Scientists from around the world came to Kansas State University’s Biosecurity Research Institute May 15-17 to take a global look at the highly contagious viral disease, African swine fever (ASF). The researchers assembled to give updates on research and in some cases, the status of ASF in their countries.

K-State Research and Extension and/or its Extension Master Gardeners are participating in the following area and statewide horticultural events, available to all interested persons. For more information about these, as well as more localized events, check with your local K-State Research and Extension office.

The renewal of support from Archer Daniels Midland Company in the amount of $10,000 has planted a seed for continued program enhancements for the Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership (KARL) Program.

K-State Research and Extension has named eight students as 2012 summer interns. The interns will assist extension agents and staff in planning and implementing educational programs for residents in Kansas counties and districts.

Beef industry youth have the opportunity to become certified in Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) online at no cost. The Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University has launched a Youth Animal Care Training program.

A Kansas State University veterinarian wants consumers to know that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s discovery of a sick cow in California shows that the meat inspection system in the United States works.

NBC Nightly News, March 16, 2009. The evening prime time newscast features a story about a business which was hit by the economic downturn – but instead of laying off employees, it kept them on the payroll and sent those employees out to work on projects for the community. The remarkable business which used this amazing strategy is found in rural Kansas. It’s the subject of today’s Kansas Profile.

Reflecting Kansas landowners’ complex and sometimes conflicting modern environment, the Kansas Forest Service has invited a host of partners to assist with a new kind of field day Thursday, May 10.

“Do you know where your trailer hitch was made? Should you care?” Those leading questions were found in an ad in a national magazine. The ad described the importance of using American-made products, such as the ones built by this particular company which is located in rural Kansas.

Given recent historic highs in cattle prices, it shouldn’t have been surprising to see values dip somewhat during March, but consumer response to news of lean, finely textured beef in the nation’s meat supply hit cattle and beef values harder than many could have anticipated, according to a Kansas State University agricultural economist.

A Kansas State University researcher’s work has shed new light on which of two genes present in many insect species should be targeted for new insecticides that will be safer for humans and the environment than those currently used.

Kansas State University’s Southeast Agricultural Research Center will host the 2012 Beef Cattle and Forage Crops Field Day at the center’s Mound Valley Unit on Thursday, May 3. The unit is located 2-1/2 miles west of Mound Valley on U.S. Highway 160 (formerly K-96 Highway), then ¼ mile south on Elk Road.

K-State livestock economist Glynn Tonsor provides this week's cattle market analysis:  he looks closer at the lean finely-textured beef issue and its short- and long-term influence on beef demand.
 

All dairy producers are seeking greater efficiencies in management.  And often, labor availability is an issue.  K-State dairy specialist Mike Brouk says the time may be ripe for dairy operations to look at robotic milking systems…especially, he says, the smaller dairies which are short on labor, but would like to boost milk production with an additional daily milking.

K-State veterinarian Mike Apley discusses a recent court decision affecting the regulation of antibiotic use in livestock production...he talks about what that means to the therapeutic use of antibiotics in cattle health management.

K-State cow-calf production specialist Bob Weaber talks about interpreting the various measures of feeding efficiency when making genetic decisions in cow-calf management.

Livestock disease scientist Scott McVey discusses two diseases of great concern to the cattle and sheep industries worldwide...and the research steps being taken to curb them, in the event they rise up in the United States.
 

A winter wheat update, and the latest edition of "Milk Lines."

Livestock economist Derrell Peel of Oklahoma State University remarks on prospective corn plantings, and discusses the market overtones of the lean finely-textured beef issue.

With the unusually early spring, stable flies are asserting themselves already in dairy facilities. And producers should already be enacting their selected fly control programs, according to dairy specialist Mike Brouk of K-State. This week, he goes over several approaches to suppressing stable fly activity and the herd health and productivity problems associated with it.

The Kansas State University Sheep and Goat Conference and trade show is planned for May 4-6, 2012 in Manhattan, with a registration deadline of April 15.

Two Kansas State University faculty received honors recently at the awards ceremony for the American Society of Animal Science and American Dairy Science Association Midwest Sections meeting in Des Moines, Iowa.

Guadalajara, Mexico. The Pan American Games. It is time to announce the outcome of the equestrian competitions. The results are in: Winning a team gold medal and individual silver medal in dressage is a remarkable rider who is originally from rural Kansas. Thanks to Purina’s Better Horses Network for this story idea for today’s Kansas Profile.

K-State animal scientist K.C. Olson talks about ongoing research into supplemental feeding of cattle, to encourage them to graze serecia lespedeza, as a possible means of suppressing that noxious weed...the supplement that is showing promise is corn steep liquor.

Market analyst Erica Rosa-Sanko of the Livestock Marketing Information Center provides the cattle market analysis this week:  she looks at the numbers from the latest USDA cattle-on-feed report, and addresses some confusion over the most recent beef export report from USDA.

A project to honor and celebrate Kansas’ vitally important beef industry proved to be the perfect gift for the man who has everything. Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University, explains how this gift supported the creation of the book titled 150 Years of Kansas Beef.

Milk prices are in a state of decline, which K-State dairy specialist Mike Brouk says will continue for a few more months yet, before they rebound. In the interim, dairy producers need to remain sharp with their market risk management approaches. Brouk offers some considerations on that this week.

Livestock economist Derrell Peel of Oklahoma State University offers his thoughts on the cattle market trends.

The demand for fluid milk for yogurt production has exploded, at least in one part of the country.  And it’s a trend that dairy producers everywhere, including here in the Central Plains, should watch closely, according to K-State dairy specialist Mike Brouk. He views this as a value-added marketing opportunity, which he discusses further this week.

K-State meat scientist John Gonzales comments on the issue over beef trimmings being used as an enhancement to ground beef...what the media refers to as pink slime...he explains what the material is, why it is sometimes added to ground beef, and dispels several untruths about it that are showing up in media reports.

K-State livestock economist Glynn Tonsor provides the weekly cattle market analysis:  he remarks on falloff in prices last week, and comments on the new long-term projections by USDA on beef production and consumption.

Once again, the Kansas dairy industry recorded another year of growth in 2011. K-State dairy specialist Mike Brouk has the full story this week. He lauds the progressive management skills of Kansas dairy producers in producing ever-higher quantities of top-quality milk and milk products.

A molecular biologist with the USDA Center for Grain and Animal Health Research in Manhattan, Dana Nayduch, talks about her research on arthropod insects which carry livestock diseases...searching for ways of scientifically disrupting the vector/disease cycle, in hopes of improved control of those diseases.

Meg Drake talks with K-State beef cattle researchers John Jaeger and Justin Waggoner about limit-feeding programs for cows and calves as an alternative to roughages...a topic they addressed at the 2012 Cattlemens Day at K-State last Friday.
 

The director of the Livestock Marketing Information Center, Jim Robb, supplies the analysis of the cattle markets this week:  he comments on new and encouraging U.S. beef export numbers, and talks about a new report on the net value of U.S. beef trade in 2011.

A multi-million dollar grant finds Kansas State University scientists joining researchers from around the nation in a coordinated, multipronged approach to improve the safety of beef. The effort will focus on ways to reduce the occurrence and public health risks from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, which results in more than 265-thousand infections in the United States each year. 

Spring is coming on fast, and alfalfa stands will soon green up. Correspondingly, insect activity will pick up in alfalfa fields, and dairy producers need to stay on top of that, according to K-State dairy specialist Mike Brook…especially in light of the higher value of alfalfa these days. He refers producers to a K-State handbook on alfalfa insect management, which among other things, features new guidelines on alfalfa weevil control.

K-State animal scientist Dave Nichols will announce that groundbreaking will soon take place for the new Stanley Stout Center for livestock marketing education at the university. The announcement is part of Cattlemens Day at K-State.

 

From the 99th annual Cattlemens Day at K-State...The president of Certified Angus Beef, Kansas native John Stitka, who will address the current demand for choice and prime beef in the domestic market.
 

From the 99th annual Cattlemens Day at K-State...Market analyst Mike Sands of Informa Economics, who will speak on declining cattle inventories amid excess feeding and packing capacity in the beef industry.
 

The business development coordinator for the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Heath Kohl, talks about efforts to recruit more dairy operations to western Kansas at the World Ag Expo in mid-February...this in conjunction with a western Kansas economic development alliance.

The assistant director for communications with the National Pork Board, Cindy Cunningham, talks about what hog producers, and livestock producers in general, need to do to portray their operations in a favorable light, in response to constant attacks by activist groups bent on eliminating animal agriculture...she was a featured speaker at the K-State Swine Profitability Conference.

K-State animal scientist Brian Faris looks ahead to the dedication of the new Sheep and Meat Goat Center at Kansas State, to take place this weekend...he talks about how this new facility will advance research in sheep and meat goat production and management.

K-State veterinarian Gregg Hanzlicek advises cow-calf producers on conducting a breeding soundness examination on bulls before spring turn-out, telling why putting bulls through that test well ahead of breeding time is a good idea.

K-State livestock economist Glynn Tonsor offers the cattle market analysis this week:  he goes over the USDA cattle-on-feed report released on Friday, and covers new information on excess feedlot capacity in the U.S.

The generally mild and dry winter has been a blessing for dairy producers, in that the bacteria that cause high somatic cell counts in milk production have been suppressed. Even so, K-State dairy specialist Mike Brouk is urging producers to stay vigilant against high counts in the bulk tank as the weather warms up and spring rains roll in. As he points out this week, there’s much to be gained in managing for lower somatic cell counts.

K-State Research and Extension and/or its Extension Master Gardeners are participating in the following area and statewide horticultural events, available to all interested persons. For more information about these, as well as more localized events, check with your local K-State Research and Extension office.

K-State Research and Extension and/or its Extension Master Gardeners are participating in the following area and statewide horticultural events, available to all interested persons. For more information about these, as well as more localized events, check with your local K-State Research and Extension office.