Checkoff prepares for 2009

Checkoff prepares for 2009

Beef Safety & Product Enhancement Research teams analyze the future of beef.

Western Livestock Journal

It may not be found on the first page (or even in the footnote) of a beef history book, but it’s there. Behind new beef cuts, new products for consumers, nutrition and youth education, is checkoff-funded research.

The process of deciding which research to fund and when has always been in the hands of producer committees. Before their work can begin, however, it is important to hear from all segments of the industry to review what is needed, what work is already underway, and where checkoff dollars can best achieve desired results.

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Hoof Anatomy, Care and Management in Livestock

Hoof Anatomy, Care and Management in Livestock

Kate Hepworth, Animal Sciences Student; Dr. Michael Neary, Extension Animal Scientist; Dr. Simon Kenyon, Extension Veterinarian, Purdue University

Introduction

The hoof is an extremely important structure in an animal’s body. Although an animal with hoof problems may be able to function, chances are that optimal animal production and performance will be reduced depending upon the severity of the problem.

A cow with painful feet is less likely to walk, and therefore, less likely to have the desire to get to a feed bunk, which will reduce weight gain or milk production compared to that of an animal able to consume its full ration of feed every day. Although some hoof problems are unavoidable, sound hoof management procedures can greatly reduce the incidence of hoof problems in all types of animals. A good hoof care program leads to lowered expenses in treatment of problems, as well as fewer losses due to decreased performance and productivity of the animal.

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NEMO Finds Quality

NEMO Finds Quality

Chelsea Good

Angus Journal

Ten years ago, northeast Missouri producers dreamed of a way to learn how their calves performed after they left the farm. When they shared those visions with their veterinarian, she did more than just listen.

People were telling me, they wished they knew how their cattle performed in the feedlot,� Imogene Latimer says. Most of them lacked the volume to deal directly with feedlots, and Latimer had the same problem with her own herd near Hunnewell, Mo. She knew the University of Missouri Extension was trying to organize a network of alliances to help smaller producers realize strength in numbers and develop value-based cattle marketing programs.

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Cloned cattle offspring already in food chain

Cloned cattle offspring already in food chain

BARRY SHLACHTER

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Even before federal regulators Tuesday declared that meat and milk from cloned cattle is safe, offspring of such animals already had entered the U.S. food chain, a Kansas cattleman-veterinarian asserted Wednesday.

Bloomberg News on Wednesday quoted U.S. Department of Agriculture officials as saying that a voluntary market-sale moratorium has been removed from offspring of clones, but not the clones themselves.

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System for keeping tabs on animals irks farmers

System for keeping tabs on animals irks farmers

By Nicole Gaouette

Los Angeles Times/Hutchinson News

After days of parading around her beefy black steer in the dung-scented August heat at the Colorado State Fair, Brandi Calderwood made the final competition. For months, the 16-year-old had worked from dawn to well past dusk, fitting in the work around school, to feed, train and clean her steer. But just before the last round, when the animals are sold, fair officials disqualified her.

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Livestock Photographers Share Their Tricks

Livestock Photographers Share Their Tricks

By Kyle Clark

KUSA/NBC News Channel

DENVER, CO — Take an animal and its owner and snap a photo. If that sounds simple, you’ve never tried to get a kid and a cow to stand still for a picture.

“They don’t understand how hard it is,” said livestock photographer Katina Costerisan. “It’s not as easy as you think.”

Costerisan snaps photos of prize-winning animals for Browarny Photographics, a Canadian company. On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Costerisan was trying to arrange Angus cows and their young handlers following a youth competition at the National Western Stock Show.

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Symposium to bring 3 groups together

Symposium to bring 3 groups together

Dave Russell

Brownfield Network

Beef, dairy and forage producers will have an opportunity on February 15 and 16 to attend the first ever joint Indiana Cattle and Forage Symposium. Julia Wickard, Executive V.P. of the Indiana Beef Cattle Association (IBCA) tells Brownfield it just made sense to bring the three groups with so many commonalities together.

 “We will still have our individual annual business meetings and for beef producers this is replacing our annual convention,” said Wickard. “There will still be beef sessions for producers to participate in, just as there will be dairy sessions and forage sessions.

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It’s Stock Show Time In Denver

It’s Stock Show Time In Denver

Troy Marshall

Beef Magazine

Football has the Super Bowl, soccer has the World Cup, and baseball has its World Series. For the seedstock and show industries, it’s the National Western Stock Show (NWSS), which has been billed as the Super Bowl of cattle shows for a lot of years. NWSS is the bellwether event for the year, setting the tone for the entire seedstock industry and for various breeds.

Like other major industry gatherings such as the annual meeting of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, what happens in the NWSS meeting rooms or show and sale rings is important.

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Cattle Feeding: After Hours Service

Cattle Feeding: After Hours Service

cattlenetwork.com

We appreciate stores that are open beyond regular business hours–especially during the holidays. Having access to what we want — when we need it, when we are already in the area, or when we can hope to avoid a crowd — can be invaluable.

In much the same way, self-fed supplements allow individual cows to consume the nutrients they need, without disturbing grazing patterns, and with opportunity for even the most timid animals to come to the feeder unchallenged.

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Temperament: The hidden asset of Gelbvieh

Temperament: The hidden asset of Gelbvieh

Susan Willmon

Farm and Ranch Guide

The early Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) data led many seedstock producers to the Gelbvieh breed. The combination of growth and maternal characteristics added the appropriate punch for many breeders in the 1970s and 1980s to their predominately British-based cowherds.

While those traits have played a significant role through the years, still today one of the consistently mentioned traits as to why those Gelbvieh cows are still on the place is their excellent disposition. Some of the comments AGA staff frequently hears are: “I am often working by myself, I need to be able to easily work my cowherd”, or “We are getting older and I don’t run the 40-yard dash across the corral as fast as I used to” and finally “There’s a difference between protective and aggressive in a momma cow. I’ll tolerate protective, (but) aggressive buys a one-way ticket to the sale barn come weaning day.”

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Bio-Security on the farm remains signifcant concern

Bio-Security on the farm remains signifcant concern

By MELONIE ROBERTS

The Monett Times

After September 11, 2001, federal, state and local officials across the nation started to look at areas in which American people and resources were vulnerable to attack, and one of the most startling discoveries was the nation’s food chain.

Amanda Marney, ag preparedness specialist with the University of Missouri, spoke on this important topic at the recent 84th annual Lawrence County Soils and Crops Conference.

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Top US trade negotiator pushes Seoul on beef market opening

Top US trade negotiator pushes Seoul on beef market opening

The Korea Herald

The top US trade negotiator on Thursday pressed Korea to open its market fully to American beef, at the same time urging the American business community to rally behind the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) once the issue is resolved to get congressional approval, reported Yonhap News Agency.

The pact with Korea is the most commercially significant of three pending FTAs, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab told the Chamber of Commerce.

“Here, the first question I tend to get asked is ‘Where’s the beef?'” she said in her speech.

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Horses Spared in U.S. Face Death Across the Border

Horses Spared in U.S. Face Death Across the Border

New York Times

SHIPSHEWANA, Ind. — At the weekly horse auction here, No. 274, a handsome chestnut-colored draft horse, looked at the surrounding men while being led into a small ring. Two of the men looked back, calculating how much meat the animal’s carcass would yield, and started bidding accordingly.

There is no pretense about what happens to the horses sold in this area of the auction, known as the kill pen. Just a few months ago, many of them would have met their end at a slaughterhouse in neighboring Illinois. Now almost all will be shipped to Canada and killed there.

Amid pressure from animal rights groups, horse slaughter virtually ended in the United States last year, as courts upheld state laws banning it in Texas and Illinois, home to the nation’s last three horse slaughterhouses.

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R-CALF: Over $200K Raised To Stop OTM Rule, Auction Yards Play An Instrumental Part

R-CALF: Over $200K Raised To Stop OTM Rule, Auction Yards Play An Instrumental Part

Cattlenetwork.com

Belle Fourche Livestock Exchange, St. Onge Livestock Co., Lemmon Livestock and Fort Pierre Livestock Auction have helped to raise funds for a lawsuit filed by R-CALF USA, the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association (SDSGA), and nine other plaintiffs to overturn the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) OTM (over-30-month) Rule. So far, South Dakota auction yards have generated more than $84,000 by way of individual contributions, primarily from cattle producers directly affected by the agency’s OTM Rule.

“I’m very proud of all the South Dakota independent cattle producers for putting their money on the line,” said Linda Gilbert, a co-owner of the Gilbert Angus Ranch. Gilbert Angus Ranch donated the heifer calf auctioned off at Belle Fourche Livestock Exchange that raised more than $14,000 for this litigation effort. Gilbert Angus Ranch has been around for six generations and is owned and operated by Ray and Linda Gilbert, Lloyd and Patty Gilbert, and Sawyer and Grey Gilbert.

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N.D. beef specialist: Age, source verification keys to marketplace

N.D. beef specialist: Age, source verification keys to marketplace

SUE ROESLER

Farm & Ranch Guide

Dr. Kris Ringwall, director of the NDSU Dickinson Research Extension Center and a beef specialist, was one of four experts to testify about beef trade to the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) in Washington, D.C., Nov. 15.

Peg O’Laughlin, public affairs officer at USITC, said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., requested the report on the U.S. beef industry and its access to global markets.

Baucus, chairman of the U.S. Senate’s Finance Committee, said the group is concerned about the future of the U.S. beef industry with the current export restrictions and barriers.

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