All About Relationships
Dan Rieder
SimTalk
“We buy bulls, regardless of the breed, based largely on personal relationships,” says Matt Pearce of Pearce Cattle Company, Okeechobee, Florida. “We do not buy bulls randomly. We’ve continually purchased them from a handful of producers that we know and respect. Most of the time, we don’t even go to their bull sales – we buy them based on a combination of the breeder’s opinion, by studying the sale catalogs and through DVD observations.”
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Beef Leaders Program inspires, educates students
Amanda Nolz
Tri State Livestock News
In an age where the animal agriculture industry is more complex than ever before, it is increasingly important for producers to think beyond the pasture gates. As society demands more out of its beef producers, the challenges young people will inherit as they step into farmer and rancher roles will include more than harvesting beans and feeding cattle.
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The Seismic Tremor of Cow Liquidation
John Harrington
DTN
Those of you who were unnerved several weeks ago by what felt like a major earthquake can cancel your appointment with the ear doctor and resume plans to imbibe in moderate amounts of “Christmas cheer.”
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Senator Introduces Food Safety Legislation
Thebeefsite.com
California Senator Dianne Feinstein has introduced legislation to require that food producers take responsibility for keeping food free from harmful pathogens.
The bill would amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to prohibit the sale of any food that has not been certified to be pathogen free.
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Autism Allows Scientist to Unlock Animal Brain
Bonnie Coblentz
Cattle Today
Temple Grandin, an animal scientist from Colorado State University, thinks in pictures, a characteristic that gives her valuable insight in how to handle animals.
Grandin is a best-selling author and a world-renowned speaker. She also has autism. Grandin was the keynote speaker at CVM’s Human-Animal Bond lecture series in late October. She has been instrumental in developing welfare guidelines for handling and transporting livestock and is a past member of the board of directors of the Autism Society of America.
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Cattlemen to Hear Speakers Before Convention
KMEG
Before the Nebraska Cattlemen Convention officially begins in Kearney on the evening of Dec. 9, many cattle producers will arrive early to attend the Cattlemen’s College and hear speakers on five topics. They include cattle enterprise succession planning, cattle genetic profiling, impact of calving dates on profits, successes of producers who have thought outside the box, and how the animal rights movement affects cattle markets. The special presentations on these issues will occur from 1:00 – 6:00 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Kearney Holiday Inn.
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Supply and Demand
Max Thornsberry
AgWeb.com
I first really began to understand the economic concept of supply and demand in my first college course in Agriculture Economics at the University of Missouri in 1972. My professor had gone bankrupt in the hog business, went back to the University of Missouri, obtained a Ph.D. in Agriculture Economics, and started teaching his students how to not go broke in the hog business. He spent a lot of lecture time – what seemed to me at that time in my life like an inordinate amount of time – on the hog and cattle cycles.
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NDSU to Hold 2 Beef Workshops
KFGO
The North Dakota State University Extension Service is holding two workshops for beef cattle producers in December.
One will be Dec. 14 at the Highway 21 Club in Flasher. The other will be Dec. 15 at Napoleon Livestock Auction in Napoleon. Both will begin at 9:30 a.m.
The “Keepin’ the Best and Havin’ Success” workshops will focus on cow herd health management, the basics of genetic defects, replacement heifer selection and development, and sire selection.
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Group Files Comments on Interstate Meat Shipment
KTIC
“We strongly support interstate shipment of State-inspected meat and we believe such authorization will provide state-inspected meat packing and meat processing establishments an opportunity to expand their current operations by opening new markets in interstate commerce,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. “In turn, the expansion of these state-inspected establishments potentially will enhance competition for cattle farmers and ranchers as they would have more marketing outlets to choose from when marketing their cattle.”
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Q&A: A producer applied limestone to corn ground and rented out the stalks. The renter wondered if limestone will hurt gestating cows. Will it upset the mineral ratio?
Dr. Rick Rasby, Professor of Animal Science, Animal Science, University of Nebraska
A: This is a good question. It is my understanding that this is not uncommon to add limestone to increase soil pH, but I have not received this question ever during my time in extension. I would have expected this question if there had be adverse effects on the gestating cows grazing the crop residue.
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Brucellosis found in eastern Idaho cow
KTVQ
The infectious bacterial disease brucellosis has been found in a beef cow in eastern Idaho, and state agriculture officials are scrambling to see if the infection is isolated or if it has spread to other herds.
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U.S. Cattlemen Assn. meet on Capitol Hill
Wilson County News
U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) representatives were in Washington, D.C., during the first week of November for their fourth fly-in to share cattle producers’ concerns with policy-makers on a number of cattle-industry issues, with a primary focus on the country-of-origin labeling (COOL) challenge under the World Trade Organization (WTO).
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The next decade: Part I
Harlan Hughes
BEEF Magazine
I truly believe ranching in the next decade will not be “business as usual.” Thus, my next few columns will look to stimulate ranchers’ thinking about where their businesses might be headed over the coming decade.
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Group Asks That NAIS Program Be Dissolved
Beef Today
A 100-group coalition sent letters to USDA and Congress urging that the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) be dissolved completely. The letter to Congress asks members of the House and Senate to “…support the limited use of NAIS funding to shut down the program, and to refocus the agency on measures that truly improve animal health and that respect the interests of both livestock owners and consumers.”
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Livestock group to go on offense
RICK PLUMLEE
The Wichita Eagle
Weary of criticism of its industry, the Kansas Livestock Association will go on offense during its convention Thursday and Friday at the Hyatt Regency Wichita.
"The environmentalists and animal activists want to paint a picture that’s really not true," KLA president Todd Allen said Monday. "We need to tell the real story.
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