Livestock
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Drovers’ Newsletter posted a story about the impacts of droughts around the world in recent weeks on cattle production. Farmers are handling the water shortages differently in different places. For example, in Switzerland they are bringing in water by helicopter to deal with the worst drought since 1921. In other places farmers are culling cattle…
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Dairy Herd Management discussed the importance of keeping dairy cattle cool in a recent newsletter article here. Comfortable cows produce more milk and raise stronger, more productive calves. The article discusses ways to help provide cooler enclosures for cattle to reduce the effects of heat stress and how cooler cows are happier cows.
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Southeast Farm Press posted an interesting story this week about Brangus cattle that are currently being studied at the University of Florida. The cattle are better adapted to heat than other varieties, which makes them ideal for the warmer climate in the Southeast. They eat better and put on more weight, which improves their marketability.…
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While here in the Southeast we’ve had plenty of rain this year, out west is a different story. The drought in Texas and the Southwest has caused a lot of problems for livestock producers, including water supplies drying up and lack of food. You can read more about the impacts of the drought in Drovers’…
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With all the rain we have been having this summer, I have gotten numerous reports about farmers having trouble finding windows of time for their hay to dry. Kim Mullenix from Auburn University wrote a helpful article in Dairy Herd Management explaining how rain affects hay quality over time. You can read it here.
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Bloomberg News had a really interesting article this week which breaks down how land in the US is used. As you can imagine, a large portion of it goes towards agriculture, especially towards producing livestock. You can read the article and check out their maps here.
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If you are a livestock producer, Drovers Newsletter has published a very useful story on a new report which describes what you can do both to prepare for disasters before they occur and how to recover after a disaster occurs. Many of these disasters are, of course, weather-related. You can read the story here.