Harsh Realities
Ohio Cattleman 10600 U.S. Highway 42 Marysville, Ohio 43040 Phone 614-873-6736 • Fax 614-873-6835 www.ohiocattle.org cattle@ohiocattle.org Editor Elizabeth Harsh
Having just wrapped up a successful state fair for many beef industry youth, this quote seems especially appropriate. Their significant accomplishments are the perfect example of this philosophy at work. Repeated practice and preparation resulted in the excellence that was on display in the beef barn throughout the fair. Congratulations to the many youth featured in this issue’s state fair recap.
Sales Representative Stephanie Sindel
Ohio Cattleman magazine (USPA: 020-968, ISSN: 15430588) is published six times per year: Winter issue, mailed in January; Expo preview issue, mailed in February; Spring issue, mailed in April; Summer issue, mailed in July; Early Fall issue, mailed in September; and Late Fall issue, mailed in October; for $15 a year to OCA members only. It is dedicated to reporting facts about Ohio’s cattle including marketing, production and legislative news. All editorial and advertising material is screened to meet rigid standards, but publisher assumes no responsibility for accuracy or validity of claims. All rights reserved. Circulation for the Early Fall 2019 issue is 2,839. Published at Minster, Ohio 45865 by the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association, 10600 US Highway 42, Marysville, Ohio 43040. Periodical postage paid at Marysville, Ohio and at additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Ohio Cattleman, 10600 US Highway 42, Marysville, Ohio 43040. CHANGING YOUR ADDRESS: Please send old as well as new address to Ohio Cattleman, 10600 US Highway 42, Marysville, Ohio 43040.
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Habit of Excellence There is a sign that hangs in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center that houses the Ohio State Buckeyes football team. It reads “EXCELLENCE is not a singular act but a HABIT. You are what you repeatedly do.”
Managing Editor Michaela Kramer
Full Page $460 2/3 Page 1/2 Page $260 1/3 Page 1/4 Page $145 1/8 Page Business Card $65 Classified Ad Four Color $270 One Additional Color $90
By Elizabeth Harsh, Ohio Cattleman Editor
It was the Young Cattlemen’s Conference participants who toured the football complex during the association’s leadership program. These future beef industry leaders already demonstrate a habit of excellence in their everyday lives and their futures are even brighter. OCA looks forward to their continued involvement in the association and the beef industry. The month of August has been filled with the excellence of youth, yet overall, 2019 could be called anything but excellent from a farming perspective. In mid-August USDA released figures on the unplanted crop acreage – the result of the spring’s record rainfall. It pegged Ohio’s acres at nearly 1.5 million, ranking the state third behind only South Dakota and Illinois. Spring rolled into summer with poor quality first-cutting hay, reduced cuttings and concerns over the potential for livestock feed shortages as we move into winter. And as this issue goes to press, many parts of the state seemed to have received their entire allotment of rain for the year in April and May and are now dry with little to no grass. The dry conditions will further impact yields on crops that in many places were only marginal at best. Compounding the challenges facing the beef industry is the recent fire at the Tyson cattle harvest facility in Kansas. This plant was responsible for six percent of the total U.S. fed cattle packing capacity and its closure is having a negative economic impact on the industry. The packing industry was already largely at capacity before the fire and will now have to absorb these additional cattle. NCBA immediately moved to assist the industry and minimize the impact by requesting exemptions for hours of service, addressing the need for meat inspectors as plants expand their harvest and contacting the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Packers and Stockyards Division to request they keep an eye on the market to make sure it keeps working. Experts predict the plant will be down for months and there’s significant concern that the impact of this event could linger in the markets for some time to come — affecting all classes of cattle, including feeder calves. These weather and market challenges affect cattlemen in Ohio and across the country. They require that going forward we make management decisions with excellence in mind. Recognizing the need for a source that would offer recommendations and solutions for agriculture’s most stressful issues, The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences put together a website with resources for Ohio farmers. This timely and responsive website offers the best science-based recommendations for issues such as weather impacts, tariffs, and low commodity prices. #LeanOnYourLandGrant in a Crisis. The habit of excellence is what cattlemen and farmers practice everyday and they’ll rise above these current challenges as we always do. But know there are resources to assist you every step of the way. And on a lighter note, as I researched the origins of this quote, it is attributed to both Aristotle and Shaquille O’Neal. Ancient Greek philosopher or basketball star, either way it’s a great one to live by. v
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