Ohio Beef Newsletter Availbale

The May 14, issue # 587, of the Ohio BEEF Cattle letter is now posted to the web at: http://fairfield.osu.edu/ag/beef/beefMa14.html

In the quest of being the low cost beef producer in a high feed cost environment, even the inclusion of DDG in a creep ration may not be cost effective. Read more this week.

Articles this week include:
* Creep Feeding With DDGs
* Do The Math Before Creep Feeding
* Start Fly Control Early
* Forage Focus: Forage Harvests Between the Rains
* Grass Hay Fertilization
* Weekly Roberts Agricultural Commodity Market Report

American Angus Association names new CEO

American Angus Association names new CEO

St. Joseph News-Press

Bryce Schumann, of Lecompton, Kan., has been named chief executive officer for the American Angus Association.

Mr. Schumann has served as the association’s director of member services for the past seven years. He replaces John Crouch, who announced in February his intention to retire.

As CEO, Mr. Schumann will serve as the chief administrative officer of the American Angus Association and vice chairman of the board of directors of each of the subsidiaries. He will begin the new position at the association’s headquarters in St. Joseph on June 13.
FULL STORY

Cattle Buyers’ Summits set for Montana, Tennessee and Nebraska

Cattle Buyers’ Summits set for Montana, Tennessee and Nebraska

Cattle Today

Designed for anyone who markets cattle, Cattle Buyers’ Summits will be held May 15 in Billings, Mont.; May 22 in Chattanooga, Tenn.; and August 1 in Kearney, Neb.

“These programs are intended for anyone who trades feeder cattle, fed cattle and market cows and bulls,” says Clint Peck, director of the Montana Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program. “Cattle buyers are a very important segment of our industry and it’s our responsibility to keep them in the loop about what we’re doing in BQA programming.”

A portion of each summit includes a roundtable breakout session to allow participants to better understand the BQA program and offer suggestions about how to make BQA better fit the needs of the industry’s cattle marketing segment.

FULL STORY

Creating Cattle Breeds and Composites

Creating Cattle Breeds and Composites

Stephen P. Hammack, Professor and Extension Beef Cattle Specialist, The Texas A&M University System

In recent years, considerable interest has developed in the formation of new breeds of cattle. The term composite is often used to describe these breeds because they are formed by combining existing breeds. However, composite has been defined to indicate a particular set of intents and procedures in creating new populations. In fact, the modern composites are probably not breeds.

FULL STORY PDF

What will be Required of Cow-Calf Producers under the Country of Origin Labeling Rules this September?

What will be Required of Cow-Calf Producers under the Country of Origin Labeling Rules this September?

By Jack C. Whittier, Colorado State University

The title of this article asks a question that is not yet totally answered. However, the answer is beginning to be clearer and soon may be finalized. As you likely know, in 2002, the US Congress passed a law requiring certain “covered commodities” to be verified and labeled as to their county of origin. The acronym used commonly for this law is COOL, denoting County of Orgin Labeling. Final rules for COOL will be written following final passage of the 2007 Farm Bill which has passed the Senate and House Conference Committee and will likely be sent to the President’s desk soon. If the President signs the Farm Bill, final rules will then be written. As of now, the following definitions and requirements are likely to become rules. Let’s examine some of these as they apply to cow-calf producers in Colorado:

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Prostaglandins, Rumors and Facts

Prostaglandins, Rumors and Facts

Mel DeJarnette, reproductive specialist, Select Sires

Have you ever told a story at the coffee shop and heard it retold several days later with the details completely changed? Have you had first hand knowledge to an event for which friends or the media gave bogus or exaggerated reports? It’s sad to say, but it appears to be happening more and more these days. Sometimes, I wonder how much I can believe of anything I hear over the news wire anymore. Rumors and half-truths seem to travel faster than facts.

Such appears to be the case with prostaglandins (abbreviated PGF). Introduced in the ‘60s, prostaglandins (marketed as Lutalyse, Boralene and Estrumate) have been part of reproductive management programs through the years. Recently, however, the development of new methods of using prostaglandins in reproductive management programs has resulted in a renewed interest in this hormone. Unfortunately, rumors and myths based on previous experiences with prostaglandins seem to be traveling faster and are receiving greater acceptance than the actual facts. Prostaglandins themselves have not changed over the years, however, the ways we are using them and the types of cows we are using them on have changed dramatically.
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Can you tell me something more about the disturbances in ovulation in beef cows?

Can you tell me something more about the disturbances in ovulation in beef cows?

Dr. Rick Rasby, Professor of Animal Science Animal Science, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

A: Beef cows usually have a 21 day estrous cycle with day 0 being the first day of the cycle and day 21 being the day of ovualtion. There are a number of items that can disrupt the 21 day cycle. Cows after calving will typically not cycle for 50 to 55 days after calving. During that time they are repairing their reproductive tract for another pregnancy.

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Undercover Video was Staged

Undercover Video was Staged

Hoosier Ag Today

Gemperle Enterprises, a large commercial egg producer that was accused in undercover video last week of egregious animal abuse when workers were shown kicking and stomping on hens and leaving diseased and injured birds to suffer in their cages, issued a statement Monday night that the video was “a staged, vicious attack” on the company.

“We are continuing to investigate and now know that our employees (in the video) were coerced by the activist to engage in behavior that is against our high standards for hen welfare for the sole purpose of filming a sensational video,” the company said.

FULL STORY

Small-Sized Cattle Herds Can Benefit From Crossbreeding Programs

Small-Sized Cattle Herds Can Benefit From Crossbreeding Programs

cattlenetwork.com

For the average cow-calf producer looking to increase the profit potential of his or her herd, the message is clear: Crossbreeding can produce a 20 percent increase in pounds of calf weaned per cow exposed to a herd sire.

Most of the increase occurs from improved reproductive performance; however, 25 percent to 40 percent of the increase is the effect of heterosis on growth potential of the crossbred calf and increased milk production of the crossbred cow.

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Effective Cow Herd Health

Effective Cow Herd Health

American Angus Association

Cow herd health is a combination of sound nutrition, a proactive health regimen and calculated management. According to the Priorities First survey, disease prevention (health maintenance) of replacement heifers and calves, both pre- and post-weaning, as well as cows and bulls were high ranking subcategories in the herd health section. A holistic approach is necessary and includes a herd health program with a trusted veterinarian that will benefit all segments of the beef industry.

FULL STORY PDF

Farm bill crosses many political, world fences

Farm bill crosses many political, world fences

PHILIP BRASHER
Des Moines Register

It’s called a farm bill, but there’s a lot more to it than crop subsidies.

The legislation the House and Senate will vote on this week not only reauthorizes farm income supports but also would require country-of-origin labels on meat and produce.

It finances conservation programs that pay for anti-pollution measures on farms and feedlots and would increase benefits for food-stamp recipients. There’s also new money for biofuels and rural water systems.

President Bush has vowed to veto the bill, arguing that it is too costly and doesn’t make enough changes in farm policy.

A look at some the major provisions:

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Alaska ranchers breed exotic animals for meat

Alaska ranchers breed exotic animals for meat

S.J. Komarnitsky

McClatchy Newspapers

Down a muddy lane on Todd Pettit’s 600-acre Pitchfork Ranch near Palmer, Alaska, stands a herd of bison 65 strong.

It’s mid-April, but already mosquitoes swirl around their massive heads. They utter soft “woofs” as their leader, a 2,000-pound behemoth named Rumble, swaggers forward to eye a visitor.

These animals are meant for more than life as tourist attractions. Pettit is one of a dedicated band of Alaska farmers raising sometimes-exotic breeds for meat, breeds that include bison, elk and even yak.

FULL STORY

Brazil: efficiency key to green agriculture

Brazil: efficiency key to green agriculture

Mario Osava

Speroforum.com

Brazil has the most advanced agricultural science and technology system of the world’s tropical countries, with an array of environmental and high-production solutions, but which rarely reach their intended target: the small farmer.

There is the bottleneck, admits Alfredo Barreto Luiz, a researcher who has served in various high-level posts at Brazil’s national agricultural research agency, Embrapa, a network of 38 research centers and three outreach centers scattered across the country.

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Mistranslation Shows Korea’s Poor Negotiating Power

Mistranslation Shows Korea’s Poor Negotiating Power

The Chosun Ilbo

The government is said to have been unable to understand Washington’s cattle feed rules during beef talks with U.S. officials and mistranslated certain parts of the cattle feed rules while officials were writing up question-and-answer material for the Korean public. The U.S. government had stated in the federal gazette that cattle less than 30 months old can be used for animal feed even if its fitness for human consumption has not been inspected and regardless whether their brains and spinal cords (the so-called specified risk materials) have been effectively removed. But our government explained that the U.S. government had done just the opposite, strengthening rules so that even cattle under 30 months old must pass for human consumption if it is to be used as feed.

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Grid Pricing of Fed Cattle: Risk and Information

Grid Pricing of Fed Cattle: Risk and Information

Clement E. Ward, Oklahoma State University, Ted C. Schroeder, Kansas State University, Dillon M. Feuz, University of Nebraska

Increased Risk with Grid Pricing

A move toward value-based pricing, or carcass merit pricing, is essential if the beef industry is going to send proper economic signals to producers. Grid pricing provides rewards for producinghigh quality beef and properly discounts for producing low quality beef.

At the same time, producers need to understand that the potential for higher prices compared with pricing on averages also entails more risk. For example, with live weight pricing, packers bear the risk that actual carcass characteristics for cattle purchased will equal or exceed estimated carcass characteristics by buyers in the price discovery process. With dressed weight pricing, a step closer to value-based pricing, packers continue to bear the risk of some carcass characteristics (for example, quality grade, yield grade, and “out” or non-specification carcasses). However, producers bear the risk of dressing percentage. Packer buyers do not have to worry about carcass weight risk because they pay on the basis of the known carcass weight, not an estimated weight.

FULL STORY PDF

S.Korea likely to delay US beef imports

S.Korea likely to delay US beef imports

Straits Times

South Korea is likely to delay Thursday’s planned resumption of beef imports from the United States, its agriculture minister said, after mounting public protests over the prospect of meat imports many fear is unsafe.

‘We are seriously considering it,’ Mr Chung Woon Chun said in parliament when asked by a lawmaker if the government was planning to delay the resumption.

South Korea, once the third-largest overseas market for US beef, reached a deal with the United States last month to open its market wider to American beef. South Korea had only permitted boneless beef from cattle under 30 months in age.

FULL STORY