The Death of a Livestock Auction

The Death of a Livestock Auction

Gary Truitt

Hoosier AG Today

Across the Midwest at this time of year, you can hear the sound of the auctioneer. At county fairs and state fairs, the 4-H livestock sale is a celebration of achievement, hard work, and leadership. It is a time when a community comes out to honor young people and reward them with a financial incentive to continue in their project or invest in their higher education. It is a time of optimism about the future of agriculture and a community.

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Effects of stress in receiving cattle

Effects of stress in receiving cattle

Amanda Nolz

Tri State Livestock News

A full house gathered in Brookings, SD for the 2009 Starting Strong Feedlot Seminar sponsored by Cargill Animal Nutrition and South Dakota State University on Aug. 11. A dynamic panel of speakers beefed up the event including: SDSU’s Dr. Ben Holland, Cargill’s Dr. Pablo Guiroy, Pfizer’s Gerald Stokka, DVM, Kansas State University’s Mike Apley, DVM, Randy Black of Cattle-Fax and SDSU’s Dr. Robbi Pritchard.

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Q&A: Is there a good source of info for the genetics of color inheritance in cattle?

Q&A:   Is there a good source of info for the genetics of color inheritance in cattle?

Dr. Matthew Spangler, Assistant Professor of Animal Science, Animal Science, University of Nebraska

A:   There are actually two pretty good extension publications that explain the various color patterns in beef cattle.

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Anti-Cap-And-Trade Rallies Begin

Anti-Cap-And-Trade Rallies Begin

Hoosier AG Today

  Tuesday a coalition of 15 business and conservative advocacy organizations will kick off a series of rallies throughout the country to decry efforts to enact a cap and trade bill aimed at slowing global warming and reducing fossil fuel dependence. The coalition, known as Energy Citizens, includes industry and interest groups such as the American Petroleum Institute, National Association of Manufacturers, American Farm Bureau, and FreedomWorks. FreedomWorks is led by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas

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New watchdog just might bite

New watchdog just might bite

ALAN GUEBERT

THonline.com

Who is J. Dudley Butler and why are meatpackers and their allies saying nasty things about the courtly, 61-year-old from Yazoo County in Mississippi?

The short answer is that Butler is the new administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA).

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Backgrounding Facilities

Backgrounding Facilities

John Dhuyvetter, North Dakota Area Extension Livestock Specialist

Backgrounding refers to the confined feeding of calves following weaning to prepare them to be put on a finishing ration in the feedlot.

Calves can be and are backgrounded in a variety of facilities depending on situation and numbers, from the seasonal use of existing calving facilities to specifically designed feeding yards for growing calves.

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Refined DDGS Offers More Energy and Fibre

Refined DDGS Offers More Energy and Fibre

Thebeefsite.com

The byproduct is known in the ethanol industry as distillers dried grains with solubles, or DDGS. Ethanol manufacturers extract starch from corn to produce fuel. They discard the protein, fat and fiber of the corn. Some feed manufacturers have used this byproduct, in its unrefined state, in products for cattle.

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Understanding Price Slides in Beef Cattle Marketing

Understanding Price Slides in Beef Cattle Marketing

Brett Barham, Rex Herring, , University of Arkansas

Selling cattle well in advance of their delivery date, or forward contracting, is a marketing option available to beef producers. Such a transaction requires the seller to estimate the weight of the cattle prior to delivery.

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ND field investigator hired to help ward off livestock disease, work with rodeos and ranchers

ND field investigator hired to help ward off livestock disease, work with rodeos and ranchers

BLAKE NICHOLSON

Washington Examiner

With the threat of bovine tuberculosis to the east and brucellosis to the west, North Dakota animal health officials have added another precaution against new animal diseases entering the state.

The state Board of Animal Health has hired a field investigator, a first for North Dakota. Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said Justin Maddock, who has worked as a livestock producer and a government administrator, will help the state ward off diseases that can have devastating effects on livestock.
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FACT Petitions to End Poultry Litter as Cattle Feed

FACT Petitions to End Poultry Litter as Cattle Feed

Thebeefsite.com

Animal welfare organisation, Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT), is petitioning the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to ban the use of poultry litter as a cattle feed because of the health risks.

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Why Dehorn? It’s Economically Important But Often Overlooked

Why Dehorn? It’s Economically Important But Often Overlooked

Cattlenetwork.com

Dehorning claves can have a tremendous impact on end-product quality and value of feeder/stocker cattle. It may seem like one of the simpler management processes but it still gets overlooked. According to the most recent National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) report, the percentage of calves marketed with horns, across all states evaluated, had decreased from 8.4% in 1992 to 6.3% in 2007. The authors speculated that a majority of this decrease was due to the use of polled genetics. However, another import finding was that fewer calves born with horns were dehorned on the operation.

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Animal productivity and genetic diversity: Transgenic and cloned animals

Animal productivity and genetic diversity: Transgenic and cloned animals

USDA ARS

Improvement in agronomic traits in all livestock species has been achieved over the past several decades using reproductive technologies. Cloning and transgenesis are the most recent of these technologies, providing geneticists with additional tools to influence population genetics. This Issue Paper describes both of these technologies, addresses their strengths and limitations, and provides a framework for discussion about their future use.

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Oregon ranchers unhappy at water cutoff for piping

Oregon ranchers unhappy at water cutoff for piping

Oregonlive.com

Cattle ranchers between Bend and Terrebonne will be cut off from irrigation canal water for six months while The Central Oregon Irrigation District installs pipe to conserve water on a canal serving a new hydroelectric plant.

R.L. Freeborn, who runs about 200 cattle on his ranch near Terrebonne, told the Bend Bulletin he will have to pump from his domestic well, which will be an expensive way to water his cattle.

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US Beef Slump Continues

US Beef Slump Continues

Thebeefsite.com

The lingering global economic slump and low prices for domestic beef products in key export markets contributed to declines in US exports in June, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

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Protein in Beef Cattle Diets

Protein in Beef Cattle Diets

Mississippi State University

Feed costs account for a large proportion of cash costs in beef cattle operations. Protein is a critical nutrient in all beef cattle diets. Although protein supplementation is often a high cost item in beef cattle feeding program, sometimes protein supplementation is needed to meet the animal’s nutrient requirements.

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