BeefTalk: May Calving, January Weaning

BeefTalk: May Calving, January Weaning

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

Winter weaning takes place this year at the Dickinson Research Extension Center. This concept is an outcome from the question, “When should I calve?” For the past four years, the center has calved on grass. Initially, the May- and June-born calves at the center were weaned at the traditional early November dates, held in confinement pens for up to a month and then put back out on winter paddocks and supplemented.

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NCBA Prepares for Long Litigation Fight to Stop WOTUS

NCBA Prepares for Long Litigation Fight to Stop WOTUS

Oklahoma Farm Report

A court injunction has prevented the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule. The rule was set to take effect at the end of August.

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Safe cattle handling tips from Dr. Joe

Safe cattle handling tips from Dr. Joe

Curt Arens

Beef Producer

Cattle handling equipment and systems have come a long way over the past few decades and vastly improved safety for ranchers and their cattle has been the result. When Joe Jeffrey, veterinarian from Lexington, Neb., finished veterinary school in 1960, cattle processing equipment was fairly primitive compared to modern working facilities.

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Reasons for defined calving season

Reasons for defined calving season

Ruth Correll

Lebanon Democrat

“Of all the management practices used to improve both the economic success and performance of cow-calf production, having a defined calving season is the most important” according to Justin Rhinehart, University of Tennessee Extension beef cattle specialist.

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Consumer Reports releases antibiotics report

Consumer Reports releases antibiotics report

Dr. Richard Raymond

Feedstuffs

Consumer Reports has done it again, taken some facts and played loosely with the definitions and relevance when it comes to antibiotics used in animals raised for food. The release, titled Meats Produced without Antibiotics Harbor Fewer “Superbugs”, is misleading right from the title. But at least they put the word “Superbugs” in parenthesis, maybe leading one to believe they are playing with the definition of a superbug?

But I doubt most readers would pick up on that little nuance.

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Consumer Reports: Meats Produced Without Antibiotics Harbor Fewer “Superbugs”

Consumer Reports: Meats Produced Without Antibiotics Harbor Fewer “Superbugs”

Imperial Valley News

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.

A review of a series of in-depth studies conducted by Consumer Reports show that, in general, meat, poultry and shrimp from animals raised without antibiotics are less likely to harbor multidrug-resistant bacteria than conventionally-produced meat from animals that get the drugs routinely.

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Colorado meteorologist warns farmers, ranchers to prepare for future drought years

Colorado meteorologist warns farmers, ranchers to prepare for future drought years

Windsor Now

When local weather guru Brian Bledsoe thinks of weather, he thinks of agriculture. Bledsoe, chief meteorologist at KKTV in Colorado Springs, presented a long-term outlook of weather patterns to beef producers from across the United States at the Range Beef Cow Symposium on Wednesday at The Ranch.

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Branded beef said to be replacing commodity product

Branded beef said to be replacing commodity product

Robert Arnason

The Western Producer

An increase in commodity prices typically discourages consumers from buying that product.  American data indicates beef demand has increased despite higher prices over the last year, which suggests the market for beef has changed. Perhaps it’s no longer a commodity.

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Beef Roundtable: Winter horse care and management

Beef Roundtable: Winter horse care and management

Burt Rutherford

Beef Magazine and Purdue Animal Science

For many beef producers, horses are an essential part of their daily life. That’s not surprising—after all, cattle producers are in the cattle business because they’re animal people and horses are not just a traditional part of the cattle business, they’re an essential part, even today.

BEEF and Purdue University have joined forces to launch the Beef Roundtable, a monthly 15-minute video podcast that will feature some of the top leaders in the beef industry. The video podcast, co-hosted by Ron Lemenager, Extension beef specialist at Purdue University and BEEF Senior Editor Burt Rutherford, will feature discussion of current topics of interest to all beef producers.

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US beef feeding industry may be learning a lesson from dairy

US beef feeding industry may be learning a lesson from dairy

Aerin Curtis

Feed Navigator

One of our most common practices is to put out hay [in feeders] and then when they’re empty, we fill them again,” he told FeedNavigator,  “That tends to be a system where we overfeed the cow, unless it’s poor quality hay.”

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