Merck wants to test Zilmax on 240,000 cattle but beef industry resists
P.J. Huffstutter and Tom Polansek
Reuters
Merck & Co Inc wants to feed its controversial feed additive Zilmax to 240,000 U.S. cattle to prove it is safe. But there is a problem: giant meat processors like Cargill Inc don’t want to touch animals fed with the drug.
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Calf management: A lesson in stress reduction
Farm and Ranch Guide
One of the many goals in raising calves is to provide a stress-free environment, which takes proactive management of the calves’ basic needs. These basic needs include: food and water, shelter, comfort, routines and health.
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Feds, Nevada rancher facing off over public lands
George Knapp
KLAS
Dozens of armed federal officers are preparing for a showdown with a Nevada cattle rancher regarded by some as an outlaw and a hero by others.
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4 Quick Tips for Shortening Your Beef Herd’s Breeding Season
Farm Futures
Calves that arrive in the first 21 days of the breeding season generally have heavier weights, says Sandy Johnson, beef cattle specialist for K-State Research and Extension — all the more reason for beef producers to consider shortening the breeding season for more uniform, heavier calves.
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Herbicide Beats Mob Grazing For Sod Suppression
Hay and Forage Grower
Mob grazing is an effective method of sod suppression for graziers who don’t want to use chemicals before interseeding annual forages into perennial pastures for late-summer grazing. But glyphosate works better, say University of Minnesota researchers.
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Feedlots prep for disaster
Kevin Welch
Amarillo Globe News
With more than 70 percent of the state’s fed beef on the High Plains, the question is how to protect the industry, not “Where’s the beef?” After 18 months and $1.4 million, planners have completed many of the tasks needed to help many of the area’s livestock businesses minimize and survive the consequences of natural or man-made disasters.
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Lessons in Stockmanship
Troy Smith
Angus Journal
Maintaining the quality and safety of beef through producer education is the focus of the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program. Accordingly, training in stockmanship and stewardship was offered during the 2014 Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville, Tenn.
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Fifth generation of Koester family cares for ranch ‘until the next generation takes over’
The Oregonian
There was only one cedar tree on the property alongside the Umpqua River, so Vern Clemo called it the Lone Cedar Ranch. The tree finally died of old age and is now gone, but the ranch that has been in the same family for more than 150 years and has survived several ownership changes continues today as a working operation under the management of owners Matt and Renae Koester. The Koesters are the fifth generation to work the ranch that’s a few miles downriver from Elkton.
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Benefits of Management-intensive Grazing
Jim Gerrish
Illini Pasture Net
Producer interest in Management-intensive Grazing (MIG) has increased steadily over the last decade throughout the US. Several factors have been identified as contributing to the resurgence in interest in pasture-based production systems.
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Long, Cold Winter Rough on Pregnant Cows
John Grimes
Beef Producer
Beef cows’ nutritional requirements to stay warm and perform well have been higher this winter, putting pressure on their hay inventories and leading to increased costs for beef producers, according to John Grimes, beef coordinator for Ohio State University Extension.
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The Beef Blog 