United on All Fronts

United on All Fronts

Dan Rieder

Simmental Register

Indiana native Tim Kochert (pronounced Co-shirt) admits that he had the ‘flying bug’ from the first time he looked up to the sky and saw an airplane. That fervent attraction led him down a round about path to a career as a pilot with United Airlines.

Today, he’s still flying passenger jets even while he and his family maintain a quality herd of Simmental cattle near Windsor (population: 6,000) only a few miles east of Colorado’s majestic Rocky Mountain Front.  

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Ration Balancing on the Ranch

Ration Balancing on the Ranch

Rachel L. Endecott and Clay P. Mathis

New Mexico State University

On most ranches there are times when cattle are fed commodities such as hay or grains. However, delivering these commodities in the appropriate proportion and quantity to meet nutrient requirements and production goals can be challenging. The ability to balance a ration can be beneficial to producers by helping them cost effectively achieve production goals.

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Common Mistakes in Growing Alfalfa

Common Mistakes in Growing Alfalfa             

Eddie Funderburg

Noble Foundation

With high protein prices, many people are thinking about growing alfalfa, some for the first time ever. While alfalfa can be very profitable, there are some common mistakes that can take you from profitability to loss quickly. Following are some of the most common mistakes I see new alfalfa growers make. If you can avoid these mistakes, you have a good chance to be on the profit side of the ledger rather than in the hole.

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A receiving checklist on arrival programs

A receiving checklist on arrival programs

Amanda Nolz

Tri State Livestock News

Although the media and the general public don’t always realize it, producing safe, affordable food is a highly skilled job. And, the first task of those responsible for producing this food is to maintain optimal health in the animal. To keep track of the many illnesses and diseases that could wreak havoc on that goal, producers should develop guidelines and checklists to follow from year to year.

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Down On The Grass-Fed Farm: The Beef May Be Better, But It’s Still Damn Hard Work

Down On The Grass-Fed Farm: The Beef May Be Better, But It’s Still Damn Hard Work

Jayme Rutledge

Dallas Observer

Sweat pours down Marguerite’s sun-baked face. She feels briars scratching through her dusty jeans. The buzzing and biting of mosquitoes is maddening. So is the old fence lining one of the back pastures. It’s broken again.

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2009 Cow Country Congress to be held Sept. 25 in Walker County

2009 Cow Country Congress to be held Sept. 25 in Walker County

Reggie Lepley

Agrilife News

“Participants will have the opportunity to visit with a variety of commercial exhibitors several times during the course of the day between presentations, demonstrations and tours of the host property,” said Reggie Lepley, AgriLife Extension agent in Walker County.

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Career opportunities in ag

Career opportunities in ag

Kindra Gordon

The Cattle Business Weekly

With layoffs and job cuts making headlines this past year, what’s been the impact on the ag and natural resource job market, and what is the ag career outlook?

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DNA Testing Takes Guesswork Out of Picking Replacement Heifer

DNA Testing Takes Guesswork Out of Picking Replacement Heifers

Del Deterling

DTN/Progressive Farmer

Raymond Schneider, 75, admits retirement briefly crossed his mind several years ago. But new agricultural technology has him so excited that he keeps putting aside any thoughts of slowing down.

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Baxter Black, DVM: NOT ONE MORE ACRE

Baxter Black, DVM:  NOT ONE MORE ACRE

How do you put your mind around oppression for the common good and eminent domain? The explanation most times is “follow the money.”

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Comparing doses of respiratory vaccine in beef calves

Comparing doses of respiratory vaccine in beef calves

David L. Morris, DVM, Ph.D.

The Fence Post

Young, weaned beef calves in many marketing channels are exposed to substantial stressors with changes in environment and nutrition, unfamiliar social interactions involved with commingling, and transport to new production facilities. Shipping fever, now better known as bovine respiratory disease (BRD), has long been a disease of concern for cattle producers. Numerous studies have shown BRD to have a negative impact on health, treatment costs, performance, and carcass quality.

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Forages, equipment, management strategies at heart of Forage Day

Forages, equipment, management strategies at heart of Forage Day

Rushville Republican

A field day designed for forage enthusiasts will provide helpful tips on topics such as controlling weeds, looking at different forages and making hay crop silage and equipment demonstrations.

Purdue Forage Day, set for Sept. 17 near Cambridge City, combines educational sessions, demonstrations, challenges from an operating forage producer and university expertise to provide participants with solutions and ideas they can implement on their farm, said Keith Johnson, Purdue Extension forage management specialist.

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Read the labels: Beef’s origin, type affect taste

Read the labels: Beef’s origin, type affect taste

TOMMY C. SIMMONS

The Advocate

You’re not a snob if you notice the labels on packages of beef in the supermarket. Those labels provide helpful cooking information, such as whether the beef steak you are considering is good for grilling or whether it should be stewed or slow cooked.

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Argentina’s Beef Debate: Feedlot or Grassland?

Argentina’s Beef Debate: Feedlot or Grassland?

Washington Post

The world’s top cattle producing countries have been penning up cattle for years, and now Argentina, which has slipped from the international beef dominance it once enjoyed, is following the trend.

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Kentucky Beef Network awarded state grant

Kentucky Beef Network awarded state grant

Drovers

The Kentucky Beef Network, LLC (KBN), a marketing program for the state’s producers, will get a sizable shot in the arm. The Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, chaired by Governor Steve Beshear, approved KBN for $862,634 in state Agricultural Development Funds to implement several production and marketing programs for cattle producers and to provide educational programs that enhance profitability.

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Senator moves to block controversial appointment

Senator moves to block controversial appointment

Sarah Muirhead

Feedstuffs

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has scheduled a vote for Wednesday, September 9 on a presidential nominee opposed by many American hunters, gun owners, and farmers.

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