In Texas, the Art and Science of Building a Better Cow

In Texas, the Art and Science of Building a Better Cow

Robert Kunzig

National Geographic

It was January in the Texas Panhandle—flat land, big sky, bitter day. On our way out to see the cloned heifers, Jones had stopped to break the ice on some water troughs.

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Studies Show Selecting Performance Traits Hurts Reproduction

Studies Show Selecting Performance Traits Hurts Reproduction

Alan Newport

Beef Producer

Evidence keeps growing that decades of selection for production traits have damaged reproductivity of the nation’s beef animals. Two studies, one on cows and the other on bulls, bear out this hypothesis.

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State Beef Groups Send Loud Message to USDA

State Beef Groups Send Loud Message to USDA

Andy Eubank

Hoosier AG Today

Executive Vice President at IBCA, Joe Moore, told HAT he’s a bit mystified by the secretary’s intentions. “I’m not real sure why he has decided this is the right path to take. No one has explained that to us. There’s still a lot of questions, but not a lot of answers.” Moore says the industry has asked Vilsack to reconsider imposing the 1996 act.

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Should You Step Up Biosecurity?

Should You Step Up Biosecurity?

Barb Baylor Anderson

Angus Journal

Beef producers just need to look at the impact porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) has had on the U.S. pork industry to draw attention to the importance of a biosecurity plan for their herds.

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Extension embraces change at 100

Extension embraces change at 100

Gene Lucht

Iowa Farmer Today

“In Extension, we’re gloriously messy,” says Cathann Kress, vice president for Extension and Outreach at Iowa State University. “That’s a good thing. It’s going to be messy at times. Let’s embrace that fact.

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Putting on pounds

Putting on pounds

Heather Hamilton-Maude

Tri-State Livestock News

Thousands of dollars are at stake in the days following weaning. Producers are shooting for pounds gained, but keep expensive antibiotics on hand with the hope they will stay unopened. Managing for proper nutrition and health can drastically improve the odds of making the first weeks following weaning profitable versus costly.

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Extended Grazing and Reduced Stored Feed

Extended Grazing and Reduced Stored Feed

Ed Ballard

University of Illinois

Feed costs represent the major cost in most livestock production systems. A recently completed analysis of 225 Standardized Performance Analysis (SPA) Beef Cow Records on herds in Illinois and Iowa showed that feed cost was the overriding factor determining profitability, explaining over 57 percent of the herd-to-herd variation.

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Your Responsibility as a Seedstock Producer

Your Responsibility as a Seedstock Producer

Galen Fink and Don Schiefelbein

Hereford World

“Always remember that your customers have lots of options, you don’t,” Fink said. “Creating a customer service plan is a must. Your serious competitors are.

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Fall grazing management

Fall grazing management

Rory Lewandowski

Ohio’s Country Journal

After clipping pastures throughout the growing season and managing pasture rotations to insure that plants are not overgrazed and that there is enough rest period between grazing passes, it can be tempting in the fall to let grazing management slide. There is fall crop harvest and any number of other fall tasks to get done before winter.

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Evaluate Your Beef Cow’s Udder Health

Evaluate Your Beef Cow’s Udder Health

Steve Huntzicker

Beef Today

There are many factors to consider when evaluating the overall health and longevity of beef brood cows.  Udder health is no exception.  It is important to identify which cows may be having or had udder problems and need to be culled. 

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