Should you keep or sell your replacement heifer prospects?
Beef Roundtable
The market crash that started in late summer of 2015 and continued through the end of the year caused many cow-calf producers to mash a thumb on the pause button of herd rebuilding. As a result, heifers that may have been a copper-riveted cinch to become replacements looked a little less appealing in light of falling cattle prices.
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Prepare Cattle Facilities for Winter and Beyond
Del Williams
Cattle Today
In the brief, post-harvest, fall season before daylight grows short and the first frost prevents cattle from grazing in the pasture, farmers and ranchers running cow-calf operations finally have the time and labor available to prepare their facilities for the long winter ahead.
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Equipping the forage tool belt
Mike Rankin
Hay and Forage Grower
Black Friday is but a distant memory, the unwrapping ceremonies are complete, and Santa is back at the North Pole sipping hot chocolate, if not something stronger. The attention this week turns to a new year.
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Did you get a drone for Christmas? Don’t Forget to Register!
On the Farm Radio
“Unmanned aerial systems can make farms safer, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly – and that helps everyone,” said Maryland farmer Chip Bowling, president of National Corn Growers Association. “If you’re stuffing a stocking with a hobby drone this holiday, take advantage of the free registration window and get it registered.”
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Marketing Branded Beef Works for Farms and Ranches
Wyatt Bechtel
Ag Web
An increasing amount of consumers want to know more about their food and are looking for local products. Beef producers have started to catch onto that trend and are seeing success in starting their own branded beef programs.
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Cover Crops for Forage Require Careful Herbicide Use
Iowa Ag Connection
Many farmers are now becoming more interested in cover crops due to their soil conservation and water quality benefits, and livestock producers may find them attractive as food for grazing animals. But farmers need to exercise caution when it comes to herbicide selection if they intend to graze or harvest the cover crop.
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Conference Has Beef Production Information for Producers in the Driftless Region
Denise Schwab
Iowa State University
The conference will be held at the Grand River Conference Center in Dubuque, a central location for driftless region producers and sponsors — Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, University of Illinois Extension, University of Minnesota Extension, and University of Wisconsin Extension.
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Prepare for the Unpleasant
Angus Beef Bulletin Extra
Kay Ledbetter
“We are just out of the drought of the decades, and rangeland recovery is under way,” McCollum said, “but the strong El Niño is over next spring, and we could revert back to dry conditions very quickly.”
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Protein Effects on Reproductive Efficiency
Taylor Grussing
iGrow
Reproductive failure and reproductive losses cost the US beef and dairy industries over $1 billion dollars annually (Bellows et al., 2002). In addition, the number one reason for culling cows is pregnancy status (33%), closely followed by age and poor teeth (32%; NAHMS, 2008).
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Cut winter cattle feeding costs with corn residue
Peter Vitti
Grainnews
For years, I have seen cornfields popping up over the Prairies (sorry for the pun). Much of this crop is harvested for corn silage, but significant acres are picked for grain. When just the cobs are harvested there is a tremendous amount of residue left on the ground.
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The Beef Blog 