Three-year project would seek to identify genetic markers in cows

Three-year project would seek to identify genetic markers in cows

Joplin Globe

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — Times and needs change, but money remains a constant issue.

Some of the money needed to fund research projects at the University of Missouri’s Southwest Center comes from Washington via Jefferson City and then flows through the university’s campus at Columbia.

In recent years, more emphasis has been placed on funds to do specific studies. Many grants are competitive and require filing extensive applications.

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Springtime Tips for Beef Producers

Springtime Tips for Beef Producers

High Plain Journal

April means calving season is wrapping up on many Plains-area operations, and that means breeding season is beginning or continuing. That also means that females and males must be reproductively fit, a Kansas State University animal scientist said.

Several estrus synchronization procedures have been developed in recent years, said K-State Research and Extension beef specialist Twig Marston. To determine the correct synchronization program to use, producers should consider the age group of females (yearling replacement heifers versus cows); the commitment of time and efforts for heat detection; the potential number of females that are anestrus (days post partum, body condition, calving difficulty); the availability of labor; and the return on investment for total commitment to the breeding program.

Marston provided these tips for producers to consider at this time of year.

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The herd improvement game

The herd improvement game

By Steve Suther

Black Ink

It’s the biggest annual cost item in the cattle business, and it’s getting even bigger. Ding-dingding:  What is feed?

That’s right. If you don’t keep a lid on it, profitability of your entire cowherd will be in “Jeopardy.” Cattle for $100: The main ingredient in many cattle rations, this grain is also the staple of all those ethanol production plants that are popping up like mushrooms. Ding-ding-ding: What is corn?

Right again. Oh, you want Cattle for $200? It’s the Daily Double and you’ll wager everything. Fewer soybean, sorghum, wheat and hay acres, higher land prices and more ethanol by-products in cattle feed . . . What happens when corn prices double?

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Cattle Identification: State Premises Registration Stats As Of 4/9/2007

Cattle Identification: State Premises Registration Stats As Of 4/9/2007

Cattlenetwork.com

Taiwan Market Still Expanding After Return of U.S. Beef

Taiwan Market Still Expanding After Return of U.S. Beef

Cattle Today

Just over a year has passed since Taiwan reopened its market to U.S. beef. In that time activities and efforts by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) have eased customer fears of consuming U.S. beef and worked to encourage consumers to try U.S. beef. The result is increasing demand in restaurants and supermarkets for U.S. beef products.

At the restaurant Mihan Honke in the Grand Formosa Regent Hotel in Taipei, guests have a few days left to enjoy a promotional “Ultimate U.S. Beef Sukiyaki” dinner for two. Guests can taste tender and juicy U.S. beef rib eye, fresh vegetables and homemade udon noodles cooked in a handcrafted sukiyaki sauce specially made for the meal.

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GeneThera Developing Marketing Plan for Mad Cow Testing

GeneThera Developing Marketing Plan for Mad Cow Testing

Marketwire.com

GeneThera, Inc. (OTCBB: GTHA) announced today it is developing a comprehensive marketing program for its Mad Cow testing kit for use within the United States. The marketing campaign will be designed to build brand awareness with the ranchers and slaughterhouses as well as reinforce the need for to test all cattle for Mad Cow. The United States slaughters approximately 35 million cattle per year.

Dr Tony Milici, CEO of GeneThera, stated, “GeneThera intends to start Mad Cow Disease testing as soon as private companies will be allowed to do so. We believe that there will be a great demand by meatpackers for this kind of testing once any government restraints are removed. If meatpackers advertise their product as Mad Cow free, it should also be possible for the US beef industry to fully regain access to international markets such as Japan and Korea.”

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Demand for ethanol raises food prices

Demand for ethanol raises food prices

By Gregory A. Hall

The Courier-Journal (KY)

Kentucky and Indiana farmers are planting more corn to feed ethanol demand, but consumers are feeling the pinch as it helps drive up prices for beef, chicken and even soft drinks.

Ethanol is grain alcohol that can be mixed with gasoline in concentrations of up to 10 percent to cut smog from all cars and up to 85 percent in specially equipped “flexible fuel”

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Farmers for the Future: Kansas comeback

Farmers for the Future: Kansas comeback

Wheat and cattle are the right mix for this young Kansas farmer

 Dan Looker

Successful Farming

It’s never been easy farming near Ness City in western Kansas. Average annual rainfall of 22 inches makes most dryland crops except wheat risky. Last summer’s heat hit a breathtaking 116°F.

Then, when heavy snow and ice arrived last January, the 500 head of stocker cattle, which Tyler Rider and his family background, struggled a bit.

“They definitely weren’t gaining weight for at least a week,” Tyler recalls.

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Grass-fed beef is hot

Grass-fed beef is hot

Government specs for this niche beef are coming soon

 Karen Bernick

When Tom German began managing his family’s Iowa farm eight years ago, he looked at his 40 beef cows as ideal no-till farming tools.

German is the third generation to farm the 350 acres near Holstein. Rather than investing in specialized conservation equipment, German and his wife, Kristi, converted the entire farm into a grass-fed beef operation.

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Cattle like salt, too

By David Burton

Farmnews

Salt, which is made up of sodium and chlorine, plays an important nutritional role in the diet of cattle, said Eldon Cole, livestock specialist with University of Missouri Extension. But intake levels can vary, just like the methods of getting salt in the cattle.

“Cattle like salt just like some people like salt. But in a herd of cattle, you’ll likely find extremes on intake. Some eat a lot while others may seldom touch it,” said Cole.

Most forage contains ample amounts of chlorine, but most species of grasses tend to be short on sodium. Legumes usually contain sufficient sodium to meet the needs of cattle.

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Stockyards battle gets nasty

Stockyards battle gets nasty

Dead cow photo doesn’t faze supporters

By Greg Kocher

Kentucky.com

The continuing debate over the possible relocation of Blue Grass Stockyards took an ugly turn this week.

Members of the Versailles City Council and Woodford Fiscal Court received an anonymous mailing containing the photos of one dead and “two dying” cows, and this message: “Is this what you wish to see ‘in your backyard?’”

The city council and the fiscal court will vote soon on a text amendment that would clear the way for Blue Grass Stockyards to relocate from Lexington to a Midway commercial park north of Interstate 64.

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Forage Focus: Get Ready to Graze

Forage Focus: Get Ready to Graze

 Cattlenetwork.com

 Here we are at the beginning of another grazing season. Actually, for some graziers, the grazing season continued pretty much the entire year, so it might be more accurate to say that here we are at the beginning of another season of pasture grass growth. With good soil moisture, good soil fertility, cool soil temperatures, warm, but not hot, air temperatures, our cool seasons grasses are posed for rapid growth. The grazier must be ready to utilize his/her livestock to harvest this vegetative production and turn it into meat, milk and fiber. The challenge to the grazier is to maintain vegetative growth of the forage plant throughout the grazing season. The challenge is greatest during the spring when the grass plant is exerting tremendous effort to stay in reproductive growth. So, before plant growth explodes, now is the time to review some basic plant morphology (external changes) and physiology (internal/chemical changes).

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Research focuses on lowering input costs by grazing through winter

Research focuses on lowering input costs by grazing through winter

By Sue Roesler

Tri State Neighbor

Production input costs for cow/calf producers continue to rise, while the value of cull cows has clearly not risen as quickly, said a scientist at the USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan, N.D.

Scott Kronberg, an ARS research range scientist with an animal focus, said his fall and winter grazing research project is looking at ways to reduce those input costs with longer grazing.

“If calf producers get less for their calves, they may still be able to produce them profitably if they can lower their calf production costs,” said Kronberg. “I think we will see a move into lower inputs in cattle production, and one major way to do this is to lower winter feed costs.”

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Ethanol can mean big money for corn growers, but its popularity is jacking up the cost of fertilizer

Ethanol can mean big money for corn growers, but its popularity is jacking up the cost of fertilizer

By Adam Wilson

Reading Eagle (PA)

Berks County, PA -  Alternative fuels are helping to turn cornfields into golden cash cows for many American farmers, but for Pennsylvania agriculture it’s causing bushels-full of trouble, industry experts say.

With more than 90 million acres of farmland devoted to the profit-rich crop nationwide, the rush to grow corn for ethanol is squeezing Pennsylvania’s agricultural life blood, Dennis C. Wolff, Pennsylvania secretary of agriculture, said.

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Rules Proposed For Natural Beef

Rules Proposed For Natural Beef

KELO-TV

Thursday is the final day for public input on South Dakota Agriculture Department rules for natural beef.

The idea is to produce cattle that are free of hormones and antibiotics for expansion of the South Dakota Certified Beef program.

A state Agriculture Department official says the natural beef program will allow farmers and ranchers to tap the marketing niche created by demand for organic meat.

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