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LPC Award-winning newsletter

What is Normal?

Determination of normal animal welfare helps ensure correct measurements.

“I get so excited when my students finally realize that animals are not furry little people. Animals perceive things differently,” said Ed Pajor, professor of animal behavior and welfare at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. He added that too often we think of measuring animal welfare, but it is like health. You can measure attributes like heart rate and cholesterol, but not health as a whole. Welfare is similar.


Pajor spoke at the International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare in Manhattan, Kan., June 8-10. He shared part of the World Organisation for Animal Health’s (OIE) definition that says, “Animal welfare refers to the state of the animal; the treatment that an animal receives is covered by other terms such as animal care, animal husbandry and humane treatment.”


Animal welfare isn’t improved by putting new flooring in, Pajor explained. The animal not slipping improves animal welfare. Read more.


Chris Jeffcoat

Chris Jeffcoat

Association Perspective

Make an investment in your heifers.

The fall sale season is upon us, and many of you will be making an investment in bulls for your herd. As you will notice in sale books, the majority of farms having sales will have made an investment in their bulls through genomic testing to enhance the expected progeny differences (EPDs) and improve their accuracy. This provides you, the buyer, an enormous added value through a more accurate set of EPDs for your bulls.


As a commercial cattleman, GeneMax® Advantage™ testing for your heifers can provide you the next level of genomic information to improve your herd. GeneMax Advantage is a genomic test available for commercial Angus females that are 75% or greater black Angus. In the past, commercial heifer selection was done by the “eyeball test” and possibly weaning or yearling weights. However, by utilizing GeneMax Advantage, you can take advantage of genomic testing as another tool in the selection of heifers. Read more.


Leftover Grocery Produce Makes Great Cattle Feed

Unwanted fruits and vegetables avoid the landfill and find a place on the feed menu.

“We hate waste,” says Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer and grocery store chain in its 2016 Global Responsibility Report. In 2009, the company set a goal toward a zero waste future. By 2015, Wal-Mart U.S. was able to divert 82% of its materials away from landfills.


As a crucial piece in Wal-Mart’s sustainability puzzle, cattle have proven themselves once again. Leftover, damaged or undesirable fruit, vegetables and bakery items that can’t be donated to food banks are being delivered to feedbunks every day. Read more.


Corah Honored by Feeding Quality Forum

Seven years ago when Larry Corah suggested adding a people element to the Feeding Quality Forum (FQF) he helped launch in 2006, he certainly didn’t expect to be a recipient of the Industry Achievement Award one day. Now “mostly retired,” Corah was an easy choice for the FQF committee, which moved to honor one who served the beef community — from ranch to consumer — for more than 50 years.


He grew up in North Dakota in the 1950s, when technology was reshaping agriculture. Though his parents attended school only to the eighth grade, they never stopped learning on a farm that included a small feedlot. The family cooperated in many extension research trials to see how electricity, silage unloaders and hybrid seeds could make life better. Read more.


What’s Inside …

In this September edition of the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA, you'll find valuable articles devoted to the management, marketing, and health and nutrition of your beef enterprise. Select from the tabs at the top of the page to access this month’s entire offering by category. A few select features include:


News Briefs …

The American Angus Association and its subsidiaries generate a wealth of information to keep members and affiliates informed of what's happening within the industry, as well as with the programs and services they offer. Click here for easy access to the newsrooms of the American Angus Association and Certified Angus Beef LLC and the Angus Journal Daily archive available in the API Virtual Library.


Value in Good Stockmanship

Animal behavior specialists offers tips for improved cattle handling, welfare.

About 20% of people involved in the care and handling of beef cattle are “naturals.” Stockmanship comes easily for them, compared to the 70% of people who always seem to need supervision. The remaining 10% just should not be handling animals at all. Such was the opinion voiced by animal behavior specialist and Colorado State University Professor Temple Grandin during the fifth International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare June 8-10, 2016, in Manhattan, Kan.


“Actually, cattle handling has improved immensely since the ‘bad old days,’ ” allowed Grandin. “That’s good, because stockmanship matters.” Read more.


Your Health

Cellphones and Rural Roads Don’t Mix at Harvest

Missouri Extension specialist warns drivers to put down the cellphone during harvest season.

Fall harvest and texting do not mix, says University of Missouri (MU) Extension safety specialist Karen Funkenbusch. Turn your cellphone to TTYL (talk to you later).


Rural roads are full of hazards in the fall. Read more