In the last few days I’ve seen several interesting stories on different aspects of cattle cross my desk . The first is a story in Wired.com about how mathematicians have simulated the behavior of herds of cattle using a computer model. The story describes how the model is set up to include different sizes of cows and discusses how the model shows that herd behavior is driven by conflict between cows who eat fast and those who eat more slowly. You can read all the details at https://www.wired.com/story/cow-herds/.
The second is a story from the University of Florida Panhandle Ag Extension team showing that temperature has an effect on the health of calves as they are being conceived. The work showed that cows that are conceived in the winter cool months go on to produce more calves and milk than cows conceived in other seasons. You can read more about it at https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/phag/2017/06/23/dairy-cattle-conceived-in-winter-perform-better/.
The third story from Modern Farmer links the demise of the American pine nut industry to the designation of western lands as public range lands. Those delicious little morsels that grow in some western pines are now mostly imported from China, Russia or Afghanistan instead of being grown here in the US. You can read the story here.
