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Beef cattle growth implants have long been seen as a cost-effective management practice by many in the business. But today's emphasis on more natural beef products can make the decision regarding whether or not to use implants a difficult one. (DTN/Progressive FArmer photo by Claire Vath)

Mixed Market Signals Cattlemen Left To Choose Premiums or Pounds in Implant Debate Mon Sep 6, 2010 08:31 AM CDT
Beef cattle implants, depending on who's doing the talking, are either the closest thing to a free ride a producer ever got, or they are an abysmal decision in an increasingly finicky market. The truth, as usual, falls somewhere in the middle, and depends to a large extent on the cattle operation.

At some point, we will need to get an animal identification system that provides 48-hour traceability. (DTN file photo by Katie Micik)

Letter From the Editor NAIS Is Dead But the Problem Lives Mon Sep 6, 2010 08:33 AM CDT
Feverish opposition doomed USDA's proposed National Animal Identification System, but the backup plan of 50 state systems isn't likely to provide the rapid traceability needed to head off the worst consequences of contagious animal diseases.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (left) and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack participated in the USDA-Department of Justice livestock competition meeting held in Fort Collins, Colo., last week. (DTN photo by Chris Clayton)

The Market's Fine Print GIPSA's Political Football Mon Sep 6, 2010 08:36 AM CDT
Both sides are claiming victory following last week's USDA-Department of Justice meeting in Fort Collins, Colo., but it's unlikely anything that was said at the hearing will move the ball very far down the field in the debate over competition in the livestock industry.

(DTN/Progressive Farmer photo by Claire Vath)

Ask the Vet Benefits of Clover Mon Sep 6, 2010 08:48 AM CDT
Is planting clover worth the hassle and expense?

Those groups willing to comment agreed that incidents such as salmonella-contaminated eggs and the recall of more than half a billion eggs tarnishes agriculture as a whole. (Photo courtesy of MSU Ag Communications)

Agvocates Lay Low on DeCoster

Groups Created to Tout Ag Aren't Willing to Denounce Egg Farm

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Mon Sep 6, 2010 08:45 AM CDT
Some of the agriculture advocacy groups created by various producer organizations and allied industries have opted not to discuss the 550-million egg recall and the large farm organization at the center of the federal health probe and possible criminal investigation.

Harrington's Sort & Cull

Have It Your Way, Brazil 9/3 6:21PM

It was not surprising to recently learn that Burger King was "in play," and only slightly more unexpected to see the troubled powerhouse sell to a private equity firm as early as Wednesday. Indeed, 3G Capital Management gobbled up the deal like it was the most delicious Whopper ever flame-broiled.

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Japanese Demographics and U.S. Beef 9/1 4:18PM

The U.S. faces two new challenges in growing Japanese beef demand: a falling birth rate in Japan, and a rising average life expectancy of Japanese citizens.

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Pork Processors Pooh-Pooh Politics 8/27 5:30PM

The weeks leading up to today's livestock competition meeting on the Colorado State campus constituted a rhetorical minefield. Much of the scatter bombing has been long on explosive power and short on precision targeting.

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The Cattle Dashboard 8/25 5:27PM

USDA's new "cattle dashboard" may be just what the doctor ordered for numbers junkies.

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