During the past eight years, Merck Animal Health has awarded 57 scholarships to veterinary students pursuing careers in large animal medicine. This year, eight bovine veterinary students from across the U.S. were recognized at the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) Annual Conference. They each received the AABP Bovine Veterinary Student Recognition Award. “These future practitioners will play a vital role as they apply their education, skills and unique experiences to benefit the industry as well as keep our food animals healthy and productive,” said Norman Stewart, D.V.M., livestock technical services manager for Merck Animal Health.

Cevin Jones, president/CEO of InterMountain Beef in Eden, joined fellow members of the Beef Promotion Operating Committee (BPOC) in Denver last week when the group approved some $40.3 million to fund 42 programs for the 2013 national beef checkoff plan of work. The BPOC is a 20-member producer panel that decides how to allocate checkoff dollars, paid by U.S. beef producers and importers, to underwrite domestic and international demand-building programs.

In recognition of his commitment to the animal health industry and inspiring students and others in veterinary medicine, Art Currey, D.V.M., received the Mentor of the Year Award from Merck Animal Health and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP). Currey was honored with a commemorative plaque during the AABP Annual Conference and will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to next year’s AABP conference.

Cattle feeders don’t like $7 or $8 corn, but they know what to do at those higher prices. Most of them feed cattle longer to heavier weights and sort them to market on a grid.

Farmers and ranchers are foraging for hay on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, reports USA Today. They're also hitting up Craigslist and other similar sites.  

Nebraska cattleman Gary Hanz told USA Today that he's looked all over the Internet for hay.

"Nobody's letting go of anything they've got because they're not going to have enough to support their own livestock," he said. "For what little there is, there's such a high price."

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced a two-month extension for emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres. USDA is permitting farmers and ranchers in drought-stricken states that have been approved for emergency grazing to extend grazing on CRP land through Nov. 30, 2012, without incurring an additional CRP rental payment reduction. The period normally allowed for emergency grazing lasts through Sept. 30.

Alltech’s fifth annual Global 500, Dec. 4-6 in Lexington, Kentucky, will feature industry experts who will address the changing future of the dairy and beef industries. In 2011, more than 700 beef and dairy producers from 32 countries attended. The event is expected to attract more than 1,000 attendees this year.

For the fourth year, Pfizer Animal Health and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) Foundation have joined forces to provide financial support to veterinary students pursuing careers in large-animal veterinarian medicine. “In the past four years, the AABP Foundation — Pfizer Animal Health Veterinary Student Scholarship Fund has awarded $385,000 in scholarships to 77 veterinary students,” says M. Gatz Riddell Jr., executive vice president, AABP.  Fifteen veterinary students from across the U.S. were recognized as 2012 recipients of the AABP Foundation — Pfizer Animal Health Veterinary Student Scholarship Fund at the AABP Annual Conference held Sept. 19 to 22 in Montreal, Quebec.

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) has added more than 75 positions to its U.S. sales force. The expanding animal health company plans to have all sales representatives and professional service veterinarians on board by early January 2013. The addition increases the entire BIVI field force to more than 350 and should help BIVI continue to support its expanding product lines as well as meet the needs of customers across all market segments.

The Guinness World Record for a parade of classic tractors is now 964 tractors/drivers, thanks to a determined group of tractor owners at the Nebraska State Fair.  The parade took place around the Fonner Park Racetrack after a morning thunderstorm as part of the opening weekend of events at the fair, organized and sponsored by RFD-TV/RURAL TV.  

In order to qualify, each tractor owner had to provide the VIN/Serial number of the tractor, which had to be at least 30 years old.