Mark Parker: The Top Ten things that don’t make sense to farmers and ranchers

Mark Parker:  The Top Ten things that don’t make sense to farmers and ranchers

FarmTalk

10. Three-thousand acres of dirt and his wife buys potting soil at the farm store.

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Improving Beef Herd Efficiency through Ranch Analysis

Improving Beef Herd Efficiency through Ranch Analysis

Doug Mayo

Southeast Cattle Advisor

Cattle prices peaked at unprecedented levels in 2014, fell off a cliff in 2015, and have taken a another steep nosedive in 2016.  When you look at the chart above you can see that prices for weaned steers have fallen sharply back to 2012-13 levels this summer.

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3 reasons to buy preconditioned calves

3 reasons to buy preconditioned calves

Prairie Farmer

Getting the most bang for your buck at the sale barn is a common goal when buying feeder calves, but how do you know if you are getting the most value for your money? Are you buying calves at a low cost, but paying for that investment in performance later on? Preconditioned calves come at a premium, but the value-added performance they provide is worth the cost.

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Increasing Market Cow Value Part 2

Increasing Market Cow Value Part 2

Michael Baker

Farming Magazine

Last month, we looked at the factors that affected the value of market dairy cows. The most obvious discounts over which a farmer can control in healthy cows is body condition score (BCS), sale weight and mobility. Increase in any of these conditions will result in a reduction in discounts but will it be profitable and if so, what is the best feeding/management regimen?

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The Sinister 6: Metabolic disorders to look out for

The Sinister 6: Metabolic disorders to look out for

Wyatt Bechtel

Bovine Veterinarian

“Cows are tremendous metabolic athletes,” says Garret Oetzel, a veterinary professor at the University of Wisconsin. But to support their 100+ pounds of milk performance in early lactation, they need energy, minerals and vitamins to help meet the large outf low of nutrients via milk after calving. Without such support, they are prone to six metabolic disorders that can knock them out of the game.

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K-State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab finds lead poisoning a problem in cattle

K-State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab finds lead poisoning a problem in cattle

Kansas State University

The Kansas State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory diagnoses many kinds of illnesses throughout a given year, but the one witnessed frequently this past spring in cattle was lead poisoning.  “Lead poisoning is the No. 1 poisoning we diagnose in the diagnostic lab,” said Gregg Hanzlicek, director of production animal field investigations with the lab. “This past spring, we had several cases of spring-born calves diagnosed with lead poisoning shortly after going to pasture.”

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Farm Lobbies Meet With Clinton Camp, Seek the Same With Trump

Farm Lobbies Meet With Clinton Camp, Seek the Same With Trump

Chris Clayton

DTN

With the Republican and Democratic presidential conventions soon approaching, agricultural groups are working to better position themselves with presidential candidates and highlight issues critical to farm groups.

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Heavier weights, genetics leading to lame beef cattle

Heavier weights, genetics leading to lame beef cattle

Karen Briere

The Western Producer

Animal welfare expert Temple Grandin said she’s seen improvements in handling and overall conditions at slaughter plants over the years, but now she’s seeing other concerns. She said that 20 years ago, only 30 percent of slaughter animals were stunned on the first shot. In 2015, three Canadian plants averaged 99.7 percent.

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Shape Your Feedyards Now To Limit Mud Next Spring

Shape Your Feedyards Now To Limit Mud Next Spring

Jake Geis

Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan

This spring was a muddy mess. While I’m not old enough to give my opinion, the old timers around here said it was one of the worst they ever saw for mud. Now that July has come around and we finally have some solid ground in the feedyards, it seems like the worst should be behind us.

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Mob grazing technique can refresh ‘tired’ pastures

Mob grazing technique can refresh ‘tired’ pastures

Nat Williams

Illinois Farmer Today

Ted Krauskopf really puts the “intensive” into intensive grazing. A long-time practitioner of rotational grazing with the beef cattle on his Madison County farm near Highland, Krauskopf last year decided to target some of his pasture in order to revive tired spots.

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