Attendees were given some of the most current information in the beef cattle industry, with topics including mineral supplementation, cull cow marketing operations, feed efficiency, by-product feeds, pasture weed control, alternative pasture fertilization, pasture mole cricket control and forage studies. Attendees were given some of the most current information in the beef cattle industry, with topics including mineral supplementation, cull cow marketing operations, feed efficiency,...

With some 780 million people suffering from chronic hunger worldwide, and with 40 million people at risk of starvation on the African continent alone, it is ironic that the people with the power and financial resources to do something about it are feasting 21 times a week. With some 780 million people suffering from chronic hunger worldwide, and with 40 million people at risk of starvation on the African continent alone, it is ironic that the people with the power and financial resources...

In March, investigation into contaminated pet food focused on melamine (a substance used in plastics and fertilizer) as the toxin in wheat gluten causing the kidney problems. The most recent pet food recalls have been undertaken proactively, due to association with involved ingredients and suppliers, rather than as a result of complaints about animals that have consumed the food and become ill. The FDA is testing 100 percent of the wheat gluten, rice protein concentrate, corn gluten, corn...

In particular, high-protein crops like soybeans that are necessary feed for dairy cows are in short supply in some regions, forcing some companies to import them from as far away as China. Acreage of organic forage, such as hay and alfalfa, has grown 40 percent in the past two years, yet isn't keeping pace with demand. Under a federal rule, the farmers could feed their cows 20 percent conventional feed, which is less expensive, in the first nine months of operation. They make up only a...

Thick grass dotted with bright yellow wildflowers stands next to hay fields waving knee-high on the verge of breaking into heavy purple alfalfa blossoms. Christman's looking at 1.5 to 2 tons of hay an acre, way better than last year when in places there wasn't enough to make it worth firing up the baler. He's figuring on twice the quantity he cut last year, when he had to put his bison out on his hay land because his grass was so poor. But cow men say it's just about perfect, knock on wood...