Long after becoming meat, prized steer is at the center of a legal beef

Long after becoming meat, prized steer is at the center of a legal beef

SARA SHEPHERD

The Kansas City Star

Never mind that he became hamburger and rib-eyes years ago. A prize-winning steer called Friction is living up to his name.

In October 2007, on the night before he was supposed to be auctioned, Friction disappeared from the American Royal Livestock Show.

That much is certain. Then Friction’s tale turns tangled and quite intriguing for a coddled crossbred steer.

That’s because Friction resurfaced a few months later at a big show in Arizona.

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Understanding Females

Understanding Females

Meghan Richey

Angus Journal

Getting cows pregnant isn’t always as easy as it sounds, but understanding puberty and postpartum anestrus can make it a bit easier. Gary Williams, Texas A&M University, addressed these topics Jan. 28 at the Applied Reproductive Strategies in Beef Cattle (ARSBC) symposium hosted in conjunction with the 2010 Cattle Industry Annual Convention and NCBA Trade Show in San Antonio, Texas.

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Curly Calf Syndrome Information For Bull Buyers

Curly Calf Syndrome Information For Bull Buyers

F. David Kirkpatrick, Professor, Animal Science, University of Tennessee

Curly calf syndrome is a lethal genetic defect that has been discovered in beef cattle. The calves are stillborn and have a twisted or curved spine and extended and contracted limbs. That is how it gets the term “curly calf syndrome.” This lethal genetic defect is called Arthrogryposis Multiplex (AM) with its name being of Greek derivation which means curved or hooked joints. It has been discovered in the Angus breed and genetically traced to a popular certain bull (GAR Precision 1680) in that breed.

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Salt toxicity in livestock could be an issue this spring

Salt toxicity in livestock could be an issue this spring

The Cattle Business Weekly

Producers could see some salt toxicity problems in livestock due to the latest power outages.

Salt toxicity, also known as water deprivation sodium ion toxicosis, occurs when animals go without access to fresh water for an extended period of time. The condition usually is seen in swine but also can be seen in cattle.

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‘The Ranch Wife’ blog shares cowboy life online

‘The Ranch Wife’ blog shares cowboy life online

Amanda Nolz

Tri State Livestock News

Kacee Thacker grew up a pastor’s daughter in Michigan. Having always heard stories about growing up with horses from her father, she became enamored with the idyllic lifestyle of farming and ranching. Having only ridden horses with her friends a few times, Thacker made a bold move and started studying equine management at Central Wyoming College.

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Brazil beef headed for U.S. if trade deal resolved

Brazil beef headed for U.S. if trade deal resolved

Jerry Bieszk

Reuters

Fresh Brazilian beef may be sold in U.S. grocery stores beginning next year for the first time in a decade if the two countries resolve a dispute over cotton, livestock analysts said.

However, analysts said imported Brazilian beef would not be enough to ease the tight supplies of ground beef in the United States, which have kept ground beef prices near a record high.

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Steve Cornett: Food Safety Discussion You Should Follow

Steve Cornett:  Food Safety Discussion You Should Follow

Beef Today

Food safety stories seem to come and go with some regularity and little impact. And for good reason. They’re usually much scary verbiage based on few facts. Because our food supply—which will never be 100% safe for ANY food—is awfully safe and getting more so every year.

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Beef cattle SPA workshops scheduled across Texas

Beef cattle SPA workshops scheduled across Texas

Southwest Farm Press

For commercial ranchers to prosper during good times and bad, they must know how their operations are performing from both a production and a financial standpoint.

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Defending Grass-Fed Beef: A Rancher Weighs in

Defending Grass-Fed Beef: A Rancher Weighs in

The Atlantic

Nicolette Hahn Niman

Helene York’s at it again: determinedly arguing that beef, even when entirely grass-fed, can’t be "green." But her recent post falls far short of proving this provocative claim. She argues, essentially, that because cattle belch and fart a lot, beef is bad for the environment, focusing entirely on methane emissions, to the exclusion of all else.

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There Are Disturbing New Findings About Your Meat

There Are Disturbing New Findings About Your Meat

RON CLAIBORNE, DAN CHILDS and HANNA SIEGEL

ABC News With Diane Sawyer

It is a frightening picture: beef contaminated with toxic heavy metals, pesticides and antibiotics making its way into the nation’s supermarkets.

Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack discusses what is in our nation’s beef.

Phyllis K. Fong, the Agriculture Department’s inspector general, looked at how beef is tested for harmful substances.

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Groups concerned about foot and mouth regulatio

Groups concerned about foot and mouth regulations

KTIC

Thirty-two groups on Monday finalized a joint letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) requesting that both agencies immediately abandon plans to relax U.S. foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) restrictions regarding Brazilian beef and other Brazilian livestock products. A copy of the letter also was issued to select members of Congress, each state’s animal health official and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Consumers Want: High-quality, branded beef

Consumers Want:  High-quality, branded beef

The Cattle Business Weekly

Beef reigns supreme in consumers’ protein choices, according to recent research from a West Texas A&M University study. Nearly half of consumers surveyed put beef as their No. 1 protein choice, and 97% indicated they ate beef between one and 12 times each week.

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Food expert (Michael Pollan) raises stir at MSU

Food expert (Michael Pollan) raises stir at MSU

Matthew Miller

Amanda Sollman’s question was pointed.

"You’re currently standing in the state with the highest rate of unemployment in the country," the Michigan State University agriscience major said, "and a lot of the way that you propose we consume and produce food, whether that’s more local, organic, mostly plants, that will inevitably result in higher food prices.

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Temple Grandin suggests video feeds from livestock operations

Temple Grandin suggests video feeds from livestock operations

Drovers

Animal-welfare expert Temple Grandin, speaking at Fresno State University, suggested that live video feeds from livestock operations could help educate the public and build consumer confidence in the ways producers treat their animals.

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Meat processors worried about proposed safety rules

Meat processors worried about proposed safety rules

PHILIP BRASHER

Federal regulators are proposing new meat testing requirements that small processors say would impose staggering new costs and force businesses to drop products or go out of business.

The U.S. Agriculture Department says the new rules are needed to ensure that meat lockers are keeping dangerous bacteria out of their products.

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