Do your cows stack up?

Do your cows stack up?

Harlan Hughes

Beef Magazine

Benchmarking is the management process of comparing your herd’s production and economic numbers to the average of a set of benchmark herds to identify your herd’s strengths and weaknesses. Benchmarking helps direct your management efforts toward critical production and economic factors.

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What’s in a Number?

What’s in a Number?

John F. Grimes

Ohio Beef Letter

I have to admit that statistics was not my favorite class in college.  I don’t remember my final grade but I do remember being satisfied that I received a passing grade and would not have to re-take the class.  This small part of my past is in direct contrast to how I view statistics today.  I have always enjoyed following sports statistics as a hobby.  However, my career and farming interests have made me appreciate the importance of beef industry statistics.

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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Farming, and Cattle

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Farming, and Cattle

J. Craig Williams

Pennsylvania State University

Imagine this: I hear I have a heifer out in the pasture in heat, so I send out the farm’s drone to record a thermal picture of the group and tell me which one it is. It may sound like science fiction, but I already have activity monitors on the legs of my cattle and a “Fitbit” for my arm to track my activity levels, so maybe using drones to identify cows in heat isn’t as far-fetched as it first seems.

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300 days of grazing

300 days of grazing

Melissa Beck

Progressive Forage

Mississippi State University Prairie Research Unit didn’t feed the 90 to 110 large round bales per week they usually do; this year they fed zero. You read that right, they fed no hay to their 800-plus head of cattle. Jane Parish, Mississippi State University Research extension professor, implemented the 300-Day Grazing program at the 2,456-acre Prairie Research Unit, which is part of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

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Prevention truly is a pound of cure when it comes to cattle diseases

Prevention truly is a pound of cure when it comes to cattle diseases

Jennifer Blair

Alberta Farmers

For many producers, biosecurity is a little like closing the barn door after the cows have bolted. “Sadly, in many cases, what it takes for producers to make the change is the ‘big problem’ where they get their butt kicked,” said Dr. Frank Garry, a veterinarian and professor at the University of Colorado.

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Meet SwagBot: The Four-Wheeled Robot Cowboy

Meet SwagBot: The Four-Wheeled Robot Cowboy

David Grossman

Popular Mechanics

While it will be doing some cowboy work, make no mistake: SwagBot is less like John Wayne and maybe a little more like a hyper-competent herding dog. It can corral cows and pull trailers, doing the type of work seen in the early parts of Brokeback Mountain. It can go through swamps, up hills, and over rocks. It’s not the first robot to hit the farms of the Australian outback, which are vast, remote and often difficult to access.

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NCBA: Fever ticks could spread

NCBA: Fever ticks could spread

John Maday

Bovine Veterinarian

Cattle fever is a severe and often fatal disease of cattle transmitted by cattle fever ticks, Rhipicephalus annulatus, and southern cattle ticks, R. microplus. These ticks, according to the Texas Animal Health Commission, can carry the protozoa Babesia bovis or B. bigemina, commonly known as cattle fever.

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Managed Grazing for Drought Resilience

Managed Grazing for Drought Resilience

Gallagher

Developing and maintaining this plan is vital to achieving drought resilience. Drought plans address how an operation recognizes and responds to drought. They should also contain triggers to phase in response actions according to severity of drought levels.

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Feeder cattle markets: Crossroads of the cattle industry

Feeder cattle markets: Crossroads of the cattle industry

Derrell S. Peel

Drovers

The job of markets –any market– is to determine what will be produced; how much will be produced; and what resources will be used to produce; all relative to the demand for the product.  The cattle industry produces fed cattle ready for slaughter.

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Cattle Industry Meeting Wraps Up with Policy Priorities

Cattle Industry Meeting Wraps Up with Policy Priorities

KTIC
Over 700 cattlemen and women attended the Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting in Denver, Colo., this week to discuss the policy priorities for the cattle industry.

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