Video Feature: Baxter Black: Only Ewes

Video Feature:  Baxter Black: Only Ewes

In this week’s visit, Baxter Black outlines some rather unique ideas for extending the usefulness of ewes. From US Farm Report.

Performing necropsies on feedlot cattle

Performing necropsies on feedlot cattle

Terri Queck-Matzie

Feedlot

“Just because an animal’s dead doesn’t mean that’s the end of the road,” says Dr. Larry Hollis, D.V.M., M.Ag., an extension beef veterinarian at Kansas State University, where he specializes in beef production medicine. “It might be dead, but it can still hold secrets.” For Hollis, performing a necropsy, or post-mortem exam, on any animal that has died unexpectedly can yield valuable information that can prevent further spread of disease and even greater financial loss for the producer.

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Preconditioning Programs Add Value To Cattle

Preconditioning Programs Add Value To Cattle

Larry Stalcup

BEEF Magazine

Preconditioning programs continue to add value.

With stress-limited preconditioning (PC) and value-added calf (VAC) programs, value-added returns approached $130/head this year for an Oklahoma operation that grows calves to near 900 lbs.

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IGENITY Announces DNA Profile For Cow/Calf Producers

IGENITY Announces DNA Profile For Cow/Calf Producers

Bovine Veterinarian

IGENITY®, a division of Merial, announces the introduction of the most cost-effective DNA product on the market — the IGENITY profile for replacement heifers. It is designed specifically for cow/calf producers committed to the long-term success of their herd.

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Beef, Other Ag Sectors Must Produce More With Less

Beef, Other Ag Sectors Must Produce More With Less

Chris Clayton

DTN

As a senior vice president for the World Wildlife Fund, Jason Clay isn’t the typical speaker at a National Cattlemen’s Beef Association convention.

But at NCBA’s summer meeting, the group held a panel discussion for the general membership on the environmental challenges beef production faces, as well as research countering some misconceptions about the cattle industry.

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Hay Storage Cost Analyzer Available

Hay Storage Cost Analyzer Available

BEEF Today

Hay is the third most valuable crop produced in Iowa, yet some producers lose as much as a fourth of their crop from improperly storing it. Iowa State University (ISU) Extension economist William Edwards said a new decision aid for comparing the costs of different hay storage options is now available on ISU Extension’s Ag Decision Maker (ADM) website.

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Study Shows Angus Influence in Cattle Reduces Health Problems

Study Shows Angus Influence in Cattle Reduces Health Problems

Cattle Today

It’s no secret that Angus cattle can grade well. But new evidence from Iowa and Kansas sheds light on why high-percentage Angus cattle beat crossbreds in profitability: they tend to stay healthier, which may allow them to better realize their full potential.

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Tim Amlaw is looking out for cattle but loving the beef

Tim Amlaw is looking out for cattle but loving the beef

Bill Husted

The Denver Post

Amlaw, 56, is vice president and director of Denver-based American Humane Certified — a farm-based agency that puts its seal of approval on products from animals that have been humanely raised. Born in upstate New York, he followed his family into a growing business, going to the State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill to study beef cattle science.

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Brandt family takes artisanal approach to beef farming

Brandt family takes artisanal approach to beef farming

Pam Kragen

North County Times

At 2:30 a.m. every Monday and Tuesday, Eric Brandt pulls out of the driveway of his Encinitas home to start his work week. During what he describes as the golden hours of his job, the managing partner for Brandt Beef will follow a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector as he grades the company’s meat at a processing plant in Pico Rivera, and then Brandt will hand-select how each carcass will be cut and trimmed, and which premium cuts will be delivered to the company’s pickiest customers —- restaurant chefs in the U.S. and Japan.

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Iowa beef producers help fund beef sustainability study

Iowa beef producers help fund beef sustainability study

Cherokee Chronicle Times

A pound of beef produced today has less of an environmental impact than it did in 1977, according to a new study presented at the 2010 Cattle Industry Summer Conference held last week in Denver.

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GIPSA’s J. Dudley Butler Threatens U.S. Livestock Production

GIPSA’s J. Dudley Butler Threatens U.S. Livestock Production

Steve Kay

BEEF Magazine

It’s disturbing how one individual has the potential to cause so much damage to an industry. You might know that Mississippi attorney and one-time cattleman J. Dudley Butler heads USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA).

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Influence of Cow BCS and Late Gestation Effects on Cow and Calf Performance

Influence of Cow BCS and Late Gestation Effects on Cow and Calf Performance

David W. Bohnert , Randy Mills , L. Aaron Stalker , Arthur Nyman , and Stephanie J. Falck

Oregon State University

Our data demonstrates the potential consequences of not maintaining cows in good BCS (≈ 6) at calving; greater calf losses, less weaned calves, decreased calf performance, lower subsequent pregnancy rate, and decreased economic return.

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SDSU researchers look for genes that affect vaccine response

SDSU researchers look for genes that affect vaccine response

Physorg.com

Assistant professor Michael Gonda in SDSU’s Department of Animal & Range Sciences is leading that study with assistance from graduate student researcher Xin Fang. Gonda is looking at individual genes and also the genome, or the entire system of genes carrying hereditary information.

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Slaughterhouse rules; Competition in American agriculture

Slaughterhouse rules; Competition in American agriculture

BEEF Today

Farmers have long griped about a dearth of competition. Grain farmers say they are shackled to Monsanto. A few titans—including Tyson, JBS USA and Cargill—reign over livestock producers. The poultry industry has been almost completely vertically integrated for decades, with chicken producers operating under the tight rules of processors.

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Cow in vitro getting results

Cow in vitro getting results

HOLLI L. ESTRIDGE

The Eagle

Cow-calf producers eyeing better means of bolstering herd quality and prolificity can take heart: the fast-advancing realm of reproductive technologies may have your solution.

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