BeefTalk: Time for a Managerial Report Card

BeefTalk: Time for a Managerial Report Card

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

Spring calving time is the most intense time in cattle operations. It also is the time to “grade” the managerial success. In school, we knew very well where we stood. If not, the pending parent-teacher conference refreshed one’s memory. An “A” was good, a “B” was noticed and a “C” meant average. A “D” or an “F” had consequences.

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Vaccinations becoming key in earning more money for calves

Vaccinations becoming key in earning more money for calves

Gayle Smith
The Cattle Business Weekly
Ranchers could earn an additional $2.25 a hundredweight just by giving their calves preconditioning shots. “It is becoming so important, it is the first question I am asked when I pick up the phone to sell cattle,” according to Brad Jones, who is the branch manager of the Producers Livestock Marketing Association in Greeley, Colo. “They want to know what shots they have had, not where they are at or how many they have,” he says.

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Texas A&M College Station will host Grassfed Beef Conference May 31-June 1

Texas A&M College Station will host Grassfed Beef Conference May 31-June 1

High Plains Journal

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is pleased to announce an upcoming conference focused on grassfed beef production. Consumer interest in natural, grassfed and organic beef continues to rise. If you’d like to learn more about grassfed beef production and how it’s different, mark your calendar for May 31-June 1.

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Crossing breeding dairy females to produce dairy/beef calves

Crossing breeding dairy females to produce dairy/beef calves

Kevin Gould, Jerry Lindquist, Michigan State University

Beef production from dairy breeds nationally represents 15-20% of all U.S. beef produced. In Michigan, the ratio is almost opposite with nearly 80% of all beef production coming from dairy breeds. For this reason alone, dairy beef production is of significant importance to our bovine industries in Michigan.

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A common viral vaccination could be blocking clostridial immunity in calves.

A common viral vaccination could be blocking clostridial immunity in calves.

Victoria G. Myers

Progressive Farmer

I’ve rarely been to a cattle operation where a clostridial vaccine wasn’t part of the health protocol. Turns out, giving that two-, four-, seven- or eight-way, along with an injectable IBR vaccine, might be a mistake.

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Make Sure Newborn Calves Receive Adequate Colostrum

Make Sure Newborn Calves Receive Adequate Colostrum
Carla L. Huston, DVM, PhD
CattleToday
With spring fast approaching, many of us are well into calving season. An awareness of potential post-calving complications and disorders can be helpful when preparing to deal with problems we may encounter in our beef herds. One frequent problem encountered during calving season is failure of passive transfer (FPT), which occurs when a newborn calf does not receive adequate colostrum.

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Are Meat Eaters Contributing to Climate Change?

Are Meat Eaters Contributing to Climate Change?

Robert Preidt

WebMD

Editor’s note: Stories of this ilk are included in the blog to inform those in our industry how agriculture is being presented to and perceived by the public.

Climate change scientists have a beef with all the steaks and burgers Americans are eating. Beef is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions associated with food production, the researchers said in a new study. They found that one-fifth of Americans account for nearly half of all U.S. food-related greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

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‘Fitbit for cows’ set to revolutionise beef industry from paddock to plate

‘Fitbit for cows’ set to revolutionise beef industry from paddock to plate

Tom Major

ABC (Au)

An electronic tracking ear tag being developed for cattle could forever change the way graziers manage both livestock and farmland. Researchers from James Cook University (JCU) in Townsville are collaborating with the Queensland Department of Science, the CSIRO and commercial partner Ceres Tag to adapt GPS technology for small, affordable livestock ear tags.

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Omnibus bill includes manure reporting exemption

Omnibus bill includes manure reporting exemption

Carol Ryan Dumas

Capital Press

Producer groups representing the beef, pork, milk, sheep, poultry and egg industries applauded passage of the $1.3 trillion spending bill signed into law Friday. Several provisions in the bill, which funds government through FY 2018, address threats to those industries that producer groups have been working to eliminate.

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Repeatability of Calving Difficulty in Heifers a Repeated Questi

Repeatability of Calving Difficulty in Heifers a Repeated Question

Donald Stotts

Drovers

Questions about the repeatability of calving difficulty in young heifers seems to crop up annually, not unsurprisingly given the money invested in growing the heifer into a two-year-old cow. The question was posed like clockwork throughout the 30-plus-year career of Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension emeritus animal scientist who still serves as editor of the popular OSU Cow-Calf Corner newsletter.

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Emergency IV for Dehydrated Calves

Emergency IV for Dehydrated Calves

Heather Smith Thomas

Angus Beef Bulletin Extra

Sometimes, when a sick calf is weak and dehydrated from scours and past the point of being able to absorb oral fluids, or is in shock from septicemia, intravenous fluids are the only way to save it.

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Handle cattle with as little stress as possible

Handle cattle with as little stress as possible

Tom Steever

Brownfield Network

Stockmanship and Stewardship training is an educational experience featuring low-stress cattle handling demonstrations and facility design sessions that instructor Todd McCartney says improves the bottom line.

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Will Dean Foods’ Dairy Announcement Affect the Beef Cattle Industry?

Will Dean Foods’ Dairy Announcement Affect the Beef Cattle Industry?

Andrew P. Griffith

Ohio Beef Cattle Letter

A few weeks ago, Dean Foods announced they were discontinuing milk contracts with 100 or so dairies which included a dozen or so operations in Tennessee. Essentially, the dairies impacted have until the end of May to find a new outlet for their milk or they will be forced to exit the industry due to having no method to market milk. This has brought several questions across my email and through personal communication.

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Quality Quantified

Quality Quantified

Katrina Huffstutler

The Cattleman

Every 5 years since 1991, the checkoff-funded National Beef Quality Audit has provided a snapshot of the industry. The audit shows what cattlemen are doing right, what they’re doing wrong and what they should focus on when it comes to producing a safe, high-quality product in which consumers have confidence.

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Strategies to increase calf value

Strategies to increase calf value

Raney Rapp

FarmTalk

In today’s cattle markets, the margins between breaking even and profiting are narrow and producers need every advantage to get ahead.

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Take time to evaluate your philosophy of genetic selection

Take time to evaluate your philosophy of genetic selection

ERIC MOUSEL

Minnesota Farm Guide

The type of bulls selected to contribute to a genetic program is one of the most important decisions cow/calf operators will make. These decisions will set the direction of the cow herd and the calf crop for many years to come.

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Consumers Asking for Cattle Industry Certification Programs

Consumers Asking for Cattle Industry Certification Programs

Heidi Carroll

iGrow

How many of you know The People Behind Beef video that is part of the Beef? It’s What’s For Dinner – Rethink the Ranch campaign? The beef supply chain is made up of a lot of people! People that care for newborn calves, feed cattle, transport cattle, harvest the meat, and prepare that meat for someone’s meal.

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Dealing with calf dehydration issues

Dealing with calf dehydration issues

Heather Smith Thomas

Beef Magazine

True or false: The No. 1 killer of calves in the first weeks of life is a gut infection. Answer: It’s both true and false. That’s because it’s generally not the gut infection that actually kills the calf. It’s the dehydration and subsequent electrolyte imbalances, acidosis or shock caused by the diarrhea.

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Pay Close Attention to First Calf Heifers

Pay Close Attention to First Calf Heifers

Cliff Lamb
Cattle Today
For cattle producers, heifers that have just given birth to their first calf (first-calf heifers) are the toughest group of females to manage. Giving birth for the first time is a shocking experience for a heifer, but stress associated with the first birth also is confounded with numerous other management-related issues.

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Evaluation of Feet and Legs Important for Cattle Longevity

Evaluation of Feet and Legs Important for Cattle Longevity

Nick Simmons

Drovers

Routine evaluation of the health status of cattle is important to ensure that your animals are comfortable and productive. Visual appraisal of body condition scores (BCS), fly stress, and signs & symptoms of sickness are easily observed as you walk through pastures or move cattle through your working facilities on a regular basis.

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