BeefTalk: Is There a Place for Cows in the Future?
Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service
Is there a place for cows in the future? The reality of today’s agriculture is that it is heavily slanted toward crop production if the land has the potential to be converted to crops. Like it or not, for beef production to expand, the economics of the beef cow needs to have a threefold increase in net returns to compete with crop production.
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Hot Cattle Market Brings Tough Decisions
Curt Lacy
University of Georgia
Recently, the cattle markets have been as hot as the mid-July temperatures. While the high prices generate lots of questions, the main ones being asked now are: 1) should I sell my calves at weaning, and 2) what is the most economical alternative for replacement females?
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Nebraska BQA: Handling Cattle Through High Heat Humidity Indexes
Rob Eirich
University of Nebraska
As cattlemen enter the summer months, they need to understand and deal with heat and humidity. We need to consider some guidelines to help us reduce additional stress on cattle during these events and incorporate some of the following practices into our management practices.
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Heifer Calving Rate is Lowly Heritable in Hereford Cattle
The Beef Site
Beef producers traditionally have selected for increased scrotal circumference to improve female fertility. Scrotal circumference is an indicator trait and is positively correlated to female reproductive performance. Faster genetic improvement could be made by selecting for an easy-to-measure, economically relevant trait.
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Keep stock tanks repaired, water cleaner this summer
Terri Adams
Minnesota Farm Guide
With summer temperatures approaching, keeping water available for livestock is a main concern for producers. With warm weather and water available for livestock, keeping algae out of the water becomes another concern for producers.
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Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Ground Beef
Buzzfeed.com
Ground beef is one of our favorite cuts of meat in the US, but I’ll bet that you have lots of questions about it. The USDA dictates what can and cannot be labeled as ground beef and that information is published in the Code of Federal Regulations.
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Is the U.S. prepared for Foot and Mouth Disease?
Cassidy Woolsey
Progressive Cattleman
The U.S. has almost forgotten about Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), said Bill Barton, Idaho state veterinarian. But because of the USDA’s recent proposal to allow importation of fresh (chilled or frozen) beef from certain regions in Brazil, FMD was a topic presented at the Idaho Cattle Association Summer Round-Up, held June 24 and 25 in Idaho Falls.
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Study shows Brahman, crossbred influence receive higher premium
Blair Fanin
Drovers
Data from a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service South Texas study shows Brahman and British crossbred cattle add significant value to breeding stock in South Texas and performed best in terms of sale price.
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Bull management: The impact of hot weather on bulls
Glenn Selk
Cattle Business Weekly
Recently a producer asked about the impact that the heat of the summer of 2012 may have had on the reduced calf crop that was discovered the following spring. In particular, they wanted to know if high summer temperatures could lead to reduced fertility in bulls.
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Field day to educate livestock producers on grazing practices
Emma Hopkins
Ag Answers
The Purdue University-sponsored Indiana Beef Integrated Resource Management program will hold a field day to showcase the benefits of bringing water to livestock grazing paddocks.
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The Beef Blog 