This is Megan Silveira, assistant editor for the Angus Journal, with the March 27, 2023, update from the AJ Daily. Today’s update contains a story about the value of bedding for cattle, an op-ed about the importance of beef producers sharing their environmental stories, and a report on farm bankruptcies in 2022.
Is There Value to Bedding?
Adapted from an article by Whitney Whitaker, American Angus Association
Be it summer, spring, winter or fall, farmers and ranchers across the country constantly face the challenge of weather issues. Many states don’t even know what “normal” weather is anymore. So, without being able to control weather, can cattlemen maintain performance with management?
During a Cattlemen’s College® session at the 2023 Cattle Industry Convention, Zachary Smith, an animal science professor at South Dakota State University (SDSU), said his wife asked him a simple question that ended up being the topic for one of his first research studies focused on weather.
Smith said, “My wife asked me if we bed cattle, and I said, ‘Yes, of course we bed cattle.’ After some quizzing and surveying, I found out bedding wasn’t as common as I thought.”
To read more, visit angusbeefbulletin.com/extra and select the management tab.
Cattlemen’s Beef Board Op-Ed: Beef Producers Must Share Their Environmental Stories
Adapted from a release by John Ferry, Cattlemen’s Beef Board
My family has been farming and ranching outside of Corinne, Utah, since 1900 — that’s 123 years, when you do the math. Today, JY Ferry & Son, Inc. is a farming, feeding, ranching and wetlands/wildlife operation. My brother Ben, my son Joel and I jointly manage our land resources with a cooperative and sustainable approach.
Holistic synergy is what we seek on a daily basis. We’ve always believed that the land itself is the greatest resource any farming or ranching operation has. As a member of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and co-chair of the Beef Checkoff’s Consumer Trust Committee, I know that consumers are very concerned with beef’s environmental impact.
For more information, go to beefboard.org.
Farm Bankruptcies Fall Again in 2022
Adapted from a Market Intel article by the American Farm Bureau Federation
Chapter 12 was introduced in bankruptcy law as a temporary measure in 1986 and became permanent in 2005. With 169 filings, farm bankruptcies in 2022 were the lowest since Chapter 12 became permanent in 2005. This comes just three years after the third-highest number of farm bankruptcy filings — 595 in 2019. According to data from the U.S. Courts, Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings were down nearly 39% from 2021. This is the first time since Chapter 12 became permanent that there were fewer than 200 filings.
Despite the overall drop in Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings in 2022, filings were not down in every region in 2022, like they were in 2021. In fact, of the eight regions, four — the Mid-Atlantic, West, Northwest and Other — saw double-digit percentage increases in filings.
To read more, go to fb.org.
The AJ Daily is compiled by Paige Nelson, field editor for theAngus Journal. For more Angus news, visit angusjournal.net.