Husbandry

After deciding which cows to cull from a herd, feeding them for a couple months before sending them off to market can be profitable.
Researchers at Kansas State University have found that by putting cows on concentrated feed for 70 to 90 days before sending them to market producers can add enough value to the animal [...]

Composting beef cattle manure, even with minimal management, can significantly reduce the concentrations of antibiotics in the manure, according to an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) pilot study.
The scientists found that composting manure from beef cattle could reduce concentrations of antibiotics by more than 99 percent. Adding straw to manure piles tends to result in higher [...]

The same Global Positioning System (GPS) technology used to track vehicles is now being used to track cows.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) animal scientist Dean M. Anderson has taken tracking several steps further with a Walkman-like headset that enables him to “whisper” wireless commands to cows to control their movements across a landscape —- and even [...]

The addition of vitamin E to cattle’s feed appears to reduce the problem of off-color or off-flavor in steaks cut from beef cattle fed a diet heavy in wet distillers grains, according to University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) researchers
Wet distillers grains are an economical cattle feed in areas with a steady corn supply, but UNL researchers [...]

Dairy producers need to be cautious about how they respond to current feed costs challenges, according to University of Illinois Extension dairy specialist Mike Hutjens.
Decisions that appear on the surface to make sense may make things worse, such as removing feed additives because they add to feed costs; dropping expensive fuzzy cottonseed; adding five pounds [...]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has conditionally approved a new system for feedlot manure management.
In the new system, designed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, runoff containing manure solids enters temporary storage basins at the base of a sloped feedlot. The basin is large enough to hold [...]

Research suggests that rising carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere will hurt grazing, as woody vegetation flourishes at the expense of perennial forage grasses.
During the past 200 years, shrubs have expanded their reach into many of the world’s grasslands, reducing the amount and quality of forage available to livestock. Some scientists theorized that elevated [...]