Utilising Pasture Effectively

Stock management is as important for utilising pasture as grass management is for ensuring quality grazing, say beef consultants at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

Pasture Utilization
Pasture is an excellent low cost means of feeding livestock, but requires proper management of both the forage and the livestock. The forage must be managed to optimize growth, while the livestock

The Battle for California’s Ethanol Market

by Debra Fiakas CFA

For all the fuss, investors might think California’s ethanol market is another Gold Rush. The Midwest-based ethanol producers are up in arms over California’s attempt to set standards for renewable fuels sold in the state. My recent post, describes legal maneuverings by South Dakota-based ethanol producer Poet, LLC and others to block a ‘carbon intensity’ standard

The ‘Good Old Days’ Of Beef Production Are Gone

I love the good old days as much as anyone. In fact, I think life has never been so good, and I was never so knowledgeable, as when I was a senior in high school. I was the master of my universe.

This week, I took part in a conversation where it was argued that we would all be a lot better off without all thistechnology that pervades our life, and beef production, today. If we hadn’t improved

Closer look: Industry’s first multi-hybrid planter

Last week Raven gave media and dealers the very first look at a planter capable of switching seed hybrids on-the-go to match soil conditions. Raven says it is the first planter that can do this.
The multi-hybrid planter control system is built as an enhancement to Raven’s OmniRow planter control system that allows for variable rate seeding.
Raven worked with SDSU to set up the system

A Fresh Breath of Farm Air (Fresh Prince Parody)

Siete claves para lograr más maíz

En seis de siete factores, se concentra el 78 por ciento del manejo del “éxito final” en el cultivo del maíz. El séptimo, o sea el 22 por ciento, es el agua. En Estados Unidos se ha hecho esa identificación y nadie desconoce que se trata de la potencia maicera del planeta. ¿Por qué entonces no utilizar parámetros semejantes en la Argentina?

Al interrogante se lo plantearon los técnicos de

Food Fuels the Local Economy

West Virginia State Director Bobby Lewis and others visited Tucker County High School near Hambleton West Virginia as part of ARC’s tour through Appalachia. The group met with local educators and students to discuss the farm to school program; school, community and industry relationships; local farmers markets and greenhouse and high tunnel operation. While there, the group toured a high

El 70% en pérdidas de cosecha del maíz es por el cabezal

Numerosos estudios del INTA dejan en claro que el principal objetivo durante la cosecha de maíz debe focalizarse en lograr que el cabezal trabaje de la mejor manera posible. En Tucumán la cosecha de maíz avanza lentamente a medida que el cultivo termina su etapa de madurez comercial y las espigas empiezan a secarse y tienen una humedad adecuada para proceder a su recolección. Demostrado a partir

What to do With Open Cows?

Due to their costs implications, open cows need to be diagnosed early via a blood test, rectal palpatation or ultrasonography due to the expensive nature of keeping cows over replacing with a new heifer.
Only in certain instances is retaining an open cow an option, says University of Minnesota, Beef researcher, Allen Bridges.
Unfortunately, all beef producers have open (nonpregnant) cows at the

Nutrición animal para la longevidad de la vida humana

¿Alguna vez has imaginado que el pollo o las costillas de cerdo prevengan el cáncer? Son alimentos de consumo frecuente, pero carecemos de conocimiento acerca de la salud de los propios animales que ingerimos a diario. El dicho "eres lo que comes" nunca ha tenido mucho sentido, y las investigaciones se profundizan en el control sobre la dieta de los animales de carne y leche. Además de ser de

Giving Thanks to our Nation’s Dairy Industry

June is National Dairy Month; a time to thank our nation’s dairy farmers and businesses for all that they do. USDA Photo.
Cross posted from DairyGood.org:
Whether it’s cheese, milk, or yogurt, dairy products are a staple in the diets of Americans and people all over the world. June is National Dairy Month, a time when we honor our nation’s dairy producers and processors for making sure

NEW STUDY SHOWS WHAT DRIVES CONSUMERS' BEEF DEMANDS

A new study of the factors that drive beef demand finds that price, food safety and product quality are the top issues for consumers.One of the authors of the study, Kansas State University livestock marketing professor Dr. Ted Schroeder, concludes that food safety is the most important factor and one that the industry can positively influence."We know that we have issues surrounding bacterial

Management considerations when limit feeding cow/calf pairs

Drought continues to plague most of Nebraska. Due to the ongoing drought conditions, residual forage, soil moisture, hay production, and 2013 grass growth continue to be severely limited. In order to reduce grazing pressure and delay pasture turn out as long as possible many producers are considering limit feeding cow/calf pairs in confinement. This can be a viable option but there are several

Russia's Floating Nuclear Power Plants Will Power Remote Areas

BY DHIYA KURIAKOSE
From cruise ships to oil tankers to houseboats, there's always a way to design a boat to fit our needs. Now, Russia has another iteration to add to the list: a nuclear power plant.
That's right. The next nuclear power plant from Russia will float.
The ships, which are expected to be fully functional by 2016, are really more like barges that can be towed to and from different

Why Are Bio-based Technologies so Crucial to Society?

This is an interview with NNFCC Chief Executive and founder Dr Jeremy Tomkinson, originally published on the website Climate Action, which was launched by the Sustainable Development International and the United Nations Environment Programme to assist businesses and governments reduce their carbon footprint.






As the founder of the NNFCC, could you let us know what was behind your

Prevención es inversión, curación es gasto

Es muy común encontrarnos con colegas ganaderos que muy poca atención le ponemos a los programas sanitarios de nuestro hato.

Hay muchos programas realizados por costumbre más que por convicción, sin seguir verdaderos parámetros y recomendaciones con programaciones sanitarias proyectadas a tener mejoramiento continuo de la salud de nuestra ganadería

Hoy en día en nuestro país tenemos un gran

What more should a smart phone do?

There are times technogeeks just bore me. For example, about a month ago Yahoo retooled its photo site Flickr and offers a full terabyte of storage space for free. That's the ability to store pretty much every photo you can take in a lifetime and if you're selective at all you'll still have room left over.

Response from long-time Flickr users? "Who changed my website? Why did they have to do

Plows and Pitchforks/ Entre arados # 9

Plows and Pitchforks

Farm Bill



Republicans in the United States House of Representatives were able to pass a farm bill, but their version did not include a food stamp program, or funding for same. This action proves to the world that not only do House Republicans not understand historical agricultural policy; they do not understand where their food even comes from.



The Twentieth Century

Rinoneumonitis o aborto viral equino

La Rinoneumonitis Equina (RE) o aborto viral equino es una de las enfermedades de origen vírico más graves que pueden contraer nuestros caballos, sin menospreciar edad y categoría. Siendo de distribución mundial, esta enfermedad está categorizada en la lista B de la Organización Mundial de Salud Animal por sus siglas en inglés OIE. En dicha lista están aquellas enfermedades transmisibles

UNITED NATIONS CALLS FOR GLOBAL ACTION ON DROUGHT

Source: United Nations news releaseUnited Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for a collective global response to drought and a shift from crisis management to drought preparedness and resilience. He said the price for preparedness is minimal compared to the cost of disaster relief.Secretary-General Ban said droughts can be mitigated and called for the full implementation of the

Tecnologia aplicada al manejo de ganado

Es innegable que la tecnología nos hace la vida más fácil. Gracias a la informática hoy podemos enviar dinero a otras latitudes y pagar nuestras obligaciones desde la comodidad de nuestro hogar; podemos enviar y recibir información hacia y desde todo el planeta en cuestión de segundos. Todo ha cambiado: la medicina, el transporte, las comunicaciones pero cuando vemos lo que ocurre en el

How to grow beef demand

Price, food safety and product quality are the most important demand drivers on which the beef industry should focus to have the most compelling effects on beef demand in the long term. Other key drivers include health, nutrition, social aspects and sustainability.


So concludes “Beef Demand: Recent Determinants and Future Drivers,” a newly released study commissioned by the Beef Checkoff

Alternativas reproductivas para vacas lecheras

Existe gran interés en el desarrollo de procedimientos para manipular la actividad ovárica que regulen la ovulación y permitan que las hembras sean servidas a través de la inseminación artificial. En los bovinos, la manipulación del ciclo estral con el fin de inducir un estro ovulatorio en hembras anestricas y de sincronizar el estro en hembras ciclando, es un medio efectivo para acortar los

Changes in U.S.-Mexican cattle and beef trade

Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension


Mexico has long been a major beef industry trading partner with the U.S. in roles that have continually evolved into deeper and more integrated relationships. For many years, Mexico has been the major source of imported feeder cattle. U.S. beef exports to Mexico developed in the late 1990s and Mexico has been one of the top beef export

Summer grazing management can benefit cool-season pastures

Ohio State University Extension
Despite the summer sun, excessive heat and fewer rains typically associated with Ohio summers, producers can take steps to increase summertime productivity in pastures composed of grasses that typically grow best in cooler conditions, said a forage expert from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
To lessen the

Avoid Losses By Adapting to New Fluke Cycles

Farmers must understand that liver fluke cycles are changing if hefty production losses are to be avoided.
Prime fluke season used to be the November-December period but this has altered to January-March time, Oli Hodgkinson of Trefaldwyn Vets explained to a seminar at the recent Livestock Event at the NEC in Birmingham.
Mr Hodgkinson warned that this has made combatting Miracidium - the

Patentan un método para regar y fertilizar con purines de cerdo

El sistema permite reutilizar este tipo de residuos orgánicos procedentes de la orina y los excrementos porcinos, altamente contaminantes

Investigadores de la Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT) han patentado un nuevo método que permite a los ganaderos reutilizar con éxito los purines de cerdo como aguas de riego y fertilizantes. La investigación la han llevado a cabo desde el grupo de

British study links insecticide to changes in honeybee genes

Researchers at the University of Nottingham in England have shown that exposure to even minute amounts of an insecticide can cause the genes in honeybees to change.

As a result, bee larvae could have a lower probability of surviving to adulthood.
They published their report in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
The researchers, led by Reinhard Stoger, associate professor of epigenetics, studied

Grazing management impact on rangeland

Even with the spring moisture, soil moisture reserves remain limited on range and pastureland of western South Dakota said Roger Gates, SDSU Extension Rangeland Management Specialist.

"Spring moisture improved attitudes and potential pasture production in many areas. While the relief is welcome, soil moisture reserves remain limited and cool April and May temperatures suggest that total growing

Mitigating the Effects of Mycotoxins in Feed

Livestock farmers need to be aware of the numerous mycotoxins that could be found in feed and fodder and be prepared to take action against them.
This was the message from Alltech’s Graeme Smith to a seminar at the Livestock Event in Birmingham, last week.
Mr Smith said that because of disastrous harvest last year mycotoxin levels are at an all-time high.
“In monitoring by the HGCA, 97 per

Avicultura argentina: crecimiento y cooperación internacional

El 2 de julio de cada año se celebra el Día Nacional de la Avicultura en Argentina. Este año el sector avícola argentino celebra un año más de éxito, en el que también se ha trabajado más de cerca con otros países para resolver problemas comunes.
De acuerdo con el USDA, Argentina es actualmente el noveno país en la producción mundial de pollo y se prevé que será el cuarto mayor productor dentro

Reducing Losses Caused by Liver Fluke

Twenty per cent of cattle in the UK that were sent for slaughter last year had their livers condemned by inspectors because of damage caused by liver fluke.
However, the damage to the livers is not the only loss that could result because of liver fluke.
Beef cattle can show a reduced weight gain and dairy cattle lower yields.
In the UK, with recent wet and warm weather conditions there is

Four steps to achieving performance goals on the farm

Measuring, recording and posting performance data can enable the whole team to achieve improvements on the farm.


by Phil Durst,

Michigan State University Extension

The goal was healthy calves. The farm owners determined that one of the most important factors in improving calf health was making sure that a sufficient amount of high-quality colostrum was given to calves soon after birth.

Sustainable Intensification in Agriculture: How To Produce More

A policy known as sustainable intensification could help meet the challenges of increasing demands for food from a growing global population, argues a team of scientists in an article in the journal Science.

The goal of sustainable intensification is to increase food production from existing farmland says the article in the journal’s Policy Forum.
Lead authors Dr Tara Garnett and Professor

La Nueva Generación de Enzimas

Las enzimas exógenas son cada vez más utilizadas en dietas animales, en parte porque traen hoy una avalancha de evidencias basados en estudios de investigación, que aseguran la maximización de la digestibilidad de los ingredientes y consecuentemente lo mejor aprovechamiento de los nutrientes.

Investigaciones realizadas universidades de todo el mundo, muestran los beneficios de producir

Study: Hygiene a preharvest factor in spinach E. coli

Mike Hornick

The importance of worker hygiene for cutting the risk of pathogen contamination stretches back to the pre-harvest level, according to a new study of E. coli in spinach.
The study by researchers from Texas A&M and other universities was published in the July issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology. It’s based on sampling done at a dozen spinach farms in Texas and Colorado.

Una mirada al futuro de los agronegocios

¿Cómo alimentaremos a más de 3 mil millones de personas en los próximos 40 años?

Un artículo publicado en la última edición del “International Food and Agribusiness Management Association Review" ofrece una nueva plataforma para abordar esta pregunta. Los autores Aidan Connolly, Vicepresidente de Cuentas Corporativas de Alltech y Kate Connolly-Phillips, Centro del Sistema Global de Negocios,

Grazing Land Management Helps an Arkansas Farmer Reduce Effects of Extreme Drought

Dale Courtney (left) visits with Randolph County NRCS District Conservationist Adam Eades near an electric fence and tire tank watering facility about the resilience a good prescribed grazing program offers during a drought.
Cattle producers across Arkansas faced many challenges during the extreme drought of 2012. Luckily, grazing management strategies helped farmers like Randolph County’s

UPI adds UV protection to Devrinol herbicide

United Phosphorus Inc., Kings of Prussia, Pa., has launched a new formulation of Devrinol DF-XT 50 DF that doesn't break down as quickly in ultraviolet light.
The herbicide has been labeled and recommended for use on a variety of vegetables and fruits for decades.
In the past, the recommendations included preplant incorporation because of its UV light sensitivity, according to a university grower

Algas: un gran potencial para la producción sustentable

Las algas son los organismos de crecimiento más rápido existentes en la naturaleza. Algunos tipos de algas convierten grandes cantidades de dióxido de carbono en oxígeno, una característica que las hace especialmente interesantes en términos de conservación del medio ambiente. Cerca de 70% del oxígeno de nuestra atmósfera, es proveniente de las algas, cantidad superior a la producida por

Grants help fund UC research into lower-risk pest control

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has awarded grants to two University of California researchers to find lower-risk methods to control pests in specialty crops.

Shimat Joseph received a $302,542 grant to study root maggots in cole crops and how to control them yet reduce associated pesticide risks.
Lynn Epstein, UC Davis plant pathology professor, received a $153,289 grant to

Agroecology Program: Ag Research is More than Farming

Florida International University Agro-Ecology graduate student Thelma Velez, right, explains an agricultural research project to area high school students.
This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.
Some say careers in agriculture are a thing of the past, but

Educational efforts on Schmallenberg Virus

The baby lamb, but hours old, struggles to stand on its four spindly legs.
It wobbles. It staggers. It falls.
The lamb’s owner reaches down, snatches it up with both hands and sets it upright on the muddy ground.
“Watch,” Rob Cordery-Cotter says as he points to the video he shot during a two-week research trip to England this spring, “it’s going to fall again.”
Sure enough, the woolly mammal

RAVEN, BRING INTERNET ACCESS TO RURAL AND REMOTE AREAS OF THE WORLD

Raven Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: RAVN) today announced it is involved in a pilot project with Google designed to provide high-speed wireless Internet accessibility to rural, remote and underserved areas of the world.Google plans to use Raven-designed and developed high-tech balloons as part of its new project for balloon-powered Internet access, Project Loon.Raven Aerostar has been working for

3M rolls out fast salmonella test

3M Food Safety has introduced a new pathogen detection technology for salmonella.
St Paul, Minn.-based 3M Food Safety’s Petrifilm Salmonella Express System joins the company’s line of Petrifilm Plates, which are used by 91 of the top 100 U.S. food processing companies, according to a company release.

The Petrifilm Salmonella Express System provides a shorter time-to-result, more uniform results

Wagyu Beef Keeps Eye On Expansion

Wagyu Beef Keeps Eye On Expansion
20 June 2013


As demand for high quality beef continues to grow across Japan and Asia, the Wagyu beef industry is progressing to meet market opportunities.
This is not easy for a breed only produced in large volumes in Australia and the United States outside of its native Japan. Therefore, artificial insemination and embryo transfer play vital roles in

Ventajas y desventajas de los métodos de castración

ARTÍCULO TÉNICO.- Por Méd. Vet. Javier Confalonieri.- La cría en la explotación bovina tiene como principal objetivo obtener la mayor cantidad de terneros nacidos y destetados con el mejor peso y estado, mediante un adecuado manejo reproductivo y sanitario. En un sistema productivo de cría, un destete bien logrado, no constituye un epílogo sino el puente hacia la continuidad de una producción

Deep-sea Fishing in Europe: High Environmental Costs, Minimal Economic Dependence

The scale of economic dependence on deep-sea fisheries in Europe is low, according to new information presented by the European Commission during a Fisheries Committee debate in the European Parliament in Brussels.

Oceana values the contribution from the Commission, which further justifies measures that have been proposed for improving the sustainability of deep-sea fisheries in the North-East

The farm tech we take for granted?

Last week I got the chance for an early look at the new Genesis T8 tractor that we showed Farm Industry Newsreaders in depth in an online gallery. Last weekend I was explaining a bit of farm tech to my wife and it occurred to me that I just assume these days that some tech has to be there on a new piece of equipment.

The tech I'm thinking about is that end-row management system - they go by

La Agroecología como alternativa al paradigma de la agricultura convencional

Carlos Molina Medrano

Rebelión



Introducción
La agricultura mundial pasa por una crisis sin precedentes caracterizada por niveles récord de pobreza rural, hambre, migración, degradación ambiental; intensificada por los cambios climáticos y las crisis energética y financiera. Asegurar el alimento ya no es cuestión de dinero o de capacidad para producirlo, sino un problema estructural mucho

Cryosalus patenta un sistema que conserva la fruta hasta dos años

Este sistema pionero permite recuperar la textura, el sabor, el aspecto y el aroma originales de una pieza de fruta tras dos años de su recogida del árbol.



Esto es lo que ha hecho posible el innovador sistema español ?Hibernación? patentado por Cryosalus System, que consigue conservar las cualidades organolépticas de la fruta, manteniendo el nivel bacteriológico que tenía antes de su

Plows and Pitchforks # 8

Sustainability is the new ‘cool.’



June 29, 2013



By Matt Bernau



I was overcome by an urgent need to crawl inside my computer screen and yell at the author of the misguided opinions I was reading. Some white-paper study claimed that corn production is more ‘sustainable’ than in the past because corn producers are raising more bushels from less land.



The amount of land used to

Diversidad agrícola beneficia a ganaderos

La diversidad productiva que se ha venido desarrollando en los últimos años en el municipio beneficia al sector ganadero, pues permite contar con materia prima para elaborar pacas reduciendo costos de hasta un 30 por ciento y enfrentar mejor las carencias que existen durante la temporada de sequía, dijo Eliuth Arón Lizárraga Osuna.

El presidente de la Asociación Ganadera Local agregó que

Tips for efficient weaning of fall-born calves

Oklahoma State University Extension







Cattle producers weaning fall-born calves in mid to late June may want to employ fence-line weaning as a strategy to help reduce stress on the young animals.


“Solid data exists courtesy of California researchers who weaned calves with only a fence separating them for their dams, and compared them to calves that were weaned totally separate from their

GlobalVetLINK releases the new HealthLINK eCVI system

GlobalVetLINK , a leader in digital solutions for animal health, announces the release of the new HealthLINK® Digital Animal Health Certification System. After gathering customers’ feedback, GVL set out to further streamline the electronic Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (eCVI) process for veterinarians. The new system will help increase efficiency and reduce overall time spent creating

Is Stress Wreaking Havoc On Your Family Ranch?

Do you ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day? Yesterday was one of those days. After my husband got home from his day job, he had a list a mile long of things he wanted to get done before dark. He was in a hurry, he was stressed, and he was crabby about it.

“Mandy, we’ve got to bale up the hay I’ve cut before it rains. I’ve got to get this fence fixed, so we can move pairs to the

New GMO study with pigs is “hogwash”

A study published last week that aimed to expose the dangers of livestock eating genetically modified grain has failed to gain support from critics. Although the study claimed to be peer-reviewed, Mark Lynas, a British author, journalist and former anti-GM activist, exposed the many fallacies and errors in the study.


The new study focused on feeding pigs a diet of genetically modified grain.

Papaya seeds for parasite control

A University of Florida study suggests papaya seeds could serve as a natural dewormer in livestock. The trial, led by animal scientist Adegbola Adesogan, PhD, tested the material on goats, specifically targeting the barber’s pole worm.

The University of Florida news release notes that development of drug-resistance in parasites has become a significant problem in goats and other small ruminants

DUPONT PIONEER INTRODUCES PIONEER FIELD360 SELECT SOFTWARE

Source: DuPont Pioneer news release

DuPont Pioneer is bringing the next generation of powerful Web-based field management tools to growers with the introduction of Pioneer® Field360™ Select software. This new subscription service combines field-by-field data with real-time agronomic and weather information to help growers make informed management decisions.

"Pioneer Field360 Select software