Webinar to help guide beef producers through the drought

Webinar to help guide beef producers through the drought

Jennifer Stewart

AG Answers

Navigating the worst drought in decades will be toughest for the livestock sector, but beef producers who do so successfully could find profitable days ahead, a Purdue Extension beef specialist says.

Participants with high-speed Internet connections can connect to the webinar via a kiosk at the Purdue Beef website at http://www.thebeefcenter.com/ . The kiosk will be open Aug. 29 at noon to Aug. 30 at 3 p.m. (EDT) to test and confirm that individual computer equipment and Internet service are compatible with the webinar. Participants must log on during that time to preregister.

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BeefTalk: Who Said Change Would Be Easy

BeefTalk: Who Said Change Would Be Easy

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

Is the cattle industry really changing? The industry may or may not be changing, but at the Dickinson Research Extension Center, the cow business has changed. Business as usual is no longer around.

Why? That is what the Dickinson REC has set out to resolve. Why? There are three or more key points.

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Feedlots Believe In BQA, Study Shows

Feedlots Believe In BQA, Study Shows

Burt Rutherford       

BEEF

There is little doubt that the industry’s efforts to advance the cause of Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) has resulted in higher-quality beef for consumers. But how widely are BQA principles adopted, particularly by cattle feeders?

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Faced with hay shortage, Missouri farmers consider lower-quality feeds

Faced with hay shortage, Missouri farmers consider lower-quality feeds

Jennifer Bailey

The Missourian

To help farmers find alternatives to hay, new forage types have been added to the MU Agricultural Electronic Bulletin Board’s Hay Market Listing website.

This summer’s drought has led Missouri to be about 2.5 million tons short of hay, said Joe Horner, an MU Extension economist. With cattle farmers desperate for feed and expectations of no fall grass for the animals to eat, he expects Missouri could be 3 to 4 million tons short by the end of the year.

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The drought will affect us for years

The drought will affect us for years

Kim Peterson

MSN

. . . It will be years before things return to normal. The number of calves produced has been sharply cut. Feed prices are so high that some farmers have sold heifers instead of breeding them, and so there won’t be as much cattle for packing plants next year, Bloomberg reports. It takes calves about 20 months to grow large enough to slaughter.

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Calif. congress members ask USDA to reopen plant

Calif. congress members ask USDA to reopen plant

TRACIE CONE

The Union

Three Central California congressmen cited the region’s high unemployment Thursday while asking the federal government to reopen a slaughterhouse at the center of a cruelty and food safety investigation.

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What a Montana farmer could teach Romney and Obama

What a Montana farmer could teach Romney and Obama

Dana Liebelson

Yahoo News

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is in a heated race for re-election, but he’s not afraid to tackle the thorny issues that Romney and Obama are terrified to touch

In Washington, Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana is largely known for two things: Competing in one of the most closely watched races in the Senate, and his devotion to Montana beef. Millions of dollars have been flowing into Tester’s race, where he’s neck-and-neck with Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), an extreme conservative who stands against everything from women’s health programs to putting the gray wolf on the endangered species list.

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Beef Producers Likely To Reap Bounty Next Year With Higher Prices

Beef Producers Likely To Reap Bounty Next Year With Higher Prices

Angelo Young

International Business Times

If America’s beef producers can weather the worst drought in decades that dealt a harsh blow to the nation’s corn crops, they can expect to reap a bounty beginning late next year, when beef output is estimated to be at a nine-year-low, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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So, Who Sent Those Sick Cows To The Slaughterhouse?

So, Who Sent Those Sick Cows To The Slaughterhouse?

Dan Charles

NPR

Federal regulators and fast-food companies reacted with unprecedented speed this week to the release of an undercover video that animal-rights activists shot inside a California slaughterhouse.

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Study shows technology is vital to cattle industry

Study shows technology is vital to cattle industry

PEGGY COFFEEN

Agri View

For many cattle producers, growth-enhancing technologies (GET) like implants and ionophores are a standard part of their protocol, but what would happen if practices like these were removed from U.S. farms and ranches? According to Jude Capper, Ph.D., adjunct professor at Washington State University, the consequential environmental and economic impacts could be devastating.

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