BeefTalk: What’s in the Current Bullpen?

BeefTalk: What’s in the Current Bullpen?

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist,  NDSU Extension Service

As the bull-buying season continues, I offer some simple reminders. Every winter, I do enjoy visiting with producers regarding upcoming bull purchases and offer a workshop titled “Bull Buying by the Numbers” to help producers get a better understanding of what the numbers mean. Participation is geared to help individual producers streamline their bull-buying strategies to meet their individual goals and objectives.

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Mark Parker: The Top 10 ways farmers screw up Valentine’s Day

Mark Parker:  The Top 10 ways farmers screw up Valentine’s Day

FarmTalk

10. He buys one of those heart-shaped candy boxes on February 15 when the price drops.

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What we’ve learned about tall fescue management

What we’ve learned about tall fescue management

Lynn Jaynes

Progressive Forage Grower

The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia sits squarely in the fescue belt. As an extension agent, I hear a lot about fescue toxicosis from the academic side, but rarely does it make its way into the real-world conversations I hear in the field. While livestock producers in our area are aware of fescue toxicity, most treat it with indifference.

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Increased energy management during extreme weather crucial

Increased energy management during extreme weather crucial

Farm and Ranch Guide

Most spring-calving beef cows are now in their third trimester, or they will be calving soon in late January or February. Since these months also tend to bring on the most volatile and extreme cold periods, cold stress can add another level of needs to their energy requirements

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Feed Beets as a Potential Energy Source for Beef Cattle Diets

Feed Beets as a Potential Energy Source for Beef Cattle Diets

Karla Jenkins

University of Nebaraska

Sugar beet pulp has historically been a great energy source for supplementing beef cows and growing calves (for more information on using sugar beet pulp in limit fed cow diets

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Cold Stress in Calves

Cold Stress in Calves

Heather Smith Thomas

Angus Beef Bulletin

Calves that are severely chilled at birth, without assistance to warm or dry them and to make sure they ingest colostrum in a timely manner, have poor survival rates. If a calf gets too cold before it suckles, it’s hard for the calf to get the teat in its mouth.

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Bull temperament—what impact does it have on performance and behavior?

Bull temperament—what impact does it have on performance and behavior?

 Sierra Lockwood

University of Tennessee

Cattle temperament is a focus area for research with the aim of reducing the potential for injury to producers and to preserve the longevity of facilities.  One of the main objectives of cattle temperament studies is to determine if selecting sires based on temperament is effective for reaching these goals. 

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Understanding Vesicular Stomatitis

Understanding Vesicular Stomatitis

Heather Smith Thomas

Hereford World

Vesicular Stomatitis (VS)  spread north again this past year, affecting cattle and horses in the United States. Several western states have been affected, and cattlemen need to be more aware of this disease and its related restrictions and try to minimize risk to their own animals.

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Assisting the backwards calf

Assisting the backwards calf

Glenn Selk

Feedlot Magazine

Any cow calf producer that has spent several years in the cattle business has had the experience of assisting a cow or heifer deliver a calf that was coming backwards.  Understanding the physiology and anatomy of the calf and mother will improve the likelihood of a successful outcome. 

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A tale of two cattle herds

A tale of two cattle herds

Steve Kay

Beef Central

Green grass – or lack of it – is usually the determining factor whether beef producers expand or reduce their cow herds. The past two years in Australia and the US have definitely proved this point. The national herd (dairy cows included) in the former has declined in two years by 3.14 million head to its lowest level in 20 years. Conversely, the US herd has expanded by 3.462 million head to its highest level in five years.

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