Four new technical services managers have joined the Merck Animal Health beef cattle team, including two nutritionists and two veterinarians.The expanded beef technical services team will provide greater expertise and resources for producers, veterinarians and industry influencers. Joining the Merck Animal Health team are nutritionists Mark Corrigan, Ph.D., and Ben Holland, Ph.D., and veterinarians Brent Meyer, D.V.M., M.S., and Justin Welsh, D.V.M.

JBS USA, a leading animal protein processor in the U.S. and Australia and a wholly owned subsidiary of Brazil-based JBS S.A., today announced an agreement with XL Foods to manage one of the company's Canadian operations. The agreement also provides JBS USA an exclusive option to purchase the Canadian and U.S. operations of XL Foods. XL will continue to manage its other Canadian and U.S. operations during the option period.  

Some ranchers in Montana are selling calves early after a summer that left them battered by drought, fires and high feed prices. Tim Kiefer has a beef ranch north of Forsyth. He told the Billings Gazette that since the first of April, he's had just two inches of rain on his land. That means his pastures that yielded 1,200 round hay bales last year couldn't muster even one this year. The dry weather left his cattle with little forage, so he weaned his calves and shipped them to sale yards five weeks earlier than normal.

Before blogs and Facebook and build-your-own websites, listservs were one of the best ways to get the word out to a lot of online users at one time. Unlike most 20-year-old computer technology, however, these semi-automated email programs are still useful today. Within the dairy industry, Dairy-L is undoubtedly the most well-known listserv. Started in 1990, the list now has 1,800 subscribers in 47 countries. “It was definitely one of the first of its kind,” says one of the list’s current co-owners, Kiera Finucane, with the University of Maryland.

U.S. dairy suppliers will be tested next year, as drought diminishes milk supply and ag production around the world, according to the U.S. Dairy Export Council. As of Oct. 2, 40 percent of the contiguous U.S. was classified as being in “severe” drought or worse. As bad as that number sounds, it hadn’t been that low since early July. The U.S. remains mired in the worst drought since the 1930s and it is having a momentous impact on the U.S. and global food industries.

HubSpot, an online marketing software company, gave kudos to the California Milk Processor Board in its recent article “10 companies that totally nailed their taglines.” HubSpot called the “Got Milk?” campaign “one of the longest-lasting campaigns ever” and pointed out that few people remember that it was launched by CMPB.

The American Society of Animal Science believes that our society must remain a leading source of scientific information on animal well-being and the contributions of animals to human health. To achieve that goal, the ASAS has pinpointed a need to facilitate effective communication among academia, industry, government agencies, consumers and other stakeholders to reach consensus regarding science-based issues affecting animal production.

Despite a continued slump in U.S. red meat export volume and a further dip in August sales, the value of beef and pork exports for the first eight months of the year remained slightly ahead of 2011’s record-setting pace, according to statistics released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

Accounting firm Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP and the Wisconsin State Energy Office (SEO) have partnered to develop an action plan aimed at assisting dairy farms and cheese-making facilities reduce waste, reduce land spreading, curb impacts on local wastewater facilities and harness available energy sources. The goal was to create a win-win situation for Wisconsin’s cheese makers and dairy farmers by demonstrating that waste, as an alternative energy source, can generate new sources of revenue and support operational growth.

The Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) met in Madison, Wisconsin, Oct. 7-8. Following extensive industry discussion and planning, CDCB is moving forward ensuring the future leadership position for the U.S. dairy industry in genetic evaluations and management benchmarks. Through collaboration within the U.S. dairy industry, CDCB’s plan will uphold the U.S. gold standard in developing and delivering high quality dairy genetics and management tools to dairy producers.