Understanding the Importance of Your Herd’s Energy Reserves

Adele Harty, SDSU Extension Cow/Calf Field Specialist This represents an update of an article originally written by Kalyn Waters, former SDSU Extension Cow-Calf Field Specialist. The energy reserves of a herd are a direct correlation to nutrient supply and balance. Feed prices account for greater than 60% of South Dakota producers’ annual operating expense, so it becomes critical for producers to understand how to evaluate and manage the energy reserves of a beef…

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Raising Freezer Beef: Meeting Customer Expectations

Amanda Blair Professor & SDSU Extension Meat Science Specialist A trend that has become more prominent in recent years is for ranchers to finish a few animals and sell beef direct to the consumer. Consumers have a desire to know where their beef comes from, value the story and are seeking ranchers to purchase beef from. At the same time, ranchers have been seeking opportunities to add value to their cattle and reduce…

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Cryptosporidiosis – Frequently Asked Questions

Dr. Michelle Arnold, UK Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory What is “cryptosporidiosis”? Cryptosporidiosis, also known as “crypto”, is a disease primarily seen in calves due to a protozoan parasite, Cryptosporidium parvum or C. parvum for short. In its “clinical” or visible form, calves have profuse, watery diarrhea that can lead to dehydration and death. It generally affects calves from newborns up to 6 weeks of age but older animals may be asymptomatic shedders. There are no effective treatments or…

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USDA Temporarily Suspends Debt Collections, Foreclosures and Other Activities on Farm Loans for Several Thousand Distressed Borrowers Due to Coronavirus

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2021 - Due to the national public health emergency caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced the temporary suspension of past-due debt collections and foreclosures for distressed borrowers under the Farm Storage Facility Loan and the Direct Farm Loan programs administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). USDA will temporarily suspend non-judicial foreclosures, debt offsets or wage garnishments, and referring foreclosures to the Department of…

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Farm Bureau Establishes 2021 Policies

Farmer and rancher delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 102nd Annual Convention today adopted policies to guide the organization’s work in 2021. Key topics ranged from farm diversity to farm labor and dairy policy to livestock marketing. For the first time in AFBF history, delegates met and voted virtually due to COVID-19. “Our Farm Bureau delegates showed that no challenge, not even a pandemic, will keep them from working to improve the…

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Cattlemen’s Day Program Transitions Online

Kansas State University’s Animal Sciences and Industry Department will host Cattlemen’s Day 2021 on Friday, March 5 using the Zoom platform. Mike Day, KSU ASI department head, will kick off the morning at 9:30 a.m.   “We’re excited to host the 108th KSU Cattlemen’s Day,” says Ken Odde, K-State professor and Cattlemen’s Day co-chairman. “Although COVID-19 restrictions have led us to transition this year’s event online, we are excited about the lineup of speakers and…

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Ranchers’ webinars turn to youth events

By Brian Brus STILLWATER, Okla. – The Ranchers Thursday Lunchtime series of free teleconferences launches its next round of topics 12:30 p.m. Feb. 11 with a roundtable discussion by Oklahoma Youth Expo staff about show ring success. “This cycle of talks will deal with a unique segment of the cattle industry,” said Dr. Rosslyn Biggs, beef cattle extension specialist and continuing education director at OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “We’ll be providing information to help…

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NCBA Delivers House Introduction of Bipartisan DIRECT Act

WASHINGTON (Jan. 28, 2021) – The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) today hailed the introduction of bipartisan legislation to create new opportunities for cattle producers and processors to market beef products. Introduced by U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R - At-Large, S.D.) and Henry Cuellar (D - 28th Dist., TX), the Direct Interstate Retail Exemption for Certain Transactions (DIRECT) Act of 2021 would allow retail quantities of meat processed under state-inspection to be sold…

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Meeting Protein Requirements When Protein is Expensive

Katie VanValin, Assistant Extension Professor, University of Kentucky One of the things that we know for certain is what goes up must come down, and in the agriculture industry the opposite is also true. For a whole host of reasons, we see fluctuations in all our commodity prices. In the beef industry, we can sometimes use this to our advantage to cheaply feed cattle, while other times we are forced to get out…

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