CattleWomen Enjoy Great Success In Reaching Out to Beef Consumers 

Barbara Jackson is halfway through her one-year term as president of the American National CattleWomen organization. She grew up in the beef industry and founded Animal Health Express in 1989 with her husband, Tim. The Tucson-based online business sells animal health supplies, tack, livestock equipment and pet supplies.

Jackson recently attended the annual conference of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association. She spoke with me about why she finds working with the CattleWomen so important when she could easily use the time to work on her own operation. 

"These cattlewomen are about the most passionate people I know for this industry and if I can help organize, focus and help point us to where we are most effective because we have some unique skill sets that we bring to the industry so we can be more effective. If I can do that and help out in any way, then it's truly 'mission accomplished.'"

The organization is working really hard to interact with consumers any way they can, she said.

"We think that when you put women face to face with consumers which are predominantly women, it's a credibility factor that's just tenfold. When we put women in the grocery store with demos, beef sales are 150 percent and we just need to be there to tell our story."

Jackson said cattlewomen are trying a number of different strategies to reach consumers including social media.

You can catch my full conversation with Barbara on our website by clicking here.

American Farm Bureau Federation, 400 Others Call for House Immigration Reform 

The American Farm Bureau Federation and more than 400 leading U.S. businesses and advocacy organizations called on the House to enact immigration reform legislation. The letter, sent today, was signed by a broad cross section of industries that includes agriculture, housing, retail, tourism, hospitality, technology, engineering, manufacturing, finance, venture capital, consumer electronics and others with a combined presence in every state in the United States.

The groups' letter to U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi touched on several points including: 

"Thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum agree that enacting immigration reform now will accelerate U.S. economic growth at a critical time when it has struggled to recover, and will help to enable sustained growth for decades to come. Done right, reform will also serve to protect and complement our U.S. workforce, generating greater productivity and economic activity that will lead to new innovations, products, businesses and jobs in communities across the U.S.

"We are united in the belief that we can and must do better for our economy and country by modernizing our immigration system. We already have been engaged with many members of Congress-Republicans and Democrats-on numerous components of a modern immigration system, and we urge that you not let this momentum slip and progress vanish."

You can read the full letter and find a link listing all the signers by clicking here.

 

Oklahoma Food Safety Task Force Considers Its Future

The Oklahoma Food Safety Task Force coordinating committee met at Oklahoma State University's Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center on July 23 to discuss the future of the task force.

"This is the fifth meeting of the task force," said Stan Stromberg, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry food safety director. "One of the main purposes of this task force is to gather a diverse group of Oklahoma stakeholders comprised of government, academia, industry and consumer groups together to establish an effective statewide infrastructure."

The task force was created to foster communication, cooperation and collaboration of effort related to food safety in Oklahoma spanning the horizon from production, processing, distribution, retail and foodservice sales, and home consumption of the food supply.

You can read the full article by clicking here.

Stockpiled Bermuda Grass Can Reduce Winter Feed Costs, Glenn Selk Says

Glenn Selk, OSU Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist, writes in the latest Cow-Calf newsletter:

Harvested forage costs are a large part of the production costs associated with cow-calf enterprises.   For the first time in two years, producers in the eastern two-thirds of Oklahoma will have enough Bermuda grass to consider stockpiling some of the forage for winter feed. An Oklahoma State University trial had the objective to economically evaluate stockpiled Bermuda grass. The research found that this practice can reduce cow-wintering costs. Forage accumulation during the late summer and fall is variable from year to year depending on moisture, temperatures, date of first frost and fertility. This strategy requires that an alternative pasture must be available for cattle to graze from late August to November 1.

The OSU research has found that 50 to 100 pounds per acre of actual nitrogen fertilizer applied in the late summer has produced 1000 - 2000 pounds of forage per acre. In some ideal situations even more forage has been produced.  

Click here for more from Glenn Selk. 

 

Beef Producers Trying to Produce Healthy Choices for Everyone, Roberts Says

Forrest Roberts, the chief executive officer of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association wears two hats: one when he represents the policy side of the organization on behalf of its members and, two, when he represents the checkoff organization side working with the federation of state beef councils and as a major contractor for the Beef Checkoff. In his various guises, Roberts represents all cattle producers of all types of breeding schemes and all types of production schemes. He doesn't pit one type of beef production against another whether it be local, organic, natural, or conventionally produced. All have their markets and they all have their value.

"We look at this from the sense that we're producing healthy choices for everyone. And it's not about pitting conventionally-raised beef product versus one that's natural or organic because they all have a place. But we feel like whenever there is a war going on about one method versus the other, ultimately the beef producer in the end loses because we have a consumer that has a sense of skepticism that is higher before the discussion started.

"So we look at this not from 'good versus bad,' but from the point of view that we need to look at providing healthy choices for everyone. And if they have a preference that is going to require a higher price point the knowledge, the understanding of why needs to be a part of the dialog. And we find that the needle is really being moved in the sense of trust that we are building with the influencers, the major influencers that are out there today whether they be from a nutrition and a dietician world or way back through a member who might be an influencer from a media perspective. And it's a formula, it's an approach and it's very hands-on that's working."

Forrest joins me on the latest Beef Buzz.  Click here to listen.

 

This N That- ILAC Final Day to Register, US Wheat Industry Thankful the Japanese Open Back Up and Big Iron Auction Action 

We have been reminding you for the last few weeks that July 31st is the final day that you can register to attend the International Leadership Alumni Conference to be held August 14-17 in Oklahoma City. That final day has arrived.   

Hope Pjesky and the ALO folks helping her have done an excellent job in lining up an award winning agenda, tours and fun.   

Register today and be a part of this tremendous conference- click here for all of the details- including how to register.

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A joint news release was issued on Tuesday that offered reaction from the two national wheat organizations that represent wheat farmers in the US about the decision by Japan to once again source US White Wheat from the Pacific northwest.

"U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) are pleased that Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) will resume tenders this week for new purchases of U.S. Western White and soft white wheat. MAFF had suspended new purchases of Western White following the announcement in late May by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) that volunteer wheat plants with an unapproved genetically modified (GM) trait had been discovered in a single field in Oregon.


"The announcement from Japan comes as a result of a thorough, science-based review by MAFF of the ongoing APHIS investigation, as well as a sustained effort by the wheat industry, USDA and many others to provide the information MAFF needed to buy U.S. Western White and soft white wheat again. APHIS and MAFF have now tested hundreds of samples of U.S. wheat and found no evidence of any GM material in commercial supplies, which reaffirms the USDA conclusion that this was a limited, isolated incident."

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It's Wednesday- and that means Big Iron will be closing out some 211 items today online, in their no reserve auction process.

Among the featured sellers today- Crop Production Services with locations in Texas and Oklahoma.   

Click here for the Big Iron website, where you can view all of the items up for bid that will begin to close at 10 AM central time.