Simmental News Fall Focus 2021 — Focus on You. Focus on Success. Focus on Profit. Pandemic – it is not a four letter word, but the response is probably the same. You wonder what is coming after that word is said. There are still challenges ahead but many will say that more Simmental events happened last year than we thought would be possible. Fall Focus 2020 was one event that was postponed and we looked forward to this year’s Fall Focus in Roanoke, Virginia. The Virginia Simmental Association worked hard to plan for a successful 2020 event and was working toward planning the same for 2021. Unfortunately, some of the same considerations that we had to look at in 2020 are still lingering this year (2021). As everyone knows, there is a lot of organization and planning to make an inviting, successful event like Fall Focus. The Virginia Simmental Association met several times; then the team of Mark Campbell, Bill McDonald, and Chad Joines met with ASA Chairman, EVP, and staff to discuss the probability of having the 2021 event in Roanoke. While the consensus is that everyone wanted to have the event in Roanoke, the decision had to be made on what we knew in April. After much deliberation, the decision was made to move Fall Focus 2021 to Denver, Colo., and host Fall Focus 2022 in Roanoke, Virginia. Everyone involved is excited to have a full fledged 2022 Fall Focus in Roanoke, Va., on August 25-30, without limitations on size and touring. A special thank you to Mark Campbell, Bill McDonald, Chad Joines, and the Virginia Simmental Association. This was a well thought out decision made in the best interest of ASA and ASA members to be able to hold a Fall Focus in 2021. Fall Focus 2021 will be headquartered at the DoubleTree Hotel in Denver on August 27-30, where many of us call home during the National Western Stock Show and Annual ASA Meeting. The educational symposium will be on August 28; open committee meetings on August 29, with the board meeting to follow. We’ll have a chance to honor the Golden Book Award Recipients and say goodbye to the seven 2020 outgoing trustees during an evening social and meal. We will have full access to the ballrooms to ensure plenty of space
for attendees. Thanks to the Colorado Simmental Association for welcoming the event to their state on such short notice. Feet/Leg Scoring Demonstration at Fall Focus - Interested to learn more about how to score feet and legs? Come hear Lane Giess give a demonstration on live cattle during the Friday evening events at the yards. Lane will host two demonstrations using live cattle provided by Colorado State University. Leave feeling more confident to determine a claw shape of a 3 from a 6, knowing what age of cattle are best to score, and tips for a successful day of scoring. Curious Who the Speakers are at Fall Focus 2021? Head to www.fallfocus. org and check out the line up of experts on the Fall Focus program. Topics range from being a millennial rancher, understanding pulmonary arterial pressure, late feedlot death, selecting for feed intake, successful communication strategies with consumers, and perspectives from the feedlot and packer sectors. The speakers for Fall Focus 2021 are sure to entertain, provoke new thoughts, and provide tangible information to take home for your continued success. Registration is free but required to help with meal planning. Get the schedule, area information, and register at
www.fallfocus.org. Simmental Provides Open Breed Registration Promotion. Knowledge is a powerful tool for success. The American Simmental Association (ASA) recognizes that informed, data driven decisions improve the bottom line for both seedstock and commercial producers. Making access to complete herd data easier, the ASA Board of Trustees recently passed an open breed promotion to dual register cows that are registered with another breed association at the nominal rate of $5 per head for fiscal year 2022. As the ASA runs an open herdbook to any breed and believes strongly in the benefits of crossbreeding, many members of the ASA raise a variety of breeds of seedstock. Dual registry enables breeders to garner EPD from the largest multibreed beef cattle genetic evaluation with the International Genetics Solutions (IGS), opens opportunities with other programs available from the ASA, and paints a more complete picture of the herd when all cows are in the database. “We are taking away that cost based hurdle for any person who wants access to the IGS Multi-breed Genetic Evaluation to receive a multi-breed, directly comparable EPD,” shares Chip Kemp, ASA director of Commercial and Industry Operations. “If someone has been intrigued by our database but was holding out, this is the opportunity to invest, and bring a large group of females into the IGS database for a credible multibreed EPD.” Starting in July 2021, the ASA will reduce the rate to register a cow already registered in another recognized breed
association from $17 to $5 for the 2022 fiscal year (July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022). ASA’s director of Performance Data Programs, Jannine Story, shares that by dual registering females, cattle producers take advantage of more meaningful data by creating ties to other offspring and animals in the genetic evaluation. “Not only is this a clear advantage for current members to receive a more complete picture of their herd’s performance through fuller pedigrees,” she says, “but also, this open breed registration promotion coupled with our various Total Herd Enrollment options provide any producer, who may have not had access to a multi-breed evaluation before, timely access to weekly updated, low cost, cross breed directly comparable EPD on cows and calves.” Any person can apply for registration on an animal registered with another breed association. To take advantage of ASA’s open breed registration promotion, all dual registration requests must be received or postmarked during the 2022 fiscal year. To get started, email a list of the other breed association numbers with tattoos to simmental@simmgene.com. About the American Simmental Association. Founded in 1968, the ASA is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana. ASA is committed to leveraging technology, education, and collaboration to accelerate genetic profitability for the beef industry. In keeping with its commitment, ASA, along with its partners, formed International Genetic Solutions — the world’s largest genetic evaluation of beef cattle. Learn more at www.simmental.org.
The Carolina Cattle Connection
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