Beef production from conception to consumption is a complex, biological system where cause and effect are often distant in time and space. For example, things that occurred to a calf while it was developing inside of a cow, can impact that animal throughout its life all the way to harvest. This can make it challenging to identify and address the actual source of a problem when it is observed. To better understand and address the source of problems, consider asking the question “why?”
The annual Nebraska Women in Agriculture Conference will celebrate 35 years Feb. 20 and 21 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Kearney.
Workshops and presentations will offer tools and information to help women better manage risk, improve their farms and ranches and become more successful operators and business partners.
During the winter and spring of 2020, Nebraska Beef Extension Educators will host 7 beef profitability workshops in Eastern Nebraska to help beef producers evaluate their operations to make them more profitable through the latest research information. Topics will vary depending on the presenters at each location. These workshops have been held across Nebraska for the past sixteen years. The cost is $15.00 but may vary from location to location depending on local sponsorship. There will not be a meal unless otherwise stated.
Animal agriculture often endures criticism from our neighbors and consumers relative to sustainability. But when it comes to management of carbon and nutrients, animal agriculture has a positive story to share. Many environmental and sustainability organizations promote the importance of a “circular economy” for increasing sustainability. Farmers should help our neighbors and consumers recognize agriculture’s long term practice of implementing this circular economy.
Stories about manure often illustrate two opposing sentiments. Is manure a “Waste” that pollutes our water resources and creates undesirable nuisances for communities? Or, is manure a “Resource” that reduces the demand inorganic fertilizers and improves the health of our soils?
The past few months, we’ve been focusing quite a bit on the issues that can arise when hay gets a bit too wet: combustion, mold, and Maillard reactions. One often overlooked issue that can arise from wet hay is just the moisture itself.
Nebraska USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) is reminding livestock producers of an approaching deadline for the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP). Producers who filed a LIP Notice of Loss with FSA for livestock losses due to natural disaster in 2019 have until Monday, March 2, to supply appropriate supporting paperwork and complete the application for payment, if they haven’t done so already.
In this roundtable podcast, the veterinary team at the Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center discusses calving principles that producers can use to enhance their care and management of both cow and calf.
As winter progresses, winter nutrition and increased environmental stress on cows may concern many cow-calf producers. Winter nutritional management affects not only the profitability of a beef cowherd, but also the future performance of the cow and her offspring. With that in mind, building a nutritional program for a cow-calf system requires understanding nutritional requirements, knowing the “stress periods” that can happen, and knowing the quality and quantity of your forage resources.
This bull sale season, profit-minded cattle producers will utilize expected progeny differences (EPD) and economic selection indices when selecting their next group of bulls. These tools are far more accurate at predicting the average difference in offspring than visual appraisal or actual weights. This is beyond contestation.
