“Grass fever” in the middle of winter? Feeders, feds trade higher
This winter’s long stretch of unseasonably warm weather has confused many spring plants and cattle buyers that could be sending up shoots way too early. The early-spring flowers are likely to get nipped by cold weather, but cattle buyers with a case of “grass fever” in the middle of winter seem unfazed by the fact that Ground Hog Day is still more than a week away. Despite continued negative margins and a relatively soft boxed beef market, packers turned aggressive late last week, driving cash fed cattle prices $2 to $4 per hundredweight higher. Southern feedyards sold cattle at … READ MORE
Protein, weight gain and body fat
Results of a recent study at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana indicate that excess calories, whether from low- or high-protein diets contribute to weight gain and body fat. However, protein levels appear to influence how the body metabolizes those calories, with people eating high-protein diets gaining more lean body mass and expending more energy. The study was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers recruited 25 people who lived as in-patients for 56 days, where they overate by about 1,000 calories per day. During the … READ MORE
6 million more cattle?
Supply and demand may seem like just concepts from a dusty book. But in today’s cattle market, those fundamentals govern profit and loss, and point toward the future. “Regardless of the commodity we talk about, the demand for it is going to determine long run supply,” says livestock economist Scott Brown, University of Missouri. He sees potential for significant expansion if more herds produce premium Choice or Prime beef. Amid a challenging global economy in the last five years, supply and demand highlighted differences within the beef category from the top to low end. Demand for … READ MORE
Pet Emergencies
What to Do and What to Look For In Pets Emergency Emergency pets typically present special challenges because underlying symptoms may not be evident for 24-48 hrs after initial presentation. What determines the outcome of pet emergency treatment are the severity of the primary illness or injury, the amount of fluid or blood lost, animal age, prior health problems, other associated conditions, time delay in instituting therapy, the volume and rate of fluid administration, and the choice of fluids. What to do and what to look for in pets Contacting the veterinary hospital near you should … READ MORE
