Baxter Black, DVM: LABOR DAY 2010

Baxter Black, DVM:  LABOR DAY 2010

 “A good day’s work is a good day’s work.”

Labor Day 2010 finds us with our head down, shoulders to the wheel, noses to the grindstone and 10% unemployment.

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America’s infatuation with tainted beef

America’s infatuation with tainted beef

By Zach Gould

DAILY LOBO (University of New Mexico Student News Paper)

Editor’s note: Stories of this ilk are included in the blog to inform those in our industry how agriculture is being presented to and perceived by the public.

I want to eat cows. I want to eat ribs, burgers, steaks and even bottom round roast (the butt). I would love to swim in the fluffy meat pillows of steak goodness, indulging my continuously growing gluttony. But, the Man keeps screwing my meat fantasy. I can’t, in any good conscience, eat beef.

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JBS considers sale of Argentine beef plants

JBS considers sale of Argentine beef plants

Greeley Tribune

JBS S.A. has said it is considering the sale of some Argentine beef plants among options to improve operations in that country. The company is the parent of JBS USA, which is based in Greeley.

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How to Feed a Growing World? Brazil Might Have a Solution

How to Feed a Growing World? Brazil Might Have a Solution

The Atlantic

By 2050, the world’s population will hit 9 billion—so how will we feed everyone? The answer, according to a recent article in The Economist, is that we will have to become more like Brazil. In "The Miracle of the Cerrado," the publication examines the giant farms that have transformed Brazilian agriculture over the last 30 years, and how other countries might be able to learn from them to become more productive.

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Temple Grandin — and animal agriculture — win at Emmys

Temple Grandin — and animal agriculture — win at Emmys

Nationalswine.com

Temple Grandin won big last night — and that can be considered a win for everyone in animal agriculture. Grandin, who is autistic, is widely recognized in the livestock production industry for her work in analyzing and improving animal handling systems.

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Choosing an Estrous Synchronization Program for Replacement Beef Heifers

Choosing an Estrous Synchronization Program for Replacement Beef Heifers

Allen Bridges, Scott Lake, Ron Lemenager, Matt Claeys, Patrick Gunn, Kyle Culp , Purdue Beef Team, Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University

Of the many estrous synchronization and artificial insemination (AI) programs available for use in beef heifers, two programs deliver more acceptable AI pregnancy rates. This publication shows a comparison between two of those programs: CIDR Select and the 5-day CO-Synch + CIDR. Information presented will help a producer choose between the two AI programs.

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Cottonseed, DDG Vie for Share in Rations

Cottonseed, DDG Vie for Share in Rations

Cheryl Anderson

DTN

With a bumper cotton crop predicted this year, bigger supplies of cottonseed may cause some shifts in both feed usage and feed prices.

Livestock producers most often look for steady sources of feedstuffs and don’t generally like to make frequent changes, Gaitens told DTN. "They like to stick with a steady source. That makes the need for cottonseed to show a low price to be competitive."

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Ranchers differ on benefit of new antitrust rules

Ranchers differ on benefit of new antitrust rules

Hattiesburg American

Meatpackers, feeders and hundreds of ranchers from around the country packed a workshop Friday to voice concerns about a proposed federal rule that aims to preserve competition in an industry increasingly dominated by a handful of corporate giants.

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Elevation’s effect on beef

Elevation’s effect on beef

Jane Moorman

Silver City Sun-News

The nation’s highest elevation beef cattle research facility managed by New Mexico State University at the Valles Caldera National Preserve in northern New Mexico is determining if there are DNA markers that will identify if cattle are genetically predisposed to develop hypertension while at high elevations.

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Angelina Jolie’s love for a hunk of beef

Angelina Jolie’s love for a hunk of beef

OK Magazine

The Salt star, whose partner is fellow A-lister Brad Pitt, says her guilty pleasure is to eat red meat. she added that when she followed a vegan diet – by not eating any animal products – her health suffered.

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‘This is a great time to be in the cattle business’

‘This is a great time to be in the cattle business’

Jack Dillard

Shreveport Times

Because of the type of weather we had the latter part of last week, it leads me to start our visit this Sunday without comments on the temperature.

Cowboy Logic! "The good Lord didn’t create anything without a purpose, but mosquitoes and gnats come close." This quote is from Kit Pharo, Cheyenne Wells, Colo.

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JBS journey from small slaughtering house to global giant

 JBS journey from small slaughtering house to global giant

Besta Shankar

International Business Times

One of the distinguishing features of changing global beef industry landscape is the rise of Brazilian meat giant JBS S.A. to the top spot surpassing many majors in the industry in a short span of time. Currently headquartered in Sao Paulo, JBS started its journey in Anapolis where the founder of the company, Jose Batista, slaughtered 5 heads of cattle per day in 1953.

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Cattlemen can help prevent dark cutters

Cattlemen can help prevent dark cutters

High Plains Journal

In most situations, things go better when everyone remains calm. That’s true for cattle, too, including those about to enter the food chain.

Excited cattle can become "dark cutters," lowering profit potential and causing beef demand challenges, says David O’Diam, brand extension manager for Certified Angus Beef LLC.

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Branding a tradition

Branding a tradition

MIKE CORN

The Hays Daily News

It’s all about tradition.

There’s a little love of horses and cattle thrown in for good measure. Well, and it’s also something of a social affair.

There are, in fact, a number of reasons why the beef unit at Fort Hays State University continues the time-honored tradition of rounding up and mugging calves.

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2,000 attend meat industry hearings with Vilsack at CSU

2,000 attend meat industry hearings with Vilsack at CSU

Bill Jackson

The Fence Post

A goal of creating a fair and competitive market for the livestock industry.

That was the intent of a meeting at Colorado State University Friday hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Agriculture, but by mid-day it became apparent that the livestock industry is a highly complicated one and finding a one-fit solution will not work.

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Fewer livestock producers worries USDA’s Vilsack

Fewer livestock producers worries USDA’s Vilsack

Bob Burgdorfer

Reuters

There are fewer U.S. livestock producers now than 30 years ago, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack believes that may be because concentration in the meat industry has forced many to leave the business.

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Polar-opposite views on cattle rules rounded up at ag meeting at CSU

Polar-opposite views on cattle rules rounded up at ag meeting at CSU

By Jason Blevins

The Denver Post

Save us. No, spare us your meddling.

Agricultural leaders heard two polar-opposite yet equally fiery pleas Friday at Colorado State University, where more than 2,000 ranchers, farmers and rural Americans rallied to urge either government action or inaction.

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Debate intense at public meeting on proposed regulation of meat industry’

Debate intense at public meeting on proposed regulation of meat industry’

Great Falls Tribune

Meatpackers, feeders and hundreds of ranchers from around the country packed a workshop Friday to voice concerns about a proposed federal rule that aims to preserve competition in an industry increasingly dominated by a handful of corporate giants.

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Selecting for calf health

Selecting for calf health

High Plains Journal

Seasoned cattlemen have long suspected a link between calf genetics and health, and a mounting body of research is proving them right. Uncovering that connection might lead to new tools for managing disease resistance.

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Tall fescue affects reproduction in cattle

Tall fescue affects reproduction in cattle

Rusty Evans

The Leaf Chronicle

Neal Schrick, University of Tennessee Animal Science professor and researcher shares good information on tall fescue and beef reproduction:

For years, producers have suspected tall fescue of affecting breeding results, and recent research by UT AgResearch teams has turned these suspicions into hard facts. These new studies prove that the endophyte-infected, cool-season perennial grass has a detrimental effect on reproduction in both bulls and cows.

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