cattle

The Agriculture Department seeks public comment on all aspects, from the size of the assessment to who will be in charge, of a separate beef checkoff program that it intends to create.

A lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco challenges FDA approval of several ractopamine-based animal drugs. The Humane Society of the United States, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the United Farm Workers union says...

Adding calcium oxide at a 1 percent blend rate to distillers dried grains (DDGs) makes it easier for cattle to digest the ethanol co-product, say Purdue researchers.

Beef will be in tight supply through 2015 and into 2016 but consumers may get a break from record prices with an increased volume of chicken, turkey and pork, said economist Chris Hurt of Purdue.

Bids for slaughter cattle hit a record $170 per 100 pounds last week amid limited supplies in Kansas, Texas, Nebraska and Colorado, says Beef Today. Cash prices were up $6 per 100 pounds on live cattle.

The number of feedlot cattle in the country, at 9.8 million head, is down 1 percent from last Sept 1, said USDA's Cattle on Feed report. The monthly report says 1.72 million head were put on feed during August, the lowest number for the month since 1996, Marketings during the month also were the lowest since 1996.

Cattle feeders are fattening 9.8 million head for slaughter, says USDA in its monthly Cattle on Feed report, 2 percent fewer than last Aug 1 and down from the July 1 figure of 10.1 million head.

Recurrent drought has combined with a smaller cattle inventory to begin shifting the cattle industry, centered in the southern and central Plains, to the north and east, says Meatingplace in a seven-part story, "Dry Age Beef."

The board that oversees the beef check-off program would lose three seats under a reapportionment proposed by USDA in the Federal Register.

Scientists at the University of Basel have identified a gene regulatory switch that was key to evolutionary adaption of limbs in ungulates, a category of animals that includes cattle and pigs. “The fossil record shows that all animals with four limbs originally had five toes (digits),” said Carol Wicking of the University of Queensland, who took part in the study. About 55 million years ago, ungulates developed an even number of toes, or in the case of cattle, cloven hooves.

A study of 20 heifers found "no noticeable detrimental effect on cattle health or well-being" from the feed supplement Zilmax to promote weight gain, says the University of Nebraska. Its researchers joined USDA scientists for the 26-day study. Drug maker Merck withdrew Zilmax from the market last year after reports of cattle appearing lame or having difficulty in standing.

Beef prices in the grocery store averaged a record $5.55 per lb in the first quarter of this year and are likely to remain strong through 2016, said Purdue economist Chris Hurt at farmdocdaily. The high beef prices will encourage poultry and pork output to grow rapidly during the period to offset the tight supplies of beef.

Dairy farmers, short on labor, are adopting the use of robotic milking stations that allow the cows to decide when it's milking time, instead of the two or three mass sessions that have been common for decades, says the New York Times.

In stern terms, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told his Brazilian counterpart that beef trade between the nations hinges on prompt reporting of cattle diseases, especially mad cow disease. Earlier this year, Brazil reported two cases of atypical mad cow disease two months after they occurred, while most nations report the findings within days.