Company said to be eyeing Swift purchase

Company said to be eyeing Swift purchase

Meat News

A newspaper report says National Beef Co. is considering buying Swift.

Kansas City, Missouri-based National Beef Co. is considering buying Swift and Co. beef and pork business, Steve Kay, publisher of Cattle Buyers Weekly, told the Greeley (Colorado) Tribune.

Greeley, Colorado-based Swift announced last week it had hired JPMorgan to help review strategic and financial alternatives, including a possible sale or merger.

According to the newspaper report, National Beef has an equity partner already lined up who is prepared to finance the purchase of at least part of Swift, if not all the business.

FULL STORY

Nebraska cattle, corn groups work together for the future

Nebraska cattle, corn groups work together for the future

By Terry Anderson,

Tri State Neighbor

From the time sod was broken and seed was planted on the seemingly endless prairies of the Great Plains, cattle producers and corn growers have leered, maybe sneered, at each other.

Neither group was willing to give an edge to the other. If corn prices were low, cattle feeders profited from reduced costs. If corn prices were high, cattle feeders paid that price or backed off on production.

That was then; this is a new day.

FULL STORY

ARS: DNA fingerprinting for livestock promotes health and safety

ARS: DNA fingerprinting for livestock promotes health and safety

AG Professional

Identifying individual animals is essential to controlling diseases and monitoring international imports and exports.

To find out who’s who in a herd, scientists and cattle industry professionals rely on DNA — especially when traditional animal identification has been lost or damaged. Highly specialized genetic markers, developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, Neb., are helping to improve animal identification and parentage testing.

The most common type of genetic marker present in U.S. beef and dairy cattle is the “single nucleotide polymorphism” or SNP. The scientists have already identified 122 specialized parentage SNPs and annotated more than 1,600 neighboring SNPs. This knowledge has increased the accuracy of parentage and identification tests.

FULL STORY

Management of cows and heifers before and during calving is critical to productivity

Management of cows and heifers before and during calving is critical to productivity

by: Stephen B. Blezinger, Ph.D, PAS
Cattle Today

Every cow-calf operation contains several basic components without which it cannot survive. First, the producer has to get the females bred. Second, the bred females have to carry the unborn calf to term. Third, she has to calve with a minimum of stress to the cow and to the calf. Finally, she need to raise that calf to weaning. While all of these are vital to operational success and are equal in importance, the calving period seems to be the most stressful for all concerned, the cow AND the producer.

FULL STORY

Timing of Artificial Insemination

Timing of Artificial Insemination

Dr. Glen Selk

Oklahoma State University

Traditional methods to determine when to inseminate beef cows depend on accurate detection of heat. A common practice used to inseminate cows is the AM/PM. rule. With this method, cows detected in estrus in the morning are inseminated in the evening, and cows first exhibiting estrus in the evening are inseminated the following morning. Twice daily visual observation of cows and tail marking do not allow precise detection of the onset of estrus. OSU researchers have examined the length of heat and number of mounts that occur in beef cattle using an electronic heat detection system called HeatWatchTM. Cows were in heat 17 – 18 hours in the summer time and about 14 hours in the winter. They were mounted about 70 times in winter but only 44 times in the summer. There is tremendous variation among cows around these average numbers.

FULL STORY

Cattlemen endorse beef checkoff

Cattlemen endorse beef checkoff

Peggy Steward

Capital Press

Most U.S. cattle producers approve of the national beef checkoff program and most favor a periodic vote on continuing it, according to a nationwide survey recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Under the beef checkoff program, established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill, $1 per head is assessed on all cattle sold in the United States. Assessments are comparable on imported cattle and beef products.

FULL STORY

Colorado Cattleman Is Limousin Commercial Producer of the Year

Colorado Cattleman Is Limousin Commercial Producer of the Year

Cattlenetwork.com

An emphasis on moderation and multi-trait selection helped earn the North American Limousin Foundation (NALF) Commercial Producer of the Year award for John Raftopoulos of Craig, Colo. He topped a field of five nominees that also included Broken Arrow S Ranch, McLaughlin, S.D.; J Eisenbath Cattle Farms, Bowling Green, Mo.; Leonard and Theresa Leier, Tappen, N.D.; and Wiesen Cattle Farm, Hendricks, Minn.

Bo Sexson, NALF director of commercial programs, presented the award in the form of a commemorative mantel clock Jan. 10 during the Limousin pen and carload shows at the National Western Stock Show (NWSS) in Denver, Colo.

FULL STORY