Safe Food, But At What Cost?

Safe Food, But At What Cost?

Gary Truitt

Hoosier AG Today

As we sat down to our Thanksgiving feast last week, most of us just assumed that the turkey, potatoes, vegetables, and fruit we stuffed ourselves with was safe.  It is unlikely that the prayers offered at the table included the line, “Lord protect us from salmonella this day.” Despite well-publicized food recalls and continuous media scare stories, most Americans have confidence in the safety of the food they buy even though the regulatory structure that oversees our food supply was written in 1936. 

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Ready for Winter?

Ready for Winter?

Kindra Gordon

Angus Journal

What do you do on your farm orranch to prepare for winter weather? Here’s a quick review of three important management questions to ask yourself as the snow begins to arrive.

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Sending healthy calves to the feedyard

Sending healthy calves to the feedyard

John Maday

Drovers

Last week during a program and banquet celebrating the 40th anniversary of Decatur County Feed Yard in Oberlin, Kansas, consulting veterinarian Galen Weaver addressed a group of ranchers who retain ownership of their calves through the feedyard.

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Watering Cattle with the Sun

Watering Cattle with the Sun

Dan Miller

Progressive Farmer

Gerald Haines wants to improve the grazing offered to his 40-cow commercial Angus herd. He is building pasture quality while installing a conservation plan to protect the water around his farm and the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

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Cattlemen lose out

Cattlemen lose out

Stephanie Page Ogburn

Salt Lake Tribune

When four companies control 80 percent of the supply in a marketplace, even the most conservative economists would admit there’s a high potential for market manipulation.

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Feed, fuel costs cut into cattle ranching

Feed, fuel costs cut into cattle ranching

PHIL FEROLITO

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Cattle may be netting record prices, but cattlemen aren’t seeing huge profits and retailers are feeling squeezed, industry experts say.

Cattlemen say skyrocketing feed and fuel costs are eating into profits, and retailers are apprehensive about passing all price increases on to consumers during a still struggling economy.

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The Farm CPA: The Three Seasons of Tax Planning

The Farm CPA: The Three Seasons of Tax Planning

Paul Neiffer

Beef Today

Effective tax planning is similar to pro football. They each have three seasons: preseason, regular season and postseason.

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Greenbrier Valley’s small farms think big

Greenbrier Valley’s small farms think big

Kathryn Gregory

West Virginia Gazette

When Jennifer "Tootie" Jones looks out over her 150-acre farm in Lewisburg, she doesn’t just see cattle and horses. She sees potential for growth.

"What people are open to [in the region] is looking how they can continue doing something that is their business — that they love — and how they can survive doing it.

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Modern-day cattle rustlers strike in Florida

Modern-day cattle rustlers strike in Florida

Peter Franceschina

LA Times

The thieves struck early on a Sunday morning, when it’s quiet in the agricultural areas— no joggers from nearby upscale developments; no feed trucks rumbling down the dusty roads.

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Indiana quarantines cattle herds possibly exposed to South Dakota bovine tuberculosis case

Indiana quarantines cattle herds possibly exposed to South Dakota bovine tuberculosis case

The Repbulic

The Indiana State Board of Animal Health says it has quarantined several cattle herds that might have been exposed to bovine tuberculosis.

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Evaluate Supplement Options for Cost Effectiveness

Evaluate Supplement Options for Cost Effectiveness

Stephen B. Blezinger, Ph.D., PAS

Cattle Today

This is part 3 of a series dedicated to a discussion on supplementation options and methods. In the last part of this series we discussed use of some commodities.

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Acorns, Small but Potentially Deadly

Acorns, Small but Potentially Deadly

Kasey Miller

Angus Journal

The weather has not been kind to ranchers and farmers this year, from record-setting droughts to intense flooding and hurricanes. Because of these weather changes, forage availability has been severely affected. With pastures low on forage, cattle may start eating acorns, which can lead to acorn poisoning.

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“Occupy” an activist meeting

“Occupy” an activist meeting

Geni Wren

Bovine Veterinarian Magazine

I go to a number of veterinary and livestock-related meetings throughout the year and it’s not uncommon for anti-animal agriculture activists to show up either as a paid attendee (some who come to listen and even attempt to dialogue or quietly “gather intel”), or as a flagrant protestor in a cow suit. 

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Stop COOL Madness

Stop COOL Madness

John Harrington

DTN

It’s time to pull the plug on COOL, a misbegotten program that somehow confused the dubious force of patriotic consumerism with smart marketing. I don’t think it ever made sense, and the WTO is now giving U.S. producers the opportunity to bid it adieu.

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Multi-Species for Grazing Perfection

Multi-Species for Grazing Perfection

Randy Kuhn

Beef Today

   Sheep and beef are both ruminants, both can be profitable on grass and neither need grain for productive weight gain.  Another similarity is that the same handling facilities can be used for both species.  The "second best thing" about lamb’s/sheep are that when they are out on pasture, they prefer to eat immature grasses, forbs and weeds.

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BeefTalk: Calving Distribution is a Key Evaluator of Reproductive Success

BeefTalk: Calving Distribution is a Key Evaluator of Reproductive Success

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

Right now, cows are calving 88.8 percent of the time within the first 42 days of the calving season. That is good, so hats off to progressive cattle managers.

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Iowa farmers shop for cattle in drought-stricken Texas

Iowa farmers shop for cattle in drought-stricken Texas

The Gazette

The most severe drought Texas has experienced in a single year is presenting opportunities for farmers in parts of the country with more moisture, like Iowa.

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State Investigating Imported Cattle Linked to South Dakota Bovine TB Case

State Investigating Imported Cattle Linked to South Dakota Bovine TB Case

Gary Truitt

Hoosier AG Today

 Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) has been notified by the State Veterinarian of South Dakota that seven head of beef cattle recently shipped to Indiana may have been exposed to bovine tuberculosis (commonly called “TB,” or more formally known as Mycobacterium bovis). 

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Advice shared for wintering cattle well

Advice shared for wintering cattle well

Agri-View

JANE FYKSEN

Winter-she’s a comin’. It’s a season to be endured for beef producers-as well as some dairy producers brave enough to out-winter cattle. Producers need to step up their management so that cattle just don’t survive, but thrive in what’s often a harsh environment.’

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Look at various factors when considering feedlot facility expansion

Look at various factors when considering feedlot facility expansion

Grant Crawford

Farm and Ranch Guide

Cattle on feed numbers have increased in many of the Upper Midwest states, and this is in spite of increasing corn and feeder calf prices. These occurrences, coupled with the large investment involved with a new feedlot facility, make cattle feeding margins very tight, and force feedlot managers to be as efficient as possible when managing their feedlots.

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