Garth Ruff, Beef Cattle Field Specialist, OSU Extension (originally published in The Ohio Cattleman Early Fall, 2021 edition) Plan now to make the most of your spring calf crop While summer is winding down there is no shortage of things to keep a beef producer busy this time of year. Depending on the calving season of choice, we are either approaching fall calving or wrapping up the breeding season for some spring calving herds. There…
USDA is announcing it intends to make significant investments to expand processing capacity and increase competition in meat and poultry processing to make agricultural markets more accessible, fair, competitive, and resilient for American farmers and ranchers. This is one of several key steps that USDA will take to increase competition in agricultural markets, pursuant to President Biden’s Executive Order on promoting competition and as part of USDA efforts to build a more resilient…
First Friday speaker says more than 148,000 have joined the effort MANHATTAN, Kan. – Rick McNary thought he had a great idea when he started an online group to connect America’s consumers to Kansas farm and ranch families. One year and more than 148,500 members later, it appears he was right. McNary is the founder of Shop Kansas Farms, a Facebook group that is helping to direct consumers across the country to buy locally grown…
Dean Kreager, Ohio State University Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Licking County (originally published in Ohio Farmer on-line) Teat or udder problems are just one reason for considering culling a cow. As cattle producers we often look at ways to improve our bottom line. Where can we profit the most from our production? Is it from sales of feeder calves, breeding stock, finished cattle, freezer beef or some combination? This decision may change…
By Donald Stotts STILLWATER, Okla. – The rising feedlot cost of gain in the southern Great Plains should have cattle producers considering economic opportunities for operations in forage-based stocker and backgrounding programs, said Oklahoma State University Extension experts. Cost of gain, or the expense of gaining a pound of livestock bodyweight, involves several critical factors such as feed costs, flesh condition, animal genetics, weather and cattle health. When grain prices rise and cost of gain…
By Brian Brus STILLWATER, Okla. – The agricultural industry has proven more resilient to pandemic disruptions than many had hoped, according to the latest market research by Oklahoma State University Extension experts. “The Oklahoma region is doing better than expected,” said Courtney Bir, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and OSU Extension specialist. “People are still concerned about travel, but they’re not so concerned about finding meat, milk, eggs and other food items at their local grocery…
Purdue’s Lusk was a featured speaker during K-State Cattlemen’s Day MANHATTAN, Kan. – A top analyst said recently that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused several changes in the beef industry, many of which could be here to stay. Jayson Lusk, Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, was a featured speaker during the 108th annual K-State Cattlemen’s Day. His talk focused on the impacts of the pandemic…
James Mitchell (University of Arkansas), Kenny Burdine (University of Kentucky), and Josh Maples (Mississippi State University) It is hard to imagine that we have been living with COVID for more than a year now. It seems like yesterday, and forever ago, all at the same time. Last week marked one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID a global pandemic. A year ago this Friday, the first stay-at-home order was placed in…
WASHINGTON (March 2, 2021) – Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) today introduced the Cattle Market Transparency Act in the U.S. Senate. If enacted, this legislation would direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Office of the Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish regional mandatory minimums for negotiated trade of fed cattle. It would also direct USDA to establish a library of cattle formula contracts, amend the definition of “cattle…
Dr. Kenny Burdine, Livestock Marketing Specialist, University of Kentucky Cattle slaughter got a lot of attention in 2020 as the sector raced to deal with labor challenges in the spring that greatly impacted processing volumes. At its lowest point, federally inspected cattle slaughter was down by more than one-third from 2019. But the processing industry showed a lot of resiliency through summer as slaughter levels picked back up, despite the challenges the pandemic…