And this year the demand is for corn, corn and more corn. Ethanol Demand Has Unexpected Impact on Farmers and the Global Food Supply. And with ethanol production taking an increasing percentage of the corn crop, farmers are hard-pressed to meet the traditional demand for corn as a food stuff for human or animal consumption, even though the Agriculture Department predicts 15 percent more corn will be grown this year than last. In about two weeks, he'll be fanning out over several hundred...

Bill Roenigk, senior vice president and chief economist of the National Chicken Council, said that while the Council is encouraged by the USDA Prospective Plantings report that acreage planted in corn this year will increase 15 percent over 2006, the outlook is clouded by a predicted drop in soybean acres, since the poultry industry is a major buyer of soybean meal as well as corn. Bill Roenigk, senior vice president and chief economist of the National Chicken Council, said that while the...

The United States Drought Monitor, which identifies general drought areas by intensity, has recently classified all areas of the 16-county South Florida Water Management District as either moderate or severe drought zones with a prediction of possible drought intensification. The United States Drought Monitor, which identifies general drought areas by intensity, has recently classified all areas of the 16-county South Florida Water Management District as either moderate or severe drought...

The recent recall affecting more than 100 brands of dog and cat food has pet owners looking closer at what's in food they feed to Fido and Fluffy. Food and Drug Administration regulates what must be contained on dog and cat food labels and how certain terms are used. But pet food labels can be tricky to decipher, because manufacturers use a variety of terms to make their products more appealing to consumers. If making sure your pet gets as much meat as possible is important to you,...

With corn prices up, cattle farmers need to produce as much of their own cattle feed as possible, he said. Improved forage production is becoming more important to local farmers as they expand beef cattle production to replace the income lost from declining tobacco crops, Sears said. Madison County, which ranks fourth among Kentucky counties in beef production, is well suited for beef cattle production, he said. Incentives for improving facilities renovating pasture lands, protective heavy...

However, they found that the bull was exposed to feed from facilities that have handled material banned from cattle feed. Their carcasses will be excluded from the food and feed chains. In a study of the feed the animal was exposed to on the farm, officials found no direct link between specific products or production practices that carried a risk of cross-contamination. Apr 4, 2007 (CIDRAP News) Canada recently released a report on the investigation of its ninth case of bovine spongiform...

He said the research is focusing on finding good forages that cattle can graze in the winter, even in some snowfall, so ranchers can save some on hay. The research compares the nutritional response of cows grazing in the fall and winter on a certain type of pasture grass called Altai wildrye, versus windrowed millet, then windrowed corn and standard mixed grass prairie plus grass hay. In this region of the country, especially, a major part of calf production costs are associated with...

By early- to mid-May, it will be producing seed heads and when this happens it loses grazing value, so Volesky encourages producers who have cheat grass to watch its growth and graze it when it is young. I have also seen that downy brome or cheat grass will probably be quite abundant this spring. Early April is the time when producers might consider planting oats for additional pasture or hay. You need to consider stocking rates, turnout dates and pasture use sequence in preparing for the...

The four different kinds of forage fed to the horses had been made from the same paddock of grass, all of which was cut at the same time. The study involved four kinds of preserved forage - grass baled and wrapped with three different moisture contents, and hay. They never left this in preference to any of the other feeds, and ate up to 90 per cent of what was offered, compared with only 23 per cent of the hay. While hay has been the winter staple for domesticated horses since the Dark...