Video Feature: Biosecurity in the Beef Herd

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

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Acorn Poisoning

Acorn Poisoning

Thecattlesite.com

The NADIS data show that acorns are one of the commonest causes of plant poisoning especially late summer in years when acorns are abundant. As the autumn continues with stronger winds and gales the problems are can increase.

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What Does Your Physician Know About the Food You Produce?

What Does Your Physician Know About the Food You Produce?

Chris Chinn

The Voices of Agriculture, American Farm Bureau

Do you know what your physician thinks about the food we produce as farmers and ranchers? This week I visited with my physician about our farm and the food we produce. My physician told me she only purchased her meat from a local butcher shop. I asked her why she made that choice. She told me it was because a colleague had told her all the meat found in grocery stores was packed full of antibiotics and hormones. She said farmers give their animals hormones that make the animals sick, which required the use of continuous antibiotics.

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Traits Correlated with Grid Premiums

Traits Correlated with Grid Premiums

Miranda Reiman, Certified Angus Beef

Beef Today

When you get a bonus on grid cattle, sometimes it’s easier to count your blessings than to ask why.

But Tom Brink, senior vice president for Five Rivers Cattle Feeding, says taking a look at discounts and premiums can help you get more of the latter. Tapping into their database, Brink analyzed more than 300,000 cattle records for correlations with grid components. The results are based on a handful of value-based marketing options that mirror those popular in the industry.

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Beware Of Dirt Toxicity In Cattle

Beware Of Dirt Toxicity In Cattle

Thebeefsite.com

Cows are not birds. They do not have gizzards and they do not need to eat dirt (gravel, sand, or soil) to physically digest the feed offered them. Yet, cattle eat dirt. Why? What happens when they do, and how much is too much?

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Vet Column: Comparing conventional, organic, and natural beef

Vet Column:  Comparing conventional, organic, and natural beef

David L. Morris, DVM, Ph.D.

The Fence Post

Investigators from Kansas State University recently published a review article analyzing conventional beef production technologies versus nonconventional production technologies. Specifically, the authors described conventional feeding systems using pharmaceutical products not allowed in natural or organic systems for finishing cattle. As producers strive to differentiate their products in the marketplace by highlighting production practices, standardizing terms becomes important.

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Cattle farmers feel the pinch

Cattle farmers feel the pinch

Laura Fenton

Selma Times

Alabama cattle farmers have felt reverberations of the current economic decline just as much as other industries. As people choose to not eat dinner in restaurants and cut other food costs, the price of cattle has decreased.

Things may be looking up for Alabama in the near future, although it may take cattle farmers time before they see prices increase.

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Buying Added Stocker Value

Buying Added Stocker Value

BEEF Magazine

Depending on who’s running the abacus, purchase price drives profit opportunity in the stocker business. But, the price paid is still relative to the health risk and gain potential.

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Economist: Cattle producers predicted to see profitable outlook in 2010

Economist: Cattle producers predicted to see profitable outlook in 2010

Agrilife Communications

A weak U.S. dollar has encouraged investment in commodities, resulting in positive activity for agriculture, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service economist.

“With regards to index investments, they (investors) buy these as a hedge against inflation, and when you have investment dollars coming out of the closet, many are putting money into commodities and that’s good for agriculture,” said Dr. Mark Welch, AgriLife Extension grain marketing economist.

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There’s Gold in Them There Cattle

There’s Gold in Them There Cattle

Laura Nelson

Angus Journal

California, Dakota, Alaska. More than 100 years after America’s last great gold rushes, a Nebraska feedlot has hit the mother lode.

Terry Beller, manager of his family’s feeding business near Lindsay, Neb., has been a prospector of sorts for years. Especially after Beller Feedlot became Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB)-licensed in 2001, he has sought only the highest-quality Angus cattle to feed. The search continues. “We’re finding that there are those high-quality types out there,” Beller says. “I’m going to go after them and try to get them here.”

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Making stronger, directed breeding decisions

Making stronger, directed breeding decisions

KRVN

Selecting and identifying feed efficient bulls with favorable carcass traits for tenderness and marbling are key components for registered Brangus breeders John and Carolyn Kopycinski of Oak Creek Farms in Chappell Hill, Texas. Oak Creek Farms is home to approximately 700 head of elite registered Brangus, Red Brangus, Red Angus and Angus cattle. To continually improve their herd and make the most educated breeding and culling decisions, the Kopycinskis have incorporated GeneSTAR® MVPTM DNA-marker test results.

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Angus registrations remain strong in 2009

Angus registrations remain strong in 2009

Drovers

Despite a sagging U.S. economy, 282,911 animals were registered during fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30, 2009. Transfers  — representing sales of cattle to new owners — reached 176,199, indicating continued demand for Angus genetics. Embryo transfers accounted for 11.3% of registrations, and more than 52% of registered calves were a result of A.I.

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When Packers are too Big to Fail, Expect Failure

When Packers are too Big to Fail, Expect Failure

Steve Cornett

Beef Today

Proving me wrong and the smart guys wise, again, the Justice Department has apparently signed off on the JBS-Pilgrim’s Pride merger. It surprises me that DOJ under the Obama administration has so quietly acquiesced to more bigness in business.

Yes, I know. It’s fowl meat, not beef. The merger does not increase that reviled “industry concentration” in either field. Still, I’m surprised that this administration will let it happen.

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Wildlife, livestock improve bottom line for Utah rancher

Wildlife, livestock improve bottom line for Utah rancher           

Faith Colburn

North Platte Bulletin

Ranchers who manage both for livestock and wildlife can reap significant economic benefits from both, said a ranch-based wildlife manager at a recent grazing conference organized by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

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Cost of Feedstuffs Calculator on U of I Web Sites

Cost of Feedstuffs Calculator on U of I Web Sites

Cost of feeding the animal is by far the most expensive part of dairy and livestock production. Historically the list of feedstuffs available to feed animals has been fairly constant (grain, forages and protein supplements). However, with the advent of the ethanol industry and the further processing of grain, the co-products resulting from these processes has opened up a whole new area of feed sources.

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