1 6
Here’s how COVID-19 will shape the next generation
Generations have historically been divided by impactful events. These events typically create fear and uncertainty; change how people view the world, the past, and the future; and affect how people take risks and make decisions. That means COVID-19 could well be the dividing line between Gen Z and the beginning of the next generation, according to Business Insider.
That's according to Jason Dorsey, president of Center for Generational Kinetics (CGK) and author of the upcoming book "Zconomy: How Gen Z Will Change the Future of Business." A coronavirus baby boom has been a hot topic as couples hole up to quarantine together, but the next generation won't be the result of some heavy baby-making. Thepandemic will likely discourage any of that behavior.
Instead, this new generation will likely be defined by growing up in a post-pandemic world.
Tips for working cattle in a coronavirus pandemic
Spring branding and processing day is often a time when community members and families join together to administer vaccinations, castrate, implant calves and apply hide identification before summer pasture turnout. But this spring’s COVID-19 pandemic may require some changes, said experts at Kansas State University’s Beef Cattle Institute. They offered up some advice during a recent Cattle Chat podcast, reports the Hays Daily News.
“It is critical to have the right labor on hand to help on processing day,” said K-State veterinarian Bob Larson, adding that families may need to manage that differently this year because of the COVID-19 human health challenge. This COVID-19 spring means that we may need to organize our labor into family groups to promote social distance between folks who don’t live together.”
Global meat demand remains robust as lockdowns ease
Even as the U.S. is still in the midst of the COIVD-19 lockdown, USMEF is seeing a shift out of lockdowns in Asian markets. On the beef side, “I don’t think we’ve fully seen the reflection of the positives here. We will see that starting in the second quarter and into the third quarter,” said Dan Halstrom, USMEF president and CEO.
“Markets like Taiwan, Hong Kong and China have actually been out of the lockdowns now for almost two months. Korea and Vietnam have been out of it for a few weeks, and our largest market, Japan, had some relaxations this week on 39 of the 47 prefectures, and the rest of them will be open by the end of May,” Halstrom said. “So, we’re seeing a shift back into foodservice demand in the Asian markets. It’s not back to normal, but it’s slow but steady progress.”
Trump suggests the U.S. terminate cattle imports
During a news conference announcing the roll out of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program last week, President Trump suggested the U.S. might want to end cattle imports as a way to help beef producers hurt by coronavirus-caused distortions in the food supply chain.
NCBA CEO Colin Woodall, however, said that may miss the mark, according to the Oklahoma Farm Report.
"Today's comment by President Donald Trump demonstrates the complexity of the U.S. beef business. Live cattle imports to the United States only come from Canada and Mexico and will continue to do so under the terms of the President's newly negotiated USMCA. America has not imported live cattle from other nations for several years, Woodall said.
“However, if President Trump is serious about reconsidering import decisions, NCBA and its members strongly request the White House to take another look at his decision to allow fresh beef imports from nations like Brazil, where there continue to be concerns with foot-and-mouth disease and USDA's decision to reopen the American market to Brazilian beef."
Posing the question “Will beef survive?” Vaughn Holder, Alltech ruminant research group director, said the answer was that “it absolutely has to.” As the global population grows by another 2 to 3 billion people in the next 30 years, our world will have to produce as much food in that time as has been produced in 10,000 years of human civilization so far.
Where will that food come from? Only 4% of the earth’s surface is cultivatable, and able to produce plant-based foods such as grain and soybeans.
But utilizing the large swathe of cellulose that exists across global rangelands, which can only be converted into highly digestible, highly utilizable sources of amino acids by ruminant animals, will be central to the solution of meeting rapidly increasing world food demand in future, reports Beef Central.
Biological control of invasive weeds
Many ranchers and rangeland managers are trying to find ways to halt prolific spread of invasive weeds. Paul Brusven, biocontrol coordinator with Nez Perce Bio-Control Center, Lapwai, Idaho, says biological controls are proving successful for a number of weeds, using “bugs” that feed on certain species as their natural host.
“Biological control is a great tool, putting the natural enemies to work against invasive pests. Importation and release of carefully selected natural enemies (usually insects) that are host-specific to a targeted weed reduces the vigor and reproduction of the non-native weed,” Brusven explains.
Click or tap here to read more from the Angus Beef Bulletin.
