Loose Ends

Brandon Morgan has been named assistant county Extension agriculture agent for Runnels County. Morgan has a B.S. in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University at Stillwater.

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Menard County 4-Hers nabbed national championship honors at the recent 38th National 4-H Wool Judging Contest held in conjunction with the 61st Annual Sonora Wool and Mohair Show.

Team members included James Williamson, Holly Kuykendall, Hope Kuykendall and Amanda Wilkinson. The team scored 1859 points to edge out Runnels County 4-H by 27 points. Hope Kuykendall’s 631 points earned her the contest’s high individual honors. The team was coached by Billy Kidd, Sam Kuykendall and Terry Millican.

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The Texas A&M University Beef Cattle Short Course is set for August 3-5. The Cattlemen’s College scheduled for Monday is will offer more than 60 different instructional hours in 12 different areas of beef production and management, including cattle judging, chute-side working demonstrations, beef carcass evaluation, a purebreed symposium, genetics, reproduction, pastures, ranges, nutrition, veterinary science, marketing, economics, ranch horse management, and a basic ranch management course.

Tuesday and Wednesday topics and speakers include Dr. Harlan Ritchie, Michigan State University; Dr. Mark Thomas and Jim Gibb, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association; Dr. Temple Grandin, Colorado State University; Bill Turner, Jerry Taylor, and other TAMU staff.

More information is available from Larry Boleman, Allyson Butler or Shannon Treichel at (409) 845-3579.

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Northeast New Mexico’s ranching heritage, the "Clayton Cowboy Celebration" will be July 18-19 in Clayton. Sponsored by the Clayton Rotary Club, the two-day event will include a ranch rodeo with performances daily, a chuckwagon cookoff contest, a trade show, Saturday night dance and a Sunday morning cowboy church service.

More information on the weekend’s activities, including team entries and trade show exhibits, is available from Rotary Project Chairman Bill Cantrell at (505) 374-9269.

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The Livestock Marketing Association reported that Cactus Feeders is a 50 percent partner in Argentina's largest feedlot. The feedlot, with a capacity of 75,000 head, will begin operations late this year. Argentina's Cresud SACIFyA holds the other 50 percent stake.

Initially the fed cattle are to be sold in South America, but plans do include exporting beef to Canada and the U.S.

Current economic conditions in Argentina have made feedlots profitable and the industry is expected to grow from the 70-100 feedlots that are now operating there. Capacities for existing lots range from 3000 to 60,000 head.

Cresud SACIFyA is a major ag producer in Argentina with 28 farms covering some 1.17 million acres. Products range from grains to milk and beef.

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The Colorado Cattle Feeders Association board of directors unanimously passed a resolution at their June 24th meeting to ask the membership of CCFA to vote on restructuring the organization. The proposal would create a council structure and change the name of the organization to the Colorado Livestock Association.

Voting members of CCFA will each have one vote. There will be four opportunities to cast the vote: La Junta, July 28; the CCFA office in Denver, July 29; Fort Morgan, July 30; and at the group’s annual business meeting in Snowmass on August 14. Members will be mailed specific details of voting locations, times and procedures.

Under the proposed council structure there would be five councils: Feeder, Producer, Pig Producer, Dairy and Allied Industry. The Feeder Council and the Producer Council would also include memberships for sheep and lamb producers. There would be two levels of committees, those specific to councils and those which conduct business common to all types of members. The board of directors and the executive committee would include representation from each of the councils.

If approved, the Colorado Livestock Association would begin operations Oct. 1, 1998.