Baxter Black, DVM: Backwoods Wisdom

Baxter Black, DVM:  Backwoods Wisdom

“Age-in’ a cow is ‘bout the thing I hate most. Seems like they can tell the instant you cross the line into the strike zone.”

We all nodded sympathetically with Jeff’s pronouncement. Each cowman in the circle of chairs could remember a blow to the ribs that ruined his day.

 

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Planning for a muddy 2019 breeding season

Planning for a muddy 2019 breeding season

Taylor Grussing

Midwest Marketer

April is here, and as the saying goes, “April showers, bring May flowers.” Those April showers, coupled with continued melting snow across South Dakota, will also prolong flooding and muddy pens and pastures. Early-calving spring cow herds have wrapped up calving and are preparing for breeding season. If you are having flashbacks to breeding in the mud of 2018, try approaching this year with an open mind and review breeding season protocols with a “mud” backup plan.

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Winners and Losers: Impact of Additional Grow Yards

Winners and Losers:  Impact of Additional Grow Yards

Victoria G. Myers

Progressive Farmer

How would more grow yards, as a segment of the U.S. cattle industry, affect other areas of production? Don Close, senior animal protein analyst for Rabo AgriFinance, says for most sectors, the shift would be a positive.  “They will increase competition for buying calves with conventional stockers and backgrounders,” he says, adding there is an overall positive to this.

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Hereford feedlot working with Walmart in new Angus beef supply chain

Hereford feedlot working with Walmart in new Angus beef supply chain

Destiny Richards

KFDA

Mc6 Cattle Feeders, Inc. in Hereford is feeding thousands of head of Angus cattle here in the Panhandle that will ultimately end up in Southeast Walmart stores. A customer of the feedlot, 44 Farms, brought Mc6 on board after partnering with Walmart for this project. “We had been feeding their natural cattle for about five years and Walmart actually came to them and asked if they would be interested in a project like this,” said General Manager of Mc6 Cattle Feeders, Inc. Warren White.

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Raising livestock ‘a lifestyle’

Raising livestock ‘a lifestyle’

Adam Sodders

Times Republican

Tim Pansegrau and his family work to make sure their beef cattle are healthy and taken care of at their farm near Gilman.  “Right now we’re calving, so when it’s warmer out, we try to check them every four hours,” he said. “When it got cold, we tried to check them every two hours.”  Pansegrau said the cattle normally get fed at night and make sure their water is clean. Once it warms up in May and June, he said the herd will be let out to pasture, grazing on grass.

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Accurate body condition scoring is invaluable to herd management

Accurate body condition scoring is invaluable to herd management

Lindsay King

Angus Beef Bulletin

The economic importance of body condition scores (BCS) stems from getting a calf on the ground every year. A high or low BCS can quickly increase the calving interval and sometimes prevents a female from conceiving entirely

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Planning Construction Projects For Implementation

Planning Construction Projects For Implementation

Dr. Steve Higgins and Lee Moser

Cow Country News

Beef producers have dealt with enough mud this past year to last a lifetime. Winter is not the time to implement projects to address mud. This is the time to plan projects to improve operations for next year. Follow these guidelines when planning a project to address mud, where to feed, and how to feed next year.

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Sustainability and Beef’s Value Proposition

Sustainability and Beef’s Value Proposition
Rebecca Mettler

Hereford World

Outside forces of influence are coming at the beef industry from several angles. Politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) are attacking our industry with the Green New Deal aimed at eliminating greenhouse gas emissions and their, albeit laughable, “farting cows:” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced “Meatless Monday” for the entire NYC school system in the 2019-2020 school year, which will impact 1.1 million school children. Coincidently, this announcement happened on the day that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the results of new research that finds that beef cattle are not a “significant contributor” to long term global warming. Plus, let’s not forget the rising popularity of fake meat.

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Silverthorne ranch specializes in Scottish Highland cattle

Silverthorne ranch specializes in Scottish Highland cattle

ELI PACE

Gillette News Record

The hands and managers at Maryland Creek Ranch are watching their expecting mothers around the clock, as the historic cattle ranch in northern Silverthorne can’t afford to lose a single head. Resting on roughly 1,200 acres along Highway 9 and Maryland Creek, the working ranch has buildings dating back to the 1800s on the property.

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Staying Sound

Staying Sound

Shelby Mettlen

Angus Beef Bulletin Extra

Composition of feet and legs in cattle could be closely linked with longevity and stayability in the cow herd, Jennifer Bormann told her audience at the Kansas State University’s (K-State) 106th annual Cattlemen’s Day in Manhattan, Kan., March 1. Bormann, professor of animal sciences and industry, spoke on research conducted by Bob Weaber, extension professor; former graduate students Lane Giess and Brady Jensen; and Bormann.

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This Gene-Edited Calf Could Transform Brazil’s Beef Industry

This Gene-Edited Calf Could Transform Brazil’s Beef Industry

Wall Street Journal

Gene-edited beef could be coming to dinner plates around the globe. In this episode of Moving Upstream, WSJ’s Jason Bellini travels to Brazil to meet the world’s first cow that’s been engineered for warmer climates.

The mineral supplementation predicament on pasture

The mineral supplementation predicament on pasture

Alan Newport

Beef Magazine

Mineral deficiencies are extremely common on pasture across the U.S., yet it’s common for your clients to cut back on mineral when times get tough. Further, the plethora of mineral supplements seem to muddy the waters for some beef producers.

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The Great 2019 Hay Debate: Quality or Quantity?

The Great 2019 Hay Debate: Quality or Quantity?

Stan Smith

Drovers

If there was ever a year to focus on hay quality over quantity, weather permitting, this has to be it. Most of the reasons should be obvious. Perhaps a few are less so. However, with some aggressive planning and a little cooperation from Mother Nature, perhaps we can have both quality and quantity this year. Following are some points to consider.

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Grass-fever buyers want “ready” cattle

Grass-fever buyers want “ready” cattle

Beef Producer

It is my opinion that prices paid last week for turn-out ready cattle were high. This week buyers added more fuel to that fire. Between the sales I attended this week and the market reports I looked at I found only one that was lower compared to the previous week. Non-weaned cattle and feeder bulls continued to carry a significant discount.

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Stockmanship and stewardship education will be offered in four locations

Stockmanship and stewardship education will be offered in four locations

High Plains Journal

Registration is now open to cattle producers for four events on the Stockmanship & Stewardship Regional Tour, with the next stop in Ames, Iowa. Events will also be held in Colorado, Kansas and Louisiana. Stockmanship & Stewardship is a unique two-day educational experience featuring low-stress cattle handling demonstrations, Beef Quality Assurance educational sessions, facility design sessions to fit your operation and industry updates

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The Richard Lugar Agriculture Legacy

The Richard Lugar Agriculture Legacy

Gary Truitt

Hoosier AG Today

Six term, Indiana Senator Richard Lugar who died on Sunday at the age of 87 is remembered by most for his accomplishments in foreign policy. Yet, his visionary leadership in agriculture is just as notable.

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Ranchers learn ways to be more adaptable to change

Ranchers learn ways to be more adaptable to change

Jessica Priest

Victoria Advocate

The narrative about what it takes to be a successful rancher is changing. It used to be that successful ranchers bred and raised cattle with good genes that could pack on the pounds. Then, it was that successful ranchers grew a lot of grass for their cattle to graze. Now, it’s that successful ranchers manage their ranches in such a way that their soil is healthy enough for a diversity of grasses to grow.

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Using artificial insemination in very warm weather

Using artificial insemination in very warm weather

Stillwater News Press

As the breeding season for spring calving herds is getting underway, understanding heat stress in cattle takes on increased importance. Producers that choose to synchronize and then artificially inseminate replacement heifers or adult cows may have already started, or will begin the process in the next few weeks. If the hot weather arrives during the AI breeding season, some management and breeding alterations may be helpful.

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Unraveling the mystery of whether cows fart

Unraveling the mystery of whether cows fart

CALVIN WOODWARD and SETH BORENSTEIN

Minneapolis Star Tribune
Let’s clear the air about cow farts. In the climate change debate, some policymakers seem to be bovine flatulence deniers. This became apparent in the fuss over the Green New Deal put forward by some liberal Democrats. More precisely, the fuss over an information sheet by the plan’s advocates.

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Horn fly control can boost bottom line

Horn fly control can boost bottom line

Dana Zook

Enid News and Eagle

It’s that time of year again. Temperatures are warming up and cattle producers are preparing for spring turn-out into summer pastures. Branding, vaccination and castration are common activities for this time of year; does fly control make the cut on this year’s to-do list?

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