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Topics of Interest

Dealing with Drought

Resource for producers across the country who are affected by drought.


Country-of-Origin Labeling

Information about country-of-origin labeling, and what it means for cattlemen.


Angus International

A platform for global information sharing spanning the worldwide Angus industry.


Beef Cow Efficiency

Perhaps the greatest single factor affecting your profitability as a beef producer.


Body Condition Scoring

Use body condition scores (BCS) to improve herd nutrition and efficiency.

 

Feeding & Feedstuffs

Maximize pasture utilization and optimize feeding of harvested forages and supplements to
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August 20, 2009

Leonard Tucker
Quality Lessons

A life’s study culminates in this Kansas cow herd.

Leonard Tucker has spent most of his life as a student of the cattle industry — both in and out of the classroom.

His first lessons came from Roscoe Coberly's Gove County, Kan., ranch and feedlot, where his parents worked. Experience grew to include haying for a Nebraska producer during the summers and owning a few steers throughout his childhood and teenage years.

He now owns more than 450 cows with his wife, Judy, near their western Kansas hometown. Although Tucker has always been in the cattle business, he didn't start his cow herd until he purchased three loads of bred heifers 12 years ago.

He didn't take a 25-year hiatus from the industry, though. The gap between high school and becoming a cow-calf producer was filled with other learning opportunities. Read more.


What’s Inside …

The August Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA features several valuable articles, including specific sections devoted to management, marketing, and health and nutrition information. Select from the tabs above to access this month’s entire information-packed edition, a portion of which includes the following:

Strip-Grazing Cornstalks

Economic Comparisons for Heavy Cows — Considerations when buying replacement heifers or cows

Ranch Homework for Feedlot Partnerships — Find your "perfect" cattle-feeding counterpart

Antibiotic Residues in Distillers' Grains?

Is Pinkeye Stealing Your Beef Cattle Profits?

Controlling BVD Fetal Infection

If They Buy Cars, They Will Buy Beef

AngusSource® Grows, Expands Opportunities with Gateway


Understanding Accuracies

Expressed typically in units of measure for a trait, expected progeny differences (EPDs) allow us to quantify a measurable future progeny difference in calves from one sire compared to calves of another sire. However, sometimes we're so captivated by the EPDs and the minute differences among animals that we forget these values are expected to change on animals with low-accuracy numbers. Read more.


News Briefs …

USDA: Second-Largest Corn Crop Projected

Argentina Beef Prices Skyrocket

Senate Amendment Would Slash NAIS Funds

First Case of VS Detected in Texas

Cap-and-Trade and What it Means to Agriculture

NPPC Asks USDA To Save Pork Industry

USDA Launches Retooled Loan Assistance

Death Tax Legislation Introduced


Black Bonus

Producers have always known their genetic and management choices affect the bottom line. Now a North Dakota State University (NDSU) study quantifies how much some of those decisions are worth.

Greg Lardy, NDSU animal scientist, and his team recorded data from the sales of nearly 200,000 cattle in 18,178 lots by attending auctions in North Dakota, Montana and South Dakota.

Steers had the greatest premium, and lot size showed the next biggest profit center. Black groups sold at the highest prices in both seasons studied. Read more.


Andy Rest

Andy Rest

Association Perspective

It’s all about reputation and quality.

As I write this article in late July, I've just spent two and half days at the Northern Video Auction in Billings, Mont. Whether we were selling calves or yearlings, regardless of weight, the cattle that were bringing substantial premiums were from operations that had built a reputation for quality.

In these tougher times, order buyers and feeders are following their cattle through to the end point. They know how the cattle they buy perform and how much money they've made or lost. On the average, the feeders who paid a premium to own these high-quality cattle have come out ahead.
Read more.


Slump Continues for Beef, Pork Exports

The lingering global economic slump and low prices for domestic beef and pork products in key export markets contributed to declines in both U.S. beef and pork exports in June, while lamb exports continue to enjoy a strong year, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). Read more.


Angus Veteran Retires

American Angus Association Vice President of Industry Relations Jim Shirley retires after dedicating almost 25 years to Association members, their commercial customers and people in nearly every phase of production agriculture. Prior to his role as vice president of industry relations, Shirley spent a 19-year span as regional manager for South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska. Read more.


Survival Strategies

Farm families everywhere often face difficulties when making decisions regarding passing down the farm to the next generation. Agricultural experts point to an aging farm population, a lack of succession planning, and fewer heirs choosing farming as an occupation as threats to the long-term existence of family farming. Read more.


Consider All Evidence in Diet-Health Controversy

Award-winning science writer Gary Taubes has focused his writing on controversial science and questions current dietary dogma. For several years, Taubes has raised questions about the science pointing to dietary fat as a probable cause of heart disease and a major contributor to an obesity epidemic in America.

With regard to "conventional wisdom" about how diet affects our health and well-being, there appears to be room for healthy skepticism. Read more.


Virtual Library at Your Fingertips

Through the years, Angus Productions Inc. (API) has built a bank of information to assist Angus producers and their customers in producing and marketing their cattle, organizing their businesses, and getting the most out of American Angus Association programs and services. But while the information may be available at your fingertips online, sometimes it's not easy to know where to point those fingers.

This Virtual Library is intended to provide the hub for access to many of these resources. At www.api-virtuallibrary.com you'll find meeting coverage sites, valuable topic sites, and other links to daily news from API, Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) and the American Angus Association; upcoming sales and events; sale summaries; AngusSource® listings for feeders and replacement heifers; show reports available online; and the Angus Journal's monthly bonus features provided exclusively online.

Other Angus resources and access to contacts at the American Angus Association and its subsidiaries and affiliates are also available.

 

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