Daily Archives: December 10, 2009

Replacement Females:  The Right Kind, The Right Care

Replacement Females:  The Right Kind, The Right Care

The Cattleman

Managing replacement females is one of the critical areas in a cow-calf operation, whether you buy them or raise them.

"Take care of her so that she can take care of you," is how Robert Wells, Ph.D., livestock consultant with The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation based in Ardmore, Okla., concluded our article last month. That phrase underlines the importance of what you do to insure her future and positive contribution to your herd.

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Basketball Strategy for Cow-Calf Producers

Basketball Strategy for Cow-Calf Producers

Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist

Cow-calf producers, like most in the cattle industry, have been on the defensive for the past three years.  First buffeted by unprecedented high feed and other input costs in 2007 and early 2008, profitability remained weak as cattle prices collapsed under the weight of the recession and poor beef demand this past year.  Poor profitability stalled out the fledgling cow herd expansion that began in 2005 and by 2007 the cow herd was declining.

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Coccidiosis Put Profits On Ice

Coccidiosis Put Profits On Ice

Beef Today

Weaning stress; cold, changing weather; and tight quarters leave the door wide open for the opportunistic, pound-robbing coccidia protozoa.

“Severe outbreaks of coccidiosis are common around weaning and shortly after very cold weather, which can lead to increased death loss, decreased growth rate and poor feed conversion,” says Dr. Joe Dedrickson, associate director, Merial Veterinary Services.

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Understanding and Managing Cattle Shrink

Understanding and Managing Cattle Shrink

Dr. Jane A. Parish, Associate Extension/Research Professor, Animal and Dairy Sciences, and Dr. Justin D. Rhinehart, Assistant Extension Professor, Animal and Dairy Sciences, Mississippi State University

Cattle are typically marketed and transported several times in their lives. Marketing and transportation can be the most fatiguing and stressful events in a feeder calf’s life. Each move not only stresses calves and increases the risk of bovine respiratory disease and associated death, but also results in weight loss that must be regained after arrival. In addition, shipping cattle typically involves feed and water deprivation that contributes to weight loss.

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Tips on How to Avoid Higher Capital Gains Taxes

Tips on How to Avoid Higher Capital Gains Taxes

Elizabeth Williams

DTN

Someday the recession will end and taxpayers will have to pay for the economic stimulus package. The current low capital gains and dividends rate of 15 percent are easy pickings for an anticipated tax increase.

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The Global Warming Lies

The Global Warming Lies

Southern Livestock Standard

source: Texas Cattle Feeders Association

It has not yet become a major scandal for most of the mainstream media, but various news outlets have reported on what appears to be a joint effort by leading scientists to create and sustain fears about climate change, even if it meant squelching evidence that undermined their cause.

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A candid look at the beef industry

A candid look at the beef industry

Codi Vallery-Mills

The Cattle Business Weekly

On Dec. 3 Brett Stuart of Cattle Fax addressed attendees of the Range Beef Cow Symposium in Casper, Wyo. with a cattle industry status report. He gave a no frills presentation and simply stated that the U.S. beef sector has entered into a macro environment where global happenings will influence prices from now into the future.

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Russia – Genetic technology for the beef industry

Russia – Genetic technology for the beef industry

Meat Trade News Daily

The Russian visitor peered into the microscope as Dr. Tim Holt explained how the device was used to split an embryo.

At the same time, Skylar Houston told the dozen or so visitors to Aristocrat Angus Ranch west of Platteville that an embryo, taken from a registered Angus cow, could be split four times, then each of them could be put into a donor “grade” cow, producing four calves with the same genetics of its registered parents.

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ICA Members to Set Priorities at Annual Convention, January 5-6, 2010

ICA Members to Set Priorities at Annual Convention, January 5-6, 2010

KMEG

Ames, Iowa – Dr. Dan Thomson of Kansas State University and Steve Hunt of U.S. Premium Beef will headline the ICA Annual Convention to be held on January 5-6, 2010, at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames, Iowa. The two will speak at the Opening General Session which kicks off the Convention at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 5. Hunt will address the group on "Designing Meat and Meals the U.S. Premium Beef Way." Dr. Thomson will present "Raising Beef for a First World Country."

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Don’t Blame Cows for Climate Change

Don’t Blame Cows for Climate Change

AgWeb.com

Despite oft-repeated claims by sources ranging from the United Nations to music star Paul McCartney, it is simply not true that consuming less meat and dairy products will help stop climate change, says a University of California authority on farming and greenhouse gases.

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Regulating Emissions will Reduce AG Output

Regulating Emissions will Reduce AG Output

Western Livestock Journal

Regulating climate change will reduce agricultural production in the long run, USDA’s chief economist, Joseph Glauber, told the U.S. House of Representatives in testimony last week.
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NCBA: EPA greenhouse gas ruling could be devastating to agriculture

NCBA: EPA greenhouse gas ruling could be devastating to agriculture

AG Professional

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is extremely concerned about the potential impacts that the EPA’s recent greenhouse gas ruling could have on agriculture operations. EPA’s decision, announced yesterday, claims that GHG emissions are an endangerment to public health and the environment. This sets the stage for greenhouse regulation under the Clean Air Act and would give the EPA unprecedented control over every sector of the U.S. economy.

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Cattlemen’s group elects officers, sets policy

Cattlemen’s group elects officers, sets policy

Argus Leader

The South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association has elected new officers for 2010.

Bryan Nagel of Avon will serve as president, Bill Slovek of Philip will be first vice president and Jeff Smeenk of Newell will be second vice president. Jon VanderPol of Platte will finish his two-year term as secretary-treasurer.

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Promote your Breed and Advance your Herd

Promote your Breed and Advance your Herd

Cattle Today

John Widdowson, Sandpoint Cattle Co., knows it takes more than hype to sell cattle. The Lodgepole, Neb., cattleman and his wife, Laurie, sell approximately 200 bulls at auction each year and an additional 150-200 through private treaty.

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Knowing what contributes to BRD can help minimize its impact

Knowing what contributes to BRD can help minimize its impact

The Cattle Business Weekly

One of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in stocker and feedlot operation is the infectious disease complex Bovine respiratory disease (BRD).

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