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The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) submitted comments on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service proposed rule pertaining to the beef checkoff program.
The proposed rule would expand contracting authority by eliminating the requirement that only allows organizations active and ongoing since 1985 to contract with the checkoff, allowing national non-profit, industry-governed organizations that have been representing the cattle industry for at least two years to be eligible to contract for the implementation of checkoff programs.
Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) joined with Representative Ron Kind (D-Wis.) in leading a bipartisan group of 68 lawmakers in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Ambassador Ron Kirk.
The group of lawmakers objects to ongoing protectionist trade restrictions by the Taiwanese government that are costing American beef and pork producers hundreds of millions of dollars in lost export trade.
Russia was the fifth largest export market for U.S. beef in 2011. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association and its affiliates believe a significant increase in U.S. beef exports to Russia is possible as a result of Russia's World Trade Organization (WTO) accession agreement.
The provisions in the WTO agreement include a large, country-specific beef quota and lower tariffs for high quality beef. Watty Taylor, a Montana rancher, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on behalf of the Montana Stockgrowers Association.
World Dairy Expo promises even more for dairy producers to experience in 2012. A new major sponsor has stepped up to the plate for naming of the newly expanded indoor exhibit space. The New Holland Trade Center will feature a mix of new and returning exhibitors from across the dairy industry.
Dairy enthusiasts attending the event will have the opportunity to view the very latest cutting-edge equipment, research and services that might be incorporated into their operations.
Idaho Milk Products, located in Jerome, Idaho, and owned by three Idaho dairy families, is the country's largest domestic producer of milk protein concentrates.
Ralph Fisher, a former Idaho state agronomist with the NRCS, explains the nine minimum requirements a dairy’s nutrient management plan must have during the Idaho Nutrient Management Conference in Jerome, Idaho, in early March.
Fisher explained that a nutrient management plan which met the requirements must be submitted with a request for a CAFO permit under soon-to-be-released new guidelines. Fisher is the regulator who reviews plans submitted to the EPA for compliance.
This issue we celebrate our 25th anniversary of the magazine. As one who has only been a part of the history of the magazine for 20 percent of that time, I am grateful to the many who came before me and laid the foundation for today’s Progressive Dairyman, including and most especially, founder and emeritus publisher Leon Leavitt.
In 1921, cooperatives and cheese factories in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, and surrounding areas created the Farmers Call Board. Weekly dealers would attend the meeting and bid on cheese. Dealers’ bids for cheese were written on a blackboard.
The highest bid would get the sale and often that price set the price for all of the cheese offered. The creators of the Farmers Call Board argued it as a necessary counterpoint to the Wisconsin Cheese Exchange (WCE), formerly the Plymouth Central Call Board of Trade.
The arguments were that the prices of the WCE represented collusive pricing between dealers, reflected a thin market and were an undue influence on the price of cheese and, therefore, milk.
As much as I’ve always enjoyed reading, my short attention span makes it impossibly difficult to finish really long books like Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. And chances are you’ve never made it all the way through the 1,208 pages either.
But if you ever took a basic economics course in school, you’re probably familiar with the economic term from Smith’s timeless writings called “the Invisible Hand.”
Now, I’m definitely not an economist. But if you don’t mind, humor me as I attempt to give my simple understanding of how the Invisible Hand works. Essentially, it represents the way human nature affects how the economy functions ... whether it’s humankind’s self-interest, fear, competitiveness, greed, uncertainty or even common sense, the Invisible Hand is our basic humanness at work.
