Livestock
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AgWeb posted an article this week on the impacts of the continuing California drought on dairies in the region. Competition for scarce water has led to fallowed crops and higher costs for irrigation. A shift to permanent crops like nut trees has also removed acreage once used to produce feed for dairy cattle. Dropping milk prices…
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The Waste to Worth conference begins today in Seattle. I’m expecting to see a good group of people interacting on a variety of topics related to animal agriculture and waste management. There will also be a track on livestock and climate at the conference. I’ll be there all week and hope to share some insights…
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AgWeb had a fascinating article recently that discussed one Michigan farmer’s response to stressful weather conditions on his herd of dairy cattle. He built a large barn modeled on a swine facility with a roof and slatted floor plus open sides which reduces temperature-related stress and respiratory problems and improves weight gain in his cows.…
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The Washington Post posted an article yesterday discussing grass-fed beef and how production methods affect the balance of greenhouse gases like methane. Since cows produce methane as part of the digestion process, and methane can increase global warming by absorbing infrared radiation being given off from the Earth, this is an important question. But it…
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Researchers at the University of Georgia are working to develop an early warning system for bright green toxic algal blooms in Georgia lakes using social media platforms and cloud computing to crowdsource instances where further monitoring may be necessary. The project—known as CyanoTRACKER—will use Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to help identify localized blooms at lakes…
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This is the title of an article published this week by AgWeb on some research currently underway to understand beef production vulnerability to changes in climate over time. A team headed by Dr. Dan Devlin, an agronomy professor at Kansas State, is working on a five-year project to monitor beef cattle’s response to environmental factors…
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A recent article on Craftsmanship.net describes the work that is being done by California ranchers to improve carbon storage in the soil of his pastures using judicious application of compost to the land. This has often been discussed but no carefully calibrated studies to determine the effectiveness of the treatment have been performed. If the…