Cattle

The Maryland Cattle Industry Convention will be Friday, March 2, and Saturday, March 3, at Four Points Sheraton in Hagerstown. The deadline to register is Feb. 23. For information, call 1-410-795-5309 or go online to www.marylandcattle.org Featured Saturday will be the fourth annual youth Livestock Skillathon. It will focus on such topics as animal selection/identification, feed and equipment identification and uses, meat identification, and meats and hay judging. Youths entering the contest must pay a $7 signup fee, which will also cover Saturday's educational programs and the luncheon.

By SHEILA HOTCHKIN / Staff Writer photo: MIKE CRUPI / staff photographer [ enlarge ] SHARPSBURG - Houdini did Jeff and Sharon Wiles of Clear Spring proud Thursday night when he won the grand champion award for longhorn steer at the Washington County Ag Expo cattle show. "I had him all cleaned up, and you see what he did for the show," said Jeff Wiles, shaking his head as he examined mud smeared on Houdini after the Ag Expo cattle show. --cont from news -- Sharon Wiles pinned the purple ribbon on Houdini's pen after the show.

About 40 Black Angus cattle were killed or euthanized after a livestock trailer overturned on Interstate 68 near Sideling Hill Thursday afternoon, according to Maryland State Police. The driver of the tractor-trailer, Jason Braithwhite of Points, W.Va., had only minor injuries, Senior Trooper Robert Care said. Braithwhite was the independent owner of the tractor-trailer which was transporting 96 cattle from a farm in Greencastle, Pa., to a facility in Nebraska where they were to be fattened up for sale, Care said.

The Humane Society of Washington County rescued a brown and white Australian cattle dog mix Saturday. The female dog was hit by a car and was found on North Locust and West North Avenue in Hagerstown at 3:58 p.m. Anyone with information about the dog is encouraged to contact the shelter at 301-733-2060.  The dog has been treated for its injuries and is waiting to go home.  “She is a very well behaved, friendly dog. We hope to...

Prior to Gettysburg, perhaps just three truly decisive battles had been fought on the North American continent - The British defeat of the French at Quebec in 1759; the 1777 defeat of the British by American forces at Saratoga; and the Battle of Chapultepec in 1847, which secured the United States' victory over Mexico and annexation of the Southwest Territories. While the Civil War would continue for almost two years after North and South clashed at Gettysburg, it was the turning point of the Civil War. The Union rebounded from the slaughter of Chancellorsville two months earlier; Confederate forces were placed on the defensive for the balance of the war and it was the largest battle ever fought on American soil in terms of numbers of combatants, placed at 158,300.

Christopher Thomas, of Boonsboro, has entered five beef cattle in the 33rd annual North American International Livestock Exposition. The exposition is to be held Nov. 4-17 in Louisville, Ky.

The Virginia Tech Dairy Cattle Judging Team finished another great year, placing first in a field of 19 teams at the 89th Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis., on Sept. 28. The team also placed first at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 19. Hannah Smith of Clear Spring was one of the four team members.

INDIANAPOLIS - The Chambersburg FFA competed at the National FFA Conference in Indianapolis Oct. 21 to 25. The dairy judging team placed sixth in the nation and was the highest placing team in Pennsylvania in all of the career development events. Team members were Jesse Kline, Melinda Cordell and Dakota Hampton. The National FFA dairy cattle evaluation career development event is a competitive activity that tests the student's ability to select and manage quality dairy cattle.

Knob Hall Cattle Company of Clear Spring is a new member of the American Angus Association, said John Crouch, executive vice president of the national breed registry organization in Saint Joseph, Mo. The association, with more than 34,000 active adult and junior members, is the world's largest beef cattle registry association. Its computerized records include detailed information on more than 14 million registered Angus. The association records ancestral information and keeps production records on individual animals for its members.