On Aug. 31, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship began to require aflatoxin screening and testing of milk received in Iowa. The order, which will continue indefinitely, requires milk processors to screen all Grade A and Grade B farm bulk milk pickup tankers and farm can milk loads for aflatoxin on a weekly basis. Aflatoxin can sometimes be found in drought-stressed corn. The FDA has established action levels for aflatoxin in milk and feed.

More often than not, our horses will show signs of stress. And just as often, horse owners can control the amount of stress seen in our horses.

Writing that volatility is "the new reality for dairy farmers," California Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross is calling for cooperation and strategic reform. Ross wrote on the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) website, "If we have learned one thing from this crisis, it is that the current regulatory and pricing system needs to change and all sectors of the industry need to collaborate and develop reforms that can bring new markets and new stability to the marketplace.

High grain prices continue to take a toll on the livestock sector as higher feed costs erode profit margins and lower bids for beef cattle, pork and related markets, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension economist.

Back in basic nutrition class, we were introduced to the concept of “first limiting nutrient.” Take a simplified example: if some calves were eating enough protein, minerals, and vitamins to support 3 pounds of daily gain, but only enough energy to support 2, they would gain . . . 2 pounds a day.

The heat of summer may soon be over but the lasting effects of hot weather are far from behind us. Many cattle producers will begin to see the continued impact of this summer’s hot, dry weather as fall calving season begins.

The president has substantial power to implement policy within the IRS, and the IRS is the enforcer of tax laws. The IRS commissioner is appointed by the president, with the consent of the Senate, for a five-year term.