Calculating Trace Minerals for Beef Cows

Calculating Trace Minerals for Beef Cows

University of Nebraska

This calculator will help you determine if the desired daily trace mineral consumption of your cow herd is being met. If it is not being met, then the calculator will help you through the calculation to determine the percentage or concentration of that trace mineral needed in the mineral supplement to meet the desired trace mineral daily consumption.

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University of Nebraska

This calculator will help you determine if the desired daily trace mineral consumption of your cow herd is being met. If it is not being met, then the calculator will help you through the calculation to determine the percentage or concentration of that trace mineral needed in the mineral supplement to meet the desired trace mineral daily consumption.

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What Determines the Amount of Feed Consumed Daily by a Cow

What Determines the Amount of Feed Consumed Daily by a Cow

Cattlenetwork.com

There are a number of different factors that determine the daily intake of a cow. The primary factors are cow weight, forage or diet quality, and stage of production. Cows that weigh 1,300 pounds will consume more on a daily basis compare to lighter weight cows that weigh 1,100 pounds. In addition, cows that are lactating will consume more feed than cows that are not lactating and intake is different for cows in early lactation compared to late lactation.

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Calculating Trace Minerals for Beef Cows

Calculating Trace Minerals for Beef Cows

University of Nebraska

This calculator will help you determine if the desired daily trace mineral consumption of your cow herd is being met. If it is not being met, then the calculator will help you through the calculation to determine the percentage or concentration of that trace mineral needed in the mineral supplement to meet the desired trace mineral daily consumption.

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BeefTalk: The Future of Beef – Consumer Issues and Demand

BeefTalk: The Future of Beef – Consumer Issues and Demand

By Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist

NDSU Extension Service

Although formerly somewhat distant from many producer conversations, the vested interest of consumers is now a reality in the beef business. There simply is no business unless the consumer is involved in the formula for the future.

Perhaps one doesn’t really like to admit it, but most of yesterday’s conversations usually were between producers. Buying bulls or replacement heifers and the subsequent marketing of the offspring was a discussion of producers’ likes and dislikes, not consumer desires.

The ability of cows and bulls to live and produce in a multitude of production environments led to the necessity of selection for adaptability. Cows and bulls were in an environment that had to meet the critical eye of the owner or manager. Hopefully, the environment mustered an arsenal of production traits that equated to efficient and profitable beef production.

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Make Sound Judgments about Herd Sires

Make Sound Judgments about Herd Sires

by: John L. Evans

Ph.D., Extension Beef Cattle Breeding Specialist,

Department of Animal Science, Oklahoma State University

Cattle Today

For many cattle producers, this is a time of year when important decisions are made regarding the cow herd. Many producers begin to receive sale catalogs, view sale publications, and may be receiving calls from previous bull suppliers. It is important for producers to make sound judgments about their herd sires. A poor bull buying decision might leave a producer with a product they don’t need or don’t want in their herd. On the other hand, a good bull buying decision will increase the producer’s chances of having a more profitable calf crop.

Why is bull selection important?

Sire selection, on average, has a greater impact on the genetic improvement of a herd than most producers realize. Because the sire is more likely to produce a higher number of calves in his lifetime compared to a cow, a sire has the potential to contribute a larger portion of the genes to the herd. Because of the large genetic contribution a sire makes to a herd of animals, it is important to manage the risk associated with the purchase of a new bull. Fortunately, the level of risk associated with the selection of a new bull is manageable using well planned breeding programs and high quality information.

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Is going organic worth the price?

Is going organic worth the price?

By BRYANT STAMFORD

Gannett News Service / Courier Post (NJ)

Ten years ago, I joined an organic food production co-op. It was the only way I could get fresh organic produce on a regular basis.

For a flat fee, I received a weekly delivery of organic vegetables or fruits during the growing season. Unfortunately, you had to accept whatever they gave you and you tended to get whatever crop happened to come in that week.

So I’d go to my front porch on Wednesday morning and find a bushel of squash, okra or spinach. You can imagine how this might challenge one’s culinary creativity, especially for someone like me who has almost no cooking skills.

It wasn’t very convenient or efficient, but I supported the co-op anyway, partly because at the time organic farmers weren’t welcome to sell their produce to the big retailers and the co-op was the only way they could stay in business.

The fact you now can walk into the supermarket and find a bona fide organic foods section tells you how far organic foods have come in the last decade.

Even Wal-Mart is planning to offer organic foods and Starbucks will use organic milk in its latte concoctions if you request it.

Organic foods once were considered cultlike but now are approaching mainstream status, as experts estimate nearly 40 percent of us are buying organic foods in one form or another.

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Rescue of wolves from near-extinction upsets US ranchers

Rescue of wolves from near-extinction upsets US ranchers

After being pushed to the brink of extinction in the early 1900s, more than 1,200 of the predators are roaming Idaho, Montana and Wyoming once again

AFP, SALMON, IDAHO

Taipei Times

When nine calves went missing this spring from a ranch in the remote and rugged mountains of Idaho, cattleman Lonell Wilson picked up his rifle and went looking for the culprits.

What he found were two gray wolves, a male and a female, sunning themselves in a clearing. So he shot them.

“Basically, I took care of the problem,” Wilson said.

Wilson is among more than a dozen livestock producers in Idaho who have hunted down wolves that attacked their cattle or sheep this year. He is among countless ranchers who say the wolves aren’t wanted, dead or alive.

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U.S. to press Japan to lift beef-age limit

U.S. to press Japan to lift beef-age limit

Farm chief signals tougher stance

Japan Times

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Friday he will press Japan to remove the age limit on imports of U.S. beef, hardening the demand from an earlier call to raise the limit to 30 months from the current 20 months.

Johanns also reiterated that the Department of Agriculture will not allow U.S. meat producers to voluntarily conduct blanket testing on cattle for mad cow disease. He added, however, that it will allow such testing if ordered to do so in an ongoing federal court case.

His remarks underscored a new strategy of urging Japan to adopt U.S. standards for safeguarding against mad cow disease when negotiations on beef trade resume.

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Cattle rustlers kill, butcher right on the spot

Cattle rustlers kill, butcher right on the spot

Compiled by LAUREN DONOVAN

Bismarck Tribune

A black and white head attached to a dressed out carcass were all that remained in a grassy pasture north of Amidon.

It appears someone helped himself to a 600-pound black-and-white-faced steer between Oct. 12 and Oct. 15, butchering it right there on the spot.

The crime occurred about 17 miles north of Marmarth, less than 80 yards off old Highway 16.

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Attitude matters in raising livestock

Attitude matters in raising livestock

Study shows calmer animals generate more profit than aggressive ones.

Springfield News-Leader (MO)

“The calmer the better” now appears also to apply to cattle.

Based on data from more than 13,000 head of feeder cattle fed in the Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity in southwest Iowa, gentler, calmer cattle had a per head profit of $62 more than wilder, more aggressive herd mates.

The $62 figure was the result of calculating daily gains, feed conversion, death loss and carcass grade differences.

“Included in the 13,000 head studied were a number of Missouri calves that were a part of the Steer Feedout program,” said Eldon Cole, livestock specialist, University of Missouri Extension.

Medical Benefits Group

To rate each animal on temperament, a six-point subjective score was given each of the four times the cattle were processed at the lot.

Of the 13,000 plus head, 72 percent were rated “docile” with a one or two. Twenty-two percent were rated three or four and considered “restless.” The “aggressives” –which made up six percent of the group — were rated five or six.

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Reducing the Risk of Bloat When Cattle are Self-fed Soybean Hulls Pellets

Reducing the Risk of Bloat When Cattle are Self-fed Soybean Hulls Pellets

By Glenn Selk

Oklahoma State University

During this fall and winter, some producers are turning to by-product feeds to take the place of forage supplies that have been depleted in the drought. One of the popular by-products used for growing replacement heifers is soybean hulls. Oklahoma State University animal science researchers have used “self-fed” soybean hull pellets for a growing program for replacement heifers. Acidosis, bloat, and founder have all been identified as potential risks associated with feeding soybean hull pellets free choice to growing cattle. In previous research, they found that the incidence of bloat was significantly reduced and weight gain increased when cattle receiving free choice soybean hulls were fed 1.5 pounds or more per day of long stem prairie hay. However, this still did not completely alleviate the bloat risk. Therefore the OSU nutritionists conducted a trial to determine the effects of providing a monensin-containing mineral supplement to cattle self-fed soybean hulls and prairie hay. Rumensin® is a registered trademark for Elanco’s brand of monensin sodium.

The incidence of bloat was reduced from 19% of the heifers to 6% showing signs of moderate or severe bloat with the inclusion of monensin in the mineral mix. The heifers that were receiving salt only (in the mineral mix) had an incidence of 7% of the heifers had severe cases of bloat, whereas the heifers with the monensin-containing mineral had no (0%) incidence of severe bloat. They concluded that self-fed soybean hulls can be used as an effective, low labor nutritional program for growing beef cattle. Intake of a small but adequate amount of effective fiber from grass hay is necessary to minimize the risk of bloat and acidosis. Furthermore, a commercial monensin-containing mineral supplement improved animal performance and reduced the incidence of bloat in this experiment. Source: Steele, Lalman and co-workers. 2001 OSU Animal Science Research Report . http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/research/2001rr/08/08.htm

“Oklahoma State University, U. S. Department of Agriculture, State and Local governments cooperating. Oklahoma State University in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal and state laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices, or procedures.”

Livestock Merchandising Management Students Host Farm Auction

Livestock Merchandising Management Students Host Farm Auction

by Bentley Claudon

Planet Blacksburg

“Sold!” After attending the 2006 Hokie Harvest Sale, Rachelle Petrine, sophomore at Virginia Tech, said that was the only thing that she understood the auctioneer say.

The 2006 Livestock Merchandising Management class hosted the 12th annual Hokie Harvest Sale, a public auction of cattle, horses and swine on Friday, Oct. 27.

The annual event proved extremely successful in giving Virginia Tech students some hands-on experience in every aspect of the field. Students from class organized and ran the event with help from the Equine Behavior and Training class, the Block and Bridle club and the Swine Production class.

“Students take classes and have a hand in breeding, selection, feeding, fitting, training and marketing,” said Genevive Naylor, junior at Virginia Tech. “It rounds out our time spent at Virginia Tech so we have more than knowledge – we have practical experience.”

Twenty-eight sport-horses, 45 beef cattle and nine swine were up for auction. The silent swine auction was new this year and began at 4 p.m. in the Livestock Judging Pavilion of Virginia Tech.

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