Beef Herd Health and Quality Assurance

The Many Shades of Cattle Lameness

Lameness in cattle is a commonly encountered condition stemming from pain in one or more limbs, impacting how an animal moves. Learn some of the obvious and subtle symptoms to check for when lameness is suspected in your animal.

Guidelines for Livestock Carcass Disposal in South Dakota

Everyone who works with animals tries their best to keep all animals alive. In turn, they also know there will always be normal mortality. Proper carcass disposal is crucial in preventing the spread of disease and protecting the environment.

Cattle Confinement Facilities: Management Considerations

Confinement barns provide some advantages to both the animals and caregivers compared to outside pens or pasture systems.

Let’s Talk BQA Assessments

Simply put, BQA assessments are a review of a farm or ranch by an assessor that helps managers benchmark their current level of cattle care and discover areas they may be able to improve.

Discussing the Dart Delivery Method for Treating Cattle

Cattle ranchers strive to minimize the stress of handling and disease on their animals. One way they can do this is by implementing remote delivery devices.

Challenges of Employee Turnover: Product quality and consistency

High employee turnover can lead to inconsistent animal production or potentially lower quality products, both meat and milk. How is this possible? Is it because cattle get accustomed to routines and the people who perform tasks in their home environment?

Keep Watch of Young Cows During Calving

Frequent observation of first-calf heifers and good recordkeeping around calving will give producers insight into which heifers are going to breed back and others that might need some extra care.

Capitalizing on Cow Costs: Part 2

In a previous article, ‘Capitalizing on Cow Costs’ reducing feed costs to improve cow efficiency was discussed. To continue the conversation, another area of cost reduction is in cull cows, bulls and calf death loss.

Preparing for Calving Season

Whether the calving season will start soon or is a few months away, it’s never a bad time to start preparing for the arrival of fresh calves on the ground. Here are some things to consider prior to the beginning of calving.

Managing Cow/Calf Pairs With Excess Spring Moisture

Flooding, blizzard conditions and excess snow can wreak havoc on livestock producers. While there is little one can do to stop the melting snow and rising waters, we can try to manage around the water by preparing alternative livestock and feeding areas.