Agriculture notebook for May 4

«New show ... The first of what is intended to become an annual Colorado Boer Classic Show and Sale will be conducted Aug. 30 at the Southeast Weld County Fairgrounds in Keenesburg. The show will start at 8 a.m., followed by the sale. The event is an American Boer Goat Association sanctioned show and will be hosted by E-I-E-I-Owe Farms of Keenesburg, Lucky Clover Boers of Johnstown and Pleasant Bayou Goat Farm of Brighton. The show will be judged by Ewing Downen of Ulvade, Texas, who is a nationally recognized Boer goat breeder. A production sale will follow the show. Some of Colorado's top genetics will be sold at auction during that sale. More information is available at (303) 732-4533, (970) 420-8509 or (720) 685-3461 or by e-mail at eieiowefarms@ yahoo.com, country-girl_18@hotmail.com, or tkoehn303@aol.com.

«Grower award ... Nominations are open for the Grower Achievement Award, which honors vegetable growers for excellence in marketing efforts, innovative food quality and safety procedures, industry leadership and community outreach. The award is sponsored by Syngenta and is presented by American Vegetable Grower magazine in cooperation with the United Fresh Produce Association. Nominations may be made at www.americanvegetablegrower. com/awards/index.html and are due by May 30. Winners and nominators will get an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., where the winner will be named in September.

«Summer camp ... Colorado State University will host an agricultural-themed summer camp for teenagers from June 15-19. Sponsored by the College of Agricultural Sciences, the second annual Camp Round-UP is open to all students ages 13-18. The camp provides hands-on activities on a wide array of agricultural topics as well as presentations from faculty, staff and students at CSU. During Camp Round-UP, participants will get a taste of the college experience. Students will stay in the residence halls, eat in the dining halls and tour facilities around the campus. Colorado State faculty will cover a broad agricultural-based curriculum involving such disciplines as soils and crops, agricultural business, horticulture, animal and equine sciences, and current agricultural issues. There are several pricing options for registration. From now until Friday, early-bird registration is $425. From Friday to May 23, regular registration is $475. The final date for registration is May 23. For more information about Camp Round-UP, go to http://camproundup.agsci.colo state.edu or contact Jennifer Berg-Ramsey at (970) 689-1140.

«Investigation sought ... R-CALF USA, along with the Organization for Competitive Markets, has sent formal correspondence to several state attorneys general from major cattle-producing states -- including Colorado -- asking the officials to join with other attorneys general to investigate the competitive effects of the proposed acquisitions by JBS S.A. of National Beef Packing Co., Smithfield Beef Group and Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding. The acquisitions were made last week and are pending U.S. Justice Department approval. Max Thornsberry, president of R-CALF USA, said the primary focus of that group's concern is with the market for slaughter-ready cattle that are sold in proximity to the major meatpackers and the market for lighter-weight feeder cattle that are sold in relatively large quantities in every state. In a press release, Thornsberry said if the JBS merger is allowed, only three people -- the head buyers employed by JBS, Tyson Foods and Cargill Meat Solutions -- will make price decisions on more than 80 percent of the slaughter-ready cattle each day. Letters sent to attorneys general in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, are available at the "Competition Issues" link at www. r-calfusa.com.

Submissions for the Ag Notebook should be sent to Bill Jackson, bjackson@ greeleytribune.com, (970) 392-4442, or to
Sharon Dunn, sdunn@
greeleytribune.com,
(970) 392-4439. Deadline is
4 p.m. Wednesdays. Any submission after that time will run the following week.