6 Trending Headlines: Should you hold your calves? PLUS: Timing is critical with calfhood vaccinations
With volatility ruling the cattle market, what’s your best option? That and more awaits you ion this week’s Trending Headlines.
Should you grow bigger beef calves amid pandemic? Markets are volatile, the beef business is running askew with packing plant slowdowns and shutdowns and consumers are buying beef as fast as it hits the meat case, at least for now. With everything in upheaval, beef producers are asking “What should I do with my calves?” Wesley Tucker, University of Missouri Extension ag economist, struggles with an answer, reports Farm Progress. “So, if you can tell me when we're going to get our country back to work and how bad the unemployment is going to be when this all shakes out, I could do a lot better job of giving you a straight answer on this,” he says. “Right now, there's just so much volatility in the market.” Click or tap here for a closer look at marketing options.
Can cold storage take up the slack from packer slowdowns? The total supply of beef in cold storage at the end of March was 502.4 million pounds, 11.2% higher than a year ago and 7.2% higher than the five-year average. Boneless beef inventories at 466.9 million pounds were 10.6% higher than a year ago. The combined inventory of beef, pork, chicken and turkey in cold storage at the end of March was estimated at 2.435 billion pounds, 1.5% higher than a year ago and 5.7% higher than the five-year average, according to the Daily Livestock Report. There’s a lot of speculation whether or not the supply in cold storage offers enough of a buffer in case of production disruptions due to COVID-19. The reality is that this is a relatively small buffer given monthly demand from a population of +330 million people. Click or tap here for more.
Calfhood vaccinations: Proper timing is crucial Tom Hairgrove, Extension veterinarian with Texas A&M AgriLife, stresses the importance of talking with your local veterinarian to build a health plan that includes a vaccination program appropriate for your area. This may include pre-calving vaccination for cows, so they will have adequate antibodies in colostrum to jump-start immunity in their calves. The cows also need adequate nutrition to build colostrum, reports the Angus Beef Bulletin. The calves themselves should be vaccinated by the time their temporary immunity from colostrum wears off. Hairgrove says most calves are vaccinated at about 90 days of age, which generally works well to stimulate immune response. A few ranchers vaccinate calves at birth against certain scours pathogens, such as an oral E.coli vaccine, but this is a case-by-case program. Click or tap here for more.
Local beef selling big during COVID-19 Amid packer shutdowns and supply chain interruptions, what’s the right meat business to be in during the COVID-19 pandemic? A local one. The kind that lets a consumer order meat from their computer and receive small packages on their doorstep in days. Meat that comes from a family they trust, reports Southwest Farm Press. That model has proved phenomenally successful for Sumner Point Beef, says Krystal Jungmann, who runs the business with her family and has seen sales double from mid-March to mid-April. Click or tap here to read more.
Blogger shares how ranchers are dealing with COVID-19 “While life in many big cities is dramatically altered right now, things out here in the country are relatively the same. Fortunately, we can be outside for several hours per day, which is a welcome reprieve that I realize not all are able to do.” That’s what Kansas rancher and blogger Brandi Buzzard Frobose told readers of Kansas Living magazine in an article that explained how COVID-19 is affecting the beef business, and therefore affecting consumers. “We continue to do our chores and care for our land and livestock, however, there are some challenges to raising cattle in light of the pandemic,” she writes. Click or tap here to read more.
Texas program works to develop rural veterinarians The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences' new 2+2 veterinary program has received official program approval from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Council on Education (COE). The go-ahead allows Texas A&M students to complete the first two years of their four-year veterinary curriculum at the college's West Texas (WT) campus in Canyon, Texas, increasing their access to livestock and rural veterinary medicine. Students will also have the option of returning to WT for a portion of their fourth-year clinical rotations, reports Veterinary Practice News. Click or tap here for more.
Texas program works to develop rural veterinarians The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences' new 2+2 veterinary program has received official program approval from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Council on Education (COE). The go-ahead allows Texas A&M students to complete the first two years of their four-year veterinary curriculum at the college's West Texas (WT) campus in Canyon, Texas, increasing their access to livestock and rural veterinary medicine. Students will also have the option of returning to WT for a portion of their fourth-year clinical rotations, reports Veterinary Practice News. Click or tap here for more.
With volatility ruling the cattle market, what’s your best option? That and more awaits you ion this week’s Trending Headlines.
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