I am glad that now the FDA can focus on the issue at hand rather than litigation.   The Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision July 24 supporting the Food & Drug Administration's decision to pursue a collaborative stakeholder process to implement significant changes to...

There are a few hot-button issues that seem to be flash points in generating heated debate about the safety of our food supply. Perhaps one of the most volatile of those flash points is whether or not genetically engineered (GE) foods, often called genetically modified organism or GMOs, are...

Written by: Sandra Avant, ARS News Service Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are investigating methods to help beef cattle producers further improve genetic evaluations for routinely measured traits such as growth and calving ease. They are also targeting economically important...

While the long and often controversial effort to develop a national animal identification (ID) system may not be completely finalized yet, complying with animal ID and movement regulations is now the law of the land. And it has been for a while. U.S. cattle producers and their veterinarians...

The U.S. beef industry is confronted with a significant long-term decline in cattle numbers driven in part by record input costs and severe drought conditions in many major cattle-producing states. These recent challenges only add to the long-term issues the industry has faced, which include an...

The Food and Drug Administration released its National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) 2011 Executive Report this week, showing...

I found this short, but great article.  I do know that it works!As calving season approaches, think about how to make your job easier and potentially save more calves at calving. Calving season can be challenging for producers. Long hours, not enough labor, and Mother Nature are only a few...

Here's an interesting read.  I found this on the BovineVet website. Maintaining high levels of nutrition plays an important role in a cow's reproductive performance, but recent research from two separate studies indicates that nutritional management immediately following artificial...

I found this article interesting.  With IL attempting to have a referendum, it may help shed some light. Every dollar invested in the Beef Checkoff Program between 2006 and 2013 returned about $11.20 to the beef industry, according to a study by Dr. Harry Kaiser of Cornell University. "It...

FOLLOWING on the discovery of a genetic mutation in certain breeds of dairy cattle that links high milk production to infertility (Feedstuffs, Jan. 13), researchers in Germany reported another genetic defect linked to infertility in cattle. To verify the small anomaly that may have "...

Hello all.While I am not an authority on the whole antibiotic issue, I do try to keep abreast of pertinent research.  Here's an interesting one that I read that was on the Feedstuffs website.  (see the following url for the original posting:...

Hello all,I thought this is a rather important topic for cattlemen - parasite resistance to dewormers.  While I have provided programming to small ruminant producers about anthelmintic resistance, it is also an issue for cattlemen.  If we keep using dewormers indiscriminately, we may lose...

Maintaining healthy livestock can be achieved through knowledge of which chemical parameters affect nutritional status, the natural occurrence of chemicals, plus regional and seasonal variability of water quality, A.M. Dietrich of Virginia Tech explained here at the 2014 Joint Annual Meeting of the...

Hello all, I know several people called last week while I was out; however, I was at a conference in Mobile, Alabama.  The conference had several tours available, but of course I chose to attend "Where's the Beef?".  We toured the following facilities: 1.  Hastings Farm is located...

by Taking Stock Contributor By Anne Zinn, ASAS Communications A two-year study appearing in the October issue of the Journal of Animal Science examined the effects of frame size and time...

Every year I am asked to provide a information on feedstuffs to balance rations.  I found an article that has a link to a Table of 280 feedstuffs commonly used to feed cattle and sheep.Keep in mind though that feeds are not constant.  The best way to balance a diet is to have your...

Well the cool weather is over.  Many producers have told me that they were trying to catch up on hay production.  It definitely was a pleasant weekend; too bad it would not last through October!Even though we had a brief reprieve from the weather, keep in mind that it has been hot and...

For more than a century, a livestock disease mystery has stumped producers and veterinarians alike—how does bluetongue disease overwinter? The answer is the virus survives the winter by reproducing in the tiny midges that transmit it, report veterinary scientists at the University of California...

WITH farm-state members of Congress sounding the alarm over actions taken against small grain farms by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a top Department of Labor official said the intent, practice or policy of the agency...

While reading numerous articles about the beef industry, this one seemed rather interesting.  Curious as to what you think.The U.S. cattle industry needs to change the way it produces beef if it is to stay competitive in what has become a "ground beef nation,'' according to Don Close, an...