Curly Calf Syndrome Explanation

Curly Calf Syndrome Explanation

Angus Semen Service

Early this fall the American Angus Association alerted its membership by letter and through its web site (www.angus.org) of the existence of what appears to be a lethal genetic defect called Curly Calf Syndrome. Affected calves are born dead with a twisted spine and extended and contracted limbs. Early investigations lead researchers believe this to be a simple recessive gene tentatively tracing to GAR Precision 1680 (11520398).

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Business by the Horns: Longhorns livelihood of ranch

Business by the Horns: Longhorns livelihood of ranch

CODY BEDELL,

Country World

Nearly 20 years after moving to Texas, Kurt Twining, owner of Silver T Ranch, followed his long-time dream and began raising Longhorn cattle.

“In 1979, I was recruited from Michigan State University to go work at Texas Instruments in Dallas,” recalled Twining. “When I moved to Texas, I knew that I didn’t want to live in the city. I wanted to be able to live in the country and possibly one day, be able to raise livestock. When I first started working for Texas Instruments, I was living in Wylie which was considered the country at the time, but 10 years ago, I finally bought about 100-acres outside of Winnsboro.”

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Continent of origin labeling

Continent of origin labeling

High Plains Journal

That’s close enough, isn’t it? The animal was born, fed and converted to protein somewhere north of the Panama Canal. That’s the way it looks like country-of-origin labeling (COOL) is going to go now that it has been implemented at the retail level. The intent of the legislation was clear: to identify meat produced solely in the United States and labeled as such but the final implementation may be far different.

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USDA study confirms link between ethanol by-product and E. coli

USDA study confirms link between ethanol by-product and E. coli

Mark Steil

Minnesota Public Radio

A U.S. Agriculture Department study shows a significant increase of potentially harmful E. coli bacteria in cattle that are fed an ethanol by-product known as distiller’s grain. Distillers grain is a common ingredient in cattle feed. But researchers say it’s too soon to know whether cattle producers should change the amount of distiller’s grain they feed to their herds.

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Beef cattle reproduction symposium scheduled Dec. 2 and 3 in Colorado

Beef cattle reproduction symposium scheduled Dec. 2 and 3 in Colorado

High Plains Journal

New methods and technologies to control and improve reproductive success in beef cattle is the focus of the “Robert Taylor Memorial Symposium: Applied Reproductive Strategies in Beef Cattle” scheduled for Dec. 2 and 3 at the Hilton Hotel in Fort Collins, Colo.

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Central figure in cattle scam gets 8 years

Central figure in cattle scam gets 8 years

Two former bank officials receive less than a year

Christian Giggenbach

Register-Herald

A federal judge sentenced former cattle broker Kevin Scott O’Brien, the Greenbrier County con man who bilked investors out of millions using Ponzi and phantom cattle schemes, to more than eight years in prison Friday in Beckley.

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Packing industry consolidation concerns Montana cattlemen

Packing industry consolidation concerns Montana cattlemen

The Prairie Star

Montana Cattlemen’s Association is concerned with the proposed purchase of National Beef Packing Co., Smithfield Beef Group and Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding LLC by the Brazilian group JBS.

Currently JBS is the world’s largest beef packer and the third largest beef processor in the U.S. since it acquired Swift and Company in May 2007. If this proposed merger is completed, 80 percent of the U.S. beef processing will be left to only three companies: JBS, Cargill and Tyson, with JBS becoming the largest.

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Farmers are facing a tough lending environment

Farmers are facing a tough lending environment

Banks are requiring more collateral and higher interest rates from crop farmers.

Betsy Blaney

The Roanoke Times

A farmer unloads harvested corn grain from the auger on his farm near Auburn, Ill. The weakening economy is depressing the value of grains.

The worsening financial crisis is making it harder and more expensive for farmers and cattlemen to borrow money to pay for feed, land and salaries.

“While the credit squeeze on the agricultural sector is buffered somewhat by subsidies and other federal assistance, the timing is nonetheless bad: the costs of fertilizer, fuel, seed and equipment have all risen sharply in recent years, and a global recession is on the horizon.

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Agriculture seminar covers global demands

Agriculture seminar covers global demands

Hanaba Welch

Times Record news

Farmers and ranchers are gamblers by profession, and the commodities market — volatile by nature — is part of the game.

But playing the market in cattle, wheat and corn offers producers as many ways to minimize risks as to take them. Managing production risks was the focus of a daylong agricultural marketing seminar this week in Abilene.

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‘Kenny’s Shoes’ captures Monfort patriarch

‘Kenny’s Shoes’ captures Monfort patriarch

Bill Jackson

The Tribune

It’s appropriate.

The new book is called “Kenny’s Shoes.” Author Walt Barnhart calls his book “A walk through the storied life of the remarkable Kenneth W. Monfort,” and it’s a fascinating read.

For those who knew Kenny, the title is perfect. But more on that later.

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Grassfed beef market growing

Grassfed beef market growing

Gothenburg Times

About 2,000 U.S. producers will market grassfed beef valuing approximately $350 million retail this year, said Allen Williams at a recent University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Grassland Studies conference in Kearney.

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Growing Bred Replacement Heifers

Growing Bred Replacement Heifers

cattlenetwork.com

Bred replacement heifers that will calve in January and February need to continue to grow and maintain body condition.  Ideally, two year old heifers should be in a body condition score “6” at the time that their first calf is born.  This allows them the best opportunity to provide adequate colostrum to the baby, repair the reproductive tract, return to heat cycles, rebreed on time for next year, and continue normal body growth.  From now until calving time, the heifers will need to be gaining about 1 pound per head per day, assuming that they are in good body condition coming out of summer.

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Farmers stuck with surplus crops after ban

Farmers stuck with surplus crops after ban

Heather Lynn Peters

Muskegon Chronicle

Larry VanSickle does his best to mask his concern over the state-imposed deer “bait ban” affecting his farming business and many others in Oceana County.

The 65-year-old Elbridge Township farmer even jokes while discussing the issue, his contagious laughter filling the old farmhouse where he grew up and later raised his own family.

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Distillers grains seminar set Oct. 28

Distillers grains seminar set Oct. 28

High Plains Journal

Oklahoma State University’s Oklahoma Panhandle Research and Extension Center is hosting a seminar regarding the use of ethanol by-products in beef cattle production Oct. 28 at 5 p.m., in their facility at the OPSU Farm. Anyone interested in learning about distillers products is welcome to attend.

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Texas farmers wage war on army worms

Texas farmers wage war on army worms

LINDA STEWART BALL

Fort Worth Star Telegram

Texas farmers are once again waging war on army worms, renewing the fight against the tiny but destructive pests that march across fields and pastures during the fall planting season.

And this year, the battle appears tougher than usual, as agricultural officials say the voracious creatures are out in bigger numbers.

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