Purdue's Beef Blog
This blog was created by the Purdue Beef Team as an educational forum for beef producers and Extension educators. It includes timely news, issues, and management tips that have the potential to affect the beef business and decision-making process. Opinions expressed in the news clips do not necessarily represent those of Purdue University or the beef industry.
Updated: 20 hours 5 min ago
Stopping cheaters in the show ring
Stopping cheaters in the show ring
JIM SPENCER
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Big money tempts some livestock exhibitors to defy the rules. But State Fair sleuths know how to trip them up.
The State Fair Market Beef Grand Champion looked like a 1,305-pound stuffed toy. His thick black coat, preserved by a summer spent lounging in an air-conditioned room, fit like a plush velvet robe. His leg hair, teased and doused with adhesive, shone with freshly sprayed black paint.
Cloned Steer Wins State Fair
ND Ag Dept program verifies age, source of beef; officials say will help marketing
ND Ag Dept program verifies age, source of beef; officials say will help marketing
Canadian Business
North Dakota’s Agriculture Department is offering ranchers a voluntary registry they can use to prove the age and birthplace of their livestock.
Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring says some countries, including South Korea and Japan, require age and source verification of imported beef. Goehring says there’s also some demand among American beef consumers for the information.
R-CALF CEO Defends Invitation
R-CALF CEO Defends Invitation
Hoosier AG Today
R-CALF USA is defending its right to issue what it calls an open invitation to U.S. livestock producers and rural Americans to participate in the recent Livestock Marketing Workshop held by USDA and the Department of Justice at Colorado State University.
Future of range-fed beef in consumers’ hands
Future of range-fed beef in consumers’ hands
Ari LeVaux
The Outpost
Arapaho Ranch produces the kind of beef your inner cowboy wants to eat. With 595,000-acres sprawling across Wyoming’s wild and rugged Owl Mountains, the ranch is home to native grasses, wolves, mountain lions, and grizzlies. The cattle are herded by Indian cowboys, each with his own fleet of seven horses – one for each day of the week.
Beef 706 gives cattle producers inside look at production process
Beef 706 gives cattle producers inside look at production process
Blair Fannin
Seldom does a cattle producer get an inside look at how their calves are processed and shipped to the retail meat case.
However, a group of producers recently got that unique opportunity – and came away learning a lot more about what happens to their cattle once they leave the ranch – at the recent Beef 706 program.
Beef Cattle Producers Debate Proposed Federal Rule
Timing of Last Alfalfa Cutting Important
Timing of Last Alfalfa Cutting Important
KNEB
Alfalfa growers should consider the timing of their last cutting to allow for enough regrowth to reduce the risk of winter injury. David Miller, Pioneer alfalfa research director says – cutting from September 10 to October 1 in most northern climates rarely allows the crop enough regrowth time.
Putting Weight Back On Cows After a Hard Summer
Them Against Us—Part III Have They Lost Their Minds?
Them Against Us—Part III Have They Lost Their Minds?
Wes Ishmael
Cattle Today
Part III in a Series
High yield agriculture has enabled more people to live without hunger while using less land.
High yield agriculture, according to its critics, is also responsible for everything from Amazon deforestation, to increased global warming, to an untenable breakdown of societal relationships.
NCBA at Odds With Partnership
NCBA at Odds With Partnership
Hoosier AG Today
The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund and Food and Water Watch are joining forces to support the Department of Agriculture’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration’s proposed rule on livestock marketing. Representatives of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association are questioning the partnership between the animal rights and environmental activist groups.
Follow Criteria for Operating Farm as a Business
Follow Criteria for Operating Farm as a Business
John Alan Cohan, Attorney at Law
Cattle Today
In hobby loss audits, the IRS sometimes views various types of ranching activities as a means of generating tax losses, rather than a profit-oriented venture. That was the issue in the Tax Court case, Ralph Wesinger, Jr., v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue [T.C. Memo 1999-372].
Hoof Anatomy, Care and Management in Livestock
Hoof Anatomy, Care and Management in Livestock
Kate Hepworth, Animal Sciences Student; Dr. Michael Neary, Extension Animal Scientist; Dr. Simon Kenyon, Extension Veterinarian, Purdue University
The hoof is an extremely important structure in an animal’s body. Although an animal with hoof problems may be able to function, chances are that optimal animal production and performance will be reduced depending upon the severity of the problem.
National Western Stock Show CEO Stepping Down
National Western Stock Show CEO Stepping Down
KNEB
After nearly two decades with the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver, Colo. the head wrangler is stepping down. National Western Stock Show President and CEO Pat Grant has announced he will be stepping away from the day to day responsibilities of running the stock show.
Secrets to Success in Video Auctions
Secrets to Success in Video Auctions
Victoria G. Myers
Progressive Farmer
Joe Lichtie remembers Superior Livestock’s first live video auction. It was 1987, at the Western Stock Show and some 20,000 head changed hands that day. "All the big players were there," recalls Lichtie. "They all sat there, bidding, watching the sale. But when we left the sale barn that day, 85% of the cattle had been sold over the phone to someone not physically at the sale. They had watched the animals on a satellite broadcast. That really opened some eyes."
No Michigan state fair this year
No Michigan state fair this year
WAAF
COREY WILLIAMS
This year, he and his family are home after Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm canceled the fair, saying debt-ridden Michigan could no longer afford to subsidize it. Granholm’s decision makes Michigan the only Midwestern state and one of few nationwide without a state fair.
Bread and butter: Ex-vegan challenges plant-based diets at farm talk, dinner
Bread and butter: Ex-vegan challenges plant-based diets at farm talk, dinner
Anna Haight
Marin Independent Journal
Tara Smith knows that Lierre Keith is a renegade and somewhat controversial.
The author of "The Vegetarian Myth" and former vegan was pummeled with chili pepper-laced pies at a San Francisco book fair this past March for her views – that a plant-based diet will not be healthy.
Activists Say State Board Not Doing Enough To Protect Animals
The Strains On Calf Supply Are Long-Term
The Strains On Calf Supply Are Long-Term
BEEF Magazine
It’s no secret that cattle supplies continue to dwindle with no end in sight – July’s beef-cow numbers and heifers retained for replacement were both down 2%. But midyear baseline projections from the Food and Agricultural Policy Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri forecasts another 800,000 or so beef cows will be liquidated or not replaced by Jan. 1, 2013
