Vaccinate with a Purpose, mental fodder when administering vaccines

Vaccinate with a Purpose, mental fodder when administering vaccines

Kenny Barrett

Tri State Livestock News

Have you ever stopped to consider why we vaccinate calves, yearlings, heifers, cows and bulls? It would seem like an obvious answer. But dig a little deeper and we start to peel away layers of confusion we didn’t know existed. What we are left with is sound science and evidence-based medicine tailored to each individual ranch.

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Planning Pastures for 2013

Planning Pastures for 2013

Randy Kuhn

Beef Today

Many of us make resolutions or use a calendar for planning the coming year when January rolls around, have you started yet?

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New Years Resolutions: In 2013, resolve to improve farming practices

New Years Resolutions: In 2013, resolve to improve farming practices

Steve Leer

Ag Answers

New Year’s resolutions aren’t just for those who are overweight, sedentary or struggling to break a bad habit. Farmers can resolve to avoid poor management practices or implement better production techniques in 2013.

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Iowa Beef Expo names honorees: Jim Ross, Everett Shepherd and Lee Faris

Iowa Beef Expo names honorees: Jim Ross, Everett Shepherd and Lee Faris

The Cattle Business Weekly

The Iowa Beef Expo will kick off with three awards to be given, Feb. 11, 5:30 p.m. in the Bull Pen of the cattle barn at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

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Assisting the posterior presentation (backwards calf)

Assisting the posterior presentation (backwards calf)

Glenn Selk

Bovine Veterinarian

Although officially winter has just begun, the spring calving season in the Southern Plains is only 4 to 6 weeks away.  Any cow calf producer that has spent several years in the cattle business has had the experience of assisting a cow or heifer deliver a calf that was coming backwards.

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Alternate day DDGS feeding model reduces winter feed cost

Alternate day DDGS feeding model reduces winter feed cost

Michigan State University

Recent research has shown that beef producers can reduce feed costs and maintain body condition of pregnant beef cows by feeding a diet alternating dried distillers grains (DDGS) with solubles and forage.

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Individual Death Loss Can Be A Tip To Bigger Problem

Individual Death Loss Can Be A Tip To Bigger Problem

Mike Apley

BEEF

In a lot of periodicals, this title would require reading the article for clarification.  But a majority of BEEF readers probably guessed I’m referring to a cow. Oh, we claim we don’t name them, but a number often becomes a name.

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Time to get control of lice on cattle

Time to get control of lice on cattle

David Burton

Springfield News Leader

By mid-January to mid-February, lice typically start taking their toll on beef cattle that have not been treated since back in the fall.

According to Eldon Cole, a livestock specialist with University of Missouri Extension, lice come in a variety of species — some are blood suckers and others are biters, but they are all parasites.

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Temple Grandin gives approval to new meat plant

Temple Grandin gives approval to new meat plant

Startribune.com

Cattle expert Temple Grandin has praised a new beef-packing plant in Aberdeen, S.D., saying it is off to a good start.

Officials with Northern Beef Packers say the world’s best-known slaughterhouse design expert toured the facility Friday and said she is pleased that it was designed with the cattle’s comfort in mind.

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Eisenhower Farms sign returns to Gettysburg

Eisenhower Farms sign returns to Gettysburg

AMY STANSBURY

The Evening Sun

Whenever Dwight Eisenhower entertained guests at his home in Gettysburg, he always took them to the same place – his show barn.

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BeefTalk: All I Want for Next Year Is 2 New Bulls

BeefTalk: All I Want for Next Year Is 2 New Bulls

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

The biggest mistake purebred or commercial producers make when buying bulls is not having the bull registrations transferred to their name. That is a serious mistake.

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Ag Futurist Dr. Lowell Catlett to Keynote Cattlemen’s College in Tampa

Ag Futurist Dr. Lowell Catlett to Keynote Cattlemen’s College in Tampa

Oklahoma Farm Report

Ag Futurist Dr. Lowell Catlett to Keynote Cattlemen’s College in Tampa Cattlemen and women planning to attend the 20th anniversary of Cattlemen’s College can expect an innovative and educational program during the sessions which will take place Feb. 5-6 in Tampa, Fla.

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How to treat acute toxic gut infections in calves

How to treat acute toxic gut infections in calves

Heather Smith Thomas

Tri State Livestock News

Newborn calves can develop infection due to bacteria that proliferate rapidly in the gut and produce toxins. If this condition is not treated quickly and reversed, toxins get into the bloodstream and the calf goes into shock and within a few hours will result in death.

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Texas ranch’s secret cattle feed ingredient: Beer

Texas ranch’s secret cattle feed ingredient: Beer

CBS News

A cattle ranch in Texas swears by a secret ingredient that makes its beef juicer: Beer.

Texas T Kobe ranch in Wallis pours beer into the hay its cows eat, CBS affiliate KHOU-TV reports. The ranch says the yeast in the double IPA helps promote digestion and improves the flavor and texture of the herd’s meat.

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Market Conditions Will Shrink U.S. Packing Sector

Market Conditions Will Shrink U.S. Packing Sector

Wes Ishmael 

BEEF

It’s a complex business because there are so many moving parts, but it’s not really that complicated,” James Henderson says of the beef packing business. “You figure your cost on a per-head basis and your revenue by the pound. As long as that’s the case, the incentive is to make carcasses heavier.”

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Examination of udders, teats will help decide retention value

Examination of udders, teats will help decide retention value

Western Producer

There are many things to evaluate when selecting a cow. It’s particularly important to examine for udder and teat conformation.

Many cows are culled later in life because of bad teats.

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Beef up your cows for winter

Beef up your cows for winter

Peggy Coffeen,

Agri-View

 Building up body conditioning among your cow herd now will result in healthier cows and calves in the spring. This task, however, may be easier said than done – especially this year.

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Cattle Market Depends on Rain in 2013

Cattle Market Depends on Rain in 2013

Kim Watson Potts

AgWeb

The cattle market still anticipates peak cattle prices for 2013 in nearly every segment of the industry, but it all depends on the weather.

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Mild weather lets beef ranchers use less hay, save money

Mild weather lets beef ranchers use less hay, save money

TED BOOKER

Watertown Daily Times

Donald H. Holman and his 50 black Angus beef cattle would rather have had a green Christmas than a white one so the 100-acre grass pasture at his farm would have continued to grow to feed his herd through the holiday.

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Supplementation of Heifers on Winter Range:

Supplementation of Heifers on Winter Range:

Dr. John Paterson

Home On The Range: Livestock and Forage Bytes

The cost of energy supplements can be less than that for protein supplements. Which one is better for the productivity of replacement heifers grazing on native range? This past summer with the above average rainfall in Montana, we have seen forage samples that are low in both protein and total digestible nutrients (TDN).

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