Prussic acid poisoning a threat to livestock

Prussic acid poisoning a threat to livestock

High Plains Journal

Forage producers need to be concerned about prussic acid poisoning when grazing sorghum-sudan hybrids, johnsongrass, grain sorghum or sudangrass, according to Mark Keaton, a Baxter County agent for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.

“Prussic acid is liberated in the rumen of cattle, absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to body tissue where it interferes with oxygen utilization,” he said. “If the toxin is absorbed rapidly enough, the animal soon dies from respiratory paralysis.

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Cattle Diseases: Listerosis

Cattle Diseases:  Listerosis

Cattle Today

Listeriosis, a disease of the central nervous system, is caused by the  bacterium Listeria moncytogenes.  This bacterium can live almost anywhere–in soil, manure piles, and grass.  Listeriosis is common in cattle, sheep and goats and can occur in pigs, dogs, and cats, some wild animals, and humans.  Animals infected with Listeria can show signs restlessness, loss of appetite, fever and nervous system disorders. 

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University Of Minnesota Trial Shows Active Dry Yeast Benefits Rumen

University Of Minnesota Trial Shows Active Dry Yeast Benefits Rumen

Cattlenetwork.com

(Milwaukee, WI) A recent trial conducted by Drs. Stern, Bach and Linn and graduate student Melissa Thrune at the University of Minnesota showed a measurable positive benefit of Levucell SC rumen specific yeast on rumen pH.

The study determined the effects of Levucell SC supplementation on ruminal pH patterns and fermentation in late lactation conditions. When Levucell SC was added to the diet, the supplemented cows had a statistically significant increase in rumen pH. In addition, the amount of time the cows spent under the subacute acidosis threshold (pH<5.8) was also significantly lower with Levucell SC supplementation.

The University of Minnesota trial confirms the benefit of Levucell SC on rumen conditions. Trying to reduce the economic impact of acidosis is a challenge, but these types of studies indicate the positive role of Levucell SC in helping to maintain rumen health in a wide range of conditions.

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Preg Checking via Blood Test is Gaining Popularity

Preg Checking via Blood Test is Gaining Popularity

by: Heather Smith Thomas

Cattle Today

Modern technology and new techniques in reproduction are making some aspects of cattle production easier. One innovation that is gaining popularity is pregnancy checking via blood samples.

Brandon Critendon (Wolf Point Ranch, at Port LaVaca, Texas — on the Gulf Coast between Houston and Corpus Christi) has been using this means of pregnancy checking for almost two years and feels it has several advantages over palpation or ultrasound. The blood test can be done as early as 30 days post breeding, which is sooner than you can tell when using palpation. The cow or heifer must be at least 45 days pregnant before you can tell by palpation, with any accuracy, that she is pregnant.

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NDSU Beef 101 Fall Course Set

NDSU Beef 101 Fall Course Set

Cattlenetwork.com

The North Dakota State University Extension Service is holding a three-part “Beef 101: From Calves to Carcasses” program Oct. 23, Oct. 30 and Nov. 5.

All three sessions will be held in Bowman from 4 to 9 p.m. Mountain time and will include a meal. Participants should plan to attend all of the sessions.

It is for cow-calf and seed stock producers, feedlot operators, custom processing and meat marketing industry personnel, agricultural educators, representatives of related industries and anyone else who is interested in learning about beef cattle and beef carcass characteristics.

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What a Feed Tag Really Tells You

What a Feed Tag Really Tells You

Kate Jackson, PhD, Land O’Lakes Farmland Feed, LLC

Beeflinks.com

Feed tags are a mystery to many people, including the people who sell the feed. In the United States, at least, feed tags or labels are not put together like labels seen on food products intended for human consumption. “People food” labels sate a serving size, calories per serving, how well that serving meets an adult’s nutritional needs (i.e., 50% of RDA for calcium) and exactly what ingredients are used. Animal labels, on the other had, state the chemical composition of a feed, how much is recommended to be fed and either exactly what ingredients it contains or the “class” of ingredients it contains.

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Using Preservatives with Forages

Using Preservatives with Forages

Knowledge Nuggets

    * An effective hay harvesting system is designed to reduce field losses and spoilage losses from microbial activity in high moisture hay. Fresh cut forages range from 70 – 80% moisture which must be reduced to “safe” levels (generally from 16 – 18%) prior to baling.

    * A “browning” effect (Maillard Reaction) can result from heating which reduces carbohydrate levels and binds some of the protein making it undigestable due to the higher moisture levels in moist hay.

    * Harvesting hay at moisture levels above 18 – 20% reduces field losses by reducing leaf shattering and by decreasing the amount of exposure time to adverse weather. However, storing moist hay usually results in mold growth and elevated temperatures.

    * Mold growth that occurs in baled forages increases dustiness, reduces palatability and can impact animal health.

    * Moisture and temperature are the fundamental control variables for storage and the role of a preservative is to prevent microbial growth and activity.

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Western influence comes to Ukrainian beef producers

Western influence comes to Ukrainian beef producers

By Wendy Sweeter

Tri State Neighbor

SDSU Extension specialists Cody Wright and Eric Mousel viewed villages like this one on their trip to Ukraine. Photo courtesy of Cody Wright  

A pair of South Dakota State University Extension specialists made their way to Ukraine this summer to give advice on cow/calf production.

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Get out the ‘cowculator’

Get out the ‘cowculator’

By VERNON SCOGIN, OSU Extension Office

Claremore Progress

Years ago OSU beef cattle nutritionists reached a conclusion. Protein was the primary factor in beef nutrition of mature cattle under normal, average Oklahoma conditions when sufficient forage was available. This resulted from years of research and observation that mature cattle grazing common grasses and forbs would usually meet their energy needs provided protein met their needs.

The approach also worked for winter feeding for many cows. Mature cattle were able to go through normal winter weather and emerge in spring with acceptable body condition provided daily protein needs were met. While other states in region focused on providing adequate energy feeds, our nutritionists stuck with meeting protein requirements. This became, “Feed the rumen and the rumen will feed the cow”.

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Drought cuts Georgia cattle’s winter food supply

Drought cuts Georgia cattle’s winter food supply

By Brad Haire

University of Georgia/Georgia Faces

Because of Georgia’s extreme summer drought, cattlemen will have a tough time feeding their herds this winter, say University of Georgia livestock specialists.

 

“It’s a very precarious situation right now,” said Curt Lacy, a livestock economist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “I don’t see how we will not have to liquidate cows due to the lack of hay supplies we have in the state going into this winter.”

 

During the warm summer, cattle typically get enough nourishment when they graze pasture grass. In good, wet summers, the grass grows more than the cattle can eat. That extra grass is cut, baled and stored to feed cattle as hay in the winter, when pastures don’t grow.

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Highland cattle on a flat farm

Highland cattle on a flat farm

Geneva Township couple raise Scottish highland beef cattle

By CARL E. FEATHER

Star Beacon

Stanley and Phyllis Pugh will soon face a difficult decision about the size of their cattle fold. To increase it beyond 10 head, their five children will have to add a few more grandchildren to the family.

That’s because the Pughs named eight of their 10 Scottish highland beef cattle after grandchildren. “We started with the oldest grandchild,” says Stanley. “Each one of them waited until we had a calf to see if it would be named after them.”

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What is Cattle-Fax?

What is Cattle-Fax?

Cattlnetwork.com

Q: What is Cattle-Fax?

A: Cattle-Fax is a member-owned information organization serving producers in all segments of the cattle business. Cattle-Fax was formed in 1968 by a group of progressive cattlemen who saw the value of a self-help system to collect, analyze and distribute information needed for good marketing and business decisions which has resulted in the largest private database in the country.

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South Korea, US Open Beef Trade Talks

South Korea, US Open Beef Trade Talks

Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea and the United States opened beef trade talks Thursday on Washington’s demand for greater access to the Asian nation, which is maintaining stringent quarantine regulations citing concerns over mad cow disease.

The two days of meetings in Seoul come one week after inspectors found a recent U.S. beef shipment contained bone that is banned, and South Korea suspended further American beef imports.

South Korea agreed last year to import only boneless U.S. meat from cattle less than 30 months old because it is believed to be safer from mad cow disease. That partially lifted an almost three-year ban imposed on American beef after the brain-wasting disease was discovered in the U.S.

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R-CALF: Congress Should Support Resolutions Of Disapproval

R-CALF: Congress Should Support Resolutions Of Disapproval

Cattlenetwork.com

Washington, D.C. – R-CALF USA recently sent a formal letter to each Member of Congress to ask that they co-sponsor and support Resolutions of Disapproval against the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) plan to allow Canadian cattle over-30-months (OTM) of age, provided the animals were born after March 1, 1999, into the U.S. beginning Nov. 19. Also to be allowed into the U.S. are beef and blood products from Canadian cattle of any age.

The agency’s plan commonly is referred to as the OTM Rule. R-CALF USA supports the Resolutions of Disapproval introduced by both chambers of Congress on Oct. 3 because Canada continues to have ongoing problems with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. R-CALF USA is asking Congress to enforce its mandate to USDA to prevent the introduction of BSE into the United States.

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Planning crucial for winter feed

Planning crucial for winter feed

By GARY TILGHMAN

Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW — This year has been one for the record books. The shortage of hay will cause this winter to be a real challenge for our local area cow-calf producers. However, this challenge can be met by careful planning now and avoiding bad decisions.

Dr. Roy Burris, UK Extension Beef Cattle Specialist, has provided me with some valuable considerations that he has concerning this production challenge. He first raises a question on two very popular options currently on the table by many of our producers. These options are (1) paying too much for poor quality roughage, and (2) liquidating good cow herds that have been developed over years.

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