Baxter Black, DVM: PIONEERS

Baxter Black, DVM:  PIONEERS

One of the qualities that characterize dedicated ranchers and farmers is a joyous commitment to hard work. It’s sort of an odd combination of curiosity, independence and bravado.

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Minnesotans sue USFWS to delist wolves

Minnesotans sue USFWS to delist wolves 

Review Messenger

Dale Lueck, a cattle rancher in north central Minnesota, and Gerald Tyler, a retired real estate developer from Ely, Minnesota, are moving forward with a lawsuit to force the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to delist the wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

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Happy cows in Nevada County

Happy cows in Nevada County

Patti Bess

Theunion.com

Are California cows really happier?

Jim Gates’ cows seem to be. With starlings and blackbirds chattering in the giant oaks overhead, they spend their days grazing and eating grass on some of the most idyllic meadows in the county.

Jim is the owner of Nevada County Free Range Beef. All the cattle he raises and sells are grass-fed.

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Beef producers worry about snow, economy

Beef producers worry about snow, economy

DAN PILLER

DesMoines Register

Cattle prices have risen modestly in the last month and feed costs are down.

With some luck, the U.S. economy will improve enough this year to enable Americans to splurge occasionally on a steak dinner.

Such glimmers of good news buoyed Iowa cattle producers who gathered for the annual Beef Expo at the State Fairgrounds. But what concerns them most now is digging out of record snowfall levels on their pastures.

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Canadian cattle producers suffering

Canadian cattle producers suffering

MARKUS ERMISCH

Edmonton Sun

Canadian cattle herds have shrunk to their lowest headcount in more than a decade, culled by a high loonie, protective U.S. legislation and a global loss of appetite for beef because of the recession.

As of Jan. 1, Canadian cattle producers reported 13 million heads, a decrease of 1.3% from one year ago, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday. Herds were smaller across the country, except in Ontario and Saskatchewan. In Alberta, Canada’s largest cattle producer, herds had declined 4.3% to 5.2 million.

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What the hell are you feeding us?

What the hell are you feeding us?

Grist.com

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.

Agricultural societies, I imagine, have always fed waste products to livestock. On diversified farms, pigs and chickens get lots of kitchen scraps and “culls”—produce that can’t be sold. And it’s worthwhile to keep cows around if you have access to pasture—cows convert a wild, low-input perennial crop (grass), which humans can’t digest, into highly nutritious beef and milk.

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Deputies counting dead cows on Tenn. farm

Deputies counting dead cows on Tenn. farm

Drovers

Sheriff’s deputies in Middle Tennessee are still counting dead cattle on a farm near Shelbyville, but the man accused in their suspected starvation says far fewer cows have died than officials say.

John Darrin Thomas of Wartrace was charged Friday with six counts of animal cruelty filed in Coffee County.

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Farm to Plate: Keeping the water running pays off

Farm to Plate: Keeping the water running pays off

Kurt Vogel 

Provisioner online

When I check the weather this time of year and see forecasted temperatures in the single digits or colder, it brings back fond memories of de-icing cattle waterers on the farm. For those of you who haven’t had the privilege of thawing out water pipes and valves in subzero temperatures, I’ll describe it for you.

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US And Canadian Cattle Numbers Fall

US And Canadian Cattle Numbers Fall

TheBeefSite.com

All cattle and calves in the US and Canada combined totaled 106.7 million head on 1 January 2010, down one per cent from the 107.7 million on 1 January 2009. All cows and heifers that have calved, at 45.9 million head, were down two per cent from a year ago.

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Keep’em Moving

Keep’em Moving

Kim Watson-Potts

Beef Today

When you’ve had a busy week, nothing is better than a little extra time to rest and get back on track. The same is true for pastures. During grazing season, giving forages time to rest and recover can boost plant growth, allow for increased stocking rates and add pounds to cattle grazing.

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Herring Elected President of CattleFax

Herring Elected President of CattleFax

KRVN

James Herring of Amarillo, Tex., has been elected as the new president of CattleFax, a member-owned and member-directed cattle market information and research organization. Jon Ferguson of Kensington, Kan. is the new president-elect.

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Keeping an eye on HSUS

Keeping an eye on HSUS

John Maday 

Drovers.com

Today the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) is announcing the launch of HumaneWatch.org, a watchdog project dedicated to analyzing the activities of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). HumaneWatch will include a blog written by CCF’s Director of Research, a growing document library, and a database capable of tracking the dozens of nonprofit (and for-profit) organizations that make up HSUS’s sprawling financial empire.

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Farm economy gaining

Farm economy gaining

AUBREY WOODS

Tribtown.com

A Purdue University farm economist expects the economic situation for farmers as well as for others to gradually improve as this year unfolds.

“There are a lot of positives, especially considering where we have come from,” Chris Hurt told the more than 100 people on hand Wednesday morning for the eighth annual Farmer’s Breakfast.

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Take the Beef Quiz

Take the Beef Quiz

 Here’s your chance to win the "Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner" Kitchen Kit

 Answer a few easy questions about your beef checkoff investment and you’re automatically entered to win a 18-piece kitchen kit full of beef-cooking essentials, including steak knives, a cutting board, thermometer, steak seasoning, The Healthy Beef Cookbook and so much more. Take the beef checkoff trivia challenge.

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State of the livestock industry addressed by CattleFax

State of the livestock industry addressed by CattleFax

Gayle Smith

Tri State Livestock News

As the United States cowherd continues to shrink, producers are becoming more efficient in producing beef, explained a research analyst with CattleFax.

Brett Stuart spoke to a group of cattle producers about marketing trends in the beef industry, during a meeting hosted by the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association and Intervet/Schering-Plough in Rapid City during the Black Hills Stock Show.

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