A New Option for Dealing With Dead Livestock

A New Option for Dealing With Dead Livestock

 Lancaster New Era, (Pa)
Mycattle.com
by Ryan Robinson

 To avoid paying higher rendering costs, some farmers are considering composting dead livestock on their farms.

 Penn State Cooperative Extension is encouraging composting even large cows over burial or illegal disposal. But a renderer warns that composting done incorrectly could spark a disease outbreak here.

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Minimize reproductive challenges

Minimize reproductive challenges

 American Cowman Magazine

 Daniel Scruggs identifies the two most common causes of reproductive problems in cowherds as poor cow condition and decreased bull fertility. He says the solution to both of these problems requires attention to cows and bulls well before the breeding season begins. Scruggs is a technical veterinarian with Pfizer Animal Health who works with cow-calf and stocker producers in the Southeast.

 Regarding cows and heifers, Scruggs says nutrition is critical before the breeding season. In fact, he says it is most important that females are in optimum body condition before they calve, so they will be more capable of breeding back in a timely manner.

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Cow Calf: What Options Are Available To Treat Mycoplasma Bovis?

Cow Calf: What Options Are Available To Treat Mycoplasma Bovis?

 Cattlenetwork.com

 Treating Mycoplasma bovis is problematic for several reasons. The first issue is that early treatment is essential to any degree of success, but early diagnosis is extremely difficult. Because it is generally a secondary infection, its symptoms can be masked by those of the primary infection.

 In fact, a Mycoplasma bovis diagnosis isn’t usually made until lab cultures are confirmed – often in a postmortem exam.

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Most Passive Immunity Occurs in the First 6 Hours

Most Passive Immunity Occurs in the First 6 Hours

Dr. Glen Selk, Oklahoma State University

 Resistance to disease is greatly dependent on antibodies or immunoglobulins and can be either active or passive in origin. In active immunity, the body produces antibodies in response to infection or vaccination. Passive immunity gives temporary protection by transfer of certain immune substances from resistant individuals. An example of passive immunity is passing of antibodies from dam to calf via the colostrum (first milk after calving). This transfer only occurs during the first few hours following birth. New research is indicating that successful transfer of passive immunity enhances disease resistance and performance through the feedlot phase. 

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Limit use of livestock drugs

Limit use of livestock drugs

Too much reliance on cattle antibiotics could compromise human medicines

 The Buffalo News

 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.

 What’s more important — the health of your child or the health of the cow your child might eat? And how surprising is it to learn that favoring one might harm the other?

 U.S. Rep. Louise M. Slaughter is among those who aren’t surprised at all. Her degrees in microbiology and public health help her see that the way cattle are raised in modern America, and the way they are heavily medicated because of it, pose a long-term threat to human health. And her experience in politics tells her what steps are necessary to see to it that people who make drugs for cattle do not have more effective lobbyists than your children do.

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Corn-fuel demand drives meat off America’s plate

Corn-fuel demand drives meat off America’s plate

 By Lucy Sherriff
The Register.com (UK)

Corn shortages pushed the price of corn to such a high in Mexico last month that thousands marched in protest. Now, the price soaring of corn feed means the US might just find itself on an enforced diet too, as the farm industry reports a second significant fall in the output of beef and chicken.

Last year, the US petrol industry switched from using an additive called MTBE to using ethanol. Both chemicals are added in a bid to reduce smog, but MTBE is not well tolerated by humans, and instances of it seeping into the grounds prompted the switch.

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Hagel, Nelson Want Manure off List of Hazardous Substances

Hagel, Nelson Want Manure off List of Hazardous Substances

 KOLN (NE)

 The two U-S Senators from Nebraska are cosponsoring legislation to remove manure from a federal list of hazardous substance.

 Manure is classified as a hazardous substance under a federal law commonly referred to as the Superfund law.

 Senators Chuck Hagel and Ben Nelson recently introduced legislation to remove that classification for animal feeding, farming and ranching operations.

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Making Beef the Desired Protein

Making Beef the Desired Protein

 by Micky Wilson
Angus Journal

Cattle producers and beef consumers alike have heard much talk about the many advances and changes in the beef industry, especially during the last few years. Alongside those important items, hard news stories communicating information about activist groups and trade have been relayed to enormous audiences. But what does it all mean?

Mike John, 2006 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) president from Huntsville, Mo., gave a rousing overview of the organization at the Missouri Livestock Symposium, Dec. 1, 2006, in Kirksville, Mo.

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Cattle Feeding: Effects Of Three Hay Feeding Methods On Cow Performance

Cattle Feeding: Effects Of Three Hay Feeding Methods On Cow Performance

 Cattlenetwork.com

 The primary objective of this 3-year North Dakota Univ. project was to compare the effects of three different hay feeding methods on cow wintering cost. The three methods were: 1) Round bales fed by rolling bales on the ground; 2) Round bales shredded with a power takeoff-driven bale processor and fed on the ground; and 3) Round bales fed by placing the bale in a tapered-cone round bale feeder. Cows were in their third trimester of pregnancy, and were on feed for an average of 59 days. Alfalfa grass hay was fed during the first two years, whereas oat hay was fed in the third year.

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CAB® Uniformity Rules Take Effect

CAB® Uniformity Rules Take Effect

 by Steve Suther
Certified Angus Beef

Packing plants across North America that are licensed to produce the Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) brand began using new, 10-part carcass specifications Jan. 29.

The Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) Board voted last fall to replace the brand’s original Yield Grade (YG) 3.9 limit with more-specific consistency requirements (see “CAB program specifications”). That was in response to a trend toward heavier cattle, closely trimmed fabrication of cuts, and other technical advances since the brand was founded in 1978, CAB President John Stika said. It also recognized the top concerns of end users surveyed in the 2005 National Beef Quality Audit (NBQA).

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Four Steps For Drought-Stressed Pastures

Four Steps For Drought-Stressed Pastures

 Hay and Forage Grower
Courtesy of Dow AgroSciences

After drought parched much of cattle country last summer, fall and winter rains have helped some areas. But drought effects can last well into succeeding years, even wet ones. Range and pasture experts suggest four steps for pasture managers this spring:

1)      Manage grazing – conservatively. Grasses stressed by months or years of drought, and in many cases, overgrazing, will have weakened root systems and less vigor. In drought, grasses produced fewer buds and tillers. Some plants may have died, thinning a stand.

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Beef seminar: Fast technology changes will dominate

Beef seminar: Fast technology changes will dominate

 

By Marcia Gorrell

Marshall Democrat-News

 

About 58 producers, students and industry leaders attended the Missouri Better Beef Seminar held Friday, March 9, at the Saline County Fairground in Marshall.

 

The seminar, which had been rescheduled due to bad weather on the original February date, featured four well-known speakers from across the Midwest.

 

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