Video Feature: Genetic Defects in Beef Cattle Part 2

July 29, 2010 · Comments Off

Video Feature: Genetic Defects in Beef Cattle Part 2

Dr. Terry Stewart discusses the genetic defects Hydrocephalus, Arthrogyposis Multiplex (Curly Calf), Tibia Hemimelia (TH), Contractural Arachnodactyly (Formerly Fawn Calf). In addition he discusses haw to spot an animal afflicted and how to collect lab samples to verify the condition.

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Strategic supplementation

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Strategic supplementation

Greg Lardy

If you look up the word “strategic” in the dictionary, you will note the following definitions:

1a: of, relating to, or marked by strategy; 2a: necessary to or important in the initiation, conduct, or completion of a strategic plan; c: of great importance within an integrated whole or to a planned effect.

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Antibiotics debate

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Antibiotics debate

The Cattle Business Weekly

Last Wednesday the USDA affirmed it supports the idea that there is a link between human health and the use of antibiotics in animals.

USDA chief veterinarian John Clifford said the department believes "the use of antimicrobials in animal agriculture does lead to some cases of antimicrobial resistance among humans and in animals themselves."

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R-CALF wants GIPSA rules now

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

R-CALF wants GIPSA rules now

KRVN

R-CALF USA is keeping alive discussion of the 90-day extension of the public comment period for USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration’s competition rules. According to R-CALF USA the U.S. meatpacker lobby – principally the American Meat Institute, National Meat Association, National Pork Producers Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, placed what it calls – tremendous political pressure – on USDA to gain the extension.

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Freeze branding Offers Producers an Alternative

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Freeze branding Offers Producers an Alternative

Heather Smith Thomas

Cattle Today

Hot iron branding of livestock is the oldest form of permanent identification, practiced on other continents for hundreds of years, and was adopted very early in the American West as proof of ownership.

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Lowering Winter Feed Costs

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Lowering Winter Feed Costs

Thebeefsite.com

This year’s Indiana Integrated Resource Management Program field day on August 31 in Greencastle will focus on helping beef producers lower winter feed costs.

The event will be at the David and Hope Sutherlin Farm, where the cows’ diet includes corn stalks, corn gluten, distiller’s grains and reduced hay consumption during the winter months. Presenters will explain the details of the program and how it has saved them thousands of dollars in feed costs.

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Nelson-Sponsored Bill Will Extend Livestock Price Reporting

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Nelson-Sponsored Bill Will Extend Livestock Price Reporting

1011now

Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson introduced to bipartisan legislation to reauthorize Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting for five years and establish similar systems for pork cuts and dairy products.

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Higher cattle prices provide producers with hope of profits

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Higher cattle prices provide producers with hope of profits

DAN PILLER

Des Moines Register

Just when cattle producers’ long-awaited rally appeared to falter, some hot temperatures in Kansas have put life into cattle and meat prices.

News that more than 2,000 cattle had died of heat stress in Kansas a week ago and that much of the Great Plains had heat advisories pushed up cattle prices from $86 per hundredweight a month ago. They ended at about $92.60 Tuesday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

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Area butchers experience a boom due to ‘buy local’ movement

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Area butchers experience a boom due to ‘buy local’ movement

Kristy MacKaben

Altoona Mirror

It’s not just a question of "Where’s the beef?" These days, it’s more, "Where does the beef come from?"

Butcher shops were once a dying breed, replaced by big supermarket chains. In the last few years, however, many remaining shops have enjoyed a boom in business, as interest in local meat has seen a resurgence.

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Monitoring the Feed Requirements of Early Weaned Calves

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Monitoring the Feed Requirements of Early Weaned Calves

Laura Nelson

Cattle Today

Part 2

Meeting the nutritional needs of a young calf might sound familiar to parents of young children: feed well, feed often and prepare for pickiness.

Weaning at 90 to 120 days of age has proved to be an effective tool to maximize feed efficiency and stimulate marbling development, but that comes with added nutritional responsibility.

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Third ND anthrax case

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Third ND anthrax case

The Cattle Business Weekly

Confirmation of anthrax in Barnes County, North Dakota has prompted state animal health officials to again urge livestock producers, especially in areas with a history of anthrax, to have their animals vaccinated for the disease.

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Feeding cattle: How long?

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Feeding cattle: How long?

Amanda Nolz

Tri State Livestock news

USDA Yield Grade 4s and 5s seem commonplace in the packing industry today, just as 1,400- to 1,500-lb. steers are often seen lumbering through the auction ring at the sale barn. Today’s beef cattle are heavier than ever before, and for many, the deciding factors to feed longer help producers gain extra dollars.

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When should solid sides be put on cattle handling facilities?

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

When should solid sides be put on cattle handling facilities?

Temple Grandin

Feedlot

There is much controversy between cattle handling specialists on the use of solid fences on feedlot processing facilities and loading ramps. Some advocates of low stress handling dislike solid fences because they prevent the cattle from responding to the movements of a handler on the ground.

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Protein labeling study spotlights consumer needs on beef packages

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Protein labeling study spotlights consumer needs on beef packages

Drovers

The Beef Checkoff Program, the National Pork Board and Yerecic Label announces the completion of Phase One of the second Protein Labeling Study (PLS II). The PLS II study identifies current consumer information needs while shopping the meat case, explores consumer recipe use, and tests a variety of on-pack labels for general appeal and functionality.

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New, Easier-To-Use Antibiotic Spray

July 29, 2010 · Leave a Comment

New, Easier-To-Use Antibiotic Spray

Thebeefsite.com

A new oxytetracycline antibiotic spray that promises greater convenience and less product wastage for livestock farmers is available from veterinary practices.

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Video Feature: Genetic Defects in Beef Cattle

July 28, 2010 · Comments Off

Genetic Defects in Beef Cattle

Dr. Terry Stewart, Purdue University, discusses the genetic defects, Syndactyly and Polydactyly, Dwarfism and Osteopetrosis (Marble Bone). First in a series.

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Q&A: What will happen if a Foreign Animal Disease is identified on my premise?

July 28, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Q&A: What will happen if a Foreign Animal Disease is identified on my premise?

Extension.org

If a foreign animal disease such as Foot and Mouth disease is identified on your property, you will receive prompt and thorough instructions from state and federal animal health regulatory agencies about what to do.

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Rotation and Stockpiling Keep Cattle Grazing

July 28, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Rotation and Stockpiling Keep Cattle Grazing

Becky Mills

Progressive Farmer

Letting the fescue grow in the summer goes against conventional wisdom. Generally, it dictates keeping endophyte-infected fescue grazed down low when the endophyte concentrates in the seed heads can affect cattle performance. But it all plays into Robert Shoemaker’s management plan.

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Summer Breeding Tips

July 28, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Summer Breeding Tips

Select Sires

We can’t control the summer heat, but we can change management practices to minimize its adverse effects on reproduction. Here are a few tips from Select Sires field staff about improving conception during the summer months.

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Groups to debate state of competition in U.S. cattle and beef industries

July 28, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Groups to debate state of competition in U.S. cattle and beef industries

Farm Forum

R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard eagerly accepted an invitation from KSDZ-FM in Gordon, Neb., to a live debate – streamed on the Internet – at 6:30 p.m. MDT on Monday, Aug. 9, 2010, with leaders from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the American Meat Institute (AMI) and the National Meat Association (NMA). The subject will be the current state of competition in the U.S. cattle and beef industries. KSDZ-FM owner Jim Lambley will serve as moderator of the event.

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