Heifer development

Heifer development

Cliff Lamb

Angus Journal

One key to success the is focusing on for February is herd nutrition. An area of the beef cow-calf enterprise that requires sound nutritional management is in the area of heifer development.

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Preparing for healthy calves is vital to success

Preparing for healthy calves is vital to success

Farm and Ranch Guide

“Doing everything we can to ensure the birth of a live, healthy calf is our responsibility as cattlemen, and it has a great impact on the business aspect of our operations,” says Carl Dahlen, North Dakota State University Extension Service beef cattle specialist. “Advanced preparation will go a long way to ensure the health of the new calves and the cows that delivered them.”

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Red ink flows for cattle feeders

Red ink flows for cattle feeders

Wes Ishmael

BEEF

High calf and feeder prices, in tandem with softer fed cattle prices, are driving cattle feeding breakevens toward deeper losses. The Livestock Marketing Information Center estimates cattle feeding losses (basis the Southern Plains) at $200 per steer in January and February.

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Time growing short for most antimicrobials in feed and water

Time growing short for most antimicrobials in feed and water

Beef Producer

Start getting ready, because we’re quickly approaching the time when antibiotic usage in livestock will be seriously curtailed. In December 2016 many antibiotic/antimicrobial products will disappear from the market and/or come under requirements for a veterinarian to prescribe them, says Mike Apley, professor of veterinary medicine at Kansas State University.

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Inspector warn against high speed processing

Inspector warn against high speed processing

The Cattle Business Weekly

The Food Integrity Campaign (FIC, a program of the Government Accountability Project) is releasing evidence it has gathered from federal meat inspector whistleblowers who currently work at pork processing plants participating in a high-speed inspection pilot program. These whistleblowers voice concerns regarding the program and warn about the potential public health implications if this plan is instituted on a national level.

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Testing Livestock Forage and Feed Samples Colder Weather Animal Care

Testing Livestock Forage and Feed Samples Colder Weather Animal Care

Tracey Turner

The Ohio State University

Colder weather requires means livestock need more energy to be able to withstand harsh winter conditions outdoors, according to a forages expert with Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

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Report explores cow confinement, semi-confinement

Report explores cow confinement, semi-confinement

Ken Anderson

Brownfield Network

Cattle producers across the U.S. are heeding economic indications to rebuild and expand their herds, but a 32 million-acre decline in pasture availability over the last ten years is hindering expansion and causing producers to weigh options that require less land.

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Batter Up!

Batter Up!

Randy Kuhn

Ag Web

As I started thinking about a topic to talk about in this weeks blog, I thought, what the heck, let’s throw open the flood gates and see what I get thrown back in my face!  It’s been a while since any of my readers have personally attacked me for the way I decided to raise our animals and the way they think I should raise my animals.

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There’s a fine line between dumb luck, good marketing

There’s a fine line between dumb luck, good marketing

Ryan Taylor

Capital AG Press

I once saw a “de-motivational” poster that said, “Mistakes, It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.” Pretty inspirational, huh?

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Montana ag producers look to expanding Asian markets

Montana ag producers look to expanding Asian markets

Great Falls Tribune

2014 began as a year of high expectations for Montana’s agriculture economy, but ended with them only partially realized. Spurred by the smallest national herd size since the 1950s, cattle prices reached historic highs in 2014.

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BeefTalk: Got the Calving Book Handy?

BeefTalk: Got the Calving Book Handy?

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

Data needs to start somewhere. In the cattle business, it starts with the calving book. The calendar probably will have some notes on it for those once-yearly events. For instance, bull turnout, weaning, cattle sales, branding and calf workings are all examples of annual events.

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Beef cow nutrition and herd reproductive strategies

Beef cow nutrition and herd reproductive strategies

Bob Larson

Angus Journal

An overarching plan for optimum herd reproductive efficiency involves many important factors, including heifer development, management of the mature cow calving and breeding seasons, and appropriate bull management. Because proper herd nutrition touches all these factors, it deserves special attention.

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Arctic cold poses risk to livestock

Arctic cold poses risk to livestock

Aimee Nielson

Drovers

While it may not be the all-time coldest temperature ever recorded—that was -37 in 1994—Kentucky is about to experience some brutal lows and bone-chilling wind. These conditions pose significant risks to livestock, and farmers need to prepare for the extra care the animals will certainly require.

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Mail order semen can improve beef herd

Mail order semen can improve beef herd

Beef Producer

Beef sire catalogs are being delivered to mailboxes all around cattle country. Eldon Cole, a livestock specialist with University of Missouri Extension, says there is a certain excitement when the first 2015 artificial insemination catalog arrived.

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Hay list: wrap it right and store it right

Hay list: wrap it right and store it right

Horsetalk

Using net wrap and storing large round hay bales with care goes a long way in minimising losses, a Texas A&M expert has told farmers. Storing bales under cover, rather than leaving them outside, also helps minimise losses, Dr Stephen Hammack told farmers at the recent Blackland Income Growth Conference in Waco, Texas.

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Developing a healthier more profitable calf

Developing a healthier more profitable calf

Progressive Cattleman

Prior to joining Purdue University as a teaching veterinarian, Dr. Mark Hilton said his objective as a practicing vet for 15 years was direct and simple: “My goal as a food animal veterinarian is to never see a sick animal.”

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What Do Farmers Think about Climate Change?

What Do Farmers Think about Climate Change?

Niina Heikkinen

Scientific American

As a sociologist, J. Gordon Arbuckle Jr. spends a lot of time studying what shapes farmers’ views and responses to climate change. It’s a subject that has not gotten much attention, even as more research focuses on how to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and how to make farming more resilient to the impacts of extreme weather.

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Nothing humane about animal agriculture

Nothing humane about animal agriculture

Trent Loos

Loos Tales

As a person who, in my 48 years on this earth, has provided daily care for more than 1 million animals, I think I am qualified to address the topic. The real experts in animal welfare are the farmers and ranchers who actually brave the elements of Mother Nature and get the job done.

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Forecast sunny for cow-calf producers

Forecast sunny for cow-calf producers

AgriView

There’s opportunity for sizeable profit in 2015 for beef cow-calf producers, says Brenda Boetel, University of Wisconsin-River Falls commodity marketing specialist. Boetel spoke last week in Mondovi at one of multiple Cattle Feeder Clinics held around Wisconsin.

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USTR confident in COOL appeal

USTR confident in COOL appeal

Julie Harker

Brownfield Network

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office has defended the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) rule in oral statements before the World Trade Organization on Monday and Tuesday.

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