Livestock
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There have been a lot of stories relating climate or weather to agriculture in the news lately. Here are some of the more interesting ones. Bloomberg: Drought Is the U.S. West’s Next Big Climate Disaster VSC News: South Florida Melon Growers Hope to Bounce Back Farm Progress: Winter weather affected cattle slaughter, calving VSC News:…
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Feeding cows a few ounces of seaweed daily could sharply reduce their contribution to climate change
A recent study comparing the methane output of cattle fed on different diets showed that feeding just a few ounces of red seaweed daily to cattle decreased their output of methane by 67%, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, according to The Conversation as quoted in Yahoo News. However, it also reduced…
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The University of Georgia CAES News Team posted a story this week on some recent research showing that cows that are kept free of heat stress produce more milk and enjoy a better quality of life. Cows can be kept more comfortable by a combination of misters and fans, which keep the heat stress low…
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Now that Texas is thawing out from its bitter cold blast, producers are starting to come to terms with what they have lost from the frost and snow as well as from loss of power and water. Here are several stories about agricultural losses in Texas and other parts of the central US from the…
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With all the cold weather in the central part of the country, it is no surprise that agriculture is taking a big hit in addition to all of problems that consumers are experiencing from loss of power, heat, and sometimes water. Here are a few of the stories I have read today. This is an…
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If you farm or graze low-lying pastures, you may have special management challenges that other producers do not have. I thought this story from the Farm Press about one livestock producer and how he manages his herd of cows on river bottom fields was really interesting. To get the cattle to move from lo-lying ground…
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Dairy cattle put off a lot of heat as they digest their food and produce milk, and in warm conditions, that can put them under stress. A new study in California that was published recently in Inside Climate News showed that a combination of fans and sprinkling that were run by decision-making tools to calculate…