The Borror family generously offered the pick of their fall heifers to headline the package. The package also includes free transportation to the buyer’s ranch provided by Lathrop Livestock Transportation, Dundee, Ill., and an advanced reproductive technology package from Trans Ova Genetics, Sioux Center, Iowa.

The Angus Foundation Heifer Package has raised more than $2.7 million since the inception of the program. For more information about the Angus Foundation or the annual Angus Foundation Heifer Package Sale, visit AngusFoundation.org.

Let us help you
Solving problems is most successful with a team effort. For us to better assist you, we’d like your input. Please take a moment to visit https://bit.ly/ABBreadership22e to fill out the survey online.

Your responses will ensure we provide the information you need, how and when you need it. We’ll send the first 250 respondents a Black Book and enter all into a drawing for two $500 gift cards.

Oklahoma Stars event raises more than $62,000 for Angus Foundation
On Jan. 5, Angus enthusiasts gathered at the Will Rogers Theatre in Oklahoma City, Okla., for the second annual Oklahoma Stars event. Hosted during the 2022 Cattlemen’s Congress, the event raised more than $62,000 for the Angus Foundation.

“We are so grateful for those who spent the evening with us at the Oklahoma Stars event,” said Thomas Marten, Angus Foundation executive director. “It is through the loyal and generous support of our growing number of donors that many opportunities are available to our Angus youth and breed.”

Attendees spent the evening at the historic Will Rogers Theatre enjoying live music and Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB^®) brand hors d'oeuvres.

Tickets were sold for the chance to win several raffle items, including CAB brand merchandise, a cigars and whiskey package, and a Vytelle embryo package. The highlight of the evening was the live auction. The high-selling lot was a New Mexico elk hunt donated by Reverse Rocking R Ranch, which brought $20,000.

Funds raised from the event will benefit the Angus Fund, which provides unrestricted support, allowing the Angus Foundation to support a diverse set of efforts focused on ensuring a bright future for the breed. Academic scholarships, leadership conferences, cutting-edge research and funding for the National Junior Angus Board are among the many programs sustained by the Angus Fund.

For more information on the Angus Foundation, contact Marten at tmarten@angus.org or visit www.AngusFoundation.org. To see the whole list of items donated and purchased, and to learn more about the Oklahoma Stars event, visit https://bit.ly/3IpScB9.

House Judiciary Committee addresses effects of concentration on U.S. food supply
On Jan. 19 the House Judiciary Committee Antitrust Subcommittee convened a hearing on “Addressing the Effects of Economic Concentration on America’s Food Supply.”

Testimony submitted by National Farmers Union (NFU) President Rob Larew documented extreme corporate concentration in America’s farm and food system and discussed steps he said must be taken to ensure a more resilient food supply for consumers and a competitive marketplace for family farmers and ranchers.

“A small handful of dominant firms control the market for most farm inputs … processing, food manufacturing, wholesale distribution, foodservice and retail grocery,” described Larew. “These very large firms in the middle of the supply chain wield immense market power … As companies have gotten larger and competition has declined, anticompetitive conduct by dominant firms has received insufficient scrutiny.”

Learn more at https://bit.ly/3nMojmP.

USDA 2022 focus to create more and better markets
On Jan. 20, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted USDA’s key accomplishments to create more and better markets since the Biden-Harris administration took office on Jan. 20, 2021. He said the administration immediately went to work on addressing supply chain disruptions the agricultural sector experienced during the pandemic and identified a wide range of improvements that will produce a more diversified food system that more fairly serves farmers, ranchers and consumers.

“Disruptions the pandemic caused to the agricultural sector highlighted the need for our nation’s food system to be more diversified, thereby creating more options for producers and consumers and enhancing the resiliency of the food supply chain,” Vilsack said.

Vilsack highlighted points in these three focus areas:

• creating a fairer, more competitive, and more resilient meat and poultry supply chain;
• building demand for American agricultural products; and
• expanding markets for American agriculture.

Learn more on each focus area at https://bit.ly/3rxshAE.

R-CALF USA asks for stopgap measure
In written testimony submitted for the Jan. 19 hearing convened by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard asked Congress to implement a stopgap measure to preserve “what is left of the U.S. cattle industry.”

Bullard said the U.S. cattle industry is fast losing its critical competitive infrastructure — its participants, its feedlots and its cow herds, which have all been reduced during the past few decades. He stated his group’s concern that Congress has not yet signaled its intent to make needed structural reforms to a market that has persistently returned noncompetitive prices, prices that did not return the cost of production to cattle producers. Learn more at https://bit.ly/3GTlxUh.

Bird flu detected in Carolinas
The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed two findings of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in wild birds — one in Colleton County, S.C., and one in Hyde County, N.C. These findings follow confirmation on Jan. 14, 2022, of HPAI in a wild bird in Colleton County, S.C. All three findings are H5N1 HPAI.

Given these additional findings, anyone involved with poultry — commercial or backyard flocks alike — should review their biosecurity plan and enhance their biosecurity practices to assure the health of their birds. APHIS has materials about biosecurity, including videos, checklists, and a toolkit available. Learn more at https://bit.ly/3fJlIpt.

Texas Tech receives $44 million gift, renames agricultural college
Texas Tech University will rename its agricultural college the Gordon W. Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources in recognition of Davis’ generosity.

A local businessman who spent 10 years as an associate professor in the college, Davis and his wife, Joyce, have given a $44 million donation, which represents the single largest philanthropic donation to Texas Tech in school history.

The gift will fund three areas within the college:

• a $25 million endowment that will directly benefit the college;
• a $4 million gift to establish the Gordon and Joyce Davis Endowment for Excellence in Meat and Food Science; and
• a $15 million gift from the Gordon W. Davis estate to benefit future educational efforts within the college.

Learn more at https://bit.ly/3nPiZiv.

Silage for Beef Cattle conference set for March 17
Nebraska Extension, Lallemand Animal Nutrition and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach are hosting the fourth Silage for Beef Cattle conference March 17, 2022. Registration is free and producers will have the option to either stream the conference online or attend in-person at the Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center in Ithaca, Neb.

Preregister to join in-person or virtually by March 2, 2022, at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s online portal. Attendees at this free conference will learn how to maximize the potential of one of the largest components of many beef producers’ bottom line: silage.

Topics will include agronomic management of small grain for silages, when to harvest small-grain silage; sorghum silage: a solution for limited water; why fermentation analysis is important and what it means for your operation; fundamentals of silage harvest management; inoculants for small-grain silage; economics and return on investment on quality forage in grower and finishing rations; and making small-grain silage work.

“In this fourth year of the conference, we are directly addressing the situations producers are telling us they face — such as creating small-grain silage and producing feedstuffs with less water,” says Renato Schmidt, technical service forage specialist for Lallemand Animal Nutrition. “There’s something for every beef producer at this conference, which brings together more than 12 experts from across the country, including some of the most knowledgeable people in America. Plus, a combination of in-person attendance and online streaming opens up the conference to producers across the country.”

Learn more at https://bit.ly/3nOk8qB.

Former Cargill and CAB executive Jim Riemann dies
M. James (Jim) Riemann, a family man and recognized leader in the agriculture community, died unexpectedly Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, at his home in Wamego, Kan. Riemann was born March 17, 1942, to the late Willis and Maxine (Schmidt) Riemann. His 55+-year marriage to Nancy Jelinek, who survives, began on June 7, 1966.

Raised on the family farm in Claflin, Kan., Riemann loved agriculture and had a special fondness for the families that work each day on and with the land. After completing his military service with the U.S. Army, Riemann earned his doctorate in food science at Kansas State University, followed by 15 years in meat science teaching and research as a professor at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville.

In 1992, he became the director of beef research and development for Excel (a division of Cargill) in Wichita, where he became a leading authority on beef safety and was part of a team that invented new food-safety technologies, including the steam pasteurization of beef carcasses, which is now widely used throughout the industry.

In 1999, Riemann became the second executive to lead Certified Angus Beef (CAB). Under his stewardship, the Certified Angus Beef^® (CAB^®) brand experienced unprecedented growth through an expanded international presence and enhanced program offerings.

Riemann’s colleagues describe him as a servant leader — an executive who prioritized the personal and professional success of all members of his organization, a good man who led by example.

Riemann was recognized by his peers at the American Meat Science Association numerous times and was inducted into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame in 2018.

Food futurist to speak at 2022 Stakeholders Summit
Jack Bobo, food futurist, author and CEO of Futurity, is slated to speak at the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s 2022 Stakeholders Summit. Bobo will explore the forces that will shape the future of food. From growing populations and shifting demographics to consumer demands for healthy and sustainable food products, Bobo will examine the trends and attitudes that drive behavior.

The full Summit agenda is now available, along with registration details, at https://bit.ly/AAA22Summit.

“The topic of sustainable food systems has been huge over the last few years, and especially in 2021 with the culmination of the inaugural United Nations Food Systems Summit,” said Hannah Thompson-Weeman, Alliance vice president of strategic engagement. “We’re thrilled to have Jack Bobo provide an informative and energizing session that discusses emerging trends in the food space and how to create the future we want for ourselves, our businesses and our planet.”

The Alliance’s annual Summit brings together thought leaders in the ag and food communities to discuss hot-button issues and out-of-the-box ideas to connect everyone along the food chain, engage influencers and protect the future of animal agriculture.

The 2022 event, themed “Come Together for Animal Ag: Be Informed, Be Ready, Be Here,” is scheduled for May 11-12 in Kansas City, Mo. Preconference webinars will be hosted leading up to the main event. In-person and virtual attendance options are available.

Farmers and ranchers interested in attending the Summit are invited to enter the Alliance’s Instagram photo and video contest for the chance to win free registration, a two-night hotel stay, and $300 travel stipend. Share a photo or video of you, your farm or ranch and a caption explaining why it’s important for you to “Be Informed, Be Ready, Be Here.” Entries are due by Feb. 7. Full contest details are available at https://bit.ly/3FRNJpj.

---