HSUS, OCM Form Alliance to Destroy Beef Checkoff
NCBA
NCBA President J.D. Alexander expressed disgust following an announcement that the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) has formed a partnership with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to destroy more than 25 years of market development and consumer demand building by the Beef Checkoff Program.
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Oats as Emergency Forage
Jim Dickrell
Beef Today
August-planted oats can yield two to three tons of dry matter per acre, but it’s almost imperative the crop be planted this week to get enough growth before frost.
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New Research Casts Practice of Breeding Cattle for Fall Calving in a Different Light
University of Missouri
For a number of years, the trend in southwest Missouri has been toward fall calving. The practice been prompted, to some extent, by the inability to breed cows and heifers for spring calves on endophyte infected fescue.
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Study shows that additional methionine improves efficiency in heifers
Montana State University
An extra dose of certain amino acids can help cows better use dietary protein or the nutrients they consume, according to a new study published by Agricultural Research Service scientists at the Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory (LARRL) in Miles City.
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Use Dedicated Tanks for Hauling Livestock Water
Steve Ensley, Sherry Hoyer
Iowa State University
Tanks that are used to haul nitrogen-based fertilizer should not be used to transport any type of drinking water supply for animals. Steve Ensley, of Iowa State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine Department, said once a tank has been used to haul fertilizer, it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to remove all of the nitrogen sources from that tank.
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Crude oil, cattle prices share ties
Jack Dillard
Shreveport Times
I don’t make the news, I just pass it along. “There is a fairly consistent correlation between the price for crude oil and slaughter cattle. Since it’s unlikely the price of cattle affects the crude oil on the world market, it might be assumed the price of crude oil affects the price of cattle, but that is unlikely, as well.
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The new beef vocabulary
Jean Barton
Daily News
A couple weeks ago Robert Minch chided me for using the word harvest to describe the step between a bovine being alive and becoming beef.
I had thought I was using the politically correct word for slaughter, but learned that in order to be more open with the consumer telling them what we do, humane slaughter and slaughter house are now acceptable words.
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Lawsuit claims beef checkoff paying for lobbying
Saint Louis Post Dispatch
A Kansas rancher has filed a lawsuit claiming the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is illegally using "beef checkoff" funds to influence government action and policy on behalf of industrialized agriculture rather than cattle producers.
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What does a drought do to a ranch full of grass-fed cattle?
Kate Dries
WBEZ
We’ve all heard about how the drought in the Midwest has impacted the lives of farmers and their crops. To get a sense of the drought and its affect on the grass-fed beef industry, Brian Babylon visited Quarter Circle Seven Ranch in Marengo, Ill., about 60 miles northwest of Chicago.
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Helpful strategies for deciding when to supplement
Robert Fears
Progressive Cattlemen
Feed is a significant portion of annual production costs in a cow-calf operation.
These high costs make a supplement strategy with price control guidelines an important part of the management plan.
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