BeefTalk: Why Push a Chain Up a Hill?

BeefTalk: Why Push a Chain Up a Hill?

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

The recent January thaw has helped cows into their generally relaxed routine in which they’re essentially finding shelter, eating, drinking and returning to shelter. The slow days of late gestation are eminent. In another month, many cows will be calving. Producers have time now to look ahead.

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Implants, an old technology, remain relevant today

Implants, an old technology, remain relevant today

PETER SCHARPE

Minnesota Farm Guide

It has been over half a century since cattle producers starting using implants to improve performance and profitability of feedlot cattle. The first implant was approved in 1957. Since then, many new products have come on the market. The base hormone compounds have not changed much, but the delivery system and the use of multiple compounds has added to the options available to producers.

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‘Sold!’ – The production of a production sale

‘Sold!’ – The production of a production sale

Lynn Jaynes

Progressive Cattleman

What you see at a ranch production sale is a crowd of cowboy hats resting on the heads of potential buyers who eye uncharacteristically clean cattle kicking up sawdust on their way through a sale ring. You see the arm wave and hear the exaggerated “yuuuuup” of the sale ring help taking bids and the auctioneer’s hammer pounding the podium. What you won’t see or hear are the long hours of planning, decision-making and hard work that went into the production.

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Understanding your forage analysis: Value ranges and definitions

Understanding your forage analysis: Value ranges and definitions

Lynn Jaynes

Progressive Forage

Problem: You’re frustrated – you send hay samples to multiple labs and the variability between them is high. What gives? Yes, variability among labs exists; no one denies that. Before we lay blame on the lab, however, let’s make sure you understand the analysis.

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Calculate How Much BRD is Costing You in Three Easy Steps

Calculate How Much BRD is Costing You in Three Easy Steps

Bovine Veterinarian

The new BRD calculator from Zoetis provides a quick estimate of potential losses. You might have heard bovine respiratory disease (BRD), or shipping fever, can cost up to $240 per head just considering performance losses. You know BRD is costly, but do you know what it actually could be costing you?

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Five Pasture Improvements to Begin in January

Five Pasture Improvements to Begin in January

Dean Kreager

Ohio Beef Cattle Letter

New Year’s Day has come and gone, as have some of our New Year’s resolutions: eat less junk food, go to the gym more often, lose weight, and the list goes on. I hope our pasture management goals for the year last longer. As I contemplate the projects I have completed and those that are still on the list for another year, I think about how I can get more production from my pasture or how I can feed more animals on the same amount of land.

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Revisiting the Veterinarian Feed Directive one year later

Revisiting the Veterinarian Feed Directive one year later

Leilana McKindra

High Plains Journal

When stricter federal guidelines on the use of some antibiotics for food animals went into effect last year, producers all over the nation, including Jerry Meek in Ada, had a decision to make. Should he spend the time and money to get a Veterinarian Feed Directive authorization from his veterinarian to continue treating his herd of about 30 cows?

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Millennials don’t spend much on beef

Millennials don’t spend much on beef

Kerry Halladay

Western Livestock Journal

Millennials like their fruits and veggies, spend very little on red meat, and the Recession has negatively shaped their food-buying patterns. These were the primary findings of a recent USDA report on the food-buying behavior patterns of Millennials. The findings could be very important to the beef industry given the influence Millennials have on the future of the food market landscape and the next generation of consumers.

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What are the 5 most contentious U.S. NAFTA proposals?

What are the 5 most contentious U.S. NAFTA proposals?

Josh Wingrove and Eric Martin

Missouri Ruralist

Negotiations to modernize NAFTA are in their sixth round with few signs of a breakthrough, even as President Donald Trump continually applies pressure by threatening to withdraw if the U.S. can’t get its way.

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Management Brings Big Boost to Carrying Capacity

Management Brings Big Boost to Carrying Capacity

Becky Mills

Progressive Farmer

“We had a pasture where we fed hay for four or five years,” he says. “It was in bad shape. It is amazing how fast the millet grew.” He first bottom-plowed the pasture, which he uses as a sacrifice paddock when he doesn’t have growing forage. He disked it lightly and then waited a month until rain softened the soil. He planted the millet lightly with a no-till drill the first of April. Four weeks later, cattle were grazing the pasture.

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