Beef RoundTable: BQA: Moving the beef business forward

Beef RoundTable:  BQA: Moving the beef business forward

One of the most successful and enduring programs that has helped beef producers in their quest to produce the quality beef that consumers demand is the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program. Here’s a look at past success and what the future holds.

5 Factors to Consider Before Buying Livestock Scales

5 Factors to Consider Before Buying Livestock Scales

Kevin Hill

Feedlot Magazine

If you are a farmer or own a farming facility, you would understand the importance of having the right scales and weighing equipment for measuring animal performance. You must have the right livestock scales to weigh the livestock, the feed and for making informed decisions for improving the overall efficiency and decreasing the cost of production.

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Grass and Hay Program Yields Top Bulls

Grass and Hay Program Yields Top Bulls

Loretta Sorensen

DTN

When he started developing a registered Black Angus herd in 1993, Gary Knutson didn’t plan to take grain out of his feed ration. It was $7 corn in 2011 that drove the South Dakota rancher to alternative feed sources.

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Who is the stocker cattle industry?

Who is the stocker cattle industry?

Derrell S. Peel

FarmTalk

Earlier in 2017, Oklahoma State University, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service and the National Agricultural Statistics Service, conducted a comprehensive survey of Oklahoma cattle producers. The primary objective of the survey was to identify stocker producers and how the stocker industry in Oklahoma operates. USDA-NASS conducted the survey on behalf of OSU.

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5 Ways You Know You’re In A Farm Truck

5 Ways You Know You’re In A Farm Truck

Jennifer Friend

Arable Media

They might run like you just drove them off the lot, or rattle and bang to the point where you question if you’re going to have to walk your way home. But besides the sounds they make, there are more sure-fire ways to figure out if you’re in a farm truck.

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Weighing in on bale weights

Weighing in on bale weights

Mike Rankin

Hay and Forage Grower

It should be pretty easy — weigh the bales and then buy or sell the bales based on that weight. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, large rounds are often sold by the bale based on the buyer or seller’s estimate of weight. How good are these estimates? Often, not even close enough for government work.

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Products offer more options for handling livestock

Products offer more options for handling livestock

Indiana Prairie Farmer

Handling animals without stressing them is still one of the biggest challenges livestock producers face. The last decade has brought a move forward in understanding how animals need to be handled to reduce stress on them and the people who are working with them.

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Get cows and heifers ready for winter now

Get cows and heifers ready for winter now

Lee Hart

Canadian Cattleman

If cows and heifers aren’t there already, there is a short window to get them into a proper body condition for winter. If you have skinny or poor condition cows heading into winter, that December to March period is probably one of the toughest and most expensive times to try to get them back into condition, say researchers and ranchers alike.

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Monitor for lice on beef, dairy cattle

Monitor for lice on beef, dairy cattle

RORY LEWANDOWSKI

Columbus CEO

As we head toward winter and more consistently cold temperatures, monitor beef and dairy cattle for possible lice infestations. Cattle lice thrive in cold weather and are spread by animal-to-animal contact. Symptoms of a lice infestation include hair loss, a general unthrifty appearance, constant rubbing on fences, equipment or other objects and leaving hair, constant tail twitching and licking/grooming.

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Stocker sector makes beef industry engine hum

Stocker sector makes beef industry engine hum

Wes Ishmael

Beef Magazine

Although the stocker sector is the most nebulous part of U.S. beef production—who the producers and cattle are at a given point in time is a moving target—it’s easy to argue the sector serves as the fulcrum that makes current industry efficiency possible.

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Mark Parker: The Top 10 things your urban grandkids do when they visit the farm

Mark Parker: The Top 10 things your urban grandkids do when they visit the farm

FarmTalk

10. Depending on their age, they are absolutely fascinated, or totally grossed out, by the dead possum in the yard.

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New Treatments for Old Problems

New Treatments for Old Problems

Dr. Ken McMillan

DTN

A mild, controlled infection in the attachment sites of the placenta and the uterus may actually help the placenta release. Never try to pull the placenta out. Gravity will put gentle, constant pressure on the placenta. By pulling it, you may leave small parts attached; they will take longer to pass and are more likely to create a serious infection.

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What’s in the Bunk

What’s in the Bunk

Amanda Radke

Tri State Livestock News

“The rain we received after a severely hot and dry spell prevented the crop from drying down at harvest and opened the plant up to opportunities for mold to develop,” said Connie Strunk, South Dakota State University (SDSU) plant pathology field specialist.

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Be sure to check your corn silage for mycotoxins

Be sure to check your corn silage for mycotoxins

Beef Producer

Corn silage samples from across the entirety of the U.S. in 2017 have shown extremely high levels of mycotoxins, particularly deoxynivalenol (DON), type A trichothecenes (T-2), fusaric acid and fumonisin.

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Maximizing Profits Starts with Bovine Respiratory Disease Management

Maximizing Profits Starts with Bovine Respiratory Disease Management

Northern Ag

In today’s economic environment, cattle producers are looking to maximize the performance of each animal. Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is an economic challenge to all cattle producers.

BRD is the most common and costly disease affecting beef cattle in the world. It is a complex, bacterial infection that causes pneumonia in calves and can possibly be fatal.

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La Nina moves in for the winter

La Nina moves in for the winter

Ag Update

A La Nina climate pattern has arrived and is likely to persist through the winter, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center. Scientists say there is a greater than 50 percent chance La Nina will be in place during February through April 2018.

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8 drivers of profitability and how to manage them to make more money

8 drivers of profitability and how to manage them to make more money

Burke Teichert

Beef Magazine

Making money with cattle is hard, but it’s possible and it’s possible to do it consistently. Here’s a review of what you can do to improve the bottom line.

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DNA Tests Take on Cattle Disease

DNA Tests Take on Cattle Disease

Gene Johnston

Agriculture.com

There are beef cattle DNA markers for growth rate, marbling, and even some maternal traits. But what about disease? Can a drop of blood or a hair follicle tell you if one animal is more resistant to disease than another?

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UH researchers breed success at Waimea cattle ranch

UH researchers breed success at Waimea cattle ranch

JEFF HANSEL

Hawaii Tribune-Herald

University of Hawaii researchers have bred cattle that produce meat rated as high as the top 1 percent in quality in the nation. Staff at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Mealani Experiment Station in Waimea have been breeding the cattle with the intent to develop an artificial-insemination program to help Hawaii Island ranchers produce grass-fed beef cattle that produce meat with excellent marbling and flavor.

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Exploring a world without food animals

Exploring a world without food animals

On the Farm Radio

What would happen if U.S. farmers stopped producing animals for food and Americans went vegan? Some have called for a move in that direction to address increasing concerns about U.S. health, eating habits, and climate change. Researchers at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Virginia Tech recently explored those questions and found surprising results.

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