Cattle aren’t the only hungry mouths in drought-parched Arkansas.

“Blister beetles and grasshoppers are looking for what little green is left here,” said Phil Sims, Pope County extension staff chair for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “That means row crops under irrigation.”

Western United Dairymen’s petition for emergency price relief and changes to 4b pricing formula was denied by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). The CDFA gave the following reasons for its denial:

    -- PU.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) announced that Pfizer Animal Health has joined USFRA, becoming the first animal health company member of USFRA's Premier Partner Advisory Group.

The Agriculture Secretary said Wednesday the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) intends to file special provisions with the federal crop insurance program to allow haying or grazing of cover crops without impacting the insurability of planted 2013 spring crops, a move that can help provide much needed forage and feed this fall and winter for livestock producers. In a separate step, Vilsack will modify emergency loans, allowing loans to be made earlier in the season helping livestock producers to offset increased feed costs and those who have liquidated herds.

The beef checkoff recently launched a refreshed version of the BeefRetail.org website to make it easier for retailers to access information to support beef sales at the retail meat case.

The summer of 2012 often brought “high pressure domes” that cause 100-plus degree days and no rain. The resulting heat stress can cause nitrate accumulation in summer annual forage crops. Producers are very cautious about cutting or grazing the drought-stressed forages and for good reason.

Beef and cattle markets have recovered significantly from lows about a month ago. Demand improvement is reflected in higher choice boxed beef price, up over $12.00 per cwt in the past two weeks on the heels of stronger wholesale middle meat values.

ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland Company, has announced the acquisition of certain assets (including physical assets) of J&J Agri Services, a manufacturer of liquid animal feed supplements.