Loose Ends

The annual Ram Performance Test Field Day and Sale is set for March 18 at the Texas A&M Agricultural Research Station, located 28 miles south of Sonora, about halfway between Sonora and Rocksprings on Highway 55.

The top 30 percent of the 213 Rambouillet rams completing the test are eligible for the 2 p.m. sale.

Participants are invited to inspect the rams and their performance data until 11:45. Lunch catered by the Sutton County 4-H club will follow.

The afternoon program will include discussion on wool harvesting changes; a progeny test update; production from ewes on range; the pasture to packer program; an update on the Ranchers' Lamb packing plant; and comments on the 1998-99 ram test.

Further information is available from Drs. Dan Waldron or Frank Craddock at (915)653-4576, or Don Spiller at (915)387-3168.

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A "Dollars and Sense Management Seminar for Beef Quality" is set to begin at 5 p.m. Thursday, March 25 at the Gillespie Livestock Auction in Fredericksburg, Texas. The free seminar will emphasize ways producers can realize higher values with beef cattle.

The program is targeted toward smaller operators and part-time ranchers in the Texas Hill Country. Topics include: feeder calf evaluation and capturing value through targeted breeding; capturing value when culling cows; an injection-site blemish demonstration that includes keys on how to capture value through proper calf management. Beef producers also will receive an update on the beef checkoff program from the Texas Beef Council and information on current Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Assn. programs.

The program will run for four hours and includes a free beef meal. Beef producers interested in attending this program should confirm their attendance by calling TBC at (800)846-4113 before March 19.

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It's an unscientific study, to be sure. Nonetheless, it appears that consumers who surf the Internet are tiring of traditional turkey and ham for holiday meals. The Texas Beef Council's recipe traffic on the Internet increased 100 percent between October and December 1998 by consumers who were seeking beef recipes from the beef checkoff program. Internet data shows the favorite recipes selected through TBC were holiday beef roasts and beef roast cooking tips.

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Warren Mitchell, Fairfield, Neb., has been named president of Cattle-Fax, a Denver-based market information, analysis, research and educational service. Mitchell is managing partner of T-Bone Feedlots Inc., a commercial cattle feeding business at Fairfield.

Named president-elect for the coming year was Kay Richardson, Evinston, Fla. Richardson is president and general manager of Richardson Brothers Inc., a family beef cattle operation.

Jim Coelho, Fremont, Calif. was re-elected western region director. Coelho has a beef cattle operation that revolves around a commercial cow-calf herd.

Newly elected directors include Eric Davis, a cow-calf and feedlot operator from Bruneau, Idaho. Davis succeeds John Wilson Of North Powder, Oregon, as the northeast region director; Dave True, a cow-calf producer and feedlot operator from Casper, Wyo., succeeds Dick Farr as the Intermountain director.

Other members of the Cattle-Fax board are: Lee Borck, Larned, Kan., finance director; Jack Frick, Scott City, Kan., Central director; Jim McAdams, Lubbock, Texas, Southwest director; and Joe Moran, Hone Creek, Iowa, Midwest director.

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Twenty-four of Texas' top chefs learned how to expand beef restaurant servings far beyond its dominating $7 billion a year at a recent conference co-hosted by the Texas Beef Council, through the beef checkoff program and Texas A&M University. The chefs learned new utilization for undervalued cuts from the chuck and round sections of the beef carcass. They also received information on new food trends and how beef continues to offer new foodservice possibilities.

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Eleanore Jones of Huntley, Wyoming, was named Outstanding CattleWoman of the Year of the American National CattleWomen, Inc., during their annual convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. The award, sponsored by Bayer Corporation, recognizes cattlewomen who have continually excelled at beef promotion on the local, state and national levels through their dedication, commitment and support to ANCW.

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Modern technology is helping U.S. beef information reach more Mexican retailers at a lower cost than ever before thanks to the Trans-Texas Video Network, the U.S. Meat Export Federation and TBC. TTVN links Texas A&M University classrooms in College Station with its satellite schools in Mexico City through fiber optics. USMEF and TBC use this technology to transmit lectures from U.S. experts about beef retailing, food safety, beef quality and inspection to Mexico City. The programs are funded by the $1 per head beef checkoff program.

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The Central Texas Pecan Short Course is scheduled for March 23 at the Mills County Civic Center in Goldthwaite. Registration begins at 8 a.m.

For more information contact Danny Long -- Mills County CEA at (915)648-2650.

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The $1 per head checkoff program and Kroger are educating Texas consumers about beef cut selection and preparation with a new program that uses color-coded, three-step cooking labels on cuts. Each cut is grouped in the meat case according to its preferred cooking methods. Highly visible signs direct consumers to each cooking section. More than 160 stores in Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston are participating in the program.

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Janice Connelley of Mountain City, Nev., was elected the 48th president of the American National CattleWomen, Inc. during the 1999 Beef Industry Annual Convention recently in Charlotte, North Carolina.