Farm & Ranch

[AgriLife Today] 1.2 million beef cows in 54 Texas counties affected by Hurricane Harvey

Published

7 years ago

August 28, 2017

NTFR

By: Blair Fannin

Writer: Blair Fannin, 979-845-2259, [email protected]

COLLEGE STATION – The 54 Texas counties declared a disaster area due to Hurricane Harvey contain over 1.2 million beef cows, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture inventory report.

“That’s 27 percent of the state’s cowherd,” said Dr. David Anderson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service livestock economist in College Station. “That’s a conservative estimate of beef cow numbers because 14 of those counties only have cattle inventory estimates.”

Anderson noted since it is late August, a lot of calves in the affected areas are either close or ready to be marketed. The disaster area also includes a large number of livestock auction markets and Sam Kane meat processing.

Anderson also commented on the recent USDA Cattle on Feed report.

National placements were reported up 2.7 percent. The average of the pre-report estimates was up about 6.1 percent from last year, Anderson noted.

“I think it is likely that placements in earlier months pulled cattle ahead, as has happened on the marketing side of the ledger in the first half of the year,” Anderson said. “Placements in July were lower than June, for the first time since 2007. It makes for an interesting placements chart with the counter seasonal move.”

The number of cattle on feed was reported to be 104.3 percent of a year ago.

“Another interesting point is the increasing number of cattle on feed more than 120 days,” he said. “This will bear watching. We have placed more lighter weight cattle in recent months, but we certainly don’t need slower marketings.”

Higher placements in Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota indicated more cattle moving to Corn Belt feeders, but on the other side of that, Iowa placements were below a year ago, Anderson said.

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Farm & Ranch

Hazards of Backyard Poultry

Published

5 days ago

April 21, 2024

NTFR

By Barry Whitworth, DVM

Having backyard poultry is a popular agriculture enterprise. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 0.8 percent of all households in the United States have chickens. People keep chickens for a variety of reasons with table eggs being one of the more common reasons.

Unfortunately, some of these poultry producers are not aware of the hazards that come with keeping poultry because many times they carry pathogens but appear healthy.
Chickens are carriers of several zoonotic diseases. These are diseases that can be passed from animals to humans. According to a recent survey in Pennsylvania, a majority of backyard poultry producers were aware of the dangers of avian influenza. However, this study also revealed that far fewer producers were aware of the risk of possible exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter.

The lack of knowledge about the hazards of raising poultry likely contributes to the continued issues of Salmonella outbreaks associated with backyard poultry. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,072 illnesses of Salmonella linked to backyard poultry, and 272 of those patients required hospitalization. Oklahoma reported 43 individuals with the disease.

To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.