UNL Extension Educator,
Webster County
November 30, 2012 Edition
I left you dangling last week during my explanation of the fantastic opportunity that I had to learn about the importance of the beef industry at the 2012 Nebraska Beef Industry Summit. I had the opportunity to hear several top notch speakers that are involved intimately with the beef industry. In this week’s article I will describe some more of what I learned at the Summit; however, before I start I think it only proper to give a moment to two people whom I had the opportunity to learn from over the years who both passed away this past week. They had major impacts in my life.
Clyde Leland "Bud" Williams was an innovator in the handling and management of beef cattle. Bud was known world-wide as the authority on low-stress livestock handling. There is no doubt in my mind that Bud’s concepts, and methods (www.stockmanship.com) made things better for the animals, but they also made things better for the people working those animals. He taught handlers how to “settle” livestock after shipping. He taught how to move herds faster and more calmly without an army of people. He developed and taught practices for working animals in corrals that didn’t rely on yelling, chasing or hot shots. He developed innovative facility designs like the “Bud Box” which a lot of cattlemen and feed yards have gone to. These are so well accepted now that it is easy to forget how controversial they were just 20 years ago. His methods worked on most every species of livestock. I remember watching a video several years ago of him herding wild reindeer. He taught me and many others how to watch livestock and see what they would do instead of reacting to our own fear about what they might do. One of the most important things I learned was to let the livestock teach you, just as he always said of stock dogs. Learn from them. Watch what they do and learn how to use that to your advantage.
The other person who passed this week who had an impact on me was Zig Ziglar. He was a devout Christian and a motivational speaker who wrote more than 30 books and focused on positivity and leading a balanced life. I had the opportunity to attend a seminar that he led on practicing what he wrote in his book “See You at the Top”. The one thing I remembered most was his love of the FFA and especially his insistence that a positive attitude makes a lot of difference in life. What I remember about him most is that his work involved wordplay. Among them: "Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street" and "You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." Another one that stuck out was “Celebrate honeymoons, not anniversaries!” I salute these two motivating men, they will be missed.
Tidbits from the Beef Summit: We learned what a lot of us already know - there are a lot of significant issues facing the beef industry and the list is long. Many of these issues stem from misconceptions and from a regulation perspective, and unfortunately in Washington DC, misconceptions are looked at as reality. There is some light at the end of the tunnel as, after taking several beatings, the ag industry did get some wins in the election day voting. Controversial bills affecting GMOs in California and an animal rights/welfare initiative in North Dakota both failed after producers decided to become active. We will continue to have to be active, proactive and informative when agriculture is being looked at by Congress. I found it rather humorous that you can reach the Congressional switchboard by dialing 1-877-SOB-USOB (762-8762). One statement interested me. With consumers, perception becomes reality, but special interest groups are not consumer groups.
I found other things as interesting including these little tidbits: In the US we consume 100 million hamburgers every day and that 14% of beef sales is hamburger which adds about $225/beef carcass value. Not a surprise to me was that 54% of all meals in the US are eaten away from home and that 19% of meals are consumed in a car! We should be proud that Nebraska is now the number 3 agricultural state and livestock is still the engine that runs our economy. That is important because the US has a $5 billion beef trade internationally and Nebraska is in that mix. We need to cultivate our global partners, which are positioned to be even bigger customers. This includes former third world countries whose middle class is now exploding. Included in the future is likely something called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Did you know that of the ten largest shipping ports in the world, all but three are in China. The others are Los Angeles, Korea and Singapore.
We are at the lowest cow numbers since I was born (1949) but we are still producing almost as much beef as the high time for inventory because of our ability to produce more with less. The basics that beef producers will have to contend with in a consumer & global market is that beef be: grain fed/genetically managed; operated under high food safety standards; subject to quality assurance management; be a consistent and reliable supply; and that it be versatile. China has potential to be a huge consumer however we must know that we have to fix some things including: no Mexican cattle in shipments; no variety meats; we must have a traceability system; and we must allow Chinese poultry into our country.
Of course consumers and animal rights/welfare was a common theme in all the speakers and even though we in agriculture are making some strides in dealing with these groups, one thing seemed clear to me. The consumer, on the local, national and global scale are more and more demanding of where their food comes from and how it is handled, as a carcass and before harvest. One speaker narrowed the animal welfare concerns down to six items that we must educate about, and take a good, hard look at. They are: castration; branding; dehorning; pest control; long distance transportation; and environment. If you look at those things we do, without explanation, it does give an image that is hard to understand!
The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home
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