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Opinion: Beef breeding must aim for profitability

I was reading a blog post by Doug Ferguson of Beef Magazine recently when I stumbled upon a statement that will likely offend some friends of mine.

Ferguson wrote, “seed stock are cattle the industry needs; registered cattle chase the fads and show banners.”

This brings me to my question: are you investing in a seed stock operation and adding value to the cattle industry? Or are you investing in a registered cattle operation? We often get wrapped up in the fads created and desired in the show ring, but we are hurting the overall well-being of the industry by continuing to breed traits that either have no added benefit to our businesses’ annual profit or severely hinder that profit — not to mention if profit is even present in the business.

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Measuring Methane Emissions From Cattle with Unique Technologies

Video: Measuring Methane Emissions From Cattle with Unique Technologies

PhD Student Madison Kindberg, and Air Quality Specialist and Professor, Dr. Frank Mitloehner explain the unique Cattle Pen Enclosures and how they will capture emissions from cattle using state of the art technology. The enclosures are well equipped with one-way airflow fans, smart scales, and smart feeds that can tell you what an animal ate, when they ate and how much they ate. All enclosures are connected to one mobile air quality lab which uses gas monitors and analyzers to collect precision data. This data will be used to determine if an early-life methane reducing bolus can reduce emissions from cattle long-term.