CC C
arolina attle onnection JANUARY 2022 •
Vol. 36, Issue No. 1
Spotlight on
CHAROLAIS
ONNECTION 2021 South Carolina Sale Barn Cattle Receipts ..................................................................... page 69 46th Annual Clemson Bull Sale, by Steven E. Meadows, Ph.D. ............................................... page 42 A Message from the CEO — Naughty or Nice?, by Colin Woodall ..................................... page 67 Alltech News ............................................................................................................................... page 20 Amazing Grazing — My New Year’s Resolution — Renovate Some Tall Fesue Pasture in 2022!, by Matt Poore …........................... page 18 American Angus Association News ........................................................................................ page 27 American Brahman Breeders Association News ................................................................ page 62 American Hereford Association News .................................................................................. page 34 Animal Agriculture Alliance News .......................................................................................... page 37 Ashley’s Beef Corner — Checking the Rear View Mirror, by Ashley W. Herring ........... page 16 Beef Checkoff News ................................................................................................................... page 55 Beef Cuts and Recommended Cooking Methods ................................................................ page 78 Beefmaster Breeders United News ....................................................................................... page 50 BioZyme Incorporated News .................................................................................................. page 60 Carolina Cooking — Beef Chili Carnivale .............................................................................. page 75 Carolina Video and Load Lot Monthly Summary ................................................................ page 22 Cattlemen’s Beef Board Update — Comparing Beef With Plant Based Alternative Proteins — What Are the Facts?, by Norman Voyles, Jr. ......................................... page 75 Consignment Sales, Putting Your Best Foot Forward, by Steven E. Meadows, Ph.D. ..... page 50 Director’s Report — New Year, New Opportunities, by Travis W. Mitchell .................. page 3 E.B.’s View from the Cow Pasture —A John Deere Disc and a Good Peach Crop, by E.B. Harris ............................................................................................................................ page 21 Farm Credit News ....................................................................................................................... page 41 Federation of State Beef Councils Update ............................................................................ page 58 Gone to Texas Update! ............................................................................................................. page 70 N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation News — NCCF Awards 2020-2021 Scholarships ......... page 76 N.C. Forage & Grassland Council Forage Spotlight — Join Us for the Upcoming Native Forage Event ......................................................... page 18 N.C. Weekly Livestock Report ................................................................................................ page 71 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association News ..................................................................... page 68 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President’s Report — NCBA Regional Triggers Q3 Report, by Jerry Bohn ................................................... page 64 NCBA Pushes EPA to Support Clear Water Rules With Launch of WOTUS Campaign ................................................................................... page 51 New NCCA Members for 2022 ................................................................................................. page 54 North American Limousin Foundation News ...................................................................... page 69 North Carolina Cattle Receipts, Trends, and Prices ............................................................ page 54 Observe Body Condition Score at Calving — and Before, by Dr. Shelby Roberts ........... page 57 On the Edge of Common Sense — Cat Laws, by Baxter Black .............................................. page 21 Purina News ................................................................................................................................ page 47 S.C. Beef Council News, by Roy Copelan ................................................................................. page 58 Six Tips for Calf Scours Prevention, by Dr. Shelby Roberts .................................................. page 39 South Carolina Cattle Receipts, Trends, and Prices ............................................................ page 70 Technology Improves Performance and Profitability ....................................................... page 40 The Simmental Trail, by Jennie Rucker …….........................................................................….. page 38 Vitamin A Importanceby Bob Larson, DVM, Ph.D. ...........................................................….. page 72 What’s Happening with 30x30? .............................................................................................. page 42 You Decide!, by Dr. Mike Walden ............................................................................................. page 22 Zoetis Quick Tips ........................................................................................................................ page 52
N.C. Cattlemen’s Association President KARL GILLESPIE 860 Corbin Road • Franklin, NC 28734
Vice Presidents BURON LANIER 2877 Piney Woods Road • Burgaw, NC 28425
The Carolina Cattle Connection Vol. 36, No. 1 JANUARY 2022 Sales & Publication Office
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Phone: 919-552-9111 Fax: 919-552-9216 Email: mail@nccattle.com Website: www.nccattle.com
Immediate Past President JEREMY LEE 5153 Battle Run Drive • Catawba, NC 28609 NCBA Policy Division Director - FRED SMITH, JR. NCBA Federation Division Director RALPH BLALOCK, JR. Beef Board Director - ROBERT CRABB Secretary/Treasurer - EVERETT JOHNSON Directors At Large MATT POORE • NEIL BOWMAN • TODD SEE
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Executive Director - TRAVIS MITCHELL S.C. Circulation To Be Announced P.O. Box 207 • Saluda, SC 29138 Phone: 803-609-2828 Material in The Carolina Cattle Connection Email: twmitch@clemson.edu is not to be reproduced in total or in part Website: www.sccattlemen.wildapricot.org without the written permission of the Editor. All submissions become property of The Carolina Executive Committee Cattle Connection, but we make every effort to President - Roscoe Kyle return items such as photographs and artwork as 1st Vice President - Timmy Benton requested. 2nd Vice President - Joe Oswald IV Secretary - Carol Hendrix Treasurer - Eric Seymour Past President - Thomas Legare
William Brigman, Latta • Joe Oswald, IV, Allendale Roscoe Kyle, Inman • Terry Kirkland, Batesburg Eddie Evans, Easley • Cecil Eaddy, Manning Thomas Legare, Johns Island • Richard Sox, Lexington Carol Hendrix, Westminister • Clay Alexander, Starr Timmy Benton, Walterboro • Michael Bailey, Lancaster Bonnie Cann, Abbeville • Ashley Mills, Blair Drake Yon, Ridge Spring • Gene Crim, St. Matthews Lee Haddon, Gaffney • Eric Seymour, Columbia
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The Carolina Cattle Connection, the official publication of the N.C. Cattlemen’s Association and the S.C. Cattlemen’s Association is published monthly by the N.C. Cattlemen’s Association. A complementary subscription is included with membership to each state’s association. Nonmember subscriptions are $30 per year.
All address changes for NCCA members to: The Carolina Cattle Connection 2228 N. Main Street • Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526 All address changes for SCCA members to: The Carolina Cattle Connection P.O. Box 207 • Saluda, SC 29138
CHAROLAIS Nubbin Ridge Farm — Quality Seed Stock in Oconee County … page 5 A Short History of Modern Charolais Cattle, Part 1 — Foundations, by John Dellinger … page 8 A Short History of Modern Charolais Cattle, Part 2 — The Duke, by John Dellinger … page 10
A Short History of Modern Charolais Cattle, Part 3 — Show Cattle, by John Dellinger … page 12
A Short History of Modern Charolais Cattle, Part 4 — Performance Cattle, by John Dellinger … page 14 A Short History of Modern Charolais Cattle, Part 5 — The Carolinas, by John Dellinger … page 4 The Great White Charolais Cow, by John Dykers, M.D. … page 6
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The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
Director’s Report By TRAVIS W. MITCHELL, Executive Director, SCCA
New Year, New Opportunities Happy New Year from the S.C. Cattlemen’s Association. I hope each of you had a wonderful holiday season and your 2022 is off to a great start. The S.C. Cattlemen’s Association is busy planning for our upcoming Annual Meeting and Convention being held February 4 at the T. Ed Garrison Cattle Complex in Clemson, South Carolina. We hope you will make plans to attend this day long conference and stay the night to attend the Clemson Bull Test sale the following day. We have an outstanding agenda planned that includes educational sessions on beef cattle production, an industry trade show, and an evening awards banquet to recognize our S.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship winners and our Awards of Excellence recipients. Registration for the conference can be
found by going to our website at www. sccattlemen.org. Rising input costs seem to be one of the biggest challenges we will face in the beef cattle business this coming year. Our conference will focus its educational sessions on efficiently managing input costs to increase profitability. The American farmer and rancher are the best in the business at doing more with less. During these challenging times, I would like to thank you for all the hard work you do each and every day. I would also like to thank you for your membership in the S.C. Cattlemen’s Association. It is because of your membership that we are able to unite cattle producers to advance the economic, political, and social interests of South Carolina’s cattle industry.
E V A S ! E T A D E TH WHAT:
2022 South Carolina Cattlemen’s Association Annual Meeting WHEN:
February 4, 2022 WHERE:
Garrison Livestock Arena Clemson, S.C. 2022 S.C. Cattlemen’s Association Annual Meeting Preliminary Agenda FEBRUARY 3
Time TBD - Vendor Set Up and Social
FEBRUARY 4
8:30-10:00 a.m. - Registration, Coffee with Cattlemen, and Trade Show 10:00-10:30 a.m. - SCCA Annual Business Meeting and Introductions
10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon - Beef Cattle Management Topic, Speaker TBD 12:00 noon-1:00 p.m. - Lunch with Extension Update, Speaker TBD 1:00-1:30 p.m. - Trade Show Break
1:30-2:30 - NCBA Updates and Parter Updates, Speaker TBD 2:30-3:00 p.m. - Trade Show Break and Ice Cream
3:00-4:00 p.m. - Private Pesticide License Recertification Credit, Speaker TBD 4:00-4:30 p.m. - Beef Cattle Management Breakout Sessions • Bull Sale, Dr. Steve Meadows and Dr. Brian Bolt • Forages, Dr. Liliane Severino da Silva
4:30-6:00 p.m. - Trade Show Break with Opportunity to View Bulls
Registrations for the conference can be found online at www.sccattlemen.org. ◆ Exhibitor Registration ◆ Sponsor Registration ◆ Individual Registration For more information about the S.C. Cattlemen’s Association Conference,contact:
TRAVIS MITCHELL • 803-609-2828
6:00-8:00 p.m. - Joint SCCA Awards and Clemson Bull Test Banquet The Carolina Cattle Connection
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e Special
Spotlight on
CHAROLAIS
Section f
A Short History of Modern Charolais Cattle, Part 5 — The Carolinas By JOHN DELLINGER When I’ve written about Charolais cattle, I’ve written mostly about influential cattle. But they tell me that the seedstock cattle business is just as much about people. So here are some stories about a few of the pioneer Charolais breeders in North Carolina and South Carolina. This is not a complete list, and I’m sure I’m going to miss some important folks and probably overemphasize a few people. And there might be some mistakes. My apologies for any errors, and feel free to let me know. Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher in the 19th Century. A friend suggested to me that Schopenhauer’s observations on writers could be adapted to describe cattle breeders, and it’d go something like this: Cattle breeders may be classified as meteors, planets, and fixed stars. - A meteor makes a striking effect for a moment — the spectator looks up and cries “There!”, and then it’s gone forever. - Planets last a much longer time compared to meteors. And they outshine the fixed stars, and inexperienced observers may confuse them for fixed stars. But that is only because they are closer. Before too long, they give up their place, and their only light is reflected light, and their sphere of influence is confined only to a few of their contemporaries. The path of planets is one of change and movement, and within a few years, their tale is told. - Fixed stars are the only ones that are constant. Their position is secure. They shine with their own light. Their effect today is the same as yesterday. Their appearance does not change based on the different point of view of the observer. They belong to the universe, not just a small community. They are so far away that it can be many years before their light is visible to others. The folks I’m going to mention will include some “meteors,” some “planets,” and a few “fixed stars.” I’ll leave the classification to the reader, though, and just tell the story. In 1950, Charolais cattle were being bred in only three states in America —
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Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. There were a few bulls spread throughout the country earlier, with a few even in this general neighborhood. For example, Winston Guest, a relative of Winston Churchill and an heir to the U.S. Steel fortune, imported two bulls from Mexico to his farm in western Virginia in 1942. But by 1960, there were Charolais breeders in most of the country, including in the Carolinas. I think the first sustained Charolais breeder in the Carolinas was John M. Jordan, Jr. in Saxapahaw, North Carolina. He was the son of Everett Jordan, a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. His family made their money in the textile industry, and John started breeding Charolais bulls to commercial cows in the mid-’50s. Jordan worked with French cattle and polled cattle successfully. In the days when French cattle were very valuable, he sold one female at auction for $40,000 and another for $60,000. He eventually developed what was thought to be the largest polled Charolais herd in the world, with locations in several states. He formed Jordan Charolais Enterprises, which was an effort at vertical integration, in which his ranches would raise the beef, his plants would process it, and eventually, his Jordan’s Le Charolais
Charolais breeder in South Carolina was James McNamara in Greenville, South Carolina. He was a medical doctor. He had a Charolais herd from the late ‘50s until the early ‘70s. His cattle were identified with the “Isidore” suffix — for example, “Carl of Isidore.” The Isidore cattle were sold out to Bar U Ranch in Mississippi and Rabbit Hill in Florida around 1970. A few of his cattle became the basis for the “Muffett” family, which was very popular in the show ring for many years after that. The Jordan and Isidore cattle went throughout the country and provided a strong base for others. In addition, Jordan and McNamara got together in November 1963 to help form the Virginia Carolinas Charolais Association. Other early breeders in the Carolinas who were involved in that association at the formation included Hoyte Causey of Chadbourne, N.C., Fred Mast of Valle Crucis, N.C., Scott Gardner of Warrenton, N.C., Paul Wallace of Wallace, S.C., Jack Sher of Inman, S.C., and John Ashmore of Greenville, South Carolina. Besides being “first” or “early,” I think breeders can be interesting because of their “day jobs” or, obviously, because of the impact of the cattle through the years. Hanes Ranch was in Clemmons, N.C., and was owned by the Hanes family, now more famous for Michael Jordan’s underwear. The Hanes family had Charolais from about 1964 through fall 1968. Bowman Gray, Jr., the President and CEO of Reynolds Tobacco Co. bred Charolais at Brookberry Farm in
Super Dess when he sold for $130,000 for ¼ interest.
Steakhouses and his chain of burger restaurants would serve it. In May 1971, he sold that venture and largely left the Charolais business. He sold a bull, JCR Polled Dessauny 999 (known as Super Dess), for $130,000 for ¼ interest. Super Dess had a yearling weight of 1,685 lbs, a world record at that time, and his auction price was also a world record at the time. It appears that the first sustained
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
The Brookberry herd in Winston-Salem.
Winston-Salem, N.C., from 1967-1969. Grier Beam, the CEO of Carolina Freight, bred Charolais at Sunbeam Farm in Cherryville, N.C., from about 1971 to 1978. Some important cattle, including the parents of both JF Polled Addition and the foundation cow for the Three Trees Vanessa cow families, trace back to Sunbeam. It is unlikely that most folks knew that this was an important breeding program then.
OHF Vannar, a descendant of a Sunbeam cow.
The Carolina Charolais Ranch was in Lillington, N.C., in the ‘60s. They eventually became part of the Jordan herd, but before that, they produced a female named CCR Nancy Bayard. That cow would eventually make her way to Spain Charolais in Missouri, where she would produce Spains Quality Poll 871. He would be the paternal grandsire of BR Duke 261, probably the most important bull in the breed in the United States. Dr. Leroy Webb started his Charolais herd in Easley, S.C., in the late 1960s. In 1981, he was part of one of the biggest Charolais events ever in South Carolina when he joined along with a group of
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Spotlight on
CHAROLAIS
Section f
Nubbin Ridge Farm — Quality Seed Stock in Oconee County about ten other Charolais breeders to purchase a ¼ interest in Riverwood Elevation 44 for $350,000, making Elevation worth a total of $1.4 million. Two other Carolina breeders — Dr. John Giles of Morganton, N.C., and Ed Runion of Greer, S.C. — also joined into that group. Dr. Giles and Dr. Webb both used Elevation well. Dr. Giles left the Charolais business around 1990, but the Webb herd is still going strong in Easley.
July 1981 Advertisement for Riverwood Elevation Syndicate.
The last folks I’m going to mention are Wayne Templeton and Gerald Barton. Wayne has been in the Charolais business at least since the early ‘70s when he was herdsman for LH Bar Ranch in Newnan, Georgia. LH Bar was sort of a continuation of the Ayavalla Plantation breeding program in Florida, which was owned by the Phipps family from U.S. Steel. LH Bar used a bull called FCI B47, and they produced at least one National Champion bull, LH General Lee. General Lee would go on to be a foundation bull for Wesson Charolais in Missouri, a major herd from the ‘70s to the ‘90s.
LH General Lee as National Champion.
Meanwhile, Gerald Barton, an attorney from New York City, struck up a friendship with another attorney, Perry Nichols, in the early ‘70s. Nichols had a Charolais herd in Florida. That ended up with Barton starting a Charolais herd on Nichols’ ranch. That, of course, ended up with unpaid bills and unmet expectations and litigation, but, in short, Gerald Barton became a cattle breeder. In the Fall of 1975, Barton bought FCI B47. Around that same time, Barton hired Wayne Templeton to manage his herd in Abbeville, South Carolina. In the next few years, they built a nice herd of cattle, adding important bulls, Spains Polled Challenger and RCC Royal Standout 2973 to the mix. That herd dispersed in early 1982, and Mr. Barton went home to New York. But the genetics proved useful for years after that, and Wayne Templeton and his family have continued to breed Charolais cattle since then. There are many others who probably should be mentioned. But you can see in the small sample that there are some “meteors,” some “planets,” and some “fixed stars” in the group. You can decide which ones are which, but I think it might be useful for cattle breeders to think about their own breeding programs and which category they want to be in.
Registered Charolais operation Nubbin Ridge Farm continues in the foothills of Oconee County, located in Oakway, South Carolina. Cattle numbers at Nubbin Ridge have stabilized at around 80 head on two farms. Mike King is retired but stays busy, full time, with calving, weaning, marketing his cattle by private treaty, cutting and baling hay, plus running a small rental home business.
Mike is a retired Naval officer who never forgot his rural roots. He has fond memories of farm life and his grand experiences in the 4-H club where he served as president, competed in judging beef and dairy cattle, showed registered Jersey cattle for seven years, and traveled on numerous trips.
He currently uses two Charolais bulls on his two herds. One bull is NRF Ledger 736P out of the LT Ledger 033P bloodline. The other is out of his old $25,000 914 donor, Rich Lady, obtained from John White in Georgia. Both bulls throw calves between 65-80 pounds and frame out at about frame 8. Most years, he sells around 25 bulls and 15 heifers. He usually does not sell cows because he is surrounded by highways on his farms, and he is a firm believer that cattle raised on his farm will stay on his farm.
He invites anyone who likes Charolais to stop by and see the operation on his Century Farm that has been breeding Charolais since 1956. Mike has obtained success with Charolais by breeding cattle that milk, grow extremely well, and calf easy. He likes the 914, Cigar, Smokester, and Ledger bloodlines.
Parts 1-4 of this series can be found in the following pages of this issue!
LH General Lee as a calf, led by Wayne Templeton.
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e Special
Spotlight on
CHAROLAIS
Section f
The Great White Charolais Cow By JOHN DYKERS, M.D. The great white Charolais cow is no longer a secret in the beef business. She has tremendous advantages to offer to the commercial producer, and I am seeing these gorgeous white ladies beginning to prosper in the pastures of the southeast. The advantages of the great white Charolais cow will certainly vary with the geography and the conditions for each operation. To appreciate the great white Charolais cow, we must look closely at many assumptions we make about beef production and the different markets for different types of beef and different consumers and different producers. New Hope Farm has vertically integrated our purebred cow/calf operations with our on-farm performance testing and processing at our own meat packing plant and marketing our own branded beef, CharLean. Our bulls with a birth weight over 100 pounds or horned bulls are very profitable for CharLean, but they are sold as breeders only to customers with mature cows looking to add growth. We can usually make the decision on whether an animal is CharLean or breeding stock by age ten months, based on performance and EPDs. We eat a lot of excellent EPDs if they are not validated by the animal’s performance. EPDs are derived from performance in the first place; birth weigh, adj 205 day weight, and adj 365 day weight, and brothers and sisters are not alike, they are only kinfolk! EPDs help us summarize the family history (pedigree) but they don’t tell us which genes are present in that particular individual! Similarly, performance is subject to misinformation, especially in ET calves raised on very different recipient cows, drought or other adverse weather conditions, and downright misrepresentation. Breeder honesty is indispensable, and breeder integrity includes checking the herd every day and having an accurate birth date. Accurate birthweights are also important, and we have a cage and load bar digital scales mounted on the front of the farm truck to get a real birth weight and height. Estimated birthweights based on tape measure of leg or chest are worse than no
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birth weight at all. Marketing CharLean gives us a peek at the complexity of pleasing many customers. We started with four bred black Angus cows; after they calved we had them A.I.’ed to a Charolais and after we saw how those next four calves grew, we never looked back. We crossbred commercially for several years while we built our purebred herd and our meat packing plant, but we have been breeding only purebred Charolais for over 30 years. There are customers for fat steak, but they are dying off, and the future is in lean beef that is also juicy and tender. Two major changes have influenced the biology/economics of producing beef... First, we can bring the feed to the calf less expensively than we can take the calf to the feed. Classically, we have moved commercial cattle around the country chasing cheap feed. This makes sense, as feed is the biggest single cost of producing a pound of beef. But cattle don’t take kindly to being handled, crowded, sorted, regrouped, trucked, chilled, heated, and missing meals! They lose precious pounds in the process, and they get sick, and they die. And they take longer to reach slaughter weight! The second major change is the realization that the primary factor in tenderness is age. The primary quality the consumer requires is tenderness. The age at slaughter has been falling steadily for decades and it will continue to do so. The faster we can grow that steak, the more competitive and profitable our business will be. We also have to compete with chicken, pork, turkey, fish, bison, and emu/ostrich as protein sources. Our big advantage with cattle is that they can eat grass and even newspaper and turn it into the highest quality protein with all the necessary amino acids that even the best vegetarian can’t get. (The fact that young cattle are less likely to actually have symptomatic Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy will temporarily add impetus to the move to harvest cattle at a younger age, particularly for the Japanese market. Beware, however, that it is likely the
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
prions that cause this disease are present in improperly fed young heifers and bulls, and we should not focus on youth as a control measure for BSE.) The great white Charolais cow gives us a great start on growing. She is not a white Angus, and for most markets and pasture and feeding systems, she should not be. Most markets will not, for much longer, support heavy marbling. Marbling as a basis for grading USDA Choice is still used but has steadily been reduced in the amount required and has steadily been modified by age markers. Marbling is fat, fat is expensive to produce, and most fat is waste that the end consumer doesn’t want, and we can’t put it back into the cattle feed any longer. I asked the NCBA (when it was still the NCA!) Marketing Committee to ask the USDA to begin to explore ways to redefine Choice based on tenderness, and we should continue to push in this direction, but it may be easier to educate the consumer to look for Select than to change the bureaucracy. The great white Charolais cow can have a calf, a real calf, with size and vigor and growth hormone. She can drop that calf in the pasture on her own, and I’ve watched those babies jump up and run. If I don’t put that ear tag in while the calf is still wet, I will be very thankful for my calf catch and my calf scale with a cage around it. Miss a whole day checking for newborns and it may be too late to tag and weigh without penning. (By then that birth weight is no longer accurate.)
There is no perfect cow, as there is no perfect bull for all herds and all circumstances. But the four-year-old Charolais cow who has had two calves and bred back to have her third calf is as near to perfection as a commercial cowman with good grass is going to get. That cow should weigh 1,300-1,600 pounds, depending on available feed and stage of gestation. She should be able to birth a 110 pound calf and never bat an eye, wean that calf at seven months and 800 pounds, and have that calf grow to slaughter weight before it is a year old, probably by 11 months with modest marbling and almost no back fat, little kidney fat, 30 to 34 ribeye steaks, 24 to 30 New York Strips, 16 to 18 filet mignon, 40 pounds of boneless sirloin, 140 pounds of boneless round, 100 pounds of boneless chuck, and 200 pounds of hamburger. She should keep doing that every year for the next five years easily and maybe for ten years. All she needs is good pasture, proper supplements, and a bull worthy of her capacity. The problem we have had up until recently has been that nobody was willing to breed down a great white Charolais cow by breeding her to anything other than a great white Charolais bull! Finally, we are crossbreeding enough Angus, Hereford, Simmental, and Shorthorn based Charolais crosses that we are developing a commercial Charolais cow herd worthy of the name. Not a single
e Special mature cow we have ever sold has come back to market; when they got home from the sale, they were home to stay. One heifer calf at side came back as an open heifer a year later, “to pay the bills!” Calving that first calf at age 24 months is not the only strategy to profitability. Larger framed animals get that way because they don’t sexually mature as early and the long bones keep growing. It is the hormonal changes associated with sexual maturity that cause the growth plates in the long bones to close. We breed our heifers at 15 months; they are cycling by then, but the entire A.I. and catch up breeding season is only six weeks. We calve spring (FebruaryMarch) and fall (September-October), so if she doesn’t catch the first six weeks, she gets one other six week exposure. If open after that, she goes to slaughter, not to the sale barn. But to chuck your investment in a replacement heifer because she is not pregnant when palpated at 18 months when she may easily get pregnant at 21 months, will be bigger by then and calve more easily and raise a better calf and have more of her growing nutritional requirements already met, would only be reasonable if you assume that the six months delay in her first pregnancy was going to signal difficulty getting pregnant for the rest of her reproductive career. If palpation or family history suggests this may be the case, take her to the slaughterhouse, not to the sale barn, no matter how great are her EPDs! But if she does get bred, it is A.I. or clean up to a low birth weight bull, and that means she should be able to spit out a 70-80 pound calf unassisted. The second calf should be 80-90 pounds. So if she is bred to have her third calf, you know she already knows how to do the job. If she hasn’t been raising a good calf by then, she goes to slaughter, not to the sale barn. A word about birth weights. We are appropriately concerned by the data that directly relates increased birth weight with statistical increases in calving difficulty and deaths. The problem is the same one we got into when measuring the height on bulls. Height is generally proportional to length. Length is where the money is: filets, ribeyes, and New York strips. But height is not consistently related to length, and there is no economic value in a long legged bovine! There is no money between the knee and
Spotlight on
CHAROLAIS
the ground! A bovine that is tall without also being long, only brings the ability to jump over a fence! The same is true of birth weights in the opposite mathematical direction. We need birth heights along with birth weights to correlate with calving ease. A cow can give birth to a 300 pound snake but die trying to calve a 30 pound bowling ball! Cimarron routinely threw 110-120 pound calves. We had zero calving problems so long as he was here and alive and now even with his A.I., on mature cows. That 110 plus pounds was stretched out over a long calf and we NEVER even assisted a cow, and every calf hit the ground running. The great white Charolais cow can do that in a heartbeat. Don’t worry about a big birth weight EPD on a cow; it just means she can have a big calf. You are going to breed her to a low birth weight bull when she is young and not through growing and is inexperienced, but she is going to pay off for you big time from the 3rd to the 13th calf! We keep a low birth weight, high milk bull, especially to breed our heifers, and often those great heifers will add enough growth and volume that those first calves are keeper females and good breeding bulls, and the same is true for second calves. Look at the money. A 60 pound calf that reaches 1,200 pound slaughter weight at age 18 months with nice marbling but 200 pounds of waste fat at 4,000 calories per pound has wasted 800,000 calories. Grain at 2,000 calories per pound means a waste of 400 pounds of grain or comparable other feed, and at $160/T that is $32. Maintenance for six months when compared to the animal ready for slaughter by 12 months; minimum 50¢ a day or $90; total cost of growing slowly, $122 and less tenderness. Top quality animals of other breeds will narrow that gap, and the folks breeding Angus, Hereford, and Simmental are smart and capable of selecting breeding stock to do just that, but this is where the great white Charolais cow shines a bright light toward the future profits of cattle people everywhere there is good grass. A big cow has to eat well to maintain herself, get pregnant, give birth, nurse a big calf, and get pregnant again. Look at the money. A 30 pound difference in birth weight, 100 pounds difference in weaning weight, and a post weaning rate of gain that brings
Section f
the costs to an end and puts money in the bank six months quicker. At six percent interest on a $1,000 animal is $30 more. Profit $152 a head. Just assume a 600 pound calf off a British cow and a 700 pound calf off a Charolais and only 80¢ a pound at the market. For the same gross as 100 of the great white Charolais cows, you would have to have 117 of the British breed cows. That means 17 more of everything; semen or bulls, ear tags, vaccinations, registration papers, worm medication and worming, weighing, calving, and doing it all extra every season.
I’d much rather look after 100 great white Charolais cows than 117 of anything else! The 17 cows you don’t have to maintain, at $300 a head per year, is another $5,100 in your pocket untaxed. The old saying from Ben Franklin was, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” I say $1 saved is $3 earned when you figure the cost of earning it and the taxes incurred! Disposition, feet, udder, capacity to get pregnant, carry a calf, birth the calf, mother the young one, and nurse the big one, and do it all over again.This is THE GREAT WHITE CHAROLAIS COW.
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A Short History of Modern Charolais Cattle, Part 1 — Foundations By JOHN DELLINGER I was asked to write a short article about Charolais cattle, and I’m sure happy to talk about Charolais bloodlines. First, I should introduce myself. I’m John Dellinger. My farm, Faraway Cattle Company, is in Vale, North Carolina. We have a small herd of Charolais brood cows. Our breeding program is based on linebreeding to just a few animals. But I’m not going to talk much about my cows. Charolais are a very old breed, but have only been in the United States for a fairly small part of their history. The breed originated in France, perhaps as early as the 8th Century. The first French registry was started in the mid-1800s. The first herd in North America was established by Jean Pugibet after World War I. He arranged for a shipment of two
bulls and ten heifers to Mexico in 1930. Two later shipments in 1931 and 1937 increased the total number to 37 - 8 bulls and 29 females. The first Charolais to come from Mexico are believed to be two bulls, Neptune and Ortolan, which were purchased from Pugibet by the King Ranch in Texas and imported in June 1936. There were later imports of bulls. Notably, a bull named Wee was bred by Pugibet and imported into the United States. A large percentage of the Charolais cattle in the United States would trace back to Wee. Because of an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, there were no importations of French Charolais cattle into the United States from the 1940s until the 1960s. This really restricted the supply of Charolais cattle in the United States.
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To expand the breed, American breeders established a five generation “breeding up” program. This program involved using purebred Charolais bulls for five consecutive generations to produce a 31/32 Charolais animal, which was considered the equivalent of a purebred. Unless an animal in the United States is identified as a full French animal, it very likely traces back to cattle that were “bred up” to purebred Charolais.In fact, the breeding up program is the source of almost all of the polled genetics in the breed, since Charolais in France were a naturally horned breed. The polled gene in Charolais cattle in the United States comes from polled cows, like Angus or Hereford cows, that were the foundation cows of the breeding-up program. The American Charolais breed as it developed based on the early importations and the breeding-up program seemed to produce a type of animal that was very useful, if a bit less imposing than the French cattle. They were longer muscled, more moderate in frame, and were hardy, capable of getting by in pretty tough surroundings. Then, in the 1960s and 70s, French cattle began arriving again. Some of the French cattle that came then didn’t work out well due to structural and genetic problems, and due to a mismatch of the bulls with the cows which resulted in calving difficulties. However, the French cattle that did work out became very influential in adding a bit more muscle and power to the American cattle. From here, I’m just going to mention a few bulls that have been extraordinarily influential in the current American Charolais breed. There are two French bulls that need to be mentioned. Avignon was imported in the 1960s. Nowadays,
almost all of the cattle in the breed who trace back to Wienk Charolais or Lindskov-Thiel Ranch genetics have the influence of Avignon through his son, Nutmeg’s Avignon FR31. Avignon produced thousands of useful sons and daughters that were born easy and grew fast before becoming productive breeding animals. The other French bull that I should mention is Belphegor, known as Bingo. The Bingo cattle were very influential in the Wienk cattle and the Rogers cattle from Mississippi. These cattle were good doing cattle, with exceptional carcass traits and excellent milk production.
Belphegor (Bingo)
The Sam line of cattle was very influential in the 60s through the 80s. They were an example of the earlier American style Charolais before the return of the French cattle. They sprung from the Litton Ranch in Missouri and were based on the progeny of FWT Bar 951, known as Sam. They were famous as a source of polled genetics. This bloodline has generally fallen away, but there are Sam cattle in many modern pedigrees.
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The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
By far, the most influential line of breeding in American Charolais is Paul. Paul 109 was born in 1959. He was the grandson of Señor of Sandrellan, who
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Thiel genetics trace back to BCR Polled Unlimited many times. FZ Mac 236 also produced a grandson named WCR Sir Fab Mac 809. All of the Wienk genetics trace back to Mac 809 many times.
BCR Polled Unlimited Señor of Sandrellan
was a grandson of some of the original Mexican imports. Paul was a polled bull, and had calves born from the early 60s through 1999. One line of Paul breeding included a granddaughter who ended up being a grandmother of the bull BR Duke 261. BR Duke 261 subsequently produced sons that resulted in the Wyoming Wind line, the Duke 914 line, and the Mr. Perfect line. A granddaughter of Duke 261 became the grandmother of M6 Grid Maker. Between those bulls — Grid Maker, Wyoming Wind, Duke 914, and Mr. Perfect — almost all of the more popular cattle in the breed are Duke 261 descendants.
And there are many more examples of bulls that trace their lineage back to Paul 109. The take home lesson is simply that a great deal of what is good is in the modern Charolais breed. There are, of course, a great many other bulls that deserve to be talked about. For example, the Michaelis Ranch cattle in Texas form a great part of the base of the breeding programs at Cobb Charolais, DeBruycker Charolais, and Eaton Ranch in Montana, three very important herds. And there are several other French bulls that contributed along the way to make the breed what it is today. We need to remember that the genetics we see today came from these founding bulls of the breed. Knowing more about them can help modern breeders make better decisions when buying herd bulls.
BR Duke 261
Paul 109 also produced a grandson named FZ Mac 236. That bull in turn produced a grandson named BCR Polled Unlimited. All of the Lindskov-
FZ Mac 828
Please continue to follow along with this series of articles on the modern American history of Charolais cattle in this issue. Up next, I will focus on one very influential bull in the breed’s history.
Paul 109
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A Short History of Modern Charolais Cattle, Part 2 — The Duke By JOHN DELLINGER My previous article was about the history of Charolais cattle in the United States. Now, I am going to expand on some of the things I’ve already talked about by focusing on one bull that is among the couple of most influential bulls in modern Charolais pedigrees. This bull’s heritage traces back to some of the very first cattle that came from France, through Mexico, to the United States in the 1930s. That base of genetics was then crossed with some French genetics that came to the United States in the late 1960s. And his progeny have proven to be very successful up until today. In the mid-1980s, the Charolais breed, like most other beef breeds in the United States, was fully caught up in a craze in which the tallest framed animals were considered the best. Every year, the cattle got taller. At the same time, the cattle became frail and light muscled. The cows
didn’t produce enough milk, and were hard doing and difficult to maintain. Certainly, there was a need for a change. In late 1984, Wienk Charolais of Lake Preston, S.D., purchased a bull from Bauman Ranch of Carpenter, Wyo., with no fanfare. They didn’t know it then, but that bull would change the Charolais breed throughout the world over the next several decades. BR Duke 261 was calved in 1983. Wienk Charolais had their first calves by
him in the fall of 1985. Since then, he has had 3,339 calves registered in the United States, with calves being born every year through the present. He came on the scene for a lot of reasons. He was polled. His calves were smaller framed and BR Duke 261 is interesting genetically because of his ancestry and because of his descendants. If you study his pedigree, several interesting patterns emerge that tie into my previous article. I talked about the original shipment of cattle into the U.S. from Mexico in the thirties. I have sketched out how Duke 261 traces
BR Duke 261
Señor of Sandrellan
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back twice in just a few generations to a bull called Mr. Coronet. Mr. Coronet was a grandson of cattle that were in the original importation. I also talked about the importance of the descendants of Señor of Sandrellan and Paul 109 in U.S. cattle. Señor of Sandrellan was also a descendant of the original importation cattle, and as you can see in my sketch, Duke 261 traces back to him and his grandson Paul as well. I also talked about the importation of full French Charolais bulls in the 1960s and 70s. You can see in BR Duke 261’s pedigree that he traces back to a full French bull, Carnaval, who was imported in the late 60s. Carnaval would go on to be a very important sire and is still being used a bit today.
BR Duke 261’s Pedigree
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Duke 261’s pedigree is interesting, but the real importance of Duke 261 in the modern Charolais breed in the United States is measured through his descendants. This is a diagram that shows how a good proportion of the Charolais breed in the U.S. today are reasonably closely related to each other at least because they can be easily traced to BR Duke 261. This diagram shows the relationship of many of the most popular cattle of the breed through BR Duke 261. The bulls pictured to the right are a sample of the very important sires that trace back to BR Duke 261 at least once.
Spotlight on
CHAROLAIS
This is all very well known information, but what do you do with it? You could determine how closely related animals are based on the diagram. The fewer the links between animals, the closer related they are. For example, there are only three links between Duke 914 (VCR Sir Duke 914) and Grid Maker (M6 Grid Maker 104), so they would be something like second cousins. This kind of information might be helpful if you are trying to buy or breed cattle that are either more related or less related to each other. Of course, this doesn’t take into account relationships through other ancestors, but it still might be helpful. If you were actually interested in using bloodlines that aren’t related to BR Duke 261, you could search for cattle that don’t show up here. I hope this little article reminds breeders of the importance of studying pedigrees to make breeding decisions. However you structure your breeding program — whether you try to linebreed cattle or try to avoid linebreeding cattle — it is crucial that you study the pedigrees thoroughly and understand the family behind the bulls. I hope you are enjoying this series of articles. My next installment will focus on the history of Charolais cattle in the show ring.
Popular Charolais Bulls
LT Ledger 0332
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TR Mr Firewater
LT Wyoming Wind
M6 Grid Maker 104
VCR Sir Duke 914
LHD Cigar
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A Short History of Modern Charolais Cattle, Part 3 — Show Cattle By JOHN DELLINGER In this series, I have written a couple articles about the history of Charolais cattle in the United States. I wrote generally about influential bulls, and I wrote about the extra influence of a bull named BR Duke 261. Here, I thought I’d write a bit about the history of Charolais cattle in the show ring. I guess it’s likely that cattle breeders have been showing cattle in competitions against other breeders for centuries. Modern breeds didn’t develop until around 1800-1850 or so. Showing cattle competitively became a “thing” especially after there were better defined breeds and registries keeping track of pedigrees. Until the time of performance testing and the calculation of Expected Progeny Differences, it’s likely that success in the show ring was the most important element that caused other cattlemen to be interested in a breeder’s genetics. In the Charolais breed, there were shows in France since the 1800s at least. A show winner from about 1915 is pictured here.
and Charolais were exhibited at the large shows in Kansas City, Chicago, Houston, and Denver in the 60s. Perhaps the pivotal moment in the change of the type of cattle from the smaller framed “belt buckle” cattle was when a Charolais cross steer named Conoco was made grand champion steer at the 1969 International Show in Chicago. He is pictured below (and would make a durn fine steer today).
After that, the show circuit became the place to figure out who had “the best” Charolais cattle. Pretty quickly, cattle started getting bigger, mostly taller — that seems to be related to the idea that the cattle had to have the performance and size of Charolais cattle, but they needed to not be so thick to cause calving troubles. So folks naturally decided to try to stretch them out. This resulted in some useful cattle for a while — maybe a bit big, but not bad. HCR Expectation 269 was the 1978 national champion bull.
Conoco
In the meantime, the descendants of a bull named FWT Bar 951 Sam bred by Litton Charolais in Chillicothe, Mo., were being aggressively shown and promoted all over the United States. The bull pictured below is Monarch’s Majesty — he was a grandson of Sam and was grand champion at the Houston show in 1969.
HCR Expectation 269
After that, it was sort of off to the races for taller Charolais cattle. Riverwood Genesis was the 1979 champion. He was a son of Riverwood Elevation, and that really started about a 20 year period when cattle related to him and his brothers dominated the breed.
Prize winning French Charolais, circa 1915
The Charolais breed came to the United States from France in the 1930s, and there have probably been shows of some sort since then. However, it was not until the late 1960s that Charolais cattle were allowed to show in many of the major livestock expositions in America. At that time, many of the established breeds — Shorthorn, Angus, and Hereford — were still quite small by modern standards. Cattlemen from those breeds did not welcome the much bigger French cattle being shown in close proximity to their cattle because they were not interested in spectators comparing the “beefiness” of the established breeds to the Charolais. But a few breeders eventually broke through
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Roxy’s Jack Dempsey
Over time, the cattle got even bigger. Roxy’s Jack Dempsey was very popular, and very big. A lot of cattle today in Canada still carry his genetics. Thomas Joker was the 1992 national champion. He was probably too big and was the last really big bull to win big. About that time, breeding value estimates were being published, and the importance of the show cattle in the breed started to wane very quickly. The availability of breeding value estimates for traits of economic importance simply made the ranking of cattle in a show ring a less valuable measurement for breeders.
Thomas Joker
Monarch’s Majesty
The grand champion female at that show was bred by one of the early pioneer breeders in the United States, Michaelis Ranch, and she is pictured below.
MGM Hijack Mae
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
Riverwood Genesis
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TR Dotty
Cattle have become quite a bit more moderate in the Charolais show ring since then as well. The 2018 national champion was a cow named TR Dotty. She is pictured below from the South Dakota State Fair. Also, the 2018 champion bull named in Canada was Elder’s Honcho, who won Agribition.
Spotlight on
CHAROLAIS
Since this article is for The Carolina Cattle Connection, I should mention a couple of our winners. There have been many over the years, but one of the most successful show bulls with a South Carolina connection from back in the days was RCC Royal Standout 2973. He was owned by Barton Charolais in Abbeville, S.C., and shown by Wayne Templeton when he managed that herd.
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More recently, my own bull, Faraway Chico, was shown successfully over a decade ago. Our herd in Vale, N.C., is based on his descendants.
Sang D’Or
Faraway Chico
Finally, since we started with a French show bull, we’ll close with another one. I don’t know this guy, but he was a winner in France in the recent past. It seems pretty clear that, in North America, the type of Charolais cattle that wins shows has been pretty variable
RCC Royal Standout 2973
Elder’s Honcho
over the years, but comparing the French winners 100 years apart, it seems like they have a more strict ideal with regard to show bulls. No matter. Whether you show cattle or not, we should all try to breed cattle that please us, that are in demand by our customers, and that have the best chance of making money for those who care for them. If we can do that, I’m sure we’d mostly call that a good day. The final installment in this series, for now, will center around cattle performance testing and evaluation.
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A Short History of Modern Charolais Cattle, Part 4 — Performance Cattle By JOHN DELLINGER I hope you have enjoyed my series on Charolais cattle in the United States. I started the series generally discussing influential bulls in the breed. I continued with and article about the extra influence of a bull named BR Duke 261. I also wrote about the history of Charolais cattle in the show ring. In this article, I thought I’d write about how performance testing and evaluation of cattle for measures of performance have evolved, especially in the Charolais breed, and especially in the Carolinas.
Avignon 1106
When Charolais cattle were developed in France throughout the 1700s, and even earlier, they were generally selected for rapid growth of lean muscular animals. Mature size and muscularity were very important. Marbling was less important because the French markets didn’t treasure that trait, and the more maternal traits, like easy keeping and milk production and udder quality, were a bit less important. But the strict selection for fast, lean growth was paramount. As these cattle came to the United States in the 1930s and throughout the middle of the 1900s, they were quickly recognized as being something different from the more maternal, all purpose British cattle. The calves grew faster. The cattle were bigger and more muscular. Charolais arrived in the U.S. at about the same time that scientific cattle breeding for performance was getting started. In the 1930s and 40s, scientists determined how to objectively measure growth genetics and developed estimates of the heritability of these traits. Individual farmers and ranchers were starting to develop breeding programs based on performance and not on show
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ring appraisals. Central bull tests started in Texas in 1941. The “gift of Charolais,” as described by Thomas King, came then, showing breeders of all breeds that extra growth was possible, and giving other breeds a performance target to aim for. This was the beginning of modern performance testing in beef cattle. One of the early efforts at promoting performance based beef cattle genetics was Performance Registry International (PRI). PRI set standards for cattle progeny evaluations. The program identified sires that were superior at producing progeny that were evaluated for growth and carcass traits as compared to standards. PRI existed for many years, and a decent number of early Charolais bulls were proven to be outstanding on the PRI program, earning the designation of “Certified Meat Sire,” with various categories describing the best ones. For example, Avignon 1106, a full French bull whose bloodlines still flow strong throughout the breed in the U.S., was a PRI Golden Certified Meat Sire.
“reference sires” that were used in every group. By comparing to the common reference sires, the association could develop Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) for the test sires. Prominent bulls who were successfully evaluated on the SEP included Nutmeg’s Avignon FR31.
CCC Eleuthera’s Nulook
period. Cattle that stood out as being particularly strong in these tests were often fairly large framed cattle that were lean in their type. Growth is, after all, positively correlated with mature size, and gaining in lean muscle is more efficient than gaining fat. A few bulls that sired a large number of high performance cattle in the 70s and 80s included GCR Supreme 141, Cardinals Reflection 286, CCC Eleuthera’s Nulook, and HBR Performer 181.
HBR Performer 181
GCR Supreme 141
PRI came to an end in the 1970s, and beef cattle performance evaluation focused largely on bull tests. The Charolais breed did very well on these tests, including producing many bulls that gained in excess of five pounds of bodyweight per day over the entire test
Cardinals Reflection 852
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
But North Carolina and South Carolina Charolais breeders were not left behind when it came to producing high performing bull test winners. Grassy Forks Farm in Catawba, N.C., had one of the highest gaining bulls ever in North Carolina with a bull called Grassy Forks Junker. And in South Carolina, the 1986 Edisto Bull Test was won by THE HHP Monte Carlo 1ST, bred by Horace Porter of Lancaster, South Carolina. The Monte Carlo bull is still very important today. While all this was going on, the American International Charolais Association was working through initial efforts to develop breeding values for Charolais cattle. Early on, the association had a Sire Evaluation Program (SEP), which involved directly comparing progeny of a test sire with progeny of
Nutmegs Avignon FR31
The Sire Evaluation Program continued through the 90s and was essentially replaced by the development of methods of computing Expected Progeny Differences using ratios of performance traits measured on individual farms, without the need for reference sires. This program continues today. Breeders can use EPD information to make mating decisions to improve a long list of traits. Recently, these EPDs were improved by including information on the DNA of the cattle themselves. Throughout their existence, Charolais cattle have been well recognized as the true performance bred of cattle. Breeders have always worked hard to develop systems for identifying the best performing animals in order to continue to make progress in improving the breed.
THE HHP Monte Carlo 1ST
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Ashley’s Beef Corner
T
Checking the Rear View Mirror By ASHLEY W. HERRING Director of Consumer Information N.C. Cattlemen’s Beef Council It’s a fresh year with a new start, and we’re all eager to move forward. But moving forward should be guided by what we’ve done in the past in order to learn and make the most of our resources. I’ve shared that N.C. Beef Council has partnered with southeastern states quite a bit recently, and I want to be sure to show the results so we have measurability. It’s a cold time of year, but back in the heat of summer, our grilling campaign got beef on the mind of consumers when they were selecting which meats to enjoy. We did this through a three part digital campaign. YouTube is a website that features videos about anything and everything you can think of. Before the video that you’re searching for plays, an advertisement is displayed. Our summer grilling campaign videos were shown an impressive ten million times in the southeast region. The campaign was not only on YouTube but also on Spotify and Google Search. The total budget was $95,000. The length of the campaign was June 3-September 8, 2021. Our videos featured content from NCBA, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, with titles such as Welcome Back to the Grill, 100% Real Beef, and Grate Dinner.
North Carolina impressions, that is viewings, were 1.3 million, second to Florida. This means we had the second most “bang for our buck” in viewership for the YouTube component. The average cost per view was 1¢ or 2¢, depending on the video. In Spotify, which is an app that plays music, we averaged 2¢ per listen with folks listening to the end of the advertisement 94 percent of the time, reflecting fantastic overall performance. This was for 1.6 million impressions in the southeast. Our Google Search component generated 34,986 clicks to www. BeefItsWhatsforDinner.com, with most looking for ground beef recipes. North Carolina had 73,000 impressions, behind only Florida. For reference, Florida’s population is twice that of ours. Our southeast partners included Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. Southeastern states came together and had a great foundation for this campaign, but we would not have gotten as far as we did without the financial aid of North Dakota ($25k), Oklahoma ($30k), and Iowa ($10k). If you know cattle producers in those
states, be sure to express our sincere appreciation for their boost. It made a good project great. On February 19, the Beef It’s What’s for Dinner 300 will take place in Daytona, Florida. After last year’s success, we’re hungry for more exposure for beef and the increase in beef sales. This year, a retail component will be added with Kroger stores. The race is a great platform to tell the story of beef and encourage consumers to choose beef when planning their tailgates at home or at the race.
Regular copy deadline is JANUARY 5 for the FEBRUARY issue Spotlight material is due JANUARY 1 for the FEBRUARY issue
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By DR. MATT POORE N.C. State University
My New Year’s Resolution — Renovate Some Tall Fescue Pasture in 2022! Over my career, I have seen many solutions to the tall fescue problem suggested, tested, and then eventually shown to be ineffective. I have personally been involved in many studies that tested various feed additives, forage management approaches, energy and protein supplementation programs, and cattle with fescue tolerance. While some of this work is encouraging, none of these approaches completely alleviated the symptoms of tall fescue toxicosis, and none have turned out to be the long term solution we need.
Of all the things I have worked on, novel endophyte tall fescue, first marketed as MaxQ, is the only one that has proven to completely alleviate all the symptoms, including poor intake, low average daily gain, low breeding rate, and fescue foot. Despite all the work showing novel endophyte tall fescues works so well, farmers have been slow to adopt this approach. Renovating pasture is a difficult thing to do for many farmers because of all the planning, effort, and capital investment required. It is always easier and cheaper to just keep doing what you have been doing,
and this is especially true with perennial pastures. It is simply very difficult to make the decision to renovate a productive perennial pasture even if it is toxic. Costs and Benefits - Completely renovating a pasture, regardless of what the new pasture will be, is expensive and difficult to accomplish. Thus, an investment of time, energy, and cash must be made that will take several years to pay off. We can easily list the costs, including the cost of the seed, cost of planting, cost of herbicides, cost of fertilizer, and cost of spraying. Don’t forget the less obvious opportunity costs, which is the value of the lost forage production that must somehow be replaced. There are major benefits of renovation, including improved average daily gain, improved breeding rate, and potentially increased forage yield. With all costs and benefits considered, it will take about five years to pay off the initial investment. This seems like a long time to wait on an investment to pay out, but once the payback time has come, then you can enjoy the benefits of non-toxic grass for the remaining time the stand is on your farm. Will it last that long? With good management, we have many fields that last well more than ten years. There is actually some good news that helps soften that five year waiting time. If you convert part of the acreage to a non-toxic forage and use it strategically to overcome some of the toxicosis problems, then it takes much less time to pay off. The fastest payback will be from your first efforts, so take heart in that. Also, if the pasture needs to be renovated (as many old Kentucky-31 fields do), then there is a big reduction in the payback time. If you can get an
increase in the cow grazing days you get from an acre of grass, then your investment will pay off faster. Renovation of a pasture starts with controlling unwanted seed in the soil. This might be “weeds” but might also be seeds from more desirable plants, like toxic tall fescue. Controlling both weeds and the seedheads of the existing grasses the year before renovation will make for much better results and will help keep toxic fescue from coming back on your pasture. There are a number of systems of renovation that have been developed, and the two most common are “spray-smotherspray” and “spray-wait-spray.” Each of these involves two doses of glyphosate. Spray-smother-spray is implemented in spring and includes a summer annual “smother crop” (like sorghum-sudan or millet). With spray-wait-spray, the first application of glyphosate is in late summer, about a month before the second application and planting. While these renovation systems have been very successful, sometimes it is hard for a farmer to meet all the dates and stick with that system exactly, causing them to decide not to renovate at all. In some cases, it might be helpful to the farmer to not worry about that long and detailed timeline but rather just to spray glyphosate on the field when it is convenient and then grow annuals there for several years until the time is right to plant the perennial forages. If you don’t want to use glyphosate, then the best approach is to use tillage and a smother crop for several years to kill the existing stand.
Continued on page 20
N.C. Forage & Grassland Council Forage Spotlight Join Us for the Upcoming Hay & Baleage Production Event
Novel Endophyte Tall Fescue makes the idea feed for developing replacement heifers. Photo by Charlotte Talbott.
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The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
Join us on January 19 for an evening discussion on haylage and baleage production, fermentation profiles, and haying equipment. Information relevant to and examples derived from North Carolina will be presented by: • Dr. Jennifer Tucker, Associate Professor in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences - University of Georgia
• Jimmy Henning, Forage Extension Professor at the Plant and Soil Sciences Department - University of Kentucky • Andy Burlingham; N.C. State University Livestock Extension Agent Pitt County This event will be held virtually. To register, go to https://go.ncsu. edu/2022ncfgcwinterconference. Upon registration, a zoom link will be sent to you.
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Amazing Grazing continued from page 18 Other advantages to novel endophyte tall fescue - There are some other great benefits to getting the fescue toxins out of animals, including improved animal health and welfare. While rate of gain is important to me as a farmer, what really motivates me is improving the welfare of my cattle. When I first saw cattle on our farm that had been off toxic fescue all spring and summer, it amazed me. They were comfortable standing out in the sun at 90º, grazing ryegrass. At the same time, the mature cows who were grazing toxic fescue were miserable, standing or laying in mudholes they had made in the shade. I will never forget that, and it motivated me to spray out more of the old KY-31 pastures. Novel endophyte tall fescue is also better than KY-31 for wildlife and the environment. The toxins the endophyte produces also have an impact on wildlife that directly consume the plant, including dung beetles, deer, small mammals, etc. Also, water quality and riparian environments are impacted when livestock eat toxic tall fescue because they loaf in the water to alleviate their heat stress. This is not a normal behavior but is accepted as such because it is such a common sight. Not Your Daddy’s novel endophyte tall fescue - Today, there have been advances made in the Novel Endophyte Tall Fescue products on the market. The original MaxQ from Pennington Seed was introduced over 20 years ago, and it was a great performer. Today, Pennington has replaced the original endophyte in MaxQ with a new endophyte called MaxQII. MaxQII is paired with three varieties, including Jesup, Texoma, and Lacefield. Other companies also have
competing products, including Martin2Protek and TowerProtek from DLF Pickseed, Estancia with ArkShield from Mountain View Seeds, and BarOptima plus E34 from Barenbrug USA. Each of these products has its own characteristics, and you should study some before selecting a variety. A new fact sheet, available from N.C. Cooperative Extension, tells a lot more about the origins and applications of these great products. This fact sheet can be found at https://content.ces. ncsu.edu/comparison-of-commerciallyavailable-novel-endophyte-tall-fescueforage-varieties or by just searching for novel endophyte tall fescue and N.C. Cooperative Extension. What about diverse forage mixtures? One thing we have questions about is whether novel endophyte tall fescue can be part of a good perennial pasture seed mix. While some farmers will want a pasture that is primarily tall fescue, many believe in the benefits of plant diversity. You might think that if toxic tall fescue was only a part of the forage stand that it would not be as toxic. The problem is that toxic tall fescue is a bully from an ecological perspective. Because animals don’t really like it, they eat everything else, making the fescue stronger. Furthermore, there are additional mechanisms not completely understood that make toxic fescue dominate in mixed stands. Research has shown that novel endophyte tall fescue will make a better companion plant than toxic fescue for other forages while still providing the abundant winter grazing that we come to expect from tall fescue.
I am a big fan of mixtures as that is what we have on the pastures at home. In addition to tall fescue, most pastures have orchardgrass, bluegrass, dallisgrass, bermudagrass, red clover, white clover, and many other minor species. If it were not for the toxic fescue, these would be really nice pastures. How to convert a pasture like that to a similar mix without toxic fescue is a current topic of discussion. Just do something about it this year. Back to my New Year’s Resolution. I have spent the last 30 years trying to work around toxic KY-31 tall fescue on
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The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
our farm. It seems no matter what we do, most of our problems are still related to tall fescue. We have killed the KY-31 on about 20 percent of our acres where we are growing annuals, and that has really helped us with our heifer development program, but we still have a long way to go. This year, I want to kill another 30 acres where we can grow annuals and plant 30 acres to a perennial mix containing novel endophyte tall fescue. If you are fed up with the effects of toxic tall fescue, too, then join me and take action and do something about it this year!
for more than 11 years, where she provided integral support across multiple departments. Prior to joining Alltech, she served in various program and customer service management roles, primarily in the automotive industry. “Our Alltech team is dedicated to providing our customers with ongoing improvements to their service experience,” said Brian McCawley, chief commercialization officer for Alltech. “Kristina’s experience and drive to provide timely, attentive and positive service has made her a great asset to both our customers and our internal team, and I can’t think of anyone better suited for this role.” Kristina will be based at Alltech’s headquarters near Lexington, Kentucky. She can be reached at 859-881-2288 or klukehart@alltech.com. About Alltech. Founded in 1980 by Irish entrepreneur and scientist Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech delivers smarter, more sustainable solutions for agriculture. Our products improve the health and performance of plants and animals, resulting in better nutrition for consumers and a decreased environmental impact. We are a global leader in the animal health industry, producing specialty ingredients, premix supplements, feed, and complete feed. Strengthened by more than 40 years of scientific research, we carry forward a legacy of innovation and a unique culture that views challenges through an entrepreneurial lens. Alltech is a private, family owned company, which allows us to adapt quickly to our customers’ needs and maintain focus on advanced innovation. Headquartered just outside of Lexington, Ken., Alltech has a strong presence in all regions of the world. For more information, visit www.alltech.com.
there a minute. I have something I want to give you. I had no idea what he was going to give me, but Shane and I went on up to the end of the path at the blacktop. I told Shane to stop right here. The man was going to get something for us. In a few minutes, when he came back, he had a brown sack and handed it to me. I did not look in it, but it was in the shape of a jar. He said to me we had a good peach crop this year, and I wanted to give you something. If you get low on fuel, you can pour it in the fuel tank, and it will blow a blue flame, or if somebody has a cold, add a little lemon
E.B.'s View from the Cow Pasture By E.B. HARRIS
A John Deere Disc and a Good Peach Crop On November 13, we had our 20 th annual cattle sale. We had first calf heifers with calf at side, bred heifers, our entire herd of sixth calvers (some had a calf at side, others were bred), and a few bulls. We always hold this at the Granville County Livestock Arena in Oxford, North Carolina. Shane, Zack, and I were at the arena on Friday prior to the sale on Saturday, making sure everything had feed and water and was in place ready to go. That afternoon we were in good shape, and I told Shane there was a man about ten or twelve miles away who wanted us to sell a disc harrow for him and what did he think about us going over there to pick it up. We could hook it behind his truck and bring it back here and load it on the flatbed gooseneck and take it back to the house and sell it for him. Shane thought we had enough time. Zack was going to stay at the arena and finish ups some odds and ends. I called the man and asked him if we could come on. He said he was at the house, so come on. We headed out down Cannady Mill Road until we got to Hwy. 96, then headed on Hwy. 96 a bit and got to Brassfield Church and headed straight across. This area was known as the Harricanes. The Harricanes, way back before the days of the depression and back before then, took a special person to make a living off it. It’s pretty red, rock, fairly hilly land. It had the reputation of cooking some corn squeezes back in the day. The people did what they had to do to make a living. It’s in the northern part of Wake County, southern Granville, and western Franklin County. We went on thru and pulled up to the stop sign. Shane said, “We are about in
the center of it aren’t we Daddy?” I said, “If somebody knows what to call the center, this is as good a place as any as no one really knows where the community is. It is just passed down thru the decades by folklore of the approximate location.” We went on down the road a mile or so, and the man had told us where he would meet us. We turned and went down a path. I told Shane I had been down this path, probably in the middle ‘70s hauling cattle off this farm. I said I remember very well coming in on my semi, and Iaman meet me on the blacktop barefooted with nothing on except a pair of bib overalls. We went about a mile down this path to a cow pasture where the disc harrow had been sitting for a while. Shane’s truck has one of those bale beds, Hydra-Bed, on it. We had ordered it with the third valve. The third valve gives you an option to hook up to a hydraulic cylinder, jacking it up and pulling it down the road just like it was a tractor. We got to the disc harrow. I had brought a battery operated (plugs into the power outlet) air compressor just in case we needed it. We did need it to pump up the tires. The man was there. Shane backed up to the harrow and plugged it up, and hit the hydraulic remote, and it jacked right on up, and the man and I were carrying on a conversation. I told him I had been back in here in the ‘70s, and he told me who was there in the ‘70s, really before his day, who owned the farm in the ‘70s, and who owned it now, and talked about a few other things. When we got ready to leave, he said, when you get to the end of the path, wait
and honey in ¼ of a glass, and they will feel better in the morning. Just make sure they are in their own yard when they use it. We put the bag in the back seat and headed on out. I looked over at Shane and said, “Son, I will be willing to bet there has been a lot of fruit hauled out of this community, but this will be the first time any has ever been hauled out of this community and pulling a JD disc harrow at the same time. I guess I am honored to be trusted to take some away, and if someone has a bad cold, I guarantee it will help get it out come wintertime.
Baxter Black
On the edge of common sense Cat Laws
I was reading the paper to the cat last week. She tries to keep up on current events, particularly stories about politics and alien landings. We got to a story where a few obscure animal rights groups have called for the nation’s 66 million pet cats to be kept indoors for life. “Why?” asked Miss Kitty. “Well,” I answered, “This says that free roaming cats kill from 8 million to 217 million birds a year in Wisconsin alone.” “My, I had no idea there were that many birds in Wisconsin.” “Yes, and one person was quoted as saying, ‘We don’t want our house companions going out and killing other animals.” “What about mice?” asked Miss Kitty, scratching behind her ear. “They don’t say, but they are also worried about you being eaten by coyotes.” “Then why don’t they keep all the coyotes indoors for life? It’s like making people bolt and bar their homes and stay inside during prime shopping hours. Why don’t they just keep all the criminals indoors for life?” “Good question, but they say cats are domesticated animals and coyotes are wild animals and they don’t want to appear anti-wildlife.” “Mice are wildlife, and so are birds. It’s all part of the food chain.” “They apparently want to remove
cats from the food chain. For your own protection, of course.” “I thought it was to protect the birds,” said Miss Kitty, ever vigilant to flaws in my logic, “And besides, do they really enjoy that odiferous cat box in the laundry room. It’s bad enough to walk around in a Tupperware toilet if you’re a cat. I’ve always envied camels. Sand as far as you can see. Go anytime you please.” “They suggested humans who want their cats to spend time outdoors need to invest in an outdoor enclosure or walk their cats on a harness.” Miss Kitty got indignant, “You ever tried to walk a cat in a harness! We’re not dogs, you know! I’ve spent a lifetime keepin’ your place free of rodents and vermin and this is the thanks I get. So I eat a bird now and then. And another thing, I’ve lost more friends to car tires than coyotes. Why don’t they have speed limits slow enough to let cats get out of the way?” “Wait a minute,” I protested, “It isn’t me, it’s just a story in the paper.” “Sure,” she huffed, “But some self appointed cat lover will weasel or badger you into makin’ me a house cat. You’ll fall for it and take me prisoner. Next thing I know you’ll be takin’ me for walks in a cat harness. Not for me, buckaroo, I’m leavin’.” “Wait,” I pleaded, “Where will you go...” “Well,” she said, “I’ve always wanted to see Wisconsin.”
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You Decide! By DR. MIKE WALDEN
William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor Emeritus N.C. State University You Decide: How Has the Economic Pie and Its Slices Changed? With the holiday season upon us, it is appropriate that pie is on my mind. Incidentally, my favorite is lemon meringue. But today’s column is about a different kind of pie – the economic pie. Economic pie is a term often used to describe the size of the economy. Over time, economists and others track how the economic pie is growing. The slices of the pie then refer to how individuals share in the aggregate economy and its changing size. Is everyone’s slice increasing, or do some people get bigger slices while others are stuck with smaller slices. The formal term for the slices is “income distribution.” These two concepts – economic growth and income distribution – are at the heart of many of our policy debates about topics such as taxes, regulations, government spending, and financial support for households and businesses. Often in these discussions, some groups will put more importance on economic growth, while others will consider income distribution to be the dominant concern. But before we can examine and debate economic growth and income distribution, we have to have good measures of them. Recently I took on the task of developing such measures for North Carolina. I developed an index of economic growth in the state based on three individual measures: the growth rate in the value of total production of goods and services (“GDP” for technical readers), the growth rate in income per person, and the growth rate in jobs. The first two measures are adjusted for inflation, so they are calibrated in dollars of equal purchasing power over time. Generating an index of income distribution was more complex. First, I divided the industries where people work into three groups: high paying, middle paying, and low paying. Fortunately, there was consistency in the groupings over time. From these groups, I created an index based on several measures comparing the average earnings in each group and also the number of workers in each group. Increases in the earnings of low paying and middle paying workers relative to high paying workers, as well as increases in the
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numbers of high paying and middle paying workers relative to low paying workers, were considered to indicate a broadening of the income distribution. I call the economic growth index for North Carolina NC-GROWTH, and I dub the state income distribution measure NC-SHARE. I was able to generate both indices annually from 1997 to 2020. What do the indices tell us about the growth of North Carolina’s economic pie and the distribution of that pie to high paying, middle paying, and low paying workers? The good news is that NCGROWTH was positive for 16 of the 24 years from 1997 to 2020. NC-GROWTH was negative in years close to or during an official recession, such as in the early and late 2000s, as well as during 2020, the year of the COVID-19 recession. The findings for NC-SHARE are more complicated. The index fell on trend from 1997-2016, due mainly to a shift out of middle paying jobs to low paying jobs. However, since 2016 and including 2020, these trends reversed, and NC-SHARE rose. There also was a modest increase in the relative earnings of low-paying compared to high paying jobs in recent years. The declines in NC-SHARE during 1997-2016 do not imply that the earnings of low paying jobs were dropping while the earnings of high paying and middle paying jobs were climbing. Actually, the average earnings of all three groups rose over the time period, both before and after adjusting for inflation. However, the average earnings of high paying jobs rose more than the average earnings of the other two groups. My research revealed another interesting finding having to do with the relationship between the economic growth rate and the distribution of that growth. I found a strong relationship between one of the growth measures – the rate of growth in inflation adjusted GDP (gross domestic product) and the income distribution index, NC-SHARE. A statistical measure showed over 1/3 of the changes in GDP and NC-SHARE were related, meaning they moved together (in technical lingo, they are “correlated”). Correlation does not necessarily imply causation, but there are some economists who argue that growing the economy
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
faster is the best way to spread income gains among all workers. Alternatively, there are other economists who claim the opposite – that spreading income gains among more workers, and particularly those at the lower pay scales, motivate harder and more productive work and therefore, a faster growing economic pie. I won’t solve this disagreement here. But I will say that both economic growth and the distribution of that growth in our state are very important. But is one more important than the other? You decide. You Decide: Is It Cheaper to Live
In North Carolina? With the inflation rate at 40 year highs, coping with a higher cost of living is on our minds. Both households and businesses are considering strategies for dealing with higher prices. Cutting back on nonessentials, limiting travel, searching for bargains, and working extra hours to earn more are some of the common ways to offset bigger expenses. But anyone who travels – even within a single state like North Carolina – observes that prices are not the same everywhere. This is particularly the case for big ticket items like the prices of
Carolina Video and Load Lot Monthly Summary (Weeks ending NOVEMBER 2, NOVEMBER 9, & NOVEMBER 16, 2021)
Carolina Video and Load Lot Monthly Summary of Mid-Atlantic Cattle Sales on Tuesday, NOVEMBER 2, 2021, WNC Livestock Exchange on Tuesday, NOVEMBER 9, 2021, and Mid-Atlantic Cattle Sales on Tuesday, NOVEMBER 16, 2021. All cattle in this report are located in North Carolina and South Carolina. Prices FOB the farm or local scale and many weighed with a 1-2 percent shrink and sold with a 5-8¢ per pound slide on the heavy side only.
Cattle Receipts: 2,156
Last Month: 2,111
Feeders made up 100 percent of the offering. The feeder supply included 55 percent steers and 45 percent heifers. Nearly 100 percent of the run weighed over 600 pounds. Head totals are based on load lot estimate of 49,500 pounds.
Head 76 65 118
Wt. Range 650-650 750-750 825-825
FEEDER STEERS (Medium and Large 1-2) Avg. Wt. Price Range Avg. Price 650 $150.00 $150.00 750 $156.75 $156.75 825 $159.25 $159.25
Head 58 86 35 135 129 127 179 123 59
Wt. Range 665-665 705-740 725-725 700-730 750-760 750-780 800-830 775-790 820-820
FEEDER STEERS (Medium 1-2) Avg. Wt. Price Range Avg. Price 665 $157.00 $157.00 720 $154.00 - $156.00 $154.88 725 $160.25 $160.25 715 $152.50 - $153.50 $152.99 755 $148.25 - $150.25 $149.24 765 $161.25 $161.25 810 $160.25 - $163.50 $161.30 782 $157.00 - $161.50 $159.20 820 $148.00 $148.00
Head 82 76 66 125 60
Wt. Range 600-600 650-650 740-740 775-775 815-815
FEEDER HEIFERS (Medium and Large 1-2) Avg. Wt. Price Range Avg. Price 600 $141.75 $141.75 650 $132.50 $132.50 740 $146.75 $146.75 775 $146.75 $146.75 815 $136.00 $136.00
Head 18 35 75 66 30 69 67 62 61 61
Wt. Range 650-650 675-675 650-650 730-730 700-700 700-700 725-725 780-780 800-800 900-900
FEEDER HEIFERS (Medium 1-2) Avg. Wt. Price Range Avg. Price 650 $148.00 $148.00 675 $154.25 $154.25 650 $140.75 $140.75 730 $138.00 $138.00 700 $150.00 $150.00 700 $146.50 $146.50 725 $149.25 $149.25 780 $139.00 $139.00 800 $153.00 $153.00 900 $139.50 $139.50
Delivery Value Added Value Added Delivery Split Loads Split Loads Natural Value Added Value Added Value Added
Delivery Value Added Value Added
Delivery Split Loads Split Loads Natural Split Loads Value Added Value Added Value Added
Source: N.C. Dept. of Agriculture - USDA Market News Service, Raleigh, N.C. - 919-707-3156
homes and apartment rents. Does this mean people living in different regions pay different prices for the same products and services? And if the answer is yes, are we lucky or unlucky to be living in North Carolina in terms of the prices we pay? Answering the first question requires a tremendous amount of work. Hundreds of prices must be compared, making sure the comparisons are for the same products and services, and the comparisons must be made repeatedly over time. Fortunately, the federal government’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has taken on this task for over a decade. BEA’s latest numbers are for 2019. The most expensive state to live in is Hawaii, with California and New York a close second and third. The cheapest state to live in is Mississippi, with Arkansas and Alabama the second and third cheapest. North Carolina is the 19th lowest cost state in the country, meaning there are 32 states (including the District of Columbia) more expensive than North Carolina. Among nearby states, Virginia, Florida, and Georgia are more expensive, while
South Carolina and Tennessee are less expensive (although only slightly). The BEA numbers also reveal an urban-rural divide in North Carolina regarding prices, with rural areas winning for affordability. Average prices are nine percent higher in urban areas than in rural locations. But in one area – rent for shelter – rural areas really come up big. For the same sized dwelling with the same amenities, rents average 37 percent more in urban North Carolina than in rural North Carolina. Today’s business recruitment often focuses on metropolitan areas. This is because those locations usually have talent from local universities, amenities to attract households, and transportation networks from interstates and airports. This means that in vying for big companies, it’s often the Triad, Charlotte, or the Triangle against Nashville, Austin, or Washington, D.C., rather than North Carolina versus Tennessee, Texas, or Virginia. Yet, here again, North Carolina’s big metros look good on cost. Compared to the national average in prices, Raleigh is four percent under, Durham is five
percent less, Charlotte is six percent cheaper, Greensboro is ten percent under, and Winston-Salem is 11 percent less. Among the three competitive metros mentioned, only Nashville is in the same range at six percent under the national average. Austin is only one percent under the national average, and Washington is 17 percent above the national average. The big takeaway is that in today’s heightened awareness of what things cost, don’t assume your dollars will buy the same amount in different locations. The purchasing power of dollars varies by where you are. In general, items are cheaper in rural areas than in urban regions, and your dollar goes farther in North Carolina, the rest of the South, as well as in the Plains and Mountain states than in the Northeast, Midwest, and Pacific Coast states. This is a big reason why we’ve seen people and businesses migrating to North Carolina and other southern states in recent decades. Interestingly, despite the popularity of our state as a place to live and do business, North Carolina’s cost advantage has actually widened a bit in
the last decade. There’s one other important point to add about these regional price differences. If it’s costlier for a worker to live in an expensive city to do the same job as a worker living in a rural location, won’t the company pay the city worker more to compensate for their higher costs? Logic would say yes, yet reality shows the logic here is not completely correct. Studies show that for two people doing the same job, the one living in the more expensive location is paid more, but not enough to make up for all of their higher costs. The reason is that some of those higher costs are related to benefits of the costlier location, like access to a wider range of amenities and personal services. So, the next time you’re considering moving to a new region, use the data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to compare the cost of the new location versus your current location. Businesses do this all the time. And what they have found is, North Carolina looks pretty good. Is this a big reason why our state is one of the fastest growing in the nation? You decide.
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ANGUS NEWS Industry professionals educate producers on capturing more value. Commercial and seedstock producers learned ways to earn more for their cattle. For commercial and seedstock producers, the Capturing Value panel held during the 2021 National Angus Convention and Trade Show was a successful addition to the education lineup. The panel included moderator, Troy Marshall, director of commercial industry relations, and four industry professionals: Clint Berry, a Superior Livestock Auction representative; Kelli Payne, Oklahoma City National Stockyards president; Doug Slattery, 44 Farms chief executive officer; Bruce Cobb, Certified Angus Beef® (CAB) executive vice president of production. The four panelists shared their different perspectives on ideas and recommendations to capture more value for feeder calves and purebred cattle. Discussion started with a 30,000 foot view of the cattle market as Berry described the current demand drivers in the market. Berry said the industry sits at an all time high for beef demand thanks to programs like CAB, which aim to differentiate quality. “I’ve probably never been as optimistic about the beef business as a fifth generation farmer who has worked my entire career in the beef industry,” Black said. Even with processing challenges, high demand for beef puts producers in a good position, Berry said. Consumers recognize the eating quality of beef and are paying for it. Looking into the future, Berry said this demand will create a need for producers to differentiate. Implementing DNA technology into sorting and managing cattle will help get more upper ⅔ and prime product for consumers. As technology helps differentiate the quality of feeder cattle, Marshall asked
whether the marketplace can have too much quality product. “If you look just 15 years ago, grid premium was near two to three dollars, and it continues to escalate because we’re doing what consumers want,” Cobb said. “We’re delivering to them what they want to share with their families. We’re delivering to restaurants what chefs expect to deliver to their customers. Retailers continue to grow in their demand level. And again, it goes back to producers selecting the right cattle, cattle being managed appropriately and then being fed correctly across the country.” Slattery emphasized the importance of genetics seedstock producers provide to their customers. Slattery says all producers need to be willing to take steps that will help garner more value. They must start with a health program, a great nutritional program, and they need to have a seedstock producer that will help with their genetics. Receiving carcass data back at the commercial cattlemen level can be helpful, Slattery said. “We talked to all the producers when they were making bull selections to try and help them with what they need. We are working all these angles with producers to help get them more profitable.” Payne agreed. “The ones that are doing it right are going to be the ones who are rewarded.” Regardless of herd size, Payne emphasized that as challenges occur, producers must adapt if they want to differentiate their cattle on sale day. Oklahoma City National Stockyard has seen that contrast during the special AngusLink sale days. Buyers never forget bad cattle, she said, and in the same way, they will remember the best. “You will remember the cattle you buy, put in the feedlot and just grow and grow. In other words, you remember when you lost
money and when you made money.” Focusing on demand drivers, differentiating quality, taking the extra steps, and adapting with the times were all big takeaways from the four panelists during the Capturing Value panel at the 2021 Angus Convention. For producers looking to capturing more value for their customers or their feeder calves, visit www.anguslink.com to learn more. Producers and industry professionals discuss the power of genetic data. Maximizing the use of genetic data will pay dividends. The Angus University: Genetics workshop sponsored by Zoetis at the 2021 National Angus Convention and Trade Show served as an educational session to inform breeders about the value of collecting genetic data and ways to use it in decision making. The panel included moderator, Kelli Retallick-Riley, president of Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI), and four panelists – Justin Sexten, vice president of strategy and product development for Performance Livestock Analytics; Jim Moore of Moore Cattle Company, a commercial Angus operation; James Henderson of Bradley 3 Ranch, an Angus seedstock operation; Troy Marshall, director of commercial industry relations for the American Angus Association. Understanding and valuing genetic data can present as a daunting task to seedstock and commercial producers alike. Retallick-Riley asked panelists to describe how they use genetic data to navigate breeding decisions and market cattle to the next industry segment.
“From a technology perspective, we think about it as how do I take the notes you take on a cow that’s locked up in text messages, snapshots on your phone, and notes on a piece of paper that’s thrown up on the dash and convey that up and down the supply chain in a way that the association can make predictions from it,” Sexten said. “I think technology provides us the ability to convey information across all of these segments. So that’s how we think about how can we convey information, not just gather more and more data.” Marshall encouraged the use of programs like AngusLinkSM, which provides commercial producers the opportunity to maximize data collection efforts and, more importantly, maximize profits. “Those buyers up and down the chain need information, they need market flexibility, market access, and they’re looking to mitigate their risk, and these programs give them that,” Marshall said. As a result, AngusLink has helped to capture more premiums. “This last year, the people enrolled in the AngusLink program had an average return of about $84 over the market. Over the last three years, we’ve returned almost $12.5 million in premiums to commercial producers. I think this information flow is just going to continue to grow.” In addition to the AngusLink program, the GeneMax Advantage test allows commercial cattlemen to receive genetic information on unregistered females to make strategic decisions when
“Being able to have some prediction of what those cattle are really worth and being able to get that kind of value out of them and they perform accordingly makes it better for all of us,” Henderson said. “We can sit down with an individual customer and say, ‘Here’s where you are today, here’s where you want to be, and here’s what it’s going to take to do that.’” Sometimes the primary struggle with data stems from the collection process. Sexten emphasized how modern technology provides breeders with the tools to efficiently collect data, document it, and convey the information to each sector of the supply chain.
selecting replacements. “I think one of the underutilized things about [GeneMax Advantage] is if you know what you’re replacing, you also know what bulls to select, so you get a double advantage,” Moore said. “I think that GeneMax Advantage just gives you the opportunity to differentiate yourself in the marketplace and objectively describe the cattle so you can capture the value they deserve.” The role genetic data plays in
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Angus News continued from the previous page any operation will likely continuously increase over time. Henderson said if you haven’t already, the time to start using genetic data to enhance your decision making is now. “I think if you’re not looking at genetic information today in your herd, whether you’re a commercial or a seedstock operation, you’re probably falling behind very quickly,” Henderson said. “It’s time to get into the education process and figure out where you are from a genetic standpoint.” Panelists ignite passion in Angus Convention attendees. Angus breeders discuss family values, adversity, and educating youth. Passion. It’s what drives people to chase big dreams, to push through the nitty gritty, to accept the lows of defeat, and savor the highs of achieving success. It’s the reason why cattlemen do what they do. In every sector of the beef business, there are people with passion for their way of life. As a part of the 2021 National Angus Convention and Trade Show, a panel of those professionals shared stories of dedication, hardships, and celebratory moments in their lives. Speakers included moderator Mark McCully, American Angus Association chief executive officer, and five panelists – Debbie Lyons-Blythe, owner of Blythe Family Farms; Bodey Langford, owner of Langford Cattle Company; Shane Tiffany, co-owner of Tiffany Cattle Company; Curtis Osmond, president of III Forks Prime Steakhouse and Silver Fox Steakhouse; and Josh Jasper, foundation director of the National Junior Angus Board. Jasper spoke about his auctioneer dreams, made possible by his involvement in the junior program and life lessons learned from continuous trips to sale barns with his grandparents. “I remember just sitting down and watching those guys just sing their chants on sale day, just being like, wow, I wish I could wear that silver belly hat up there, hit that gavel down, and be the voice of the sale,” said Jasper. “So going from watching those guys to eventually working with them. Just a couple months
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The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
ago, I got the chance to finally say, ‘Sold it your way, A-rod,’ and that was one of the coolest moments I’ve had. I’ll forever cherish that moment.” Osmond said he values the relationship between the producer and consumer, respects the dedication poured into the product he serves, and aims to relay that message to his customers. “I think it’s really important for you to understand that we understand what your passion is,” said Osmond. “We know that what we’re representing each and every night is the fruit of your passion, of your hard work. We want to represent that in the best light possible.” Any path taken will surely include obstacles, and Osmond said those challenges force people to band together and persevere. “See, when family faces adversity, you know what they do,” said Osmond. “They rally, they get together, they pick themselves up and they continue to push forward, knowing it’s the passion for what we do that keeps us going.” Lyons-Blythe described the challenge her family faced when her youngest son needed a liver transplant, then battled lymphoma a few years later. She fought back tears as she expressed how the Angus family showed up for her family. “My son, Tyler, had a major health crisis seven years ago, and our Angus family sent messages, phone calls, prayers, and you helped us raise money for our charity to increase awareness for organ donation,” said Lyons-Blythe. “Then a year ago, Tyler got lymphoma and you did it again. You helped us feel God with us that whole time. It’s family, it’s you all, you mean so much to me.” Langford told attendees about a childhood memory at his grandfather’s Alabama home. Surrounded by Angus herd bulls, he recalled how they would line up, single file, and low as they paraded around the pasture. Like his grandfather, Langford built his home in Texas in the middle of his bull pasture and replicates those memories with his family. “I had my little 2½-year-old grandson
at the house just a month or two ago,” said Langford. “We were sitting in the living room and he said, ‘Grandpa, what’s that sound?’ I said, ‘Son, that’s just those little Angus bull’s lowing around, walking and doing their thing.’ So maybe that’s the first sound he’ll ever remember and record just like I did when I was his age.” Tiffany explained the unique way he and his brother got their start in the feedlot business. After he accepted a corporate position and his brother as a ranch manager, an unsuspected source approached them with a unique opportunity. “The man that owned the feedlot our dad managed had, unbeknownst to us, been following our careers and keeping tabs on us and how we were conducting ourselves and things like that,” said Tiffany. “Out of the blue in 2007, we got a call that went something like this, ‘Would you guys consider coming home, buying the feedlot, and being part of my legacy.’” The brothers, unsure of their futures if they accepted, had a decision to make. “We said ‘Man, we’d love to, but we don’t have any money,’” said Tiffany. “He said, ‘That’s fine, I’ll finance you.’ So we came back and we ended up with the opportunity to buy in.” With this opportunity, Tiffany not only received the chance to live out his dream but now passes on his knowledge to the next generation and watches them carve their own path. “I love giving them opportunities to take ownership in their own different divisions, teaching them what I was taught, and then to empower them to go on and do great things in this industry,” said Tiffany. “I’m passionate about producing the best protein source in the world.” At the root, Angus cattle serve as more than means to make a living or just a hobby, said Lyons-Blythe. Passion for the industry, for raising beef, and for black hided cattle is embedded in core values. “Foundationally, it’s all about our kids,” said Lyons-Blythe. “It’s the legacy of ranching and farming. It’s passing it on to the next generation. It’s learning more about ourselves, about the land, the animals, and the people.” American Angus Auxiliary hosts annual Convention events. Organization acknowledges leadership, award winners, and camaraderie. The American Angus Auxiliary provides educational, promotional, and social programs and activities to benefit Angus juniors and has since its inception in 1952. Each year, the Auxiliary uses the Angus Convention as a channel to educate members, discuss promotional ideas, and raise funds for future Angus generations. The Auxiliary held numerous events, including their Annual Meeting, Miss American Angus
competition, Auxiliary Breakfast, and 70 th Anniversary Kickoff Reception in conjunction with the 2021 National Angus Convention and Trade Show. During the annual meeting, members elected new directors, officers and voted on changes to by-laws, said Pam Velisek, American Angus Auxiliary outgoing president. A complete list of newly elected directors and officers follows: • Region 2 – Rebecca Knott, Ind. • Region 4 – Christy Perdue, N.C. • Region 6 – Valerie Trowbridge, Penn. • President – Deanna Hofing, Ind. • President Elect – Julie Conover, Mo. • Secretary/Treasurer – Karla Knapp, Iowa • Advisor – Pam Velisek, Md.
North Carolina Angus Association ANGUS MEANS BUSINESS Backed by the world’s largest and most reliable genetic evaluation program. Registered Angus genetics deliver better calving ease, more growth, and superior marbling. 455 GORE FAMILY ANGUS Mark & Lori Gore Tabor City 702-401-8005 455goreangus@gmail.com www.455farms.com 4K FARMS/TARHEEL ANGUS Richard D. Kirkman, DVM Siler City 919-742-5500 rdk.cefa@gmail.com BACK CREEK Joe & Robin Hampton Mt. Ulla 704-880-2488 (Joe); 704-880-3572 (Robin) robinbackcreek@att.net Facebook: Back Creek Angus BILTMORE ESTATE Kyle Mayberry - Manager Asheville 828-768-1956 livestock@biltmore.com www.biltmorelivestock.com
The Miss American Angus competition consisted of five young ladies who underwent a written quiz, an interview, and presented a speech to a panel of judges. This year’s contestants included Jonwyn Ayres of Oregon, Amelia Miller of Illinois, Elizabeth Ron of Mississippi, Rachel Smith of Nebraska, and Mary Wood of North Carolina. The 2021 Miss American Angus, Ellie Kidwell, concluded her reign by crowning Mary Wood as her successor. “Miss American Angus serves as our ambassador in the public eye to promote the Angus breed at shows, sales, schools, and conferences throughout her reign,” Velisek said. “These young ladies never cease to amaze me with their knowledge of Angus and agriculture in general.” Though selecting the new Miss American Angus typically serves as the highlight event, the Auxiliary’s 70th anniversary provided the women with a new celebration. Surrounded by western glitz and glamour, five live auction items sold at the reception by female auctioneer Wendy Lambert. “The other highlight this year was the 70th Anniversary Kickoff Reception that the Auxiliary hosted at the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame in Fort Worth,” Velisek said. “It was a great venue to celebrate women who work
FOUR S FARMS Kim & Connie and Jason & Robin Starnes Luther Lyerly - Manager Salisbury 704-640-5875 kim-4sfarms@carolina.rr.com GENTRY HOMEPLACE ANGUS Howard & Donna Gentry King 336-413-6698 whgentry@windstream.net GRAGG FARMS Paul, Chris, & David Gragg Boone 828-268-4136 (Paul); 828-268-4137 (Chris) 828-268-4135 (David) H&H FARMS Buddy & Jennifer Hamrick - Owners Bly Hamrick - Manager Boiling Springs 704-472-1912 jennham@bellsouth.net HARWARD SISTERS Brooke, Marcie, & Mattie Harward Richfield 704-322-9770 (Brooke) 704-322-5201 (Marcie); 704-322-0831 (Mattie) harwardsisters@gmail.com www.harwardsisters.com HILL ANGUS FARM Dr. Gary M. Hill Hendersonville 229-848-3695 gmhill@uga.edu JACK KNOB FARMS Karl, Janet, & Logan Gillespie Franklin 828-371-2220 karl@jackknobfarms.com www.jackknobfarms.com
bundylane@hughes.net laneangusbeef@gmail.com www.laneangusbeef.com PANTHER CREEK FARMS John C. Smith, Jr. Pink Hill 252-526-1929 JohnSmith3982@embarqmail.com S&J Farms Steven & Julie Lung Nathan Lung - Manager Carthage 910-947-3414 sandjfarms2013@gmail.com SMITH CREEK ANGUS FARM Marty & Lynne Rooker Norlina 252-213-1553 mrooker@mrookerlaw.com SPRINGFIELD ANGUS Phil Goodson Alex Askew Louisburg 919-880-9062 (Phil) 910-260-2899 (Alex) philgoodson2@gmail.com www.springfieldangus.com TRIPLE LLL ANGUS Greg Little Monroe 704-219-1294 greg.little@ATImetals.com VANDEMARK ANGUS Keaton & Janie Vandemark Spring Hope 252-885-0210 keaton@vandemarkfarms.com WINDY HILL FARMS, LLC Michael A. Moss Will Moss - Manager Ramseur 336-549-0070 (Mike); 336-460-7451 (Will) michaelmoss@rtmc.net WINSLOW GENETICS Ben & Kathleen Winslow Halifax 252-578-5487 bensbulls@gmail.com WOOD ANGUS FARM, LLC Russell Wood Willow Spring 919-275-4397 rwood4400@gmail.com www.woodangus.com
Sharon Rogers
NCAA Executive Secretary 336-583-9630 Email: ncaa.sec@gmail.com Website: www.ncangus.org
LANE ANGUS Roger & Bundy Lane Bundy Lane - Manager Gates 252-398-7705 (Bundy); 252-398-7719 (Miranda) 252-357-1279 (Office)
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Angus News continued from the previous page so hard for the Auxiliary. We had a live auction to benefit our Scholarship and Education endowments and met our goal of $20,000.” The mark of the Auxiliary reaching its th 70 year acknowledges the organization’s tenacity and devotion to Angus youth. “The fact that this organization has been supporting and educating juniors for 70 years is truly an accomplishment,” Velisek said. “In 1957 we gave out one $300 scholarship, this year we awarded 10 scholarships totaling $18,000. The Auxiliary is always working to promote our junior members and looking for ways to support the breed we love so much.” The American Angus Auxiliary Breakfast capped off the weekend full of events where they announced the Distinguished Woman of the Year. This year’s honor proved to be particularly special by awarding not just one woman but a family of women. Sandy Trosper and her three past Miss American Angus daughters, Lindsey Trosper DeWitte, Whitney Trosper Renfro, and Mallory Trosper, received the award for their long established dedication to the breed and service to the Auxiliary. Looking forward, the Auxiliary plans to prepare for their Angus Women’s
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Connected Conference and incorporate new ideas and projects during the year. “Our incoming president Deanna Hofing has a lot of exciting ideas up her sleeve, and I am looking forward to some fun activities in the coming year,” Velisek said. “There will be an Angus Women’s Connected Conference in March of 2022 and that is always an amazing event. We are very honored the Foundation continues to support us and make that activity possible for the Auxiliary.” Velisek said she enjoyed networking with fellow Angus women through the Auxiliary. “I love that I have had the opportunity to meet so many talented women who share the same interests I do,” Velisek said. “I love that the Auxiliary has such a strong foundation of tradition. It is important that we evolve and keep up with the times but in doing so we can’t forget where we came from. I think keeping that foundation strong is what makes us so successful.” To learn more information about the American Angus Auxiliary, visit www. angusauxiliary.com. STgenetics ® focuses on the next generation of Angus breeders. STgenetics makes donation to the Angus Foundation
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
at the 2021 Angus Convention. During the awards dinner at the 2021 National Angus Convention and Trade Show, team members representing STgenetics presented the National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) a generous donation of $10,000. Aaron Arnett, director of beef genetics for STgenetics, reached out to the American Angus Association about an idea to support Angus juniors during the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS). STgenetics founder and chief executive officer Juan Moreno wanted an avenue to donate to juniors while giving their sales team and customers the opportunity to take ownership in the magnitude of the gift. By donating a portion of STgenetics’ Angus semen sales the entire week of the NJAS, it challenged everyone to reach higher sales goals, Arnett said. “At STgenetics, we recognize that the success of the future relies on investing in our young people and teaching them to be ambassadors for the beef industry,” Arnett said. “We felt that a donation to the NJAA was a perfect way to help create opportunities for young people who are passionate about Angus cattle.” All funds donated to the NJAA go through the Angus Foundation. Thomas Marten, executive director of the Angus Foundation, felt extremely appreciative of the support and commitment STgenetics made to the future of the Angus breed. “The generosity of STgenetics provides fuel for our junior Angus programs, equipping the next generation,” Marten said. “The impact of their gift will be a catalyst for building leaders in our breed and the livestock industry.” Funds donated to the NJAA and Angus Foundation are used to support the Foundation’s mission of youth, education, and research in the Angus breed and agricultural industry. Throughout the year, the foundation supports events such as LEAD, Raising the Bar, Beef Leaders Institute, and more. All donations make significant impacts on leadership and development opportunities. To learn more about the Angus Foundation or how you can help support the NJAA, visit www.angus.org/Foundation. Gabriel Ranch hosts National Angus Tour. Angus enthusiasts visit ranch in Grand Saline, Tex., during 2021 National Angus Convention and Trade Show. Attendees of the 2021 National Angus Convention and Trade Show celebrated Angus passion, innovation, and achievement through a multitude of learning and networking opportunities. Traveling to Gabriel Ranch for the National Angus Tour was a highlight for many in attendance.
Gabriel Ranch sits an hour and a half outside the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Grand Saline, Tex., and is known for consistently producing high quality Angus genetics. The ranch hosts an annual production sale to market bulls and females to both seedstock and commercial cattlemen and recently started a new beef business venture. The Gabriel family places great emphasis on the difference between “good and great” and offered insight to tour attendees on the role this commitment to quality plays in their operation. Attendees heard from the Gabriel Ranch team on a variety of topics while at the operation. Breakout session topics included the ranch’s history, family and staff involvement, sale, genetics and breeding strategies, and their meat business. The family was eager to share the ways they strive to improve their operation. “Get involved in your business. Know what’s in your pasture,” Lana Gabriel said. “That also means your accounting, your records, your entire business. You don’t have to be an expert. Find an area you’re comfortable in.” Attendees ate an authentic chuck wagon meal for lunch following the informational morning. They then viewed cattle on display from several Texas ranches and visited with American Angus Association staff during an educational session. Angus breeders enjoyed experiencing the operation, located in an unfamiliar region for many, and learning how Gabriel Ranch manages their cattle for optimal results. “The part of Texas that I’m from is treeless and flat, so it’s just unreal to see a place this beautiful,” said Jim Bob Brown, Texas Angus breeder, and tour attendee. “Of the Angus Conventions we’ve been to, that’s the highlight of convention for us is to see the other places.” The 2021 National Angus Convention and Trade Show was held November 6-8, 2021, in Fort Worth, Texas. For more news and information about NACTS, visit www.angusconvention.com. Angus Means Business. The American Angus Association ® is the nation’s largest beef breed organization, serving more than 25,000 members across the United States, Canada, and several other countries. It’s home to an extensive breed registry that grows by more than 300,000 animals each year. The Association also provides programs and services to farmers, ranchers, and others who rely on Angus to produce quality genetics for the beef industry and quality beef for consumers. For more information about Angus cattle and the American Angus Association, visit www.angus.org.
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The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
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Spring 2022 Herd Inventory. Spring 2022 inventories were generated in mid-December. If you are a MyHerd user, your inventory is available to view, edit, and submit on your MyHerd now. If you are not a MyHerd user, your inventory was mailed out to you recently. Be on the lookout for it in the mail! Completion and return of spring 2022 herd inventories before January 15 will receive a discount of 25¢ off per head on every female maintained on the inventory. Inventories updated after March 1 will incur a $2 per head surcharge on every female maintained on the inventory. Remember, MyHerd users can log in anytime to view and update the 2022 spring inventory. Take advantage of the early bird discount and save money today! How to Update your Herd Inventory on MyHerd - Follow these steps to update and submit your herd inventory using www.MyHerd.org. 1. Log into MyHerd and click on the “ToDo” task labeled “2022 Spring Herd Inventory Update needed.” 2. MyHerd populates a list of females expected to calve this spring. Review and update the cow herd inventory. a. If the populated list is correct, click the “Submit Inventory Billing” button. b. To make changes to any cows listed, follow the steps below: i. Click on the line of the female needing to be updated. ii. Click the “Disposal” button for females that were previously sold or culled and give the proper disposal code and date. iii. Click the “Reproductive Status” to mark females as “Next Season” if they’re bred to calve in the fall 2022 season, “Non-Exposed” if they haven’t been exposed to breeding conditions (this code can only be used for first time heifers) or provide a proper calving ease score for females not expected to calve
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The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
News
this season. c. Add new or additional females to the inventory; provide their registration numbers and add them a herd ID. d. Review each herd ID, and make corrections. Each female must have a unique herd ID, and it cannot be repeated within the herd. 3. When the cow inventory list is up-to-date, click the “Submit Inventory Billing” button. 4. Once the “Submit Inventory Billing” button is clicked, the inventory is submitted to the AHA, and the charges are billed. Building Value with Hereford. Hereford Association celebrates a year of growth, high demand for Hereford genetics. A shared sense of optimism echoed in the halls at the American Hereford Association (AHA) annual meeting this fall in Kansas City. It’s an exciting time to be in the Hereford business. In 2021, the breed experienced notable growth and increased use of Hereford genetics in the commercial cattle industry. “The Hereford breed and demand for Hereford genetics is growing at an exciting pace,” says Jack Ward, AHA executive vice president. “We’re seeing expanded interest for Hereford genetics in the commercial sector through an increase in average sale prices and bull numbers.” AHA reports U.S. Hereford semen sales increased by 9 percent in fiscal year 2021, with growth in domestic and international sales. Genetic trend lines also continued their march forward, with a reported 43 percent increase in the Baldy Maternal Index (BMI) and a 55 percent increase in the Brahman Influence Index (BII) during the course of the past six years. The Annual Meeting offered an opportunity to showcase the increased averages of the breed’s profit indices and continued improvement of traits important
to commercial producers. Shane Bedwell, AHA chief operating officer and director of breed improvement, says AHA looks to continue the momentum in genetic improvement. “As an Association, we’re going to continue to invest in research that validates maternal heterosis. That is the bread and butter of any cow herd,” Bedwell says. “We really think we have an advantage in terms of fertility, the disposition advantage that Hereford brings to the table, and continued advantages in efficiency, among others.” A hallmark of the Annual Meeting is the educational forum. This year, attendees heard from an impressive lineup of guest speakers who shared inspirational messages about grit and the abundance mindset, the latest on promising marketing avenues, industry lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C., and herd health. Perhaps the most value came from the hallway conversations and camaraderie within the Hereford family. “The Annual Meeting is a celebration with members each and every year here in Kansas City. This is a great tie to consider the advancements made and to celebrate
the victories of the year with members,” Bedwell says. “It’s a big time in our breed right now.” Bob Harrell of Baker City, Oregon, was among the attendees. Despite challenges like severe drought in portions of the U.S. and tight feed supplies, Harrell says Hereford cattle are proving their profit potential through efficiency. “From birth to slaughter, Herefords, in my opinion, really excel in the whole production system. Not just the final product, not just from birth to weaning,
not just from weaning to a nine weight, but all along every phase they can generate income,” he says. Bedwell says these factors keep Hereford breeders sustainable. “There’s not a greater upcycler than the beef cow. She’s a ruminant female that can take low quality forage and make high quality beef protein. She does it year in, year out, 365 days a year. Hereford breeders are great stewards of that,” he says. “We’re going to continue that story because it’s a great one to tell.” Learn why more farmers and ranchers “Come Home to Hereford,” at www.Hereford.org. Grit is Future Critical. Mindset separates abundance thinkers. “Think about where you grew up and then be thankful that God gave that to you because it probably set your mind differently than so many people,” said Tom Field, Paul Engler chair of agribusiness at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “If you live in an agricultural world, you get a chance to see horizons that the average person doesn’t get a chance to see.” Such a view fosters what Field terms
The Carolina Cattle Connection
an abundance mindset; for example, being able to see past a drought rather than focus on it. Scarcity thinkers only stare at the parched ground in front of them. “You are abundance thinkers,” Field said. “You have always been abundance thinkers because you don’t know another way.” Field was speaking to members of the American Hereford Association, guests, and allied industry partners during an educational forum at the organization’s Annual Membership Meeting and Conference. Coming out of the pandemic, when some hunkered in place, and others kept going, he believes having and creating an abundance mindset will say much about the future of the United States. Sociologists use the term VUCA to describe the environment, according to Field. VUCA stands for volatile, uncertain times filled with chaos and ambiguity. Pointing to the National Junior Hereford Association board members in attendance,
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Hereford News continued from the previous page he continued, “They have never lived during a time that wasn’t a VUCA time. They’ve lived with uncertainty their entire lives.” Like their parents, though, they have an abundance mindset. That takes grit. “Grit is the dogged pursuit of what we care deeply about, that with meaning and purpose,” Field explained, sharing a dictionary definition. “Not everybody in the world has grit. Our job as blue collar professionals is to absolutely advocate for the demonstration and creation of grit in the next generation, for if we fail this, the republic will fail.” Grabbing the future - Field and Kevin Ochsner, Agcellerate president, are facilitating the next AHA strategic planning process. “You’re undertaking a strategic initiative as an organization, and as you think about that, it’s important to remember this quote from management consultant, Tom Peters: ‘From innovation to execution and customer connections, our internal barriers, not our competitor’s
cleverness, are the principle impediments to superior performance’” Field said. “We want to grow a business. We don’t ignore the competition, but it’s our own mindset that separates us from growth and stagnation. Talent is part of the foundation. You can’t ignore some level of skill and ability, but at the end of the day, success comes from one thing — the ability to stick with the process, stick with the fight, do the work when it’s easy and when it’s hard.” Field shared one more thing that should hearten Hereford breeders. “At a time when resilience is going to matter more in biology than it has for a long time, you happen to have a genetic base of resilient biology, and the industry is going to need it, in my opinion,” Field said. About the American Hereford Association. AHA, with headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., is one of the largest U.S. beef breed associations. The notfor-profit organization along with its subsidiaries — Certified Hereford Beef
(CHB) LLC, Hereford Publications Inc. (HPI), and the American Beef Records Association (ABRA) — provides programs and services for its members and their
customers while promoting the Hereford breed and supporting education, youth, and research. For more information, visit www.Hereford.org.
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NEWS
Animal Agriculture Alliance makes 2021 Virtual Summit recordings publicly available. Recordings from the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2021 Virtual Summit are now available for public viewing. The 2021 event, themed “Obstacles to Opportunities” was the largest to date, with nearly 600 registered attendees who tuned in. “The 2021 Virtual Summit was a huge success, reaching our largest attendance record ever and including high caliber speakers and presentations covering some of the biggest issues in animal agriculture,” said Hannah Thompson-Weeman, Alliance vice president, strategic engagement. “We’re excited to offer a glimpse of the valuable and actionable content the annual Stakeholders Summit delivers to an even broader audience by providing public access to the recordings, which are highly relevant to everyone in animal agriculture.” Highlights of the impressive lineup of recorded sessions available to view include: • Frank Mitloehner, Ph.D., professor, and director of the CLEAR Center at University of California, Davis, who shared how animal agriculture can play a role in reaching climate neutrality and sustainability goals • Jared Achen and Katie Olthoff, Iowa farmers and co-founders of ChopLocal, who discussed how they were able to pivot their traditional business model during the pandemic to offer new options for local farmers • Markie Hageman, Alexander Strauch, DVM, Jennifer Osterholt, and Brandi Buzzard Frobose, a panel of farmers, ranchers, and a veterinarian who identified ways to elevate the voices of on-the-ground experts in conversations surrounding food and agriculture All available session recordings from the 2021 Virtual Summit can be viewed at bit.ly/2ZGUnzM. To read a condensed overview of insights shared at the event, check out the highlights report at animalagalliance.org/resource/2021stakeholders-summit-highlights-report/. The 2022 Summit is set for May 1112 in Kansas City, Missouri. There’s only one way to effectively safeguard the future of animal agriculture—together. And now, we finally have the opportunity to come together in person once again. The 2022 Summit is your chance to meet and collaborate with stakeholders throughout the food chain and across commodities. Be informed on the latest news, data, and developments in animal welfare,
sustainability, and other hot topics. Be ready with the tools to work side by side to protect our livelihoods. Be here as we come together to connect, engage, and protect the farm and food communities. Join us at the 2022 Stakeholders Summit – “Come Together for Animal Ag: Be Informed, Be Ready, Be Here!” Registration for the Summit will open in early 2022, and a tentative schedule will be shared at that time. Check the Summit website for the most up-to-date information. You can also follow the hashtag #AAA22 for periodic updates about the event on social media. For general questions about the Summit, please email summit@ animalagalliance.org or call 703-562-5160. Get involved - Show your support for the Alliance’s outreach efforts by becoming an official Summit sponsor today! For more information on 2022 sponsorship opportunities, contact Casey Kinler at ckinler@animalagalliance.org. Thank you to our 2022 Summit sponsors: Watt Global Media, Farm Journal, Meatingplace, National Pork Producers Council, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Pork Board, American Feed Industry Association, United Egg Producers, Dairy MAX, Adisseo, Progressive Dairy, Kemin, American Farm Bureau Federation, Empirical, American Veal Association, National Chicken Council, Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, N.C. Farm Bureau, and Eggland’s Best. The Alliance also thanks the following members for their continued support of Summit and other Alliance programs: U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, Zoetis, Merck Animal Health, C.O.nxt, Diamond V, Genus PLC – PIC/ABS, Aviagen Group, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cargill, Dairy Farmers of America, Hendrix Genetics, Hy-Line North America LLC, Iowa Soybean Association, Midwest Dairy, National Turkey Federation, Nutrien, Provimi North America Inc., Seaboard Foods, and Tyson Foods Inc. About the Animal Agriculture Alliance. The Alliance is an industry united, nonprofit organization that helps bridge the communication gap between farm and fork. We connect key food industry stakeholders to arm them with responses to emerging issues. We engage food chain influencers and promote consumer choice by helping them better understand modern animal agriculture. We protect by exposing those who threaten our nation’s food security with damaging misinformation.
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www.nchereford.com 4B FARMS, LLC Shelby, NC Bryson, Wren, Beau, Belle, Bonnie & Bennet Westbrook 980-230-4868 • brysonw@thewestbrookco.com
McCOY CATTLE FARM Cove City, NC Myron & Charlie McCoy 252-229-4602 mccoycattlefarms@gmail.com
4K RANCH Nelson, VA Rick & Linda Kern 919-272-6124 4kranch@bellsouth.net
MITCHEM’S FARM 3C Vale, NC Wayne, Crystal, Regan & Jordan Mitchem 704-472-4369 mitchemsfarm@bellsouth.net
AWC CATTLE COMPANY Winston-Salem, NC Andie & Wes Carpenter 336-970-1655 • jcarpenter@alphagraphics.com www.windmillacresfarms.com
NORTH PINO LAND & CATTLE COMPANY Mocksville, NC Kevin Robinson 336-940-2547 • kevrob1@aol.com
BLINSON POLLED HEREFORDS Lenoir, NC Keith & Peggy Blinson - 828-310-4526 Bryan & Beth Blinson - 919-422-9108
TAYLOR’S MILL FARM Zebulon, NC J. Brent Creech 919-801-7561 tmfherefords@icloud.com
DOUBLE J FARM Traphill, NC • Earlysville, VA John Wheeler 910-489-0024 • doublejfarmllc@yahoo.com www.doublejfarmllc.com
TERRACE FARM Lexington, NC Jim, Linda & Chad Davis 336-247-1554 jgdavis101@yahoo.com
FIVE J’S BEEF & CATTLE COMPANY Clayton, NC Jody & Angela Standley Kim Prestwood (Manager) • 828-320-7317 - Kim jodystandley@gmail.com
TRIPLETT POLLED HEREFORDS Statesville, NC James Triplett 704-902-2250 triplettmarble@bellsouth.net
GRASSY CREEK FARM Bullock, NC Scott, Pam, Hailee, Lillee & Elizabeth Bissett 919-482-1176 Bissettsp1@gmail.com
W&A HEREFORDS Providence, NC George, Tammy, William, & Andy Ward 434-251-3637 waherefordfarm@comcast.net
HEREFORD HILLS Greensboro, NC Bill Kirkman III 336-382-9635 ST Genetics Representative
NCHA Secretary/Treasurer
LOOKABILL FAMILY LIVESTOCK Lexington, NC Reggie, Patty, Tyler & Noah Lookabill 336-240-2142 rlookabill6015@gmail.com The Carolina Cattle Connection
Myron McCoy
252-637-4995 nchereford@yahoo.com www.nchereford.com
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THE SIMMENTAL TRAIL
By JENNIE RUCKER Executive Secretary N.C. Simmental Association Fred Smith Company Ranch Extra Effort Sale. October 16 was the date of the 5th Annual Extra Effort Sale at the Fred Smith Company Ranch in Clayton,
North Carolina. There was a large crowd in attendance, and everyone enjoyed fellowship, looking at the cattle, and eating the truly delicious meal provided
Marty Ropp of Allied Genetics discusses the quality of the genetics at the Fred Smith Company Ranch.
Auctioneer Dustin Rogers chants for a bid.
N.C. Simmental Association 1341 US Hwy 21 • Hamptonville, NC 27020 336-468-1679 • www.ncsimmental.com • NCSA@yadtel.net Like us on Facebook! PAGE 38
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
by the Fred Smith family. Dustin Rogers was the auctioneer, and with the sale starting at 1:00, bidding was intense. The top selling bull was G300, a son of IR Capitalist E041, and he sold for $$6,750 to KJ Fauth of Lavinia, Montana. There were several second top selling lots, all selling for $6,000. First was a son of Gibbs 6784D Stateline, H072, which sold to Bobby Britt of Albertson, North Carolina. Next was Lot 8, H009, sired by Hooks Admiral 33A, which sold to Tommy Sanders of Hamilton, Mississippi. Then Lot 12, G288, sold to Colin Wilson of Hollywood, Alabama. This bull is a son of Gibbs 4475 Pirate. The 29 age advantaged bulls averaged $4,181.03, while the 18 yearling bulls averaged $3,966.67. The
Mark Rogers gets a bid.
bred heifers (many of these had already calved) averaged $3,000, and the open heifers averaged $1,560.19. The total for the sale was 107 lots to average $2,756.07.
Looking over the bulls at the Extra Effort Sale.
American Simmental Association 1 Genetics Way • Bozeman, MT 59718 406-587-4531 • www.simmental.org
Six Tips for Calf Scours Prevention By DR. SHELBY ROBERTS Alltech The hustle and bustle of spring calving is quickly approaching, and now is the time for cow/calf producers to begin planning their calving management strategies. Making time to do the proper planning prior to the start of calving can
improve overall animal welfare and can save producers both time and energy. One of the keys to successful calving planning is the anticipation of any possible health challenges that could impact calf and/or overall herd health. Management protocols
Little Jonathan sure is proud of these bulls. Will Thompson and Jonathan Massey are about to start the SimAngus Solution Sale.
SimAngus Solution Sale. The 13th Annual SimAngus Solution Sale was held on sunny November 6 at Burlington, North Carolina. The sale was held a little differently this year, with each lot sold individually rather than a “pick of the pen.” There was a video of the animal being sold, and everyone was seated inside the barn. Will Thompson was the auctioneer for the event, and the top selling lot was
This bull is looking good, ready to go meet some ladies.
These SimAngus Solution bulls are very docile.
Lot 12, MH32, a son of Southern Fortune Teller, which sold for $5,400. The next top selling lot was Lot 4, MH25, a son of Gibbs 3133A Mountaineer, selling for $5,250. The third top selling lot was a son of TJ First Cut 1109C, which sold for $5,000. The 23 bull lots grossed $68,450 to average $2,976. The yearling females also sold very well, with the top lots bringing $1,850. One of these was a daughter of TJ Franchise 451D, and one was sired by Southern Fortune Teller. Another heifer sired by TJ Diplomat 294D sold for $1,800. The 15 yearling heifers grossed $22,675 to average $1,512.
Margaret Dickey and Jill Brinkley have been clerking the SimAngus Solution Sale for years!
designed to prevent disease exposure should be considered and implemented prior to the start of calving, and producers should contact their local veterinarians about the potential treatment protocols in the case of widespread disease. One disease complex that producers should develop management strategies for is calf scours, also known as calfhood diarrhea. Scours is the leading cause of early calf death. This illness is the result of inflammation of the intestinal tract, which can be caused by a variety of infectious agents, including bacteria (E. coli or Salmonella), viruses (rotavirus or bovine viral diarrhea virus), and parasites (coccidia). The occurrence of scours can impact profitability via both direct and indirect costs. Direct costs include revenue loss due to calf death, additional labor, and medicinal costs, while indirect costs include reduced performance in calves that got sick but recovered. Implementing preventative management practices can prove to be an effective tool for preventing scours infections in a new calf crop. Here are a few strategies to help control scours events: 1. Properly manage calving areas - The period of greatest risk for a calf to get scours is the first 10-14 days after birth. As such, maintaining clean, dry calving areas is essential for minimizing calf exposure to causative agents. Many causative agents — such as E. coli, Salmonella, and coccidia — are found in manure. Avoid overcrowding in calving areas to minimize manure contamination. If the environmental conditions make it hard to maintain dry calving areas, it is essential to provide manure free, dry bedding areas that are large enough to allow both the dam and the calf to get out of the mud. This is important for maintaining the health of both the cow and the newborn calf. Minimize commingling among herds after calving, especially during the first month of the calf’s life. This will prevent the spread of infection from apparently healthy older calves to younger calves, whose immune systems are more naïve. Keeping calving heifers separated from the older cow herd can also help reduce scours. Heifers tend to have lower quality colostrum, which can leave their young calves at a higher risk compared to calves from older cows. 2. Isolate sick calves quickly Many causative agents are contagious,
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so quickly identifying and removing sick calves and their dams is essential to preventing widespread infection. To be able to successfully and quickly remove animals from the herd, producers must first be able to recognize the signs of a scours infection. Diarrhea is the most easily identifiable symptom. Diarrhea is classified as loose, watery stool and may be brown, green, yellow, white, or even blood red in color. Other symptoms to look for include weak suckling reflexes, depression, and dehydration, which can manifest as sunken eyes or abdomen. 3. Quickly provide treatment - Once sick calves are identified, addressing dehydration should be prioritized as the first method of treatment. Fluids and electrolyte solutions need to be provided to rehydrate calves, as diarrhea can quickly dehydrate young calves and, if left unaddressed, can be deadly. 4. Maintain the proper dam nutrition - Establishing the proper dam nutrition begins prior to calving. Meeting their nutritional requirements — including energy and trace minerals — is necessary for dams to be able to produce quality colostrum. Colostrum is the mother’s first milk and is high in nutrients and maternal antibodies. At birth, calves are born with a naïve immune system, so the proper transfer of maternal antibodies to the calf is critical for establishing early calf immunity. 5. Establish a vaccination program - Work with your local veterinarian to develop a vaccination protocol that fits your herd and its specific challenges. Scours vaccination protocols can include both dam vaccination (to promote the transfer of antibodies through colostrum) as well as calf vaccination at birth (to support the calf’s naïve immune system). 6. Promote gut health - Scours are the result of an unhealthy gut environment — an environment where the beneficial bacteria that reside in the gut are outnumbered by pathogenic bacteria. Supplementing the herd with yeast cell wall products, which are classified as prebiotics, can help promote the growth of the beneficial bacterial and support healthy immune function. The goal of calving season is to produce healthy calves — and the production of healthy calves starts prior to calving. Implementing preventive health management strategies can prove to be both effective and economical for producers.
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Technology Improves Performance and Profitability Throughout history, humanity has benefited from technological advances. Human flight went from 0 to 25,000 mph in the 66 short years between the Wright brothers’ first flight and Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. Aviation isn’t the only industry brimming with innovation, as agriculture plays a significant role in cutting edge technology as well. Think how far agriculture has come since the invention of the plow. Technology continues to positively impact the cattle industry, with advancements making it easier to monitor animal health, manage breeding records, track inventory and find efficiencies throughout the supply chain, ultimately impacting producer profitability. Producers have gone from scratching handwritten notes on paper to accessing an animal’s entire health record on the phone in the palms of their hands. During a recent Cattlemen’s Webinar Series event, Andy Dorn with Allflex Livestock Intelligence and Duane Gangwish with Darr Feedlot, Inc. near Cozad, Neb., discussed how technology is improving cattle health and performance. With something as simple as an
electronic identification (EID) ear tag, producers can track and correlate data to a single identification number. Monitoring of animals through activity, rumination, and temperature through active technology is the next step. The real time data provides the ability to make better and more timely decisions. Cattle showing a spike in temperature and decrease in activity can immediately be pulled and treated, giving that animal a better chance of recovery. “At the feedyard level, we use software to maintain animal health and treatment records and to monitor morbidity and mortality rates in pens,” said Gangwish. “This information is shared with management, veterinarians, and yard staff so we can better manage the health of individual animals.” While EID isn’t new technology to the livestock industry, the data that can be collected and analyzed is rapidly evolving, and how that data is used is new to the industry. “Data can be collected throughout the animal’s life across the supply chain,” said Gangwish. “For example, carcass data collected at the packer level is shared with us at the feedyard, and we pass that back
to the ranch where the animal originated so they can make genetic decisions.” According to Dorn, the ability to integrate and cross reference data is key. “Producers can utilize collected data to evaluate the interaction between genetics and health, health and meat quality, and genetics and eating experience,” said Dorn. “Understanding these correlations help move dollars back to the cow/calf producer as well as the rest of the value chain.” New technology is also available to help indicate animal health when they are in the chutes. A new breath test detects changes in metabolic outputs exhaled, which can indicate a response to the first signs of infection, often hours before the onset of physical symptoms. Breath test results can be combined with EID data to add another level of information to evaluate animal health and make treatment decisions. Beyond health management, value added programs and beef exports are also driving the demand for data collection, with most programs requiring traceability in order to enroll and some export markets requiring traceability back to the ranch. Some countries
even use the information to help market the product at the retail level. In Japan, consumers can scan a code on the package with their phones, and a picture of the ranch where the animal was raised appears. When asked why cow/calf producers should utilize EID, Gangwish suggested the technology can help with record management, such as tracking inventory and breeding records. Still, it can also help producers make culling, breeding, and marketing decisions. Gangwish and Dorn understand that the concept can be intimidating, but once producers get started, it becomes a simple process that can have big impacts on herd management. Whether it is existing technology used in new ways or completely new advancements, both Dorn and Gangwish agree that the beef cattle industry is only going to become more data intense in the future, and technology will be critical to managing information and making meaningful correlations for all segments of the supply chain. To view recordings from the Cattlemen’s Webinar Series and learn about upcoming webinars, click on the Producers tab at www.NCBA.org.
Contact these RAAC members to learn more about Red Angus genetics and how they can fit into your herd. HARDROCK BEEF CATTLE Ronnie & Donna Holman 4613 Hickory Nut Ridge Road • Granite Falls, NC 828-302-8659 ronnie@hardrockbeefcattle.com JK RED ANGUS Jeff Banfield & Madison Adams 331 Tee Jay Farm Road • Aberdeen, NC 910-315-3821 jkredangus@gmail.com LANGDON RED ANGUS & SIMMENTAL John & Eileen Langdon 7728 Raleigh Road • Benson, NC 919-796-5010 johnlangdon5@gmail.com ROGERS CATTLE COMPANY Johnny & Sharon Rogers 945 Woodsdale Road • Roxboro, NC 336-504-7268 rccbeef@gmail.com PRESNELL RED ANGUS Jonathan & Jacob Presnell 368 Whitaker Road • Shelby, NC 704-473-2627 (Jonathan) • 704-616-8775 (Jacob) BULL HILL RANCH Jim & Alvina Meeks • Raymond Prescott, Manager 1986 Trinity Church Road • Gray Court, SC 864-682-3900 • 864-682-2828 bullhill2@mindspring.com
Terry Boyles, President - twinbfarm1@gmail.com
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COUNTRY BOY FARMS David Miller 316 Key Road • Edgefield, SC 706-840-3709
Farm Credit News AgCarolina Farm Credit Announces Director Election Results. AgCarolina Farm Credit completed the 2021 director election online and by mail on December 1. An independent third party tabulated the ballots, and the results have been certified and provided to the Association. We appreciate the participation of AgCarolina voting stockholders to help strengthen our cooperative. B. Derek Potter of Grantsboro, N.C., was elected to Region 8 (Beaufort, Dare, Tyrrell, Hyde, Pamlico, and Washington counties). He is a full time farmer with an operation consisting of corn, soybeans, and timber production and management. He serves as a board member of the United Soybean Board, N.C. Soybean Producers Association, N.C. Soil and Water Conservation Commission, Pamlico Soil and Water Conservation District, and Pamlico Voluntary Ag District. He is a member and deacon of Rock of Zion Freewill Baptist Church. He is also involved in various capacities with N.C. Farm Bureau, Pamlico County Cooperative Extension, and N.C. Small Grain Growers Association. Audie M. Murphy of Stantonsburg, N.C., was elected to Region 9 (Greene, Wilson, and Wayne counties). He is a full time farmer with an operation consisting of cotton, soybeans, turkeys, peanuts, corn, and sweet potatoes. He serves as a board member of Greene County Farm Bureau and Greene Gin & Cotton Company. He is also a member of New Direction Church. The AgCarolina Farm Credit Board of Directors is made up of ten stockholder elected directors and two outside appointed directors. All directors serve four year terms. AgCarolina Farm Credit Awards $32,000 in Grant Funds. AgCarolina Farm Credit announces $32,000 in grants have been extended to fifteen organizations through its corporate giving program. The grants will aid recipients in carrying out programs specifically benefiting farmers and rural residents in eastern North Carolina. Grants up to $5,000 per organization were awarded at a reception held at Rose Hill Plantation in Nashville, N.C., in one of the four focus areas of Education, Environment, Technology, or Quality of Rural Life to the following organizations: • Food Bank of the Albemarle - Purchase 12 head carousel bagger with picking table. Will allow them to package
fresh produce and bulk dry goods into family size packaging to distribute to end users. • Gates County Hunter Safety Team - Supplies and materials necessary for practice and competition during the 2022 Hunter Education district and state competitions. • Green Level High School - Provide educational opportunities for students through hydroponics and aquaponics programs to increase plant sales and drive student engagement. • Jamesville Elementary - Purchase STEAM supplies for fifth grade students to provide more hands-on learning experiences. • JoCo Grows Agriculture - Hire professional videography company to produce educational outreach videos promoting local farmers and the impact of agriculture in Johnston County. • Johnston County 4-H - Provide scholarships for youth to attend North Carolina 4-H Camp. • Onslow County Cooperative Extension Service - Scouting school for farmers to help them make best decisions spraying costly insecticides. Increase youth agriculture knowledge by offering hands-on projects. • Perquimans County Schools Foundation, Inc. - Fund learning/ reading circles to educate students about agriculture. • Rocking Horse Therapeutic
Riding Program, Inc. - Provide up to 80 scholarships for individual lessons for riders participating in the therapeutic program. • Silver Lake Volunteer Fire Department - Purchase five StatPack bags and Zoll AED to help the department be fully equipped with medical supplies to run medical emergencies. • Southern Nash High School FFA - Environmental education outdoor learning lab. Clearing overgrown areas on campus, construct footbridge, and construct and install floating dock. • Town of Nashville Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources Department Support startup costs associated with the Nashville Farmers Market. • Washington County 4-H Purchase materials for agricultural based curriculum for school enrichment programs. Specifically soil solutions, vermicomposting, and Acres of Adventure for youth in the area. • Washington County Early College High School - Startup supplies for a working greenhouse on campus. • Wilson County Cooperative Extension Service - Purchase John Deere tractor to safely operate and increase the number of quality on-farm tests in Wilson
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and Johnston counties. Association CEO Dave Corum states, “The AgCarolina corporate giving fund has awarded over $505,000 in grant funds to benefit the rural and agricultural communities of our eastern North Carolina service area since 2005. AgCarolina is committed to partnering with organizations to enhance the quality of life and opportunities for rural residents of eastern North Carolina.” The application period for 2022 grants opens as of January 1. For more information, please visit https:// agcarolina.com/News/Community/GrantProgram.aspx. About AgCarolina Farm Credit. AgCarolina Farm Credit is a farmer owned financial cooperative with headquarters in Raleigh and provides credit to farmers and rural residents in central and eastern North Carolina. The Association has over $1.5 billion in loans and commitments outstanding to over 3,000 North Carolina farmers and rural residents. Loans are made to finance land, homes, farm buildings, operating expenses, livestock, and equipment, as well as other purposes. Find a branch near you, visit www.agcarolina.com or call 800-951-3276.
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What’s Happening with 30x30? The proverbial oxygen in the room in Washington, D.C., has been totally consumed lately by President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda and the bipartisan infrastructure package. These massive spending proposals have been a steep test of Democrats’ ability to leverage tangible wins out of power in the White House and a narrow majority in both chambers of Congress. Amid all the frenzy, another marquee agenda item for this administration has fallen by the wayside in the mainstream media. The 30x30 or “America the Beautiful” plan is still very much a priority for officials at the Department of Interior and USDA, and your NCBA policy team has been working persistently to hold ground and make progress for farmers and ranchers. “One of the challenges this autumn has been making sure that the administration does not get any free passes to make unilateral changes to grazing regulations and other environmental regulations while everyone’s attention is diverted,” said NCBA Executive Director of Natural Resources Kaitlynn Glover. “There has been a lot of focus on these Herculean spending packages, but 30x30 is still running in the background. We’ve been monitoring the agencies’ actions on this goal constantly, and we are working to combat every proposed change that might seek to hamstring our producers and dismiss the value of their longstanding work in conservation and environmental stewardship,” she added. Fighting For a Fair Count of the Acres Already in Play - The key? Make sure this work counts in the eyes of the Biden administration. Producers in every corner of the country are performing valuable conservation work each day — work that not only strengthens, in many cases, the longevity of their operation but also has far reaching benefits for the ecosystems they live and work in. One such producer is Robbie LeValley. LeValley represents the fourth generation of her family to ranch in western Colorado’s Delta County. In addition to her business as a cow/ calf operator and part owner of a local, direct to consumer processing plant, LeValley has made a strong mark in the conservation world. She has been recognized nationally for her work to revitalize critical Gunnison Sage Grouse habitat through managed grazing. She makes an important distinction between the goal of preserving land and
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the goal of conserving it. “Preservation is often viewed as passive management, allowing nature to take its course,” she said. “Conservation, as originally proposed, was meant to be active management of the land and it allows for changing conditions to be addressed.” This distinction has been a central message that NCBA, the Public Lands Council, and other partners in agriculture have delivered over and over again to the Biden team as they pursue the ambitious goals outlined in the “America the Beautiful” plan. Preservation may sound great on paper, but in reality, it takes tools off the table and restricts our ability to respond nimbly and effectively to environmental changes. “A land management philosophy that relies on preservation on some level also relies on the idea that vast landscapes can exist in a vacuum,” Glover said. “These are not sealed off environments. Healthy, thriving ecosystems are dynamic. They require active management to respond to variables like catastrophic wildfire, invasive species, changing climate conditions, and ever expanding development.” A growing body of scientific research — not to mention decades of informal knowledge passed down generationally among farmers, ranchers, and Tribal communities — supports this assertion. “There is hard data to indicate that the grazing management that the majority of producers employ on their [federal] lands supports improved biodiversity, plant vigor, and rangeland health,” said LeValley, who works on both public and private lands. Advocating for responsible grazing as a science driven, sustainable land management tool has been a key priority for NCBA and our partners since President Biden took office — and our persistence is showing. In September, addressing attendees of the Public Lands Council Annual Meeting, two key administration officials admitted that public lands leased to ranchers should be counted toward the goal of 30x30. “If we’re going to look at ways to restore and then conserve landscapes and ensure they are more climate resilient, we will need to be working on a lot of those lands with all of you,” said Nada Culver, then-acting director of the Bureau of Land Management. Deputy Chief of the U.S. Forest Service Chris French also spoke at the event and relayed that his team is recommending to the administration
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
that the majority of Forest Service lands be included in the 30x30 total — lands that include millions of acres grazed by livestock. “When we look across the entire landscape of mixed ownership, producers have led the effort to conserve land through easements, candidate conservation agreements, safe harbor agreements, and enrolling and sustaining acres in the Natural Resources Conservation Service,” LeValley said. “We’re encouraged by these signs that the administration is hearing and understanding the value of cattle grazing,” Glover said. “There are certainly partners of ours within these agencies that see the many ways that the stewardship practices by our producers are compatible and, in fact, indispensable to the goals of 30x30.” “That said, our optimism is distinctly cautious. There are still many avenues the administration could pursue to implement sweeping land management policies that restrict our producers’ good work,” she added. Resurrected Fight Over Misguided Monuments - One of those potentially problematic avenues that has risen to prominence in recent months is the overly broad application of monument designations.
In early October, the administration made the unilateral decision to put sweeping federal designations on millions of acres surrounding the Bears Ears National Monument and Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument in Utah. After much touting of their intent to collaborate with agricultural producers and state and local leaders, the administration moved forward with these controversial designations without a comprehensive conservation strategy – prolonging a game of political football with these lands that has been years in the making. “Monument designations may bring the White House closer to scoring ‘conservation’ points on paper, but in reality, they lead to the kind of preservation strategies that we know from experience do not support healthy ecosystems long term,” Glover said. She stressed that NCBA will remain focused on hammering home the need for active management, including managed livestock grazing. “As with any federal designation, when [30x30] was announced there was a lot of concern not only over the original designation, but also the cumulative impacts of additional restrictions on the landscape,” LeValley said. “Additionally, producers have concerns about the vagueness and unintended consequences.”
46 Annual Clemson Bull Sale th
By STEVEN E. MEADOWS, Ph.D., Clemson University The 46th Annual Clemson Bull Sale will be held on February 5 at the T. Ed Garrison Arena Cattle Complex in Pendleton, South Carolina. This year’s offering is extremely uniform, and the competition is strong among the bulls. The catalog should be out by January 1, so you will be able to study the data. Adjusted yearling weights for this year’s offering will fall mostly between 1,200-1,400 pounds — tremendous performance, to say the least. The offering will include Angus, Balancers, Polled Herefords, Red Angus, Simmental, and SimAngus. The bulls will range in age from 14-17 months of age, and all bulls will be semen tested and evaluated prior to the sale. In addition, we will be screening the bulls for any problems such as feet and leg structure and certainly disposition. This will prove to be a very useful set of bulls with balanced calving ease and superior growth spread. The EPDs and actual performance will back this up. The test period ended on December 7. After the official test period is over, the bulls are turned on grass pasture to allow the bulls to be in top breeding condition at the time of sale. We are also including a tremendous set of open heifers. At this time, the heifers that have been consigned are Angus x Simmental. The heifers will be heavy and ready to breed on the day of sale. If you would like to see the bulls, please contact me either through my email at smdws@clemson.edu or calling me on my cell at 864633-9970. This year we will also have our S.C. Cattlemen’s Association Annual Meeting the Friday prior to the bull sale at the cattle complex. I would encourage you to come hear some very good educational talks and view the bulls as well on February 4. Bulls and heifers will be penned and ready to view at 3:00 p.m. on that Friday. I look forward to seeing everyone there!
46 Annual Clemson Bull Sale th
presented by Clemson University & the S.C. Cattlemen’s Association
! d e t a u l a v e e r a y c n e i c i f f e d e e f d n ce a
an m r o f r e p e r e h W
Sale will be broadcast LIVE via DVAuction!
40+ Bulls & 35+ Heifers
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Your Carcass Cut Your Way Slaughter Facility 9683 Kerrs Chapel Road Gibsonville, NC
Processing Facility 430 NC Hwy 49 S Asheboro, NC
336-628-4949
www.PiedmontCustomMeats.com We are a processor offering slaughter and processing service only. We DO NOT buy or sell any meat products.
BEEF • PORK • LAMB • GOAT PAGE 44
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NEWS Cattle business ruminations for 2021 and what to expect in 2022. Three cattle industry experts from Purina share perspectives you can use going into 2022 and reflect on the past year in the beef business. Even though there was some uncertainty in the cattle industry in 2021, 2022 is already looking more optimistic. Purina Animal Nutrition Ph.D. cattle consultants Chad Zehnder (Minnesota), Doug Hawkins (Texas), and Martha Moen (Florida) ruminate on trends from the past year and what to expect in 2022. What opportunities has 2021 presented? Zehnder - From mid-year on, we’ve seen stronger feeder and fed cattle prices. We’re heading in the right direction, and folks have an opportunity to take advantage of that. Adding more weight prior to and during weaning helped producers capitalize on the momentum. Hawkins - With an abundance of moisture in my area, we’re seeing some producers in the Southern Plains buy cattle from areas experiencing drought. Overall, cow numbers in Texas are still down since the droughts of 2011-13, but some ranches are making moves to expand while times are good. Moen - More producers are feeding and harvesting cattle to direct market beef. Consumers want to know where their beef comes from, and cattle producers are stepping up to meet demand. How will this year’s weather challenges impact forages in the year ahead? Zehnder - From a drought standpoint, we’ve stuck with the traditional methods of management. Producers have been proactive in terms of diligently culling cows. Early weaning calves helped reduce nutritional requirements for cows to try to stretch forages. And we’re getting creative at finding alternative forages. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land opened up in some regions, and we’ve baled a lot of CRP hay. So, we’re utilizing a lot of low quality forages this winter, and supplemental nutrition will be key in the year ahead. Hawkins - In my area of Texas and Louisiana, there’s been an abundance of rain that brought plenty of forage. However, forage quality isn’t where we’d like it, so supplemental protein and fat will be necessary for many herds. What have producers been doing to address higher input costs?
Zehnder - The drought has driven forage and grain prices higher. We’re looking to add more weight outside of the feedyard, which traditionally happens when feed prices get high. With higher input costs, more than ever, producers need to take a closer look at technologies like feed additives and implants to improve feed efficiency. We should try to capture any efficiencies possible to add weight cost effectively. Hawkins - Cattle producers have been taking these input prices as they come. Nothing is ever set in stone in cattle production. Producers have been flexible working through the situation by locking in prices when they can. Moen - It was eye opening how quickly input costs rose and how it impacted cow herd management. The higher commodity prices for corn and fuel made it difficult to develop replacement heifers as efficiently in the Southeast because we also have to cover the price of freight to transport grain. We’ll push more forage through those heifers, but they won’t develop as quickly as we’d like. What can producers learn from this year and carry into next year? Zehnder - Have a plan for when and where to spend dollars – whether it be fertilizer, fuel, or supplementation. Don’t make knee jerk reactions when it comes time to calve, breed, or feed forages. Get a plan on paper now, so you’re ready to implement changes more effectively.
Hawkins - Put the pencil to your feeding program. There are cheap feedstuffs out there featuring lower quality ingredients, but you’re going to pay for what you get in this market. Performance dictates the quality of feed. Cost of gain or cost per head per day is still the way to build a nutrition plan. Skimping on nutrition has long term impacts on fetal programming, calf growth, reproduction rates, and more. Moen - Watch what the futures markets are doing for cattle and grain. Be flexible in your management and marketing plans. Stay progressive and willing to adjust if markets are changing. Trends to watch - Uncertainty is one of the few certainties in cattle production. Weather and once in a lifetime events can alter markets and how cattle are managed. However, there are a few industry trends that point to encouraging near term prospects: • Consumer beef demand is at a record high for the past 30 years.1 • The pandemic isn’t over, but there could be more of a bounce back as the economy recovers and the world gets to a new normal.2 All three Purina experts agree the immediate future for the cattle industry looks promising, and forward thinking producers are in a prime spot to capitalize. References 1 www.agweb.com/news/livestock/ beef/consumer-and-wholesale-beefdemand-hit-30-year-highs-despite-nearrecord-beef 2 w w w. a g r i c u l t u r e . c o m / c a t t l e markets-to-be-explosive About Purina Animal Nutrition
Y’all have stumbled on the best place to advertise expert A.I., superior genetics, the best in purebreds and outstanding farm supplies. Check the Classifieds in this issue! LLC. Purina is a national organization serving producers, animal owners, and their families through more than 4,700 local cooperatives, independent dealers, and other large retailers throughout the United States. Driven to unlock the greatest potential in every animal, the company is an industry leading innovator offering a valued portfolio of complete feeds, supplements, premixes, ingredients, and specialty technologies for the livestock and lifestyle animal markets. Purina Animal Nutrition LLC is headquartered in Arden Hills, Minn., and a wholly owned subsidiary of Land O’Lakes, Inc. For more information, visit www.purinamills.com.
Benton’s Hay Farm * Custom Bermudagrass Sprigging * Tifton 85 and Coastal Bermuda FGFGFGF
FGFGFGF
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* Hay Sales * Large & Small Bales
Timmy Benton Walterboro, S.C.
843-908-3222 - Cell • tormbenton@lowcountry.com
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NEWS McIntosh Joins the Beefmaster Team. Beefmaster Breeders United (BBU) welcomed Kylie McIntosh, Boerne, Tex., as the membership coordinator on December 6. In this role, McIntosh will serve as a liaison between the organization and its members, as well as manage the current membership database and help execute successful strategies to recruit and orient new members. “I am eager to assist the members of the Beefmaster breed and help the association grow exponentially,” McIntosh says. “The Beefmaster breed has an exciting future, and I am proud I get to be part of the team moving us forward.” Originally from Boerne, Texas, McIntosh grew up raising and showing swine and Brahman cattle through the Texas Pork Producers and American Brahman Breeders Association. She currently owns and operates
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LK Brahmans with her younger sister. Prior to joining BBU, McIntosh studied Agriculture Services and Development at Tarleton State University. She completed an internship with The Brahman Foundation, where she served as their bookkeeper and scholarship coordinator. “Kylie has a solid cattle background, and I am confident that she will serve our members well,” says BBU Executive Vice President Collin Osbourn. “Her knowledge of the cattle industry and foundation management will be valuable to our membership. We are excited to have Kylie as part of the Beefmaster family.” McIntosh can be contacted at 210732-3132 or by email at kmcintosh@ beefmasters.org. Membership Renewal Reminder. It’s time to renew your Beefmaster
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
Breeders United membership! We encourage you to renew your membership online at www.beefmasters.org. Please note that all active, associate, and junior memberships are renewable every January, except for Lifetime members and NEW members that have joined since October 1, 2021. Memberships can also be renewed via mail. If you wish to renew through the mail and send a check, please include your membership number AND name to ensure the funds are applied correctly. Active/Associate Member Dues: • $125 – if paid by January 31 • $135 – if paid by February 28 • $145 – if paid by March 31 • $250 – reinstatement after March 31 Junior Member Dues: • $60 – if paid by January 31 • $70 – if paid by February 28 • $80 – if paid by March 31 • $120 – reinstatement after March 31 Whole Herd Reporting and Inventory Based Reporting News. The 2022 WHR (Whole Herd Reporting) and IBR (Inventory Based Reporting) inventories are available online to participating members. Be on the lookout for your inventories in your online BBU account.
The IBR inventories must be completed and posted online by February 1. An additional $5 per head will be assessed for the IBR inventories posted online after February 1. The WHR inventories must be completed and posted online by May 1. An additional $5 per head will be assessed for the WHR inventories posted online after May 1. Please note if you are participating in a spring 2022 sale, your WHR or IBR inventory needs to be updated and returned prior to registering any animals born in 2022. BBU members who are interested in enrolling in the WHR or IBR programs but are not currently participating, please contact the BBU office at 210-732-3132 or jnovak@beefmasters.org. About Beefmaster Breeders United. Beefmaster Breeders United, located in Boerne, Tex., is a not-for-profit breed registration organization that provides programs and services for its members. Beefmaster, Beefmaster Advancer, and E6 cattle are selected on the “Six Essentials” of disposition, fertility, weight, conformation, milk production, and hardiness. For more information, visit www.beefmasters.org.
UC
UC
The Union County Performance Tested Bull Sale consignors would like to thank the following bidders and buyers as well as those who attended the 46th Annual Sale held December 4, 2021. High Selling Balancer High Selling Angus High Selling Simmental David Edwards Darrell Hartsell Scottie London • Ralph Hager Wilson Aldridge • Norwood, NC Gregory Beer • Richburg, SC Boger Farm • Mocksville, NC Matt Bullington • Marshville, NC Mike Burleson • Stanfield, NC Brian Buttrick • Shelby, NC David Carter • Concord, NC Circle A Ranch • Lancaster, SC Doug Cox • Monroe, NC Doug Cox • Monroe, NC David Edwards • Marshville, NC Jeff Elmore • Claremont, NC Ralph Hager • Kannapolis, NC Darrell Hartsell • Locust, NC Joseph Jones • Wadesboro, NC Kirk Klaas • Waxhaw, NC Jeremy Lee • Catawba, NC Lewis Farms • Chester, SC Scottie London • Concord, NC Ken Martin • Wadesboro, NC Carey McComb • Marshville, NC McDonald Farms • Richburg, SC Stephen Mendoza • Charlotte, NC
Carl Mitchell • Germanton, NC Elaine Moore • Albemarle, NC Brandon Morgan • Stanfield, NC RJM Cattle Co. • Indian Trail, NC Aaron Sellers • Ruby, SC Jaren Simpson • Monroe, NC Johnny Smith • Locust, NC Don Speights • Albemarle, NC Bill Thompson • Lawndale, NC Larry Trull • Monroe, NC Ben Tucker • Norwood, NC Wesley Vinson • Lawndale, NC Steven Walden • Marshville, NC Mike Walton • Monroe, NC Watts Farms • King, NC David Wheeler • Hickory Grove, SC Gary Wood • Erwin, NC Bobby Wright • Peachland, NC Wayne Yarbro • Kings Mountain, NC
Volume Buyers Larry Trull • Jeff Cornwell • Bill Thompson
We invite you to join this list of performance oriented progressive producers in 2022!
47th Annual Union County Performance Tested Bull Sale December 3, 2022 • Union County Livestock Market The Carolina Cattle Connection
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Consignment Sales, Putting Your Best Foot Forward By STEVEN E. MEADOWS, Ph.D. Clemson University The spring sale season is right around the corner. Call for consignments are going out now to breeders to consign for respective breed sales. I have always felt that consignment breed sales allow small to medium purebred breeders to be able to showcase their program and put their best foot forward. Consignment sales allow you as a purebred breeder to show a lot of people the quality of your animals, and hopefully, this will spur private treaty sales back home on the farm. In order to make this happen, there are a lot of factors to consider and make sure each are addressed openly and honestly. A longtime friend of mine and a regional breed representative developed a presentation on this very subject and shared with me some of his thoughts. In this article, we will address those points, and hopefully, you will find it useful. The number one factor before anything else is done is to make sure you select a quality animal! That is an animal with minimum faults. While there is no perfect animal, we all should try to minimize any negatives as much as possible. Start with making sure the animal you are considering is of good structure and has sound feet and a clean, neat udder. Bad footed cattle, straight legged cattle, and bad uddered cattle should not be consigned. Make sure you select an animal of “optimum marketing age.” Not many buyers are interested in old cows. Young cows with a weaning age heifer calf are usually the best when it comes to overall dollars. Pairs that are 2-5 years old with heifer calves old enough to be split at the time of sale are great for the buyer as well as the seller. Secondly, young cow/calf pairs with heifer calves by side that are not weaning age is still a good decision for consignment. Bred heifers are certainly marketable and demand strong prices but need to be modern in their breeding and preferably safe in calf to a calving ease, popular A.I. sire. Lastly, open heifers can have good income potential, but the ones that will bring the most dollars are those that can be competitive at a state level show. Many juniors attend these sales to buy but are looking for competitive show heifers. One thing, regardless of the age of your consignment, is pedigree. The animal needs to represent popular and preferably proven genetics. These cattle will be the ones that possess strong EPDs that are in the breed’s top 50 percentile rankings
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The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
or higher. You need to be honest with yourself when selecting your consignment and ask yourself these questions about your cattle’s genetic makeup. In today’s purebred market, it is recommended that you have genomic enhanced EPDs. This just gives the buyer more confidence in the consignment you are offering. Ask yourself, is my entry sired by a popular A.I. sire and bred to a popular A.I. sire, and if it has a calf at side, the same holds true. Pedigrees that are stale have low or undesirable EPD’s is a non-starter. I find it interesting as I attend consignment sales that you will find great animals that are bred right. At the same sale, you see animals sired by a son of “Joe’s old bull” and pasture exposed back to “Fred’s new bull.” Buyers have no name recognition with these types of pedigrees and frankly will not buy them. Usually, these consignments end up selling for a lot less money and, frankly, sometimes less than they would bring to the market during the week. No matter how good the pedigree, EPDs, or the animal in general is, if you don’t feed them, you are in trouble come sale day. Good quality nutrition allows the animal to express its true genetic merit, and that is what the buyers will be evaluating. Cattle that are consigned to a sale in general need to be on feed 90 days prior to the sale. Depending on the body condition of the animal, you will have to feed accordingly. For most consignments, you are looking at 1-2 percent of body weight in a good quality grain based ration. In order for the cattle to utilize the feed in an optimum way, make sure you deworm and treat for lice 100 days prior to the sale and repeat 30-45 days prior to the sale. Some may argue somewhat with this next statement, but a good quality animal that checks all the boxes that are moderately thin will be discounted. It takes a good quality consignment combined with some body fat to sell. You will hear people say they don’t want to buy a fat animal, but one in a body score of 6 will have plenty of friends on sale day, all things considered. Shifting gears, but just as important is the presentation of your consignment. Are the animals clipped and clean? This is a must, as shaggy, dirty animals at a consignment sale will not draw many friends at sale time. A haircut and a little soap go a long way! Also, you need to make sure you get high quality pictures of your consignments for the catalog.
Random photos that do not truly show the strength of the animal will hurt you from the standpoint of prospective buyers. Good pictures tend to “wet” the appetite of potential buyers when looking at the catalog, and most likely, that will be one of the animals they look up when they arrive at the sale. Make sure that you advertise! If you have a group ad or multiple consignments, it is possible that you can buy your own advertising in your respective breed magazine; but for only one or two head, this may be cost prohibitive. However, social media is free! Nice pictures and information on your animals can be featured on your social media accounts and draw lots of interest. The list seems to go on and on but make sure that your health requirements to ship out of state are done. For example, are your cattle calfhood vaccinated? Did you do a T.B. test prior to the sale? Are your vaccinations up to date? If you are selling a bull that is breeding age, make sure that he has passed a BSE and have that report available if asked for it by potential buyers. Have all health papers in hand when you go to the sale. I also think it is important to make sure that your consignments have an EID tag, as this allows for movement of the cattle and provides traceability. Doing these small things again just shows that your cattle are worth considering and truly are managed in a way that any potential customers can appreciate. Many breeds have their fair share of “genetic defects.” Make sure that any animals that are potential carriers are tested, and if they are a carrier, consider not putting that animal in the sale. Selling untested animals that are potential carriers is a sale killer in my mind. Many potential customers will just decide that if the possibility is there for a carrier, they will pass on bidding, and I would agree. I have watched many sales lately, and the discount for carriers or potential carriers is getting larger vs. an animal that has been tested free of genetic defects. Last and possibly the most important thing is your reputation! Consignment sales are not a place to try and sell your bottom end of the herd. If people respect and trust you and your cattle, you are already ahead of the game. Treat people the way you want to be treated. I am looking forward to seeing everyone at many sales this spring.
NCBA Pushes EPA to Support Clear Water Rules with Launch of WOTUS Campaign In October, NCBA launched a Waters of the United States (WOTUS) campaign aimed at developing fair, clear rules for cattle producers. While producers may have thought the WOTUS issue was behind them, court rulings and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcements over the past few months have demonstrated that water rules are once again a focus in Washington, D.C. “Due to a recent court ruling that vacated the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) — a rule that protected farmers and ranchers — the EPA is justifying the development of a new WOTUS rule,” said NCBA Chief Environmental Counsel Scott Yager. “NCBA is a leading voice urging the EPA to respect the needs of cattle producers and craft a rule that limits federal authority over common agricultural practices.” The limits of federal water regulation have been hotly contested since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, involving numerous rulemakings and Supreme Court cases. In 2015, the EPA created a widely overreaching definition that subjected nearly every water feature — including isolated features and areas that only held rainwater — to federal jurisdiction. Some of the common water features that fell under the 2015 WOTUS rule included grassed waterways, prairie potholes, rainwater, snowmelt, small creeks, dry washes, drainage ditches, isolated wetlands, vernal pools, coastal prairie wetlands, pocosins, any waters within a 100 year floodplain, and any waters within 4,000 feet of a high tide line or ordinary high water mark. “While the 2015 rule may have sounded good to a bureaucrat in Washington, it did not hold up to common sense out in the country,” Yager said. “A feature that you can step over or a field that only has water when it rains should not be regulated by the federal government.” During the Trump administration, cattle producers saw relief from the onerous 2015 WOTUS rule with the finalization of the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR). The NWPR limited the definition of a WOTUS to substantial bodies of water, like oceans, large lakes, tributaries that run during a typical year or seasonally, and adjoining wetlands. While the NWPR was not perfect, it was substantially better than the 2015 WOTUS rule. NCBA supported the NWPR and intervened in several court cases to uphold it before it was struck down by a U.S. District Court in Arizona. Yager noted that the Arizona court
decision created even more confusion for cattle producers who had already lived through the 2015 and 2020 rulemaking attempts. “Immediately after the court decision, the EPA took the opportunity to apply the ruling on a nationwide scale, reverting back to the 1986 definition of WOTUS,” he said. “In the span of just over five years, cattle farmers and ranchers have experienced three different WOTUS definitions under the law.” Even before the Arizona court decision, the Biden administration had announced their intention to repeal the Trump era rule and create their own WOTUS definition. “We were pleased to see cattle producers share their views with the EPA when the agency launched WOTUS listening sessions over the summer,” Yager said. “Sadly, our producers were outnumbered by activist groups who have historically favored an oversized definition of WOTUS.” In October, the EPA announced a process for hosting regional WOTUS roundtables. The catch? Stakeholders like individual state affiliates or conservation groups were asked to propose an entire plan to the EPA for how they would host a roundtable that includes agriculture, conservation, development, water management, environmental justice, and industry groups. Yager pointed out that placing the burden on stakeholders to
plan the roundtable and create the guest list is the EPA shirking responsibility. “If you are a state cattlemen’s association, imagine trying to get environmental justice activists, conservation groups, developers, and industry groups to sit at one table. These groups fundamentally oppose each other and yet the EPA is asking ranchers and farmers to call a meeting with activists that do not believe our way of life should even exist,” Yager said. To ensure that cattle producers’ voices are included in the WOTUS conversation, NCBA launched a multiphased campaign aimed squarely at the EPA and the Biden administration. The first phase of the plan is a sign on a letter asking EPA Administrator Michael Regan to support clean water and clear rules for cattle producers. The letter urges the EPA to focus their jurisdiction on “traditionally navigable waters,” or water one could fit a boat in, rather than the small stock ponds or ditches found on agricultural operations. “In just three weeks, more than 1,000 cattle producers signed the letter, demonstrating their passion for this issue and sending a strong message to the EPA,” Yager said. “Our goal is to increase this number to truly show the EPA that the cattle industry is united on WOTUS.” The letter to the EPA is only the first phase of NCBA’s WOTUS campaign. NCBA is also looking for
producers who are willing to discuss the good conservation work they do to protect water quality without the need for overburdensome federal regulation. NCBA is writing producer profiles that will explain to policymakers how new WOTUS rules impact long time agricultural practices, and a personal story from a cattle farmer or rancher is extremely important for helping government officials understand that their decisions impact the livelihood of farm and ranch families. “If you want to fight back against WOTUS, we need to hear from you,” Yager said. “I can tell policymakers every day that our industry will be impacted by their decisions, but we need producers to stand up and prove that point.” Joining the WOTUS fight is easy. Simply email Scott Yager at syager@beef. org or Mary-Thomas Hart at mhart@beef. org to discuss how you can be involved. To read and sign the WOTUS letter to the EPA, please visit www.ncba.org/policy. “NCBA has told the EPA that we need a WOTUS solution that works for cattle producers,” Yager said. “Now is the time to engage on this issue; sign our letter to the EPA, and share your story to protect not only your own operation, but the future of our industry.” To tell the EPA to support Clean Water and Clear Rules, visit https://p2a. co/SGLLCiD.
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Four Tips for Avoiding BRD This Season. Weather conditions and having a plan can minimize the risk for BRD. Winter cold and storms are right around the corner, and the risk for bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in your cattle may be right around the corner as well. A little planning can go a long way in handling the pressures of Mother Nature and managing your cattle to stay ahead of a BRD outbreak. Phillip Kesterson, DVM, Beef Technical Services, Zoetis suggests considering these four factors this season: • Temperature fluctuations - While humans may enjoy “layering weather,” it can be hard on cattle in grow yards. When the morning starts out cold, then warms up 30ºF or more during the day and cools off again at night, we can remove or add layers, but cattle can’t. The fluctuations can cause respiratory stress, so watch cattle for signs of illness. • Dusty days - Dry weather can cause respiratory issues for cattle in dry lots. While you do everything you can to address and mitigate this issue, you can’t do much if Mother Nature doesn’t provide some
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moisture. Keep an eye on cattle during the dusty days for signs of distress. • Commingling Issues - You might be thinking the risk is past, but don’t be overconfident that your cattle are beyond the period of vulnerability caused by commingling. Mixing cattle exposes them to new pathogens when immune systems may be suppressed, so keeping a constant eye on emerging signs of disease is important. • Long duration treatments - With labor often in short supply, using a long duration anti-infective treatment for BRD allows for returning cattle to their home pens where they feel more comfortable, thus decreasing the likelihood of subsequent treatments. Speaking of treatments, what’s your strategy? If you do encounter a BRD issue, having a set protocol and plan for treatment is essential to help get cattle feeling better and back on feed. Dr. Kesterson encourages producers to consider the new BRD treatment available that combines the long duration of the leading antibiotic on the market1 with a fast acting NSAID, ketoprofen, for
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
fever control: Draxxin KP (tulathromycin and ketoprofen injection) Injectable Solution. This new BRD treatment: • Provides 14 days of antibiotic therapy: ◦ Draxxin KP contains the trusted antibiotic tulathromycin and maintains antibacterial therapeutic levels for up to 14 days.2 • Controls fever starting in one hour up to 24 hours to help animals feel better: ◦ Draxxin KP demonstrated a significant reduction (p ≤ 0.0072) of BRD associated fever from one hour up to 24 hours after treatment compared with Draxxin (tulathromycin injection) Injectable Solution alone.3 • Has similar year round syringe ability as Draxxin: ◦ Draxxin KP is approved for the same dose size as Draxxin and has similar viscosity. • Treats all four major BRD pathogens: ◦ Draxxin KP is labeled to treat BRD caused by Mannheimia haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, Histophilus somni, and Mycoplasma bovis.4 • Improved respiratory scores for better animal well being: ◦ A challenge study demonstrated animals treated with Draxxin KP showed numerically improved attitude and respiratory scores compared with animals
treated with saline and Draxxin post treatment.3 Talk with your veterinarian to evaluate your BRD management and treatment protocols, and learn more about Draxxin KP at www.draxxinkp.com. References 1 Animalytix Ruminant Segments Anti-infective therapeutic category, MAT, ending June 2021. 2 Data on file, Study Report No. A431N-US-16-418, Zoetis Inc. 3 Data on file, Study Report No. A131C-XC-17-528, Zoetis Inc. 4 Freedom of Information Summary. NADA 141-543 — Draxxin ® KP (tulathromycin and ketoprofen injection). Food and Drug Administration; 2020. About Zoetis. As the world’s leading animal health company, Zoetis is driven by a singular purpose: to nurture our world and humankind by advancing care for animals. After nearly 70 years of innovating ways to predict, prevent, detect, and treat animal illness, Zoetis continues to stand by those raising and caring for animals worldwide — from livestock farmers to veterinarians and pet owners. The company’s leading portfolio and pipeline of medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, and technologies make a difference in over 100 countries. In 2020, Zoetis generated revenue of $6.7 billion with ~11,300 employees. For more, visit www.zoetis.com.
Selling 100+Bred & Open Heifers
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New NCCA Members for 2022 In 2007, members of the Membership Committee passed a resolution to recognize all NEW members of the NCCA in The Carolina Cattle Connection at the NCCA Annual Conference in Hickory. A new member is defined as someone who has never been a member or someone who has rejoined after a brief break in membership. The new members are identified in this new members section by name and county of residence. Below is a list of NCCA’s new members for the last month: Out-of-State Jim Locklear – Utah Michael Styron – Cypress Pond Farm – Va. Ashe County Robert Hollingsworth – Henry Hudson Farm Bladen County Johnny Tatum – BB Ranch Caswell County Alfred Sturges – Sturges Beef Farms Kayla Sturges – Sturges Beef Farms
Catawba County Brandon Bowman – Bowman Family Farms
Nash County Paige Brown – Steel Creek Farms Jack Carpenter – Steel Creek Farms
Davidson County Thomas Penninger
Perquimans County Tyequasha Bembry Kiersten Bennett Da’varia Coleman Shaniya Greene Chamira Harris Amiya Jackson Dayon Jordan Tyzavion Kee La’shauna Leary Kayasia Mabine Karleigh Marsh-Riddick Alexis May Colleen McDonald Alaijah Mercer De’shanalynn Miller
Forsyth County Tony Church – Riverside Farm Franklin County Mario Villamil Delgado Haywood County Dale Greene – Pigeon Valley Jackson County Jackson Stafford – Nicholson Farms Lee County Bradley Cameron – Cameron Family Farm
Cheneyach Pettaway James Sawyer Trenton Sawyer Nathan Stevenson Hayley Tisdale Stephen Wille Jaree Wilson Transylvania County Clarence Raines II Wake County Gerald Conrad Wilkes County Darren Utecht – Holy Cow Farms Yancey County Adam Hopson – Happy Hens & Highlands
N.C. Cattle Receipts, Trends, and Prices for the Month of NOVEMBER 2021
Macon County Dustin Pendergrass – Pendergrass Family Farm
Cattle Receipts: 18,518
•
Previous Month: 20,297
Feeder supply - 28% steers • 43% heifers • 29% bulls SLAUGHTER CLASSES
Avg. Wt. Price Cows - % Lean Breaker 1,444 $57.85 Boner 1,231 $58.62 Lean 1,055 $50.06
Bulls - Yield Grade 1-2
1,661
$86.41
FEEDER CLASSES
FEEDER STEERS (Medium and Large 1-2) Wt. Range Avg. Wt. CWT Avg. Price 400-450 425 $142.29 $604.73 450-500 468 $146.29 $684.64 500-550 521 $139.63 $727.47 550-600 571 $138.16 $788.89 600-650 624 $134.26 $837.78 650-700 667 $129.71 $865.17
FEEDER BULLS (Medium and Large 1-2) Wt. Range Avg. Wt. CWT Avg. Price 400-450 419 $151.84 $636.21 450-500 473 $140.77 $665.84 500-550 522 $131.84 $688.20 550-600 569 $127.82 $727.30 600-650 620 $113.54 $703.95 650-700 673 $106.20 $714.73
FEEDER HEIFERS (Medium and Large 1-2) Wt. Range Avg. Wt. CWT Avg. Price 400-450 425 $127.43 $541.58 450-500 472 $124.77 $588.91 500-550 520 $120.36 $625.87 550-600 571 $117.75 $672.35 600-650 621 $114.54 $711.29 650-700 674 $113.06 $762.02
Source: N.C. Dept. of Agriculture - USDA Market News Service, Raleigh, N.C. - 919-707-3156
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Beef Checkoff News Cattlemen’s Beef Board Launches ‘The Drive in Five’ Web Series. The Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) has launched a new web series designed to help beef producers learn how their Checkoff dollars are being used to increase beef demand. The Drive in Five recaps some of the top stories from the CBB’s newsletter, The Drive, along with some exclusive, web only content – all in a quick, five minute video format. “We’ve received some great feedback from producers about both the print and e-newsletter editions of The Drive since we began publishing it in 2018,” said Sarah Metzler, director of organizational communications for the CBB. “However, we know that a producer’s time is very limited, and not everyone has time to sit and read a newsletter, whether in print or in an email. It’s even more limited at certain times of the year, like calving
season, spring planting and fall harvest. Now, producers can watch The Drive in Five in just a few short minutes, or even listen to the audio when they’re in their trucks or other equipment.” The premiere episode of The Drive in Five is now available at the CBB’s website, www.DrivingDemandForBeef. com. It features Torri Lienemann, Nebraska beef producer and CBB board member, who sets the record straight on common Beef Checkoff misconceptions. New episodes will be released quarterly, and producers can text “DRIVE” to 888351-6435 to get a sneak preview. “When it comes to getting news and other information, we all have our preferences,” Metzler said. “Some people like to read their news; others prefer to watch or listen to it. By producing this new video series, we’re providing another convenient way to learn what the Beef
Checkoff is doing and how it’s impacting beef demand. It’s another example of our efforts to improve transparency and communication with producers nationwide.” For more information about the Beef Checkoff and its programs, including promotion, research, foreign marketing, industry information, consumer information, and safety, contact the Cattlemen’s Beef Board at 303-220-9890 or visit www.DrivingDemandForBeef. com.
The Carolina Cattle Connection
About the Beef Checkoff Program. The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The Checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States may retain up to 50¢ on the dollar and forward the other 50¢ per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national Checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
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1475 National Highway • Thomasville, NC 27360 Store - 336-886-1737 • Cell - 336-250-0572 www.thebarnloft.com PAGE 56
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
Observe Body Condition Score at Calving — and Before By DR. SHELBY ROBERTS Alltech Calving season is game time for a cow herd, and producers want to make sure that their cows are in peak condition prior to kick off. The best way to measure the condition of your cow herd is by utilizing body condition scores (BCS). As the name suggests, a BCS is an estimate of a cow’s condition or the amount of fat they are carrying. The amount of fat — and its placement — determines BCS. Body condition scoring is an easy and effective tool for producers to use. Still, a familiarity with the fat deposition and skeletal structure of cattle is required to properly determine BCS. The key areas used to evaluate the degree of body fat on cattle are the ribs, brisket, hooks, pins, and tailhead. Typically, for beef cattle, a scale of 1-9 is used to indicate BCS, with 1 being emaciated, with all of the cow’s ribs and bones easily visible, and 9 being obese. • Thin cows have a BCS of 1-3 • Moderate condition cows have a BCS of 4-6 • Fat cows have a BCS of 7-9 The ideal BCS for mature range beef cows at calving is a score of 5, and for calving heifers, an ideal BCS would be a 6. This difference in BCS at calving is because heifers are still growing and have a higher nutrient requirement for growth compared to mature cows. Evaluate BCS prior to calving and breeding. Timing is important when evaluating body condition scores. Producers should aim to evaluate BCS prior to the calving and breeding seasons. Suggested evaluation timepoints include 90 days prior to calving, breeding, and the start of the winter season. This will give the producer enough time to try to improve BCS if cows aren’t hitting their target prior to breeding and late gestation. Body condition scores can be used as a nutritional management tool. For instance, depending on a producer’s facilities, cows can be sorted into groups using BCS. Cows that meet or have above target BCS scores need no special nutritional intervention and can maintain condition on quality range pasture. Cows with low body condition scores or replacement heifers could be supplemented with additional nutrients to improve or maintain their body condition during calving and breeding. Another good time to evaluate BCS is heading into winter grazing. Cows that are thin at the start of winter grazing will require supplemental feed just to maintain
their body condition, as energy requirements increase up to 40 percent during the winter. Additionally, trying to improve BCS during the winter is going to cost 20–30 percent more than during the fall. A poor BCS can negatively affect a cow’s calf. The productivity of a cow herd depends on keeping them within the producer’s ideal BCS. It is well established that a poor BCS can have detrimental effects on a cow’s reproduction. Thin cows take longer to come into heat and, therefore, only have one chance at rebreeding. Over conditioned or fat cows can also negatively impact reproduction rates. However, a poor BCS can also affect the overall health and performance of a dam’s calf. The relationship between cow BCS and calf performance is based on the energy requirements of the cow. To maintain an ideal BCS, cows must have enough energy to support all of their bodily energy requirements. When a cow’s energy requirements are not met by her diet, then she must use the energy stored in her body as fat. The more stored energy she uses, the further she moves down the BCS scale. There is a priority use for energy for bodily functions, as outlined below: Priority energy use by cows (adapted from Short et al., 1990) 1. Basal metabolism 2. Grazing and other physical activities 3. Growth 4. Supporting basic energy reserves 5. Maintaining an existing pregnancy 6. Milk production 7. Adding to energy reserves 8. Estrous cycling & initiating pregnancy 9. Storing excess energy (i.e., fat deposition) This hierarchy shows that maintaining pregnancy (i.e., gestation), milk production, and reproduction are all lower on the list of energy use priorities. This illustrates the importance of cows consuming enough energy from their diet to meet their maintenance requirements before energy can be used for pregnancy and milk production. A cow’s BCS affects her reproductive ability, too. Evaluating BCS at 90 days prior to calving — when cows are about to enter late gestation — is critical, as this is a moment in time that could impact the future growth and performance of her calf. About 75 percent of calf growth occurs during the last 60 days of gestation, meaning that the cow’s energy requirements are going to be higher for
the last 60 days of her pregnancy. If cows are thin going into the third trimester of pregnancy, then there could be reduced calf growth due to a lack of energy available for supporting the pregnancy. Smaller calves are more prone to sickness after birth. Weaning weights have also been shown to be lighter when cows have poor body condition. Until weaning, milk is the major energy and nutrient source for calves. If cows are in poor body condition, they lack the energy necessary to produce the quality milk needed for calf growth. Research has shown that herds that maintain cows with the ideal BCS ranges (5–7) have better calving and weaning percentages, which are a measure of the herd’s overall reproductive and production efficiency. Thin cows are going to have a harder time maintaining pregnancies and growing calves. A poor BCS leads to fewer pregnancies, fewer calves weaned, and calves weaned at a lower weight, which leads to lower overall returns.
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Body condition scoring helps evaluate the nutritional status of the cow herd. Producers should routinely check the body condition scores of their herds to continually monitor the condition and nutritional status of the cows. If a large portion of the cow herd has a low body condition score, the herd nutrition should be evaluated to make sure that their energy and protein requirements are being met. A prolonged poor BCS can have a harmful impact on production outcomes, which can also negatively impact the economic returns of an operation. Evaluating BCS to determine not only the herd’s reproduction readiness scores but also its nutritional status is an opportunity to positively impact calf performance. Reference Short, R.E., R.A. Bellows, R.B. Staigmiller, J.G. Berardinelli, and E.E. Custer. 1990. Physiological mechanisms controlling anestrus and infertility in postpartum beef cattle. J. Anim. Sci. 68:799-816.
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Federation of State Beef Councils Update Sharing Beef ’s Sustainability Message Starts at Home. Everyone has neighbors, whether they are miles away or right next door, and the most interesting conversations happen when chatting with someone across the fence. Consumers want to hear from their producer neighbors to learn about the food that is feeding their families. With questions arising about climate change and how products get from farm to plate, sharing beef’s positive sustainability message starts at home through community conversations. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, developed a letter to the editor (LTE) campaign to help share producer stories locally. While broad based campaigns promote beef at the national level through advertising and social media, the LTE effort took a grassroots approach, giving producers a voice in local communities. The U.N. Food Systems Summit
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and Climate Week NYC in September brought a lot of attention to climate discussions and provided the perfect opportunity to educate people that animal agriculture is part of the climate change solution and not the problem. Producers and nutritionists shared their stories about sustainability efforts and the role beef plays in a healthy diet through letters to the editor, which were submitted to publications in their own communities. More than 45 LTEs were placed in publications across 17 states, reaching 26 million consumers. Many of those reached live in urban areas neighboring cattle farms and ranches where there is a great need for consumers to better understand the industry’s commitment to protecting the planet and providing nutrient dense protein. This is one more example of how the Beef Checkoff is bridging the gap between pasture and plate and bringing neighbors together for conversations that open doors to understanding.
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
S.C. Beef Council News By ROY COPELAN Welcome 2022, with peace and happiness to all. May this year of 2022 be full of good news, excitement, and kindness! The SCBC fall beef promotions were successful. During December, seven retail beef promotions took place around our state. Also, the six well placed S.C. Beef Council billboards around our state have generated a lot of attention. Each billboard has produced thousands of impressions to our traveling consumers. The story of your beef continues to be told, and awareness of our commodity stays in front of the people. Nominations for the 2022 Environmental Stewardship Award are being accepted. Applications are due by March 11. For additional information, contact Jill DeLucero of NCBA at 303-850-3321 or jdelucero@beef.org. It has been an honor and pleasure to serve as the Executive Director of the S.C. Beef Council these last 15 years. Now is the time to ride off into the sunset. May the Lord continue to bless you, your family, and your cattle operation. Farewell…
Beef Promotion and Research Program
PRIVATE TREATY SALES CHECKOFF INVESTMENT FORM Information is required by (7 CRF 1260.201). Failure to report can result in a fine. Information is held confidential (7 CRF 1260.203).
Today’s Date: ________________ Seller’s Name: ____________________________
Buyer’s Name: ____________________________
Address: _________________________________
Address: _________________________________
City: ________________ State: ____ Zip: ______
City: ________________ State: ____ Zip: ______
Seller’s Signature: _________________________
Buyer’s Signature: _________________________
Both the seller & the buyer are responsible for making sure that the $1.50 per head assessment is collected and remitted to the Beef Promotion & Research Board.
Total Number of Cattle Sold: ___________________ x $1.50 Per Head = $ _______________________ Date of Sale: __________________
Person remitting assessment form:
Seller
o
Buyer
o
* State of Origin of Cattle: ______________________
* If the cattle purchased came from another state within the last 30 days, indicate from which state the cattle were purchased.
Send Report and Remittance to:
SOUTH CAROLINA BEEF COUNCIL P.O. Box 11280 Columbia, SC 29211 According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0581-0093. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 1.8 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disbility, sexual orientation, marital or family status, political beliefs, parental status, or protected genetic information. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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NEWS Cattle Buying 101 — Look for the Right Type, Low Stress Cattle to Gain. When it comes to buying calves to background, both the risk and the reward should be considered. The beef business can be risky, but with careful planning and consideration, the potential returns can also be rewarding. Getting started with the right calves means making the right buying decisions. According to longtime professional order buyer Charly Cummings with Superior Livestock Auction, the first thing he looks for when buying cattle to background, both for himself and customers, is the type of cattle and their genetic makeup. Cummings, from Yates Center, Kan., has been buying and feeding calves for nearly 15 years. He will look for the right kind of cattle to meet the needs of the environment based on the time of year and geographic location where the cattle will be backgrounded.
“Going into the fall and winter, I like to buy English based cattle that are going to be able to grow some hair through the winter and sustain some cold,” Cummings said. “In March and April, I don’t mind some cattle with a little ear that will sustain the heat and be out in the sunshine grazing versus those that will be haired up and standing in the trees.” After considering the genetic makeup of the cattle, Cummings suggests looking at management factors that might have an impact on the level of stress as the cattle transition from one environment to another. Find out if the calves have been weaned and, if so, for how long. Freshly weaned calves will often take longer to acclimate to their new surroundings. Also, ask about any vaccination programs and if the calves have had one or two rounds if vaccinated. “Each of those items adds value to a load of cattle. Longer weaned, vaccinated
a
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The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
calves are healthier, better condition, and take the stress better from being in a new home and new environment,” he said. Cummings suggests taking a little time to visually appraise the cattle. He can tell a lot by looking at just four things: the eyes, ears, tails, and feet. If the ears and tails are frozen, it usually means the calves were born during a cold, harsh winter, and consequently, their feet will have issues too. These are generally harder gaining calves, in his experiences. His final advice in buying calves is to work with someone you know and trust. As a cattle buyer, he has built relationships with producers who he knows raise all levels of cattle, and he knows what risk factors to look for. He compares his skill set to another professional you would never question twice to hire. “I tell everyone if you can hire a professional order buyer, it’s like trying to roof your house, if you’ve never roofed before. If you hire a professional, and he charges 50¢ or $1 cwt, it will be the cheapest investment you’ll make. Number one, you’re not going to see something or know something by not doing it, no different than a roofer. If it’s got a leak, you’ll know it when you get it home, or you’ll know it 25 days down the road. You want a load of calves that will be healthy and gain,” he said. After the Purchase - Once you’ve got those calves home, Cummings said it is essential to get them started right. He said to achieve good herd health, which leads to efficient gains, he suggests a good vaccination protocol and good mineral program to sustain gut health. He typically vaccinates 24-48 hours after they have unloaded to give them time to acclimate. He feeds the Gain Smart mineral with Amaferm, a precision prebiotic to keep them healthy and gaining. “I can see the difference in health, that is why I use Gain Smart. From eye trouble to health trouble to foot trouble, I feel like Gain Smart has cured about 85-90 percent of all that. My medicine costs have gone down tremendously by using the Gain Smart. Cattle have continuously been healthy throughout and have been wanting to come and eat. When you see them out on the grass, you can sure see that herd health,” he said. “Our medicine costs are lower, our labor costs are in check, our gains are better, and our consumption rate is where it is supposed to be.” Gain Smart is a loose mineral designed to help stocker and yearling cattle put on healthy, efficient pounds with the Amaferm advantage. Amaferm is research proven to help increase intake,
digestion, and nutrient absorption for optimum gains. Gain Smart comes in four formulas for various feeding and management scenarios. The cattle business is full of risks and rewards. Minimize your risks from the beginning with good genetics and lower stress cattle that are ready to gain and perform. Implement good health and nutrition protocols for optimal rewards. To learn more about the Gain Smart program or to locate a dealer near you, visit www.gainsmart.com. Winter Management — Controlling Stress in Varying Temperatures. As we move into winter, it is hard to know what the temperatures are going to be like. You might be bundled up tight for morning chores, but by noon are ready to start shedding layers as the sun warms us up. Imagine being a haired up show animal during this same time frame, except they can’t take off any layers to deal with the heat. There is a certain amount of stress that show cattle, especially, go through during the winter, as they transition from colder outside temps to being moved indoors where it is warmer. However, with some simple management tips, you can keep your show cattle comfortable throughout the winter. Heat stress might be a term that you only acknowledge during the summer months; however, heat stress occurs when temperatures are hotter than 70ºF. Some of your show barns might be right at that 70ºF mark, and for sure, the barns at major livestock shows are hotter than that, especially with the humidity from wash racks. Add in the transition from extreme cold to the warm barns, and that has the potential to add stress to your cattle. Another primary cause of heat stress in the winter months is the digestive system working overtime to break down feed. Exhibitors often feed a higher energy diet to meet nutrient requirements in the colder months. Therefore, the rumen works extra hard to break down the feed, creating extra internal heat in the animal. “When we lead these haired up show cattle in to a hot, humid barn with little air movement from the cool tie outs, their body temperatures increase significantly,” said Blaine Rodgers, Show Livestock Manager for BioZyme Inc. “Livestock start to experience heat stress at 70ºF, and we know from personal experiences those barns can be hotter than 70ºF. We also need to remember that their rumen is working extra hard to break down their feed, raising their internal temperature even more.” Besides digestion and extreme
Temperature Heat Indexes (THI) created in hot, humid barns, other causes of heat stress at winter shows include extreme temperature shifts when traveling between climates and altitudes and walking long distances from tie outs into a hot barn. Traveling to a show in a poorly ventilated trailer can also cause unneeded heat stress. Heat stress can wreak havoc on your show animals’ overall health, causing challenges with their digestive, respiratory, immune, and reproductive systems. Livestock will go off feed and water when they are stressed. They start to breathe heavily, which can lead to respiratory issues. As well, their immune system is compromised, which could result in additional health challenges. However, heat stress doesn’t need to stress you out. One way to help your show animals beat heat stress is with products developed by Sure Champ that support normal body temperature in a safe, fast, and natural way using the Amaferm advantage. Sure Champ Extreme and Vita Charge Climate Control Gel are two easy-to-use supplements to make sure your animals stay healthy and help regulate body temperature. Sure Champ Extreme is a pelleted, daily
supplement designed to be mixed into or top dressed onto feed. Vita Charge Climate Control is an oral gel that works as a vasodilator that widens the blood vessels, increasing blood flow and thus cooling the body. It is recommended to be given 2-3 days prior to traveling to the show, and then daily while at the show when in warmer, more humid climates. Amaferm is designed to enhance digestibility by amplifying the nutrient supply within for maximum performance, and it is research proven to lower body temperature and maintain performance during heat stress. It is also proven to increase water and feed intake while decreasing the body temperature in heat stressed animals, as Amaferm aids in digestion, which decreases the amount of work the digestive tract has to do, therefore lowering the body temperature caused by digestion. Other ways to make sure your livestock stay cool include putting up fans in the barn, rinsing animals, and making sure they stay hydrated with plenty of fresh, cool water. Don’t forget to keep your trailer properly ventilated while traveling, and even though it seems cold outside, cattle especially need that ventilation as they will generate body
heat in an enclosed trailer while going down the road, just like humans put off body heat when they are in an enclosed area. Heat stress is real, even in the winter. However, you can give your show cattle the comfort they need and deserve as you #PreptoWin this winter with proper management and assistance from Sure Champ and Vita Charge products. To learn more about these products or discover a dealer near you, visit www. surechamp.com. Tips for Being Successful in the Cattle Business. For outsiders looking into the cattle business, they might think it’s like the Dutton Ranch on the popular series “Yellowstone.” However, in real world operations, not every set up has brand new, never dented or scraped panels with abundant labor – six or seven hired men – wondering what to do next. The Dutton family could learn a thing or two from hard working progressive producers who have made a way of life from raising cattle. Although most will admit their chosen profession is in their blood and is their chosen lifestyle, cattle production is a business and should be treated as such. Goals are set, plans made, and at the end
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of the day, or 283 days, a cattle producer has new genetics hitting the ground. To make those genetics work, producers need to have a plan in place. They need to have adequate resources to graze and keep their cattle on, know what kind of genetics work for their environment, and produce the kind of cattle their customers are ultimately looking for, according to Dudley Booth from Torrington, Wyoming. He’s the fourth generation in his family to raise registered Angus, the business breed, and we asked him for some insight on what has contributed to his success in the ranching business. “Mating decisions are some of the most important decisions we make. Now a days, our selection pressure is on size, true muscle, look, and better foot structure,” Booth said. “The EPD package is also important. Calving ease is important when there is not a lot of labor available in Wyoming, and a lot of cattlemen calve in big, open pastures.” He said sire selection is also key in this business. Selecting the wrong bull
Continued on the next page
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BRAHMAN NEWS ABBA Activity and Herd Inventory Fees. It is time for annual activity and herd inventory fees. The activities fees were approved by the ABBA Board of Directors on October 10, 1988, for the total sum of $35.00 per membership. Fast forward nine years to October 23, 1997, and the ABBA Board of Directors raised them to where they are now and have been for the past 24 years. These activity fees have remained the same over the course of these years and have been a great asset to the association. The Finance Committee proposed an activity fee increase, and it was approved by the ABBA Board of Directors. This change offers a discount the sooner the activity fees are paid in the year. Hopefully, continuing on this, the new fees will help keep the American Brahman Breeders Association financially stable for years to come. Please see the following breakdown of the revised member activity fees: Effective January 1, 2022
Beginning May 1, if activity fees have not been paid, members will be charged NON-MEMBER rates. NO fee adjustments will be made to charges of work done prior to activity fees being paid. That being said, it is important to ensure that you submit your activity fees in a timely manner. If you have any questions regarding activity fees, feel free to contact the ABBA Office at 979-4855528 or abba@brahman.org. About the American Brahman Breeders Association. The American Brahman Breeders Association is the world registry for Brahman cattle, the #1 beef breed for efficiency, hybrid vigor, and environmental adaptability. ABBA provides an array of member services, educational opportunities, and a wide array of programs to assist the profitability of its members. For more information about the American Brahman breed or the many opportunities offered by the ABBA, visit www.brahman.org.
First Time Active Voting ABBA Membership - $250 Activity Fee Rates if Paid by January 31 ($25 discount if paid by January 15) • 1-50 Breeding Aged Females - $125 • 51-100 Breeding Aged Females - $225 • 101-200 Breeding Aged Females - $325 • 201-300 Breeding Aged Females - $425 • 301-400 Breeding Aged Females - $525 • 401 & more Breeding Aged Females - $625 Activity Fee Rates if Paid by February 28 • 1-50 Breeding Aged Females - $150 • 51-100 Breeding Aged Females - $250 • 101-200 Breeding Aged Females - $350 • 201-300 Breeding Aged Females - $450 • 301-400 Breeding Aged Females - $550 • 401 & more Breeding Aged Females - $650 Activity Fee Rates if Paid by March 31 • 1-50 Breeding Aged Females - $160 • 51-100 Breeding Aged Females - $260 • 101-200 Breeding Aged Females - $360 • 201-300 Breeding Aged Females - $460 • 301-400 Breeding Aged Females - $560 • 401 & more Breeding Aged Females - $660 Activity Fee Rates if Paid After April 1 • 1-50 Breeding Aged Females - $170 • 51-100 Breeding Aged Females - $270 • 101-200 Breeding Aged Females - $370 • 201-300 Breeding Aged Females - $470 • 301-400 Breeding Aged Females - $570 • 401 & more Breeding Aged Females - $670
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BioZyme News continued from the previous page can be detrimental for generations in the cow side of the pedigree, according to Booth. He keeps an eye on his herds’ reproductive success, which helps with culling decisions. If a cow comes up open, is harder keeping, has poor feet and legs, or a bad udder, she is shipped. However, Booth does credit the Angus breed for improving udders enough over the years, where that hasn’t had to be part of his culling criteria as regularly. Getting Started - The resources for getting into the cattle business are immense, and like Booth said, if you don’t have the land and equipment already or are part of a family operation, he hopes you win the lottery. “It would be tough to start a cow herd from scratch. It takes a lot of resources,” he said. His advice for anyone who is getting started or buying cattle is to make sure the cattle match the environment they are putting them in. Make sure their phenotype, pedigrees, and genetic makeup will work for the demographics where you are raising the cattle, regardless of if that is the high altitude of the West or the fescue areas of the Midwest. Another important factor to consider is the market you are going to produce for. For instance, he knows he can’t sell cattle that are under a frame score of 5. He needs to select for size and growth and keep his cattle around a frame score of 6. When it comes to marketing, he said it takes time to build a customer base because the cattle business is based on building relationships and trust over the years. “It’s a loyalty based business. I’m selling cattle to the sons and daughters of people my dad sold to,” Booth said. Keeping them Healthy - Like many progressive cattle producers, Booth has chosen the mineral programs from BioZyme to help keep his herd healthy and performing. He feeds the VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S and VitaFerm Concept•Aid 8/S to his cows as a breeding mineral, with the added 5% and 8% phosphorus, respectively. In addition, his bulls and his heifers in the spring get Gain Smart Balancer RU 1600 with Rumensin to help with coccidiosis prevention from the birds that bring it to his area. Both the VitaFerm Concept•Aid and Gain Smart contain Amaferm, which is research proven to increase absorption, digestibility, and nutrient absorption – something very important when your annual rainfall is around 14 inches per year.
“I like the mineral, or I’d change,” Booth said. “My cows look good, get bred and stay bred.” The cattle business is just that, a business. It’s up before dawn and late nights calving. There are no 9-5 office hours or even regular lunch breaks. Ranchers are in the business because they truly care for the land and livestock. It is a part of their heritage. Most of all, it is a business. It is the business of raising safe, nutritious, and delicious beef for the world to enjoy. To learn more about the mineral programs that progressive cattle producers like Booth uses, visit www. vitaferm.com. About BioZyme ® Inc. BioZyme Inc., founded in 1951, develops and manufactures natural, proprietary products focused on animal nutrition, health, and microbiology. With a continued commitment to research, BioZyme offers a complete line of feed additives and high density, highly available vitamin, mineral, trace mineral, and protein supplements for a variety of animals, including cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep, goats, horses, and dogs. BioZyme brands include Amaferm®, VitaFerm®, Vita Charge®, Sure Champ®, Vitalize ®, DuraFerm ® and Backyard Boost™. With headquarters in St. Joseph, Missouri, the company reaches a global market of customers that stretches into countries across five continents. For more information about BioZyme, visit www. biozymeinc.com.
Have you forgotten something? Make sure your cattlemen friends are members of your state association!
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NCBA
President’s Report By JERRY BOHN
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
NCBA Regional Triggers Q3 Report It has been a little over a year since we first revealed the details of our voluntary framework to achieve robust price discovery in the fed cattle market. Since then, I have written to you every few months to report our results from the preceding quarter. The third quarter took longer than usual to analyze since it was the first time we evaluated the packer
participation silo, but I am now able to share our findings with you. To briefly recap, our Regional Triggers Subgroup evaluates eight potential minor triggers — one for each of our four cattle feeding regions analyzing negotiated trade volumes and one for each of those regions analyzing negotiated packer procurements. We
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The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
use data publicly available under Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR) to analyze the negotiated trade silo. Under agreements we reached with the four major packers earlier this year, the packer participation silo is evaluated by a neutral third party. NCBA provides the third party with the trigger thresholds, and the packers provide their confidential procurement information. The third party then reports to NCBA whether or not triggers were tripped in the silo. After reviewing the LMR data and the third party’s report, the Subgroup determined that three minor triggers were tripped during the third quarter. Each of these occurred in the packer participation silo. Under our framework, that constitutes a major trigger — the second over the course of this year. So, where do we go from here? Well, as we always do, we start with the policies adopted by and voted on by you: our members. The policy which led to the creation of this framework and established the Subgroup (M 1.10 – Fed Cattle Price Discovery) states: “If the voluntary approach does not achieve roust price discovery… and triggers are activated, NCBA will pursue a legislative or regulatory solution determined by the membership.” Let me be clear, NCBA is not changing our position on any of the existing legislative or regulatory proposals at this time. We still oppose negotiated market mandates, and we still support a cattle contract library. These stances will remain unchanged until our membership can convene to decide upon a legislative or regulatory approach. The earliest opportunity for members to provide that direction is through the policymaking process during our annual convention in Houston next February. While NCBA members are encouraged to submit legislative or regulatory ideas through their state affiliate organization, the Subgroup will continue to meet to try and identify potential solutions which may enjoy broad support. These individuals have been working extensively on this issue and represent a diverse array of the industry. I am certain their insights will be useful in helping guide the discussion at the Live Cattle Marketing Committee meeting in Houston. Though the framework did not result in our desired outcome, we should not dismiss the successes we achieved along the way. Negotiated trade volumes are up considerably this year compared to years past, particularly in the southern plains. As I have shared before, several market analysts and economists credit this uptick to the work NCBA has done through
this process. I again want to thank cattle producers for answering the call to improve price discovery. Your efforts are not in vain. They are making an impact, and it is sincerely valued. The creation of the packer participation silo is also noteworthy in and of itself. It was challenging at times to garner cooperation among the major packers, but ultimately our persistence paid off, and we signed agreements with all four. Though we cannot compel them to change buying behaviors, getting them to provide closely guarded information to a third party was an accomplishment. Now that we have this component in place, we plan to continue evaluating the silo through the fourth quarter to see what insights it may provide. We also will continue to impress upon the packers the essential need for robust price discovery and will relentlessly reiterate their role in that process. I also firmly believe that NCBA’s close attention to this issue and use of our voice when needed play a role in preserving market integrity during these volatile times. Between the pandemic, plant fires, cybersecurity breaches, labor shortages, global supply chain woes, and countless other hardships, it would have been easy for some in our marketplace to set this issue aside for a time. We did not allow that to happen. We will not allow that to happen going forward. We take that role very seriously. I am not dismissive of the challenges that lie ahead. It is serious, and we have a lot of work to do together. But I am also optimistic about our industry’s ability to tackle it head-on. As we prepare for the necessary discussions next February, I encourage us all to work together. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing: a profitable business to pass on to our children and grandchildren. It will take all of us standing together to ensure that happens. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our staff with any questions or concerns by calling the NCBA Center for Public Policy at 202-347-0228.
NOTICE
Letters to the editor are welcome and we appreciate your input. HOWEVER, letters that are not signed will not be considered for publication.
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q JANUARY 2022
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The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
A Message from the CEO By COLIN WOODALL
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Naughty or Nice?
In July of 2020, a petition was started by several individuals and groups like R-CALF to call for a referendum on the future of the Beef Checkoff. USDA initially gave the petitioners one year to collect signatures from 88,269 cattle producers who had paid into the Checkoff during the previous year. When their time was up this past July, they were woefully short on signatures. The petitioners then asked USDA for more time and cited COVID-19 restrictions as one of the reasons they did not have the opportunity to engage with as many producers as they would have liked. While we felt this was a disingenuous request given their use of an online petition portal, USDA nonetheless granted their request for an additional 60 days. Due to the 30 days it took USDA to make this decision, the petitioners actually got an additional 90 days to collect signatures. When time was finally up in October, there were not enough signatures to meet the threshold of having 10 percent of America’s cattle producers ask for a referendum. NCBA decided early in this process
not to fight the petition. We did this because the Checkoff belongs to you, and we believe that you and every other cattle producer should have the right to decide the future of this great program. We had hoped the petitioners would conduct the petition process with integrity, but we soon found that was not the case. They definitely made the naughty list because of the way they characterized the process and some of the tactics they used to collect signatures. A referendum is about killing the Checkoff, but the petitioners were telling producers that it was going to be a chance to make some changes to the program. That is absolutely not the way this works. A referendum simply asks if you support the continuation of the Checkoff. It does not allow for any changes to be considered. Therefore, we can only deduce that the petitioners aimed to kill the Checkoff because why would you waste Checkoff dollars to conduct a vote on a program you want to keep? That is right, your Checkoff dollars would have been used to conduct the vote, and USDA told us it could easily be hundreds
of thousands of dollars to do this. That is hundreds of thousands of dollars that would not go towards beef research or promotion. I had conversations with a few producers who signed the petition that told me they would not have done so had they really known what the referendum was going to do. We are also aware of many unsavory tactics used to collect signatures. There was one effort that put the names of those who signed the petition into a pot for a drawing to receive a cash prize. We heard of a similar process to draw for a pair of boots. We even heard of somebody at a gas station asking whoever walked by to sign the petition. Reports of other actions came to us throughout the year as our members saw the petition process in action. Even with desperate tactics, the effort did not produce the signatures needed. I see the lack of signatures as a de facto referendum on the Beef Checkoff. It was no secret in the countryside that this petition was collecting signatures. Petitioners were at fairs, trade shows, rodeos, and other gatherings of cattle producers. They had the presence and tools to get the 88,269 signatures but
ultimately did not because of the great programs delivered by the Checkoff. The nice list is chock full of Checkoff funded projects and programs being delivered by State Beef Councils, the Federation of State Beef Councils, and NCBA as one of nine contractors to the national Beef Checkoff. We are making the most of your Checkoff investment. If you have watched any holiday movies on the Hallmark Channel recently, you have seen Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. commercials. Throughout the fall, Checkoff funded commercials aired during college football games on television and on Sirius XM radio. Our year long Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. sustainability campaign delivered our cattle health and environmental stewardship message to tens of millions of consumers. We are also taking full advantage of online e-commerce advertising. Our e-commerce summer grilling campaign with Kroger stores delivered awesome results by selling an additional $60 of beef for every Checkoff dollar we used to advertise. That is what you expect from your Checkoff, and that is why the petition process came up short.
IRM Red Books Are Here Due to increased printing costs, the price of the books have increased to $7.00/each this year.
We would like to thank Performance Livestock & Feed Company and Carolina Stockyards for again sponsoring this book. The 2022 version is now available to help cattle producers effectively & efficiently record daily production efforts, which can help enhance profitablity and reduce stress levels. In addition to Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) best practices and proper injection technique information, it has more than 100 pages to record calving activity, herd health, pasture use, cattle inventory, body condition, cattle treatment, A.I. breeding records, and more. It also contains a calendar and notes section. Simply return the order form below, along with $7.00 for each book to: N.C. Cattlemen’s Association 2228 N. Main Street Fuquay Varina, NC 27526 You can now order them through our website at www.nccattle.com/resources/merchandise/red-book-order-form. You can also call our office at 919-552-9111 or email us at kim@nccattle.com.
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q JANUARY 2022
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NCBA News
House Passes Two NCBA Backed Bills on Market Transparency. Recently, the U.S. House voted to pass two NCBA supported pieces of legislation that are critical to providing producers with greater transparency in the cattle markets. The House voted 418-9 to advance H.R. 5290, introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott (D-Ga.). This legislation, which was supported by Ranking Member Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-Penn.) and unanimously approved by the Committee, would extend authorization for livestock mandatory reporting (LMR) through
September 30, 2022. The authorization for LMR — the most important tool cattle producers have for understanding transactions and trends in the cattle markets — is currently set to expire along with federal funding on February 18. By an overwhelming vote of 411-13, the House also passed the Cattle Contract Library Act of 2021. NCBA secured the introduction of this bipartisan legislation in October, led by Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Representative Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.). “The fact that House Agriculture
2022 Spotlight Issues Schedule Most of the breed associations in North and South Carolina have stepped forward and renewed their contracts for Spotlight sections in The Carolina Cattle Connection for 2022. If your breed is not featured as a Spotlight section and you would like to inquire on any open months please feel free to contact me. Below is the tentative schedule for the upcoming year.
2022 Reserved Spotlight Issues
JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER
CHAROLAIS FORAGES ANGUS -------------------------BRAHMAN HEREFORD GELBVIEH SIMMENTAL SANTA GERTRUDIS --------------------------------------------------RED ANGUS
For more information about your breed’s Spotlight Issue, contact:
The Carolina Cattle Connection 2228 N. Main Street • Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526 919-552-9111 • mail@nccattle.com PAGE 68
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
Committee Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Thompson have both been vocal champions for LMR reauthorization is yet another indication of the broad base support this measure has among producers across the country. LMR is absolutely essential to fair, competitive, and transparent cattle markets. We appreciate Chairman Scott’s leadership, and the heavy engagement we have seen from both sides of the committee on this issue. We also thank Representative Johnson and Representative Cuellar for their work to equip producers with vital market data through a cattle contract library,” said NCBA President Jerry Bohn. The creation of a cattle contract library and the reauthorization of LMR are both widely supported across the cattle and beef industry. When livestock groups met in Phoenix earlier this year to identify common goals and priorities, those two measures were agreed upon as urgent. NCBA left that meeting and immediately set to work advancing these proposals. We upheld our commitment to the industry, even when R-CALF changed its tune and refused to support these viable, popular solutions. Background - NCBA has long advocated for increased transparency in the cattle and beef supply chain. In October 2021, NCBA Vice President and South Dakota rancher Todd Wilkinson testified before the House Agriculture Committee and underscored the need for greater transparency in live cattle markets. In August 2021, NCBA succeeded in pushing USDA to make more market data publicly available. The agency began publishing a new daily report on the foundational prices used in cattle market formulas, grids, and contracts and a new weekly report on the volume of cattle purchased at each different level of pricing. In June 2021, NCBA led a letter with the support of more than 36 state affiliate groups urging Congress to act on the reauthorization of LMR. LMR is the legislative mandate that requires large meat processors to regularly report information on their transactions, such as the price they pay for livestock and the volume of purchases. Environmental Stewardship Award Program Seeks Nominees for 2022. Annual Award Recognizes Stewardship Efforts of Cattle Producers. Applications are being accepted until March 11 for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association 2022 Environmental Stewardship Award. Established in 1991, the Environmental Stewardship Award Program annually recognizes outstanding stewardship practices and conservation achievements of cattle producers across the nation.
Cattle producers, as individuals and as an industry, are actively working to protect and improve the environment because they know environmental stewardship and good business go hand-in-hand. A common trait among all ESAP winners is the desire to leave the land in better condition for future generations and inspire the next generation of land stewards. While the program highlights stewardship, it also provides fellow cattle producers with examples and ideas which may be useful on their own farms and ranches. Any individual, group, or organization is eligible to nominate one individual or business raising or feeding cattle. Individuals and families may not nominate themselves, although nominees may be involved in the preparation of the application. Past nominees are encouraged to resubmit applications; however, previous winners may not reapply. Along with a typed application, one nomination letter, and three letters of recommendation highlighting the nominee’s leadership in conservation are required. Nominees do not have to be members of NCBA but should support the objectives of their state and national organization. Award winners are selected by a committee of representatives from universities, conservation organizations, as well as federal and state agencies. For guidance, the judges consider the management of water, wildlife, vegetation, air, and soil, along with leadership abilities and the sustainability of the business as a whole. Seven regional winners will be recognized at the 2023 Cattle Industry Convention in New Orleans, La., in February 2023, and the national winner will be announced at the Celebration of America’s Land Stewards Event in Washington, D.C., in March 2023. Travel and registration are provided by ESAP for winners. The Environmental Stewardship Award is an initiative of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation and is funded by Corteva Agriscience, McDonald’s, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, along with a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For more information and to download the nomination packet, visit www.environmentalstewardship.org. ASI and NCBA Awarded USDA/ APHIS Grant to Develop Guidance for Livestock Grazing on Public Lands During a Foreign Animal Disease Outbreak. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is providing more than $200,000 in Farm Bill funding to support the American Sheep Industry
Association (ASI) and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) in developing movement decision criteria for sheep and cattle grazing public land allotments during a potential foreign animal disease (FAD) outbreak. There are several agencies involved in issuing public land grazing permits in 14 states for 22,000 ranchers. These are not the same agencies responsible for FAD response. This funding will allow collaboration among the agencies, states, and industry partners, like the Public Lands Council. Guidance documents created through group discussion will be exercised. The project is expected to take two years to complete. This effort will better prepare sheep and cattle producers, whose livestock graze public lands, to voluntarily prepare before an FAD outbreak. It will provide information and actions needed during an FAD outbreak to protect their flocks and herds and meet movement criteria. It will provide state and federal decision makers with a better understanding of the management practices, capabilities, and limitations of grazing sheep and cattle on public lands. “The preparedness and response activities we are funding today will enhance our ability to address the animal disease issues of tomorrow. They arm us with the best science available to retain international markets and feed both our own families and the world.” said Jenny Lester Moffitt, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. The information developed from the grant will improve the guidance in the Secure Sheep and Wool Supply and Secure Beef Supply plans for sheep and cattle producers with livestock grazing on public lands. ASI and USDA provided funding to develop both plans and associated resources for producers. ASI and NCBA look forward to collaborating on this project with the stakeholders and Dr. Danelle BickettWeddle, a consultant with Preventalytics.
ASI and NCBA each provide unique resources for sheep and cattle producers to prepare for, respond to, and enhance their resiliency for an FAD event. Background - The Secure Sheep and Wool Supply (SSWS) Plan and Secure Beef Supply (SBS) Plan for continuity of business provide opportunities to voluntarily prepare before a foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. The U.S. is free of the FMD virus. If FMD were found in U.S. livestock, regulatory officials will limit the movement of animals and animal products to try and control the spread of this very contagious animal disease. During this time, control areas will be established around infected premises, and movement restrictions will be implemented. When the control areas encompass part or all of a public land allotment in one or more states, there are unique challenges for sheep and cattle producers to mitigate disease exposure risks. FMD is not a threat to public health. About the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. NCBA has represented America’s cattle producers since 1898, preserving the heritage and strength of the industry through education and public policy. As the largest association of cattle producers, NCBA works to create new markets and increase demand for beef. Efforts are made possible through membership contributions. To join, contact NCBA at 866-BEEF-USA or membership@beef.org.
January
February
Chester
728
Darlington Laurens
Don’t get caught napping!
Deadline is 5th of month prior to issue!
Docility: A Trait for Practicality and Profit. Anyone who has been in a dangerous situation with an ornery bovine knows the difference temperament can make. And, as the average age of the cattle producer continues to increase (the average age will be 60 by 2050 according to census data) while finding skilled help becomes more difficult, handling animals who are high strung and excessively unpredictable are a serious liability. As if human safety weren’t enough, research continues to point to docility also contributing to profitability. Fortunately for Limousin and LimFlex producers, the smart genetic decisions and progressive breeding programs have brought the breed to be an industry leader with this trait. “Limousin breeders have done an outstanding job of collecting a large amount of docility data, really paying attention to it, and improving the population substantially over time,” says Bob Weaber, a professor and beef extension specialist at Kansas State University, noting that for a long time the breed didn’t have such a great reputation for temperament. He continues, “Now you talk to Limousin breeders, commercial users, and folks that have actually purchased (Limousin cattle) for user roles are very happy with the disposition in terms of the population.” Consistently, Limousin and LimFlex active sires are in the top percentile ranks for docility. Per the latest International Cattle Evaluation, Limousin and Limflex sires and dams have a +12 average EPD score. A Cattleman’s Asset - Having smaller flight zones, cattle who are naturally more docile are notably easier to work with and around. They are more likely to be more receptive to equipment and doctoring as well. “One of the things we observe is
2021 South Carolina Sale Barn Cattle Receipts
that the more docile animals have better health outcomes in terms of resistance to disease,” says Weaber. “Obviously (there’s also) better human interactions and fewer worker handling issues with those good dispositioned animals.” Overall, he says that by contributing to a better human-animal relationship, docility helps contribute to enhanced health and well being, in addition to growth and performance. Adam Nielson operates ROM’N Limousin & Club Calves in Arlington, S.D., with his family. Over the years, he has seen firsthand how far the breed has come in terms of docility and how it’s impacted the bottom line for those in the commercial market. “I see improvement in our area quite a bit as far as commercial men are,” he says, noting that a high strung and excitable nature used to be a serious stigma against the Limousin breed. “Now when they’re looking for a more muscular breed…they aren’t looking away from the Limmies anymore.” This change in attitude he attributes to a noticed change in the breed’s disposition due to breeding focus on more docile characteristics. Instead of looking at other breeds like Charolais for improvement, Nielson says he sees more buyers investing in Limousins for their needs. About the North American Limousin Foundation. The North American Limousin Foundation, headquartered in Englewood, Colo., provides programs and services, including the documentation of more than 25,000 head of cattle annually, for approximately 4,000 members and their commercial customers. The Limousin breed and Lim-Flex® hybrid offer industry leading growth and efficiency while being an ideal complement to British breeds. For more information about NALF, please visit www.nalf.org.
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
308
1,104
919
726
1,454
651
2,076
2,044
1,084
1,120
1,090
581
2,432
1,283
866
1,433
915
1,584
2,346
1,300
1,233
1,194
1,325
1,964
1,593
1,373
1,892
1,461
1,731
2,048
1,702
1,587
830
786
1,123
1,187
959
1,066
651
1,583
940
1,330
1,021
Saluda
2,056
1,355
3,094
2,482
2,324
3,099
1,761
3,256
3,096
2,389
3,399
Williamston
2,812
1,313
2,792
2,255
1,949
1,884
2,033
2,880
2,349
2,073
2,616
Orangeburg
The Carolina Cattle Connection
December
q JANUARY 2022
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! S E T A UPD The 2022 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Expected to Be Largest Ever. Five General Sessions Packed with Education and Inspiration. The 2022 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show is expected to be the largest ever, bringing thousands of cattlemen and women from across the country together for education, entertainment, and engagement. The event, taking place February 1-3, will be held in Houston for the first time. “Everything is bigger in Texas,” which holds true for the 2022 Convention. There will be five general sessions packed with timely industry updates, inspirational speakers, and important information that every producer can use. And the NCBA Trade Show will be the largest ever, encompassing nearly ten acres of exhibitors, displays, and educational opportunities all under one roof.
“We are excited to have the convention in Houston for the first time,” said Kristin Torres, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association executive director of meetings and events. “The city’s world class facilities are helping make this the biggest convention yet.” For those arriving early, the convention will be preceded by the 29th Annual Cattlemen’s College, which is famous for stimulating and thought provoking sessions. This event will begin on January 31, with afternoon sessions and live animal demonstrations, followed by an evening reception. It will continue the next day with 15 educational sessions offered in the morning and conclude with a keynote presentation and lunch. The 2022 Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame inductees and award winners will be honored during a reception and banquet Monday evening, celebrating
the visionary men and women who have made lasting contributions to the cattle feeding industry. The convention will officially kick off on February 1 with Buzz Brainard, host of Music Row Happy Hour, who will be back by popular demand as emcee during the general sessions. Brainard’s voice is well known on SiriusXM radio, Animal Planet, and the Discovery Channel. The Opening General Session will pack a punch with legendary boxer and famous griller George Foreman. Foreman grew up in Houston and went on to become an Olympic gold champion, heavyweight division boxing world champion, entrepreneur, and well known pitchman for the grill that bears his name. The two general sessions on February 2 will focus on today’s issues and tomorrow’s outlook. NCBA’s
Washington, D.C. policy team will give a state of the industry overview and provide updates on taxes, cattle markets, conservation, animal health, trade, infrastructure, and much more. CattleFax’s outlook seminar will highlight demand and supplies for beef, cattle, and competing proteins. They will present a price and profitability outlook for 2022 and beyond for all classes of cattle and beef, explore export and import markets, and provide a grain outlook. Meteorologist Matt Makens will also give a 2022 weather forecast highlighting weather pattern changes for the United States and around the world. Attendees will then “Rocket to the Rustic” for an evening of live music, local food, and a lot of fun. Well known in Houston, The Rustic combines great food, the best drinks, and a lively
S.C. Cattle Receipts, Trends, and Prices for the Month of NOVEMBER 2021 Cattle Receipts: 11,861
•
Previous Month: 11,378
Feeder supply - 33% steers • 42% heifers • 25% bulls SLAUGHTER CLASSES
Avg. Wt. Price Cows - % Lean Breaker 1,527 $58.55 Boner 1,214 $59.63 Lean 1,017 $55.85
Bulls - Yield Grade 1-2
1,623
$86.84
FEEDER CLASSES
LIVESTOCK VIDEO AUCTION - Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m.
SOUTHEAST LIVESTOCK EXCHANGE Waynesville, NC
John Queen: 828-421-3446 SELEXvideo@gmail.com • www.selex-video.com PAGE 70
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
FEEDER STEERS (Medium and Large 1-2) Wt. Range Avg. Wt. CWT Avg. Price 400-450 424 $153.01 $648.76 450-500 472 $149.10 $703.75 500-550 527 $149.02 $785.34 550-600 567 $144.75 $820.73 600-650 627 $134.84 $845.45 650-700 663 $133.76 $886.83
FEEDER BULLS (Medium and Large 1-2) Wt. Range Avg. Wt. CWT Avg. Price 400-450 420 $148.92 $625.46 450-500 472 $142.29 $671.61 500-550 518 $138.89 $719.45 550-600 570 $132.78 $756.85 600-650 615 $127.09 $781.60 650-700 664 $122.60 $814.06
FEEDER HEIFERS (Medium and Large 1-2) Wt. Range Avg. Wt. CWT Avg. Price 400-450 421 $130.23 $548.27 450-500 465 $128.00 $595.20 500-550 526 $126.11 $663.34 550-600 572 $123.70 $707.56 600-650 617 $118.54 $731.39 650-700 669 $115.76 $774.43
Source: S.C. Dept. of Agriculture - USDA Market News Service, Columbia, S.C. - 803-737-4491
backyard atmosphere for patrons to create remarkable memories. The morning of February 3 will feature a discussion on policy and diplomacy during a session entitled “Beef: Here and There, Domestic and Abroad,” and the Closing General Session will celebrate the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) Program and BQA award winners. The convention then wraps up with the Cowboy Comedy Club featuring headliner Jim Gaffigan. Gaffigan is a Grammy nominated comedian, actor, writer, producer, best selling author, Emmy winning performer, and multiplatinum selling recording artist. He is known around the world for his unique brand of humor, which largely revolves around his observations on life. In addition to experiencing a wide variety of education and entertainment opportunities, producers will be hard at work guiding both Beef Checkoff and NCBA policy programs. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, American National CattleWomen, CattleFax, and National Cattlemen’s Foundation will also take place. A variety of registration options are available, including the popular family pack, which offers a $100 discount on the purchase of two full registrations combined with two student registrations. For more information and to register and reserve housing, visit https://convention. ncba.org/. Tennessee Singer Wins NCBA’s National Anthem Contest. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is pleased to announce that Stephanie Nash of Chapel Hill, Tenn., is the winner of the
9 th Annual National Anthem Contest, sponsored by Norbrook®. Nash will sing the “Star Spangled Banner” at the 2022 Cattle Industry Convention in Houston during the Opening General Session on February 1, as well as at the Cowboy Comedy Club event on February 3. Nash grew up in California on her family’s dairy farm and began singing in church. After her family moved the farm to Tennessee, Nash’s music career blossomed with new opportunities in the
country music capital of Nashville. Nash continues to work on her family’s farm, pursue her music career, and advocate for agriculture. She developed the YouTube series “The Life of a Farmer” to showcase the farmers and ranchers across the country who work every day year round to put food on family dinner tables. “I’m passionate about agriculture and music, and I love writing songs that connect people with the agriculture community,” said Nash. “Singing at
convention gives me the opportunity to combine both interests and share my love with others.” As the winner of the National Anthem Singing Contest, Nash will receive roundtrip airfare to Houston, a hotel room for three nights, convention registration, a meet and greet hosted by Norbrook, plus a pair of boots, jeans, and a shirt from Roper or Stetson. Online voting by the public determined the winner.
N.C. Weekly Auctions Report (Week ending DECEMBER 2, 2021)
Feeder Cattle - Medium and Large 1-2 Kind Avg. Wt. $/lb Steers 300-400 $135.00 - 185.00 400-500 $133.00 - 172.50 500-600 $130.00 - 160.00 600-700 $124.00 - 146.00 700-800 $125.00 - 131.00 800-900 $-------- - 124.00 Heifers
300-400 400-500 500-600 600-700 700-800 800-900
$127.00 - 143.00 $119.00 - 145.00 $110.00 - 134.00 $105.00 - 123.00 $90.00 - 105.00 $93.00 - 97.00
Slaughter Cows: (over 850 lbs) Breakers (70-80% lean) $52.00 - 63.00 Boners (80-85% lean) $52.00 - 64.00 High Dressing (70-85% lean) $60.00 - 74.00
Source: N.C. Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services - USDA Market News, Raleigh, N.C. • 919-707-3156
The Carolina Cattle Connection
q JANUARY 2022
PAGE 71
Vitamin A Importance By BOB LARSON, DVM, Ph.D.
West End Precast 276-228-5024 Wytheville, Virginia
8 ft Concrete Feed Bunks
U or J Bunks - $170-$180 • Calf Bunks - $120
Although I usually emphasize energy and protein intake when planning winter cow nutrition, ensuring adequate vitamin A intake is also important. Vitamin A is the vitamin most likely to be deficient in cattle diets and is the only vitamin with a well defined requirement. It is important for vision, bone formation, growth, reproduction, and skin and other tissue health. Cattle convert yellow and green pigments (carotene) in plants into vitamin A. Carotene is in all green plants and is plentiful in fresh, leafy forage but not found in high concentrations in many concentrate feeds. Cattle can store excess vitamin A in the liver for 2-4 months. This storage can serve as a source when feeds are deficient. Because of this ability, cattle on green pasture can often store sufficient reserves to help meet their needs during the winter feeding period when rations may be deficient. Large losses of carotene take place in the curing and storage of roughages. Hays that are cut in the bloom stage or earlier and cured without exposure to rain or excessive sun retain most of their original carotene content, while hay cut in the seed stage and exposed to rain or to extended periods of sunshine lose most of the carotene content. Hay rapidly cured with a drier only has a slight loss of carotene. The degree of greenness in roughage is a pretty good indicator of its carotene content. Both carotene and vitamin A are destroyed by oxidation, which can occur during feed storage. The stability of supplemental vitamin A has been increased by modern milling practices such as covering minute droplets of vitamin A with gelatin or wax or by adding an antioxidant to the feed. Vitamin A deficiency is most likely to occur when cattle are consuming a high concentrate diet, grazing dormant pasture or eating hay grown during drought conditions, eating feeds that have been stored for long periods of time, or when consuming a protein deficient diet that is also low in vitamin A. Deficiencies can be corrected by increasing carotene intake by adding fresh, leafy, high quality forages to the diet, by supplying vitamin A
supplements in the feed, or by injection of vitamin A preparations. The classic sign of vitamin A deficiency in cattle is night blindness (difficulty seeing in dim light), with total and permanent blindness possible in younger animals and blindness in calves born to deficient dams. Excessive tearing (watery eyes) in cattle also occurs. Vitamin A deficiency can also be identified in animals with rough, dry, and faded hair coats, overgrown hooves that are dry and brittle, and hooves with multiple vertical cracks. Vitamin A deficiency has also been identified as a cause of infertility in both females (delayed or lack of ovulation, silent heat, and early fetal loss) and bulls (abnormal semen). In addition, because vitamin A is important for the normal function of the tissues lining the respiratory tract, digestive tract, and urinary tract, pneumonia, diarrhea, and urinary tract stones are also seen in cattle with vitamin A deficiency. Although clearly identifiable cases of vitamin A deficiency are not particularly common, herds that do not reach their potential reproductive performance, growth rate, and health because of limited vitamin A in the diet are seen. Because the vitamin A activity in typical beef cattle rations is very unpredictable, the total requirement is usually added to the diet as a stabilized vitamin A product. Vitamin A palmitate and vitamin A acetate added to the feed provide relatively inexpensive supplementary sources. Vitamin A can also be given as an injection, with the vitamin being stored in the liver for a number of weeks. Vitamin A requirements for cattle range from 2,0008,000 IU (international units) per 100 pounds of body weight. Growing cattle, lactating cows, and bulls require higher levels of vitamin A than mature, dry cows. Vitamin A is very safe to use in cattle feed because toxicity is extremely rare. As we move into the winter months, when most cow herds will be receiving rations composed of dormant or stored forages, vitamin A supplementation is one of the first items to consider when planning an appropriate diet.
BE A WINNER!
Water Troughs • Pads • Silo Sides Septic Tanks • Reservoirs PAGE 72
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
Join your local cattlemen’s association AND your state or regional breed association.
The Carolina Cattle Connection
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CHUCK
SHANK
CHUCK
BRISKET
RIB
PLATE
RIB
LOIN
SIRLOIN
ROUND SHANK
FLANK
LOIN
SIRLOIN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
ROUND
INGEDIENT CUTS
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
LEAN
BRISKET LEAN
LEAN
PLATE & FLANK LEAN
LEAN
KEY TO RECOMMENDED COOKING METHODS GRILL or BROIL PAN BROIL/ SKILLET
BRAISE/ POT ROAST
LEAN
These cuts meet the government guidelines for lean, based on cooked servings, visible fat trimmed
ROAST
INDIRECT GRILLING
SKILLET TO OVEN
* MARINATE BEFORE COOKING FOR BEST RESULTS
A cut of cooked fresh meat is considered ‘lean’ when it contains less than 10 grams of total fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat, andless tahn 95 mg of cholesterol per 100 grams(3½ oz) and per RACC (Reference Amount Customarily Consumed), which is 85 grams (3 oz.)
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STIR-FRY
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
Cattlemen’s Beef Board Update By NORMAN VOYLES, JR., Vice Chairman
Comparing Beef With Plant Based Alternative Proteins — What Are the Facts? In mid-November, I traveled from my farming and beef cattle operation to Kansas City for an ag media event called “Trade Talk.” Hosted by the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB), this annual event offers ag industry broadcast personalities the opportunity to interview representatives from various organizations and companies, all of whom serve this country’s farmers and ranchers in some capacity. As the vice chair of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board this year, I did several interviews and was quite frankly surprised by how many broadcasters wanted to hear what this guy from Martinsville, Ind., had to say. They asked me all kinds of questions about the national Beef Checkoff, including many I’ve been asked before – how it works, what kinds of programs it funds, what impact are those programs having on beef demand, and so on. However, one new question came up again and again: What’s the Checkoff doing to address the threat that plant based alternative proteins pose to the beef industry? Honestly, this question wasn’t surprising. Like everyone else, I’ve observed news anchors and market watchers bring up plant based alternative proteins consistently over the past few years. Some even referred to these products and others as “revolutionary” and “game changing.” However, that’s not how some beef industry stakeholders view these protein alternatives. I’ve been involved in discussions that took me back a few decades when consumer concerns about beef’s role in a healthy diet weren’t considered all that important. The fact is, we could have done more back in the ‘70s and ‘80s because we’re still working to share the real facts about beef’s nutritional profile. That’s why we need to take protein alternatives more seriously today – and we are. In 2020, the Beef Checkoff commissioned a research study to understand plant based alternative proteins and their potential impact on beef demand to determine exactly what we’re up against. Now, we’re using this information to determine
the best way to encourage consumers to choose beef. The study, “Impacts of New Plant Based Protein Alternatives on U.S. Beef Demand,” authored by Glynn T. Tonsor, Jayson L. Lusk, and Ted C. Schroeder, reflects the attitudes and opinions of more than 3,000 U.S. residents surveyed in September 2020. One of the biggest takeaways from the study was that while plant based alternative proteins may be getting a lot of media exposure, consumers still love and choose beef. Here are significant findings from that study: 1. Beef has a good image. Consumers by and large say that beef’s taste, appearance, price, and natural goodness greatly exceeds that of plant based proteins. 2. Regular meat consumers (68 percent of the study’s full sample) are much more likely to select beef even when a plant based item is available. 3. Changes in beef prices have a much larger impact on consumer decisions to buy beef than the impact of changes in the prices of plant based offerings. This means plant based burgers are relatively weak substitutes for beef. There’s also new research that delves into beef’s protein quality versus plant based alternatives. A recent study from the University of Illinois and Colorado State University funded by the Beef Checkoff and Pork Checkoff used the DIAAS (digestible indispensable amino acid score) system to compare protein quality in beef and pork burgers and plant based burgers. The study, “Digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) is greater in animal based burgers than in plant based burgers if determined in pigs,” was authored by Natalia Fanelli, Hannah Bailey, Tyler Thompson, Robert Delmore, Mahesh Narayanan Nair, and Hans Stein. As in the past, researchers found that animal proteins have greater DIAAS values than plant based proteins. All in all, the research shows us that plant based protein alternatives are a relatively minor concern to the beef industry right now. However, that doesn’t mean we can just sit back and relax. As Beef Checkoff contractors
develop new plans and promotional campaigns, they’re considering this study’s findings along with other factors that could impact beef demand, both now and in the future. Consumer preferences continue to evolve, and we need to stay
on top of those changes if we’re going to effectively promote beef over competing proteins. I can assure you that my fellow CBB members will continue investing Checkoff dollars wisely to keep beef at the center of dinner plates everywhere.
Carolina Cooking Beef Chili Carnivale Total Cooking Time - 1 hour, 30 minutes 2 pounds Ground Beef (93% lean or leaner) 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes, undrained 1 can (14½ ounces) diced tomatoes with mild green chilies 1 can (14½ ounces) beef broth 1 bottle (12 ounces) beer 1 medium yellow onion, diced 2 medium green, red, yellow or orange bell peppers, diced 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste ⅓ cup chili powder 1 large jalapeño pepper, seeded, finely chopped 2 tablespoons minced garlic 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon dried oregano 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed, drained Lime wedges and baked tortillas chips (optional) Toppings (optional) Sliced cherry tomatoes sliced green onions sliced serranos or jalapeños chopped onion Heat stockpot over medium heat until hot. Add ground beef; cook 8-10 minutes, breaking into 3/4 inch crumbles and stirring occasionally. Pour off drippings as necessary. Cook’s Tip: Cooking times are for fresh or thoroughly thawed ground beef. Ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160ºF. Color is not a reliable indicator of ground beef doneness. Add tomatoes, broth, beer, onion, bell peppers, tomato paste, chili powder, jalapeño pepper, garlic, cumin, and oregano to a stockpot, stirring to combine. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in beans and continue to simmer 15 minutes or until thickened to desired consistency, stirring occasionally.
The Carolina Cattle Connection
Season with salt and black pepper, as desired. Garnish with Toppings, as desired. Serve with lime and chips, if desired. Makes 8 servings.
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NEWS
it is important that we are able to continue being able to provide for the community. By accepting this scholarship, I am able to continue pursuing a degree that will allow me to be able to give back to an industry that has provided me with so much.
N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation Awards 2020-2021 Scholarships The N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation has awarded 24 college scholarships and 3 graduate travel awards to students with backgrounds and interests related to cattle. These students aspire to pursue careers in agriculture or allied fields, particularly related to cattle. Scholarships were awarded to students attending college at Clemson University, Mars Hill University, N.C. State University, Redlands Community College, and the University of Mount Olive. The scholarships are funded by earnings on donations to the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation, which has been significantly supported by cattle producers in the state. The Foundation was established in 1982 with a significant
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donation from N.C. State University graduate E. Carroll Joyner. Since that time, numerous others have contributed to the Foundation. The N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation is also supported by proceeds from sales of North Carolina Cattle Reflections, a history of cattle in North Carolina. The book may be purchased by contacting Kim Burdge at the N.C. Cattlemen’s Association at 919-552-9111 or kim@ nccattle.com or online at www.nccattle. com/resources/merchandise/cattlereflections-order-form. The following personal stories were provided by the 2020-2021 scholarship and travel award winners:
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
Kayla Birkholz
Kayla Birkholz Family; the first word that comes to mind when thinking of the agricultural and cattle industries. Having a support system within an industry that has provided me with so much is a reward within itself. I know that no matter what happens or where I may end up, I will always have people cheering me on. In addition to having this support system, I also have been blessed with friendships that will last a lifetime. Growing up on my family’s farm, I have seen firsthand just how much we need the agricultural industry in our everyday lives and how the people within the industry make a difference. In addition to being a second family to me, the industry has provided me with many opportunities which have helped shape me into the person I am today. Through showing livestock, I have been able to share this passion for cattle and the agricultural industry with others who share this same passion. Together we have been able to educate others within the community about the importance of agriculture and the cattle industry in North Carolina. For me, agriculture has always been a huge part of my life which has made me want to pursue it as a career. I have always had a passion for helping people, so eventually being able to do that in an industry that has provided me with so much is a dream come true. There are so many negative stereotypes about the farming community in today’s society, which causes the industry to suffer. Growing up, I have seen the toll that these stereotypes can have on the farmers and their families. By pursuing a degree in agricultural business management, I hope to be able to help farmers make the best decisions possible for their farms, as well as help them be able to advocate for the industry on a much broader spectrum. I think in the ever changing world that we live in,
Lynae Bowman
Lynae Bowman I am a sophomore at Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla., where I am a member of the livestock judging team. Prior to moving to El Reno, I had spent my entire life in King, just north of Winston-Salem, on our family farm. My freshmen year was the most exciting year of my life. I got to travel to lots of places and compete in over ten livestock judging contests. My livestock judging teammates are my pseudo family since I am over 900 miles away from mine. It was also a hard year because I wasn’t home to see calves being born and to watch them grow. I had to settle for photos and texts from my mom April, dad Neil, and little brother Nate. When I am not in class, studying, or practicing livestock judging, I have a part time job at a ranch north of El Reno working with their show and sale cattle. This helps to fill the void of seeing my own cattle. El Reno is less than 30 minutes from Oklahoma City, which is the home to several major livestock shows, including the new Cattlemens’ Congress show that replaced the National Western Stock Show this year due to the pandemic. It is nice to live close to so many livestock opportunities. I have been fortunate enough to have raised and shown cattle my entire life. We are blessed to live on a family farm at the foot of the Sauratown Mountains. We have a small cow/calf operation of mostly Angus cattle. We utilize artificial insemination and some embryo transfer with our cattle. We also try to practice rotational grazing and plant annuals to help dilute our fescue and increase gains. I plan to graduate from Redlands with an associate’s degree in animal
science and will continue my education in animal science at a four year university where I hope to continue livestock judging. I am still exploring my career options for the future. The N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship will be a big assistance towards pursuing my dreams.
Mason Carpenter
Mason Carpenter Hello, my name is Mason Carpenter, and I’m 18 years old. From the beginning of my time, it wasn’t a question of whether I was going to be raised on a farm. It was how far I would go on that farm and what I would learn from my days there. I certainly didn’t expect my experiences to be as varied as they were or the places it would take me to be as great, but I went there regardless. Our operation in Fallston, N.C., has routinely maintained over 100 cow/calf pairs at any given time, and usually more. It might not have seemed impressive enough, so when I was nine, we added horses and pigs to our repertoire. For years afterward, we showed pigs in the Hickory American Legion Fair as well as the Mountain State Fair. My sister, good friend, and I were routinely champions in our class, and oftentimes, the show would provide entertainment for all to watch, as our pigs would hit the sawdust after being raised on concrete for their entire lives in high gear. Being the showmen we were, we simply laughed it off and got our animals under control quickly. I have many great memories of our time showing pigs, such as when a Yankee neighbor of ours called us to say that the hogs are out, but I completely forgot until 15 minutes into our conversation! Years later, we continue to laugh about the incident. After we finished our time showing hogs, we quickly were put to the test in 4-H livestock judging competitions. My dad had coached teams that made it to the National Finals when I was very young, so my judging debut at the age of nine was viewed with high hopes. It
wasn’t until I dropped showing pigs that I became more serious about livestock judging. I wasn’t the biggest fan of it at first, but I did it, and in time, the feeling of well earned victory washed away the feelings of boredom and frustration that tried to persist. I cannot say that I was the best judge on my team since I was far from a phenom. My teammates were definitely more talented judges than I was, but I kept my focus sharp to keep pace with them. I can definitely say that I made many friends from across the state and had my time in the sun. When the time came that I was offered a chance to practice with the state team, I wanted other, more talented judges to take my spot on the team. I knew I had accomplished what I set out to do: Be a part of the best senior team in the state. During this time, I completed both levels of the N.C. Beef Leadership program in 2018 and 2019, and it was here I learned more about our industry and what is needed to guide it through the years to come. I also began to look around at the state of the world at that time and noticed an ever growing dissent towards agriculture, especially with PETA becoming an even more radically charged force in our society. I wanted to put my natural desire to help others learn, and to teach, with a major in agriculture education. Seeing all those who are ignorant to the plight of those who provide them food, or are even downright hostile to them, makes me really upset for about a split second. But I know they simply are unaware of what happens, and it is here that I hope to make an impact. Whether I become a teacher or I work in advocacy for an agricultural organization, I know that my path is filled with great people and great things to do.
on a cow/calf operation in western North Carolina. I always enjoyed helping out on the farm with my family, whether it be feeding, checking on the cows, vaccinating, breeding, or calving season. I became involved in the McDowell County 4-H Livestock Program when I was ten years old. Through the 4-H Livestock Program, I was able to meet other young people who share similar passions and see how agriculture varies in different parts of the country. I also had the opportunity to learn more about other livestock species I was less familiar with, such as pigs, sheep, and goats. In ninth grade, I became a member of the McDowell High School FFA Chapter. I served in various leadership positions at the chapter level and as the regional reporter. I fell more in love with FFA and agricultural education as I took more agriculture classes and participated in career and leadership development events. In my junior year of high school, I decided I wanted to be an agriculture teacher when I graduate college. Therefore, I chose to attend N.C. State University to pursue a degree in agricultural education and minor in animal science. I am excited to be a future agricultural educator as I can share my passion for agriculture with my students and teach them about how important agriculture truly is to our world. I am so grateful to be a recipient of the 2021-2022 N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation Scholarship and appreciate your investment in my future. This scholarship will help me achieve my educational goals without having to worry as much about the financial burden that comes along with college.
of every summer was being able to train and work with my new group of heifers. Between working with my heifers, I would help milk cows, feed baby calves, and follow my dad around and learn as much as I could. This is when my passion for agriculture and the cattle industry began. I currently work at Southern States and my family’s dairy farm, Grayhouse Farms. I served as the North Iredell FFA President my junior and senior years and served as the Northwest Region FFA Secretary my senior year. I competed in cattle working, land judging, livestock evaluation, equine evaluation, farm business management, extemporaneous speaking, and poultry judging. I was a member of the 2019 N.C. FFA and 4-H Dairy Evaluation teams. FFA has allowed me to expand my leadership experiences, grow as an individual, and expand my knowledge of the agricultural industry. In May of 2021, I graduated from North Iredell High School. I will be attending N.C. State University in the Fall of 2021 to pursue a degree in agriculture business management. I plan on returning home and managing my family’s dairy farm. In conclusion, I would like to thank the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation for granting me this scholarship. This scholarship will help allow me to further my education at N.C. State University. Thank you for supporting and believing in the future of North Carolina’s cattle and agricultural industry.
Rachel Gray
Hannah Ellis
Hannah Ellis I’ve had a passion for the agriculture industry from a young age, more specifically, the cattle industry. My interest in cattle stems from growing up
Laurel Gray
Laurel Gray My name is Laurel Gray, and I grew up on my family’s dairy farm in Stony Point, North Carolina. I began showing dairy cattle at the county fair when I was five years old. Growing up, the highlight
The Carolina Cattle Connection
Rachel Gray My name is Rachel Gray, and I am from Stony Point, North Carolina. I am a rising senior at the University of Mount Olive studying agribusiness. I live and work on my family’s dairy, Grayhouse Farms, in western Iredell
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NCBA News continued from the previous page County. My family milks 1,100 Holstein cows and farms 1,100 acres of corn, small grain forages, and hay. I have grown up working with, caring for, and learning about cattle, and I enjoy every aspect of these animals. Given this lifestyle, I have discovered my passion for agriculture and an interest in crops and cattle. Working alongside my father, grandfather, and uncle for many years, I have realized this industry has so much to offer. From watching calves being born and raising them into healthy cows to watching seeds grow into the best crop you’ve ever grown. The cattle industry provides so much for our world, and I would like to continue my family’s legacy of providing for consumers and educating them more about this awesome industry. My plans upon graduating from the University of Mount Olive are to return home to help run my family’s dairy. The North Carolina Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship means so much to me. Organizations such as N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation makes it possible for students like me to cut down the high expenses that a college education forces upon us. I greatly appreciate the scholarship from the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation, and I am so thankful that they are willing to support the future agriculturalists. Thank you!
Regular copy deadline is
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Abigail Hamilton
Abigail Hamilton Growing up around agriculture, I knew I was meant to carry on the tradition of providing for the world like my father and ancestors before did. While my family and I produced market hogs, Perdue broiler chickens, being in FFA, and showed goats competitively for 4-H, my passion always ignited when we were around cattle. Running a backgrounding operation for around 200 head annually, I wanted to be a part of it all. From going to the stockyards to vaccinating and basic care, I felt like this is what I wanted to do for the rest, produce cattle. I knew that to follow my dreams to their fullest potential and find my niche in the cattle production chain, I needed to receive an education. In 2019, I was accepted to N.C. State University and knew that I could achieve anything I set my mind to. I began to learn about the nutrition of ruminants, anatomy, and techniques for their care. Then came an opportunity to attend a beef cattle artificial insemination course that was being hosted by a local vet. That was when I went and learned about the possibility of genetic selection. I was fascinated by the point that a person could artificially inseminate a cow with semen from a bull across the country or do an egg flush and create embryos to implant into a cow who is technically not the mother nor father. The science behind this concept blew my mind and grasped my interest. It is through these methods that we are able to produce and enhance desirable genetics in our cattle and provide for the growing population of earth. The path I want to follow in this field is uncertain at this time. With possibilities such as an insemination technician, an embryologist, and many others on the table, I haven’t quite made up my mind. I know as I gain experience, continue my education, and
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
find out more about job possibilities, my mind will be made up. Currently, I am working at the E. Carroll Joyner Beef Education Unit at N.C. State University. My employment there is helping me expand my experience with cattle, and being from a backgrounding operation, it is different and intriguing to be managing a cow/calf operation. However, without this scholarship opportunity, I would not be able to take advantage of any of these opportunities. I am grateful for the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation for providing me a scholarship last academic year and this one as well. Their program shows their willingness to provide for the future and enhancement of the cattle industry. I hope to be an example for students who want to pursue careers in the cattle industry and help set the standard. It is an honor and a privilege to be one of the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation Scholarship recipients for the 2021-2022 academic school year.
senior state livestock judging competition in Raleigh. We also raise beef cattle. Currently, we have acquired more property, and we are “in the process” of clearing it. Our ultimate goal is to be able to rotationally graze our cattle most of the year. I plan to continue growing our cattle operation throughout my lifetime. In the fall, I plan to attend Mars Hill University, where I will major in zoology. This will be the first step in my path to becoming a large animal veterinarian. During the next few years, I plan on visiting different veterinary schools to decide which one is the right fit for me. After vet school, I would like to return home to work at Animals R Us Veterinary Clinic. The best part of this job will be working with the different cattle producers. Once situated in my career, I plan to continue working with the 4-H children and the FFA programs in my county to encourage youth to participate in agriculture. I have also joined the Farm Bureau Women’s Group, and we are trying to get agriculture back into the school systems. Your financial contribution will help me along this path. I just want to thank the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation for the honor of receiving this award.
Haley Hargus
Haley Hargus While growing up, I have ridden in the truck with a large animal veterinarian. Routinely I help pull calves, put uteruses in, and work cattle. For about 12 years, I have been a member of the Henderson County Livestock Group, the Barnyard Bandits. Through this group, I have also shown cattle. I have participated in local and state shows. I have shown both steers and heifers. A few years ago, I came in third place in the 4-H steer project. For two years, I participated in the Perry & Doris Teeter Leadership Institute at the N.C. Cattlemen’s Association Annual Conference. I have attended state and national cattlemen’s meetings. During high school, I was a member of the East Henderson High School FFA program. I also participated in the BuncombeHenderson County livestock judging team for about five years. In 2019 we won the
Marcie Harward
Marcie Harward As an eighth generation cattle farmer, the beef industry has been in my blood ever since I was born. My earliest memories involve my family on the farm or working with livestock. My family owns a livestock auction barn that I went to every week, and on weekends I would be with my father checking and feeding cattle. I attended cattlemen’s education conferences with my family and was eager to help in any way possible when it came to the farm. In 2006, my family started showing cattle at local, state, and
eventually national competitions. My sisters and I quickly grew very passionate about this segment of the cattle industry, so in 2009 we started developing our own herd of cattle focusing on purchasing high quality, registered cattle. While my parents own their personal set of cattle, this herd was and currently still is owned and managed by my sisters and me. We talked with many other purebred cattle producers to learn about the industry and to prepare ourselves for this large endeavor. In 2019, we held our first production sale and held our second in January of this year, selling Angus, Simmental, Charolais, and Red Angus bulls and females. Through these sales, we have sold cattle to three states and over 100 cattle producers. A goal of ours is to increase the herd to 400 cows within the next ten years and increase our genetic improvements every year. One of my career aspirations is to be able to return home to continue improving and expanding my family’s business. I am working towards my major in agricultural business management to help me achieve this goal. I want to learn how to make our businesses the most successful that it can be through learning about financial planning, marketing, economics, human resources, and more. The most rewarding part of our business is seeing how our decisions and hard work can benefit our customers, and I want to continue this objective. However, not only do I aspire to improve my family’s business, but I also have a passion for animal reproduction and genetics. Along with studying agricultural business management, I plan to further my range of education by studying animal science and taking pre-vet courses. I have always found animal reproduction fascinating and hope to become an embryologist that specializes in large animals. I want to help improve the ways in which we handle cattle and study how we can best utilize reproduction management in beef cattle. I hope to one day set up my own reproduction facility as this service is not easily accessible in our area. I want to be able to help other farmers gain access to this service that can help them in their own businesses. I am very grateful and honored to be a recipient of the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship. I am grateful for the support the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation has provided me and the endless opportunities they provide for juniors just like me all across the state. I am attending N.C. State University, pursuing my bachelor’s degree and, hopefully down the road, a master’s degree. This scholarship will help me further my education and achieve my
career goals. As seen above, I have a long road ahead of me, and I am grateful that an opportunity like this is available to help make my goals a reality.
Mattie Harward
Mattie Harward My passion for taking care of animals began at an early age on my family’s farm in Richfield, North Carolina. While I was growing up, my family had various types of animals - everything from our pet dogs to our larger animals such as cattle, horses, and pigs. From an early age, I was involved in many aspects of learning how to properly treat and care for these animals. This developed into a passion of mine on how to properly tend to the animals that are entrusted to our care. While I have enjoyed being involved in sports, school activities, and community events, it was working with these animals, and the cattle in particular, that I developed the most interest in. I started showing cattle with my sisters in 2005 when I was only four years old and have now been showing cattle consistently at the state and national events for over fourteen years. I attend approximately twenty shows a year, including shows in North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Colorado, Maryland, West Virginia, and other states depending on that year’s show schedule. I am also involved in the N.C. Junior Angus, Simmental, and Charolais Associations, as well as the National Junior Angus, Simmental, and Charolais Associations. My involvement in showing cattle taught me a great deal and influenced many other aspects of my life as well. After we started showing cattle, my sisters and I decided to start our own purebred cattle herd. Although we are eighth generation cattle producers, we are first generation seed stock producers, and the venture into the seed stock industry has proven to be an adventure. Since we began our purebred herd, we have expanded to 80 head of purebred cattle, which is maintained completely
by my sisters and me. My twin sister and I currently manage the daily care of the whole herd and the management of the show heifers. In 2019 we started our own annual production sale in which we have sold bulls and replacement females into three states and to over 100 people. Within the next ten years, we hope to expand our purebred operation to 400 head of cattle and have two production sales a year selling bulls, open females, and bred females. Since my family is aging out of the junior division of showing cattle, we also focus on selling show heifers to other 4-H and FFA members and assisting them with their show heifer projects. Showing cattle opened many doors for my sisters and me and allowed us to travel the country, experience new places, and meet many new people. We learned a greater sense of responsibility, obtained a better work ethic, and learned the importance of having integrity in what you do. I hope to be able to help other juniors experience these same things to help them succeed in whatever path they choose. I am very thankful and grateful to be a recipient of the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship. This scholarship will help me further and pursue my education this fall as I will be attending N.C. State University. I am going to pursue a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business management and a minor in animal science with a concentration in animal nutrition. In the future, I hope to be able to use these degrees to manage my family’s purebred and commercial cattle herds, but also to work in the industry helping other farmers with animal nutrition. This scholarship is not only helping me attend school to receive my undergraduate degree but has helped provide an opportunity for me to have the option to also receive a master’s degree. I appreciate everything that the N.C.
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Cattlemen’s Foundation does for this industry, and I am honored to be a part of this organization. Thank you for allowing me to be one of the recipients of this year’s scholarships.
Jacob Hinson
Jacob Hinson My name is Jacob Hinson. I am a junior at N.C. State University double majoring in animal science and poultry science. My passion for animal agriculture started at a young age. I started showing sheep and goats at my county show and sale. I became more and more involved with showing livestock and realized that I could see myself working in the livestock industry. In high school, I became involved in FFA and 4-H and realized that I not only liked animals, but I had developed a passion for the entire agricultural industry. I knew I wanted to be a part of a group of individuals tasked with the daunting effort of feeding the world. I am currently working on my bachelor’s degrees in animal science and
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NCBA News continued from the previous page poultry science at N.C. State University. Upon completion of my undergrad, I will be attending graduate school to study something relevant to reproduction and genetics in livestock species. The N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship is helping to make all of this possible. The N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation is helping to “create an environment that helps train scientists and professionals to work in cattle production and related fields.” This is evident in their support of my education. I’d like to extend a huge thank you to the entire Foundation and the scholarship committee for their support of future agriculturalists.
Emma Humphrey
Emma Humphrey My name is Emma Humphrey. I live with my parents on a small farm that I have started in the Erect community of North Carolina. Agriculture has always played a big role in my life. I grew up farming alongside my great grandpa. He taught me that farming takes hard work and dedication. It is something you have to love and be willing to invest a lot of time in. He farmed cattle, sheep, and poultry. I quickly inherited his strong love for animals. Grandma likes to joke that I am just like him because I will bring home any animal. We also grew vegetables on his farm. He was so very proud of his huge tomatoes! I believe that growing up on a farm influenced my career choices heavily. I have started my own small farm. I was given my first black Angus heifer by my grandparents. I breed and raise miniature pigs and am beginning a German Shepherd breeding program. I plan to grow my farm even bigger by adding more cattle, other animals, and greenhouses one day. Aside from owning a farm, I have always dreamed of being a veterinarian.
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In my small rural town, there are only a few large animal veterinarians. There are small animal veterinarians approximately 25-30 minutes away, which is not always suitable in an emergency situation. I want to meet this void and provide my community with a mixed animal practice. I love all animals, large and small, and I do not want to leave owners and farmers empty handed. I learned from a late employer that being a veterinarian can make a big impact on my community. Therefore, I want to provide affordable veterinary care to those in need. I would like to provide payment plans, affordable preventative medications, and spay/ neuters. I believe this will help decrease shelter numbers and outbreaks in my community. As a veterinarian, I want to serve my community and make an impact not only on animal lives but human lives as well. To continue my education, I will be attending N.C. State University this fall to major in veterinary bioscience. N.C. State University has always been my dream school, and with the help of the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation, it has been made more affordable. I would like to thank the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation for choosing me as a recipient of this scholarship and for being confident that I will serve the agriculture field well in my future endeavors.
Anna Kate Jackson
Anna Kate Jackson My name is Anna Kate Jackson, and I am a senior studying at N.C. State University. I am currently majoring in agricultural education with a concentration in animal science and a minor in horticultural science. I have been interested in agriculture from a young age, as I raised broiler and meat chickens. I was introduced to cattle when I entered middle school, and my family began raising feeder calves. Over
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the past ten years, our herd has grown, and I have learned so many valuable, hands-on lessons. Growing up on a small farm is what made me fall in love with agriculture and appreciate “farm life.” My experiences at home are just as important as the experiences I was fortunate to have in high school as a member of the FFA. I was a member of the Chase FFA Chapter for four years in high school and was able to serve in multiple leadership roles. FFA taught me the importance of agriculture, helped me develop my leadership skills, and provided me opportunities to connect with other individuals in agriculture. Two of my fondest memories through FFA was showing a dairy steer my senior year of high school and attending the Perry & Doris Teeter Beef Leadership Institute my sophomore and junior year. Following my journey in FFA has been my time as a student at N.C. State University. Attending college has helped me confidently prepare for my future in agriculture. N.C. State University has provided me opportunities to grow personally, play an active role on campus, and learn from the best leaders in agriculture. My major in college reflects a lot of the things that have impacted my life the most. I am passionate about agriculture, and because of that, I have decided to pursue a career as an agricultural educator. There are so many things that the public should be aware of, and I believe that many of the critical issues are circling the cattle industry. As a teacher, I am hoping to use my platform to educate students about these critical issues so they can be informed consumers. Over the past couple of years, I believe that many people have realized the important role that agriculturalists play in the world. I would like to express my appreciation to cattle farmers and ranchers for the hard work that is put into their trades, despite the circumstances. I am also very appreciative of the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation for helping me achieve my education as a scholarship recipient for the 2021-2022 school year. Lance Johnson I would like to thank the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation for trusting me to represent this organization. I am currently a junior at N.C. State University, working toward my bachelor’s degree in agricultural science. I am thankful for the scholarship that I received and thankful that this organization supports other students studying agriculture and me. I will use this scholarship to the best of my
ability and one day hope to be a leader in this great industry! During my life, I have been highly involved in this industry. I have grown up on my family’s dairy farm and gradually began to take on higher roles. I began at a young age feeding calves and now am helping with management practices on the farm. I help with daily tasks such as feeding and milking cattle, looking after crop work, and taking care of the herd. On the farm, there have been many lessons learned. So far, I have been able to learn many tasks that I will be able to use in the future. I also learned characteristics such as patience, trust, and hope. It takes time to grow high yielding crops or efficient cattle. I think that we as farmers have to be able to be hopeful for the future, such as weather or commodity prices. On the farm, I am also thankful to be able to work outside in God’s environment producing the food, fiber, and fuel for a growing population. Through this industry, I have been able to be a part of many organizations. During my senior year of high school, I was the President of my FFA Chapter at North Iredell High School and was also able to compete in the National FFA Dairy Judging contest after finishing first in the state. I earned my American FFA Degree. I was a member of the Iredell 4-H club, competing in dairy judging and other related events. Today, I am a member of the Iredell County Young Farmers and Ranchers club, and I’m involved in some clubs at N.C. State University. After college, I am not quite sure what my plans are. I do plan on coming back home to Iredell County to work in the agriculture industry. I see myself working in production related areas. I want to work as a consultant for a company such as a nutritionist or an agronomist. I also could see myself working on a dairy operation as a manager.
Lance Johnson
Abbegail King
Abbegail King Anyone who has a passion for cattle knows that bovines are complex, fascinating creatures that benefit society immensely. The most obvious benefit is that of a vivacious cattle industry that fuels our world by providing quality, nutritious products. And yet, when truly examining cattle as a species, you find they have more benefits than meets the eye. My passion for cattle has prompted me to think of cattle in a different light — one which creates genetic and health related research advancements that can potentially improve the lives of animals and humans as well. As a N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship recipient, I am thankful for the support the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation has given me which will help me, research and study cattle on a level that I have dreamed about for many years. It is my goal to enter the field of comparative medicine research as I want to play a role in finding solutions to assist both human health and the cattle industry. While cattle often assist human health, comparative medicine goes both ways through providing solutions for the industry. For example, research can lead to increased product demand while uncovering health benefits. According to the National Institute of Health, lactose intolerance affects an estimated 68 percent of the world population. With this many individuals affected, a large portion of the potential market is lost. Cattle milk is comprised of two common beta-casein proteins: A1 and A2, and research found that they affect digestion differently. As the A1 protein is broken down, the protein fragment beta-casomorphin (BCM7) is left. This protein is hypothesized to contribute to lactose intolerance. In contrast, the A2 protein does not leave this fragment and has been found to significantly reduce discomfort. Cattle are genetically tested for the production of these proteins. When these hypothesized findings were introduced, there was
a higher market demand for A2 dairy products and a larger percentage of the world population supporting the work of cattlemen. Cattle are complex, and the more we learn about them, the more we are able to find solutions to novel health conditions, both bovine and human, in addition to solidifying the value of cattle. Research involving antibodies, which bovines make at an accelerated rate, are being researched to fight viral diseases and cows can be credited for helping to develop the first vaccine ever created. Bovine bone is used in grafts, and advancements in genomics can help improve disease resistance and meat quality. Connections between human and bovine health could prove to increase demand for quality animals and strengthen the industry as we learn more about how the consumption of beef and dairy products can benefit human health. The complexities and benefits of cattle are innumerable, and I am thankful I was fortunate enough to be introduced to cattle around six years ago after joining 4-H. I had always been interested in agriculture, but when I first worked with cattle, I was hooked. I was blessed to have a livestock agent in my county who offered guidance and resources, allowing me to show his dairy cattle for six years. The time between my first and latest cattle event has been filled with numerous quiz bowl and judging competitions, presentations, dairy poster contests, and show classes, all of which have further sparked my passion for cattle. I purchased three Dexter heifers in late 2018, a dual purpose heritage breed that I selected specifically for hardiness, size, and the carrying capacity of the property they would roam. While my herd is small, I am thankful to be able to work with cattle daily and have had the opportunity to incorporate genetics into a breeding program. Over the past many years, my interest in the cattle industry and bovines has grown with each experience and learning opportunity I was granted. I will be attending Clemson University Honors College this fall, studying biological anthropology and animal/ veterinary science. Being awarded the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship is a humbling honor, and it is my goal to take advantage of every learning opportunity I am blessed with during my college journey so that one day I can give back to the amazing cattle industry by contributing research that improves not only the lives of cattle but the lives of humans as well.
Madelaine Kuwada
Madelaine Kuwada My name is Maddie Kuwada, and I am a rising senior at N.C. State University double majoring in animal science and poultry science. I have been accepted into the Food Animal Scholars Program where I have been provided admission into N.C. State’s College of Veterinary Medicine to pursue a career in livestock medicine. I will start vet school in the fall of 2022 under the food animal focus area. After vet school, I plan to work in a rural mixed practice in an area of the country that predominantly has cow/ calf producers. Through my experiences, I have developed a passion for bovine medicine, and I hope to work in an area of veterinary shortage to help serve ranchers in the cattle industry. I grew up in the city of Charlotte, and prior to coming to N.C. State University, the only large animal I had ever worked with was horses. I always wished I could have shown cattle like my mom, who told me stories of showing cattle when she was in 4-H in Nebraska, but growing up in urban areas I never had that opportunity. When I found opportunities to show cattle through N.C. State University’s Animal Science Club, I was determined to get involved my first semester. If it had not been for the Animal Science Club and showing a steer at the N.C. State Fair my freshman year, I do not think I would be where I am today and pursuing the career I am. My experience with showing cattle served as the catalyst for a deep passion I never knew I had for livestock. Once I got a taste for working with livestock at my university, I pursued other experiences, such as an internship in a rural mixed practice in Manitoba, Canada. I assisted in emergency calls during calving season and got to experience all aspects of bovine medicine. Through this internship, I realized that this was the type of practice I wanted to work in after veterinary school. I have been involved with dairy research through N.C. State University, and each year I am involved
in the leadership team that helps run the milk booth at the N.C. State Fair. While cattle are my first passion, I have also worked at swine and small ruminant farms to round out my experience with livestock. This past summer, I have been up in Salina, Kan., where I worked at a rural mixed practice and gained experience such as pregnancy checking over 70 cows, testing dozens of bulls, and assisting in emergency calvings and downed cow calls. My second internship this summer was up in Valentine, Neb., where I worked at a satellite facility of TransOva Genetics, learning about embryo transfers, artificial insemination, and the intense breeding management of Piedmontese cattle producers. The N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation Scholarship has given me the ability to pursue some of these pivotal experiences. I am incredibly grateful to have been a recipient of their scholarship program, as it has helped support my career goals of being a livestock veterinarian. My experiences have taught me that there is a shortage of students interested in pursuing a career in food animal medicine. Therefore, scholarship programs like this one are incredibly important in supporting the future of the cattle industry. Because of this scholarship, I will continue to be able to focus on gaining experience to be a successful bovine practitioner.
Regan Mitchem
Regan Mitchem It is with great gratitude that I thank the scholarship selection committee and the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation for allowing me to be a recipient of a 2020-2021 N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation Scholarship. I am honored to have this opportunity to continue my education in the upcoming year. My involvement in the N.C. 4-H Livestock Program, the N.C. Junior
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NCBA News continued from the previous page Hereford Association, and the National Junior Hereford Association has built my passion for animal agriculture. The impact these organizations have had on me is reflected in my chosen areas of study at college and future career plans. Growing up on a farm, showing livestock, competing in 4-H livestock judging, and participating in leadership events and contests through the North Carolina and National Junior Hereford Associations have taught me responsibility, leadership, and hard work. These organizations work to develop the next leaders of the livestock industry and have provided me with knowledge and firsthand experience within this industry. When asked to think about my future, there is no doubt that my plans have a foundation in animal agriculture. This year I will be a junior at N.C. State University. I am majoring in animal science, with a veterinary bioscience concentration, combined with an additional intended double major in nutrition. My decision to major in Animal Science was easy considering my aspirations to attend veterinary school in the future. With a year of COVID-19 online classes behind me, I am looking forward to finding more normalcy in the upcoming year. I am excited about what the future holds and plan to continue involvement in undergraduate research, internships, and more. In parallel to my academic and career plans, I am excited to see the beef cattle sector of my family’s farm expanding. My family and I have been working to develop a quality set of functional and attractive registered Hereford cattle. We have taken to using reproductive tactics of artificial insemination, embryo transfer, and invitro fertilization as tools to help us reach our goals. Our use of this technology has me thinking about working specifically in livestock reproductive physiology by daily performing these reproductive technologies for other producers. I feel excited about the road ahead of me and confident that the livestock industry is where I belong. I am thankful to have the support of the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation with this scholarship as it will relieve financial expenses along my path to reach my goals. It is an honor to be a N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship recipient.
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Meredith Simpson
Meredith Simpson My name is Meredith Simpson, and I will be a junior at N.C. State University in the fall of 2021. I am a double major in both poultry science and animal science. I believe that by double majoring in both poultry and animal science, I will gain adequate experience in all fields of livestock. My goal is to graduate with dual degrees and adequate livestock experience so that I can apply to vet school. My long term career goals include becoming a food animal veterinarian for cattle and possibly having my own herd of cattle one day. Although this past year has been very challenging as a student with completing my classes online from home, I have done my very best to stay involved with clubs and activities on campus. As well as completing my classes online from home, I was able to start a job at a local vet clinic to gain experience in the veterinary field. Although my dream is to be a food animal veterinarian, I am enjoying my time learning in a regular vet clinic that focuses more on dogs and cats. I am doing my best to gain experience now so that I can be successful when I am a future veterinarian. Throughout my life, I have always been an avid lover of livestock and learning more about their purpose in the agriculture industry. Although I did not grow up on a farm, I became highly involved in FFA all throughout high school. I took many of the agriculture classes that were offered while I was in high school, and my agriculture teacher would bring beef cattle to stay at the school barn. My agriculture teachers started to notice how I would always be the first person to take the initiative to take care of the animals in the barn during class. The barn was where I always wanted to be during class because it allowed my passion for livestock
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to soar. As my animal science classes continued, I started volunteering to take care of the animals on the weekend as well because I lived near the school, and it was something that I enjoyed doing. Throughout the rest of my time in high school, I became an FFA officer and started taking part in Career Development Events (CDEs) such as livestock judging, poultry judging, and showing livestock. When I showed livestock, I showed beef heifers through fairs all throughout North Carolina, and this is where my passion for cattle really began. When showing livestock, I would work with the animals months in advance to prepare them for the shows. When working with the cattle, everything clearly came into view in that I would spend the rest of my life dedicated to working with livestock in the agriculture industry. I am very thankful to the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation for awarding me a scholarship for the 2021-2022 school year. This scholarship is greatly appreciated in decreasing the financial burden on my college career. In decreasing the financial burden, I will have more time to focus on extracurricular activities and more time to focus on my academics. Thank you for your support with this scholarship and for being invested as I reach for success. Thank you so much for this opportunity, and I will do my best to be an advocate for the future of agriculture.
Mikenzly Specht
Mikenzly Specht My love of animal agriculture runs deep. I was officially introduced to livestock agriculture in high school. I was an active member in FFA and showed commercial beef cattle and sheep with the help of my agriculture teacher, Sherilee Deal, and her family. I fell deeply in love with the industry and would help my agriculture teacher and her family with
their cattle whenever possible on their farm. I am currently attending N.C. State University with a double major in animal science and poultry science. My overall career goal is to pursue an occupation associated with the cattle industry. At N.C. State University, I am an employee at the Dairy Educational Unit, where I have learned a great deal about lactating animals and calf care. I have been blessed with the opportunity to explore both the dairy and beef cattle industries during my time at N.C. State University. During the summer of 2020, I had the amazing opportunity to intern at the Silver Spur Ranch in Saratoga, Wyoming. This was an amazing opportunity to see the variation of the beef industry in different parts of the country. I am now officially a senior, and I am hoping to continue to stay in the cattle industry. I would love to complete another internship after graduation and find a career that allows me to be an advocate and teach others about the cattle industry. None of these opportunities would be possible without the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship. I am extremely grateful to be able to represent the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation. I am so appreciative of the Blackburn family, and I strive to give back to the community to help others succeed in their goals, just as others have done for me.
Cindy Valdez-Nolasco
Cindy Valdez-Nolasco My passion for agriculture and cattle comes from my family, who are in the industry back home in Guatemala, where I have traveled ever since I was four years old. One side of the family grows maize, beans, plantains, and tomatoes. The other side of my family raises Brahman for beef and Jersey for dairy products. Both of my grandfathers exposed me to the importance and beauty
of agriculture. I developed my passion for agriculture and decided I wanted to become a veterinarian. In high school, I was greatly involved in FFA, where I served as a chapter officer for three years. FFA allowed me to get involved in the agriculture and livestock industry, where I got to do different competitions and helped out at the N.C. State Fair. Since I had a dream of becoming a veterinarian, I decided to go to N.C. State University. At N.C. State University I came across an amazing person, Jordan CoxO’Neill, who was my lab instructor my freshman year. Mrs. O’Neill introduced her research project that sparked my interest, and I quickly became involved. Being involved in her integrated croplivestock system study helped me discover my passion for ruminant nutrition along with my great interest in beef cattle. I thoroughly enjoyed working cattle and getting to learn about their nutritive needs by working in the lab and going out to the fields to do forage samples. This project exposed me to many other opportunities in the beef industry that has led me to a change in interest to where now I plan on continuing my education at a graduate level and working with a feed company for beef cattle. This N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship means a lot to me because although I did not directly grow up in the cattle industry, I will have the opportunity to be surrounded by our successful cattlemen here in North Carolina who will educate and enlighten me. The agriculture industry plays a very important role in society, and it is in need of the younger generation in order to help sustain the newer generations. This opportunity will allow me to become an advocate for the younger generations. Being a first generation student and among the few Latinos who are in agriculture education at N.C. State University. I feel that I have the potential to lead and advocate for Latinos who have a vast agriculture background but lack resources. Throughout my experiences, I’ve noticed there are not many Latinos involved. I will voice my passion for agriculture and reach out to a different audience. Also, I would love to become an advocate for Latinos in agriculture to help expand Latino involvement within agriculture. Aside from advocating, this year’s goals are to get awesome grades, get an internship in the beef cattle industry, and apply for graduate school. Post graduate school, I plan on working for a feed company in ruminant nutrition. This scholarship opportunity will give me multiple opportunities to reach out to Latinos in the livestock industry. There is
sometimes a great lack of communication between Latinos and the main agriculture producers. I feel that I could be a great asset to bridge that communication connection in the cattle industry.
Shade Wilbanks
Shade Wilbanks My name is Shade Wilbanks, and I am from a small, rural community in Western North Carolina called Pisgah Forest. I live on my family’s fifth generation Red Poll Cattle Farm and have a passion for agriculture running through my veins. Cattle have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. From the pictures of me at age two sitting on and feeding our docile bull to me as a senior in high school showing cattle at the N.C. State Fair for the Brevard FFA Chapter. Because of my love for agriculture, I have decided the next steps to take in life are going into a career that allows me to advocate for this industry every day. I am currently attending the University of Mount Olive pursuing a degree in agricultural education and agribusiness. I see teaching as an opportunity to help improve farming in my community, state, and nation. I hope to use my position to spread knowledge and facts about the beef industry across the state of North Carolina through workshops and county association meetings. Membership in the Transylvania County Cattlemen’s Association has helped my family’s farm become successful, and we have learned many new things. I hope to introduce my future students to the things I have been taught about cattle alliances, deworming, and field rotation to help keep their family farms afloat during these difficult and ever changing times in agriculture. Upon graduating from college and starting life on my own, I would like to continue my family’s cattle legacy. The cattle I have part ownership of are from the same line my great-great grandfather had. He passed the first born heifer calf
down to the first born grandson. The heifer gifted to the first grandson had to have a heifer in order for the next boy in line to receive a calf. This was how the inheritance of the Red Poll cattle went. My grandfather was the youngest of five boys, so he waited a long time to start his branch of the herd. My grandfather passed a calf down to my mother and then me. This is something I take pride in. No matter where life takes me, I plan on keeping this rare breed, dual purpose breed cattle in my herd. My grandfather was the one who instilled a love for cattle and agriculture in me. He passed away three years ago and did not get to see the great strides I’ve made while becoming a young adult. However, I know that by keeping the herd going strong and passing it down to my children, I can keep his memory alive for the years to come. Being chosen to receive this scholarship means I can continue my education and focus on my classes and workload. It means that I will not have the constant thought of “how am I ever going to pay off my tuition” in the back of my mind. I can enjoy my college experience without having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. I can continue showing cattle throughout college and being involved in clubs with students who share the same likes as me. The N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship means I can continue showing my never ending support and advocating for agriculture throughout my adult life and have a positive impact on future generations of agriculturists. I am beyond grateful for the scholarship I have received and thank the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation for their support and investment in my education and future.
Macy Massengill
Macy Massengill Hello everyone, my name is Macy Massengill. I’m currently a student at N.C. State University, working toward my master’s degree in animal science
The Carolina Cattle Connection
with a focus in physiology. I was born and raised in Princeton, N.C., which is a small town consisting mostly of tobacco fields and pastures. Needless to say, agriculture has been a driving force in my life. Growing up, I spent my time in as many barns as I could. I showed sheep, cattle, and did livestock judging. Once I graduated, my path was clear; I was taking my talent for science and love of livestock and pursuing a degree in animal science at N.C. State University. At N.C. State University, I grew in my knowledge and experience and further solidified my passion for cattle. I was lucky enough to have the support and mentorship of a plethora of faculty and graduate students, which led me ultimately to pursuing my master’s degree under Dr. Dan Poole here at N.C. State University. My research project is something that I am very passionate about. We are using a pre-synchronization protocol to increase pregnancy rates in postpartum cattle. I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to obtain my master’s degree with a project that can directly impact the industry for the better. I’ve learned throughout my journey that I really enjoy my boots being on the ground, whether it be speaking with other cattlemen or in the chutes pushing A.I. guns and recording body condition scores. I also really enjoy using science to solve problems in production scenarios that make the most economic sense. I plan on turning these interests into a career. Once I complete my master’s degree, I intend to pursue my Ph.D. in applied work in beef cattle. My goal is to become a well rounded cattleman and work as an extension associate at the university level. My personal outlook is that my role as a scientist is to pose and answer questions that can be taken to a producer and empower them to better their operation, cattle, and bank account. I plan to focus on reproduction nutrition, genetics, and overall management practices that can be used to create more dollars in a producer’s pocket. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation is offering me. This travel award will allow me to travel to our national conferences, to present my research findings, network and learn from other scientists and stockmen, and develop myself professionally. I am humbled to be chosen for the travel award, and I thank the board and every cattleman for their support of furthering research and bettering the cattle industry. I can assure you that this gift is invested
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NCBA News continued from the previous page in an individual whose purpose is to pour myself back into the cattle industry. I am thrilled to have the honor of receiving this award from this fine institution.
Elizabeth Mullins
Elizabeth Mullins I am honored to have been selected as a recipient of the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation Graduate Student Travel Award. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation and the scholarship committee for providing me with this opportunity. I will be using this travel award to attend the 2021 American Society of Animal Science Annual Meeting & Trade Show, where I will be giving a presentation of my research entitled “Availability and management of cotton byproducts in North Carolina: A state survey.” I am currently finishing up my master’s degree in animal science at N.C. State University. I work under the advisement of Dr. Matt Poore, studying cotton byproducts as an alternative cattle feed. I am a native of Clintwood, Va., where my family raises Katahdin hair sheep and has had a small commercial cow/calf operation. My involvement in 4-H and FFA helped to cultivate my interest and passion for animal agriculture. This led me to Virginia Tech, where I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in animal and poultry sciences in May of 2019. During my time at N.C. State University, I have been privileged to assist with a variety of forage and nutrition projects. My thesis research has been twofold. The first portion, which is what I am presenting in July, was a survey of all 34 cotton gins in North Carolina. The purpose of this survey was to learn more about how whole cottonseed and cotton gin byproduct are managed and
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marketed throughout the state. As a result of this survey, I created a directory of cotton gins that are interested in selling these cotton byproducts locally to cattle producers. The second part of my project was a feeding trial conducted to evaluate the feeding value of whole cottonseed and cotton gin byproduct compared to a traditional diet of corn silage, soybean meal, and ground corn. It has been a joy to be involved with a project that could improve the profitability of cattle producers through a reduction in feed costs. I am very thankful for the opportunity to share some of the exciting work going on here in North Carolina at the national level this summer. I am very eager to begin working alongside producers in a new capacity as an Extension Agent in Page County, Virginia, upon completion of my degree. I am so thankful for the support from the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation. Presenting research is a normal and expected part of graduate school. Due to COVID-19, I have not had the opportunity to present my research anywhere. I am so appreciative of this travel award because it affords me my first and only chance to share my research and hard work with others and, in many ways, signifies the beginning of things returning to “normal.”
Charlotte Talbott
Charlotte Talbott I would like to send my personal thanks to the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation for the 2021-2022 Graduate Student Travel Award. My name is Charlotte Talbott, and I am originally from Sanford, North Carolina. Although I did not grow up in an agricultural setting, I have always had a fondness for animals and farming. At a young age, I became involved in the equestrian industry, which led me to pursue animal science at N.C.
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
State University. My original career goal was veterinary medicine, but that quickly changed after working with the Amazing Grazing team under Dr. Matt Poore. During my freshman year of college, I became very interested in integrated crop-livestock systems and beef cattle nutrition. Throughout my undergraduate years, I completed many agricultural internships, including working with a racehorse training facility in Kentucky, the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Science as an international marketing intern, assistant teaching grassland management at N.C. State University, and my continued involvement with Amazing Grazing. Most notably, I had the opportunity to travel to Oklahoma as a Lloyd Noble Scholar in Agriculture at the Noble Research Institute. During my time at Noble, I completed an independent research study focusing on new technologies in virtual fencing for beef cattle. My combined experiences throughout college led me to pursue a master’s degree under the advisement of Dr. Deidre Harmon and Dr. Matt Poore at NCSU. Currently, I am conducting a research project to quantify the multi-year effects of tall fescue renovation strategies on beef cattle performance, soil and forage ecology, and system economics. I would also like to express my gratitude to the N.C. Cattlemen’s Association for their funding assistance to this research. After completing graduate school, I plan to pursue a career in livestock consulting or further scientific research in animal science. My main goal in the future is to work directly with producers to help find solutions to cattle production problems. The N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation Graduate Student Travel Award will give me the opportunity to attend the 2021 American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) National Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition, my attendance at the conference allows me to present two research abstracts, learn more about the animal production industry, network
with other like minded professionals, and represent the North Carolina beef industry. As a graduate student in the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been difficult to gain the extra experience from conferences, meetings, workshops, etc. I am so grateful to the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation for funding my trip to ASAS and supporting my education in the beef cattle industry. I hope to continue my involvement with the N.C. Cattlemen’s Association and look forward to thanking the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation in person. Finally, I would like to thank the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation for recognizing my passion for the beef industry and choosing me as a recipient for the 2021-2022 Graduate Student Travel Award. 2022-2023 Scholarship Applications The N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation is now receiving applications for undergraduate scholarships and graduate student travel funding for the 2022-2023 academic year. This is the fourth year the Foundation will award scholarships to students who are North Carolina residents. However, they are still eligible if they are attending college in another state. The applications for both scholarships and graduate student travel are available on the main website of the N.C. Cattlemen’s Association. We encourage you to use the online application from www.nccattle.com/ resources/nccf-scholarship; however, printable versions are available to assist you in gathering information for your applications. All applications are due by January 15, 2022. Applications will be reviewed and recommended for the N.C. Cattlemen’s Foundation board approval at its meeting in mid-February. Awards will be announced after that meeting. Questions regarding the application process can be addressed to Dr. Roger Crickenberger at 919-464-5636 or at cricks4@mac.com.
You shouldn’t have to have a gun held to your head to take advantage of the expert A.I., superior genetics, the best in purebreds and outstanding farm supplies featured in the Classifieds in this issue!
The Carolina Cattle Connection
q JANUARY 2022
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...
LASSIFIED PUREBRED CATTLE BREEDERS BACK CREEK ANGUS
Joe and Robin Hampton 345 Withrows Creek Lane Mt. Ulla, NC 28125
704-880-2488
Angus
INSURANCE
A NIMAL H EALTH
FOR SALE
BBU Registered Beefmaster Bulls and Females
WHITEHALL BEEFMASTERS Joe and Ann Logan 214 Cowhead Creek Road Greenwood, SC 29646
Telephone: 864-538-3004
Black Crest Farm
C. A. H. Brent Glenn, DVM Lancaster, S.C.
AUTO • HOME • LIFE BUSINESS • FARM & RANCH
Jim Traynham Wingate, N.C. 704-233-5366 Cell - 704-292-4217
Carolinas Animal Health, LLC
The Josey Agency, Inc. Douglas Josey Multi-Line Agent
Cell: 803-385-8161 Email: djosey@truvista.net
519 Morgan Mill Rd., Monroe, NC 28112 704-289-5083 • 704-289-1696 • 800-222-8638
W.R. “Billy” McLeod
Ernest B. Harris President
On Your Side®
®
James S. Wills • The Wills Agency LLC Primary Agent/Owner Master Farm Certified
555 West Church Street Batesburg, SC 29006
williammcleod@ftc-i.net • www.blackcrestfarm.com
Inc. / Auctioneers
BLACK GROVE
3200 NC Hwy. 58 • Warrenton, NC 27589 NCAL #1468 • NC#C#4264 • VAL #146 • SCAL #3895 Email: ebharris@ebharris.com www.ebharris.com
Breeding Registered Angus since 1962
Walter D. Shealy III and Family
Autryville, NC 28318 www.howardbrosfarms.com
Darryl Howard Cell: 910-990-2791
YOUR AD HERE!
SPRINGFIELD ANGUS 104 Springfield Lane Louisburg, NC 27549
Phil Goodson: 919-880-9062
• Performance Tested • Ultrasound and 50K Evaluated • Registered Angus Bulls
Jonathan Massey
336-260-2565 • jonathan.massey2@gmail.com
Johnny Massey
336-214-4144 • johnnymassey.1@gmail.com
KEEP POSTED FOR UPDATES ON THE 2022 Tarheel Angus/4K Farm Production Sale RICHARD KIRKMAN, DVM 20416 US 64 West Siler City, NC 27344-0350
919-742-5500 • rdkirkman@centurylink.net
ALL Regular Copy for the
FEBRUARY ISSUE by JANUARY 5! ALL Spotlight Material for the
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The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
®
Agribusiness
Phone: 252-257-2140 Mobile: 252-430-9595
803-481-2011
2610 Kee Moore Drive Chester, SC 29706
Nationwide
AUCTIONEERING
1320 Old Manning Rd., Sumter, SC 29150
20977 US Hwy 76 • Newberry, SC 29108 Walter Shealy • 803-924-1000 Dixon Shealy • 803-629-1174 walter@blackgrove.com • dixon@blackgrove.com www.blackgrove.com
803-789-7000
FEBRUARY ISSUE by JANUARYº 1!
Telephone: 803-532-3390 Cell: 864-554-4658 Fax: 803-532-0615 james@twainsurance.com
NDEX OF 13th Annual EBS Farms Select Bull & Female Sale ............................ 13 2022 IRM Red Books .......................................................................... 67 2022 S.C. Cattlemen’s Association Annual Meeting — SAVE THE DATE ..................................................................... 3 2022 Southern Farm Show ................................................................. 63 4K Farms/Tarheel Angus .................................................................... 86 4th Annual Harward Sisters Cattle Company Bull & Female Sale ..... 55 46th Annual Clemson Bull Sale ........................................................... 43 46th Annual Union County Performance Tested Bull Sale — THANK YOU .............................................................................. 51 th 70 Annual N.C. Cattlemen’s Association Conference — SAVE THE DATE .......................................................................... 9 American Angus Association ............................................................. 26 American-International Charolais Association — More Pounds. More Profit. ....................................................... 15 American National Insurance — The Josey Agency ............................ 86 Apple Brandy Prime Cuts ................................................................... 64 Back Creek Angus .............................................................................. 86 Benton’s Hay Farm ............................................................................. 47 Biltmore Livestock — Angus .............................................................. 23 BioZyme - VitaCharge ........................................................................ 60 Black Crest Farm ................................................................................ 86 Black Crest Farm 24th Annual Production Sale ................................... 24 Black Grove Angus ............................................................................. 86 Brubaker Family Angus ...................................................................... 86 Bull Hill Ranch 11th Annual “More Bull For Your Buck” Production Sale .............. 41 C-Cross Cattle Company Spring Bull & Female Sale............................ 32 Carolinas Animal Health ................................................................... 86 Childers Concrete Company, Inc. ....................................................... 50 Conquest Insurance Agency, Inc. ....................................................... 86 Cow Camp 101: Back to Basics Learning Series .................................. 71 Dura•Cast .......................................................................................... 58 E.B. Harris Auctioneers, Inc. .............................................................. 86 First Choice Insurance — Donna Byrum ............................................. 20 Fowken Farms .................................................................................... 36 FPL Foods ........................................................................................... 28 Fred Smith Company Ranch ............................................................... 86 Hay-B-Gone Hay Mover/Un-Roller ..................................................... 76
For Your Advertising Needs, Contact: The Carolina Cattle Connection 919-552-9111 The Livestock Advertising Network 859-278-0899
DVERTISERS Howard Brothers Farms .................................................................... 86 Hunt’s H+ Brangus Bull & Female Sale .............................................. 50 Hutton & Sons Herefords .................................................................. 86 Locust Hill Cattle Company Inaugural Bull Sale................................. 33 March Madness Cattle Sale of the Carolinas ...................................... 52 N.C. Angus Association Directory …................................................... 29 N.C. Cattlemen’s Association Membership Application .................... 54 N.C. Forage & Grassland Council Winter Conference Series .............. 19 N.C. Hereford Association Directory ................................................. 37 N.C. Meat Suite .................................................................................. 72 N.C. Simmental Association .............................................................. 38 National Beef Checkoff/ North Carolina Cattle Industry Assessment ................................ 17 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Policy Priorities & Membership Application ............................... 65 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Membership Benefits ........... 66 Nationwide® AgriBusiness Insurance — The Wills Agency ................ 86 Nationwide® AgriBusiness Insurance — The Wills Agency ................ 45 Nufarm — Grassmanship Scholarships ............................................. 57 Pearson Livestock Equipment ........................................................... 10 Performance Livestock & Feed Company .......................................... 46 Piedmont Custom Meats ................................................................... 44 Red Angus Association of the Carolinas Directory ............................ 40 Rusty Thomson & Family Cattle Fencing and Equipment ................... 73 Saluda County Cattlemen’s Association 30th Annual Replacement Heifer Sale .......................................... 53 SimAngus Solution ........................................................................... 86 South Carolina Private Treaty Sale Checkoff Investment Form ......... 59 Southeast Livestock Exchange — Upcoming Sale Schedule ............... 70 Southern States .................................................................................. 2 Springfield Angus ............................................................................. 86 The Barn Loft — Gallagher Scales & MiraFount Waterers .................. 56 The Carolina Cattle Connection 2022 Spotlight Schedule .................. 68 The Carolina Cattle Connection Advertising Rates & Sizes ................ 85 The University of Georgia 29th Focus on Genetically Enhanced EPDs Bull Sale ..................... 51 Tokeena Angus 28th Annual Bull & Heifer Sale ................................... 25 Virginia Herd Health Management Services — Pat Comyn, DVM ....... 60 Watauga Butchery ............................................................................... 7 West End Precast — Feed Bunks ......................................................... 72 West End Precast — Feed Bunks & Troughs ........................................ 13 White Hawk Ranch Herd Sire Prospect Sale ...................................... 34 Whitehall Beefmasters ...................................................................... 86 Wilkes Livestock Exchange ................................................................. 8 Yon Family Farms Spring Sale ............................................................ 31 The Carolina Cattle Connection
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VENTS ANGUS Jan. 1 — 13th Annual EBS Farms Select Bull & Female Sale, Norwood, N.C. Jan. 15 — Baxley Family Farms Annual Cattle Sale, Georgetown, S.C. Jan. 22 — 4th Annual Harward Sisters Cattle Company Annual Production Sale, Norwood, N.C. Jan. 29 — Tokeena Angus 28th Annual Bull & Heifer Sale, Seneca, S.C. Feb. 5 — 46th Annual Clemson University Bull Sale, Pendleton, S.C. Feb. 9 — The University of Georgia 29th Focus on Genetically Enhanced EPDs Bull Sale, Athens, Ga. Feb. 12 — Black Crest Farm 24th Annual Production Sale, Sumter, S.C. Feb. 19 — Locust Hill Cattle Company Inaugural Bull Sale, Pelham, N.C. Feb. 19 — Yon Family Farms Spring Sale, Ridge Spring, S.C. Feb. 26 — Saluda County Cattlemen’s Association 30th Annual Replacement Heifer Sale, Saluda, S.C. Mar. 5 — C-Cross Cattle Company Spring Bull & Female Sale, Snow Camp, N.C. Mar. 12 — March Madness Cattle Sale of the Carolinas, Chester, S.C. Apr. 9 — Knoll Crest Farm Spring Bull & Female Sale, Red House, Va. Dec. 3 — 47th Annual Union County Performance Test Bull Sale, Monroe, N.C. BRangus Feb 26 — Hunt’s H+ Brangus Bull & Female Sale, Calhoun, Ga. Charolais Jan. 22 — 4th Annual Harward Sisters Cattle Company Annual Production Sale, Norwood, N.C. GELBVIEH Feb. 5 — 46th Annual Clemson University Bull Sale, Pendleton, S.C. Feb. 19 — Locust Hill Cattle Company Inaugural Bull Sale, Pelham, N.C. Feb. 19 — Yon Family Farms Spring Sale, Ridge Spring, S.C. Feb. 26 — Saluda County Cattlemen’s Association 30th Annual Replacement Heifer Sale, Saluda, S.C. Mar. 5 — C-Cross Cattle Company Spring Bull & Female Sale, Snow Camp, N.C. Apr. 9 — Knoll Crest Farm Spring Bull & Female Sale, Red House, Va. Dec. 3 — 47th Annual Union County Performance Test Bull Sale, Monroe, N.C.
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HEREFORD Feb. 5 — 46th Annual Clemson University Bull Sale, Pendleton, S.C. Feb. 9 — The University of Georgia 29th Focus on Genetically Enhanced EPDs Bull Sale, Athens, Ga. Feb. 18 — White Hawk Ranch Herd Sire Prospect Sale, Buchanon, Ga. Feb. 26 — Saluda County Cattlemen’s Association 30th Annual Replacement Heifer Sale, Saluda, S.C. Mar. 12 — March Madness Cattle Sale of the Carolinas, Chester, S.C. Mar. 26 — 54th Annual N.C. Hereford Classic Sale, Statesville, N.C. Apr. 9 — Knoll Crest Farm Spring Bull & Female Sale, Red House, Va. red ANGUS Feb. 15 — Bull Hill Ranch 11th Annual “More Bull for Your Buck” Production Sale, Gray Court, S.C. Feb. 19 — Locust Hill Cattle Company Inaugural Bull Sale, Pelham, N.C. Jan. 22 — 4th Annual Harward Sisters Cattle Company Annual Production Sale, Norwood, N.C. Feb. 5 — 46th Annual Clemson University Bull Sale, Pendleton, S.C. Mar. 12 — March Madness Cattle Sale of the Carolinas, Chester, S.C. SANTA GERTRUDIS May 7 — Santa Gertudis Breeders of the Carolinas Sale, Chester, S.C. SIMMENTAL Jan. 15 — Baxley Family Farms Annual Cattle Sale, Georgetown, S.C. Jan. 22 — 4th Annual Harward Sisters Cattle Company Annual Production Sale, Norwood, N.C. Feb. 5 — 46th Annual Clemson University Bull Sale, Pendleton, S.C. Feb. 9 — The University of Georgia 29th Focus on Genetically Enhanced EPDs Bull Sale, Athens, Ga. Feb. 26 — Saluda County Cattlemen’s Association 30th Annual Replacement Heifer Sale, Saluda, S.C. Mar. 12 — March Madness Cattle Sale of the Carolinas, Chester, S.C. Dec. 3 — 47th Annual Union County Performance Test Bull Sale, Monroe, N.C. OTHER EVENTS Jan. 18 — Cow Camp 101: Back to Basics, Clinton, N.C. Jan. 19 — N.C. Forage & Grassland Council Winter Conference Series Jan. 22 — 4th Annual Harward Sisters Cattle Company Annual Production Sale, Norwood, N.C.
The Carolina Cattle Connection q JANUARY 2022
Feb. 4 — 2022 S.C. Cattlemen’s Association Annual Meeting, Clemson, S.C. Feb. 5 — 46th Annual Clemson University Bull Sale, Pendleton, S.C. Feb. 9 — The University of Georgia 29th Focus on Genetically Enhanced EPDs Bull Sale, Athens, Ga. Feb. 15 — N.C. Forage & Grassland Council Winter Conference Series Feb. 18 — Cow Camp 101: Back to Basics, Clinton, N.C. Feb. 26 — Saluda County Cattlemen’s Association 30th Annual Replacement Heifer Sale, Saluda, S.C.
Feb. 25-16 — NCCA 70th Annual Cattlemen’s Conference, Hickory, N.C. Mar. 12 — March Madness Cattle Sale of the Carolinas, Chester, S.C. Mar. 15 — N.C. Forage & Grassland Council Winter Conference Series Apr. 19 — Cow Camp 101: Back to Basics, Louisburg, N.C. Jun. 21 — 5-County Beef Tour Dec. 3 — 47th Annual Union County Performance Test Bull Sale, Monroe, N.C.
IGHTER
IDE
A pirate walks into a bar with an eyepatch, pegleg, and hook for a hand. The bartender notices his leg, “How did you get that pegleg?” The pirate replies, “It were many years ago. I were walkin’ on the deck when a wave swept a shark aboard. The shark bit my leg off!” “Wow,” replies the bartender. “What about that hand?” The pirate replies, “It were many years ago. I were walkin’ on the deck when a wave swept a killer whale aboard. The whale bit my leg off!” “Oh,” replies the bartender. “How about the eye?” The pirate replies, “It were many years ago. I were walkin’ on the deck when a seagull came outta nowhere and pooped in my eye.” “And that blinded you?” asked the bartender. “No, it twas my first day with the hook.”
One of the employees stands up and says, “I think he just got the largest tip he’s ever gotten on a single pizza.”
The new CEO of a company comes into work determined to turn things around. Trying to prove himself to his new employees he looks around the office and sees a guy leaning against a wall doing nothing. He approaches the guy and asks him, “What do you think you’re doing?” The man replies, “I’m just killing time, waiting to get paid.” The CEO is furious, “What do you make a week?” The man tells him, “About $200 a week.” The CEO pulls out his wallet and hand the man $400 and says, “There’s your two weeks, now get out of here!” After the man leaves he turns to his employees and asks, “What do you think about that?”
An antique dealer is walking through town and sees a cat drinking milk from a saucer in a shop window. He is shocked when he realizes that the saucer is very rare and expensive. He enters the shop and asks the owner “Hey, I really like the cat. Would you be willing to sell it to me?” The store owner replies “Not for sale.” The antique dealer thinking quickly responds “I’ll give you $100 for it.” The shop owner agrees and the antique dealer grabs the cat. He acts like he is about to leave then adds “Oh, would you mind throwing in the saucer, the cat seems to like it.” The shop owner replies “No, that’s my lucky saucer. I’ve sold hundreds of cats since I got it.”
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Three men are sitting on a beach in Jamaica talking about how they all ended up there. The first man says, “I ran a superstore out in California, but business got bad. One day there was a bad fire, and I collected the insurance money and moved out here.” The next man says, “I had a jewelry store in the Midwest, but business went downhill and we were robbed. I collected the insurance and moved out here.” The final guy says, “I had a little fishery on the East Coast. One day a hurricane hit and I collected the insurance money. I had nothing left but the money so I moved out here.” The other two men look confused for a while then ask him, “How in the world did you start a hurricane?”
