Daily Archives: May 10, 2010

Tennessee Floods Swamp Cattle and Crops

Tennessee Floods Swamp Cattle and Crops

Charles Johnson

Beef Today

Muddy waters from this past weekend’s storms flushed newly planted corn and cotton from fields and threatened livestock across the western two-thirds of Tennessee.

Officials hampered by washed-out roads are still assessing the damage. It is obvious, however, that many thousands of acres of farmland are affected.

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Having a Cow About Steak Quality

Having a Cow About Steak Quality

Wall Street Journal

Let’s talk about steak for a moment. Was the last one you ate good? How about the one before that? Be honest.

The first bite, in all probability, was juicy and tender. Not bad. A brief hit of beefiness, enough to spur you on to bite No. 2. But by bite No. 4, there was a problem: grease. The tongue gets entirely coated in it. It is at this point that many hands reach for that terrible abomination called steak sauce. It’s acidic and zingy and cuts through grease, but it blots out the weak flavor of the steak.

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Can Feeding DDGS Maximize Livestock Profitability?

Can Feeding DDGS Maximize Livestock Profitability?

The Farm Gate

Pork producers and cattle feeders are making their first profits in many years, thanks to lower numbers of livestock and a growing domestic and export demand for US beef and pork products. Both hogs and cattle are expected to be in the black for the balance of the year, but economists are warning producers not to expand in an effort to take advantage of the profitability. As an alternative to expansion, some producers may want to increase their profits with operational changes, and here is an idea that may work for some.

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UNL: Ethanol byproducts are good mix in cow feed

UNL: Ethanol byproducts are good mix in cow feed

North Platte Bulletin

University of Nebraska-Lincoln research finds feeding reproducing cows "corn coproducts" such as distillers grains is beneficial to post-calving gain and reproduction.

Dried distillers grains plus solubles, or wet corn gluten feed, are co-produced during the fermentation process of ethanol or corn sweetener, so they are readily available and an economical feed choice for Nebraska cattle producers.

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Beef As A Byproduct Of Ranching

Beef As A Byproduct Of Ranching

Troy Marshall

Beef Magazine

I love cows. I love the challenge of making genetic improvement and efficiently feeding our consumers.

I understand the point others are making when they say they are grass farmers rather than beef producers, but it’s always offended me a bit because my focus will always be on the cow and on the consumer’s eating satisfaction.

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Colorado State University to host ‘Beef University’ June 3 to 4

Colorado State University to host ‘Beef University’ June 3 to 4

High Plains Journal

Colorado State University will be offering a "Beef University" hands-on workshop on June 3 and 4 at CSU’s ARDEC facility, located north of Fort Collins. This day and a half workshop will educate cattle producers about topics including beef quality, cattle production and handling, consumer demand, and methods to increase profitability.

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Flood recovery concerns for beef cattle producers

Flood recovery concerns for beef cattle producers

Rusty Evans

The Leaf Chronicle

Justin Rhinehart, assistant professor and Extension beef cattle specialist with The University of Tennessee, shares some information on beef cattle concerns from the flood.

Recent flooding in Middle Tennessee may have caused immediate problems for beef cattle producers and might still lead to long-term issues in areas where infrastructure has been damaged.

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Lilly hopes Elanco unit becomes a cash cow

Lilly hopes Elanco unit becomes a cash cow

J.K. Wall

Indianapolis Business Journal

As Jeff Simmons, president of Elanco Animal Health, ambles to the back corner of a Kroger supermarket in Greenfield, he stops halfway between the milk and the cheese.

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Lowline cattle shipment to England a first

Lowline cattle shipment to England a first

Mary MacArthur

Producer.com

Ten Lowline heifers boarded a plane for England April 28, the first live beef cattle to be exported to the United Kingdom from Canada in almost 10 years.

It’s also the first time the Lowline breed has been exported from Canada other than to the United States.

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Pesky Facts Get In The Way Of Packer Detractors

Pesky Facts Get In The Way Of Packer Detractors

Steve Kay

BEEF Magazine

Never let the facts get in the way of one’s prejudices. That seems to be the mantra for some critics of the packing industry. From claims about packer behavior to concentration, some people don’t seem to be able to reconcile their views with the facts.

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Food, Inc., fails credibility test

Food, Inc., fails credibility test

Ron Smith

Delta Farm Press

The presentation was muddled, lacking in focus and failing in its attempts to link issues to the food industry that belong elsewhere: immigration, health care, and patent protection, to name three.

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Grazing to be in the cow/calf business

Grazing to be in the cow/calf business

Grant Lastiwka           

Peace Country Sun

In Canada many are finding "You can be in the Grazing Business without being in the cow/calf business…. but you cannot afford to be in the cow/calf business without being a skillful grazier."

Since 2002-2003 through many methods we have switched to extended grazing systems as a way to stay in the cow/calf business.

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A lot more than ‘what’s for dinner’

A lot more than ‘what’s for dinner’

Jim Hamilton

Bolivarmonews.com

May is “Beef Month,” an observance started 45 years ago to salute the beef industry from pasture to plate.

For many of us that “industry” is just a part of everyday life. Mostly, we’re  not ranchers or cowboys, but just folks with a few cows. The average herd size in Missouri is 36, according to the Missouri Beef Industry Council. Some of us have many more than that, and many are similar to me and my neighbor, running five head on shared pasture.

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Andrew Arbuckleon Farming: Camera never lies – except during livestock shows

Andrew Arbuckleon Farming: Camera never lies – except during livestock shows

Business.scotsman.com

What I believed was a constant of these shows has been the photographs of the various champions. There they stand, four square with their ears cocked forward and head held high.

I know as a reporter the great efforts that go into getting such pictures. Legs are moved an inch or two if they seem slightly out of line.

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What is e. coli and how is it spread and avoided?

What is e. coli and how is it spread and avoided?

Palm Beach Post

Escherichia coli (abbreviated as E. coli) are a large and diverse group of bacteria. Although most strains of E. coli are harmless, others can make you sick. Some kinds of E. coli can cause diarrhea, while others cause urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses.

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