When it rains, it pours, so the saying goes. But in the past four months, entities creating various international standards for animal welfare appear to be coming as quickly and forcefully as a flash flood! As if there’s not enough on the animal welfare front to manage already at the local, state and national levels, U.S. agriculture’s proverbial head is spinning from all of the newly announced competition internationally.

A cattle industry recovering from the drought will be the focus of the Cattle Trails Cow-Calf Conference, a joint effort between Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, to be held Jan. 15 in Lawton, Oklahoma.

The American Simmental Association (ASA) has announced a population-specific DNA profile offering genomic-enhanced expected progeny differences (GE-EPDs) that also includes parental validation. In partnership with GeneSeek, a Neogen Corporation Company, the ASA GE-EPDs are powered by the GeneSeek Bovine 50K. The evolution in ASA genomic technology is a result of a multi-year collaborative effort between ASA, Carcass Merit Project cooperators, the USDA, University of Illinois, University of Missouri, Montana State University, Iowa State University, National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium (NBCEC) and GeneSeek.

On any given day at the Santa Teresa International Export/Import Livestock Crossing, hundreds and even thousands of head of cattle come through a gate in the fence that marks the border between the U.S. and Mexico. This year, Daniel Manzanares, director of the facility, said he expects to break the 400,000 head of cattle mark, the most ever. "That'd be a record,'' Manzanares said. He said more than $200 million worth of cattle passes through the crossing, which literally straddles the international border, each year.

A possible change in Japanese import policy concerning beef has the potential to create more income for Idaho beef producers, officials in Idaho said. Since 2005, Japan has allowed into the country only beef from animals that were less than 20 months old when slaughtered to protect against bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or Mad Cow Disease. But in October a Japanese government subcommittee forwarded recommendations altering the restrictions to allow beef from cattle younger than 30 months old.

A shortage of food animal veterinarians in the U.S. is not expected to turn around anytime soon. Nationwide, only 17 percent of vets work in food animal medicine, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. In Minnesota, several rural areas have a shortage of veterinarians who work with livestock, according to the USDA.

Randy Blach, vice president for CattleFax, told nearly a thousand cattle producers attending the 100th convention of the Kansas Livestock Association that consumer meat prices will rise to record highs because livestock production has fallen dramatically after ranchers culled animals during this year's drought. The market analyst said roughly 70 percent of the nation's cattle herd has been affected by drought this year, the fourth in a row with drought in at least some key cattle-producing areas.

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) urges producers to ensure their farm or ranch is counted in the 2012 Census of Agriculture, a crucial tool that provides farmers with a voice in the future of their community and operation. Conducted every five years by NASS, the Census is a complete count of the U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them.

Beginning January 1, 2013, by virtue of a Texas Animal Health Commission ruling, all adult cattle in Texas must have an approved form of permanent identification in place at any change of ownership. This includes sexually intact beef cattle 18 months older and above, and Mexican-origin event cattle. Not included are nursing calves, steers, spayed heifers, bulls, heifers under 18 months (unless they are about to calve), and cattle moved directly to slaughter.