BeefTalk: Commercial Beef Production Benchmarks for 2016

BeefTalk: Commercial Beef Production Benchmarks for 2016

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

The typical Cow Herd Appraisal Performance Software (CHAPS) program beef producer is weaning calves from 90.5 percent of all cows exposed to the bull at 553 pounds at 193 days of age. Those calves are grazing summer pastures alongside their mothers and gaining 2.5 pounds a day. Those numbers are reflective of beef operations today and are the result of producers setting and achieving goals.

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Finish Yearling Heifers on Grass With DDG

Finish Yearling Heifers on Grass With DDG

Cheryl Anderson

DTN

Yearling heifers can be economically finished on grass in combination with dried distillers grain from self-feeders, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Nebraska. According to Dennis Bauer — extension beef educator for Brown, Keya Paha and Rock counties in north-central Nebraska — there were several reasons for the study but most importantly, the research team was out to find ways for producers to cope when corn was more than $7 a bushel.

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Agricultural leases need to be in writing

Agricultural leases need to be in writing

Southern Livestock

Get it in writing. That may be the single most important message conveyed at a series of Rancher Leasing Workshops, which culminated in Amarillo recently. The workshops were hosted by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Oklahoma State University and the National Agricultural Law Center. Other workshops were in Fort Worth, Oklahoma and Arkansas. The project was funded by the Southern Extension Risk Management Education Center.

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U.S. cattle auction halts activity in blow to producers, traders

U.S. cattle auction halts activity in blow to producers, traders

Tom Polansek

Drovers

Organizers of an online U.S. cattle auction that ranchers and traders had hoped would help restore transparency to livestock pricing nationwide said on Wednesday they would suspend activity indefinitely after just four sessions.

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Pregnancy Diagnosis Options for Beef Cattle Producers

Pregnancy Diagnosis Options for Beef Cattle Producers

Dr. Cliff Lamb

University of Florida

Generally, beef herd pregnancy rates after a 60–120-day breeding season tend to range from 80 to 94 percent. Pregnancy diagnosis identifies the 6–20 percent of open cows in the herd so they can be culled after their calves at side are weaned, instead of waiting to the end of the subsequent calving season.

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Beef Feedlot School Series Set in Southwest Iowa

Beef Feedlot School Series Set in Southwest Iowa

Iowa Beef Center

Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach and the Iowa Beef Center (IBC) are preparing for the ISU Feedlot School 2016 to be held at the Armstrong Research Farm near Lewis, beginning July 12.  ISU Extension beef program specialist Chris Clark said the five-part educational series will offer information about numerous aspects of feedlot management including environmental stewardship, facility design, animal health, feedlot nutrition and Beef Quality Assurance.

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Nixon Vetoes Bills Advancing Missouri Agriculture

Nixon Vetoes Bills Advancing Missouri Agriculture

Missouri Cattlemen’s Association

"This governor has once again turned his back on the farm and ranch families we represent. Despite overwhelming bipartisan support of these two bills, the governor threw them in the trash," said MCA Policy and Legislative Affairs Committee Chairman Jimmie Long. "The governor never offered a compromise while these bills were being considered by the General Assembly. He chose no communication other than his actions today."

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Has cloning research produced the ideal beef carcass?

Has cloning research produced the ideal beef carcass?

Burt Rutherford

Beef Magazine

Throughout the history of the modern beef business, the holy grail of genetic improvement has been to produce the “curve-bender” bull. Cattle producers have invested a lifetime, perhaps several lifetimes, in finding the perfect genetic combination that will not just nudge the quality of beef forward, but catapult it.

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West Texas A&M’s cloned cattle could beef up industry

West Texas A&M’s cloned cattle could beef up industry

Michael Hughes

Amarillo Globe News

West Texas A&M University researchers on Wednesday announced positive results in their quest to use cloning to consistently produce high-quality beef — and more of it per animal. A U.S. Department of Agriculture beef-grading supervisor recently examined meat harvested from seven steers bred from animals that were cloned using cells from rare, high-

quality carcasses.

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Cow-calf production focus of 2016 beef conference Aug. 13 in Auburn

Cow-calf production focus of 2016 beef conference Aug. 13 in Auburn

Jamie Creamer

OA Now

The Department of Animal Sciences at Auburn University will host its 2016 Beef Cattle Conference Saturday, Aug. 13, at the Ham Wilson Livestock Arena on the Auburn campus. The conference, themed “Playing Above the Curve: Innovations for the Cow-Calf Producer,” will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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