News & Notes
Industry tidbits from around the country.
New schedule for Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA
The Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA, the twice-per-month digital supplement to the Angus Beef Bulletin, will be taking a publishing break from its normally scheduled Dec. 21 date. It will be back to its two-week schedule Jan. 4, and its editorial calendar will more closely follow the calendar year. Stay tuned for more coverage of the Angus Convention and the Range Beef Cow Symposium in January, as well as more resources for bull buyers.
Bill would reinstate mandatory country-of-origin labeling
On Sept. 13, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) introduced the American Beef Labeling Act of 2021 (S.2716) to reinstate beef as among the numerous food commodities currently subject to the United States’ mandatory country-of-origin labeling (mCOOL) law originally passed by Congress in the 2002 Farm Bill.
If passed, the reinstatement of beef into the existing law would occur no later than one year after S.2716 were enacted. In the event the U.S. Trade Ambassador and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture develop a means of implementing S.2716 in a manner compliant with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, the bill would authorize the two presidential cabinet members to implement the measure any time after the bill’s enactment, but no later than its one-year anniversary date.
Both beef and pork were included in the original mCOOL law passed in the 2002 Farm Bill, but Congress later removed both beef and pork from the law in 2015.
Tax tip on equipment purchases
Case IH reminds producers of the opportunity to reduce taxable income in 2021, thanks to an increase in the deduction limit under Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code. Now you may be able to deduct from your 2021 taxable income the full cost of qualifying new and used equipment purchased and placed into service in 2021, up to $1,050,000.
The deduction is reduced “dollar-for-dollar” to the extent that qualifying new and used equipment of $2,620,000 or more is purchased and placed into service.
To the extent you do not take a Section 179 deduction, 100% bonus depreciation is generally available in 2021 for qualifying new and used equipment purchased and placed into service in 2021.
Jennie Harbin joins Select Sires
Select Sires welcomes Jennie Harbin to the beef department as marketing coordinator. Harbin is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and has a degree in ag communications. She is a native of Nebraska and has worked for the American Shorthorn Association’s Shorthorn Country publication and the Plains Equipment Group.
Harbin previously worked with Select Sires’ beef department in a marketing and communications role. As the department’s beef marketing coordinator, she will be responsible for leading implementation of a domestic marketing plan and development of beef sire directories, print advertisements, websites, videos and trade shows.
Vitalix acquires MLS
Vitalix Inc., an American-owned and family-operated company that specializes in low-moisture cooked molasses supplement tubs, has acquired Midcontinent Livestock Supplements Inc. (MLS), with manufacturing locations in Moberly, Mo.; Valley Mills, Texas; and Ellendale, N.D.
The acquisition joins two family-owned businesses with similar industry passion, approach and dedication to customer service. Acquisition of MLS facilities will provide Vitalix a wider-reaching manufacturing footprint that can further improve response to customer demands while holding the line on transportation costs.
Both companies are committed to carrying on the legacies of their founders. Customers of both Vitalix and MLS will continue to see both brands actively expanding in the marketplace. For further questions, please reach out to your Vitalix district sales manager or MLS territory manager.
Celebrating 3 million
Nearly 90 Select Sires Beef enthusiasts visited Gardiner Angus Ranch (GAR) Sept. 10, 2021, for the final day of the 2021 Select Sires Beef Tour. Relationships Matter was the topic of the day and during the afternoon program at the Henry and Nan Gardiner Marketing Center, the Select Sires sales team was recognized for reaching the milestone of 3 million units of GAR semen sold by Select Sires.
The list of sires who make up this feat includes 25 former Lot 1 sires from GAR production sales, as well as many sires who are household names in the Angus breed. This elite group includes Predestined (7AN222), Prophet (7AN320), Sunrise (7AN361), and Sure Fire (7AN389). The newest generation of GAR sires adding to this achievement include Home Town (7AN580) and Transcendent (7AN629).
Federal designations raise ire
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and Public Lands Council (PLC) on Oct. 8 criticized the Biden administration’s unilateral decision to put sweeping federal designations on millions of acres surrounding the Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.
After months of rhetoric touting their intent to work collaboratively with state governments and local communities, the administration opted to make these designations rather than create a conservation strategy that would incorporate local stakeholder input and avoid the management whiplash of a unilateral federal designation.
“Rural states and communities across America are, sadly, all too familiar with the federal government’s routine of feigned partnership,” said NCBA Executive Director of Natural Resources and PLC Executive Director Kaitlynn Glover. “Monument designations may bring the White House closer to scoring ‘conservation’ points on paper, but in reality, they lead to the kind of preservation strategies that we know from experience do not support healthy ecosystems long-term.”
The Oct. 8 proclamations expand Bears Ears to a total of 1.36 million acres and Grand Staircase-Escalante to 1.87 million acres, directly in conflict with the Antiquities Act’s direction to designate the “smallest area compatible” with the desired protections.
Designations made under the Antiquities Act — now more than a century old — prohibit many land management tools. Restricting local communities’ ability to respond quickly and nimbly to historic drought, record-breaking wildfire seasons, and a host of other environmental challenges is not a sustainable strategy for land management.
NCBA and PLC ranchers will continue to work with local Bureau of Land Management (BLM) teams, conservation and wildlife groups, rural communities, and state governments to employ multifaceted land management strategies that protect America’s most iconic landscapes for generations to come.
Checkoff reform bill introduced
On Sept. 27, U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rand Paul (R-KY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) reintroduced the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming Act of 2021 (OFF Act). The OFF Act would reform all checkoff programs, including the beef checkoff program.
A companion bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2021. The House version is sponsored by U.S. Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Nancy Mace (R-SC); and is cosponsored by Reps. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR).
R-CALF (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund) USA Checkoff Committee Chair and South Dakota Stockgrowers Association President-Elect Vaughn Meyer issued the following statement regarding the legislation.
“The OFF Act will provide the necessary enforcements to prevent producers’ hard-earned checkoff dollars from being used against them. ... Efforts to secure a producer referendum vote have failed throughout the Beef Checkoff program’s 35-year-long history. This is an example of how producer-funded checkoff programs have evolved into mandatory government programs with little to no producer guidance or representation.
“The legislation is aimed at creating accountability and transparency in the USDA’s various commodity checkoff programs, including the Beef Checkoff program.”
Winter meetings provide education, networking
The Three-State Beef Conference returns as an in-person program with sessions scheduled for Jan. 11-13, 2022, with locations in Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. For details visit https://www.iowabeefcenter.org/events/3Statebrochure2022.pdf.
The 50th anniversary of the Cornbelt Cow-Calf Conference has been set for Jan. 22, 2022, at the Bridge View Center in Ottumwa, Iowa. For details visit https://cornbeltcowcalf.com.
University extension services in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin are teaming together to offer the Driftless Region Beef Conference at the Grand River Convention Center in Dubuque, Iowa, Jan. 27-28. For details visit www.aep.iastate.edu/beef/.
