BeefTalk: Time to Get Serious; Small Cows Produce
Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service
The old question kept coming back: Would the extra calves really pencil out if the center stocked 1,100-pound cows instead of 1,400-pound cows? And then more questions: Would those small cows actually carry the load? Could they be competitive with mainstream beef production?
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The benefits of video auctions.
Drew Feller
American Angus Association
Summer grazing season is in full swing. Are you driving through pastures looking at your outstanding set of feeder cattle wondering, “How will I fetch my premium price? How do I get my cattle in front of the largest crowd of buyers possible?”
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Producers consider options to stockpile forage
Jeff DeYoung
Iowa Farmer Today
A dry summer could have many producers making changes to their late summer grazing program, including stockpiling forage for after harvest and into winter.
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Consistency is Key to Proper Feed Bunk Management
Erin Laborie
University of Nebraska
Proper bunk management is the art of matching feed deliveries to the amount of feed cattle need for optimal performance. Underfeeding cattle results in poor gains and feed efficiency, longer days on feed, and reduced carcass quality. On the other hand, putting more feed in front of cattle than they can handle leads to digestive upsets, crashes in intake, and wasted feed (Pritchard et al., 2003).
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Texas Floods Affect Animal Health, Forages
Victoria G Myers
Progressive Farmer
Gene Kubecka was living through a disaster, but the day he found his cows will always be remembered as a good day. Based in Bay City, Texas, Kubecka’s ranch is just 80 miles from Houston. Early on, he had found and moved 200 of his 600-head cow herd, all belly-deep in water at the time, using a tractor. Later, a tour with an airboat turned up the last 120 head. Good pasture was under water, and a creek that at its highest got 4 to 5 feet deep was 20 feet or more deep.
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Is it stocker time?
Derrell S. Peel
FarmTalk
Labor Day seems a bit early for many producers to be talking seriously about fall and winter stockers. However, a wet and cool August opens up a broader set of stocker possibilities than is typical in Oklahoma.
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Grazing corn residue – impacting cow performance and yield
Travis Meteer
Progressive Forage
A three-year research project, conducted by University of Illinois, looks at whether grazing corn residue impacts subsequent crops. Cows graze cornstalks at the Dudley Smith research farm outside of Pana, Illinois.
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Fall is Coming – Prep Your Pastures
Victor Shelton
On Pasture
My dear Mother always said that the older you get, the faster time goes, she was right. I really don’t know what happened to the summer. But here it is, September already. We have just a couple more weeks for seeding of permanent vegetation, early planting of annuals for grazing/haying and getting ready for any cover crop/annuals being planted for grazing on cropland after row crops are harvested.
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Florida Cattlemen Prepare for Hurricane Irma, Livestock Shelters Open
Sara Brown
Bovine Veterinarian
Ranchers in Florida are no stranger to hurricane preparations, but each one brings it’s own concerns. Hurricane Irma is expected to make landfall this weekend. “Most all ranchers are multi-generational and have been through hurricanes before, but each one is a reminder to be prepared,” says Jim Handley, executive vice president of the Florida Cattlemen’s Association. “Those in rural areas are prepping generators, fuel and supplies.”
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Threats Posed by FMD Outbreak Potentially Catastrophic, NCBA Insists a Vaccine Bank is Imperative
Oklahoma Farm Report
One foreign animal disease that will keep producers up at night – is Foot and Mouth Disease. According to Dr. Kathy Simmons, chief veterinarian for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, FMD has not appeared in the United States since 1929. But if it ever did show up again
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The Beef Blog 