For many of us that have been around cattle the biggest risk is becoming complacent and not putting safety first. Agriculture is a dangerous occupation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and The Center for Disease Control regularly collect injury and death rate information and the numbers are alarming. From 2003 to 2007, there were on average 583 agriculture related deaths per year. In 2011 agriculture had 557 deaths. Transportation and construction had more deaths, but agriculture had the highest death rate at 24.4 deaths per 100,000 workers. As the graphs below indicate, farming is the most dangerous occupation compared to other industries.
Getting minerals into your cow herd: Provide your cows the nutrients they need
We’re excited to begin communicating with customers on the Block Blog! Our goal is to share timely information and to provide information to help you manage your livestock operation.
On these pages you’ll find information on nutrition related topics, strategies for improving animal performances and efficiencies, and methods for increasing profitability.
Injectable vs. oral mineral supplements
Lately, the question of the merits of injectable mineral supplementation has come up. Sometimes producers get conflicting information from their veterinarian vs. their feed supplier which can be very confusing. Let me take this opportunity to shed some light on this issue.
CRYSTALYX is the new normal
So What’s the New Normal?
Some may say what is normal, period? An average can be the mean of two extremes; I guess put another way it translates to volatility. The new normal in the feed and livestock business would probably be defined as higher costs/prices and ever increased volatility or price swings. This has definitely been the case in the past 4-5 years and one could write volumes on the reasons why; some are short term causes (drought) and others long term (market demand driven, political, etc...). These higher costs and values are basically the upward shift into a new level we see today and are likely here to stay. This volatility can create opportunity but can also pose great danger. Just ask anyone in the grain trading business.
