Fed Cattle
Following a New World screwworm assessment by USDA staff in Mexico and ongoing conversations between Secretary Rollins and the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture, USDA will start reopening the ports for cattle, bison and equine.
Increasing carcass size, global methane research and beef on dairy were some of the key topics discussed during the 2025 BIF Symposium.
Millions of pounds of ground beef are thrown away each year because of foreign material contamination. This is not just about isolated incidents but a widespread practice that needs immediate attention.
The total U.S. feedlot inventory on Jan. 1, 2025 was 14.297 million head, including 2.474 million head in feedlots with capacity less than 1,000 head.
Last year’s USDA Cattle Inventory Report showed the smallest cattle herd since 1951. With strong heifer prices and no strong signs of rebuilding underway, the Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor shows supplies may come in even lower than last year.
Outgoing USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack sent a letter to Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture acknowledging the progress made in reopening cattle trade between the two countries following the detection of New World Screwworm, but says more action is needed to resume trade.
Collaboration aimed at helping to reduce environmental impacts during beef production.
Ag tech startup MyAnIML and USDA find first-of-its-kind facial recognition technology successfully analyzes cattle muzzles to predict illness.
Blackshirt Feeders: Closing the Loop
The largest feedyard north of the Rio Grande is under construction allowing Blackshirt Feeders to combine data, technology and innovation in a closed loop aligning dairies and semen providers with the feedyard.
Kay Russo, DVM, Novonesis technical services manager for dairy and poultry, emphasized the situation is rapidly evolving and more clarity will come with time as researchers learn more.
As cattle are fed to heavier end points, the incidence of BCHF is increasing. The beef industry is stepping up to help producers and veterinarians make production and selection decisions to reduce the occurrence of BCHF.
Each of the pathogens exhibits slightly different clinical signs and often at different times.
The feedlot inventory as a percentage of the total inventory has increased over time, and the declining number of feeder cattle means there are not sufficient feeder cattle to maintain feedlot inventories this year.
Bovine lameness is one of the costliest animal health issues to the beef industry and it’s also a major animal welfare concern that we can mitigate.
Production Animal Consultation (PAC) will host two beef industry summits in April, allowing people from the beef industry to gather and exchange ideas.
Following last month’s blizzard, warmer temperatures and recent rains have created muddy feedlot conditions that present challenges for cattle and cowboys. Nebraska extension offers these strategies to cope.
Oklahoma State’s Derrell Peel points out with the U.S. beef cow herd the smallest since 1961 and the all cattle inventory the lowest since 1951, it’s setting the cattle market up for higher highs.
UNL Feedlot Extension has organized an online discussion for noon (CST) Monday, Feb. 5 to talk with cattle producers about the challenges they’re facing in dealing with the muddy conditions.
The first system to make feeding recommendations via artificial intelligence (AI) and machine vision has been announced by Precision Livestock Technologies.
Technology and robust data management will allow more cattlemen and smaller processors access to USDA graders to remotely assign official quality grades for beef carcasses, providing an opportunity to increase value.
Four grants have been awarded by ICASA totaling roughly $1.15 million to identify why liver abscesses occur and develop diagnostic tools to enable informed decision-making to treat the condition.
Using cutting-edge artificial intelligence and sensor technologies, Oklahoma State University researchers have embarked on a groundbreaking project aimed at studying stress in cattle.
Despite ever smaller feeder cattle supplies, feedlot inventories have temporarily halted the slow decline of the last year with the September surge in placements.
Prices for day-old beef-X-dairy (BXD) calves are often surprisingly high. But what used to be a highly discounted after-thought (straight dairy calves) is rapidly transforming into a meaningful source of production.
Congestive heart failure is estimated to cause 4% of feedlot mortality causing significant economic losses to feedlots as the majority of these deaths occur late in the finishing period.
Last week I learned I’m a 12-percenter, and if you’re a Drovers reader it is likely you are a 12-percenter, too. That’s not good, at least according to those who would regulate our dietary choices.
The sharp increase in feeder cattle prices this year represents a growing market incentive for the beef cattle industry to transition from liquidation to expansion, but it does not appear the industry is responding yet.