Farming outside the box
Greg Stiles
Mail Tribune
Joel Salatin, a leading light in the local food movement, met with several dozen local farmers and ranchers on a warm February day that made him wonder aloud about returning to snowbound Virginia.
A practitioner of natural and organic farming, Salatin has little need for massive investment in machinery and other components associated with USDA-approved corporate food production.
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Beef producers: Pay for bacteria vaccine
Des Moines Register, letter to the editor
The big-factory farm beef producers are the ones who should bear the cost of the vaccine. The article fails to mention that the E. coli bacteria and the illness that it causes was nearly unheard of before the early 1980s, the same time when large feedlots became the way to raise cattle.
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Oakdale set for livestock forum
John Holland
Modesto Bee
Beef producers will discuss the planet’s health along with that of their cattle at the 58th annual Oakdale Livestock Forum, set for March 2. Experts will speak on cattle’s contribution to climate-changing emissions and how rangeland grasses might help capture them. The forum also will feature a discussion of agritourism — ways ranchers can make money from visitors. Pinkeye prevention and other management topics also will be covered.
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Spring 2010 Hereford Sire Summary now available
High Plains Journal
The Spring 2010 Hereford Sire Summary is now available in print and online at Hereford.org. The new summary includes detailed listings on 2,214 sires to help producers make informed buying, breeding and other management decisions.
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A cut above
Lindsey Nair
The Roanoke Times
Increased demand for fresh, local food persuaded two Lexington families to reopen a meat-processing facility that will help small farmers and customers alike.
Steve Donald was a high school senior when his father decided it was time to fully initiate him in the family business.
"I came home from school, and my father looked at my brother, Rick, and I and said, ‘There’s four cattle down in the pen. Go butcher them on your own.’"
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Clones and the consumer conscious
Canada.com
It’s official: major food regulators worldwide declare food products from cloned cattle fit for human consumption. The all-powerful U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced recently that it is safe to eat meat and drink milk from cloned livestock.
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Legal abuse costs us billions
Jean Barton
Red Bluff Daily News
At the American National CattleWomen general membership meeting in San Antonio during the Beef Cattle Industry convention, Karen Budd-Falen, cowboy lawyer, alerted us to The Abuse of the Litigation Process by so-called non profit groups.
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Raise the bar for beef in ’10
Rusty Evans
The Leaf Chronicle
Emmit Rawls, University of Tennessee professor of Agricultural Economics Livestock Marketing, shares some important updates on beef cattle marketing:
As you reflect on your costs and returns for 2009, consider raising your expectations for what you can accomplish in 2010.
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Confused about beef labeling?
John Moon
Morris Sun Tribune
Consumers are constantly being bombarded by various messages about our food supply and farming practices. Having spent the last 62 years around beef and dairy cattle — I started milking cows by hand at age 6 — I can easily understand how confusing it can be for the consumer.
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How to bring home a quarter of beef
BRIANNE SANCHEZ
Des Moines Register
South central Iowa rancher Shanen Ebersole, 33, was in Des Moines for the Iowa Beef Expo this week, to sell breeding cattle – a 15 month old bull and a young breeding heifer. But her family also raises beef to sell for food. She told us what an educated carnivore needs to know to bring home the brisket
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Heifers need preparation
Barbara Duckworth
Producer.com
Millions of heifers enter breeding herds each year, but few have been properly developed for good lifetime reproduction.
Heifer development studies show these young females need a higher level of nutrition than cows because they are still growing.
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Symposium to address pasture rejuvenation
Rod Santa Ana
Cattle producers are well aware that to grow beef, one has to grow grass. But last year’s drought followed by above normal rainfall this winter will bring special weed problems this year, according to Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel.
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Pfizer helps fund scholarships
KTIC
In 2009, Pfizer Animal Health contributed more than $1.3 million to support FFA programs and help fund the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) Foundation/Pfizer Veterinary Student Scholarships through a unique partnership with veterinarians, animal health suppliers and dealers. Today, Pfizer announces the same program is available for 2010 through March 31.
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How and why to buy your beef direct from the ranch
ELLEN JACKSON
Culinate.com
Consider skipping the middleman and buying your beef directly from the farmer. You get to meet the person who raised the animal and ask questions about what it was fed, how it was treated, and even how it was slaughtered. And in most cases, you get to order exactly the cuts of meat you want. Bonus: Per pound, this premium meat is cheaper than most meat in the supermarket.
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Backers of meat labeling law hail court ruling
Peter Harriman
Argus Leader
A federal court ruling from eastern Washington earlier this month could shore up the legal foundation under country of origin meat labeling, or COOL, which faces a challenge from Mexico and Canada at the World Trade Organization.
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The Beef Blog 