BeefTalk: Can You Afford to Sell Your Calves This Fall?

BeefTalk: Can You Afford to Sell Your Calves This Fall?

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

In the mid-1990s, cow-calf producers weaned mid-500-pound calves that produced a 750- to 800-pound carcass on the rail. Today, cow-calf producers still are weaning mid-500-pound steers, but these steers have typical carcass weights that approach 900 pounds. About a year ago, I asked, “Can commercial producers afford to sell 7-month-old calves?” and said, “Ponder this!”

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Feeding Dried Distillers Grains on the Ground or in a Bunk – How Much Loss Occurs?

Feeding Dried Distillers Grains on the Ground or in a Bunk – How Much Loss Occurs?

University of Nebraska

Dried distillers grains are an excellent protein and energy supplement for cattle grazing winter range or meadow. The availability of dried distillers grains (DDGS) and its price in comparison to alternative protein supplements make it a competitive feed option. One question asked when considering the use of dried distillers grains as a protein supplement fed on the ground is how much loss will occur?

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How Does Stress Spread Through Your Herd? It’s the PEE!

How Does Stress Spread Through Your Herd? It’s the PEE!

Kathy Voth

On Pasture

If you have a male dog or cat, you know that, at least from their perspective, pee is a great way of marking their territory. Plenty of animals use pee to communicate with enemies. But “STAY AWAY” is not the only message pee can send. As researchers have discovered, it can also say “Watch out! Something bad is happening here!”

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Fall season brings highest incidence of BRD.

Fall season brings highest incidence of BRD.

Beef Producer

he fall season signals cooler weather, but it also brings the greatest incidence of Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) and producers need to take steps now to weather the BRD storm. BRD is a major problem for cattle and continues to cause serious economic losses for producers, causing up to $1 billion in losses each year in the United States alone.

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Getting things right with ultrasound pregnancy checks

Getting things right with ultrasound pregnancy checks

Dr. Eric Knock

The Tri-State Neighbor

Ultrasound pregnancy testing is the current job going on at our vet clinics. Ultrasound pregnancy checking typically can help determine the stage of pregnancy more accurately than “arming” the cows and also can detect pregnancy slightly earlier. If you are interested in having your cows or heifers ultrasounded, it is helpful if the bull has been pulled at least 30 days before undergoing the process so you don’t have to recheck anything that might have been bred late.

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Calf Book app provides alternative to scratch paper

Calf Book app provides alternative to scratch paper

Austin Miles

Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation

Come calving season, most producers have compiled all the tools necessary to deliver and care for newborn calves. In almost every stockman’s shirt pocket, wallet or truck dashboard you can find some form of record-keeping: anything from an Integrated Resource Management (IRM) Redbook from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) to a simple piece of scratch paper full of numbers, notes and dates.

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The importance of bunk management

The importance of bunk management

Farm Forum

Applying key bunk management practices can save your feedlot from health issues, wasted feed and lost pounds from decreased average daily gain (ADG). “Feed bunk management is the daily opportunity for cattle feeders to influence and ensure top performance and profitability for their cattle,” said Marty Andersen, PhD, nutritionist for Zoetis. “It’s an important management component for cattle to achieve their best potential.”

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After All Things Considered, Successful Preconditioning Strategies Are All About Timing

After All Things Considered, Successful Preconditioning Strategies Are All About Timing

Oklahoma Farm Report

With the current marketplace, there is a lot of opportunities for producers to precondition calves before moving them to the feedlot. According to Extension Beef Veterinarian though, producers need to have a strategy in place to make their preconditioning program successful.

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Avoiding Ranch Business Wrecks

Avoiding Ranch Business Wrecks

Kindra Gordon

Angus Journal

"If we will consider changes not when we feel the heat, but when we see the light, we will be better prepared.” That’s a piece of philosophical advice that Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Economist Jason Johnson wants ranchers to ponder. Particularly as the beef industry has seen a downturn in cattle prices during the past year, ranchers may be faced with making some “belt-tightening” business changes in the near future.

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Consolidation, genetics and nutrition improved the Chinese dairy industry, is the focus now on beef?

Consolidation, genetics and nutrition improved the Chinese dairy industry, is the focus now on beef?

Aerin Einstein-Curtis

Feed Navigator

Initially the country had more interest in swine and poultry production, said Lahiffe, but that has started to change as beef has become a more important part of the diet. However, efforts to improve cattle nutrition and production started in the dairy industry, he said. Though, attention may now be shifting to the beef cattle industry.

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