The Montana Stockgrowers Association, a non-profit membership organization, has worked on behalf of Montana’s cattle ranching families since 1884. Our mission is to protect and enhance Montana ranch families’ ability to grow and deliver safe, healthy, environmentally wholesome beef to the world.
The summit, co-sponsored by Daines, will take place in Great Falls on May 31 and June 1, 2017. The Montana Ag Summit will bring the nation’s agricultural leaders to Montana’s Golden Triangle. The summit will focus on strengthening international relationships for Montana agriculture, showcasing technological advancements, promoting the next generation of farmers and ranchers, and discussing the challenges of federal policies and regulations.
Held in conjunction with MidYear Meeting 2017, you will receive a complimentary ticket to the Ag Summit with your MidYear registration.
The MidYear Meeting is one of two meetings that is held to set association policy that guides the Association through the year.
While the main focus of the meeting is for the setting of interim policy we also use the meeting as a networking opportunity for the MSGA membership. Ranchers and allied industry professionals gather together from across the state of Montana of two days filled with meetings, entertainment, education, and fun!
In recent decades, genetic technology has evolved at a rapid pace. Keeping up with the genetic selection and evaluation innovations, and understanding which advancements are practical for your operation can be daunting. This lectureship will not only strengthen the foundational understanding of genetic principles among attendees, but it will also build upon them to enable attendees to apply advanced genetic technologies in the real world of seedstock and commercial cattle production.
Montana State University Extension has partnered with the King Ranch® Institute for Ranch Management to offer its Application of Advanced Genetic Technology in Beef Cattle lectureship May 8-9, 2017, in Bozeman at the GranTree Inn.
Drs. Matt Spangler and Bob Weaber, beef cattle genetics experts, will lead the lectureship.
Registration is $300, which includes all workbook materials, refreshments, and meals. Online registration is available here or you may call the KRIRM office at 361-593-5401. Download the agenda, view location and hotel information, and learn more about the learning objectives here.
From CowSense Chronicle by Rachel Endecott, Beef Cattle Specialist
As April is turning to May, some folks in Montana are already branding while some are still calving. This month, we’ll focus on calfhood vaccination programs, which are most often based around the clostridial diseases. Producers may add other vaccines (pinkeye, H. somnus or other respiratory vaccines, etc.) depending on their situation and veterinarian recommendations.
Clostridial diseases in calfhood vaccines belong to same genus as tetanus and botulism. Clostridial organisms are generally found in the animal’s body, but with ideal conditions, grow very rapidly to cause a disease state. Because of this, affected animals are usually found dead, not sick. Thus, prevention of disease through vaccination is a better approach than treatment. Here is a brief overview of each strain:
Clostridium chauvoei causes blackleg, which presents as air-filled swelling in heavy muscle that will crackle when palpated. There is no history of wounds with blackleg, unlike the next strain.
Clostridium septicum causes malignant edema, which results from contamination of wounds. Unlike, blackleg, malignant edema causes so , fluid-filled swellings that pit on pressure. Large amounts of fluid are found in both subcutaneous and intramuscular connective tissue.
Clostridium haemolyticum causes redwater disease, also known as bacillary hemoglobinuria. Latent organisms lodge in the liver, waiting for localized cell death which is most often caused by liver flukes. C. haemolyticum produces beta-toxin, which ruptures red blood cells, leading to anemia and the presence of hemoglobin in the urine, hence the name redwater.
Clostridium novyi causes black disease, also known as infectious necrotic hepatitis. Like redwater, latent organisms wait in the liver for anaerobic cell death, again usually from liver flukes. Extensive rupture of subcutaneous capillaries can turn the skin black, giving this disease its common name.
Clostridium sordellii causes sudden death, primarily in feedlot cattle, and has no common name. It is characterized by massive black hemorrhage and smelly muscle necrosis in the brisket and throat area. Unlike blackleg, there is no gas formation from C. sordellii.
Clostridium perfringens type C and D cause enterotoxemia and overeating disease, respectively. Both lead to severe intestinal damage from necrotic and lethal toxins: type C produces beta toxin and type D produces epsilon toxin. Both are associated with the predisposing factor of the animal ingesting excessive amounts of nutrients. In calves, this may be after a period of dam and calf separation followed by a large intake of milk.
Successful vaccination needs an effective vaccine, a functioning immune system, and administration of vaccine before the animal is exposed to the disease. On branding day, do your part to make sure vaccines are effective: the temperature of your vaccine should be at least as important as the temperature of your branding beverages!
It is day 82 of Montana’s 65th Legislature. This week Jay and Kori discuss aquatic invasive species, workers’ compensation insurance, property valuation, well setbacks and state laboratories. Have any questions? Email [email protected] or call the office at 406.442.3420.
Federal Police in Brazil has indicted 63 people for their role in a vast corruption scheme within the Ministry of Agriculture. The charges allege federal auditors at meat processing facilities took bribes for years in exchange for fraudulent sanitary permits.
The probe into Brazil’s meat corruption was launched March 17, 2017, by Brazil’s Federal Police. Brazil, the world’s largest beef and poultry exporter and the fourth largest exporter of pork, saw its exports drop to near zero within a week of the scandal’s announcement, though most export sales have resumed.
The suspects in the case are charged with falsifying medical records and certificates, tampering with food products, conspiracy and corruption. One employee at a JBS processing plant in Brazil was included in the investigation, allegedly due to his relationship with federal inspectors. The employee was suspended.
U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today announced that he recently returned from an official overseas congressional delegation trip to China and Japan including visits to Beijing, Chengdu, Lhasa, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Daines met with China Premier Li Keqiang, as well as National People’s Congress Chairman Zhang Dejiang, Vice Chairman Zhang Ping, National People’s Congress Lobsang Gyaltsen, Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Qi Zhala, Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Yoshihide Suga, Chief Cabinet Secretary for Japan and Hiroshige Seko, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry for Japan. Daines also toured Isogo Clean Coal Power Plant in Tokyo. In Hong Kong, Daines met with Carrie Lam, Chief Executive Designate, Hong Kong.
Daines stressed the importance of expanding trade opportunities for Montana agriculture and products and America’s geopolitical strength in the region including the threat of a nuclear North Korea.
Daines hand carried four Montana steaks and a photo of Fred Wacker of Miles City and his cows to China and presented them to Premier Li Keqiang to underscore the importance of opening Chinese markets to U.S. beef imports.
“With over $250 million a year in Montana exports to China, they are a critical partner for our economy,” Daines stated. “During this trip, I underscored the importance of strong relations to expand opportunities for Montana producers. I heard firsthand the serious threat a nuclear North Korea poses and the need to work together to ensure stability not just in the region, but globally.”
China is Montana’s third largest trading partner behind Canada and South Korea.
With 95 percent of the world’s consumers outside of the United States, expanding export opportunities for Montana products is critical for the future of Montana farmers, ranchers and businesses.
This week Jay Bodner and Kori Anderson sit down to discuss aquatic invasive species, sage grouse, tax rates and more. Have any questions about the topics discussed? Contact the MSGA office at 406.442.3420.
U.S. trade negotiators will try to hammer out deals with China over the next 100 days to resume imports of American beef and to allow U.S. access to China’s closed services sector, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Monday.
Spicer said that U.S and Chinese officials were still at the early stages of “fleshing out” a pledge by President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to develop 100-day plan to help reduce China’s massive trade surplus with the United States that was made at their first meeting in Florida last week.
Asked in a press briefing whether China had offered concessions on beef and financial services access, as reported by the Financial Times, Spicer said these sectors were among topics that U.S.-China talks would cover.
“I think, obviously, beef exports and additional market access in China, intellectual property, the ability to have foreign ownership, especially in the services industry, is something that has been a big prize of U.S. exporters and industry for a long time,” Spicer said. “But it is something that is being hammered out as we go forward.”
Another Trump administration official said U.S. trade discussions with China will cover a variety of sectors, and the meetings were just getting started.
Asked about the FT’s report of beef and financial services concessions by China, the official said: “Two sectors is not considered comprehensive.”
No decisions have been made to revive negotiations over a U.S.-China bilateral investment treaty that were pursued by the Obama administration last year, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about U.S. negotiating plans.
China could become a massive export market for U.S. beef if a deal could be struck, said Brett Stuart, chief executive of Global AgriTrends in Denver. He said the Greater China region currently imports about $7 billion worth of beef annually – a figure expected to grow as China’s middle class expands.
But China has purchased hardly any American beef since it conditionally lifted a longstanding import ban last year. The ban was imposed in 2003 due to a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, in Washington state.
“We have yet to see U.S. beef on Chinese tables,” said Craig Uden, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
(Additional reporting by Tom Polansek and Theopolis Waters in Chicago; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) applauded today’s announcement that the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is delaying the effective date of its interim final rule an additional six months to Oct. 19, 2017.
“This is another step toward common sense and away from counterproductive government intrusion in the free market,” said NCBA President Craig Uden. “That said, while a delay is welcome, ultimately this rule should be killed and American cattle producers should be free to market our beef without the threat of government-sanctioned frivolous lawsuits.”
Two proposed rules and one interim final rule came out on December 20, 2016, one month before the end of the Obama Administration. The interim final rule regarding the scope of the Packers and Stockyards Act and the proposed rule regarding undue preference and unjust treatment have a direct negative impact on the cattle industry.
Current systems that allow producers to market their cattle as they see fit reward them for producing the higher-quality beef that consumers demand. Under the interim final rule, USDA or a producer no longer needs to prove true economic harm. Instead, one only needs to say that he or she was treated “unfairly” to file a damaging lawsuit that could discourage cattlemen from continuing to invest in improving the quality of beef being produced.
“Trial lawyers are salivating at the prospect of this rule becoming the law of the land,” Uden said. “If this rule isn’t killed once and for all, cattle producers will lose nearly all incentive to invest in the production of higher-quality beef. That would mean less revenue for producers and lower quality for consumers. That’s a lose-lose proposition and exactly why the rule needs to not only be delayed – it needs to be killed outright.”
From: NCBA
