1. Are there different strains of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Virus? Updated: November 04, 2011
2. What is the National Animal Identification System (NAIS)? Updated: October 19, 2011
3. What are the state regulations for interstate animal movement? Updated: October 19, 2011
4. How often should manure be sampled? Updated: August 31, 2011
5. My daughter loves animals and shows a lot of interest in becoming a vet. What kind of schooling and training does it take? Updated: August 02, 2011
6. Are foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks common? Updated: July 07, 2011
7. Can pregnant cows be dewormed? Updated: April 18, 2011
8. Sometimes the AI (artificial insemination) gun passes freely through a heifer's cervix; in other cases, it does not. It just meets a dead end. So in this case should I deposit semen just inside the cervix when the gun cannot pass through freely? Updated: April 18, 2011
9. What is CAF in pedigree of Angus bulls ? Updated: April 18, 2011
10. How long can I keep a bull, and at what age can a young bull start mating cows? Updated: April 18, 2011
11. How do I sample my manure, and where do I get it analyzed? Updated: April 15, 2011
12. A trustworthy friend is very interested in running 12 to 15 cow/calf pairs on the corn stalks after the corn has been harvested on my land, but I rent out the cropland to another party to whom I have spoken about this matter. My renter has no objections to my doing this, but he does reserve the right to do some fall minimum tillage, which may be somewhat of a limiting factor as to how efficiently the cows and calves can gain weight as they roam the field. I would provide the yard, the water, the last 70 days of feeding grain (to be supplied by my friend), the fencing (most of which is done already), and access to about 10 acres of grass, which is currently serving as a filter strip along a waterway that serves as the south boundary of the corn field. The cows and their fall-born calves would arrive in a week or two and would stay until sometime in early to mid-April. What would be a fair custom rate to charge for keeping his cows and calves? Note: I am currently keeping 42 ewes and one ram for another friend for $0.12/hd/day. Updated: March 02, 2011
13. We were unable to harvest johnsongrass before frost (some of it was 3 to 4 feet tall), but we were able to get it pretty dry before baling. Just wondering if there would be any danger in feeding johnsongrass hay to cattle. Updated: February 26, 2011
14. Is there a free-choice supplement to prevent grain overload in cattle grazing corn fields? Updated: February 23, 2011
15. We had a cow that had twin calves (bull and heifer) and were told that more than likely the heifer would be barren when grown. Is this true, and what are the chances of it happening? Updated: February 18, 2011
16. What would yardage be on a 800-pound calf with a projected ADG (average daily gain) of 2.7 pounds a day? Updated: February 18, 2011
17. Are plans available for building a calf-warming box? Updated: February 18, 2011
18. What is the benefit to the CAFO owner/operator of having an NPDES permit? Updated: February 11, 2011
19. We are looking for a cattle-safe, pre-emergent fertilizer to apply in December. Thistles and johnsongrass are taking over one of our pastures. Updated: February 08, 2011
20. I planted oats in mid-September for winter grazing. The oats are about 6 inches tall, but with the lack of moisture they are changing color and may start dying. Is it safe to graze the oats now, or is nitrate poisoning a possibility or some other problem? Also, a few grain sorghum stalks are left over from the previous crop. The frost killed them. Would it hurt the cattle to eat a few of them? Updated: February 08, 2011
21. How much do I charge for raising beef feeders if the customer pays all calves, feed, and hay costs? All I would provide would be the labor, water, and facility. The calves start at about 500 lb, and we would raise them to about 1200 lb. I was just wondering what to charge per head per day. Updated: February 08, 2011
22. What is the cost per year to feed a cow? Updated: February 08, 2011
23. I am looking for blueprints to build a calf creep feeder that feeds from both sides. Updated: February 08, 2011
24. What do I charge to raise replacement beef heifers for someone else? Updated: February 08, 2011
25. I believe that the rangeland cake I began feeding my pregnant cows is mixed wrong. Where can I have it tested? Updated: February 08, 2011
26. What are the pros and cons of feeding medicated meal to beef cattle? Updated: February 08, 2011
27. What type of grass should I plant if I want to graze cattle and occasionally bale hay? Updated: February 08, 2011
28. Have genetic engineers created a super cow that has muscles like a body builder? Updated: February 08, 2011
29. I have navel ill at epidemic proportions in my calves. My local vet has taken swab samples from the navel and had the lab analyze them. Nothing unusual was found. Can a vaccine be given to either the cow or the calf as a preventative? Also, what causes navel ill? I'm the only one having a problem with this in my area; none of my neighbors have it. In my herd, calves are all born strong and healthy. It appears that the navel cord is much larger in diameter than before I had this problem. Updated: January 21, 2011
30. I am trying to update my system of identification on my cow/calf herd. Presently, I have my older cows with a two-digit number (e.g., 49). Replacement heifers I have kept have the year they were born as a single digit in front of their dam's number (e.g., 249). When these heifers have calves, their birth year single digit will be added to the front (4249). As you can see, this tag number could get very long for a ear tag. Can you suggest another system of identification with ear tags? An insecticide tag is put in the other ear. Updated: January 17, 2011

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