Prolapses part of spring

Prolapses part of spring

Dan Goehl

Beef Today

Aaaahh – spring.  This is the time of year my wife wonders if I am coming or going. I often joke that I spend my time pulling things out of cows and putting things back. I thought I would focus on the putting things back.

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Realistic Expectations from Estrous Synchronization and AI Programs

Realistic Expectations from Estrous Synchronization and AI Programs

Glenn Selk, OSU Extension Cattle Reproduction Specialist

Producers that are wanting to improve the genetic makeup of their beef herds very often turn to artificial insemination (AI) as a tool to accomplish that goal.  Many times, these producers have very high expectations as they begin the first season of artificial breeding. 

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Cattle Feed Byproducts: Energy & Efficient Fiber

Cattle Feed Byproducts: Energy & Efficient Fiber

cattlenetwork.com

Although field nutritionists often view CDG as a useful protein or nitrogen source, this feedstuff contains more than simply nitrogen. Feeding distillers grains in replacement of corn grain is useful in providing energy in the form of fermentable fiber. Because fiber is digested at a slower rate than other forms of energy such as starch, feeding CDG to ruminants may be useful in reducing the incidence of rumen acidosis (Klopfenstein et al., 2001). Distillers grains typically contain 34% neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and 13% fat on dry matter basis.

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Minimizing Calving Difficulty in Beef Cattle

Minimizing Calving Difficulty in Beef Cattle

Pete Anderson, University of Minnesota

Calving difficulty (dystocia) contributes heavily to production losses in beef cow/calf herds. A Nebraska study estimated that calving difficulty results in annual losses of $25 million in that state alone. The obvious losses are due to calves or cows that die at or soon after calving.

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Ohio On the Look Out for Livestock Welfare

Ohio On the Look Out for Livestock Welfare

Thebeefsite.com

From a recent HBO documentary that chronicled a 2006 alleged animal abuse case at an Ohio pig farm to the current rumored movement by the Humane Society of the United States to target animal rights in Ohio, animal welfare is still a hot issue that stirs the emotions no matter what side of the fence one stands on.

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Internal Parasite Control Vital to Cattle Performance

Internal Parasite Control Vital to Cattle Performance

Stephen B. Blezinger, Ph.D, PAS

Cattle Today

As we enter the spring of the year we are reminded that control of internal and external parasites may be one of the most important of the concepts affected by management. Management decides: 1) whether to employ a parasite control program at all; 2) whether it is done regularly and systematically or in a hit or miss fashion; 3) what products are used in the program. All of these are extremely important decisions to make in an effective manner.

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IBBA Hosts Inaugural Global Brangus Roundup

IBBA Hosts Inaugural Global Brangus Roundup

PR.com

The International Brangus Breeders Association (IBBA) hosted the inaugural Global Brangus Roundup on March 8, 2009, a one-day event held immediately after the 2009 IBBA Convention. The event was held at the George Ranch Historical Park in Richmond, Texas and served as a unique opportunity to both formally introduce international breeders to the advantages of the Brangus breed, and provide IBBA members with a chance to market their genetics to an international audience.

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Feed ban limiting farmers’ options for dead livestock

Feed ban limiting farmers’ options for dead livestock

Jim Massey

The Country Today

Farmers have fewer options than they used to when disposing of dead livestock.

New federal rules require the brains and spinal columns to be removed from carcasses of cattle 30 months or older before using any part of the carcass in pet food or food for any livestock species. The rule is designed to prevent the transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a disease that has been found in three U.S. animals since 2003.

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Negotiators discuss compromise on EU beef hormone ban

Negotiators discuss compromise on EU beef hormone ban

Ken Anderson

Brownfield Network

Trade negotiators from the U.S. and European Union are in discussions related to the EU’s long-standing ban on U.S. beef exports from cattle raised with growth promotents.

Thad Lively of the U.S. Meat Export Federation says the discussions represent a potential breakthrough in the long-running dispute.

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Food Producers Offered Welfare Program Online

Food Producers Offered Welfare Program Online

Thebeefsite.com

The American Humane Certified farm animal welfare program has just introduced its latest innovation: online registration of food producers who are interested in pursuing the nation’s premier humane monitoring and labeling program.

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Don’t Let Spring Yard Cleanup Kill Your Cows?

Don’t Let Spring Yard Cleanup Kill Your Cows?

cattlenetwork.com

It’s the time of year when lots of people are outside trimming, pruning and generally cleaning up in the yard and around the farmstead. Most cattlemen are aware that often times various ‘trimmings’ can be toxic to cattle.

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Care of the Newly Purchased Young Bulls

Care of the Newly Purchased Young Bulls

Glenn Selk, OSU Extension Cattle Reproduction Specialist

Yearling bulls should be well-grown but not too fat.  The energy content of a ration should be reduced if bulls are getting too fat.  Fat bulls may fatigue rapidly, contributing to fewer cows conceiving.

For a yearling bull to be used successfully, he should have reached puberty 3 to 4 months before breeding time.  The age of a bull at puberty depends on several interrelated factors, but size or weight and breed are probably the controlling factors.

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New cattle can improve herd performance

New cattle can improve herd performance 

Wauneta Breeze  

Beef producers approaching the next breeding season may want to make some changes in their herd composition, said a University of Nebraska–Lincoln specialist.

“I think you have to clearly identify your production environment and your marketing objectives and then try to formulate a crossbreeding system that will include animals that can survive in that environment and be profitable in your particular marketing plan,” said Matt Spangler, UNL beef geneticist.

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New Food Wash Kills Pathogens Fast

New Food Wash Kills Pathogens Fast

Thebeefsite.com

Georgia scientists have created a technology that kills pathogens on food at home and in restaurants, grocery stores and food-processing facilities.

Created at the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety, the technology has been licensed to the maker of FIT Fruit and Vegetable Wash, reports UPI.

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To deworm or not to deworm?

To deworm or not to deworm?

Dr. Floron Faries

AgriLife Extension Service expert provides herd health tips

Recent rainfall across the state has greened up rangeland, but with tender vegetation also comes the threat of wormy beef cattle, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service veterinarian.

The key for producers is not to evaluate the cattle, but the ground they are grazing.

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