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Southwest Beef Symposium and karnal bunt updateBy Joe Raff CEA-Ag Wichita County Winter is here. And all in one day? This is even an abrupt change for North Texas--60 or 70 something then 20-ish all in the same day? Just another day in paradise. I just received this information and wanted to pass it along so everyone can make plans to attend. The Southwest Beef Symposium will be held Jan. 16 and 17 at the Fifth Season Inn 6801 W. Interstate 40 in Amarillo. This is a joint effort between the New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service and Texas Cooperative Extension Service, established to annually provide producers with timely information about current industry issues and practical management. On Jan. 16, the program will start at 1 p.m. with Ted McCollum, Extension beef specialist moderating the program. The first day will focus on critical success factors to the beef enterprise. The first speaker will be Barry Dunn, executive director, King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management; Texas A&M University, Kingsville and he will be discussing the Beef Enterprise: Aligning the Vision. Following will be a discussion about cow-type and the Southwest environment by Clay Mathis, Extension livestock specialist, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces and Keith Long, seedstock manager, Bell Ranch, N.M. After a break to take in the Trade Show, Roger Wann, Southern District sales manager, ABS Global, Muenster, Texas, will start off the afternoon session with a talk on reproductive management strategies for profitability. Following will be a discussion of creating flexibility in your beef system by Ron Gill, Extension livestock specialist, Texas Cooperative Extension, Stephenville, Texas, and Jay O'Brien, Corsino Cattle Company and JA Ranch. Then at 6 p.m. it's steak dinner time at River Breaks Ranch--sponsored by Premium Beef Network. Jan. 17 will start at 8:30 a.m. with the impact of ethanol production on grain, feed and the cattle market by Steve Ammoson, Extension economist, Texas Cooperative Extension, and ethanol feed byproducts and their uses in cattle production by Jim MacDonald, assistant professor, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Amarillo, Texas. John Wenzel, Extension veterinarian, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, will be next on the agenda talking about Trichomoniasis in the Southwest, followed by Bruce Carpenter, Extension livestock specialist, Texas Cooperative Extension, Fort Stockton discussing practicality of pregnancy determination via blood test. Age and source verification is the last topic before lunch by Leann Saunders, vice president, IMI Global Inc, Castle Rock, Colo. The theme for the afternoon session will be Beef Market Trends. The first speaker will be Art Wagner, vice president for Cattle Procurement, National Beef, Liberal, Kan. He will be addressing consumer trends from a processors perspective. And from the retailers perspective will be Peter Eckas, Wal-Mart meat merchandising manager, Bentonville, Ark. After the afternoon break opportunities and challenges in sourcing feeder cattle into "verified" programs will be the topic for Dick Bretz, Eslabon Cattle Co., Amarillo, Texas. And the final discussion of the conference will be on trends in markets for non-fed beef by Don Clift, Booker Packing Co., Booker Texas. Pre-registration deadline for the Southwest Beef Symposium will be Jan. 3, 2007, at a cost of $50 per person. You can get a pre-registration form from your county Extension office or call the Amarillo office at 806-677-5600.
Good news for all our friends hit hard by the karnal bunt situation a few years ago. The following docket has been published in the Federal Register and is open for comments as Docket No: APHIS-2006-0149Z--Karnal Bunt; Regulated Areas: The USDA APHIS are amending the karnal bunt regulations to remove certain areas or fields in Maricopa and Pinal counties in Arizona, and Archer, Baylor, Knox, McCulloch, San Saba, Throckmorton and Young counties in Texas, from the list of regulated areas based on their determination that those fields or areas meet our criteria for release from regulation. This action is necessary to relieve restrictions that are no longer necessary. This interim rule became effective Nov. 16, 2006. According to the memo from Linda C. Toran, Management Analyst Regulatory Coordination, Plant Health Programs USDA-APHIS will consider all comments received on or before Jan. 22, 2007. For additional information, you can go to, www.regulations.gov, using the "Search for Documents Open for Comment" function, select "Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: from the agency drop-down menu, then click on "Submit." In the Docket ID column, select APHIS-2006-0149 to submit or view comments and to view supporting and related materials available electronically. You may also contact Dr. Vedpal S. Malik, National Karnal Bunt Coordinator, Pest Detection and Management Programs, PPQ APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 134, Riverdale, MD 20737-1231; 301-734-3769. If you have any questions about this article you can call me at the office at 940-716-8610, stop by at 600 Scott Street, Suite 200 in Wichita Falls, Texas, or E-mail at j-raff@tamu.edu. Remember that you can read my articles at two location on the Web, www.trn.org and www.joetomwhite.com and click on the county agents report. Date: 12/21/06
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