Monthly Archives: July 2013

Cull Cows: Opportunities to Add to the Bottom Line

Cull Cows: Opportunities to Add to the Bottom Line

Lorie Woodward Cantu

The Cattleman

"Many producers choose to dispose of these animals as quickly and easily as possible, without giving much thought to increasing their salvage value," says Carl Homeyer, state agriculture economist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Temple. "This can be a mistake because cull animals can represent 10 percent to 20 percent of a cow-calf operation’s annual gross revenue."

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Good Doin’ Cattle

Good Doin’ Cattle

Angie Stump Denton

Hereford World

For more than a century, Wiese & Sons has been raising problem-free Hereford bulls and females that are selected to be efficient, profitable beef cattle.

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Figuring the Odds on Preconditioning

Figuring the Odds on Preconditioning

Becky Mills

Progressive Farmer

If you pull calves off their dams and load them up without weaning or vaccinations, you might feel it’s the cheap way out. But the odds are against you.

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Vitamin D Didn’t Stop Toughening

Vitamin D Didn’t Stop Toughening

Stephen Hammack

Angus Beef Bulletin Extra

Zilmax® (zilpaterol hydrochloride) is often fed at the end of finishing periods because of its favorable effects on performance and carcass leanness, but there are often unfavorable effects on tenderness.

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Farmers, Ranchers Faced With Ergot Issues This Summer

Farmers, Ranchers Faced With Ergot Issues This Summer

Beef Producer

Cool, wet spring has farmers on the lookout for ergot and symptoms of ergot poisoning in livestock and beef herds.

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Proponents of grass-fed beef say it’s healthier

Proponents of grass-fed beef say it’s healthier

Bill Bowman

Asbury Park Press

Danny Murphy is sold on grass-fed beef.

So much so that Murphy, owner of Danny’s Grill in Red Bank, will soon expand his restaurant’s current offering of grass-fed New York strip and rib eye steaks to include filet mignon and chuck hamburger.

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New Oklahoma Cattlemen Association leader optimistic about state cattle future

New Oklahoma Cattlemen Association leader optimistic about state cattle future

Vic Schoonover         

Southwest Farm Press

Michael Kelsey intends to put his brand on the issues challenging Oklahoma cattlemen. Drought affects cattlemen today just as it did when their great grandpas moved cattle by horseback from one range to another.

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Improving welfare reduces stress, risk of BRD in herd

Improving welfare reduces stress, risk of BRD in herd

Western Producer

Bovine respiratory disease remains a major cause of sickness and death in beef and dairy calves, despite the availability of respiratory vaccines and treatments.

“How much bovine respiratory disease you get varies from year to year,” said veterinarian Anthony Confer of Oklahoma State University.

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How To Receive Full Value For Your Calves

How To Receive Full Value For Your Calves

W. Mark Hilton

BEEF

I’ve written many articles on preconditioning (PC) over the years, but few generated the response of my May BEEF column, in which some readers challenged my contention that everyone should wean calves before selling them.

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Beef cow herds shift as new technology brings changes

Beef cow herds shift as new technology brings changes

FarmTalk

The Missouri cattle herd has changed, and bigger changes are ahead, says Scott Brown, University of Missouri livestock economist.

There’s a cow population shift from north to south in Missouri, Brown says. The reason: Corn and soybean crops return more per acre than cows.

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Baxter Black, DVM:  Dealing with Climate Change

Baxter Black, DVM:  Dealing with Climate Change

It’s always perplexing to me to hear visitors to Arizona in July remark, “Man, it’s really hot here!” Well, duh.

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Modified Live Vaccines Versus Killed Vaccines

Modified Live Vaccines Versus Killed Vaccines

Dr. Ken McMillan

DTN/The Progressive Farmer

Consider all the evidence before making a decision about what type of vaccine will work best for your operation.

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Stockpiled Bermudagrass Can Reduce Winter Feed Costs

Stockpiled Bermudagrass Can Reduce Winter Feed Costs

Glenn Selk

Extension.org

Harvested forage costs are a large part of the production costs associated with cow-calf enterprises. A recent Oklahoma State University trial had the objective to economically evaluate stockpiled bermudagrass. The research found that this practice can reduce cow-wintering costs. Forage accumulation during the late summer and fall is variable from year to year depending on moisture, temperatures, date of first frost and fertility.

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Cattlemen Convene at Diamond Anniversary Convention

Cattlemen Convene at Diamond Anniversary Convention

The Red Angus Association of America

The Red Angus Association of America (RAAA) will host its 60th Annual National Convention Sept. 11-13 in Lewistown, Mont. This year’s convention – themed “Diamonds in the Big Sky” – will be held at the Yogo Inn with a separate Commercial Cattlemen’s Symposium taking place at the Fergus County Fairgrounds. Post-convention events are scheduled for Sept. 14.

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First Look at Fall Grazing Prospects

First Look at Fall Grazing Prospects

Derrell S. Peel

TSCRA

Most of Oklahoma has received some rain in the past 10 days with virtually all parts of the state having received moisture the past 30 days. Some critically dry areas remain in the western counties and the Oklahoma Panhandle.

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NCBA Research Targets Education Message to Millennial Generation

NCBA Research Targets Education Message to Millennial Generation

Oklahoma Farm Report
“If we look at some of our recent research it would suggest, when you look at all of agriculture, 49 percent of consumers feel that conventional agriculture is headed down the wrong track. So, as we look at how we build trust with today’s consumer-especially that of the Millennial Generation-they have a lot of questions about how that-especially in the beef industry-how that beef eating experience is actually produced.

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Can Time-Controlled Grazing Be Done Without Fencing?

Can Time-Controlled Grazing Be Done Without Fencing?

Burke Teichert

BEEF

July was going to be my last article on grazing for awhile, but I received many emails with questions that I decided to devote another article to the questions in two main categories: Can you implement planned, time-controlled grazing without fencing?

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Farmers make the case for pasture-raised animals with Pro-Pasture Fridays campaign

Farmers make the case for pasture-raised animals with Pro-Pasture Fridays campaign

The Oregonian

When you think of a farm, do you imagine cattle grazing on rich, green pasture grass and chickens pecking around in the dirt, looking for bugs? Do you envision lambs bounding around on legs like springs and pigs rooting through the soil and rolling in cool, delicious mud?

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Northern Beef Packers bankruptcy threatens S.D.’s beef industry

Northern Beef Packers bankruptcy threatens S.D.’s beef industry

Daniel Pfeiffer

Drovers

The Northern Beef Packers beef processing plant south of Aberdeen, S.D., was supposed to be the savior of the South Dakota Certified Beef Program, but after the packing plant announced Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, the future for the already sluggish Certified Beef program seems even bleaker.

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Cattle rustling on the rise

Cattle rustling on the rise

Marlena Hamilton

KETK

Cattle Rustling is on the rise yet again here in Texas.

And because of the rising price of beef, cattle thieves are on the prowl.

It seems like an old west type of crime, but cattle rustling is a growing problem here in Texas.

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