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– Stop BVD: control strategies for this costly disease

– Storm rations: helping cattle yield better during winter storms

– Progress and new challenges: research in beef safety and quality

– Cattle come first: cattle-feeding and farming in Iowa

– Three generations of marketing cattle: adding value and attracting buyers

– Archive, the value of information: buying local, fair trade, or certified for animal-welfare standards

Calves from decades-old frozen semen born at LSU AgCenter

Calves from decades-old frozen semen born at LSU AgCenter

Thetowntalk.com

LSU AgCenter scientists have produced calves from Angus bull semen that has been frozen for more than 40 years.

Some of the calves were sired by semen collected and frozen from bulls in the late 1960s, said Robert Godke, a professor of reproductive physiology at the LSU AgCenter.

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RMFU joins calls to strengthen protections against mad cow disease

RMFU joins calls to strengthen protections against mad cow disease

Recorder Online

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) signed on to a letter from R-CALF USA to the USDA requesting that the agency respond to the latest appearance of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or “mad cow disease”) in Canadian livestock. RMFU, which represents family farmers and ranchers in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, joined Farmers Unions nationwide in co-signing the letter.

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Mike Callicrate: Break up the meatpacker-retailer cartel

Mike Callicrate: Break up the meatpacker-retailer cartel

Huffington Post

The last thirty years have been tough times for independent livestock producers.

For decades, in addition to the hard work of keeping our farm and ranch operations running each day, we have literally been in a fight for our lives and for the life of our industry. We have lost our markets. Only the illusion of a market remains. When we lose our markets, we lose our farms and ranches, and America loses its food supply.

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Solutions for ailing industry?

Solutions for ailing industry?

REMO ZACCAGNA

Grande Prairie Daily Herald Tribune

Keith Hodges grew up on the farm and doesn’t want to leave.

In order to support his family he took a second job, starting his own business. But a day is coming when Hodges, 45, who raises about 100 cattle near Beaverlodge, will have to decide whether to get out of the beef industry altogether.

"Why would you (stay)? You can go in the oilpatch or work for someone for $30 an hour, guaranteed wage, time off. Farming is a good life but you can’t raise a family doing it," he said.

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Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in range beef calves at weaning.

Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in range beef calves at weaning.

W. W. Laegreid, R. O. Elder, J. E. Keen

Citeulike

This study was designed to determine the prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection of beef calves at weaning, prior to arrival at the feedlot or mixing with cattle from other sources.

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Where’s the beef?

Where’s the beef?

Nicholas Kohler

Macleans

For those advocating for urgent action on the climate change file, it’s been a rough few months.

From the “Climategate” email scandal at the University of East Anglia to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report’s now-debunked claim that Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035, advocates have been hit by a series of damaging credibility gaps.

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Proactive Animal Welfare

Proactive Animal Welfare

BEEF Magazine

"Nobody cares more for the well-being of cattle than the 700,000 beef producers who spend their lives raising them.” says Dan Thomson, associate professor and director of the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University (KSU). “Beef cattle well-being is the foundation to any beef cattle operation.”

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Can U.S. farmers remain viable?

Can U.S. farmers remain viable?

Pat Kopecki

Wilson County E-News

James Hrubovcak, deputy chief economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., questions if U.S. farmers and ranchers can produce enough food and fiber to meet needs, contain energy costs, and meet carbon-offset requirements while remaining viable.

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US has ‘no illusions’ about quick end to Japan beef dispute

US has ‘no illusions’ about quick end to Japan beef dispute

Therawstory

Ahead of a Japan visit, US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack admitted Tuesday he had "no illusions" about how difficult it will be to lift Tokyo’s long-standing curbs on US beef imports.

Vilsack said he would press his Japanese counterpart Hirotaka Akamatsu for "forward progress" toward lifting the ban, but stressed he had "no illusions about how easy this is going to be."

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FDA Halts Sale Of Animals Treated With Unauthorized Drugs

FDA Halts Sale Of Animals Treated With Unauthorized Drugs

Food Manufacturing

A New York State dairy farmer cited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for selling cows that had illegal residues of antibiotics was ordered by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York this week to stop offering the animals for slaughter until he complies with federal law.

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Quality Beef Admired from Montana to Miami

Quality Beef Admired from Montana to Miami

Cattle Today

As a rancher, you like to stand back and admire your herd from time to time – especially when you can see the results of your work, like right after the rush of calving season or in preparation for the bull sale. It’s the settling satisfaction of knowing the job was well done, and your herd is better for it.

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Indian Creek Cattle Company ‘trying to preserve history here’

Indian Creek Cattle Company ‘trying to preserve history here’

Mike Marshall

The Huntsville Times

Just the day before, Mary had delivered her first calf, a 90-pounder.

Now, Mary and her calf were in one of the barns at Indian Creek Cattle, by the banks of Indian Creek.

Mary and her calf are aming the 100 or so head of cattle at the company, based near the border of Huntsville and Madison.

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A Rare Spoken Perspective on Farming

A Rare Spoken Perspective on Farming

Shawn Skeele

Madison County Courier

Farming has taken a few lumps the past few months with some bad press about techniques and care, but so much more is being overlooked. The important story about farming isn’t being printed, in my opinion.

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AVMA Briefs Congress On Importance Of Antibiotics

AVMA Briefs Congress On Importance Of Antibiotics

Thebeefsite.com

The nation’s largest veterinary association briefed Congress yesterday (29 March) on the uses of antibiotics and how they help protect animal health, providing in-depth scientific information on the necessity of antibiotic use for preventing and treating disease in companion animals and livestock.

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Baxter Black, DVM: KATRINA’S GOOD SPORTS

Baxter Black, DVM:  KATRINA’S GOOD SPORTS

In the fall of 2008, before the election, as the recession crashed down around us I gave up on politics.  It appeared that no one on either side, on Wall Street, in Detroit or in the media had a clue.

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Indiana Sets the Standard on Animal Care

Indiana Sets the Standard on Animal Care

Gary Truitt

Hoosier AG Today

In Ohio, Michigan, and several other states, the issue of who should set the standards for animal care is a controversial battle between farmers and radical animal rights groups. But in Indiana the issue has been settled without a fight and may set the slandered for the rest of the nation.

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CattleSense: Feeding The Immune System

CattleSense: Feeding The Immune System

Bovine Veternarian

We intuitively know we want healthy herds. Disease prevention is not only basic to animal welfare, it also carries economic value. Performance (rate and composition of growth and reproductive efficiency) is driven by chronologic age, physiologic age, nutrient intake, hormone status, net tissue turnover, cell numbers, and cell activity. . . and disease can negatively impact all of these except chronologic age.

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Col. Ray Sims to Receive Saddle and Sirloin Honor

Col. Ray Sims to Receive Saddle and Sirloin Honor

American Angus

At a recent meeting, the Kentucky State Fair Board — upon recommendation of the Saddle and Sirloin Committee — approved Col. Ray Sims of Raymore, Mo., as the recipient of the Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Award. It is the highest honor bestowed upon influential leaders of the livestock industry as awarded by their peers.

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New D.C. animal group poses danger for ranchers

New D.C. animal group poses danger for ranchers

Mike Mehren, Oregon Feed and Grain Association

Natural Resource Report

This little beauty will be quite a bit different than any of my columns. This is about an organization calling itself ‘Global Animal Partnership’. The organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C. Members of the Board include Wayne Pacelle of the H.S.U.S. and Steven Gross from P.E.T.A. Neither of these groups represented on their board have been friends of animal agriculture.

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