Adverse reactions to vaccines and drugs in cattle
Heather Smith Thomas
Canadian Cattleman
Occasionally cattle experience a reaction to vaccine or medication (injected, applied topically or given orally). An allergic reaction can be mild and local (swelling at the injection site after vaccination) or serious and fatal — if the animal goes into anaphylactic shock.
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How Grass Grows Tells You How You Should Graze It
Joe Trlica
On Pasture
There are three important factors that affect how grasses respond to grazing: 1) frequency, 2) intensity and 3) season. Range ecologists and physiologists have found that as grazing increases, grass productivity typically declines. Frequency can be more important than intensity.
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More cattlemen considering drylot cow-calf operations
Candace Krebs
FarmTalk
More drylots and feedyard pens are being used for cow-calf production as producers rebuild cow numbers across the Plains and Midwest. The approach is helping to fill some of the industry’s unused feedyard space and allowing farmers to diversify as commodity prices sag.
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From the Fence Post: Rethink abrupt weaning
Brent Meyer
Bovine Veterinarian
We’ve talked in the BRD Report blog about the need to spread out the stressors associated with weaning. Pulling calves from their dam and shipping them to a feedyard, all within a very short time period, places them under tremendous stress and can seriously impair their ability to fight off disease.What happens when calves are put under such stress?
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Per Head Losses Could Climb Above $500 in October
Cheryl Anderson
DTN
Cattle feeders are looking at the highest estimated losses since January 2009 as fed cattle prices have dropped drastically over the past month.
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What I wish I would have learned at stock shows
Dan Kleiner
Elgin Courier
The first memory I have of county livestock shows actually comes from my high school days back in Houston. I went to a big old public school that had “Ag Day,” which was basically to me nothing more than a great excuse to get out of class.
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10 things ranch women know to be true
Laura Mushrush
Drovers
10. You know exactly how much coffee you can consume before going out to do chores in the dead of winter. It only takes getting caught in 5 degree weather one time with a pair of long johns, blue jeans, a pair of bibs, a sweatshirt and heavy coat that stand between you and relief.
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Getting calves off to a great start
Warren Rusche
iGrow
Feeding calves and the 100-yard dash share one thing in common; in both instances it is nearly impossible to start poorly and expect to win. During the initial 6 weeks on feed calves must successfully adapt to a new environment with new sources of feed and water, all without momma at their side.
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Fall is time to get cattle ready for winter
AgWeek
On beef cattle operations, the fall season requires many management and labor decisions, including repairing fences, planting cover crops, assessing pasture conditions, moving cattle to fall grazing and wondering if enough feed is available for the winter.
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Catastrophic Feedyard Losses
Greg Henderson
Beef Today
Cattle feeders hope the cash market found its bottom last week. Cash prices tumbled another $11 per cwt., which produced an astonishing drop in margins that has the industry in turmoil and some on the brink of financial collapse.
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The Beef Blog 