Baxter Black, DVM: OLYMPIC DISTRACTION

Baxter Black, DVM:  OLYMPIC DISTRACTION

You know the inmates have taken over the asylum when you’re turning to PETA as the voice of reason!

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Consider Frost Seeding or Interseeding Pastures

 Consider Frost Seeding or Interseeding Pastures

Steve Barnhart, Iowa State University

Beef Today

Producers wanting to add to or improve the forage species in their existing pastures should consider using either the frost seeding method in February and early March, or interseeding later in the spring months.

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Declassifying Animals as Property

Declassifying Animals as Property

Loretta Baughan

"In particular, it is their goal to destroy the property status of animals in the Wisconsin State Statues, a fact that is clearly identified in DCHS’s Board of Directors Meeting minutes dated January 21, 2009.  Declassifying animals as property and abolishing the owner’s property rights has long been an agenda item for HSUS and other radical animal rights fanatics."

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Turn body condition scoring into routine practice

Turn body condition scoring into routine practice

Rusty Evans

The Leaf Chronicle

James B. Neel, University of Tennessee beef cattle professor, shares some thoughts on BSC practices:

Body condition scoring (BCS) is a practice that should be carried out at the weaning of the calf crop along with pregnancy checking and cow culling. Body Condition Scores are indicators of the cows’ nutritional condition.

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Educational breakout sessions at TSCRA Convention will prepare cattle producers for future

Educational breakout sessions at TSCRA Convention will prepare cattle producers for future

North Texas E-News

Timely topics and tough issues will be addressed during the breakout sessions at the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA)133rd Annual Convention March 19-21 in Fort Worth, Texas. Convention participants can be a part of more than 10 breakout sessions on Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21.

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Kansas ranchers making Kobe beef affordable

Kansas ranchers making Kobe beef affordable

MSNBC

A group of Saline County ranchers has set out to increase profits by producing the highest quality beef on the market. It’s called Kobe or Wagyu and comes with a high price tag. But luckily, the ranchers have found a way to get buyers more bang for their buck.

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Calving Season – Being Prepared

Calving Season – Being Prepared

KTIC

We are already well into the calving season and cattle producers have been thinking about the most likely and most costly hazards to their cows and calves. They can use this knowledge to plan for their prevention. Minimizing the risk of these hazards requires long- and near-term planning. Calving problems may occur because of factors of the calf or the dam. Planning ahead for calving problems and close monitoring of the herd during calving can minimize the likelihood and/or cost of dystocia.

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When to consider selling high in the beef market

When to consider selling high in the beef market

Carl Stafford

Culpeper Star Exponent

If you follow the commodities futures market, you know that prices are offered in the near term months and longer term, out months. In the feeder cattle futures you will see that the April and August prices are near the high for the year. When the market place does this, it is offering you a chance to sell for a good price, possibly the top.

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The Tale of Yellow Tail Gets Longer

The Tale of Yellow Tail Gets Longer

Gary Truitt

Hoosier AG Today

Two weeks ago I wrote a column about Yellow Tail wine, the Australian wine that became public enemy No. 1 overnight after donating $100,000.00 to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). After a few lame efforts to defend themselves and to ignore the overwhelming criticism the company was receiving, it finally did the right thing and admitted its mistake.

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Extending Productive Life of Bulls Pays Dividends

Extending Productive Life of Bulls Pays Dividends

Clifford Mitchell

Cattlemen have always been interested in one number; in particular with their financial reports, the bottom line. Speculation quickly turns to fact if it is in red or black ink, but how that figure came to be has been a mystery for some. Financials often tell a simple direct story, where the operation was successful and where the operation failed.

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Impacts of Winter Weather on Cattle Markets

Impacts of Winter Weather on Cattle Markets

Beef Today

Unusually cold and wet weather has been widespread and prolonged this year. This has resulted in many management challenges and is causing a variety of market impacts in the short run and likely will have longer run impacts as well.

Cold, sloppy feedlot conditions have delayed animal finishing and reduced carcass weights. Some of the lost performance will never be recovered and animals will require extra days on feed to finish at acceptable grades.

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Ohio’s political rivals — Strickland and Kasich — denounce HSUS

Ohio’s political rivals — Strickland and Kasich — denounce HSUS

Farm and Dairy

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and his GOP rival candidate John Kasich both declared their opposition to a ballot measure being planned by the out-of-state activist organization the Humane Society of the United States.

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Reduce weaning stress

Reduce weaning stress

Drovers.com

Weaning is a stressful period for feeder calves and this event typically results in reduced feed intake and a challenge to the immune system, says Brad White, DVM, MS, Kansas State University. Speaking at the 2010 Western Veterinary Conference, White noted that the goal is to utilize appropriate management and animal husbandry tools to minimize negative effects. Animal stress can be divided into the broad categories of psychological (restraint, handling, or novelty) or physical stresses (hunger, thirst, fatigue, injury, or thermal extremes).

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Pa. farmers, vets can get free training in animal disease response

Pa. farmers, vets can get free training in animal disease response

Farm and Dairy

Animal disease response training sessions happening around Pennsylvania will enable farmers, veterinarians and first responders to become frontline defenders against animal illness or agriterrorism.

Nine free training sessions will be held throughout the state in March and April.

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What is mechanical tenderization?

What is mechanical tenderization?

Christopher R. Raines

Penn State Dairy and Animal Science Blogs

Another meat recall, this time for “mechanically-tenderized” beef, has prompted much discussion about the need and efficacy of blade tenderization of beef.  There are many different kinds of mechanical tenderization, though each method does exactly this: the method somehow disrupts component(s) of the whole-muscle meat matrix thereby reducing the amount of force required to shear (aka, you chewing, biting) the meat.  It is commonly done as a way to make cheaper (i.e., very low quality grade beef, beef from mature cows) cuts more tender.

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