Livestock and Forages News Articles
Articles published in Arkansas Cattle Business
Animal Science: Today and Tomorrow - March 2006
National Speaker at Batesville Field Day
On April 18, 2006, the Livestock and Forestry Branch Station at Batesville
will host a nationally known speaker and one of the foremost authorities on
cattle marketing. Dr. Bill Mies serves as Vice President of National Accounts
for eMerge Interactive. Before joining eMerge, he was Assistant Vice President
for Supply for Future Beef Operations, a pre-packaged beef processor. From 1987
to 2001, he was Professor of Animal Science at Texas A&M University, and
from 1985 to 1987, he served as Vice President of Operations at Alta Verde Industries.
Before that, from 1981 to 1985, he was Assistant General Manager of the feedlot
division of Friona Industries. He began his career in 1970 at Dow Chemical Company.
Dr. Mies has been Technical Advisor to the Beef Quality Assurance Task Force
of the National Cattlemen’s Association and has served on various boards,
including the National Livestock and Meat Board and Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
Dr. Mies will address how cattle could/should be marketed in Arkansas in the
future. Additional speakers at the Batesville Field Day are Dr. Ken Coffey,
Professor; Dr. Paul Beck, Assistant Professor; and Dr. Tom Troxel, Professor and Extension Section Leader, all from
the Department of Animal Science, University of Arkansas.
Other topics that will be addressed are making fescue work for you using what
you already have, novel endophyte fescue varieties compared to small grain annual
forages, timing of vaccination for incoming stocker cattle and factors affecting
the selling price of calves sold in Arkansas livestock auctions. The program
begins at 9:30 a.m. and concludes at 2:30 p.m. Lunch will be provided. For additional
details, contact Mr. Don Hubbell at 870-793-7432.
United States Animal Health Report
The USDA published the first report on the status on animal health in the United
States (www.ahpis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/2004_us_animal_health_report.pdf). The report
addresses animal health issues related to cattle and calves (beef and dairy),
hogs, sheep and goats, poultry, equine, fish and other aquaculture products,
and honey production.
Brucellosis – The brucellosis eradication program is based on active
surveillance of cattle and bison herds by states. Each state must test at least
95% of test-eligible cattle going to slaughter, with at least 90% traceback
of any animals that respond positively to testing and successful case closure
on at least 95% of these tracebacks. The only known focus of Brucella abortus
infection left in the nation is in bison and elk in Yellowstone. APHIS is cooperating
with state and federal agencies to implement a bison management plan that will
maintain a wild, free-ranging bison population while minimizing the risk of
transmitting brucellosis from bison to domestic cattle on public and private
lands in Montana adjacent to Yellowstone National Park.
Johne’s disease in cattle – Forty-three states participate fully
in the Voluntary Bovine Johne’s Disease Control program. More than 970
herds have been enrolled in the test-negative component of the program. More
than 6,100 herds have enrolled in the Johne’s disease control program.
BSE – The United States has had an active surveillance program for BSE
since May 1990. Because clinical BSE takes years to develop after exposure and
cannot be detected until shortly before clinical signs are apparent, older animals
were targeted for testing. The original goal of this program was to test a minimum
of 268,500 cattle from this targeted high-risk population. To date, over 500,000
head of cattle have been tested.
Cattle Tick Program – In place since 1943, the cattle tick program is
designed to identify tick incursion, eradicate ticks, and prevent their spread.
To prevent the introduction of cattle ticks into the United States, horseback
patrols near the U.S.-Mexican border apprehend stray cattle and horses. In FY
2004, APHIS apprehended 60 stray and smuggled animals (16 cattle and 44 horses)
from Mexico, 21 of which were infested with cattle ticks.
Screwworm Eradication – The goal to eradicate screwworms in the US, Mexico,
and Central America has been accomplished.
Arkansas Steer Feedout Update
The warm and dry weather has created some optimum conditions for good gains
for the calves in the Steer Feedout Program. However, the warm, dry weather
has also contributed to more dust and a higher incidence of respiratory problems,
which has hurt gains and increased medicine costs. One calf died at the end
of December. The calves seem to be past sickness problems and are gaining well
now. The steers were re-implanted with Revalor-S implant and weighed at the
first of the year. The group average daily gain was just over three pounds.
The calves are eating well, so hopefully those gains will improve over the last
half of the feeding period. Producers participating in this year's Steer Feedout
who are interested in traveling to the feedyard to view the cattle should contact
their county Extension agents to make arrangements.
Beef Improvement Federation Annual Meeting
The 38th annual Beef Improvement Federation Research Symposium and Annual Meeting
will be held at the Pearl River Resort in Choctaw, Mississippi on April 18-21.
It has been a long time since this meeting has been in this area and is an excellent
educational meeting for those interested in the newest genetics, EPDs and ultrasound
information. For more information on this meeting, go to the BIF website at
www.beefimprovement.org.
By: Dr. Keith Lusby and Dr. Tom Troxel
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