BeefTalk: Rolling Out Hay is Rolling Out Dollars

BeefTalk: Rolling Out Hay is Rolling Out Dollars

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

As the year ends, reflecting on the past year is good. The obvious point this year is the lack of forage and how, as producers, one responded to the challenge. The Dickinson Research Extension Center needs more than 1,000 1,300-pound bales to make the stretch to spring grass. That number is buffered a bit because the calves are receiving 3 pounds of commercial supplement daily and the cows 4 pounds of commercial supplement every other day. But forage is the essence of a cattle operation, and keeping costs low is critical.

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EPA nixes bid to herd livestock under Clean Air Act

EPA nixes bid to herd livestock under Clean Air Act

Don Jenkins

Capital Press

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday it has denied a petition by environmental groups to regulate concentrated animal feeding operations like factories under the Clean Air Act. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, in a letter to petitioners, acknowledged livestock are potential sources of air pollutants. The agency, however, doesn’t have a reliable method for estimating animal emissions. Until it does, new rules could be unjustified and ineffective, according to Pruitt.

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US Beef Stampedes Chinese Market

US Beef Stampedes Chinese Market

Thecattlesite.com

In November, three Iowa companies began selling beef to China, following Nebraska, which is supplying more than half of the US’s beef exports to China, according the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Nebraska’s share of US beef exports has risen over the past decade from less than 4 per cent in 2005 to more than 18 per cent in 2016, according to the USDA. About a dozen Nebraska-based companies sell beef to China, in addition to 24 companies in 10 other states.

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Beef Consumption And Beef Demand

Beef Consumption And Beef Demand

Derrell S. Peel

Farms.com

U.S. domestic beef consumption is projected to be 56.6 pounds per capita for 2017, up from 55.4 pounds in 2016 (retail weight). That is a 2.2 percent year-over-year increase. Beef consumption is higher because beef production is increasing; in fact, it is projected to be up 3.8 percent year over year from 2016.

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Is genetic testing beneficial for your cow herd?

Is genetic testing beneficial for your cow herd?

Katelyn Brockus

High Plains Journal

The two words, genetic testing, can be quite intimidating to some producers and can sound like a critically used decision-making tool for others. So many questions come along with genetic testing that sometimes a producer just doesn’t know where to start. After spending some time in Cheyenne, Wyoming at the Range Beef Cow Symposium, it was clear that cattle producers have begun using this technology in their herds.

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Iowa Farmers Work to Keep Cattle Warm in Sub-Zero Temps

Iowa Farmers Work to Keep Cattle Warm in Sub-Zero Temps

Janelle Tucker

KMCH

Iowa cattle producers are putting in extra work to make sure their animals are well taken care of in this extreme cold. David Trowbridge, president of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, says the breeds of cattle raised in Iowa are “built” for cold weather environments. But, they still need plenty of attention to survive sub-zero conditions.

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Bidding on the future every time you buy a bull

Bidding on the future every time you buy a bull

Wes Ishmael

Beef Magazine

Bull price discovery is simple. They’re worth exactly what two or more bidders decide at auction, or what the market will bear at private treaty. How buyers arrive at their willingness to pay a certain price for one bull versus another — how they value bulls — is where it gets complicated.

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