BeefTalk: Three Pedals, But Only Two Feet
Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service
The challenge is allocating time to learn how to utilize the magnificent technology at our fingertips.
Mistakes happen, but life goes on!
That is the stark reality when one has no way of immediately changing the previous action. It could be simple, such as locking the car door with the keys inside or accidentally giving someone the wrong phone number.
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Rules of Thumb for Winter Cow Rations
Jason K. Ahola, Ph.D.
American Cowman
Considerations for feeding cows a least-cost ration in a new era of high forage prices
Without question, feed costs across the entire beef industry have increased substantially over the past 18 months. However, the rise in forage prices during 2007 has contributed to a dramatic increase in winter cow feeding costs.
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Obama Wins Election; How Will He Lead?
Joe Roybal
Beef Magazine
Like the final scene from a Rocky movie where the two slogging combatants stand battered and exhausted as one teeters toward the canvas, the 2008 presidential election has finally and mercifully drawn to a close. Congratulations are in order to Democrat Barack Obama for his historic achievement.
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What New Faces in Washington Will Mean for US Ag Policy
Gary Truitt
Hoosier AG Today
There is a lot of speculation on who will be the next Secretary of Agriculture and of the Environmental Protection Agency. But Mary Kay Thatcher with the American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington says other appointments are more important to future ag policy then who heads the USDA.
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Graze to Keep Grass Healthy
Dr. Bruce Anderson, Professor of Agronomy, Agronomy & Horticulture, University of Nebraska
One way to reduce weeds in a pasture is to graze hard enough so cattle will eat them since there is nothing else to eat. While many weeds can provide satisfactory protein and energy for cattle when eaten, controlling weeds with heavy grazing pressure might not be healthy for the pasture.
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Mobile meat processing units for beef
Cattle Business Weekly
Consolidation in the meat processing industry has resulted in fewer locations where animals can be processed under USDA inspection. This comes at an inopportune time as more and more consumers are demanding their beef be locally grown – making a need for slaughter houses by small farmers.
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Q&A How much distillers grains can be put in 32% cattle cake? I have heard too much is not good.
Dr. Rick Rasby, Professor of Animal Science, Animal Science, University of Nebraska
Distillers is tough to cube by itself because of the fat content. We have designed a cube that is 25% Crude Protein that contains about 2/3 distillers grains.
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Minnesota Cattle Feeder Days
cattlenetwork.com
The University of Minnesota Beef Team is proud to announce this year’s Minnesota Cattle Feeder Days to be held December 9-11. This year’s program will focus on strategies to assist feedlot producers in discovering and developing new profit sources for their operations.
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2008 Wyoming AgXp, Nov. 20-23
Cattle Business Weekly
The 2008 Wyoming AgXpo, formerly held in Douglas, moves this year to the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds Arena in Casper.
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AGAINST THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
Ezra Klein
The American Prospect
Editor’s note: Stories of this ilk are included in the blog to inform those in our industry how agriculture is being presented to, and perceived by the public.
I e-mailed Michael Pollan to get his reaction to the trial balloon floating Iowa’s Tom Vilsack for agricultural secretary. He responded:
Vilsack would be pretty much business as usual, and a disappointment to all the people seeking reform of the food system. From what I’ve been able to find out, he has not shown much inclination to challenge agribusiness. It could be worse, though– Collin Peterson has also been on the short list. But as important as USDA is, we also need someone in the White House, a food policy advisor, to help coordinate policy across the Cabinet departments, so that health impacts are considered when write USDA rules, or food safety when writing trade rules, or climate change impacts when drawing the farm bill, etc etc. You need someone who can connect the dots between agriculture and health and energy and climate– as Obama himself clearly is inclined to do. That won’t happen at any one department.
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Cattleman honored for recruiting new NCBA members
Tom Wray
National Provisioner
Tracy Brunner of Ramona, Kan., has been given the 2008 Top Hand Award from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) for recruiting the most new members during 2008, the group said.
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Cattle Producers and OCM file suit against JBS merger
North Texas E-News
R-CALF USA, along with the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), today jointly filed litigation in the U.S. District Court – Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, against the proposed acquisition of National Beef Packing Co. (National Beef) by Brazilian-owned meatpacker JBS, already the world’s largest meatpacker. The U.S. Department of Justice – along with a total of 17 state attorneys general – also filed litigation against JBS in this matter.
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Local beef producers worry about Brazilian buyout plan
Cornelia de Bruin
The Farmington Daily Times
San Juan County beef producer Paul Bandy applauds New Mexico Attorney General Gary King’s decision to join an antitrust lawsuit against the world’s largest beef packer.
“To have free trade, you have to have competition,” Bandy said. “The result would be that they would make more money and we would make less.”
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International Livestock Congress 2009 speakers, agenda
Cattle Business Weekly
The 2009 International Livestock Congress-USA (ILC-USA) will be held January 13 in Denver, Colo. The program, “Global Beef – Meating the Demand” will provide beef producers, packers, retailers, students and other industry leaders perspective on how the world’s largest retailers are meeting the protein demands of their consumers and, in turn, what those retailers are demanding of the suppliers of protein.
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Virginia beef symposium planned
Betty Coleman
Staunton News Leader
The symposium, designed for beef producers and beef industry leaders, will allow participants to gain perspective on current and future issues facing the industry. Guest speakers who are nationally recognized leaders in the beef industry will talk about the status of the industry’s markets, legislation, genetics and family farm sustainability.
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