Angus Association changes in dues and registration policies

Angus Association changes in dues and registration policies

Questions and answers about recent changes in dues and registration policies.

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Reach for the starch

Reach for the starch

Certified Angus Beef

Producers aiming for high-quality beef, take note: starch is a key at every step in the life of cattle.

A recent study from the University of Illinois shows the level of starch in both growing and finishing diets can affect overall performance and final carcass merit.

“We saw improvements in terms of marbling when we looked at those cattle that were fed higher levels of starch,” says Keela Retallick, an Illinois graduate student who is mentored by well-known animal scientist Dan Faulkner.

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PETA’s Bloody ‘Unhappy Meals’ Making Parents Angry

PETA’s Bloody ‘Unhappy Meals’ Making Parents Angry

Advocates for Agriculture

"Unhappy Meals" featuring a knife-wielding Ronald McDonald and bloody rubber chickens are upsetting parents who say the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are unfairly targeting their kids at McDonald’s restaurants across the country.

PETA’s "McCruelty Campaign" has ruffled the feathers of moms and dads in Albany who say they don’t want their kids exposed to any throat-slitting chickens or pictures of slaughtered poultry.

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Award Winning Green Feed Technology Debuts in US

Award Winning Green Feed Technology Debuts in US

Thebeefsite.com

Fodder Solutions creates growing chambers for farmers enabling them to transform grain seed and water into highly palatable feed harvested fresh daily, regardless of seasonal conditions.

According to the company, all classes of livestock can eat the densely matted sprouts including roots and all with no waste. Systems are being used to feed beef and dairy cattle, horses, sheep, goats, free range pigs and even rabbits.

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Phase-Feeding the Beef Herd for Improved Feed Utilization

Phase-Feeding the Beef Herd for Improved Feed Utilization

Matt Hersom, University of Flordia

Proper nutritional status is critical for optimal production efficiency in the beef cow herd. However, beef producers often take a “one size fits all” approach to feeding the cows in the cow herd. This singular approach to nutrient supply for the cow herd can have serious nutritional and economic ramifications. It should be obvious that not all cows have the same nutrient requirements. Nutritional requirements vary with age, breed, sex, body condition, environment, and physiologic status. By acknowledging differences in nutrient requirements that exist in the beef cow herd, management strategies can be implemented to feed beef herds to optimized feed resources and overall production.

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Establishing A Forage Fertility Program

Establishing A Forage Fertility Program

Mississippi State University

Soil fertility is important to perennial forages because it affects the quality of the forage that the animal eats. Many forage producers in Mississippi do not consistently pay attention to soil fertility. Managing soil fertility for forage production depends on three phases of planning: (1) pre-establishment, (2) establishment, and (3) maintenance (Figure 1). A soil test is the foundation of a good forage fertility program.

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Beef nutrition training planned

Beef nutrition training planned

Kay Ledbetter, Texas A&M University

Southwest Farm Press

Extension personnel from five agencies are working together to provide the latest information to beef producers on everything from nutrition to marketing at three meetings taking place Aug. 31-Sept. 2.

The Five-State Beef Conference is aimed at beef producers from the Texas High Plains, Oklahoma Panhandle, Eastern New Mexico and southern portions of Colorado and Kansas, said Dr. Ted McCollum, beef cattle specialist with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Amarillo.

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Slaughterhouse on wheels promises to deliver local meat

Slaughterhouse on wheels promises to deliver local meat

Tacoma New Tribune

Walk into your neighborhood grocery and you’ll likely find local apples, local cherries or local potatoes. What you’re not likely to find is local beef – or, for that matter, local lamb or local pork.

The “locavore” movement may be sweeping the nation, but there is a big gap when it comes to meat. Consumers want it, but farmers can’t get it to them.

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Calif. meat plant cited for cow handling problems

Calif. meat plant cited for cow handling problems

GARANCE BURKE

Washington Post

A California beef processor that voluntarily recalled tons of hamburger meat due to salmonella fears last week was slapped with animal handling citations last year in a government review of meatpacking plants, records show.

At least 28 people in three western states have reported salmonella-related illnesses since last Thursday, when Fresno-based Beef Packers Inc. recalled nearly 826,000 pounds of ground beef.

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NBAF: Safe, Secure and Vital to Nation’s Interests?

NBAF: Safe, Secure and Vital to Nation’s Interests?

Thebeefsite.com

Kansas State University leaders remain optimistic that the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility will be built in Kansas.

"We are excited about the opportunity to bring NBAF to Kansas and remain confident that NBAF will be built as scheduled in Manhattan, just as the Department of Homeland Security originally decided," said K-State President Kirk Schulz. "We are working with our colleagues at the Kansas Bioscience Authority, with our federal delegation, and the governor’s office to continue to advocate that Kansas is the right place to put NBAF."

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Argentina’s cattle crisis

Argentina’s cattle crisis

Telis Demos

CNN/Fortune Magazine

A spike in prices is threatening the world’s most beef-dependent economy.

Around these parts, Americans anxiously watch our favorite summer economic indicator — the price of gasoline — to get a sense of where the economy may be headed. But in Argentina, locals are watching their favorite winter barometer: the price of beef.

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Animal ID registrations still in the minority

Animal ID registrations still in the minority

JO DEE BLACK

Great Falls Tribune

Five years after a federal, voluntary animal-identification system was launched, just 35 percent of the nation’s livestock and poultry producers have registered their animals.

The original intent of the program was to create a national database to use to react to an animal-health crisis such as foot-and-mouth disease, a situation in which infected animals need to be contained.

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Kansas livestock field day scheduled

Kansas livestock field day scheduled

KTIC

A live cattle-handling demonstration by renowned horseman and lifelong Montana rancher Curt Pate will highlight the program August 20 during a field day at Dry Creek Ranch near Olsburg. The operation, owned by the Bill Edwards family, revolves around a commercial cow-calf business. This will be the first of three ranch management field days presented by the Kansas Livestock Association (KLA) and Kansas State University.

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We don’t have as many friends as we once did

We don’t have as many friends as we once did

Bart Ruth

Midwest Producer

In case you haven’t noticed, the number of friends that we, in agriculture, have are dwindling year by year. Oh, we still have our strong supporters in high places across the country and even a few in Washington D.C., but by and large, our allies across the political landscape are becoming as scarce as moldboard plows across the heartland. With most Americans now two to three generations removed from production agriculture, their hearts and minds are being heavily influenced by emotional campaigns directed by interests with an anti-agriculture agenda.

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Colorado sees slowing spread of deadly cattle STD

Colorado sees slowing spread of deadly cattle STD

CATHERINE TSAI

Washington Post

The spread of a venereal disease that can cause cows to lose their calves appears to be slowing in Colorado, and state agriculture officials plan to strengthen policies to keep it that way.

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