Baxter Black, DVM: Rattlesnakes on the Border

Baxter Black, DVM:  Rattlesnakes on the Border

“Rattlesnakes on the Border.” Some of you might think this is another grim tale about the cartels and gunfights in the Mexican Border states. It’s not.

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Good Body Condition Scores High For Preg Rates

Good Body Condition Scores High For Preg Rates

Boyd Kidwell

Progressive Farmer

Talk to Robert Bach any month of the year, and the veteran cow/calf producer is focused on producing winter feed. He knows the body conditions of his cows will determine pregnancy rates and, at the end of the day, his operation’s profits.

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The Cost Of A Blizzard

The Cost Of A Blizzard

Darrell Mark

iGrow

he twelve counties comprising the Northwest and West Central agricultural reporting districts (Butte, Corson, Dewey, Harding, Perkins, Ziebach, Haakon, Jackson, Lawrence, Meade, Pennington, and Stanley) were among the South Dakota counties hardest hit by the blizzard on October 4-5, 2013. According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, these twelve counties had 769,000 head of cattle and calves as of January 1, 2013.

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With cattle vaccinations; timing is important

With cattle vaccinations; timing is important

Kevin Gould

Michigan State University

The leaves are turning and that often means vaccination time for beef producers. Most beef producers do a good job with vaccinations but we should always be looking to improve the efficacy of their health programs.

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Winter stocker opportunities in today’s cattle market

Winter stocker opportunities in today’s cattle market

Darrell Peel

Drovers

Cattle and beef markets have strengthened in October despite the uncertainty of the past couple of weeks.  Feeder and fed cattle prices, along with boxed beef have all advanced compared to pre-shutdown reports with fed cattle showing the strongest relative increase. 

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Genomics, Ancestry, and a Contest!

Genomics, Ancestry, and a Contest!

Dr. Jared Decker

University of Missouri

In addition to DNA variants’ utility in predicting EPDs, disease risk, and other traits, they are also very useful in predicting an individual’s ancestry. The most common use of this in livestock is parentage verification or testing.

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Things You Did Not Hear in the Media

Things You Did Not Hear in the Media

Gary Truitt

Hoosier AG Today

For the past several years, both print and electronic national media have been doing stories about the growing Meatless Monday movement.  According to this coverage, hundreds of schools, restaurants, businesses, and individuals are participating by not eating meat on Monday.

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Send in the Pregnant Cows? Not So Fast, Say South Dakota Ranchers

Send in the Pregnant Cows? Not So Fast, Say South Dakota Ranchers

Josh Sanburn

Time

More than a week after an unseasonal fall blizzard likely killed tens of thousands of cattle in western South Dakota, Montana ranchers are working on a proposal to bring in 10,000 pregnant cows by the end of the year to help ranchers restock. But it might complicate things even further.

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Creekstone Farms Premium Beef Processing Plant Reopens

Creekstone Farms Premium Beef Processing Plant Reopens

Herald Online

Today, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef announced that it has resumed production at its Arkansas City, KS facility less than one month after a fire temporarily suspended production. The company began receiving cattle as early as Sunday evening October 20, 2013 and restarted its cattle harvest operation this morning. The company plans to start beef production on Wednesday.

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Understanding the effects of cold stress on beef cows

Understanding the effects of cold stress on beef cows

Bovine Veterinarian

Most beef producers understand that when the weather gets colder their cows need more energy to maintain their body condition.  The questions are when do cows start experiencing cold stress and then how much more energy do they need?

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