Does the USDA beef grading system need improvement?

Does the USDA beef grading system need improvement?          

Robert Fears    

Progressive Cattleman

The USDA Beef Quality and Yield Grading system was designed to provide a basis for determining a fair price for animals at each stage of the beef production process. In addition, the system can help consumers select beef of desired quality.

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Red Angus releases Choice+ grid with Tyson Foods

Red Angus releases Choice+ grid with Tyson Foods

Tri State Livestock News

Producers and feeders can now step through open marketing doors and garner premiums for supplying a predictable, quality product that traces back to the Red Angus genetics and the ranch of origin. Tyson Fresh Foods recently released the Choice+ performance-based grid designed exclusively to pay premiums for cattle enrolled in the Red Angus Feeder Calf Certification Program (FCCP).

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Shredlage Stirs Up Forage Industry

Shredlage Stirs Up Forage Industry

Fae Holin

Hay and Forage Grower

A new feeding study at the University of Wisconsin (UW) at Madison will compare Shredlage to conventionally processed corn silage produced from the same brown midrib (BMR) hybrid. So reported Randy Shaver, the UW Extension dairy scientist who also conducted the first university feeding trial on Shredlage.

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USDA Announces Additional Support for Small and Midsized Farmers and Ranchers

USDA Announces Additional Support for Small and Midsized Farmers and Ranchers

USDA

Today, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced additional support and resources for America’s small and midsized farmers and ranchers. Today’s announcement includes $7 million in university research awards in support of small and midsized producers; $8.8 million in technical assistance for small, socially-disadvantaged producers and Rural Cooperative Centers; and a marketing certification program for small and very small grass-fed beef producers.

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How Mobile Slaughter Units Benefit Small Farmers

How Mobile Slaughter Units Benefit Small Farmers

Patrick Hutchison

Seattle Weekly News

Standing on a dirt path, alongside a neat stack of irrigation pipes, between two barns, and under an intense gray sky, the matte-gray U.S. Government vehicle looks out of place. Inside, a USDA inspector is blasting NPR. Like me, he’s waiting for the trailer. Before long, the sound of a throaty diesel engine lets us know it’s here. A 36-foot semitruck pulls in, slowing near the cattle holding pen

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College friend recalls plane crash victim Nick Reimann

College friend recalls plane crash victim Nick Reimann

Aberdeen News

As investigators try to determine why a plane was flying low enough to clip the blade of a wind turbine south of Highmore Sunday, family and friends shared memories of the four area men killed in the wreck.

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Three cattlemen, former SDSU football player die in plane crash

Three cattlemen, former SDSU football player die in plane crash

Jonathan Ellis and Terry Vandrovec

Argus Leader

Three men from longtime South Dakota ranching families and a former South Dakota State football star died in a plane crash that was discovered Monday morning. Nick Reimann of Ree Heights, Logan Rau of Java and Brent Beitelspacher of Bowdle were returning from a Texas cattle sale in a plane piloted by D.J. Fischer of Gettysburg when the crash occurred. Reimann, 33, Rau, 25, and Beitelspacher, 37, come from prominent ranching families in north-central South Dakota.

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MARC Celebrates 50 Years of Beef Research

MARC Celebrates 50 Years of Beef Research

Steve White

NTV

Already known as the beef state, some think Nebraska is positioned to truly be the epicenter of the cattle world. But many of the breeds common in the state may owe their popularity to a research lab celebrating a big anniversary.

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Feed cattle, not parasites

Feed cattle, not parasites

Bovine Veterinarian

Planning for parasite protection should be top of mind for cow/calf producers before branding and spring turnout each year. Parasites can leave a path of destruction on any herd, but controlling them is as simple as knowing a few key tips.

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Time of opportunity for beef herd rebuilding

Time of opportunity for beef herd rebuilding

KXLO

This is a season cattle producers will be telling their grandchildren about one day. It’s an open window to what could be historic profit margins and a time to grow back a beef industry that’s had more shrink than muscle in recent years.

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Baxter Black, DVM: Rudy

Baxter Black, DVM:  Rudy

I’ve got a year-old Australian Shepherd dog. I don’t intend to use him for livestock; his job will be barker.

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Generic Dewormers

Generic Dewormers

Dr. Ken McMillan

DTN/The Progressive Farmer

Generic dewormers are a cost-effective option for many producers, but choose wisely.

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Summer annual forages help close gaps

Summer annual forages help close gaps

Dr. Dirk PhilippUniversity of Arkansas

Good forage management involves keeping forage supply matched up with animal needs during that time. Summer annual forages provide hay and pasturing at times when cool-season forages such as tall fescue cease growth during the hot summer months.

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Temperament and Taste

Temperament and Taste

Miranda Reiman

Angus Journal

"If you do your homework in this business, things will go right. If you don’t do your homework, you can have some train wrecks out there,” says Robert Frymire.

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Feedlot uses cattle waste to produce energy

Feedlot uses cattle waste to produce energy

Thomas Geyer

Quad Cities Business Journal

In 2007, farmer Bryan Sievers began researching an idea for a large cattle feedlot and came up with a plan that makes the entire enterprise “green.”

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The Climate Police Are At It Again

The Climate Police Are At It Again

Burt Rutherford

BEEF

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released a draft report that, once again, questions the value of livestock production and animal protein in the diet.

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China Looks to Import More Beef in Next Five Years

China Looks to Import More Beef in Next Five Years

Beef Producer

Growing demand for beef among middle class will drive Chinese imports as U.S. could be poised to regain market access

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Drought sends California cattle packing – to Texas

Drought sends California cattle packing – to Texas

Chicago Tribune

P.J. Huffstutter and Tom Polansek

For decades, ranchers from the east have brought their livestock to California, where mild winters and lush natural pastures created prime conditions for fattening beef cattle.

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Forage availability and its costs

Forage availability and its costs

Ross Pruitt

Drovers

With spring green-up slowly occurring nationwide, hay production will be starting soon if it has not already begun. The droughts that have affected much of the country over the past few years have strained forage production and hay stocks.

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Chicago Ag School Welcomes Four Cows to Campus

Chicago Ag School Welcomes Four Cows to Campus

Howard Ludwig

DNAinfo

"We’ve had a cow here and there, but we’ve never had four quality animals that we are raising for a specific market date," said Maggie Kendall, an animal science teacher at the school at 3857 W. 111th St.

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