Weaning Strategies topic of today’s of Beefcast

Weaning Strategies topic of today’s of Beefcast

Today Dr. Ron Lemenager continues his five part series on weaning. Today’s topic is “Weaning Stratagies.” View this presentation by CLICKING HERE.

You must have the FREE Macromedia flash player installed to view this presentation. To download and install this program CLICK HERE.

Next week Ron concludes this series with presentations on preconditioning and vaccinations.

Ranchers learn tips at symposium

Ranchers learn tips at symposium

By Fanny S. Chirinos, Corpus Christi Caller-Times

KINGSVILLE – Sergio Z. Cruz traveled from Muzquiz, Coahuila, Mexico, to attend Thursday’s symposium on ranch management at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. He anticipated that experts would not focus on the Mexican ranch process, but that’s not why he came.

“I want to learn about the newest techniques to manage a ranch,” Cruz said in Spanish after one of the small-group discussions. “It doesn’t matter whether we have 1,000 acres or 10,000 acres. We just want to learn as much as we can so we can take it back home and make the necessary changes. This (symposium) is very informative.”

FULL STORY

Don’t Bite the Farmhand That Feeds You

Don’t Bite the Farmhand That Feeds You

Thehoya.com

Before rushing out of Washington, D.C., for another two months of recess, legislators made sure to pass such high-priority items as a ban on payments to and from online gaming Web sites. But passing a drought-relief package for upper Midwestern farmers somehow slipped the minds of those in Congress.

Large portions of the upper Midwest have been embroiled in extreme drought conditions compounded by similarly dry conditions in the past several years. Many farmers have been comparing the conditions to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln agrees. Scientists monitoring the weather have designated large areas of the upper Midwest as having “extreme” and “exceptional” drought — the latter is defined as a once in 50 years occurrence.

A symbolic indicator of the drought’s severity comes from Mitchell, S.D., home of the famous Corn Palace, built in 1892 to display the fruits of the soil. This year, the corn crop grown to decorate the mural on the outside of the palace is insufficient to redecorate the exterior.

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BeefTalk: The Future of Beef – Midsized Challenges

BeefTalk: The Future of Beef – Midsized Challenges

By Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist

NDSU Extension Service

There is considerable difficulty in being in the middle because the middle seldom stays the middle. The middle (average) is where no one wants to stay. For most, our upbringing has been to move away from the middle and strive to excel, dominate and extend whatever it is that we do to further heights.

The consequence of this business approach has affected rural areas in many ways. One major effect has been the lack of neighbors. In cattle country, the lack of neighbors translates into the lack of help. This is not a new concept, but it is a concept that has been with us since people have been engaged in business.

This gradual elimination of the players or partners in the beef business is part of a cycle that (hopefully) will perhaps someday recycle and redistribute resources. For the time being, the future of the cattle business seems to be pointed to larger and more expansive operations.

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Manage vaccine storage to ensure product viability

Manage vaccine storage to ensure product viability

By Dr. Ron Torell, Extension Livestock Specialist

Minnesota Farm Guide

Chances are that old, second generation refrigerator of Grandma’s is on its last leg. It freezes items placed near the rear element while items placed near the door are warm. In the summer it barely keeps items cool because the molding is worn and does not properly seal the door. In addition to being worn out, most of these old units are very inefficient compared to modern refrigerators.

Let me guess, you purchased a new refrigerator for the house and moved that old one to the barn to store vaccines in.

The above scenario is much too often the case. This could very well be one of the costliest management decisions you make in your beef operation. Improperly stored vaccines are a leading cause of immune response failure.

FULL STORY

Animal ID plan angers some farmers

Animal ID plan angers some farmers

USATODAY

By Mimi Hall

SWOOPE, Va. — A thousand turkeys, 500 cattle, 300 pigs, 1,900 chickens and four generations of the Salatin family share the grassland on this 550-acre farm in the Shenandoah Mountains.

Now, Joel Salatin is worried the government will make it impossible for his 25-year-old son and his two young grandsons to keep the family business going for the generations to come.

He has joined a growing national grass-roots movement against an ambitious new government disease-fighting program that asks every farm in the nation register its animals. The aim of the program, called the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), is to make it easier to track down animals during a disease outbreak that threatens humans and livestock.

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Evans Elected American Hereford Association President

Evans Elected American Hereford Association President

American Hereford Association

Jack Evans, Winona, Miss., was announced as the new president of the American Hereford Association (AHA) at the AHA Annual Meeting in Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 23. His goals for the AHA include taking Certified Hereford Beef® (CHB) to the next level, gaining more Hereford market share and making the Association as efficient as possible.

In 1970 Evans graduated from Kansas State University, where he was herdsman of the college’s cattle division. After graduating he managed Flint Hill Hereford Ranch in Eureka, Kan.; Higgens Hereford Ranch in Nowata, Okla.; and finally EE Ranches Inc.’s Mississippi division in Winona, where he remains after 23 years.

State delegates elected Evans to the AHA Board of Directors in 2003. This past year, he was chair of the show and sale committee, and also served on the building and marketing committees. In addition, he serves on the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) board of directors.

FULL STORY

Bring a strong message, and cattlemen will respond

Bring a strong message, and cattlemen will respond

By John Queen

Minnesota Farm Guide

I recently had the privilege of touring several Southeastern states, speaking with cattle producers all the way from the Atlantic Coast to Louisiana. You could not help but be impressed by the independent spirit of these farmers and ranchers. Many were still rebuilding from last year’s horrific hurricane season. And this summer’s severe drought, along with record-high fuel prices, have made hay, feed, and other necessities very hard to come by.

Yet even through all of this hardship, the overpowering message from these cattlemen is one of hope and optimism. These are men and women determined to pass successful, profitable cattle operations on to the next generation.

FULL STORY

Cattle cycle alive and well-just shifted a little

Cattle cycle alive and well-just shifted a little

By DALE HILDEBRANT, Midwest Messenger

WEST FARGO, N.D. – Ask anyone in the cattle business about the cattle cycle and they are sure to explain the cycle is a 9 to 10-year period during which time the prices and cattle numbers go from a low point to a high and then start the cycle over again. However, during this last cycle, drought factors in much of the western United States, plus incidents like ??-11,” prolonged the cycle into a 15-year term.

This has prompted a few livestock economists to claim that the cattle cycle, as we know it, is a thing of the past.

But, NDSU Livestock Economist Tim Petry isn’t sitting around that campfire. In fact, he told a group of cattle producers at a recent cattle price outlook session during Big Iron, “This idea is just a bunch of bunk. We are still going to have a cattle cycle. I feel confident we are still going to have a 10-year cycle, it’s just that now, with the unusually long cycle we just experienced the cycle is going to be shifted by one-half a decade.”

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K-State, UNL, CSU to Host Annual Risk Management Workshops

K-State, UNL, CSU to Host Annual Risk Management Workshops

Cattlenetwork.net

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Annual Risk Management Workshops, which are sponsored by Kansas State University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Colorado State University, are scheduled for Nov. 7, 8 and 9.

The tri-state workshop will take place in Brush, Colo. on Nov. 7 at the Brush County Fairgrounds; in Salina, Kan. on Nov. 8 at the Holiday Inn; and in Hastings, Neb. on Nov. 9 at the Holiday Inn.

“With all of the Farm Bill and crop insurance issues, this is a critical time for farmers, crop insurance agents, agriculture lenders and other interested parties,” said Art Barnaby, K-State agricultural economics professor. “These workshops will provide valuable information for individuals to manage their individual risk, but will also provide information for decisions on the next Farm Bill.”

Topics for this year include: “The New Farm Bill: Who, What, and When?”; “Data Mining Procedures to Reduce Fraud and Abuse”; “Adjusted Gross Revenue-Lite”; “GRIP and How it Might Serve as an Alternative to Low Yields”; “The ABC´s and 123´s of LGM and LRP Insurance”; “Current RMA Issues”; and “Status of Water in the Great Plains.”

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