So You Want To Help

So You Want To Help

Montana Cowboy College

Kent Hanawalt

When there is any talk of moving cattle, there are plenty of people who eagerly express their desire to “help”. In most cases the job can be done just as well without you  maybe even better. But if you are invited to participate, bear in mind a few simple rules whose observance will make it much more likely that you will be invited again.

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Plan a Feeding Strategy to Improve Efficiency

Plan a Feeding Strategy to Improve Efficiency

Clifford Mitchell

Cattle Today

Looking for that next meal or asking the question “what’s for dinner,” is something most will do daily. Different situations or times of the week may call for something different or an affordable option that will stretch that dinner budget.

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EPD calculations aid in herd breeding

EPD calculations aid in herd breeding

Eddie Baggs

Denton Record Chronicle

With spring come green grass, newborn calves and rebreeding the cow herd. All things in the cattle industry seem to come full circle this time of year.

Breeding plays an important role in the improvement of the herd and the marketability of its offspring. Many traits are influenced by the herd sire.

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Ky joining animal welfare debate

Ky joining animal welfare debate

FOX 41

A new state commission is finding that setting standards for the care of farm animals is more complex than it may sound.

There’s lots at stake as the Kentucky Livestock Care Standards Commission wades into the animal welfare debate — a discussion stretching from farms to supermarkets.

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Busy lifestyles one factor in beef demand decline

Busy lifestyles one factor in beef demand decline

BARBARA DUCKWORTH

Producer.com

The cattle industry can trace many of its woes to declining beef demand, says a Purdue University researcher.

Beef demand is half what it was in 1980, and consumers continue to turn away from it despite some recovery in 2004, James Mintert told the recent International Livestock Congress held in Denver.

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Stupid, Maybe; Crazy, No

Stupid, Maybe; Crazy, No

Troy Marshall

BEEF

Chalk me up as one of those who didn’t get overly excited about the dust regulations that the Environmental Protection Agency proposed under the Clean Air Act.

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Recession contributes to reduction in number of operations

Recession contributes to reduction in number of operations

TIM HEARDEN

Capital Press

A two-decade trend of livestock industry consolidation continued in 2010, according to an annual farm survey by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

However, the declines in beef, dairy, hog and other operations last year were apparently caused more by a sputtering economy than by large producers getting larger.

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Pasture planning is key to profitability

Pasture planning is key to profitability

Rory Lewandowski

Farm And Dairy

The most effective use of pastures does not just happen. Foresight and planning are necessary.

At the end of January, I taught a session about evaluating hay quality and use of hay in beef cattle rations at a Hocking County beef school.

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Changing a ration recipe to include more sulfur allows greater use of distillers grains

Changing a ration recipe to include more sulfur allows greater use of distillers grains

Krystil Smit

Farm & Ranch Guide

Distillers grains have grown in popularity in beef cattle diets because of their economic and protein value, but the amount a producer can feed has been limited by sulfur levels in the diet.

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Managing cold stress in beef cows in winter

Managing cold stress in beef cows in winter

JEFFREY JADERBORG

The Prairie Star

In a year of high feed prices and colder than average winter weather, produces have been challenged by the decision on how to best meet the nutritional needs of their herds economically. Evaluating cold stress and cow body condition is an important task because it can have a significant impact on cow and calf health.

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Issues of concern with the herbicide glyphosate (Roundup™)

Issues of concern with the herbicide glyphosate (Roundup™)

There has been recent media coverage of a letter written by Dr. Huber, retire professor from Purdue University’s Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, to USDA Secretary Vilsack identifying his concern over the widespread use of glyphosate (Roundup™) causing negative impacts on soil and plants as well as possibly animal and human health. Since Purdue was identified in the media coverage, we are getting calls and emails asking questions about the validity and credibility of the statements. In response, a group of scientific experts in the areas of soils, plant pathology, and weed science from Purdue University have created an Extension Fact Sheet that provides a “scientific evaluation” of what we know and don’t know. This fact sheet is worth reading to be informed about the issues and to dispel the rumors.

 

Ron Lemenager, PhD. PAS

Beef Extension Specialist

Purdue University

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BeefTalk: Does the Early Bird Get the Worm?

BeefTalk: Does the Early Bird Get the Worm?

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

Following a bird hatch, remnants of abandoned nests can be found. There may be indications that not all of the birds survived the incubation or early upbringing.

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How to Market during Volatile Times

How to Market during Volatile Times

Beef Today

Today’s commodity markets are extremely volatile, notes a University of Missouri Extension agriculture business specialist. Obviously, prices make a big difference in a grower’s profitability. So what is the best way for a grower to deal with price volatility?

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Feeding Cows 101

Feeding Cows 101

Kent Hanawalt

Montana Cowboy College

The grass in Montana is some of the best in the world. Cattle grow quickly through the summer, and gains are cheap. In fact, the whole romantic idea of cowboys and cattle drives began with trailing herds of cattle up from Texas into the rich prairie grasslands to fatten through the summer before being shipped by rail to markets in the east.

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Cattle Market Top 10 List for 2011

Cattle Market Top 10 List for 2011

Darrell Mark

Angus Journal

As we begin a new year, we always see a lot of predictions for the upcoming year, whether it be for the most popular movies, the most glamorous people or the hottest cars. While I sure can’t offer any insight into those important pop-culture topics, I could offer my best guesses for what we’ll see in the cattle market this year.

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Gerald Stokka: What’s the cost of calf health?

Gerald Stokka: What’s the cost of calf health?

Amanda Radke

Tri state Livestock News

How does your animal health management program impact your bottom line? What is the cost of maintaining optimal calf health, and what is it worth? These were the questions answered by Jerry Stokka, DVM, at the annual Pfizer Animal Health meeting in Brookings, SD, held Feb. 10, 2011.

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Temple Grandin draws crowd to discuss improving animal welfare

Temple Grandin draws crowd to discuss improving animal welfare

Alaina Mousel

Tri State Livestock News

World-renown livestock handling expert Temple Grandin drew a crowd of 800-plus students, faculty and community members to South Dakota State University campus on Wednesday, Feb. 9, to discuss ways to improve animal welfare.

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‘We’re all cattle producers’

‘We’re all cattle producers’

Mark Newman

Ottumwa Courier

Otis likes to herd cattle so much, Tim Kaldenberg actually had to hold the dog back before finally calling out, “Put ’em in the barn!” Otis, of course, won’t be the one appearing at the Cornbelt Cow-Calf Conference in Ottumwa.

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When Will The National Cow Herd Expand?

When Will The National Cow Herd Expand?

KBTX

With record high feed costs, essentially record high fuel costs, and a high demand and short supply of beef, consumers are seeing high prices at the meat counter. Insiders in the beef industry are beginning to ask what it will take for beef producers to start to retain some heifers to rebuild the national beef herd.

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UNCE holding meeting on value-added beef program

UNCE holding meeting on value-added beef program

RGJ.com

The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension will hold an educational meeting on March 10 to discuss a value-added beef program for Nevada cattle producers.

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