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March 1, 2008

cover stories

Where will it end?

Mar 1, 2008 10:41 AM, By Mike Fritz

Private grazing rates across the Western U.S. climbed more than 5% for the 12 months through January to $14.50/animal unit month (AUM). That’s up from last year’s 4.5% pace, according to the latest USDA January Cattle Survey. Yet, given the developing profit squeeze caused by steeply rising feed prices and other production costs, market participants say lease rates will eventually have to retreat...

2008 Fencing Guide

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM

The latest products for fencing and a directory of suppliers...

2008 Feed Composition Tables

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Compiled by R. L. Preston, Ph.D.

Typical Composition Of Feeds For Cattle And Sheep: Annual compilation of values for more than 250 feedstuffs...

features

Selecting Forages for Swathing

Mar 1, 2008 10:33 AM, By Alaina Burt, Managing Editor

As snow cover begins to recede and the tractor no longer needs to be plugged in to feed hay, you might be wondering if there’s an easier way...

Reality Check

Mar 1, 2008 9:57 AM, By Burt Rutherford, Senior Editor

A survey of consulting nutritionists reveals emerging trends and concerns of feedyard managers...

Best Guesses In The New Age

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Wes Ishmael Contributing Editor

Ask a dozen folks how to plan for the next 12 months and you'll get plenty of discussion based on myriad qualifications and assumptions, but few confident...

Feed Scramble

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Meghan Sapp

European consumers have long had an aversion to genetically modified organisms (GMO), be it in their food or in the feed used to rear their meat...

Cut Costs Efficiently

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Larry Stalcup

t's nearly impossible to go to a cattlemen's meeting nowadays and not hear about the need to cut input costs. Indeed, as cattlemen look for ways to survive high fuel and feed costs, as well as the pressure on calf and feeder-cattle prices, the input side of the ledger is being scrutinized...

The Greening Of America WHAT'S THE BEEF?

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Larry Stalcup

America is getting at least in the minds of consumers concerned about the environment. From Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, to activists who condemn...

From pasture to plate

Mar 1, 2008 10:35 AM

The industry has its own version of how producers and feeders employ environmental stewardship The industry has its own version of how producers and feeders employ environmental stewardship – the www.BeefFromPastureToPlate.org site. It guides visitors through the stages...

BEEF Stocker Feature

Topsy-Turvy

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Larry Stalcup

When was the last time stocker production was harder than marketing? Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist, asks that question in light of little, if any, wheat pasture available for grazing on the dry High Plains and the disastrous drought in the Southeast...

news makers

2008 NCBA Coverage

Mar 1, 2008 11:04 AM

Highlights from the 2008 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Convention & Tradeshow held Feb. 5-9 in Reno, NV...

Weather Worries and Weather Woes

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Burt Rutherford Senior Editor

It's likely that cattle producers in the Southeast won't look back on 2007 with any fondness. This region, home to about 25% of the nation's cow-calf production, withered under an unrelenting drought last year, and entered '08 desperate for a change...

Editor's Roundup

California Nightmare

Mar 1, 2008 11:15 AM, by Joe Roybal, editor

The tentacles of the largest beef recall in history – 143,383,823 lbs. – have reached all across the country. If the surreptitious video of exhausted and disabled dairy cattle being tortured...

BEEF XPress

USDA ag projections

Mar 1, 2008 10:21 AM

USDA released its 10-year agriculture projections in February, and it anticipates a drop in production of all meats for the next few years as more and more corn is diverted to ethanol...

A legend passes

Mar 1, 2008 10:12 AM

Visionary cattle-genetics leader Roy Wallace passed away Jan. 20 while in Denver attending the National Western Stock Show. He was 63...

“Essential Guide To Calving”

Mar 1, 2008 10:18 AM

Written by Heather Smith Thomas, this 328-page how-to manual carries readers all the way from pregnancy and calving through care of the newborn...

Cattle Economics

Creeping cost basis magnifies inputs

Mar 1, 2008 10:00 AM, by Wes Ishmael contributing editor

“In the course of the cattle cycle, breeding-female inventories will increase, causing calf prices to fall,” says Stan Bevers,...

Vet's Opinion

Planning for successful breeding

Mar 1, 2008 10:51 AM, by W. Mark Hilton contributing editor

What tasks need to be done to help assure a successful breeding season this year? Let’s start with the bulls. Nationally, about 10% of all bulls fail ...

Market Advisor

Buy/sell margins - part III

Mar 1, 2008 11:14 AM, by Harlan Hughes contributing editor

The feeder-cattle futures market is being whipsawed by corn futures prices. Corn futures prices were in the mid-to-high $3 range early in 2007, decreased to the low $3 in mid-year, and surpassed $4 later in the year....

My Perspective

Does anyone smell smoke?

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, by John Stika guest columnist

It's wrong to yell “FIRE” in a crowded theatre when there is none. Conversely, it's irresponsible to say nothing when you perceive a threat. Fortunately, the beef industry isn't facing a life-or-death issue as literal as a fire. But there is something smoldering in our basement...

Research Roundup

Two new grasses for Southern Plains

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, compiled by Alaina Burt managing editor

Meet “Verl” and “Chet,” two new forage-grass varieties engineered to provide year-round grazing...

BEEF Tech

Products: March 2008

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, compiled by Alaina Burt managing editor

Online feed-ration calculator, Tarp and fabric fastener, Natural feed ration, Indoor cleaning, Expanded Surehealth program, Belt conveyor, Portable corral, Horn fly control...

Research Roundup

Quality beef

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, by Clint Peck contributing editor

All too often, the term quality beef is used within the industry very loosely and rhetorically. It makes us feel good to proclaim U.S. beef is the world's best, but...