Loose Ends

*****

Clay Mathis is the new livestock specialist with New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service. He will work to serve the educational needs of New Mexico cattle and sheep producers. Mathis will take over the range ram test, which systematically measures ram weight-gain performance and fleece characteristics at the Corona Range and Livestock Research Center.

Mathis came to NMSU from Kansas State University, where he earned a doctorate writing a dissertation on protein supplementation of grazing beef cattle. In 1997, he won the Purina Mills Beef Research Fellowship.

Mathis grew up in New Braunfels, Texas. He earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Texas A&M. As an undergraduate, he was active on the meats, livestock, and wool and mohair judging teams. He coached the wool and mohair team as a graduate assistant.

*****

A forage developed bull program will be conducted this fall at the Luling Foundation, to compare and evaluate bulls of all breeds that are raised in pasture conditions.

Bulls eligible for the forage development program must be born between October 1, 1997 and March 31, 1998. The program will be conducted on winter forage and will be approximately 140 days in length. Stocking rates and grazing pressure will be adjusted to allow each animal the opportunity to express its genetic potential for gain on forage. After the 21-day warm-up period, bulls will be weighed at 35-day intervals throughout the trial. The overall average daily gain for bulls consigned to previous forage developed bull programs was 2.66 pounds.

Space has been allocated for 100 bulls and nominations for the program will close Oct. 16. Breeders needing rules and nominations may contact the Luling Foundation at 523 South Mulberry Ave. Luling, TX 78648-2940, or phone (830)875-2438 weekdays or (830)875-0233 evenings. Those interested in consigning bulls to the program should contact the foundation as soon as possible, as there are vaccination requirements needing immediate attention.

*****

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange are offering $20,000 in scholarship monies to college students pursuing careers in the beef industry. Sixteen students will each receive $1250 scholarships. One selected recipient will also receive the top prize of an all expense-paid trip to the NCBA annual convention and trade show in Charlotte, N.C., Feb. 11-14, 1999.

To be eligible, a student must: be enrolled or plan to enroll as an undergraduate student in the College of Agriculture at a four-year institution in the 1999-2000 academic year; write a brief letter indicating what role the student sees him or herself playing in the beef industry upon graduation; write a 750-word essay describing an issue confronting the beef industry today or in the future and offer his or her solutions (cite two references used); obtain two letters of reference from current or former professors or industry professionals; prepare a cover sheet to include name, school name, year in school and both current and permanent mailing addresses and phone numbers; and submit materials to: Chairman Donald Butler, National Cattlemen’s Foundation, P.O. Box 3469, Englewood, CO 80155. Applications must be postmarked by Nov. 30, 1998.

*****

A Concho Valley Goat A.I. and Embryo seminar is set for Sept. 8 at Mertzon’s Community Center. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. and the program at 10 a.m.

A producer panel will give a brief overview of their operations and their thoughts concerning genetic improvement of goats. Other topics to be discussed are breeder cooperatives, A.I. procedures and techniques, embryo technology, and goat breeding research. Those planning to attend should contact the Irion County Extension office at (915)835-2711.

*****

Access to appreciably more information on imported lamb is now available due to a recent request of the American Sheep Industry Association. The U.S. International Trade Commission just announced its implementation of a 10-digit harmonized code that will track the volume of fresh/chilled and frozen imported lamb by the major primal cuts of legs, loins and shoulders.

Imports previously were tracked for entry by large categories, which meant grouping all primal and sub-primal cuts together. Under the former eight-digit harmonized code system, lamb imports were reported in just one of three ways: carcass or half carcass; fresh/chilled or frozen; and bone-in or boneless. Under the 10-digit harmonized code system, imported lamb will still be divided into these initial categories. However, fresh/chilled and frozen categories of bone-in cuts will be further expanded to include information on shoulders, legs and cuts.

*****

The Clinton administration has announced formation of a "President’s Council on Food Safety," to be headed jointly by the secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The council is charged with developing a comprehensive strategic federal food safety plan; advising agencies of priority areas for investing in food safety and coordinating budgets; and overseeing the recently established Joint Institute for Food Safety Research. The result is supposed to be a "seamless, science-based food safety system."

*****

The Texas Cattle Feeders Association reports that representatives from 10 U.S. and Mexican border states met last week in El Paso to discuss the impending importation of approximately 5000 Australian feeder cattle into the U.S. through Mexico.

The group was made up of cattlemen and animal health professionals from Arizona, Baja California Norte, California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, New Mexico, Nuevo Leon, Sonora, Tamaulipas and Texas. The meeting resulted in a joint letter to USDA, NCBA, the Mexican Subsecretary of Agriculture and Mexico’s National Cattle Federation, opposing certification of the down-under feeders as cattle of "Mexican origin."

The letter pointed out that the Border States Consensus Document and the animal health program it included were "developed to establish specific criteria for the exchange of cattle among Mexican states and between Mexico and The U.S. border states." Cattle from other countries are not included in the agreement, which the industry reps noted was implemented "through the efforts of both countries with oversight, inspection and a great deal of expense."

"Cattle originating in other countries will not be imported as Mexican cattle," the letter states flatly.