Baxter Black, DVM: ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
It happened to Brett, a country boy in college on a rodeo scholarship. His folks sent him off to college in a well-used 3/4 ton pickup with mud and snows and a grill that looked like the gate on a Russian prison, a 16’ stock trailer the color of camouflage, and an antique gas-stingy hatchback coupe.
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Steve Cornett: Golden Rule Foolish on Beef Trade?
Beef Today
If we followed the golden rule in international trade, there would be less outcry from cattle producers about the Administration’s decision to declare the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina free of foot and mouth disease and potentially eligible to ship beef and pork to the U.S.
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Beef Improvement Federation Announces 2010 Gateway to Profit Conference
One of the year’s most thought-provoking and innovative programs in beef genetics offers veterinarians the opportunity to learn more about the value of genetic evaluation to overall beef production.
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Understanding How Cattle Think
Thebeefsite.com
Handling cattle can be a challenge under the best of circumstances, but those who do, from cow-calf producer to feedlot cowboy to livestock hauler, will find that the better they understand how cattle think as animals of prey, the better they will be at enhancing cattle health and performance, said veterinarian Tom Noffsinger.
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Should I Creep My Calves?
Dr. Rick Rasby, Professor of Animal Science, Animal Science, University of Nebraska
This is a question that is commonly asked as producers try to line up spring and summers management considerations, budgets, and calf marketing options. The primary objective of this management practice is to put additional weight on the calf before weaning without making the calves fleshy, especially if sold at weaning. Fleshy calves are discounted in market price.
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McDonald’s Not Biting on PETA Proposal
Hoosier AG Today
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals holds 79 shares of McDonald’s stock. That’s enough to permit PETA to propose to the McDonald’s board that it require its suppliers to switch to controlled-atmosphere killing of chickens within 5 years.
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New Organic Pasture Rule May Not Apply to Beef Cattle
Kansas Farmer
The new USDA organic pasture rule strengthening the requirement for grazing and pasturing livestock may not apply to beef cattle and other ruminants in meat production. In fact, the USDA’s National Organic Program is seeking comments from farmers and consumers on a proposal to allow some level of confinement in feedlots for, as an example, organic beef cattle during the last four months of their lives during the "finishing" period prior to slaughter (when industry standards would feed them mostly grain/corn).
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New antitrust rules awaited
Omaha World Herald
Federal regulators are set to release the most sweeping antitrust rules covering the meat industry in decades, potentially altering the balance of power between meat companies and the farmers who raise their animals.
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Livestock Producers: Lock in profits
Linda H. Smith
AgWeb
That’s the advice offered by Bob Utterback of Utterback Marketing. “Looking to the August to October time period, hog producers can lock in record profit margins. Forty-five pound feeder pigs will return more than $75/head. We have to ask ourselves, ‘Is this a 2008 market for hogs? It all depends on how fast producers expand in response to these margins.”
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CAB’s Al Kober dies at 72
Provisioner Online
Alfred S. “Al” Kober, retail director for Certified Angus Beef LLC, died on Saturday, April 17 at the age of 72, after a brief illness. He passed away at his home in Oley, Pa., surrounded by his family.
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Boot camp highlights livestock show
Jason Schoonover
Austin Daily Herald
Participants in the Minnesota Junior Spring Classic beef show "Boot Camp" listen to a presentation by Cargill’s Matt Janssen on the Showmaster brand livestock nutrition line Saturday afternoon at the Mower County Fairgrounds.
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Celebrate Earth Day with a steak
Springfield News Leader
I raise cattle and I am an everyday environmentalist. There are many different ways raising my animals contributes to sustainability. So I celebrate Earth Day 365 days a year, along with my fellow cattle farmers and ranchers all across the United States.
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Q&A: Do cattle ever suffer from fatal amniotic fluid embolism?
Just Answer
A: I can’t say that cattle don’t get an amniotic fluid embolism. I have never seen one and there is nothing reported in the literature. I am more suspicious that she had a uterine artery rupture. I have seen two of these in thirteen years of practice.
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Avoid Productivity Losses Caused by Internal and External Parasites
Healthy Heifer
Economic losses in the United States from parasitic infections of livestock have been estimated at more than $3 billion a year. Persistent subclinical levels of parasitism in beef cattle are known to cause reduced weight gain, poor feed conversion and increased incidence of disease.
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Planning for Planned Grazing
LORIE WOODWARD CANTU
The Cattleman
Planned grazing is a goal-driven, decision-making model that allows families to establish a three-part plan that addresses profitability, improving the resource base and quality of life.
Obviously, to reach the goals, ranchers must plan. One of the most crucial areas is financial planning.
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The Beef Blog 