Curtis C. “Curt” Rodgers Passes, Iconic Livestock Auctioneer

Curtis C. “Curt” Rodgers Passes, Iconic Livestock Auctioneer

Cater Funeral Home

Curtis Charles “Curt” Rodgers, 81, of Huntsville, MO formerly of Platte City, MO died Friday April 10, 2020. He was born March 23, 1939 in Ottumwa, IA to Stanley C. and Mabel (Schock) Rodgers. In 1971, he created the sales management firm North American Auction Company which he owned and operated for more than 50 years. He also purchased and published the Better Beef Business for several years. Curt continued his career as an auctioneer until his late 70s. His influence and leadership in the purebred livestock business was recognized when he was inducted into The Livestock Marketeers Hall of Fame in 2004.

Full Story

Targeted metaphylaxis done right can reduce costs, antimicrobial usage

Targeted metaphylaxis done right can reduce costs, antimicrobial usage

Raney Rapp

FarmTalk

Beef market turmoil and weather challenges will make Kansas and Oklahoma’s stocker industry a high-stakes game in 2020. With reining in costs to save profit margins a more important strategy than ever before, producers are searching for ways to reduce overhead without sacrificing cattle health and nutrition. For cattlemen receiving stocker cattle, John Richeson a professor of animal science at West Texas A&M University, recommended some chute-side prospective shifts.

Full Story

Six Letter Curse Words for Cattle Producers

Six Letter Curse Words for Cattle Producers

Dr. Andrew Griffith

University of Tennessee

In the olden days, it took four letters or less to form a curse word and occasionally someone would find a way to get a fifth letter into their cursing. The four-letter curse words have been mainstays in the cattle business. We like them because they are simple. We know them because we like them. We use them because we know them, and many of us are not smart enough to stop using them.

Full Story

National Cattlemen Beef Association: Coronavirus-Related Cattle Industry Losses Estimated at $13.6 Billion

National Cattlemen Beef Association: Coronavirus-Related Cattle Industry Losses Estimated at $13.6 Billion

Market Screener

A study released today estimates cattle industry losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic will reach $13.6 billion. The study was commissioned by NCBA and conducted by a team of industry-leading agricultural economists led by Derrell Peel, Breedlove Professor of Agribusiness and Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist at Oklahoma State University, to assist USDA in determining how best to allocate CARES Act relief funds to cattle producers.

Full Story

Does Sustainability of the Beef Supply Chain Matter?

Does Sustainability of the Beef Supply Chain Matter?

James F. Lowe, D.V.M.

GrowSafe Systems

I grew up in the heart of the U.S. corn and soybean belt as the son of a vocational agriculture teacher. I have always been fascinated with all aspects of how we provide food to the world. Professionally, I have had the good fortune to explore that fascination as a food animal veterinarian, pork producer, row crop farmer, scientist, and teacher.

Full Story

 

 

USDA to Expand Cattle Price Inquiry

USDA to Expand Cattle Price Inquiry

Russell  Nemetz

California AG Today

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said in a tweet Wednesday USDA is expanding the investigation. “I spoke with the @USDA who confirmed that the agency will be expanding its Holcomb fire plant investigation to include COVID-19 market disruption,” she tweeted. “This is what I called for in my letter to USDA yesterday. This is a good decision to address potentially unfair practices.”

Full Story

Not the first time we’ve missed the mark

Not the first time we’ve missed the mark

Kylene Scott

High Plains Journal

Not eating beef is not the solution. The beef value chain is long and intricate. In case you’re reading this and don’t understand the beef production chain, it’s simply this. Bull breeds mother cow. Calf is born 283 days later. If it survives until weaning, approximately 8 months of age, the calf is weaned and either put out on grass or other forages with calves of the same age. At 12 to 16 months the calves are sent to a feedlot, where they spend approximately 150 to 300 days on feed. Duration depends on age, breed, gender and several other factors. Once the animal reaches optimal finish, they are sent to the processor to be cut up, packaged and sent to retailers or restaurants.

Full Story

The Northwest Cattle-Branding Show Goes On, With Cautious Eye Toward Coronavirus Safety

The Northwest Cattle-Branding Show Goes On, With Cautious Eye Toward Coronavirus Safety

Anna King

National Public Radio

Cattle brandings in the Northwest are usually dusty group affairs.

Cowboys yell and call to each other. Horses work into a hot lather, helping their riders chase and rope the calves. Nervous mother cows bawl to try and find their babes. A smoky fire heats the irons. Children clad in Carhartt coats and cowboy hats watch from nearby pickups. You have to stay alert to not be trampled by horses or cloven hooves.

Full Story

Meat processing plants are closing due to covid-19 outbreaks. Beef shortfalls may follow.

Meat processing plants are closing due to covid-19 outbreaks. Beef shortfalls may follow.

Laura Reiley

Washington Post

The coronavirus has sickened workers and forced slowdowns and closures of some of the country’s biggest meat processing plants, reducing production by as much as 25 percent, industry officials say, and sparking fears of a further round of hoarding.

Full Story

Agriculture’s classroom is full of lessons

Agriculture’s classroom is full of lessons

Texas Tabletip

The new “normal” right now may be distance learning as we navigate the coronavirus pandemic, but hands-on lessons are still taking place on Texas farms and ranches.

That’s because agriculture can enhance the lessons students are learning through school curriculum. Like using math to develop feed rations for livestock or how much fertilizer should be applied to crops and hay fields.

Full Story