Baxter Black, DVM: Vertigal Integration

Baxter Black, DVM:  Vertigal Integration

There are those who say farming and ranching is a “way of life” more than it is a business. Which helps explain why young people who grow up in agriculture return to work on the farm. Working the land holds a strong lure.

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Monitor Mineral Intake Closely During Summer

Monitor Mineral Intake Closely During Summer

Glen Selk

Beef2Live

Summer often becomes a busy time of year for ranchers (especially during haying season).  Don’t forget to check the mineral feeders or blocks to be certain that they are supplying the minerals that your cows need.   In some cases, medications may be recommended by your veterinarian to be included in the mineral mix. 

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Thinking Ahead to Fall Calf Marketing

Thinking Ahead to Fall Calf Marketing

Ken Olson

iGrow

Even though fall calf sales seem a long way down the road, now is the time to plan for marketing. Being prepared with a marketing plan will allow you to take fullest advantage of prices and maximize the value received for your calves.

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Manage for Climate

Manage for Climate

Kasey Brown

Angus Journal

Much of agriculture is dependent upon Mother Nature. If you’re going to

curse the weather, though, make sure you’re cursing the right thing. Are you angry with the weather or the climate?

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Buyer’s Remorse Over Sale Barn Bulls

Buyer’s Remorse Over Sale Barn Bulls

Dr. Ken McMillan

DTN/The Progressive Farmer

Even if cattle from a sale appear healthy, they can carry a lot of diseases, including infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), bovine viral diarrhea (BVD), anaplasmosis and tritrichomoniasis (trich), just to name a few. During quarantine, the bull needs to be vaccinated and boosted for leptospirosis, vibriosis, IBR, bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) and BVD. Also, check as to whether this bull is persistently infected (PI) with BVD.

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Will preconditioning your calves pay less this fall?

Will preconditioning your calves pay less this fall?

Alan Newport

Beef Magazine

Preconditioning has grown a lot in value and therefore in the premiums it pays over the past 10-20 years, but that’s likely to shrink back this year with lower cattle prices.

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Grass-fed conference draws multi-state crowd

Grass-fed conference draws multi-state crowd

Progressive Cattleman

Sixty-six participants from four states gathered on the campus of Texas A&M University May 26 and 27 to learn about grass-fed beef production. Held annually since 2012, the conference covered a variety of topics related to grass-fed beef, including an overview of the U.S. beef industry, forage production practices specific for grass-fed beef and a review of genetics and biological types best suited for grass-fed beef.

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Solutions for Watering From Ponds

Solutions for Watering From Ponds

Kathy Voth

On Pasture

We all know that there are significant downsides to cattle watering from ponds. When they poop in ponds there’s the algae and weed growth that ruins water quality. Loafing around ponds can lead to diseases like letospirosis and coccidiosis, or to foot rot. But sometimes ponds are our only viable water source.

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Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi agree to swap business units

Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi agree to swap business units

Bovine Veterinarian

Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim announced today the signing of contracts to secure the strategic transaction initiated in December 2015 which consists of an exchange of Sanofi’s animal health business (“Merial”) and Boehringer Ingelheim’s consumer healthcare (CHC) business. This step marks a major milestone before closing of the transaction which is expected by year-end 2016 and remains subject to approval by all regulatory authorities in different territories. The integration of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Consumer Healthcare (CHC) business into Sanofi and Merial into Boehringer Ingelheim would start after closing.

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Plan to keep cattle cool on hot days ahead

Plan to keep cattle cool on hot days ahead

Tri State Neighbor

It’s only June and we have already had some significant heat and probably more to come. When it comes to cattle, it is best to be prepared to try to reduce heat stress before it happens. One of the most effective ways to help reduce the heat load on your cattle is to provide shade. Shade decreases the temperature of the pen floor. On hot days, the temperature of the black dirt of an open lot can be as much as 40 degrees higher than the ambient air temperature. With that much heat being generated beneath the cattle, it is pretty difficult to get away from it.

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