Monday, February 13, 2012

Cow Camp Chatter:Hypothermia &Thermogenesis

Ron Torell, Long-Standing Educator and Advocate of Agriculture

Why do some calves survive being born on a cold, wet, blustery night while others under the same conditions die of hypothermia? Most will agree that these calves have a lot of heart with a strong will to live. When these nub-eared, bobtailed survivors are brought to the branding fire cowboys generally compliment the cow as a good mother. Much of the credit, however, can be attributed to the fascinating process of body heat generation known as thermogenesis. There are two types of thermogenesis: shivering and non-shivering.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Joint Committee Hearing on Sage Grouse, Monday, February 13th, 1:30pm

The joint hearing by the Senate Resources & Conservation Committee and the House Resources and Conservation Committee will be held on Monday, February 13th at 1:30pm in the Senate and House Auditorium Room on the Garden Level of the State Capitol Building (Room WW02). Virgil Moore of IDFG will be speaking about the biology of the bird, Bill Meyers of Holland and Hard will discuss the current status of litigation and the timing for a re-evaluation of a new listing determination, and I will address the State’s policy position, as well as the Governor’s decision on the path forward. It should be informative and I hope many of you can attend!

For those of you unable to attend the hearing on Monday, it will be video streamed on the internet. Go to:

http://www.idahoptv.org/leglive/

Here is the link. From this page you will click on the hyperlink at the top that reads “Aud. Video”. Another screen will pop up, when it does click “View Stream” and you should be good to go.

Friday, February 3, 2012

New Insights into Invasive Plant Management

By Ann Perry
February 3, 2012

Over a decade of research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has resulted in the development of a new matrix for invasive plant management. The model was created by scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Burns, Ore., and helps land managers recognize how rangeland degradation processes vary across landscapes. ARS is USDA's chief scientific research agency.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

U.S. agriculture groups want to resolve the COOL dispute

Canadian Cattlemen's Association Action News

January 30, 2012

CCA President Travis Toews attended the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Annual Meeting earlier this month where he had several opportunities to update Farm Bureau delegates on the World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel report on U.S. country of origin labeling law (COOL).

The discussions identified how the U.S. will be better off by eliminating the discrimination that COOL has created for Canadian and Mexican livestock imported into the U.S. Although COOL has not produced any quantifiable benefits for U.S. agriculture, it puts at least 9,000 U.S. meat processing jobs at risk though closure of excess processing capacity. Once U.S. packing facilities start closing, the U.S. livestock producers that rely on the closed facilities will be negatively impacted.

Also explored was the potential for Canada to take retaliatory action should the U.S. not comply with the WTO ruling. With Canada being such a huge importer of U.S. agricultural and prepared food products, the AFBF concluded that it is in the best interest of U.S. farmers and ranchers to resolve the COOL dispute as soon as possible and not delay a resolution through an appeal. The AFBF expressed this by passing a policy to, "support country of origin labeling that conforms with COOL parameters and meets WTO requirements."

Furthermore, AFBF directed its staff to "Encourage the USTR not to appeal the WTO ruling on COOL, but to go straight to a legislative resolution."

Full text:

http://www.cattle.ca/action-news/2012/01-30-12.html