Industry leaders confirm phase-out of select grade beef

Industry leaders confirm phase-out of select grade beef

High Plains Journal

Select grade beef has an important past in the cattle and beef business. However, its tonnage is shrinking and will continue to trend lower in the coming decade, based on collaborative research conducted across all beef industry segments.

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Cow and calf sizes: A lesson in basic cow economics

Cow and calf sizes: A lesson in basic cow economics

Western Livestock Journal

A big question for many cattle producers is how to make their operation more profitable. “Cow-calf producers tend to operate on a fixed land/feed base associated with a substantial overhead cost in annual rents and finance payments,” says John Dhuyvetter, North Dakota State University (NDSU) Extension livestock systems specialist at the North Central Research Extension Center near Minot.

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Beef Cows, Hoop Barns, Cover Crops, Cornstalks, and Irrigated Pasture

Beef Cows, Hoop Barns, Cover Crops, Cornstalks, and Irrigated Pasture

University of Nebraska
Integrated cow-calf production systems that utilize hoop barns, crop residues and annual forages are gaining interest in the heart of corn and soybean county.   In this BeefWatch Producer Perspective Podcast, Tyler Burkey who is part of a family farm operation near Milford, Nebraska discusses how they have built a cow-calf operation around a wide range of resources and technology.

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Chelsea Good of the Livestock Marketing Association Weighs in on the Cattle Traceability Debate

Chelsea Good of the Livestock Marketing Association Weighs in on the Cattle Traceability Debate

Oklahoma Farm Report

As local and regional hubs of livestock movement and where the majority of livestock are identified, livestock markets are central to this discussion. In recognizing their unique situation in this, the LMA has created its own subcommittee on traceability and has also been actively engaged with the National Cattle Traceability Working Group that is leading an industry wide discussion on how to move this issue forward nationally.

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Texas A&M International Beef Academy receives grant from 44 Farms

Texas A&M International Beef Academy receives grant from 44 Farms

Feedstuffs

Cameron, Texas-based 44 Farms has provided gift funds to become the signature sponsor of the Texas A&M International Beef Academy, which debuted earlier this year. With its financial commitment, the program has been renamed the “44 Farms International Beef Academy at Texas A&M,” according to program coordinators. 44 Farms is the largest registered Angus operation in Texas and the fourth largest in the U.S.

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Is sales price of cattle the main determinant of profitability?

Is sales price of cattle the main determinant of profitability?

Nevil Speer

Beef Magazine

Annual cow costs were the focus in last week’s Industry At A Glance. The focus was based on data from the Kansas Farm Management Association (KFMA), one of the largest farm management association programs in the country.

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Do stronger measures of genomic connectedness enhance prediction accuracies across management units?

Do stronger measures of genomic connectedness enhance prediction accuracies across management units?

Journal of Animal Science

Genetic connectedness assesses the extent to which estimated breeding values can be fairly compared across management units. Ranking of individuals across units based on best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) is reliable when there is a sufficient level of connectedness due to a better disentangling of genetic signal from noise.

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Update on ‘fake meat’ regulations between USDA and FDA

Update on ‘fake meat’ regulations between USDA and FDA

AG Daily

In the past few months, many cattle associations were working to support USDA oversight of food safety and labeling regulations of lab-produced “fake meat.” These efforts were rewarded with a Nov. 16 announcement from the USDA and FDA. A joint press release from the two agencies outlined how they plan to work together with each overseeing different aspects of production.

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How Feed is Made

How Feed is Made

AFIA

Animal feed is a formulated mixture created by nutritionists-the dieticians of the animal feed world-to provide the animal with the necessary balanced nutrients for proper growth, development and maintenance. Feed is designed to compensate for nutrients and supplements that may be absent from an animal’s natural diet.

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Beef Genetics Researchers Seek to Understand Technology Utilization

Beef Genetics Researchers Seek to Understand Technology Utilization

Kansas State University

Beef cattle producers have a wide range of selection tools available for use in selection of breeding stock. These range from visual appraisal to EPD (expected progeny differences) and selection indexes that leverage genomic technologies. Adoption of new technologies by the beef industry has dramatically changed beef cattle selection strategies and opportunities. Beef genetics and genomic tools continue to evolve at a rapid rate.

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Prime Beef is Seemingly Everywhere

Prime Beef is Seemingly Everywhere

Daily Livestock Group, CME Group

The most recent USDA steer and heifer grading report (NW_LS196), showed that prime cattle accounted for 9.6% of all the cattle graded, with another 71% grading choice. Thus, in mid November 2018 over 80% of all the cattle in the US were grading choice or better, a stunning shift from even 10 years ago when fewer than 60% of cattle graded choice or higher.

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A Look Back at the U.S. Hay Market Over the Last 100 Years

A Look Back at the U.S. Hay Market Over the Last 100 Years

Northern AG NET

Hay is the 3^rd largest U.S. crop in terms of harvest acres.  It also provides environmental services, notably erosion control. Understanding the U.S. hay market is therefore important for both market and policy reasons. This article written by Ohio State University’s Carl Zulauf examines the U.S. hay market since 1919, or when the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistical Service began to report data separately for alfalfa hay.

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Watch for lice problems in beef cattle

Watch for lice problems in beef cattle

Phil Blevins

Lice are most commonly a problem in late winter, affecting both younger animals and adult cows. There are two separate types of lice that affect beef cattle. The little red louse is a biting or chewing louse that feeds on hair, debris, etc. near the skin surface.

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Red Angus programs look to add value to cattle

Red Angus programs look to add value to cattle

Lacey Newlin

High Plains Journal

“The older we get the less we like to change things,” said Gary Fike, Red Angus Association of America director of commercial marketing. “We’re facing bigger changes than we’ve ever had in the cattle industry as far as technology. But we need to remember that we can’t simply ignore all these changes that are going on around us.” Fike spoke at the recent Oklahoma State University Beef Industry Conference about feeder cattle and female marketing opportunities.

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Gene-Editing Finding its Way to the Farm

Gene-Editing Finding its Way to the Farm

Clinton Griffiths

Drovers

Cows born without horns or pigs that never reach puberty? These scenarios could become a reality soon thanks to new gene-editing tools. A company wants to alter farm animals by adding and subtracting genetic traits in a lab.  Alison Van Eenennaam, an animal geneticist at the University of California, Davis says soon edits that create polled herds will be common.

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South Korea to Track Beef Through Entire Supply Chain on a Blockchain

South Korea to Track Beef Through Entire Supply Chain on a Blockchain

CCN

A blockchain technology pilot aimed at tracking beef through the entire food supply chain has been announced in South Korea. The pilot will be jointly undertaken by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, according to Yonhap News Agency. The launch date has been set for next month in North Jeolla Province and after a brief trial period, there will be a formal unveiling of the blockchain application in January next year.

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Feedlot management to be focus of Northern States Beef Conference

Feedlot management to be focus of Northern States Beef Conference

AgWeek

Successfully managing cattle in the feedlot will be among the topics covered during the 2018 Northern States Beef Conference scheduled in Watertown for Dec. 12-13, 2018, at the Watertown Event Center.  The event is co-hosted by South Dakota State University Extension, University of Minnesota Extension and North Dakota State University Extension.

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Transportation Update: Extending the Electronic Logging Devices Delay for Livestock Haulers

Transportation Update: Extending the Electronic Logging Devices Delay for Livestock Haulers

Beefusa.org

Livestock haulers across the country are currently exempt from implementing electronic logging devices (ELDs). The question is: For how much longer? A few months ago, NCBA worked closely with allies in Congress to secure a temporary exemption through December 7, 2018. With less than ten days to go before that exemption expires, NCBA has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill to remind lawmakers that a further extension is necessary.

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The outbreak that changed meat and poultry inspection systems worldwide

The outbreak that changed meat and poultry inspection systems worldwide

Elsa A Murano H Russell Cross Penny K Riggs

Animal Frontiers

In the course of history, one of the best recognized constants is that change happens most often and most rapidly in response to a dire situation. Even when efforts to introduce improvements have been ongoing for quite a while, it is not until an emergency or a crisis develops that people are ready to accept change to resolve the problem at hand. Such has been the case with meat and poultry safety.

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Farm to Fork: Dexter cows

Farm to Fork: Dexter cows

Maryjean Anderson

The News Review

There was a time when we thought nothing of ordering a 16-ounce steak from grain fed beef and going home with the whole thing in our belly with none of it in a doggie bag for later. Times have changed, though, and more often than not, we opt for a smaller cut of beef, preferably grass-fed.

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