Retail perspective: Associated Food Stores on Vimeo

Kelly Mortensen, corporate meat, deli and seafood director with Associated Food Stores in Salt Lake City, UT, explains how his company balances beef quality and price in the retail meat case, and shares his concerns about country of origin labeling. Recorded a the 2008 Beef Quality Summit, November 2008, Colorado Springs, CO. This Recording is a production of the Animal Sciences Department, Purdue University.

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Udder Soundness is Important Culling Criteria

Udder Soundness is Important Culling Criteria

Dr. Glenn Selk, Extension Cattle Specialist, Oklahoma State University

Every year at “preg” checking time, ranchers evaluate cows and make decisions as which to remove from the herd.  One criteria that should be examined to cull cows is udder quality.  Beef cattle producers are not as likely to think about udder health and shape as are dairy producers, but this attribute affects cow productivity and should be considered.  It may be easier to be accurate in your culling decisions, if you exam the udder soundness of the cows shortly after calving when they are at the peak of lactation and the udder is as large as at any time. Take time during the calving season to write down which cows have unsound udders.

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You Can Cut Corners on Cow Minerals, Just Not Right Now

You Can Cut Corners on Cow Minerals, Just Not Right Now

Dr. Mark L Wahlberg, Extension Animal Scientist, VA Tech

Cows calving during January through March are right now experiencing their highest nutrient demand for the year. This comes at a time when the quality of feed they are offered is often less than the best. This mismatch between feed quality and cow nutrient requirements can have serious implications later.

The economic situation has put cow-calf producers in a cost-price squeeze. Costs of a lot of inputs are higher than they have been historically (except for the ridiculous levels seen last spring-summer). Calf prices, on the other hand are lower. This means that producers must find some ways to cut corners to reduce cost, but not reduce production – especially RE-production.

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From prairie farm to St. Paul plate: The tale of Lowline Angus #713

From prairie farm to St. Paul plate: The tale of Lowline Angus #713

Mark Neuzil

Minnpost.com

We are standing on some very frozen Pope County land, staring at about two dozen midnight-black cows and one big bull, all of which are staring right back at us in their cow-eyed way.

The herd is an Australian breed called Lowline Angus. They are small for Angus, but they are grass-eating machines on the Prairie Horizons Farm. The temperature is in the low single digits, but these cows are not, nor have ever been, inside a barn.

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Couple trades financial jobs for farming

Couple trades financial jobs for farming

Springfield couple says they couldn’t be happier

WKRN

The economic crisis has many couples re-evaluating their lives.

For one Robertson County couple, the decision to trade in city life for country life made all the difference.

Josh Gunn and his wife Kathy both had high paying finance jobs, making over $100,000 a year in Atlanta when they decided to move to the Springfield countryside.

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Experts Explore Reproductive Technology

Experts Explore Reproductive Technology

by Kindra Gordon, Shauna Rose Hermel, Tosha Powell & Troy Smith

Angus Journal

The Robert E. Taylor Memorial Symposium is conducted by Colorado State University (CSU) every other year to provide current, research-based information for improving profitability in the beef cattle industry. The Applied Reproductive Strategies in Beef Cattle (ARSBC) program was developed by the Beef Cattle Reproduction Task Force to improve understanding and application of reproductive technologies, including AI, estrus synchronization and factors affecting male fertility.

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Cruelty, Neglect Cases In Horses On The Rise

Cruelty, Neglect Cases In Horses On The Rise

cattlenetwork.com

ST. PAUL, Minn. —The Animal Humane Society has seen a significant increase in equine-related cases over the past two years. According to the Minnesota Pet and Companion Animal Welfare Act, equines are defined as horses, ponies, mules and burros. The Act outlines several requirements for ownership of equines.

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Arthrogryposis Multiplex – Information for Cow-Calf Producers

Arthrogryposis Multiplex – Information for Cow-Calf Producers

Scott P. Greiner, Ph.D., Extension Animal Scientist, VA Tech

Last fall, the American Angus Association announced the presence of a genetic defect in Angus cattle called Arthrogryposis Multiplex (AM; aka Curly Calf Syndrome). Research has confirmed that AM is a lethal genetic defect which is inherited as a simple recessive. As a simple recessive, the condition is controlled by a single pair of genes. For a calf to be affected, it must inherit the AM gene from both of its parents. AM calves are dead at birth with a bent or twisted spine, are small and thin muscled, and their legs are often rigid and hyper-extended.

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Southern States reinvents itself

Southern States reinvents itself

Michael Broihier

The Interior Journal

Stanford’s Southern States Cooperative didn’t just move to a new building, it has moved to a new business model. The local store is the newest of just three “Animal Health Super Centers” in the nationwide co-op system.

In addition to the usual feed and seed you expect to find at a Southern States, the local co-op has hired a full time animal health specialist, Ray Graves. Southern States District Manager Mike Hash said, “This is cattle country, and Graves knows cattle. His family has cattle and his kids show cattle.” Hash said that the store has more animal health supplies than any other in the country.

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Video series for aspiring farmers

Video series for aspiring farmers

Cornell offers information on starting up a small farm

Springville Journal

Cornell University is launching an innovative, online video series that will help agricultural entrepreneurs successfully initiate new farms in New York state. Produced by the NY Beginning Farmer Project with support from the Cornell Small Farms Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension and the NY Farm Viability Institute, the video series, titled “Voices of Experience,” covers essential topics such as financing farm start-up, marketing, profitability and goal setting, to name just a few. The “Voices of Experience” in the series are actual farmers who have successfully started their own farm business.

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Bay Area residents look for homegrown grass-fed beef

Bay Area residents look for homegrown grass-fed beef

Laura Casey

Contra Costa Times

CHEF Isaac Miller of the upscale San Mateo restaurant 231 Ellsworth wanted to meet the man who provides the rib-eye steak for his menu offerings — and even meet the cows if given a chance.

“I figure if I have a face attached to a product I am using, I am less likely to mess it up,” Miller says, adding that he also likes to boost the local economy with his spending dollars and generally feels that the more local his meat and produce are, the better they are.

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Elite meat, Whole Foods carrying high-grade beef raised by Ohio farmers

Elite meat, Whole Foods carrying high-grade beef raised by Ohio farmers

Jeffrey Sheban

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

A national retailer is devoting prime space in its meat case to Ohio-raised beef.

Whole Foods Market stores in central Ohio and other Ohio outlets have signed with 38 small producers to supply the two highest grades of beef — prime and choice — under the Ohio Signature Beef label, which will not only offer consumers another way to buy local but also give a shot in the arm to Ohio farmers.

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Timely tips for the beef cattle herd

Timely tips for the beef cattle herd

Brandon Sears

Richmond Register

The spring calving season should be in full swing now, top priority should be to get a live calf and keep cows in sufficient body condition to rebreed early.

• Calving areas should be accessible and as clean and as free of mud as possible. Pastures which have good sod and are close to facilities work best.

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Coccidiosis – Prevention Is The Best Medicine

Coccidiosis – Prevention Is The Best Medicine

cattlenetwork.com

Coccidiosis is one of the five most economically important diseases of the cattle industry, according to Oklahoma State University Extension specialists John Kirkpatrick and Glenn Selk.

“Coccidiosis is estimated to cost the cattle industry approximately $100 million or more annually,” says Kirkpatrick, DVM and professor emeritus with Oklahoma State University. “It usually presents itself in young cattle, and clinical signs include acute diarrhea, with or without blood, and severe weight loss.”

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Prices paid to Wash beef producers are off 25 percent from 2 years ago

Prices paid to Wash beef producers are off 25 percent from 2 years ago

DAVID LESTER

Yakima Herald-Republic

The young cattle rancher is concerned about his industry.

Times are tough and producers in Yakima County — annually home to the most cattle and calves in the state of Washington — are looking everywhere for places to reduce costs to survive a cyclical downturn in beef prices.

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