Skip to main content

The Cattle Blog 2017

COOL for Each State?!

This is an interesting twist on the COOL situation.  As most people know COOL was deemed "illegal" (for the lack of a better term at the moment) by the World Trade Organization.  I read these on the MeatingPlace website. State to consider country-of-origin labeling 2/1/...
Finish this story

Pink slime development

Does anyone remember the pink slime issue that occurred around 2011-2012?  I had completely forgotten about it.  However, I just read that the suit brought against American Broadcasting Companies Inc. (ABC) by Beef Products Inc. (BPI) will proceed to trial.  South Dakota circuit...
Finish this story

Watch for lice this winter

Wintertime is high time for lice infestations. If you see evidence of scratching or rubbing, the time to act is now. Livestock producers at one time or another have had a lice infestation in the herd.  When lice populations are heavy enough to cause cattle to be visibly scratching, it is...
Finish this story

Beef Resource Guide

As we all know there are a myriad of rules out there; local, state, and federal.  I think I heard somewhere that every American breaks multiple laws each day because they are simply not aware of them!  Several groups in IL - IL Beef Association, IL Farm Bureau, IL Milk Producers Assoc,...
Finish this story

It is an interesting time to produce beef

As you may know I like to read from various (and numerous) outlets. Let's just say the news lately has been rather interesting.  Here's a synopsis of what is out there - which may have a huge impact on beef production in the US. U.S. halts Brazilian fresh beef imports due to safety...
Finish this story

Cattle industry still in expansion mode

With all the information out there and lack of key data, especially from the USDA, makes forecasting the cattle industry very daunting.  The USDA released its comprehensive Cattle report, which includes survey-based estimates of the all cattle and calves inventory, the calf crop, beef and...
Finish this story

It's all about the facilities

As many of the producers that I visit and speak to, the one critical aspect of owning cattle is great handling facilities.  The appropriate facilities are advantageous in numerous ways.  I will outline two of them briefly here. Safety - This is probably the biggest...
Finish this story

What pigs eat matters to millennials

All right before someone throws the gauntlet at me for reporting a pork article, one just needs to read to the end.  The lack of knowledge about food production is rampant in our society - too few are actually involved in agriculture now.  Also unfortunately, some of those lacking basic...
Finish this story