Mark Parker: The Top 10 beginning ranching classes for non-aggie freshmen

Mark Parker:  The Top 10 beginning ranching classes for non-aggie freshmen

FarmTalk

10. When to Call the Vet: How many hooves are pointed up?

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Angus Genetics, Inc., Announces Foot Score Research EPDs

Angus Genetics, Inc., Announces Foot Score Research EPDs

Drovers

Angus Genetics, Inc. (AGI) announced today the release of two new foot score research EPDs, the first of its kind in the U.S. for beef cattle. The American Angus Association® has been collecting foot scores since 2015, with approximately 12,000 data points sent in. Members have reported two scores for claw set and foot angle. The pair of scores are based on a scale from one to nine, with five being ideal for both traits.

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Enviros Push Meat Tax

Enviros Push Meat Tax

Americans for Tax Reform

Environmentalists are targeting your hamburgers and buffalo wings with a “Meat Tax.” And they claim they have “never been closer to a meat tax.” As reported by Bloomberg Law:  Hamburger addicts, barbecue junkies, and fried chicken fanatics may soon be asked to pay a surcharge for their obsessions with meat.

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New York cowboys getting into beef game

New York cowboys getting into beef game

Alan Geubert

The Public Opinion

Maybe it’s a sign of our fast-changing times, but paradox and irony seem as common today as lunch and supper. For example, the world’s largest taxi company, Uber, owns no taxis and the world’s second largest air force is the U.S. Navy. The same is true of the American beef sector. As of mid-January, the owner of the world’s largest cattle feedlot operation – a 980,000-head behemoth with 11 feedyards from Oklahoma to Idaho – isn’t a rancher, a feedlot operator or even a meatpacker.

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Bill would end states from enacting animal production standards

Bill would end states from enacting animal production standards

Jacqui Fatka

Feedstuffs

Rep. Steve King (R., Iowa) has reintroduced his Protect Interstate Commerce Act bill in the House. If enacted, the bill would end states’ ability to impose production standards — such as those for cage-free eggs — on other states, similar to measures currently approved by California and Massachusetts.

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Impact on heifers/cows and their calves

Impact on heifers/cows and their calves

Russ Daly, DVM

iGrow

Neospora caninum is a protozoal germ that has the potential to affect reproduction in beef and dairy herds. The protozoa has an interesting lifecycle that involves canine species (dogs, coyotes, foxes, etc.). When Neospora-affected cows give birth, the cleanings and fetal tissues contain Neospora cysts. If these tissues are eaten by a canine, Neospora oocysts are shed in their droppings. When these infected droppings contaminate cattle feed, the cycle is complete, infecting cattle that eat the feed.

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Kansas farmers and ranchers weigh in on revamped ‘Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner’ brand

Kansas farmers and ranchers weigh in on revamped ‘Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner’ brand

Scott Stebner

High Plains Journal

Farmers and ranchers in Kansas are excited about the relaunch of the iconic “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.” brand that has captured the attention of millions of consumers and evolved as one of the top commodity food brands over the past quarter century.

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Just how natural is organic farming?

Just how natural is organic farming?

Mischa Popoff

The Fence Post

Organic activists would like you to believe their brand pre-exists in nature the way fresh air and clean water do. It does not. It only exists because we have come up with a legal framework by which to define it; a mind-numbing legal framework — just ask any organic farmer who’s behind on his paperwork.

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What’s your type?

What’s your type

Amanda Radke

Tri State Livestock News

When commercial cattlemen attend a bull or heifer sale, they can often eliminate many offerings based on the data provided in the catalog alone. Once at the sale, additional appraisal is needed to determine if the great ones on paper also have the correct structure, soundness, functionality and eye appeal to meet the demands of the buyer.

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Marketing your cattle for the sale barn

Marketing your cattle for the sale barn

Danielle Schlegel

Progressive Cattleman

If ever there was a busy time in a producer’s life, it is right around the time decisions are made for which animals head to the sale barn. At the end of long days, it is easy to skip over any further management for those cattle earmarked for sale and focus on the retained or growing herd that stays. A few simple considerations and actions, however, can be the difference in dollars per head once those cattle go through the sale ring.

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Baxter Black, DVM: Do It Yourself Kit

Baxter Black, DVM: Do It Yourself Kit

This notice was found on the side of a first calf heifer at the sale barn:

CALF KIT

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ASSEMBLY

• Remove calf from shipping crate. The shipping container is equipped with an automatic unloading device. If, for some reason, this unloading device jams proceed to step 2.

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Brazilian beef exports keep on growing

Brazilian beef exports keep on growing

Oscar Rousseau

Global Meat News

Brazil’s rising beef exports show burgeoning meat demand has outweighed any lingering concerns from the rotten meat scandal.

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3 things a solid transition plan should accomplish

3 things a solid transition plan should accomplish

Amanda Radke

The dynamics of multi-generation ranching operations are complex, but without regular meetings and a concrete plan in place, is the business doomed?

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What Would NAFTA Withdrawal Cost Farmers?

What Would NAFTA Withdrawal Cost Farmers?

Anna-Lisa Laca

Drovers

Just as negotiators made their way to Montreal, Canada for round six of talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a new study was released outlining the cost of withdrawal for the 10 states that benefit the most from the trade deal. Farmers For Free Trade, a non-profit group comprised of several commodity groups including the National Pork Producers council, released a new study called The NAFTA Withdrawal Tax. In it, the group outlines how much life without NAFTA would cost farmers and the economy.

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Test your forage quality IQ

Test your forage quality IQ

Lynn Jaynes

Progressive Forage

At the recent Western Alfalfa and Forage Symposium in Reno, Nevada, participants were asked to respond to a clicker survey-quiz, as presented by forage specialists Glenn Shewmaker (University of Idaho), Dan Putnam (University of California – Davis) and Shannon Mueller (University of California – Fresno Extension).

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Ranchers to talk advantages of raising bison

Ranchers to talk advantages of raising bison

FarmTalk

There’s apparently no better time than now to get into the bison business. The price of bison meat is on the rise at the same time that beef prices are in a slump, according to the National Bison Association. Bison are relatively simple to raise, lead long productive lives and thrive in most North American landscapes, says the Colorado-based nonprofit association of bison industry insiders and supporters.

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Traceability Programs Help Meet Our Customers Needs While Adding Value to Our Beef Supply Chain

Traceability Programs Help Meet Our Customers Needs While Adding Value to Our Beef Supply Chain

Oklahoma Farm Report

The demand for traceable cattle is on the rise as consumers both domestic and internationally are asking for more information about their food and where it comes from. Doug Stanton, vice president of Where Food Comes From, works with cattlemen and women to help them comply with verification programs that allow their beef access into the global marketplace.

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K-State’s 105th Annual Cattlemen’s Day set for March 2.

K-State’s 105th Annual Cattlemen’s Day set for March 2.

Kansas State University

Kansas State University’s Animal Sciences and Industry Department will host Cattlemen’s Day 2018 on Friday, March 2 at Weber Hall in Manhattan. Gregg Doud will kick off the event by sharing his outlook on trade issues in the beef industry. “We’re excited and honored to have Gregg Doud join us for Cattlemen’s Day,” says Dale Blasi, K-State professor and beef cattle extension specialist. Doud, a K-State ASI alumni, is currently president of the Commodity Markets Council and has been nominated by President Donald Trump to be the Chief Agricultural Negotiator.

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Understanding the cause and impact of twins

Understanding the cause and impact of twins

Jaclyn Krymowski

Progressive Cattleman

At one point or another, nearly every cattleman will experience the not-so-joyous occasion of twins on the ranch. Understanding the cause and effect of this phenomenon can help breeders make decisions to impact a herd’s long-term reproductive success.

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My MBA is different than your MBA…

My MBA is different than your MBA…

Agricultural with Dr. Lindsay

MBA… You probably instantly thought of a Master of Business Administration, but there is another MBA that you should take notice of, especially if you are an agriculturalist or someone who is interested in learning more about the beef industry. The Masters of Beef Advocacy – which will be the MBA I refer to in this post.

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