Video Feature: Selecting and Developing Replacement Heifers

Dr. Clyde Lane University of Tennessee, Beef Extension Specialist, discusses this important topic.

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Baxter Black, DVM: FARRIER FAN CLUB

Baxter Black, DVM:  FARRIER FAN CLUB

There are some skilled people that I envy; good ropers, flat top guitar pickers and songwriters to start with. I’ve always prided myself on my ability to build a good fence.

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Should Americans banish the burger?

Should Americans banish the burger?

CNN

Hamburgers are an American passion. And millions of Americans consume burgers, and other forms of meat, every day without consequences.

But ground beef contaminated with E. coli bacteria has sickened, paralyzed and even killed some people who ate it.

On Monday night’s "Larry King Live," a wide range of guests joined an in-depth and spirited debate to answer this question: Should meat, and most specifically hamburgers, be a part of the American diet?

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Value of Beef Performance Records

Value of Beef Performance Records

John W. Massey, James E. Ross and D.W. Vogt, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri

Flexibility of the programs helps both purebred and commercial breeders in their selection and breeding programs. The cow/calf producer can use these programs as tools to check the performance of each animal from birth until it is added to the herd or slaughtered. By using these programs, you can evaluate an individual animal’s genetic merit within a herd. This is important because herd superiority comes from measuring economic traits and selecting genetically superior individuals.

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Frost a danger for grazing livestock

Frost a danger for grazing livestock

AGWEB.com

Livestock producers should be cautious when grazing cattle on crops in the sorghum family immediately following a frost, says Dave Fischer, University of Illinois Extension dairy educator.

 “Sudangrass, sorghum-sundangrass hybrids, and grain/forage sorghum are members of the sorghum family and, after a frost, will produce a glucoside called dhurrin that breaks down to release a toxin called prussic acid. Intake of high levels may be lethal to cattle,” Fischer said.

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The Economics of Gene Testing Cattle

The Economics of Gene Testing Cattle

Eric A. DeVuyst, Associate Professor, Farm and Ranch Management Specialist, Oklahoma State University

There is a great deal of buzz in the cattle industry regarding genetic testing of bulls, beef cows, and even feeder calves. Several companies offer testing services, including MMI (www.mmigenomics.com), Igenity (www.igenity.com) and Bovigen (www.bovigen.com). Services include parentage testing and testing for markers associated with economically relevant traits. However, little unbiased information is available to producers regarding the value of genetic knowledge to their bottom line.

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Managing Genetic Defects in Beef Cattle

Managing Genetic Defects in Beef Cattle

Bob Weaber, Ph.D., State Extension Specialist-Beef Genetics, University of Missouri

Extension.org

Over the last five years the beef seedstock sector has had to deal with a number of recessive genetic defects. The utilization of assisted reproductive technologies including embryo transfer and artificial insemination has allowed breeders to concentrate selection to a relatively small number of animals. While many breeders avoid matings of half-sibs or sires to daughters to reduce the accumulation of inbreeding, it is not unusual for very prominent sires to appear several generations back in pedigrees of both the sire and dam of a particular individual. It is in this case when there is an increased chance for the appearance of a progeny affected by a recessive genetic defect.

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2010 National Beef Ambassadors Announced

2010 National Beef Ambassadors Announced

AGWIRED

Winners Last weekend, beef cattle industry enthusiasts flooded Fort Smith, Ark. to take part in one of the most prestigious youth agriculture programs in the nation, the National Beef Ambassador Program.

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Japan suspends beef imports from Tyson plant

Japan suspends beef imports from Tyson plant

Processing

According to the Associated Press, Japan has suspended beef shipments from an American meatpacker over its failure to remove cattle parts banned under a bilateral agreement, as Japanese officials raise concerns about U.S. safeguards against mad cow disease. Japanese quarantine inspectors found bovine spinal columns in one of 732 boxes shipped from Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., which arrived in Japan in late September, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

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Bulls and Biosecurity

Bulls and Biosecurity

Thebeefsite.com

The purchase of a bull is one of the commonest ways in which disease enters farms. Too many farms think they are closed but buy bulls. A bull is as likely to be infected with an important disease as a cow and, because of the close contact during mating, far more likely to spread it.

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Agriculture far from monoculture

Agriculture far from monoculture

 Sarah Muirhead

Feedstuffs Foodlink

The problem with U.S. agriculture is that it is monoculture and controlled by big agribusiness — at least that was the claim of In the Defense of Food author Michael Pollan when Feedstuffs recently talked with him on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

Pollan and 500-plus observers who gathered for a panel discussion of U.S. agriculture and the food production system, however, heard a much different story when dairy producer John Vrieze of Baldwin, Wis., took the microphone for a brief description of his operation.

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Oregon ranchers consider mobile slaughterhouse

Oregon ranchers consider mobile slaughterhouse

The Westerner

Eastern Oregon ranchers are considering a mobile slaughtering plant in Baker County to process beef that’s now hauled out of state. Over the last 30 years, dozens of Oregon plants have been shut down, said Dan Forsea, president of the Baker County Livestock Association. Financial and environmental considerations have weighed against building a meat processing plant in Oregon

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A Lifetime in the Beef Business for Indiana Master Farmer

A Lifetime in the Beef Business for Indiana Master Farmer

Andy Eubank

Hoosier AG Today

The first ventures in the beef business for Indiana farmer Rodney Hager were helping his father raise cattle and help keep the small dairy operational. Hager, from Orleans in Orange County, is one of the 2009 Master Farmers. He went out on his own in 1971, purchasing a farm where cattle are still important. In fact, Hager and his wife Kathy are now in their third year in the retail beef business, selling all natural beef at Preferred Meats in Sellersburg.

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Proper Management Captures Benefit of Yearling Sires

Proper Management Captures Benefit of Yearling Sires

Clifford Mitchell

Cattle Today

Most cattlemen are in tune with the needs of the cow herd. Careful management follows the production cycle, whether its matching cows’ production to the forage cycle or finding an inexpensive alternative to make sure proper nutrition is given at the right time. For most, the bull battery is an after thought when it comes to extra management because a lot of times those walking bulls will stand around for several months doing nothing before they are called upon to service the cow herd.

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New Product to Battle Lepto

New Product to Battle Lepto

Thebeefsite.com

The newly-released Bovi-Shield GOLD HB combines five-way viral protection with the prevention of Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo type Hardjo-bovis, commonly known as Lepto hardjo-bovis. Lepto hardjo-bovis is the most prevalent strain of leptospira in US cowherds where 42 per cent of beef herds are infected. A previously reported study also suggested 59 per cent of US dairy herds may be infected with leptospira.

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