It's that time of year again.  The holidays are upon us and many people are getting ready for family gatherings and cooking those festive holiday meals.  As these special events approach, and you begin planning your events, be sure to keep food safety in mind.  A popular food choice for this time of year is poultry and poultry products.  Poultry is a nutritious and economical choice and very versatile in the ways you can cook with it.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is estimated that 1 in 4 Americans will get a food borne illness each year.  You can protect your family by following certain food safety measures when handling or preparing poultry and poultry products.

It is not always easy to tell when a food product is safe to eat.  Most bacteria cannot be seen, smelled or tasted.  To ensure your poultry is safe to eat, consumers should be careful when handling raw products at all times.  Follow these safety tips when preparing your poultry.

Grocery Shopping: Food safety begins at the store.  Do not buy products that have been bruised or damaged in any way.  If purchasing frozen food, make sure you have enough storage space in your freezer and the product is frozen solid.  Refrigerated food should be cold to the touch.  Keep raw foods separate from ready to eat foods in the cart as well as in bags.

Brown County 4-H is supported by brown county united way

DATES TO REMEMBER

December

4 - Bangs 4-H Club Meeting 6:00p.m. at Bangs FCS Classroom

10 - Consumer Decision Making Practice 4:30p.m. at Extension Office

11 - Brownwood 4-H Club Meeting 6:30p.m. at Extension Office

11 - Early 4-H Club Meeting 6:30p.m. at Early First Baptist Church

15 - 4-H Project Show at Youth Fair Barns

16 - Sheep Project Club Meeting 6:00p.m. at Youth Fair Barns

4-H PROJECT SHOW

The Brown County 4-H Project Show is set for December 15th at the Youth Fair Barns. There will be more information to follow with time and schedule at a later date.

2012 TEXAS MARKET HOG SYMPOSIUM AND JACKPOT PIG SHOW

There is going to be a Market Hog Symposium and Jackpot Pig Show on December 7th and 8th at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension & Research Center and Tarleton Ag Center. The Panel Discussions for the Hog Symposium will be: What will the future Market Hog Look Like?, Texas Pork Breeders Panel on Type, Frame Size, and Weight Limits, Classification Clarification/Interpretation, and Comments from Major Show Judges and Show Managers. The Hog Symposium will begin at 9:00a.m. on December 7th.

Many people like to start the day with a fresh cup (or cups) of coffee.  In the past, it was believed that coffee could be harmful.  But research has shown that, overall, there is little evidence of health risk and there is actually evidence of health benefits for adults consuming moderate amounts of coffee (3-4 cups per day, providing 300-400 mg per day of caffeine).

Coffee has many health benefits.  Preliminary studies have indicated these possible valuable benefits:

• Lowers risk for Type 2 diabetes
• Lowers risk for Parkinson's disease
• Protects against development of colorectal cancer
• Lowers risk for cirrhosis and liver cancer
• Reduces risk for all-cause mortality

Brown County 4-H is supported by Brown County United Way

DATES TO REMEMBER

November

22 - Extension Office Closed for Thanksgiving

23 - Extension Office Closed for Thanksgiving

27 - Food Challenge Practice 4:30p.m. at Extension Office

27 - Deadline to Enter the Brown County Youth Fair

December

11 - Brownwood 4-H Club Meeting 6:30p.m. at Extension Office

11 - Early 4-H Club Meeting 6:30p.m. at Early First Baptist Church

15 - 4-H Project Show at Youth Fair Barns

16 - Sheep Project Club Meeting 6:00p.m. at Youth Fair Barns

Thanksgiving is a day to count our blessings, be with family, watch football and eat until you can't eat any more. It's also a field day for a trivia nut like me. According to Texas Farm Bureau here are 10 things you probably don't know about Thanksgiving:

10) The first Thanksgiving may have roots in Texas, according to the Texas Almanac. El Paso residents claim Thanksgiving goes back to Spanish Explorer Juan de Onate's expedition to Texas in 1598. The Texas Society of Daughters of American Colonists placed a marker at Palo Duro Canyon where they claimed explorer Francisco Vazquez de Coronado celebrated the first Thanksgiving.

9) Ben Franklin wanted the national bird to be a turkey.

8) More than 40 million green bean casseroles are served Thanksgiving Day, according to coolest-holiday-parties.com.

A requirement for adult cattle in Texas to have an approved form of permanent identification in place at change of ownership will go into effect January 1, 2013 according to the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC). The Commission amended its rules in June of this year to enhance the effective traceability of beef cattle movements in Texas.

The amended rule permanently cancels the brucellosis test requirement for adult cattle at change of ownership. Although testing of adult cattle is no longer required with the rule change, all sexually intact cattle, parturient or post parturient, or 18 months of age and older changing ownership must still be officially identified with Commission approved permanent identification. This change primarily affects beef cattle, as dairy cattle in Texas have had an even more stringent identification requirement in place since 2008. Sexually intact adult beef cattle 18 months and up, and Mexican origin event cattle are subject to this new law.  Nursing calves, steers, spayed heifers, bulls and heifers under 18 months are exempt (unless heifer has calved).

Before August of 2011, official identification devices such as ear tags were applied automatically at the time a brucellosis test was performed. The inadvertent loss of the identification devices applied to cattle when brucellosis testing stopped has threatened TAHC's ability to effectively trace cattle as part of any ongoing disease investigation.

The Texas Grain Producers Indemnity Board is holding a referendum on the statewide establishment of a grain indemnity fund. The TGPIB referendum will be held from Nov. 19, 2012, until Dec. 7, 2012 across the state.

The grain indemnity fund board may award up to 90 percent of the financial losses suffered by producers of corn, sorghum, soybean and wheat when grain buyers fail to pay for grain due to a financial failure. The TGPIB was established as the result of legislation passed by the 2011 Texas legislature and signed into law by the governor. Rep. Larry Phillips of Sherman and Sen. Craig Estes of Wichita Falls introduced the legislation after a series of grain buyer financial failures in recent years resulted in millions of dollars in losses to Texas grain producers.

Eligible voters in the referendum will vote to establish an assessment rate within a range of 0.2 percent to 0.6 percent of the final sales price of grain. The assessment, which will be set each year by the TGPIB, will be collected and remitted to the TGPIB effective Feb. 1, 2013.

Any producer who has produced corn, sorghum, soybeans or wheat within the last 36 months is eligible to vote. This includes owners of farms on which grain is produced or an owner's tenant or sharecropper engaged in the business of producing grain or causing grain to be produced for commercial purposes.

Thanksgiving is this week and many families are beginning to make plans for that yummy Thanksgiving dinner.  If you are responsible for preparation of a turkey, consider the number of guests to be served, the supplies needed, and safe handling procedures for turkey.  Poultry is a potentially hazardous food that has to be kept at certain temperatures to minimize the growth of bacteria.  Bacteria multiply rapidly between the Danger Zone of 40 F and 140 F.  Larger quantities of food are typically prepared for Thanksgiving, so plan food preparation so that large amounts or large containers of hot food are not placed in your refrigerator at one time, which can make the refrigerator temperature rise about 40 F.  A food thermometer and refrigerator thermometer will be helpful for safe food preparation.

For many families, turkey is the main protein food on Thanksgiving tables.  Remember, a serving size is 3 ounces which is about the size of a deck of cards.  But when selecting a whole turkey, allow 1 pound per person.  If your choice is to prepare turkey breast, allow 3/4 pound per person, or if it's boneless, « pound per person.  For a frozen pre-stuffed turkey, it's best to allow 1 1/4 pounds per person.  Make sure the frozen pre-stuffed turkey has a USDA or State mark of inspection, and never thaw before cooking.  Fresh turkey should be purchased only 1 to 2 days before it is to be cooked.

Brown County 4-H is supported by Brown County United Way

DATES TO REMEMBER

November

18 - Sheep Project Club Meeting 6:00p.m. at Youth Fair Barns

19 - Major Stock Show Entry Night 5:00p.m. at Extension Office

20 - Rabbit Project Club Meeting 7:00p.m. at Extension Office

20 - Food Challenge Practice 2:00p.m. at Extension Office

22 - Extension Office Closed for Thanksgiving

23 - Extension Office Closed for Thanksgiving

27 - Food Challenge Practice 4:30p.m. at Extension Office

BROWN COUNTY YOUTH FAIR CHECKLIST

The Brown County Youth Fair is approaching fast. Everyone should have your animals if you are planning on entering in the Livestock Division of the Youth Fair. There are a few other things that have to be done in order to participate in the Brown County Youth Fair. Below is a check list for you to go by to make sure you are covered.

Cattlemen are certainly tough and resilient individuals. Natural disasters, escalating land prices, high input costs and transition challenges don't get these folks down too easily. Despite these challenges, cattlemen thrive by being as efficient as possible in the way they manage their cowherd while producing high-quality beef. As corn prices skyrocket, many are wondering how today's high feed prices will impact cowboys across the country. Some are looking into alternative solutions to the problem.

We've seen producers feed cattle everything from algae to beer, and there are some cattlemen who are looking at a surprisingly sweet treat to feed their livestock -- candy.

Candy for breakfast, lunch and dinner might be a five-year-old's dream, but it's the new reality for dairy cows in some parts of the country. This summer's drought has driven up the cost of corn feed, forcing farmers to look for cheaper and more plentiful alternatives. And they've found them in the form of gummy bears, marshmallows and even cookies.

November is American Diabetes Month, a time to communicate the seriousness of diabetes and the importance of diabetes prevention and control.  With nearly 26 million children and adults in America living with diabetes, and another 79 million at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes, the disease is taking a devastating physical, emotional and financial toll on our country.  Yet most Americans don't consider diabetes a serious matter.  They feel it is someone else's responsibility; someone else's problem.

Recent numbers by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention paint a desperate      situation of where we are at, and where we are headed:*  Every 17 seconds, someone is diagnosed with diabetes.

*  Diabetes kills more people each year than breast cancer and AIDS combined.

*  Recent estimates project that as many as 1 in 3 American adults will have diabetes in 2050 unless we take steps to stop Diabetes.

What is diabetes?  The term "diabetes" refers to a number of diseases, the most common being type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes.  In each, the body does not produce or properly use insulin - a hormone that is needed to convert sugar starches and other food into the energy we need to live.  The exact causes of diabetes are still unclear, although both genetics and environmental or lifestyle factors can play an important role in the development of diabetes and its complications.

Brown County 4-H is supported by Brown County United Way

DATES TO REMEMBER

November

5 - Major Stock Show Entry Night 5:00p.m. at Extension Office

6 - Bangs 4-H Club Meeting 6:00p.m. at Bangs ISD FCS Classroom

10 - Swine Validation 8:00a.m. at the Youth Fair Barns

13 - Brownwood 4-H Club Meeting 6:30p.m. at Extension Office

13 - Early 4-H Club Meeting 6:30p.m. at Early First Baptist Church

13 - Food Challenge Practice 4:30p.m. at Extension Office

15 - Brookesmith 4-H Club Meeting 6:00p.m. at Brookesmith ISD