– Matthew Diersen, Risk & Business Management Specialist, Ness School of Management & Economics, South Dakota State University The May Cattle on Feed report released last week showed a lower level on feed compared to a year earlier. Despite wide ranges of trade estimates for placements and marketings, once averaged together they were close to [...]

– Dr. Kenny Burdine, Livestock Marketing Specialist, University of Kentucky Through the week, market reports consistently spoke of price improvement in Kentucky cattle markets. The combination of increasing slaughter at the national level and gradual reopening of the foodservice sector continues to slowly lead to improved prices for fed cattle. And, that general positive tone [...]

– Jason Hartschuh, OSU Extension Crawford County, AgNR Educator (previously published in Progressive Forage on-line) I was recently talking to one of my local farmers who uses precision agriculture to manage his corn and soybean crops. His combine, sprayer and planter are all connected to the cloud, and he uses the data from the last [...]

Have you ever wondered exactly what the ‘cut out’ is? Recently, agricultural economists from across the Southern Region came together to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted meat markets. In this 11 minute conversation, they discuss supply and demand, and explain how it’s pushed beef ‘cut out’ values to uncommon highs.

Dark cutters at harvest are the result of pre-harvest stress and the elevated pH in the muscle caused by that stress. In this excerpt from his presentation at the 2020 Ohio Beef Cattle Nutrition and Management School, Dr. Steve Boyles goes into detail about specific causes, and how dark cutters might be prevented.

– Dean Kreager, Licking County Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator (originally published in Farm and Dairy) There is one pasture project that never seems to go away. That is controlling the multiflora rose. The plant was first introduced into the United States in 1866 to be used as a rootstock for grafting roses. About 70 [...]

– Josh Maples, Assistant Professor & Extension Economist, Department of Agricultural Economics, Mississippi State University The month-long rally in the Choice Boxed Beef Cutout Value (BBCV) peaked at $475.39 per cwt on May 12 last week according to the USDA National Daily Boxed Beef Cutout Report. By Friday, the BBCV was $434.32. This report includes [...]

– Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator Wayne County Like any resource, pastures respond to management.  Grazing offers economic benefits as compared to producing and feeding stored forages as livestock harvest the forage directly. Capture the benefits of grazing and set yourself up for success by using the 4-R’s to manage pastures.  We typically hear of the [...]

The past year has been one of the most volatile in the history of the beef industry. Cattle producers, consumers and industry decision makers have an opportunity to join university and industry professionals and learn more about the current issues causing this volatility in the cattle and beef industries through the Intersection of the Cattle [...]

– Mark Sulc, OSU Extension Forage Specialist Plants readily take up nitrates from the soil, even under colder conditions The recent cold and cloudy weather has raised the concern for higher nitrate levels in forages that could potentially be toxic to animals consuming those forages. It is true that any stress condition that slows plant [...]