Category: News Release

Small change$, big returns

Date: Nov 19 2012

Change doesn’t have to be dramatic and sweeping to make an impact. Bill Rishel, a registered Angus breeder from North Platte, Neb., says little gains in efficiency, functionality and carcass merit all add up.

Breed what you need

Date: Nov 08 2012

This is an era where you can customize virtually anything imaginable, from license plates and jewelry to M&Ms and burgers. As the beef industry moves forward, will customized breeding plans become more common?

The Prime directive

Date: Oct 25 2012

Breeding for high quality and retaining heifers over generations, Mike Kasten sees results. The Millersville, Mo., rancher has used artificial insemination (AI) for decades, finishing the progeny and collecting data.

Clean your plate wisely

Date: Oct 15 2012

If you’ve ever tossed leftovers or overripe fruit without considering tomorrow’s lunch or creative baking, you’re part of the problem. “We throw away 242 pounds of food per person per year,” said Brad Morgan, senior food safety and production efficiency specialist with Pfizer Animal Health.

Fewer cattle, more pressure

Date: Oct 05 2012

Getting cattle bought right. That’s normally a feeder’s first challenge, but today it’s just plain getting cattle.
“The total size of the cattle industry has been shrinking, and shrinking rather abruptly for the last couple of years,” said Mike Sands, Informa Economics vice president.

Exactly what feedyards want

Date: Oct 04 2012

Some cattle grow like weeds; some hit the high-grade targets. Some do both, some neither. That’s the way it goes in the world of commodity cattle. But cattle can be so much more, adding profit throughout the supply chain.

Uniform higher quality

Date: Oct 01 2012

Every auction barn study says the larger the group and the more uniform the cattle, the higher the premiums. Work from Arkansas to North Dakota proves it’s true on individual lots, but what of that logic when it’s applied to the nation’s cowherd?

Beef: bigger and bigger

Date: Sep 26 2012

Cattle feeders don’t like $7 or $8 corn, but they know what to do at those higher prices. Most of them feed cattle longer to heavier weights and sort them to market on a grid.
Maybe not all cattle feeders see it that way, but in the big picture, that’s what is happening, says Shawn Walter, president of Professional Cattle Consultants (PCC). He presented “How big can we go?” at last month’s Feeding Quality Forum in Grand Island, Neb., and Amarillo, Texas.

Stocker strategies affect value

Date: Sep 17 2012

Light at the end

Date: Sep 13 2012

Don’t expect corn values to get dramatically lower….this year.
Feeding Quality Forum attendees were probably not surprised to hear Dan Basse, Ag Resource Company, say that pricing inputs would be their top challenge in the last quarter of 2012. But the fact that those costs could normalize in the latter part of next year surely piqued their interest.