Back in Timber’s youth he got a job helpin’ gather wild cattle out of the fields of an Arizona cotton farmer. He and his pardner, Jessie, tried roping them but were unsuccessful. One, the cows only came into the field at night along with the native deer. Two, the horses were not nocturnally trained and wouldn’t get within a rope’s length of the stealthy beasts. Plan Two involved the use of a tranquilizer gun. The second night our boys arrived ‘loaded for bear,’ as they say, and began stalking their prey.

In 1928, the Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming discovered the antibiotic properties of the fungus Penicillium notatum, now known as Penicillium chrysogenum.

Fall born replacement heifers have been (or soon will be) weaned and will be at a very critical growing period. It is imperative that they reach the target weight of 60-65 percent of their mature weight by the start of the breeding season.

The stocker and feedlot sectors provide a dramatic contrast in the economics of two beef industry sectors.  While the stocker sector sees opportunities with strong values for forage-based gains, the feedlot sector is under increasing pressure as limited feeder cattle supplies, high feed prices and excess capacity combine to result in severe feedlot losses.  Cattle feeders are in a fight to the death to see who survives the next couple of years.

With the massive grilling event that is Memorial Day weekend in the rear view and with summer heat forcing people into the comfort of their central air, June can be kind of a touchy time for beef prices. It's a bit early yet, but so far prices still look pretty good. Wholesale beef prices are currently well above where they were at this time last year. However, beef prices last week did seem to lose a bit of their recent momentum. The Choice cutout basically held its ground last week, with the weekly average Choice cutout working out to $197.10, up a few cents from the prior week and closing in on the high of $198.51 posted at the end of February.

ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ArcherDaniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM), has announced the acquisition of certain assets (including physical assets) of Liquid Feed Commodities, a manufacturer of liquid animal feed supplements based in Fremont, Nebraska.  Liquid Feed Commodities was a privately owned company that began business in 1970, producing and supplying liquid cattle feed supplements to producers in the Midwest.This acquisition follows ADM Alliance Nutrition's entrance into the liquid feed business with the acquisition of certain assets of Cattleman's Choice Loomix in June of 2011. 

National feeder cattle summary for June 15.

Cattle comfort directly influences herd performance. To enhance productivity this summer, producers are encouraged to minimize populations of horn, face and heel flies on their operations. Along with steady productivity, fly control can aid in the prevention of pinkeye – in a year predicted to see high levels of this issue.