Herr Angus Farm to Host Pennsylvania Field Day July 26

Herr Angus Farm to Host Pennsylvania Field Day July 26

Angus breeders and beef industry enthusiasts are invited to the 2008 Pennsylvania Angus Association and Pennsylvania Cattlemen Association field day, July 26 at Herr Angus Farm, Nottingham, Pa.

Those in attendance will hear from many speakers discussing various aspects of the beef industry. Embryo transplant, utilizing by-products in feed rations and grazing land issues are just a few of the topics that will be brought forward. Jim Herr, founder of Herr Angus Farm, will tell about his unique feedlot operation that utilizes by-products from Herr Snack Factory to feed his Angus cattle. Participants will also be treated to a tour of the Herr Snack Factory and farm.

FULL STORY

R-CALF: To USDA: Reallocate NAIS Funds To Continue Brucellosis Vaccination, Surveillance

R-CALF: To USDA: Reallocate NAIS Funds To Continue Brucellosis Vaccination, Surveillance

cattlenetwork.com

Recent discoveries of brucellosis in a cow near Paradise Valley, Mont., and in cattle from a Daniel, Wyo., ranch have prompted the R-CALF USA Animal Health Committee and the R-CALF USA Animal Identification Committee to – yet again – request that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) keep brucellosis vaccination and surveillance programs in place across the U.S., and to pay for such activity by diverting funds from the agency’s National Animal Identification System (NAIS). R-CALF USA also requests USDA to implement and fund brucellosis surveillance in all other states where cattle are present, but no formal testing program is in place.

FULL STORY

Cattle Producers Urge Senate to Evaluate Renewable Fuels Policy

Cattle Producers Urge Senate to Evaluate Renewable Fuels Policy

Cattle Today

Livestock producers have been dealt more harsh news this week with regard to feedgrain supplies. Persistently wet conditions in parts of the Midwest have worsened, with some areas suffering catastrophic flooding. These events continue to paint a very dark picture for fall grain harvest projections, intensifying pressure on feedgrain prices and supplies.

“Cattlemen are now looking straight down the barrel of $7 corn, and that may just be the beginning,” said Gregg Doud, chief economist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). “We already saw a lot of acres migrating away from corn this year, and that was before the wet spring pushed into June. By the time conditions improve in many of these fields, planting corn will no longer be an option.”

FULL STORY

Little old, little new: Davis Creek farmers struggle to meet demand

Little old, little new: Davis Creek farmers struggle to meet demand

Mike Morell

Nelson County Times

“We have the best of the old and the best of the new,” Elizabeth Van De Venter, owner of Davis Creek Farm, said. “We raise our cattle and chickens in the old way and market them in the new way.”

Davis Creek Farm, tucked back in a hollow in central Nelson County began its business about seven years ago and is now struggling to keep up with demand.

“We started out selling eggs at the Nelson Farm Market,” Van De Venter said. “From there it grew into chickens and beef.”

Van De Venter, a native of Louden County, and her husband Tim Di Chiara moved to Nelson County because they wanted to live and raise their children in a rural atmosphere.

FULL STORY

Cattle Handling: Crowding Pen Or Crowding Tub

Cattle Handling: Crowding Pen Or Crowding Tub

cattlenetwork.com

Use a crowding pen to funnel cattle into the working alley and chute. Handle small groups in crowding pens, eight to 10, instead of 20. For construction with straight fences, build one side of the crowding pen straight. The other side should be at an angle of about 30 degrees. Make the large end of the funnel 8 to 12 feet wide. Although it is harder to build, a circular crowding area with solid sides works best. Pre-built crowding pens can be purchased from cattle-handling equipment vendors.

FULL STORY

Q&A: How do I predict mature weight in my bulls and cows assuming they are in a correct BCS?

Q&A: How do I predict mature weight in my bulls and cows assuming they are in a correct BCS?

Dr. Rick Rasby, Professor of Animal Science, University of Nebraska

A: If you do not have a scales and want to predict weight, then you could use frame size. The table uses frame score at different ages and relates the frame score to body weight. It is assumed that the body condition of the cattle is BCS 5 in the 1 to 9 scale when the frame score is measured.

FULL STORY

Wet distillers grain storage highlighted

Wet distillers grain storage highlighted

KTIC

LINCOLN, NE – Wet distillers grains and other corn co-products are a tremendous feed option for cattle producers, but storing the nutritious co-products for a long period of time has proved to be a challenge because they can begin to spoil within a few days or a couple of weeks.

“That doesn’t mean wet distillers grains and similar co-products can’t be stored. It just means care needs to be taken to make sure feed quality is maintained,” said Kelly Brunkhorst, ag program manager for the Nebraska Corn Board.

FULL STORY

International Brangus Breeders Association Prepares for Annual Summit in Nashville

International Brangus Breeders Association Prepares for Annual Summit in Nashville

PR.com

In partnership with the Southeastern Brangus Breeders Association, the International Brangus Breeders Association (IBBA) is preparing for the 2008 Summit, to be held in Nashville, Tennessee August 7-9 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. The Summit includes educational programs with industry-leading, innovative and visionary cattlemen designed to provide direction and assistance to Brangus breeders throughout the United States.

This meeting is being held in August in hopes that this will be an event the entire family will enjoy and attend. Planned events include dinner and entertainment on the General Jackson Riverboat, Tickets to the Toyota Tundra 200 Craftsman NASCAR Truck Race, and the option to attend a performance at the Grand Ole Opry.

FULL STORY

Tyson to sell Canadian beef operation to XL

Tyson to sell Canadian beef operation to XL

Reuters

Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it is selling its Canadian beef operation to XL Foods, a Canadian-owned beef processing company, for C$107 million.

Tyson said XL Foods plans to continue operating the facility, Lakeside Packers, located in Brooks, Alberta, after completion of the sale, which is expected to be in September.

Lakeside employs 2,300 people and has the capacity to slaughter and process 4,700 cattle per day, according to a press release.

FULL STORY

AVMA Testifies on Antimicrobial Resistance before Senate

AVMA Testifies on Antimicrobial Resistance before Senate

Hoosier AG Today

The American Veterinary Medical Association testified Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions. Among topics addressed were the preventative use of antimicrobials in food animals and reiterating the necessity of antibiotic use in livestock for ensuring food safety.

Dr. Lyle P. Vogel, AVMA assistant executive vice president, testified at the hearing, which focused on the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant “super bugs” in humans. Mollifying concerns that use of antimicrobials such as penicillin and tetracycline in food animals leads to human resistance of the drugs, Vogel made it clear that protecting human health is paramount to America’s veterinarians. Vogel said scientific data do not support a ban on the preventative use of antibiotics in food animals.

FULL STORY

Cattle Feeding In Ohio: For Fun Or Profit?

Cattle Feeding In Ohio: For Fun Or Profit?

cattlenetwork.com

In the recent past as we’ve made decent money at home finishing cattle, I always had an excuse for not going on winter vacation. It was pretty solid. ” . . . can’t leave with cattle to feed in the winter.” Considering today’s economics, if Connie figures out I’ve filled the barn with feeders and locked in a loss just to avoid going to Florida or Black Butte this winter, the ensuing conversation won’t be comfortable. I think it won’t fly!

FULL STORY

Video Feature Ethanol By-Products

Video Feature Ethanol By-Products

Here is an example of some by-products of the ethanol industry plus other traditional feedstuffs used in Nebraska feed-yards

KFB’s Beef Verification Solution partners with Iowa Cattlemen’s Association

KFB’s Beef Verification Solution partners with Iowa Cattlemen’s Association

BVS offers one system, multiple solutions

High Plains Journal

The quest to provide the most comprehensive and competitively priced animal identification and data management program available is behind the recent partnering of Kansas Farm Bureau’s Beef Verification Solution and the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association’s Data Management and Animal Identification Programs.

“We’re very pleased to be partnering with the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association,” said Mark Nelson, BVS team leader. “Iowa is a progressive beef cattle state and ICA’s Data Management and Animal Identification Program is one of the best in the business. Together, we can continue to create the economies of scale needed to deliver maximum value for beef producers.”

FULL STORY

Lead antitrust senator urges US officials to block JBS Swift purchase of 2 beef processors

Lead antitrust senator urges US officials to block JBS Swift purchase of 2 beef processors

International Herald Tribune

A key Democratic senator on Tuesday urged the Justice Department to block the purchase of two U.S. meatpackers by Brazilian beef processor JBS Swift.

The acquisitions would make JBS Swift the largest beef processor in the U.S., and could harm domestic cattle ranchers and beef consumers by substantially reducing competition, Sen. Herb Kohl wrote in a letter to Thomas Barnett, the head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division.

JBS Swift said in March that it would acquire Kansas City-based National Beef Packing Co. and the beef processing operations of Smithfield Foods Inc., which is based in Smithfield, Virginia.

FULL STORY

County recessing task force on Bion, Official trying to get project back on track

County recessing task force on Bion, Official trying to get project back on track

COREY FRAM

Watertown Times

St. Lawrence County government is backing out of the little involvement it’s had with Bion Environmental Technologies.

The county is recessing the task force created in December to chart the massive beef-and-biofuel proposal and recommend whether it should grant the formal support the company is seeking. Lawmakers didn’t budge from the tentative support they gave in December, leaving the company to return to the financial and logistical steps of its proposal.

FULL STORY

Cattle Feed Byproducts: Ask The Nutritionist – High Mycotoxin Concentrations

Cattle Feed Byproducts: Ask The Nutritionist – High Mycotoxin Concentrations

cattlenetwork.com

Question- If a lab measures high mycotoxin concentrations my latest load of distillers’ grains, is that a problem for my cattle?

Answer – It depends on what kind of cattle you have. There is no research available which shows any detrimental effect of mycotoxins on finishing beef cattle.

FULL STORY

Cattle Buyers Summit scheduled

Cattle Buyers Summit scheduled

Friday, August 1st – Ramada Inn & Conference Center in Kearney, Nebraska

This is a special industry event designed for anyone in the cattle industry who markets cattle – as well as ranchers, cattle feeders and agricultural lenders – to introduce the new initiatives of Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) programming.

Cattle buyers are a very important part of our industry and it’s our responsibility to keep them in the loop as to we’re doing in BQA programming. As more and more feedyards, ranchers, truckers and others in the industry become BQA certified and buy into BQA principles and practices, it’s important that everyone in the beef production and marketing chain know what BQA is all about.

FULL STORY

Q&A: I have Angus mixed beef cows and heifers and bred to Angus bulls. If I sell all male and female offspring, what is the most profitable way to replace the females in my herd?

Q&A: I have Angus mixed beef cows and heifers and bred to Angus bulls. If I sell all male and female offspring, what is the most profitable way to replace the females in my herd?

Dr. Rick Rasby, Professor of Animal Science, Animal Science, University of Nebraska

A: The challenge with going outside your herd for replacements, is to find a consistant supply of females bred to fit the goals and resources of your operation.

FULL STORY

Proper Animal Care and Handling at Livestock Markets

Proper Animal Care and Handling at Livestock Markets

PRWEB.com

Beef Checkoff Media Statement: by Chuck Adami, Livestock Market Owner and Beef Industry Producer Leader, in response to video released by the Humane Society of the United States

Chuck Adami, Livestock Market Owner and Beef Industry Producer Leader, issued a statement in response to a video released by the Humane Society of the United States:

“As a livestock market owner, I know that giving animals proper treatment while they are in my care is an obligation, not an option. It’s also just good business. Unfortunately, we continue to see isolated cases of improper care and treatment in video shot by anti-animal agriculture activists at auction markets.

FULL STORY

Cattle video surveillance bill rejected, Lobbyists feared bad precedent.

Cattle video surveillance bill rejected, Lobbyists feared bad precedent.

E.J. Schultz

Sacramento Bee

An Assembly panel on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have required video surveillance cameras at California slaughterhouses.

Senate Bill 200 by Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, was aimed at keeping meat from downer cows out of the food supply.

The bill was supported by the Humane Society, which earlier this year used undercover video to expose illegal treatment of cattle at a Southern California slaughterhouse.

Farm lobbyists feared the bill would set a bad precedent, potentially leading to taping at dairies, egg farms and other operations.

FULL STORY