Baxter Black, DVM: A SIMPLE CONVERSATION

Baxter Black, DVM:  A SIMPLE CONVERSATION

I came across a neighbor who was working in his shop. His real name was Herbert, but we all just called him Pop. He has gotten hard of hearing, which can happen growing old. I guess the roar of table saws and planers took their toll.

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Supplementing Pastures With Legumes Offers Double Benefit

Supplementing Pastures With Legumes Offers Double Benefit

cattlenetwork.com

Reducing pasture expenses can help your bottom line, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of pasture quality. This spring, consider investing in legumes to reap a longer term benefit.

Legumes can reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizer application and help cut costs. In five years of grazing research in eastern Nebraska, brome/legume pastures produced almost four-tenths of a pound higher average daily gain on yearlings than did straight brome pastures fertilized with 50 lb of nitrogen.

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Conference Focuses on Nutrition

Conference Focuses on Nutrition

Cattle Today

The 2009 Tennessee Nutrition Conference will focus on Livestock Nutrition During Challenging Times. Presenters at the March 5, 2009 conference will receive up-to-date, research-based information presented by respected nutrition experts from around the country. Sessions are planned on nutrition of beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses and small ruminants. The conference will be held at the James Ward Agricultural Center (Wilson County Fairgrounds) in Lebanon, Tennessee.

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End of cow-carcass collections delayed

End of cow-carcass collections delayed

Lancaster New Era

RYAN ROBINSON

A rendering company has delayed its plan to stop collecting some 7,000 dead cows each year at Lancaster County farms.

Valley Proteins, which is the main renderer of dead cattle here, had planned to end its decades-long practice of collecting bovine on local farms on March 1.

That decision, made last year, had sparked health concerns by local conservation and agricultural officials, who fear the spread of disease if carcasses are disposed of improperly on farms.

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Grazing school for novices promises to save money for students

Grazing school for novices promises to save money for students

Texas A&M

In today’s economy, it’s not a question of being able to afford more training to better manage livestock operations, said a forage expert with Texas AgriLife Research.

“It’s a matter of not being able to afford not to,” said Dr. Monte Rouquette, AgriLife Research scientist.

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Water quality regs could affect farmers

Water quality regs could affect farmers

GINA KINSLOW

Glasgow Daily Times

Very few farmers know about new confined animal feeding operation regulations that go into effect later this month.

The new regulations, which are being enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency, impact poultry, beef cattle, dairy, hog and all other CAFOs of all sizes, specifically if animals are confined for more than 45 days and there is no vegetation in the production area, according to the Kentucky Farm Bureau Agricultural Contact Team.

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Using winter supplementation program as a grazing management tool

Using winter supplementation program as a grazing management tool

Manny Encinias

PNTonline.com

Beef producers in the Southwest are commonly challenged to balance forage supply and demand on their grazing operations.

While typically not documented, a tenured manager is always aware of the grazing use patterns within and across pastures on a ranch. Regardless of the year, most managers would like to get more grazing days out of a given pasture by improving grazing utilization in those areas not commonly preferred by cattle.

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Michigan Angus Breeder Elected to Lead Beef Organization

Michigan Angus Breeder Elected to Lead Beef Organization

Angus E-List

Gary Voogt, Marne, Mich., has been elected president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). The election during the annual membership meeting Jan. 31, 2009, concluded the weeklong Cattle Industry Convention in Phoenix, Ariz.

Voogt, a member of the American and Michigan Angus associations and the Michigan Cattlemen’s Association (MCA), has been raising cattle on his family’s operation just west of Grand Rapids since 1968. Today, he and his wife, Shirley, have the privilege of having their children and grandchildren involved in the farm as the next generations become active in the cattle and haying operation.

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Sessions to look at cattle nutrition

Sessions to look at cattle nutrition

Argus Leader

Drylot beef cattle nutrition training sessions are set for Tuesday in Mitchell and Feb. 23 in Watertown.

The South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service will host the training. Topics include fundamentals of ruminant nutrition, nutrient requirements for beef cattle, mineral nutrition and ration formulation.

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Indiana Cattle and Forage Symposium

Indiana Cattle and Forage Symposium

Dave Russell

Brownfield Network

The 2009 Cattle and Forage Symposium is going to be held February 27 and 28 at the Indianapolis Hilton North. This is the second year that the dairy, beef and forage producers have jointly hosted the symposium.

Julia Wickard, Executive V.P. of the Indiana Beef Cattle Association tells Brownfield, breakout sessions will address issues important to the producers attending.

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Effects Of Grazing Management On Parasite Infection

Effects Of Grazing Management On Parasite Infection

cattlenetwork.com

Grazing management can have an impact on parasite transmission. The majority of larvae will rarely migrate more than 2 to 3 inches from the edge of the fecal pat in which they were deposited as eggs. Under a continuous grazing system, cattle will normally avoid grazing close to manure pats until forage becomes limiting. However, in an intensive rotational grazing system cattle are often forced to eat closer to fecal pats, resulting in an increased transmission rate of infective larvae.

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Cattle numbers down in the Wabash Valley

Cattle numbers down in the Wabash Valley

WTHI-TV

The number of beef cattle in the United States has now reached an all time low of 42 million head. The declining cattle business is being felt in the Wabash Valley.

Jack Chattin has been raising cattle for almost 40 years. He said these days it’s tough to make a living in the beef business.

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Cattle Care Before and After The Storm

Cattle Care Before and After The Storm

Dr. Glenn Selk, Extension Cattle Specialist, Oklahoma State University

The tragic tornadoes in Central and Southern Oklahoma of last Tuesday remind us that spring time is thunderstorm season across the Plains. Spring storms occasionally bring severe straight line winds or tornadoes. Cleaning up after a severe storm is difficult enough. Losing valuable cattle brings additional financial hardship to the situation.

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Red Angus Releases Spring 2009 EPDs

Red Angus Releases Spring 2009 EPDs

Cattle Today

The Red Angus Association of America (RAAA) recently released the Spring 2009 EPDs as updated by Colorado State Universities (CSU) Center for Genetic Evaluation of Livestock. EPDs on individual animals can be accessed through the Data Searches feature on the Association’s website, RedAngus.org.

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LSU experts: outlook challenging

LSU experts: outlook challenging

Delta Farm Press

Falling futures prices for farm commodities combined with a general economic effect on demand and the leftover effects of hurricanes Gustav and Ike will put Louisiana farmers in a bind for 2009, according to economists in the LSU AgCenter.

“Many producers are finding themselves in financially sensitive positions,” said Kurt Guidry, an LSU AgCenter economist. “The 2008 hurricanes caused lost revenue combined with high costs of inputs — primarily fuel and nitrogen fertilizer. Although they’re now coming down a bit, those costs are still relatively high compared to historical levels and in light of lower commodity prices.”

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