The latest issue of Nebraska Cattlemen Magazine is now available online! View it at: www.nebraskacattlemen.org

About a year ago, concerned with 10 years of declining agricultural enrollment at the University of Nebraska, NC President Tom Hansen formed a task force to see how this association could help out the college.

The first half of 2006 was anything but business-as-usual from a fed-cattle marketer’s perspective. The fed market struggled as low as the upper $70s on a live basis in late April and early May, and then rallied back to the lower to mid $80s into mid to late June. A number of factors were involved in this contra-seasonal pattern, and some of them will continue to affect the fed market through the second half of the year.

With on-again, off-again import and export trade agreements and quickly changing domestic consumer beef demand characterizing the past couple of years, it seems that cattle prices have become more volatile. And the data supports it. The coefficient of variation (a “unitless” measure of risk created by dividing standard deviation by the average) for fed-cattle futures increased from 8.11 percent during 1990-2000 to 11.77 percent during 2001-05. Similarly, feeder-cattle futures saw an increase in its coefficient of variation from 11.53 percent to 14 percent during this period.

NC is partnering with the Sand County Foundation, a Wisconsin conservation group, to help sponsor the foundation’s first Aldo Leopold Conservation Award in the state. The news was announced at NC’s Midyear Conference in June at Holdrege.

Nominations are due Aug. 18 for the $10,000 prize, which goes to a Nebraska landowner who demonstrates responsible stewardship and management of natural resources.

For many reasons – hurricanes, cost of petroleum and inflation – the past three years have shown tremendous pressure on the cost of building structures of all types. Whether it is a dwelling, machine shed, feed mill, office or other type of structure, the cost to build new has increased in many instances by at least 15 to 30 percent. With that in mind, cattlemen, especially feedlots with their computerized feed mills and extensive constructed facilities, should consider a review to verify that current limits of insurance are adequate.

Election years come and go. It seems that when they come, so do parades, politics and of course promises. Campaign promises have become more disguised. I haven’t heard a politician say “Read my lips” lately, but promises still abound. Of course, the promise is usually tailored to the audience being addressed.

With the recent interest and expansion in the ethanol industry in Nebraska, it appears that a boom in Nebraska’s cattle-feeding industry will follow. As the state’s feedlot industry expands, there is going to be strong demand for experienced, well-qualified managers to oversee this growing industry. Where will feedlots turn for good help?

On June 22, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it was seeking public comments on a proposed rule that would revise several parts of EPA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELGs) for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The proposed rulemaking is in response to the February 2005 order issued by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Waterkeeper Alliance et al. v. EPA.