Reduce Calf Deaths to BRD with Better Immunity
Victoria G. Myers
Progressive Farmer
As the cattle industry registered record calf prices in 2014, many feedlot operators were seeing something else climb — death losses. Despite better products to treat bovine respiratory disease (BRD), it was not uncommon to hear of percentages of calves lost to the illness doubling.
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New Cost Effective DNA Test Available to Beef Industry
The new GeneSeek® Genomic Profiler™ Ultra-Low Density (GGP uLD) will provide ample power for predicting traits that beef seedstock will pass along to their progeny. Never before have seedstock producers had such an affordable and powerful genotyping tool,” said Dr. Stewart Bauck, general manager of Neogen GeneSeek Operations
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Burke Teichert’s top 5 tips on bull selection
Burke Teichert
Beef Magazine
Bull selection can result in rapid change. However, change may not always result in progress or improvement. In fact, I will suggest that a lot of our so-called “improvement” in cattle growth rates has been more than offset by reductions in stocking rates, conception rates and herd health.
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Preconditioning Cattle is Animal Welfare
NY Beef Council
Lancaster Farming
Preconditioning of feeder cattle to prepare them for movement to the next enterprise is an important BQA principle. First and foremost, it is an animal welfare issue. Cattle that are sold direct without any preparation is a stressor that puts cows at greater risk of getting sick. Cattle that get sick require antibiotics, which the beef industry is trying to reduce relative to expense, resistance and consumer perception.
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Why is Ag. Dept. in the cattle business?
The Register Herald
An article published in the September issue of The Market Bulletin deeply concerns me. It involved the purchase of four donor cows from a ranch in Oklahoma by the West Virginia Department of Agriculture. According to the article, the cows were purchased to “increase the positive genetic traits in West Virginia’s beef cattle.
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Kansas Breeders Promote Beef Genetics Abroad
The Stock Exchange
In September 2016, a Kansas beef producer took his first steps across international borders to take part in an agricultural trade mission to Uruguay. With the goal of exploring opportunities for U.S. and Kansas beef genetics abroad, Jason Pratt of Dwight, Kan., was interested in learning more. “I wasn’t sure what to expect,” said Pratt.
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Division not good for marriage or cattle business
Amanda Radke
Beef Magazine
Six years ago, I probably wouldn’t have pictured myself spending a romantic anniversary covered in mud and baby spit-up while working cattle all day, but I know that not many have the privilege of working alongside their loved ones in a business they are so passionate about.
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Leftover Grocery Produce Makes Great Cattle Feed
Paige Nelson
Angus Beef Bulletin Extra
“We hate waste,” says Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer and grocery store chain in its 2016 Global Responsibility Report. In 2009, the company set a goal toward a zero-waste future. By 2015, Wal-Mart U.S. was able to divert 82% of its materials away from landfills.
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Improved breeding for quality beef can gain top prices for herd owners
Scott Brown
Drovers
“You could have made lots of money with risk management,” he added. Brown said he suggested at the field day a year ago that beef prices had strong downside risk. Prices fell sharply in the past year. The beef-owner response was not a surprise. Livestock owners don’t use risk control tools widely used by crop farmers, Brown said.
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Do ranchers care about animal welfare?
Page Pratt
Cows and Grass
Earlier this week I went to the Bob Dole Institute for Politics and attended a session entitled Animal Welfare in America. The speakers were Wayne Pacelle, President of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Nancy Perry, Senior VP of Government Relations, ASPCA. The topics of the evening ranged from puppy mills to horse slaughter to food animal production.
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