Local breeder in

new Angus report

CI Ranch in Los Olivos owns three bulls listed in the 2008 Fall Sire Evaluation Report, published by the American Angus Association in Saint Joseph, Mo.

Issued in both the spring and fall, the new report features the latest performance information available on 6,670 sires, and is accessible at www.angussiresearch.com.

The report provides both Angus breeders and commercial cattle producers using Angus genetics with accurate, predictable selection tools to improving their herds, according to Bill Bowman, American Angus Association chief operating officer and director of performance programs.

Expected progeny differences are generated from the performance database of the American Angus Association, which includes information submitted by nearly 9,800 Angus breeders this past year through the association's Beef Improvement Records program.

For more information, visit www.angus.org.

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Self-employment

Training classes set

Women's Economic Ventures' 2008 fall Self-Employment Training classes will begin in September, and free orientation sessions are being offered throughout July and August

WEV's comprehensive 14-week,

56-hour program is targeted to women - but also serves men - and provides guidance on how to start, operate or expand a business.

Participants will leave the course with a business plan, including a marketing plan, a cash flow projection, an operations plan and a core network to help sustain the business.

The program is offered in both English and Spanish in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Ventura twice each year, starting in February and September.

Classes meet for three hours one night a week for 14 consecutive weeks and includes two full Saturdays.

Those planning to enroll are required to attend a free one-hour orientation workshop, which also are offered in English and Spanish.

Santa Maria orientations in English are set for 6 to 7 p.m. Aug. 13, 19 and 27, and orientations in Spanish will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. on the same dates.

For more information and to sign up for an orientation session, call 965-6073 or visit www.wevonline.org.

Cal Coastal

earns farm award

The Santa Maria office of California Coastal Rural Development Corp. was recently awarded the 2007 Number One Farm Loan Guaranteed Lender Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Farm Service Agency in California.

Herb Aarons, president, received the award in a ceremony held at the headquarters office in Salinas.

FSA State Director John Smythe said Cal Coastal was given the award for its “continued excellence in customer service as well as volume.”

While celebrating its 25th anniversary last year, Cal Coastal led the state by securing the most USDA-guaranteed operating and ownership loans for farm and ranch operations in Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

The organization is certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution.

For more information, contact Santa Maria branch manager Bob Musick at 349-0798.

- From staff reports