South Carolina Angus Association
News
May 14, 2006
Windy Bartee, secretary SCAA
Cars and trucks came rolling up McKelvey Road to the Riverhill Farm right on cue Saturday morning, May 13th. Stephanie Clark and Dr. Rodger Clark had really rolled out the red carpet. The day was a beautiful sunshiny day with a fresh wind to make it just right for a light wrap until the chill wore off.
The troops of friends and neighbors were out to greet the guests and direct the traffic flow. Chisholm Clark and the other children were entertained on a big blow-up slide. They were keeping it slick with the bodies coming down. Stephanie and Rodger had thought of everything to make their company of all ages feel right at home.
The Angus and horses had been run out of the barns. Both of the barns were spick and span for the Angus folks to use as shelter for this one day. One barn was set up with tables and chairs for the delicious barbecue pork and chicken lunch at 12:30. The tables were decorated with Shasta daisies in pots with an Angus cow/ calf pair or bull as a pot ornament. Many ladies had brought cakes and other delicious desserts to share after the barbecue plates were polished off.
The horse barn with brick floor was an ideal place to give the informative lectures planned by Stephanie. Forage specialist Dr. John Andrae instructed which grasses were best for the different parts of South Carolina. We are lucky to have him as an expert in South Carolina. A quote from the Clemson News article by Peter Kent said about him,
“South Carolina cattle producers have a new expert to turn to at Clemson University. John Andrae came to Clemson from the University of Georgia in Athens, where he held similar posts and worked on grazing and pasture management. He is a highly regarded specialist in a number of soil and crop sciences areas, including grazing management and alleviating tall fescue toxicosis — a condition affecting cattle and horse births, as well as using legumes, such as clover and alfalfa, to improve pastures and enhancing hay production and quality.”
Dr. Andrae gave tips on forage and which grasses thrived best in different soils and parts of South Carolina. He advised to choose the variety carefully considering persistence, establishment method, disease resistance, and yield and quality of the grass. Have your soil tested to avoid wasting the fertilizer applied. You may be putting on a product unsuited for your pastures needs. If you have red sorrel, a weed, your pH is too acid and you need to lower the pH with lime. Controlled rotational grazing was another suggestion to utilize and manage the pastures efficiently.
Animal cloning, embryo transplants and reproduction captivated our attention when Dr. John Gibbons spoke. Dr. John Gibbons is a new member of the Animal & Veterinary Sciences Department (since January 2004). He specializes in reproductive physiology and plans to work with cattle and horses in stem cells and animal cloning. He has earned degrees from Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, and University of Wisconsin. He presently teaches a course on reproductive physiology at Clemson.
Cloning is being done now. Calves were first cloned in Kansas City in 2002. The cost for a cloned calf is about $20,000. Only one out of 100 embryos will make it to a live animal. There is value to the research in that the cloning might make it possible in the future to produce more meat and milk from our cattle using fewer animals. Cloned pigs would provide organs that could be transplanted into humans. Several different animals have been cloned and were pictured during his talk. The cloning is a tool to help produce quality, uniform animals.
Embryo transplant is more affordable at about $670 for cost of collection.
The group broke for lunch and the officers and directors held a brief meeting. We plan to hold the 36th Carolina Futurity again next March using the facilities and food at the Ramada Inn at Clemson for our banquet.
Other speakers were after dinner speakers with updates from Brian Lance from Godfrey Seed Company, Steve McGill from Merial, Aaron May from Ritchie watering troughs, and David Gazda, our regional representative from the American Angus Association.
David reminded us that as members of the American Angus Association we can take advantage of his service. All that he does to help Angus breeders he does free of charge so do not hesitate to ask.
Angus continues to be the largest registered breed in the world. Angus represents 40% of all the registered breeds. Each month our registrations are increasing. The Angus Foundation gives scholarships to our youth and is now providing $100,000 in scholarships for the young Angus breeders, showmen and showwomen.
David Gazda said, “It’s a great ride with the Angus breed but continue to use the tools available. There are people out there gunning for us.”
Well it was a great ride to the Clarks and back home. All who made the ride can say it was well worth the time in education, food and fellowship. The Clarks have turned their farm into quite a showplace with quality Angus, beautiful horses and shiny trailers. We all benefited from seeing what you can do with hard work. Stephanie and Dr. Rodger sure worked hard getting everything just right for us to enjoy the day. On top of it all we met old friends and made a few new ones. Thank you to the Clarks for their southern hospitality. As they say in the south, “A good time was had by all.”
SC Junior Angus Show:
The SCJA show is planned for Saturday, June 3, at Clemson’s cattle complex next to the T. Ed Garrison Arena. The show begins at 10 a.m. and will probably be over around 12:30 or 1. The judge is Dr. David Kirkpatrick from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Come and watch the juniors shine.
If you have information that should be in our SC Angus news, please contact Windy Bartee at 803-222-7533 or tumblet8@bellsouth.net. If you want to buy a banner ad, the cost is $50 per month plus set up fees. If you would like to become a member our dues are $20. Please send a check for $20 to SCAA, 1717 St. Paul Church Rd.,Clover, SC 29710. Click here for an application.
