Daily Archives: September 6, 2016

Baxter Black, DVM:  The Cowboy Image

Baxter Black, DVM:  The Cowboy Image

The livestock business has an effective symbol that has withstood the loving treatment of Hollywood, Nashville and Madison Ave. It is now under attack by the Anti-Livestock Industry. It is the cowboy.

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Preconditioning Calves Prior to Weaning

Preconditioning Calves Prior to Weaning

Rob Eirich

University of Nebraska

Nebraska cow-calf producers are approaching weaning time of their 2016 calf crop, with current market and industry trends, producers should consider the value of preconditioning calves prior to weaning this fall.

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Focus on health assurance for the cow herd

Focus on health assurance for the cow herd

Farm and Ranch Guide

Northern Plains cow-calf producers soon will begin weaning calves, and those producers are looking for the best way to keep their calf crop healthy.

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Using alternative forages

Using alternative forages

John Hibna

Progressive Forage

Forage is the foundation of all diets for ruminants. In addition to supplying nutrition for many different types of livestock, forages contribute to healthy biosystems and the overall ecosystem, providing shelter and food to animal species and preventing the erosion of soils and the contamination of waterways and other riparian habitat.

Cull cow market: Start planning now

Cull cow market: Start planning now

Jessica Sampson

The Cattle Business Weekly

As summer winds down, cattle producers must start making “keep or cull” decisions in their herds. Cull cows come to market throughout the year, but prices are seasonally lowest in the fall – because this is when supply of cull cows to the market is the largest. When cull cows are sold into the beef supply, the main product produced by them will be 90 percent lean ground beef.

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5 Tips for Managing Production Costs

5 Tips for Managing Production Costs

Western Livestock Journal

There’s no denying it: The high times and high prices appear to be finished… at least for the time being. As prices fall and reality sets in, only the shiny new tractor currently depreciating in the driveway remains to remind us of the good times.

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Corn Silage Pricing App Makes its Timely Debut

Corn Silage Pricing App Makes its Timely Debut

Ben Potter

AgWeb

Local conditions do vary, but for the most part, corn silage harvest occurs between late August and early November. In time for the 2016 corn silage harvest is a new app developed by two University of Wisconsin Extension agents that will help farmers quickly estimate the value of their standing corn silage.

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Too much milk or too much cow?

Too much milk or too much cow?

Larry Corah

Drovers

It’s the expansion phase for the North American beef cow herd. For most farmers and ranchers, that means finding ways to increase the number of cows rather than the size of each. And of course, everybody’s talking about size – makes sense when you think about the escalating annual cost of keeping an average cow on the place.

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Master Farmers share tips for motivating farm employees

Master Farmers share tips for motivating farm employees

Tom Bechman

Prairie Farmer

Jim Mintert had time to ask just three questions when he moderated the 2016 Master Farmers panel discussion. Mintert, director of the Center for Commercial Agriculture at Purdue University, picked his questions wisely. He asked what advice each Master Farmer would give to someone starting in farming today. Next he asked where they had seen the biggest changes in agriculture.

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Graziers share ideas on getting through summer slump

Graziers share ideas on getting through summer slump

Wisconsin State Farmer

Pasture walks provide a wealth of information to graziers who are attempting to solve problems in their livestock feeding business or fine tune their pastures to get the most out of them.

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