Polled Calves Can Produce a Profit
Justin Rhinehart, Beef Cattle Specialist; Mississippi State University/American Angus Assn.
Dehorning calves can have a tremendous impact on end-product quality and value of feeder/stocker cattle.
It may seem like one of the simpler management processes, but it still gets overlooked. Angus cattle, for instance, are naturally polled—and breeding cattle to Angus bulls is an easy way to remove horns naturally without the stress of using mechanical means.
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K-State’s Beef Stocker Field Day set for Sept. 24
High Plains Journal
Kansas State University will host its 10th annual Beef Stocker Field Day Sept. 24 at the university’s Beef Stocker Unit located on west Marlatt Ave., in Manhattan.
The day begins with coffee and registration at 9:30 a.m., and the program starting at 10:15 a.m.
The program will include a mix of speakers from K-State Research and Extension, as well as beef producers, cattle feeders, agricultural lenders and beef processors.
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Pasture Bloat-Prevention and Treatment
Warren Gill, Professor and Fred Hopkins, Professor, University of Tennessee Department of Animal Science
Bloat is a disease condition where gas gets trapped in the cow’s rumen (stomach) and cannot be belched out as normally occurs. This is due to the fact that the gas get trapped in bubbles in the rumen. As the amount of gas in the rumen increases, the cow’s abdomen gets larger on the left side behind the last rib and fairly high up on the abdominal wall. Eventually, the pressure in the rumen can get high enough that the cow can suffocate and die. Bloat can be a serious problem but knowledge about its prevention and cure can keep it from becoming an economic disaster.
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Meat Mysteries
Jay Nordlinger
National Review
. . . And now a word about fat (which I also mention in this column) (and this word is from the same reader): “Very lean beef actually tastes terrible — something like a liver taste — and can only be rescued by sauces or gravy, or by adding substantial fat as it’s ground into ‘hamburger.’”
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Estate planning for agriculture’s next generation
Amanda Nolz
Tri State Livestock News
It’s been said that two-thirds of all family ranches don’t make it past the second generation. Was the ranch really at its last chapter, or did it end by choice? For many, a lack of proper estate planning causes more than a headache for a ranch’s successors; often, it means the end of a family tradition in agriculture.
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Cool summer means haying havoc for farmers
Peggy Revell
Fort Frances Times
Miserable weather has ruined plenty of summer plans so far this season, but it’s also spells trouble for local farmers when it comes to the quantity and quality of hay needed for their herds.
“It’s been horrible,” said Emo farmer Kim Jo Bliss, who also is a research technician at the agricultural research station there.
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Beef farmers should get big rather than organic
Agrimoney.com
Beef farmers in the UK should get big rather than organic if they wish to raise profitability, and exploit the promise offered by large retail and export markets, a leading land agency has said.
Turning organic "is no longer enough to command a significant premium" in beef, Savills said, noting the ease at which farms can switch into low-intensity techniques from conventional rearing methods.
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Cloned meat may cause trade troubles
Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen
Federal food officials expect cloned farm animals to reach U.S. markets in just two to four years, making some Canadians — and possibly foreign countries — question the safety of our own meat.
“Cloning technology is now becoming commercially viable and accessible to the industry,” an internal federal summary of the cloning issue says.
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Uncertainty Drives US Livestock Markets
Thebeefsite.com
According to a mid-year baseline report from the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI), uncertainty in the general economy continues to drive the outlook on agricultural markets.
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Economy Grows, For Now
BEEF Magazine
Nobody knows whether the economy has finally hit bottom, but Wall Street investors’ money suggested Friday that it has.
By the end of last week, all of the major financial indices (Dow, NASDAQ, S&P 500) reached their highest levels since the first week of October.
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Bovine Tuberculosis testing continues in Nebraska
KNEB
Testing continues in Nebraska. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture is in 10th week of testing for Bovine Tuberculosis. All TB test results have been negative on the approximately 10,100 head of cattle tested between June 15th and August 16th.
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Drought-related cattle deaths in South Texas
Robert Burns, Texas A&M University
Southwest Farm Press
Hot, dry weather continued for most of Texas, with South Texas still the hottest and driest, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel.
It has been so hot and dry that ranchers are losing cattle, said Sammy Gavito, AgriLife Extension agent for Duval County , west of Corpus Christi.
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British White conference and sale Sept. 18-19
Codi Vallery-Mills
The Cattle Business Weekly
This September those interested in the little-known British White cattle breed should make their way to Pequot Lakes, Minnesota for the breed association’s annual conference and sale.
The white and black colored cattle is not a dominant breed in population, but those who own them say they dominate over other breeds in production.
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Ohio State Event Looks At The Science Of Animal Welfare
cattlenetwork.com
The issues in farm animal welfare continue to be hotly debated across the United States, and recently Ohio’s farm animal production practices have come under scrutiny. On October 16, a symposium on animal welfare being held at Ohio State University will offer perspectives that are grounded in science and education.
The "Ohio State Animal Welfare Symposium: Building Partnerships to Address Animal Welfare," will take place October 16 from 8 a.m. until 4:15 p.m. at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, Columbus, Ohio.
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United For Quality
Lura Roti
BEEF Magazine
With branding complete and his cow-calf pairs turned out to pasture, Carl Sanders directs his production focus to ensuring his calves put on weight. Since his calves are already marketed, this Black Hills cow-calf producer’s primary focus is their performance.
Each fall since 2001, Sanders, 31, has sold his 750-lb. feeder calves to Jay Bakken, 31, a feedlot operator near Garretson, SD.
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