What is the cost of the repro status quo?

What is the cost of the repro status quo?

Kerry Halladay

Western Livestock JournalThere’s a lot going on on your ranch and sometimes it’s just easier doing things the way you’ve always done them. It might be easier, but is it the most economic choice? According to presenters at the 2019 Range Beef Cow Symposium, held Nov. 18-20 in Mitchell, NE, the cost of sticking to the old standby of natural service might be higher than producers think, in both actual dollars lost and potential gains left on the table.

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Ethan Lane Tells Bird Stories- Talking Buzzards and Lesser Prairie Chickens

Ethan Lane Tells Bird Stories- Talking Buzzards and Lesser Prairie Chickens

Oklahoma Farm Report

One of the things that Lane has taken an interest in is a letter that was put together by several members of Congress concerning Avian predators. For example, in our part of the world, the predators of greatest interest are black buzzards. Lane says, “The bipartisan letter that was sent to the department of interior is really a positive sign. Dozens of members of Congress, senators, bicameral, bipartisan, voicing their support with producers for some kind of movement on this issue.”

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Stocker Strategies: Start With Something Good

Stocker Strategies:  Start With Something Good

Becky Mills
Progressive Farmer

Repeat customers are at the center of Adam Wilson’s business philosophy. “My goal is to provide the best product I can to the next person in the supply chain,” says the young Virginia stocker. To achieve that goal, he believes it’s important to start with quality.

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Put weight on thin cows before winter

Put weight on thin cows before winter

Jake Geis, DVM

Beef Magazine

With the grass so washy for much of the Midwest this year, there are some herds with the cows looking a little thin. Since the calves have been weaned, now is the best time to start putting weight back on those cows.

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How Americans Got Red Meat Wrong

How Americans Got Red Meat Wrong

Nina Teicholz

The Atlantic

Infants were fed beef even before their teeth had grown in. The English novelist Anthony Trollope reported, during a trip to the United States in 1861, that Americans ate twice as much beef as did Englishmen. Charles Dickens, when he visited, wrote that “no breakfast was breakfast” without a T-bone steak. Apparently, starting a day on puffed wheat and low-fat milk—our “Breakfast of Champions!”—would not have been considered adequate even for a servant.

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Tips to Building a Successful Breeding Program

Tips to Building a Successful Breeding Program

VitaFerm

Cow-calf producers have a checklist of endless options in order to be successful. They can choose the breed or breeds they want to incorporate into their herds. They can choose a time of year to calve based on their marketing strategy and demand. They can choose from a multitude of health and nutrition protocols. And they can choose from several breeding programs to make their operation successful.

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Meeting Hay Challenges

Meeting Hay Challenges

Emily Beal

Angus Beef Bulletin

Cattlemen are feeling the brunt of last spring’s unprecedented rainfall. Finding hay that is both affordable and sufficiently nutritious has been one roadblock this year for farmers. Something even more alarming than rising hay prices could be looming. A nutritional deficiency could be sneaking into herds during this record-breaking year in agriculture.

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When Cattle Can’t Stand

When Cattle Can’t Stand

B Meredyth Jones

Farms.com

In nature, cattle and other grazing species exist at the bottom of the food chain. From a survival standpoint, they are wired to try to appear healthy and fit until they simply cannot fake it anymore. As a prey species, if cattle appear weak, they become a target for predators. For this reason, owners must be alert to even the most minor signs of illness to initiate treatment early to increase the chance of success.

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Cowboys Are Not Proud of Miss Montana

Cowboys Are Not Proud of Miss Montana

Greg Henderson

Drovers

Merrissa Underwood probably didn’t intend to pick a fight with Montana cowboys. But after she was crowned Miss Montana in September, Underwood’s social media posts encouraging folks to switch to a plant-based diet were… let’s say, not well received.

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Oh, what a year it’s been for beef producers

Oh, what a year it’s been for beef producers

Burt Rutherford

Beef Magazine

2019 was great year for much of America’s midsection. If you’re a duck. That’s how I started a blog last September after traveling from Grand Island, Neb. to Bismarck, N.D. The amount of ruined hay, much of which was in round bales still in the field and sitting in several feet of water, was staggering.

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Prime Rib for Thanksgiving Enjoy!

Mark Parker: The Top 10 reasons to serve beef at Thanksgiving

Mark Parker:  The Top 10 reasons to serve beef at Thanksgiving

FarmTalk

#10. Plenty of stuffing — of course you’ll need a 50-gallon bucket and a plunger with an extension.

#9. Hamburger yams — if Burger King can make hamburger from plants, you can make plants from hamburger.

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Cattle Riding the Temperature Rollercoaster Face Extra Stress

Cattle Riding the Temperature Rollercoaster Face Extra Stress

Oklahoma Farm Report

Here in Oklahoma and across the southern Plains, they say if you don’t like the weather, wait 24 hours, and you’ll get something different. We all know that to be very true, and while it’s hard on the residents, it’s also hard on livestock. Dr. Peggy Thompson, a Cattle Professional Services Veterinarian for Boehringer Ingelheim, says it’s a challenge for our beef cattle, “It’s very challenging when we have those weather swings.”

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Retained Placenta Causes and Treatments

Retained Placenta Causes and Treatments

Dr. Ken McMillan

DTN

A mild, controlled infection in the attachment sites of the placenta and the uterus may actually help the placenta release. Never try to pull the placenta out. Gravity will put gentle, constant pressure on the placenta. By pulling it, you may leave small parts attached; they will take longer to pass and are more likely to create a serious infection.

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EU on course to allow in more U.S. beef from 2020

EU on course to allow in more U.S. beef from 2020

Philip Blenkinsop

Reuters

European Union plans to allow more U.S. beef imports cleared a key hurdle on Monday when EU lawmakers specializing in trade backed the move, which is likely to ease transatlantic tensions.

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The Troublesome Truth Behind the Fake Meat Industry

The Troublesome Truth Behind the Fake Meat Industry

Joe Rogan

Avoiding Mold In Feed Corn

Avoiding Mold In Feed Corn

Jodi Henke

Successful Farming

This year’s weather was too wet in some areas and too dry in others. Both extremes increase the risk of feed corn becoming moldy, which increases the risk of mycotoxin formation. This causes health problems in animals that ingest it. High levels of toxin can interfere with the immune system, cause liver damage, and affect hormonal changes.

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Winter Hay Storage: Research shared on best storage methods.

Winter Hay Storage: Research shared on best storage methods.

Heather Smith Thomas

Angus Beef Bulletin

Ranchers need to plan ahead regarding winter forage supplies, and this includes finding ways to store hay that help preserve quality and reduce moisture damage. Emily Glunk Meccage, former forage extension specialist in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences at Montana State University (MSU), was involved with a research project last year, looking at round bale storage outdoors. Not everyone has the luxury of hay sheds, and there is a lot of hay stored outside.

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Safeguarding the Judicious Use of Antibiotics

Safeguarding the Judicious Use of Antibiotics

Beef Board

Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria develops the ability to survive exposure to antibiotics, making it difficult or impossible to treat infections in people or animals. It is a growing concern amongst society today, with many fearing a “post-antibiotic era” where common infections become life threatening.

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With producer age rising, influx of youth in ag brings optimism

With producer age rising, influx of youth in ag brings optimism

Jenny Schlecht

Agweek

Amy Smith recalls going through a bit of a restless phase in college. “I didn’t know what I was doing in college,” she says. She cycled through majors, trying art, education, business and others. “I was having a hard time trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and everything I tried just wasn’t working,” she says. “And then one day, Dad mentioned, ‘Well, there’s room back here.'”

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