Realistic Expectations for Estrous Synchronization and AI Programs

Realistic Expectations for Estrous Synchronization and AI Programs

Glenn Selk

Feedlot Magazine

Producers that are wanting to improve the genetic makeup of their beef herds very often turn to artificial insemination (AI) as a tool to accomplish that goal.  Many times, these producers have very high expectations as they begin the first season of artificial breeding.  Perhaps they have heard other producers tell of situations where “near-perfect” pregnancy rates resulted from THEIR artificial insemination program.

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Urea Supplements for Beef Cattle

Urea Supplements for Beef Cattle

Homer B. Sewell

University of Missouri

Urea supplies part of the protein equivalent in many of the commercial supplements formulated for beef cattle today. When soybean meal and other plant proteins are high in price, more urea is used to replace plant protein in the ration of beef cattle and sheep.

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10 opportunities on the Horizon

10 opportunities on the Horizon

Kasey Brown

Angus Beef Bulletin Extra

Per capita consumption of red meat and poultry has been down the last few years, but Gary Smith, visiting professor at Texas A&M University, assured this is a better indicator of supply than demand. He spoke to attendees of the 30th International Livestock Congress (ILC–USA) in Houston, Texas, March 4-5.

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Livestock producers eye specialized uses for drones

Livestock producers eye specialized uses for drones

Jeff DeYoung

Iowa Farmer Today

It may not be long before the hum of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a common sound over pastures in the United States. Paul Gunderson, director of the Dakota Precision Ag Center at Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, N.D., says cattle producers will one day be able to fly the drones over their pastures to check on calving, feed intake and other chores.

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Pate Teaches Effective Stockmanship at OSU

Pate Teaches Effective Stockmanship at OSU

Oklahoma Farm Report

Curt Pate understands how to work cattle the right way and he goes around the country teaching audiences how to do that. He’s from Wyoming and was in Oklahoma this last week teaching a group at Oklahoma State University’s Totusek Arena.

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Uterine Infusions an Iffy Cure

Uterine Infusions an Iffy Cure

Dr. Ken McMillan

DTN/The Progressive Farmer

Infusing cows is actually very controversial. I would be concerned about using any long-acting tetracycline in the uterus of a cow. All the information I have seen indicates this can be very irritating to uterine tissue.

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Jeremy Rifkin: Meat is ‘the most inefficient way of feeding the human race’

Jeremy Rifkin: Meat is ‘the most inefficient way of feeding the human race’

Caroline Scott-Thomas

Food Navigator

Editor’s note: Stories of this ilk are included in the blog to inform those in our industry how agriculture is being presented to and perceived by the public.

Rifkin has been a vegetarian since 1977, but he is not calling on the whole world to eschew animal products. Instead, he talks about encouraging conversation, and says it is ironic that the world’s wealthiest are often eating the least healthy foods, high up on the food chain, and suffering from diseases of affluence – type 2 diabetes, heart attacks and strokes. “You can’t legislate this,” he said. “We need to encourage a robust conversation to move down the food chain and free up land from feed grain. …It’s hard to hear this in a lot of countries.”

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2015 Nebraska Ranch Practicum Accepting Applications

2015 Nebraska Ranch Practicum Accepting Applications

Brent Plugge

University of Nebraska

The 2015 Nebraska Ranch Practicum gives ranchers cutting edge research in range livestock production from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Natural resources, livestock management and economic reality are integrated throughout the Practicum.

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Farmers turn to cattle grazing to improve soil, bottom lines

Farmers turn to cattle grazing to improve soil, bottom lines

Chris Hubbuch

Washington Times

Rod Ofte likes to think of himself as a soil farmer. But unlike the proverbial subsistence farmer too poor for a hired hand, Ofte has help. And he makes money. “These are my employees,” he says, gesturing to a herd of 58 black Angus cattle munching on fermented hay as they fertilize a hillside overlooking Spring Coulee Creek.

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Low-Stress = More Forage and Higher Weaning Weights

Low-Stress = More Forage and Higher Weaning Weights

Beth Burritt

On Pasture

Steve Leonard is a private range and riparian management consultant. As an ecologist and a former Grazing Management Specialist for the National Riparian Service Team, he’s had the opportunity to evaluate grazing management and its impact on several thousand miles of streams.

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