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April 1, 2009

Cover Story

Parasitic wasps help control flies

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Burt Rutherford, Senior Editor

Wes Bonner sits in his office at Nolan County Feeders in Roscoe, TX, north of Sweetwater, and watches a housefly go idly about its business. For a brief...

Features

Spring deworming of cows pays off

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Burt Rutherford

You can look at it the same way you look at weeds in your pastures, says Mike Hildreth. The weeds are there and, if they get too thick, need to be controlled....

New chemistry in fly control

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Wes Ishmael, Contributing Editor

No one's sure what Hell looks like, but it's a safe bet flies are buzzing around. Depending on where you run cattle, face flies or horn flies are often...

Rating BVD vaccination programs

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Clint Peck

Relatively new resources for bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) control programs are within reach of nearly every cattle producer in the U.S. Successful and...

Bony Lump Jaw

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Heather Smith Thomas

There are two kinds of lump jaw in cattle soft-tissue abscesses arising from wounds in the mouth, and bone infections (bony lump jaw). Soft-tissue abscesses...

Optimize profit from cows

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Larry Stalcup

Let's do the math. In today's environment of volatile input costs and cattle prices, a profit is a profit. Period. So even an extra $25/cow, while maybe...

Feedyard vet gives survival advice

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By John Peirce, DVM

Historically, producers have done their own thing, raising whatever they wanted. The biggest difference between what any two producers got for their calf...

Feeding Holsteins

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Loretta Sorensen

How can a young farmer establish a feedlot operation without a huge capital investment? South Dakota farmer Troy Randall found his answer 13 years ago...

Full-feeding of stocker cattle

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Wes Ishmael, Contributing Editor

Every stocker operator worth his cake wagon knows about using feed to extend forage, increase stocking rate, or increase pounds, while also delivering...

Jerry Wulf focuses on the end-product

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Alaina Burt, Managing Editor

Jerry Wulf from Morris, MN, wears many hats in the cattle business. The Wulf operation encompasses three different entities: Leonard Wulf & Sons, Inc.,...

Profit building steps on the ranch

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Tom Williams

Ranch families are privy to one of life's most important lessons: a job worth doing is worth doing right. Years in the feedlot business have uncovered...

Pastureland lease rates continue to grow

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Mike Fritz

Private grazing rates across the western U.S. inched up just 1.4% over the past year to $14.70/animal unit month (AUM) as of Jan. 1. That's down sharply...

Editor's Roundup

Special needs

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Joe Roybal

Three months ago in Phoenix, former Rep. Charlie Stenholm (D-TX) reported that he'd sat down with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack for 1 hours and came away...

BEEF XPress

Must Reads

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM

Low-dose implants given at 2-4 months of age are one of the most underutilized technologies in the beef industry. This suckling implant will add about...

Power grid proposed

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) wants special power lines to carry renewable energy generated from solar, geothermal and wind sources in America's...

Horse slaughter measure

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM

A total of 12 state legislatures are considering measures to express their support of the reestablishment of U.S. horse-processing plants. TheHorse.com...

Vilsack sets priorities

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack says President Barack Obama's three goals for USDA, reflected in the administration's proposed budget, are: ...

Exports to jump

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) says U.S. beef sales to Japan could increase by 35% in 2009, thanks to the stronger yen, which jumped 23% against...

Recession & demand

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM

The fourth edition of Power of Meat, a joint study by the American Meat Institute and the Food Marketing Institute, finds the recession is affecting meat-department...

No to card check

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM

A new coalition, Agriculture for a Democratic Workplace, has announced its opposition to the proposed card check legislation, Employee Free Choice Act...

Reader's Viewpoint

A few more calving tips

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM

As a veterinarian with 40 years' experience, plus an instructor of veterinary obstetrics at Washington State University, I would add the following points...

Cattle Economics

Technology makes agriculture better more efficient

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, Wes Ishmael

Perhaps the only thing more futile than doing perfectly something that needs not be done is searching high and low for opportunities while ignoring those...

Vets' Opinion

When to castrate calves

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, W. Mark Hilton

The 2008 National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) data indicates 77% of bull calves in the U.S. are castrated before marketing and 75% of those...

Market Advisor

Surving the economic downturn

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, Harlan Hughes

Given the current economic pressure on the beef-cow sector, it's imperative that ranchers prepare a detailed production and economic projection for their...

Beef Basics

Protecting vaccine efficacy

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, Clint Peck

Rule of thumb treat your vaccines like your beer. Do so, and one of the most important and least obvious ranch or feedlot biosecurity measures will be...

New Products

BEEF Tech

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM

Supportive therapy Catosal (10% Butaphosphan+cyanocolbalamin) Sterile Solution from Bayer Animal Health, the first and only injectable source of vitamin...

Meat Matters

Americans' new diet

Apr 1, 2009 12:00 PM, Steve Kay

Want a hot stock tip? Consider buying Hormel and Kraft. Actually, I'm not in the business of recommending stocks but I can't help reflecting that these...