Mark Parker: The Top 10 signs your cows have gotten too darn big

Mark Parker:  The Top 10 signs your cows have gotten too darn big

FarmTalk

10.  The squeeze chute won’t squeeze.

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Backgrounding calves may be profitable option

Backgrounding calves may be profitable option

Tri State Livestock News

With drought, lack of hay and volatile market prices, North Dakota cattle producers are faced with difficult choices. One option is to add value to the calves by feeding them in North Dakota instead of selling them. To address this issue, the North Dakota State University Extension Service is holding a series of local seminars on feeding and backgrounding calves and cow feed management.

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Perspective on the Cull Cow Market

Perspective on the Cull Cow Market

Ohio Beef Cattle Letter

The bulk of U.S. beef cattle operations wean calves in the fall months, and that is also when they select cows for culling and begin to sell them. Many cow-calf operations in the drought impacted northern High Plains states have already pregnancy checked their cows, which is earlier than normal. Most of those cows already have or will soon be sent to market.

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Ranchers boost profits by fitting cows to their environment

Ranchers boost profits by fitting cows to their environment

Robert Waggener

Beef Producer

“Profitability leads to happy families and the desire for the next generations to see a place and a future in the business.” So says southeast Wyoming rancher Scott Sims, whose family is striving to maintain the lifestyle they love by taking care of their land and boosting income. They are achieving the latter by fitting cows to their harsh environment, weaning heifers much later and dramatically reducing supplemental feed costs.

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When Culling Time Comes Remember Wild Cattle are Hard to Manage and Hard on Your Bottom Line

When Culling Time Comes Remember Wild Cattle are Hard to Manage and Hard on Your Bottom Line

Oklahoma Farm Report

"October is a traditional weaning and culling time for spring-calving herds.   Weaning for value-added calf sales is already underway. This is a time when producers decide which cows no longer are helpful to the operation and which heifer calves will be kept for future replacements. Selecting against ill-tempered cattle has always made good sense. Wild cattle are hard on equipment, people, other cattle, and now we know that they are hard on the bottom line.

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Stockmanship Tips from the Ranchers Who Use Them

Stockmanship Tips from the Ranchers Who Use Them

John Maday

Drovers

When purchasing ranch-direct calves, Colorado cattle feeder Steve Gabel says “I won’t buy them without verification they’ve received at least two doses of modified-live viral vaccine.” That was just one of the enlightening comments over the past weekend, when Colorado State University hosted a BQA Stockmanship and Stewardship workshop, with title sponsorship from Boehringer Ingelheim and support from the Colorado and national Beef Quality Assurance programs.

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Alto “Bud” Adams Jr. Passes

Alto “Bud” Adams Jr. Passes

Wendy Dwyer

Stuart Magazine

Part cowboy, part artist, part philanthropist, part genius, Alto “Bud” Adams Junior was truly a Renaissance man and an icon in St. Lucie County and Florida history. A quintessential cowboy who really was larger than life, Bud was the 91-year-old patriarch of the Adams Ranch, a cattle operation that has spanned over 80 years and across four Florida counties. His passion for both the Florida landscape and the animals in his care were legendary, and he is responsible for the development of the Braford breed of beef cattle, a cross of Herefords and Brahmans, which are able to withstand the unforgiving Florida climate.

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Border ranchers, in a world without a wall

Border ranchers, in a world without a wall

Dennis Wagner

USA Today

Across hundreds of miles, cattle ranchers tell remarkably similar stories, from flowing grasslands of the San Rafael Valley to gnarly peaks of the Atascosa Mountains to saguaro-studded desert. Ranching is a heritage of land, a family legacy, a lifestyle. It’s a cycle of fence mending, cactus dodging and calf branding, measured by sweat and blisters.

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More to grazing than leaving cattle in a single pasture all summer

More to grazing than leaving cattle in a single pasture all summer

Alexis Stockford

Manitoba Cooperator

“They have a lot more options than they ever realized that they had in terms of how they can use their land — use every acre — and if you have a lot more options, that also means you have a lot more opportunity for profitability,” Williams told about 30 attendees.

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Forage quality reminders for livestock producers

Forage quality reminders for livestock producers

Greg Bowman

The Calhoun Times

As we move into the cooler months of the year, many livestock producers will be planting cool season grasses in our pastures and hayfields. We are thankful for the rainfall that has stayed consistent in our part of the state since last December. The rainfall has helped grow a lot of grass in 2017. With that being said, we are still in need of re-establishing some of our cool season perennial grasses, such as fescue, due to the drought of 2016.

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Baxter Black, DVM: STRESS

Baxter Black, DVM:  STRESS

Let’s say a busload of Brazillian soccer players came by your place one fine fall afternoon unexpected and took you on a three-day road trip.

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Product Handling is Critical to Herd Health Success

Product Handling is Critical to Herd Health Success

Meredyth Jones, DVM

Cattle Today

The cow-calf production unit is the basis for the entire beef industry. The production of quality calves requires strict attention to the health of all calves, cows and bulls in the facility. Our goal is to use animal health products, such as vaccines, dewormers and medications to reduce the incidence overall and reduce the impact of disease on animal welfare and production.

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Be Careful with Sorghums This Time of Year

Be Careful with Sorghums This Time of Year

Dr. Gary Bates

University of Tennessee

The cool temperatures of fall are rapidly approaching.  The cool weather is usually good for grasses like tall fescue and orchardgrass.  But sorghums used for forage can be toxic after a frost.  The frost causes the release of prussic acid, or cyanide.  Small amounts of prussic acid can be highly toxic to cattle.  There are several things to know in order to prevent prussic acid poisoning in your livestock.

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More mycotoxins expected in new crop feed

More mycotoxins expected in new crop feed

Larry Lee

Brownfield Network

Weaver advises farmers to test every part of the ration, both when ensiling and when feeding it out.  And, that includes feed brought into the farm such as distillers dried grains.  “DDGS (Distillers dried grains with solubles) samples we’ve seen recently in our 37-plus lab at Alltech really have had very high levels of multiple mycotoxins, I think because that process of making DDG’s concentrates the mycotoxins and they aren’t necessarily made from the best corn.”

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Soften the Shock of Weaning

Soften the Shock of Weaning

Feedlot Magazine

Calves are more vulnerable to illness during weaning due to a variety of stressors, including removal from their mothers and new diets.1That stress can also have negative consequences for the health and productivity of newly weaned calves.

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Distinguished Producers Honored at Red Angus Association of America Awards Banquet

Distinguished Producers Honored at Red Angus Association of America Awards Banquet

Immeasurable passion, time and devotion are common denominators on all esteemed cattle farms and ranches. The producers who rise above the rest are dedicated to pushing boundaries and extracting the maximum return on investment from their cattle. The Red Angus Association of America honored these superior producers at its 64th annual awards banquet in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Sept. 15, 2017.

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Here cometh the Holsteins

Here cometh the Holsteins

Nevil Speer

Beef Magazine

Over the years, NBQA has enabled the industry to objectively assess what’s occurring in terms of the cattle mix and stakeholder perceptions. As part of the endeavor, this week’s graph provides some insight into individual animal identification trends over the past 10 years or so. It’s clear the use of individual identification has increased since 2005.

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Understanding Feeder Cattle Price Slides

Understanding Feeder Cattle Price Slides

Derrell S. Peel

Drovers

Feeder cattle prices depend on the weight of the cattle with lightweight cattle typically having the highest price per pound (or hundredweight) and lower prices for heavier cattle.  Not only do prices vary across cattle weights but the size of the price adjustment depends on the weight of the cattle.  Price slides are a measure of the amount of price adjustment as weight changes from a base weight.

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Putting the business out to pasture

Putting the business out to pasture

Western Producer

The Bouws have been hit by all the crises and challenges of modern farming, but they’ve managed to stumble through each one and emerge with a better farm. It’s been a never-ending process of figuring out what works for them as a growing family, what works on their land and what they like doing.

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Outcome-Based Grazing = Flexible Management on Public Land

Outcome-Based Grazing = Flexible Management on Public Land

Ag Wired

According to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) launched a demonstration program allowing stakeholders in the grazing community an opportunity to achieve rangeland health goals on public land while allowing greater flexibility in livestock management decisions. The program focuses on responsive outcome-based grazing on public lands.

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