Grasshoppers in the News, again

The other day I posted a link to a map distributed by the USDA that is predicting the Grasshopper Hazard.

Today I found a radio interview where Tom Hougen, MSGA president, discussed the possible grasshopper infestation that is predicted for the year, and a New York City radio program.

Take a minute and listen to it either here or here.

I am praying that these predictions of a massive grasshopper hatching are wrong. I hope you are doing the same.

Japan's Restriction on US Beef

I read this this morning and thought I would pass it along.

Read the article and let me know what your thoughts are.
* Is Japan being too harsh with their beef ban?
* Are we asking too much for Japan to lift the ban?

Japan says it has no plans to ease US beef restrictions
(AFP) – 2 days ago

TOKYO — Japan said Tuesday it has no plans to ease long-standing trade restrictions on US beef imposed over mad cow disease, two days before talks in Tokyo between the two on the issue.

US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was travelling to Japan Tuesday for a four-day visit in a renewed attempt to settle the long-running dispute that has created friction between the allies.

But Japan's Agriculture Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu said he "has no plan to ask the government's food safety commission to review US beef", even if Vilsack demands it during their meeting scheduled for Thursday.

"Asking for a review by the food safety panel would mean Japan was heading in the direction of changing its trade restriction," Akamatsu told a news conference. "Honestly speaking, I don't expect to do so."

Japan, which used to be the largest importer of US beef, stopped the imports after mad cow disease was detected in an American herd in late 2003 and has only resumed limited imports since then.

As the ban threatened to turn into a trade war, with US farm state senators seeking sanctions, Tokyo agreed in 2006 to resume US imports from cattle under 20 months, except for high-risk parts such as brains and spine bones.

Japan's US beef imports now stand at only around 10 percent of their former peak, while Australia has become the biggest beef importer.

US farm state senators have again accused Tokyo of being too rigid on its beef ban which continues even though no new cases of the brain-wasting cattle disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy have been detected in years.

American Angus Association President

I feel lucky to live in a area, and grow up in an area in cattle country. I feel fortunate that people in this big area that I call home are so passionate about their cattle. Back in November a local guy was elected President of the American Angus Association. While I was in high school a good family friend was elected President of the AAA. Having two presidents for such a big association from a close area like this is amazing.

Check out this article about our current president of the American Angus Association.

Big Award, Great Honor

A year ago Big D and I were privelaged to be able to attend the 2009 Montana Young Ag Couples Conference in Helena. It was a great trip where we met lots of new people and learned so much about the Ag Industry. During the week, there were several different workshops and guest speakers. One of those sessions was about Huls Dairy. He talked about the dairy industry in Montana and the U.S.. He talked about their struggles, and what they are doing to stay viable. He talked about the influx of people moving to their area, and not understanding the dairy industry, or agriculture at all, and the difficulties that can arise from that. It was a great session, easily my favorite of the whole week.

A while back I read an article about Huls Dairy. I stated that the dairy were one of 75 winners of the 2010 Blue Ribbon Small Business Award sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. I find that to be an incredible honor. Take a moment to check out Huls Dairy website. Their dairy has been in the family for 5 generations, and they have quite the story to tell.

Never Too Old To Become A Daddy

I ran across an article at The Beef Site that I found quite interesting. Back in the 1960's some semen was collected from bulls, processed and stored in liquid nitrogren at the USDA National Germplasm Conservatory – a sperm and embryo cryobank – in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Recently some calves were born and Louisiana Agricultural Centre from some 40-year old semen that was used to AI about 200 cows. With live calves on the ground born from this stored semen, scientists see two positives effects for the beef and dairy industries.

1. Germplasm banks that are storing frozen semen have a product that we know will work for livestock producers

2. Strides have been made in genetics, and some small differences in DNA – single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs – have been shown to be positive production modifiers that can and likely will be used to increase animal production performance.”

*SNPs can act as biological markers, helping scientists locate genes that are associated with a variety of traits, such as growth, milk production and disease susceptibility. Some of the older bulls in the study may have had these SNPs, and with our advance in technology scientists will be able to identify SNP's and different traits to help improve production.

To read the whole story check it out here

Learn something new....

..everyday. Did you know they (USDA) has a map to predict Grasshopper Hazard. Well, I sure as heck didn't. Crazy.


Curious to see what the predicted grasshopper hazard looks like where you live? Click here.

Happy Easter

I Hope you all had Happy Easter!

I hope the Easter Bunny found your house.

I hope you made it to church on time.

I hope you stuffed yourself on Cadbury eggs and chocolate.

I hope you were able to enjoy the sunshine.