From May 1 through May 15, the Beef Checkoff is partnering with Nash Finch for the Grocery Wholesaler Beef Roundup promotion. Nash Finch’s 47 corporate stores in eight states – Econofoods, Sunmart, Family Fresh Market, and Pick n’ Save – will be launching the checkoff’s Slice-n-Save program as part of the promotion. The merchandising program will feature three sub-primal Angus Pride cuts:  boneless beef ribeye, boneless beef top loin strip, and boneless beef top sirloin. Also as part of the promotion, cattle farmers from Iowa will be featured on posters, recipe brochures, and slice-n-save on-pack labels.

Good stocker operators think about how to make their cattle better for the next segment in the beef business.

A potentially burdensome new recordkeeping requirement facing farmers, ranchers and other small business owners was repealed last week when President Obama signed legislation H.R. 4, which ends the “1099 requirement” included in the federal health-reform package.

AgriLabs, KMG and AllFlex jointly awarded iPads as part of a product promotion at the recent National Cattleman's Beef Association (NCBA) Convention in Denver, Colorado.

The Pfizer Animal Genetics laboratory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, recently received the Illumina CSPro certification for GoldenGate Bovine 3K Beadchip. The Illumina CSPro certification for the GoldenGate platform is the second certification Pfizer Animal Genetics has received from Illumina in 2011.

A UC Davis research team has been awarded $2.6 million by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to carry out research aimed at reducing the incidence of bovine respiratory disease, or pneumonia, which is the leading cause of death in beef and dairy cattle.

Bovance has chosen Brent Sexton from Rockwell City, Iowa, as the winner of the first Bovance Scholarship Contest. Sexton, along with 15 other applicants, chose one of five topics about cloning and genetic preservation to write an essay.

Missouri Farmers Care, a coalition of leading Missouri agriculture advocacy groups, applauded the Missouri General Assembly’s successful efforts to pass SB 113, which strengthens the enforcement of Missouri’s animal welfare laws and preserves the voter intent of the recently passed Proposition B.

A special report just issued by the Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) group indicates the consequences of the earthquake and tsunami to Japan’s agricultural and food industry could be dire. While the full impact of the earth quake and radiation are not yet understood, the report—which estimates the potential impact on six major sectors of Japan’s agricultural industry—projects that food safety concerns and supply shortage will limit exports and cause imports to rise.

The positive trend for U.S. beef exports continued in February, with an increasingly large portion of total U.S. production going to international customers while returning more revenue to America’s red meat industry, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).