Culling Sub-Fertile Bulls Increased Herd Value $30,000
Victoria G. Myers
Progressive Farmer
Every year the Hereford bulls at Timberline Ranch go through a breeding soundness exam prior to turnout. So when Kenneth Allen started to look for reasons conception rates on his Brahman cows were hitting between 70% and 75%, the last place he expected to find a problem was in the bull pen.
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Building winter cattle rations without wrecking your bottom line
Jennifer Blair
Alberta Farmer
Despite record-high cattle prices and strong demand for beef, margins remain tight for cattle producers who are battling the high price of land and feed.
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Distillers grains with calcium oxide improve cattle diets
Darrin Pack
Imperial Valley News
Research by Purdue University scientist Jon Schoonmaker and his colleagues has shown that small amounts of calcium oxide can neutralize the acid in distillers grains, a commonly used alternative to corn in many livestock feed mixes.
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Research Suggests Successful Weaning Results In Higher Quality Carcasses
Nicole Lane
BEEF
Calf weaning season often brings at least a few anxious phone calls from worried cow-calf producers to their veterinarians. Some may lack experience or have attempted weaning without a solid plan—they may be in over their heads. Others may have a new twist this year, not encountered in the past, but feel confident in regaining control of a health challenge.
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Alternative Feed Costs Drive Down Hay Prices
Hay and Forge Grower
Hay prices have declined in south-central Kansas, following falling prices for feed alternatives such as soybean meal, cornstalks and distillers grains, believes Roger Black, an Arkansas City grower with about 600 acres of alfalfa and prairie hay.
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Antibiotics and the Meat Industry
Wall Street Journal
A growing number of meat producers are selling chicken, beef or pork from animals raised without antibiotics, and sales of such products are growing rapidly. The food companies’ efforts largely are being driven by consumer pressure, rather than regulatory moves. Here’s what’s happening.
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Beef’s Carcass Weights At Record Levels
AgriMarketing
Yes, the coffee-shop talk in cattle country usually starts with cattle prices. However, it does not take long before the talk turns to how big these fed cattle are getting. In early September, we heard the report of a record high for steer carcass weight of 885 pounds (lb.). By mid-September that was 889 lb.; by mid-October it was 896 lb.
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How weather patterns affect cattle production
Ann Perry
Progressive Cattleman
For decades, USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in the northern plains have kept meticulous records on cattle weight gains during the growing season. Although their main focus was on trends in livestock and forage production, they also tracked weather conditions as part of their studies.
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Agriculture News: Farming’s value goes well beyond the field
Keenan Bishop
The State Journal
We just got back from our annual Cattlemen’s Educational Tour. As usual, it was a lot of fun and we got to see a lot of new things. This year we visited Utah, Idaho and Nevada. I found it interesting that on this trip several of our hosts made a concentrated effort to educate us about their plight and asked us to take the message back “east” and explain their situation.
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Due diligence needed on culling decisions
Rick Nelson
Enid News
The beef cattle herd in many regions of the country is in expansion mode. Beef cattle producers expand the herd by retaining heifers or by holding older cows for an additional year or two. Both options for herd expansion can be risky, as it can be expensive to develop a heifer with no guarantee of a live calf, while older cows have a higher probability of facing physical problems.
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