Here's our story today on the decision by food processing giant Tyson Foods to suspend the purchase of cattle finished on the beta agonist Zilmax.

Starting Sept. 6 one of the country’s largest meatpacking companies will not buy cattle that has finished on the beta agonist zilpaterol, known by the brand name Zilmax.

Another story highlighting cattle rustling, this one from Oklahoma, and the suspect is a former district judge. Craig Key, 48, of Chandler, Oklahoma, a former district judge for Lincoln County, was charged with 26 felony counts that included embezzlement and cattle theft, in a case brought before a multi-county grand jury by the Oklahoma attorney general.

The EPA has finalized the 2013 percentage standards for fuel categories that are part of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. The final overall volumes and standards require 16.55 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be blended into the U.S. fuel supply — a 9.74 percent blend. The requirement for cellulosic biofuel is 6 million gallons, which is nearly half the amount the EPA initially proposed, according to Midwest Energy News.

Seedstock producers and enthusiasts from across the country gathered at the annual Young Guns Conference in mid-June in Loveland, Colorado, to network and learn how they could advance the reliability, trustworthiness and overall value of their seedstock for customers.

Exports of U.S. beef and pork enjoyed their best month of the year in June, rising both in volume and value over 2012 levels, while lamb exports continued their steady increase, according to statistics released by the USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

Senior, University of Wisconsin – Platteville Sales & Service Intern with Accelerated Genetics Based in southwestern Wisconsin

The Dairyland Initiative, a University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine outreach program that works with farmers to optimize cow comfort, health and milk production, has received a $50,000 grant from the Dean Foods Foundation to make its web-based resources available at no cost to dairy farmers across the country.

Winners have been selected in the third annual Journal of Dairy Science (JDS) Most-cited Awards, according to Elsevier, a provider of technical and medical information products, and the American Dairy Science Association. Papers published in JDS throughout 2010 were eligible.

The status of cattle inventories in the U.S. is unknown at this time. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service cancelled the mid-year report, so there are no official July 1 survey-based estimates of cattle inventories by class, 2013 calf crop or total cattle on feed available.