been Van Ricketts. Van is involved with the fed cattle business. I spoke to him about two main things they’d like producers to know about right now, calf pre-conditioning and parasite control.

As the beef industry faces record high grain costs, two things are likely to happen: calves will stay on grass longer than usual and feedyard managers will be even more choosey about which calves fill their pens. “The MERIAL SUREHEALTH Calf Preconditioning Program is an ideal option for producers looking to add value and marketability to their calves,” says Dr. Van Ricketts, Director of Corporate Accounts, Merial. “Not only is it a program recognized by buyers throughout the country, but it also has a proven health protocol backed by Merial’s 21-day Limited Health Warranty.”

According to a recent study from Iowa State University, one place producers cannot afford to cut is in their parasite control program. The study concluded that parasite control is the most economically important practice in beef production.

At the cow/calf level, the study showed that dewormers affect weaning rates and weights more than any other technology a producer can employ. Cow/calf producers who used parasite control saw an advantage of 23% in weaning rates and 4% in weaning weights. Parasite control was almost six times more important to a cow/calf producer’s breakeven cost than growth-promoting implants (the second-most economically significant choice). Eliminating parasite control practices would negatively affect breakeven selling prices by 34%, which would mean an added cost of $165 per head.

Listen to my interview with Van here: cisc-08-ricketts.mp3

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

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OSU Photo Database

Chuck Zimmerman

Bison - Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State UniversityIf you’re looking for ag photos then keep the OSU photo database in mind. You’ll find lots of photos like this one.

Need that perfect picture for your editorial story and can’t find it? Search the Oklahoma State University Ag Communications Services photo database! Visit http://www2.dasnr.okstate.edu/ag-media and click on “Photo Database” on the left menu bar.

Photos related to all aspects of agriculture are free to download and use for NON-COMMERCIAL PURPOSES only — NO ADVERTISING. Please include a photo credit when using photos. (i.e. Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State University.)

New photos are added regularly so check back often for new material. If you have any questions regarding the Photo Database, please contact Agricultural Communications Services at (405) 744-4065.

University

Educating Children About Animal Agriculture

Chuck Zimmerman

Rebecca Long ChaneyInspirational speaker and writer, Rebecca Long Chaney, is working on a series of agricultural education books for pre-schoolers and elementary school children. Here she’s seen with her exhibit at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference.

The book she’s promoting will be available through her website soon. This first book, which she had for sale, is written from the perspective of her twin daughters, raising their first orphan beef calf they found in a field. The book follows along from the field to when they get the calf halter trained.

Rebecca says the next book will focus on dairy, with her daughters spending a day on a neighbor’s dairy and working in a local creamery. She’s very passionate about teaching the truth about animal agriculture to children and says that this project is one she’ll be working on for years.

Rebecca was born and raised on a dairy farm and now raises registered Hereford beef cattle.

Listen to my interview with Rebecca here: cisc-08-chaney.mp3

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Audio, Cattle Industry Conference

Beef Budget Blues

Chuck Zimmerman

Tom RameyTom Ramey, CBB’s CEO sure has his hands full dealing with some challenging times for the Checkoff. This morning he made a presentation at the second general session of the Summer Conference. You can listen to his presentation below.

I also interviewed Tom and found out that there are two main issues of special importance to the Checkoff here at this conference. The first one, according to Tom, is the budget. The recommended budget was presented at the CBB Update Session and committees will be looking at the parts that affect them during their meetings. Tom says that Checkoff dollars are down and that it’s a tough time right now. He says some difficult decisions will need to be made.

The other big issue is the process to create recommendations for ways to improve the Checkoff. Tom says the staff has sent out over 300 letters soliciting comments and that they’ll be organizing meetings with a number of the organizations targeted. Once those comments come in the staff will organize them and scrub them so that the Admin Subcommittee, which is charged with overseeing this process, can look at them on the merit of the comment without being affected by seeing who wrote them. Then the staff will be helping organize meetings with the committee to review the comments and formulate recommendations prior to the end of the year.

Tom says producers here seem excited about what the Checkoff is doing but are concerned about the budget. He says these are difficult times for the beef industry.

Listen to my interview with Tom here: cisc-08-ramey-1.mp3

Listen to Tom’s general session presentation here: cisc-08-ramey-general-session-2.mp3

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

Web Savvy Beef Ambassadors

Chuck Zimmerman

Beef AmbassadorsThe red-shirted Beef Ambassadors have been wandering the halls here at the Summer Conference. I spoke with two of them this morning, Leticia Varelas, NM (L) and Jennifer Rassler, PA. They wanted to make sure I pointed people to their blog: Raising The Steaks. I hope you’ll take some time to see what these ambassadors of the industry are doing.

In my interview they each talk about projects they’ve been involved with like:

Summer Photo Contest: So, our mission for you is to capture those little moments of you washing your animal, leading him around, or how well you take care of them. Let your photo show how your involvement with the beef cattle production project really encourages you to be aware of animal welfare. So what we want from you is your best photo. Send it in to us at our email, which is raisingthesteaks@gmail.com. Feel free to include a caption about your picture. The contest deadline is October 1st, so you’re sure to have the perfect moment for a picture. Be sure to include an email adress where we can contact you. Photos will be judged, and a winner notified. Check back for more details as we get this contest rolling.

Penn State Blood Drive: Jennifer says they held a blood drive that had the slogan, “Beef, It’s What’s For Donors.” They fed donors hamburgers and gave them t-shirts too. She says it was the biggest blood drive they’ve ever held.

YouTube Videos: Both of these ambassadors produced YouTube videos for Earth Day to showcase the positive things farmers do for the environment. You can find Leticia’s video here and Jennifer’s video here.

Listen to my interview with Leticia and Jennifer here: cisc-08-beef-ambassadors.mp3

Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, ARC, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • A new Farm Foundation report, What’s Driving Food Prices?, will be released Wednesday, July 23, at the Farm Foundation Forum. This event begins at 9 a.m. at the National Press Club. Farm Foundation commissioned the report to provide an objective context for interpreting the rapidly growing literature on the forces driving food prices.
  • Bayer HealthCare, Animal Health has chosen Woodruff Sweitzer as the agency of record for all brands across companion and food animal markets in Canada.
  • REA Hybrids has launched a new company Web site. Features include product searches that will allow growers to tailor requests for the information they are interested in with the option of downloading and printing full technical specifications for individual products; downloads of marketing materials; and an entire section dedicated to agronomy information.
  • The Cattlemen’s Beef Board has launched a new Web site designed to be the one place to go to find out how national beef checkoff dollars are invested and the results of those investments. Some highlights of the site include: monthly e-newsletter sign-up; producer profiles from across the country and expanded state beef council information and access.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Three New Associates on Board at Bader

    Laura McNamara

    Milwaukee-based Bader Rutter is welcoming three new associates to its public relations group. Anna Kirk, Josh Sova and Sara Pellowski are the newest additions to the marketing services agency.

    Anna Kirk (pictured top right) joins Bader Rutter as a team leader. Kirk brings 11 years of professional communications experience to her position. Most recently, she owned and managed Launchpad MCPR, Inc. Kirk holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. She will be working on the Schneider Electric account.

    Josh Sova (pictured middle left) joins the agency as an assistant account executive. Most recently, Sova worked for The Promotions Network (TPN), Milwaukee. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. Sova will be working on the Merial account, an animal health company.

    Sara Pellowski (pictured bottom right) also joins the agency as an assistant account executive. Pellowski previously worked for Ron Sonntag Public Relations, served as a reporter for the West Bend Daily News and was a contributing writer for Soho Magazine. Pellowski is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. She will be working on the Dow AgroSciences account.

    Advertising, Ag Groups, Agencies