Monthly Archives: September 2020

Mark Parker:  The Top 10 on-farm pandemic rules way before there was one

FarmTalk

#10. Quarantine: Well, I believe what Dad actually said was, “You’re grounded!”

#9. Hand Washing: When you have a date after working pigs all day, that Lava-Clorox scrubbing with a copious spritz of Brut kills any virus.

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You can’t starve profit into a cow . . . or a hay field!

Stan Smith

Ohio Beef Cattle Letter

Have you fertilized your hay fields yet this year? In the spring issue of the Ohio Cattleman we suggested once first cutting is harvested it’s a good time for an annual fertilizer application. If that opportunity was missed, fall is another opportune time to replace soil nutrients removed during hay harvest.

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Defining “Made in the USA”

Lilly Platts

Western AG Reporter

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking related to the definitions of the labels “Made in the USA,” “Product of the USA,” and other unqualified U.S.-origin claims on product labels.  USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) definition conflicts FTC’s definition, meaning if a change is made, products ranging from pharmaceuticals to beef could be affected.

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Linking probiotics and respiratory health 

Piper Whelan

Canadian Cattlemen

Ongoing studies are leading scientists closer to the development of an alternative to help prevent and treat the beef industry’s costliest disease. Researchers at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) research centre in Lethbridge, Alta., are developing a probiotic to help reduce the incidence of bovine respiratory disease (BRD).

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Ag Groups Want To Remain In WTO

Greg Henderson

Drovers

Sixty-two agricultural organizations are calling on U.S. trade officials and Congress to remain in the World Trade Organization (WTO). In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and eight senior U.S. representatives and senators, the groups ask to make sure that reforms in WTO policy are enacted, including expansion of U.S. access to foreign markets and reducing trade barriers.

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Grand Island to host livestock show “the Nebraskan” in January

The Fence Post

To provide an opportunity for cattle producers who typically exhibit at the National Western, the Grand Island Livestock Complex Authority, Mayor Roger Steele, and The Nebraskan Livestock Show group have announced plans to develop a one year only alternative livestock show to be held in January 2021 on the Fonner Park Campus in Grand Island. The Nebraskan Livestock Show will be presented beginning on Jan. 9, 2021, with the genuine intent to match the schedule of the anticipated NWSS dates to accommodate the plans already in place within the beef cattle industry.

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Genomics can help beef producers remain profitable

Kylene Scott

High Plains Journal

For Mark Gardiner, there are genetic improvements taking place in the beef industry he never thought possible. “On one hand, gestation is 282 or 283 days, sometimes we think the turnover is slow,” Gardiner said. “We’re just barely getting started and it’s going to get better and better and that’s exciting to me.”

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How will candidates’ tax plans affect farmers?

Holly Spangler

Prairie Farmer

Policy affects much of what farmers do to manage their operations — both state and federal. Farm Progress recently spoke with estate planning attorney and longtime Prairie Farmer columnist Curt Ferguson for a comparison of the tax plans of the two presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and how they might affect estate plans.

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Animal Ag in the Crosshairs at Another Virtual Activist Gathering

Hannah Thompson-Weeman

Drovers

Animal agriculture was once again a major focus for animal rights activists at the 2020 Taking Action for Animals Conference, held virtually September 19-20. TAFA is hosted every other year by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), who describe it as “the leading national conference in the animal advocacy movement.”

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Farm Bureau report examines cattle market issues

On the Farm Radio

A report recently unveiled by the American Farm Bureau Federation provides an in-depth examination of the causes and price implications resulting from extreme market volatility in the cattle industry. It also sets the stage to explore policy solutions.

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Understanding fact and fiction on beef and climate change

Jaclyn Krymowski

Progressive Cattle

Climate change is an important, ongoing issue in both social and scientific worlds. As beef encompasses both realms, it is paramount we continue to remain educated and vigilant about the impact our industry has on the atmosphere we share, specifically in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

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Weighing the alternatives

Lisa Moser

KTIC

Feed cost is often one of the most expensive inputs when trying to balance the beef cattle budget. To help reduce that expense, midwestern producers will sometimes look to alternative feed products such as wet corn gluten, corn dried distillers’ grain with solubles (DDGS) or soy hulls, to name a few.

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Three Good Ways to Cut Feed Bills

Victoria Myers

Progressive Farmer

It’s not news that the most expensive part of any cattle business is feeding. A recent study noted this input accounts for 65% of total beef production costs, with the cow/calf segment using about 70% of feed calories. Hay and winter rations can add up fast, often being the difference between profit and loss.

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USDA investigation shows cattle markets work

Wes Ishmael

Beef Magazine

Beef and cattle prices reacted the way they should have in the wake of the Tyson plant fire in Kansas last summer, and following the massive supply and demand shock imposed by the pandemic.

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Sometimes the Best Medicine is a Little Time

Dr. Ken McMillan

DTN

There are diseases, including brucellosis and leptospirosis, that can lead to retained fetal membranes. These diseases are zoonotic, meaning they can pass between animals and people. So, if you attempted to “clean her off,” and she had one of these diseases, you could potentially infect yourself or the cow, while damaging the uterus by introducing infection.

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New Report Examines Cattle Market Issues & Solutions

Colter Brown

Northern AG Network

A new report unveiled today by the American Farm Bureau Federation provides an in-depth examination of the causes and price implications resulting from extreme market volatility in the cattle industry. The report also sets the stage to explore policy solutions.

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Fostering a new generation of U.S. beef producers

Piper Whelan

Canadian Cattlemen

Abby Scholz knows what she’s doing in the show ring. The high school senior from Bertrand, Nebraska, is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to beef conformation and showmanship and is a promising young advocate for the beef industry.

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New benchmarking program aims to help you up your game

Alberta Farmer

The Canadian Cow-Calf Cost of Production Network (CDN COP Network) has been developed collaboratively with provincial co-ordinators and funded by the Beef Cattle Research Council with the goal of helping cow-calf producers evaluate new technologies and enhance their competitiveness in an international marketplace.

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The horn fly is summer enemy No. 1

R. P. ‘Doc’ Cooke

Beef Producer

Back in early to mid-summer 2019 I remember a couple of days when several little winged guys (actually girls) with razors cut on me like I was in a back-Chattanooga neighborhood after midnight back in the late 60’s. I bled for several minutes and I’ve heard that giving blood is a good deal for health, but I don’t believe everything I hear. The razor-blade mouthpieces belonged to deer flies and I’ll take my pen to them later.

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Caring for bulls during the breeding season

The Cattle Site

Just as an athlete can experience an injury in competition, so too can a bull when he is turned out in a breeding pasture where his athleticism is going to be tested. “Bulls will be the busiest in the first month of the breeding season when there are a lot of females coming into heat (estrus),” said Kansas State University veterinarian Bob Larson during the weekly Beef Cattle Institute Cattle Chat podcast.

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