ANGUS BEEF BULLETIN EXTRA
May 4, 2021 | Vol. 14 : No. 4
Thinking Hard About Conservation
Do conservation easements make private lands susceptible to government interference in light of 30x30 initiative?
As they relate to natural resource management, the two terms’ definitions have often been contorted, confused or combined. It has happened so much that some people don’t understand the difference. They think preservation and conservation are the same thing. However, preservation of a resource means guarding it against harmful effects of human activity — usually by restricting or halting certain resource uses, or all of them. That’s not the same as conservation achieved through planned, sustainable use of resources.
Continued Improvement
Beef industry can cut emissions with improvements in land management, production efficiency.
A comprehensive assessment of 12 different strategies for reducing beef production emissions worldwide found that industry can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 50% in certain regions, with the most potential in the United States and Brazil. The study, “Reducing Climate Impacts of Beef Production: A synthesis of life cycle assessments across management systems and global regions,” was published April 5 in Global Change Biology.
Breaking the Infertility Cycle: Sheep Could Show Us the Way
Texas A&M AgriLife attacks most common human fertility disorder with animal study.
A Texas A&M AgriLife study with sheep may soon help address fertility problems in women, if it can discover ways to break the chain of generational transfer of polycystic ovary syndrome — one of the most common infertility disorders.
Forget the Fly Swatter
Biologists target genes of pesky fly that causes $2 billion in losses each year.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati hope to use an agricultural pest’s genetic code against it to prevent billions of dollars in annual losses in the United States. Stable flies, or Stomoxys calcitrans, are spotted, tan-colored flies found around the world. They are easily mistaken for the common housefly but for one notable distinction: They bite.
Association Perspective
Ask for the registration papers.
As a regional manager, I have had a few experiences related to cattle that others might not have. In this month’s column, I am going to discuss the importance of getting bulls that you have purchased properly transferred to your name. If you are like most commercial cattlemen, you might think that getting a copy of the papers in the original owner’s name is OK. However, it’s very important to get the registration papers and to insist that the seller transfer the ownership to your name.
New Food Habits
Survey reveals how pandemic has changed consumers’ food habits.
Old habits die hard, but a pandemic will create new ones — whether it’s more frequent handwashing or more nights cooking at home. A year of social distancing and economic disruptions has triggered both subtle and seismic shifts in how Americans are buying or getting food, and Colorado State University researchers from the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics have spent the last several months documenting those shifts.
Meat Processing Opportunities
Hoping to start a meat-processing plant? Here’s some help.
Entrepreneurs wanting to start a meat-processing business may be encouraged by the hearty demand, but there’s a whole lot more to consider. What type of meat will the business process? Pork? Beef? Chicken? Want to sell the meat out of state, or just nearby? What about employees? Will there be enough workers to staff the facility?
