Featured
View from the Southern Border
The ranch country southeast of Tucson, Ariz. is a surprise to flatlanders from Kansas. Tall mountains, rugged forests, a little snow on the ground in March, and miles and miles of pasture land. Very little of the land is deeded with much of the country part of the Coronado National Forest. For the ranchers, it’s… Read the rest »
My Top 10 List of Misconceptions About Agriculture
I decided this is the perfect time to address some of the common misconceptions about agriculture. Many of you will have a similarly-titled list, but our Top 10 may differ. If you want to share your list with us at VDACS, please e-mail it to our Communications Director at elaine.lidholm@vdacs.virginia.gov. Like David Letterman, we will… Read the rest »
Will Age & Source Verification Premiums Continue?
Don’t write off that $25-$50 premium for age and source verification just yet. Despite Japan’s expansion of U.S. beef imports from cattle 20-30 months of age, age-and-source verification will remain important to Japanese and other Asian consumers, said Phil Seng, president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation. “I don’t think paying premiums is… Read the rest »
Top Stories
Cow Slaughter Rates Affecting Beef Production
Both beef production and slaughter have been larger in recent weeks, helping to make the decrease in the year-to-date total less than many analysts expected, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension livestock marketing specialist. Total beef production for the year to date has decreased 1.3% and total slaughter is down 2.1% compared to… Read the rest »
Livestock Press Reports Range from Concealment to Engagement
During the last week we ran across a number of articles that present different approaches by those in the livestock industry to the animal welfare issue: concealment, obfuscation, engagement. One of the articles concerned an arrest under the ag gag laws that we discussed in our last column. Some of the ag gag laws make… Read the rest »
Kansas Group Tries to Reverse Exodus of Young from Rural America
Young people have been leaving rural America for decades, but Mike Bosch, 34, is happy to swim against the tide. Instead of moving his fast-growing information technology services company to his hometown of Dallas last year, Bosch chose to stay in Baldwin City, Kansas, population 4,515. The business, Reflective Group, sits between a car repair… Read the rest »
