Livestock

Five Oklahoma farmers and ranchers share their stories the stories behind our food and why they love producing it.

The agriculture sector not only feeds and clothes the world, but the steady stream of goods and products fuels the United States and global economics.

An observation that has been made when turning cattle out on lush wheat pastures is that a transition occurs in which cattle may only maintain or even lose weight for a period of time.

Feral hogs can carry numerous diseases of importance to commercial livestock producers and human health. As the nation's feral hog population increases, so does the rate of exposure to infected hogs and potential for disease transmission.

As we strive to improve the beef operation over time, it's never too early to be thinking about the next calving season.

Cattle prices were once again favorable for most cow-calf enterprises throughout 2014. Yet, it was about this time last year that analysts were warning that our bubble was about to burst and prices would soon "level off" and possibly start to decline.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 28 percent of all calf deaths before weaning are due to birth-related problems. Therefore, managing females to calve with minimal difficulty is extremely important.

Forage365 brings to bear all of the Noble Research Institute's expertise in genetic research, plant breeding, economics and agriculture with the express purpose of doing what is considered improbable reducing the need to feed hay.

We have a tendency to balance winter rations for cows in two phases: non-lactating, in the middle third of pregnancy (dry); and then post-calving, in peak lactation (wet). Using nutritional requirements for the average weight of the cow herd, it's simple to come up with two feeding regimes; one for before calving and one for after calving.