The Kansas 4-H program hosted the 89th annual Discovery Days event at Kansas State University May 28-31, 2013. This event is a mini college experience for about 750 prospective K-State students. Classes range from two hours in length to all day. This year there was an emphasis on higher education and career paths that youth can pursue. Dr. Dave Rethorst represented the Beef Cattle Institute teaching a class about proper injection techniques in production animals. Other topics discussed were animal welfare and agriculture advocation.

BQA Regional MeetingsAugust: 8/12 Dodge City @ Winter Livestock Inc.

8/22 Holton @ Holton Livestock Exchange

September: 9/9 Coffeyville @ Coffeyville Livestock Market

9/12 Hutchinson @ Central Livestock of South Hutch Inc.

9/16 Marysville@ Marysville Livestock Auction Inc.

Paola –TBA @ Paola Livestock Auction Inc.

Oakley- TBA@ Oakley Livestock Commission Company

•Discovery Days •Producer Spotlight •Intern Article •Lone Star Ticks •Student Spotlight •Rural Practitioner •Recipe of the Season

In This Issue:

July 2013

The 1

Brought to you by the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University

Grazier

After injecting the oranges and bread the students observed the spread of the colored water from the injection site to the rest of the orange and slice of bread.

4-H Discovery Days at K-State

@The_BCI Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University

Dr. Dave Rethorst, Director of Outreach, helped show students the correct way to make injections on oranges and bread during an experiment at 4-H Discovery Days.

Register by calling the Beef Cattle Institute at 785-532-4844 or by emailing kjoliver@vet.ksu.edu.

to alternative ways of doing things, and have my ways constantly challenged.” Porter is actively involved in many industry orga-nizations including Kansas Livestock Association, and he works closely with K-State researchers on various cattle research projects. “Volunteer work with KSU, KLA, and other great organizations has allowed me to try to help and to learn from others. Often my main contribution is to find very competent people already doing the right things, and give them support, both financial and moral.” Porter says current students considering returning to the family farm should have a clear plan for transition-ing management. “For the first year the returning person should operate like hired labor, to learn what is done and why it is done that way. All management from the returning person should be merely as advice to the parent, with the parent making all management decisions.” Over time the returning person should slowly start taking over primary responsibility for certain aspects of the operation. Porter advises the time frame for transi-tioning should be openly discussed before and during the transition process while keeping in mind, “Every unit of the operation must have one, and only one, primary deci-sion maker, with all others acting as advisors.”

Returning to the family farm “can easily be the best or worst decision of your life,” but, “being com-pletely away from the family farm or ranch for 2-5 years before returning often improves success.” Porter says he would encourage young people to enter the cattle industry, “because there is not another business filled with any more wonderful people, nor any more enjoyable work. But the cattle industry is like most other businesses, if you don’t love it, you will hate it.”

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Rich Porter, Porter Cattle Company

Producer Spotlight:

Contact Us: 785-532-4844 bci@ksu.edu

By: Lisa HendersonRich Porter has one of the most

unique resumes in the cattle industry. Porter Cattle Company, Reading Kan., is a suc-cessful stocker operation that has benefitted from Porter’s diverse education - a degree in chemical engineering from Kansas State in 1972, and a law degree from Southern Methodist University in 1975. Next he was employed by Bethlehem Steel for four years in air pollution control. But Porter returned to Kansas where he has farmed and raised cattle the past 35 years. In 1998 Porter was an inaugural member of the Department of Agricultural Economics Master in Agri-business program. His thesis examined the economies of scale in finishing cattle. Porter believes each degree taught him different ways of thinking and helped him become a well-rounded businessman. “My Chemical Engineering degree taught me to: tear a problem into parts small enough to solve, do research myself and work with others to solve each problem, and then put the solved parts back together for a solution. Then keep refining the process to reach an improved solution. My Masters of Agribusiness degree gave me great tools for analyzing ranching problems. It also allowed me to become close friends with many brilliant AgEcon professors and fel-low students.” During his college years, Porter learned the importance of having mentors and advisors to help give an outsiders point of view. “Ranching and farming involve a lot of work in isolation. This makes it even more important to constantly be exposed

Summertime, and the livin’ ain’t so easy—not if you’re a resident of one of the most exclusive stretches of real estate on the Eastern Coast, and you enjoy the outdoors, and you eat meat. Of all the (alleged) downside of being an omnivore—that is, someone who subsists on the diet of plant and animal foods that’s sustained humanity for oh, two or three hundred thousand years—the latest flap over the effects of meat-eating is as unlikely, as bizarre and as disturbing as it gets. And it’s even more compelling because it involves The Hamptons, that iconic enclave of super-rich New Yawkahs who escape Manhattan’s oppressive heat and humidity by summering in their Gatsby-esque compounds and pricey beachfront bungalows. Here’s the story, according to multiple news reports: It appears people are developing an allergy to red meat that’s caused by a species of tick that is invading Long Island’s refuge for the super-rich. The offending insect is known as the Lone Star tick, which is not named for the state of Texas, but because of a single white spot on the backs of the females of the species. Scientists and public health officials explained that the tick’s bite infects people with a carbohydrate called alpha-gal, which is also present in meat. It is believed that some people’s immune systems begin to attack alpha-gal as an allergen, leading to often serious reactions. For example, one resident of Southampton said he began waking up in the middle of the night, unable to breath and covered in hives. Although doctors realized it was some sort of allergy and administered antihistamines, the symptoms occurred only when he ate lamb, steak or burgers. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The allergic reactions range from vomiting and abdominal cramps to hives to anaphylaxis (a severe form of shock), which can lead to breathing difficulties and sometimes even death.” Worse, the symptoms usually don’t occur until three to six hours after the person eats

a meal with red meat, which makes it unlike most food allergies that cause a rapid reaction. The range of the Lone Star tick may be expanding, as the tick, once found only in the Southeast, has been spreading into the West and even New York and New England.

Covered in hives—and loving it

The connection between ticks and meat was discovered by Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills, an allergy researcher at the University of Virginia, who noticed that some cancer patients who

exhibited allergic reactions to the drug cetuximab had antibodies to alpha-gal, which is also present in the drug. Platts-Mills discovered that only patients from the southeastern “tick-belt” had allergic reactions, and he began routinely asking about tick exposure.

Then the WSJ story gets downright creepy.

“Platts-Mills himself returned from hiking in the Blue Ridge

Mountains in 2007 with his ankles covered in tiny Lone Star larvae. His blood soon tested positive for the telltale antibodies to alpha-gal. A few months later, he ate lamb for dinner at a meeting in London and awoke at 2 am covered in hives. ‘I went back to sleep, pleased that I had another case to report on,’ he said.”

And that’s the difference between us and him.

There is some upside to this red meat horror story, however. According to reports, researchers have noted that the allergy seems to recede after a number of years have passed since the tick bite that triggered the initial reaction. That is, as long as the affected person doesn’t get bitten by another Lone Star tick. So to summarize, the good news: You can afford to spend your summers in The Hamptons. The bad news: You spend your summers in The Hamptons.

Reprinted with permission from Drovers/CattleNetwork.

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Severely Ticked OffBy Dan Murphy

Lone Star tick.

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The Beef Cattle Institute is cooperating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a project to reduce the occurrence and public health risks from Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in beef. The $25 million project, STEC CAP, targets eight serogroups/serotypes of STEC using a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) platform. STEC is a serious threat to the food supply that results in more than 265,000 infections in the U.S. each year. Eating contaminated food or direct contact with fecal matter from infected cattle and other ruminants causes most of these illnesses. Daniel Thomson, Jones Professor of Production Medicine at K-State, feedlot veterinarian and director of the Beef Cattle Institute, will lead efforts establishing a holistic food safety culture across all sectors of the beef food chain. “The BCI will develop and offer training and outreach tools to enhance stakeholder knowledge for all sectors of the beef industry,” Thomson says. A team of four summer interns at The Beef Cattle Institute are working on a USDA-funded set of online training modules about E. coli prevention in the beef industry. Different modules will be specific to feedlot, cow/calf, cull dairy cows, veal, small and large scale packers, distributors, and restaurants. The modules will inform workers in each sector of steps that can be taken to prevent E. coli contamination in throughout the beef chain. Currently, four modules have been scripted and are in the development process. “Cattle producers, feedlot operators, transporters, processors, retailers and consumers all must understand and execute their roles in beef safety,” Thomson said. “This will result in a more knowledgeable beef industry workforce and an enhanced beef safety infrastructure.”

Student Worker Spotlight:Lisa Henderson Hometown: Olathe, Kansas Major: Agriculture Economics & Agriculture Communications Years at BCI: Started Fall of 2012

Favorite Project: “My favorite projects are producing the newsletter and helping manage the social media accounts.”

What did you learn from the BCI? “The BCI has shown me how important research and education are to the cattle and beef industries. My work at BCI has helped me understand the value of producer education to beef quality and safety. ”

Got News?Send your news and story ideas to us at bci@k-state.edu.

BCI Interns work towards E. Coli Prevention

The BCI summer interns are Jing Li, Elsie Suhr, Alexia Sampson, Rachael Gortowski and Rebecca Legere.

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FourthgenerationKansan, Mike Whitehair, DVM, graduated from Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 1974 with theambitiontostayconnected to livestock without being a producer. Whitehair realized that goal when he joined the Abilene Animal Hospital in 1975, where he remains a partner with primary dutiesinbeefandsomegenerallargeanimalpractice,including horses, dairies and small ruminants. Throughout a career nearly four decades long, Whitehair says he has witnessed an “explosion ofinformationtorefineourroleasbiomedicalscientists.”Hesaysthemostrewardingpartofhisprofessionalcareeristhatexplosionofinformationthat “challenges me to be current and relevant in working with my clients as part of their team. All ouractivitiesremaincenteredaroundconstantimprovement.” Abilene Animal Hospital was founded almost 70 years ago as primarily a general food animal veterinarypracticewitheachveterinarianabletocoverallspecies.Todaytheystillprovidethesamehigh-qualitycarebutuseadifferentmodelwithsmallgroupsfocusedonswineproductionandherdhealth,communitycompanionanimalpractice,andlarge animal species. Whitehair believes the model elevates the level of care by allowing a narrower focus ofservicewithinthevariousgroupsinacollaborativesetting. Whitehair also enjoys being close to the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine. “It has allowed me to interact with great studentswhentheyvisitourpracticeorwhenwespeak to classes at the school. Students come from all over the country, and they create an atmosphere ofexcitementandpromiseforabrightertomorrow.” Additionally,WhitehairsupportsoftheinitiativesoftheBCI. “TheBeefCattleInstituterefinestheroleoflandgrantuniversitiesandtheircollegesofveterinarymedicine. This creates a triad of scholarly pursuit, producers and the veterinary community including privateandpublicpractice.Bytakingthisapproachitcreates a shared voice of advocacy for such issues as animal welfare, environmental impacts, food safety

Rural Practitioner: Michael Whitehair

Sizzling Summer Beef Steak Total recipe time: 35 minutes Makes 6-8 servings Ingredients: 1 beef top round steak, cut 1-1/2 inches thick (about 3 pounds)Marinade: 1/2 cup fresh lime juice 3 tablespoons minced green onions 3 tablespoons water 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (optional) 3 large cloves garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon salt Instructions: 1. Combine marinade ingredients in small bowl. Place beef steak and marinade in food-safe plastic bag; turn to coat. Close bag securely and marinate in refrigerator 6 hours or as long as overnight, turning occasionally. 2. Remove steak; discard marinade. Place steak on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 20 to 23 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, times remain the same) for medium rare (145°F) doneness, turning occasionally. Do not overcook. Remove; let stand 10 minutes. Carve into thin slices. Test Kitchen Tips To broil, place steak on rack in broiler pan so surface of beef is 3 to 4 inches from heat. Broil 27 to 29 minutes for medium rare doneness, turning once.

Recipe obtained from MyBeefCheckoff.com

andfeedingahungryworld.” Inadditiontohisserviceasa veterinarian, Whitehair says he is honored to have served in several electedpositionsofvolunteerserviceto his profession. “These life experiences have reinforced my belief of the important role that veterinary medicine has in oursociety.Ithasaffordedmethechance to meet and become friends of many great men and women who share a similar passion for a life of serviceinveterinarymedicine.”