Broad coalition meets to study potential enhancements to Beef Checkoff

Broad coalition meets to study potential enhancements to Beef Checkoff

Drovers.com

A broad coalition of beef industry leaders met in Kansas City May 22-23 to address opportunities to enhance the Beef Checkoff, and what potential changes to its operating procedures might strengthen the checkoff in the future.

The 17-member Industry-Wide Beef Checkoff Task Force established their mission; “to review, study and recommend enhancements to the Beef Act and Order for the purpose of strengthening the Checkoff for the common good of the beef industry.” In its first meeting members identified key issues facing the checkoff and analyzed both strengths and weaknesses of the current checkoff system.

A unanimous opinion of the Task Force at the May 22-23 meeting was that the current checkoff has succeeded in helping build beef demand and assisted in moving product. New product development efforts and work to change consumer perception of beef’s healthful properties was recognized by the group. In addition, the significant contributions and program coordination of state beef councils was acknowledged.

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Cattle Vaccines and Their Use

Cattle Vaccines and Their Use

Dr. Stuart D. Lincoln, Caine Veterinary Teaching and Research Center
Mycattle.com

What vaccinations should cattle have at various times of the year? This is difficult to answer because management practices, disease prevalence, and nutritional levels vary from region to region or even from ranch to ranch in the same area. Recommendations in this fact sheet are meant to serve as guidelines. You should consult your veterinarian and Cooperative Extension agent to tailor a program to your operation.

Commonly used vaccines and injections are listed here. Sometimes you may need to use all of them. At other times you may need very few. The vaccines and injections are listed starting at calving time and continuing through fall.

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University Studies Way Of Fueling Cars With Cattle Waste

University Studies Way Of Fueling Cars With Cattle Waste

Cattlenetwork.com

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP)–As gas prices continue to rise, more attention is being paid to alternative energy projects, like one at Western Washington University that would power cars with natural gas harvested from cow manure.

Students at the state university’s Vehicle Research Institute have developed a scrubber that removes the corrosive chemicals from the gases released by manure so it can power a natural gas car, The Bellingham Herald reported.

Eric Leonhardt, director of the institute, said the fuel that he calls “biomethane” is less flammable than gasoline and produces fewer greenhouse gases than manure left to decompose naturally in fields, according to the newspaper.

He estimates the natural gas would cost about half the current price of gasoline to produce, but emphasizes that is not the real benefit of cow power.

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R-CALF pleased with BSE regulations changes

R-CALF pleased with BSE regulations changes

The Prairie Star
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 4:36 PM MDT

BILLINGS, Mont. – R-CALF USA was pleased to learn that member countries of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) last week voted unanimously to revise the three definitions of risk categories for countries affected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE): negligible, controlled, and undetermined.

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Number of foot-and-mouth disease affected localities rises in Vietnam

Number of foot-and-mouth disease affected localities rises in Vietnam

Peoples Daily

The number of Vietnamese localities stricken by foot-and-mouth disease has increased to 40, after the disease outbreaks have been detected in southern Binh Duong province, according to a local animal health agency on Tuesday.

Last week, local veterinary agencies detected 34 infected bulls in 8 farms in the province’s Thu Dau Mot town and 5 ill pigs in one farm in its Phu Giao district, said the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

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Western Cow-Calf Resource Manual Now Available

Western Cow-Calf Resource Manual Now Available

Beef / Mycattle,com

The recently updated “Cow-Calf Management Guide and Cattle Producer’s Library” is now available from the University of Idaho (UI).

Published as a three-ring binder filled with various decision-aiding worksheets and more than 230 research-based fact sheets on all aspects of beef-cattle production, the manual addresses such major topics as reproduction, nutrition, management, finance, genetics, drought, quality assurance, health and pasture. Material is peer-reviewed and revised annually by the Western Beef Resource Committee, a team of state Extension beef specialists and educators from 12 western states.

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Congress votes to fund animal ID

Congress votes to fund animal ID

Wilson County News (TN)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Ron Paul sponsored an amendment to the 2007 agriculture appropriations bill May 23 that would prohibit any federal funding for implementing the National Animal Identification System.

The vote went against his amendment 34-389.

The Texas Farm Bureau opposed Paul’s amendment and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar voted against it as well.

Paul’s argument against animal ID is that it threatens to put thousands of small farmers and ranchers out of business.

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