Beef Production Management and Decisions (5th Edition)

Book Description

Based on the most recent scientific, demographic and financial data available, "Beef Production and Management Decisions, Fifth Edition" examines the biological, ecological, financial, and marketing issues impacting the beef industry today. Harnessing the authors' industry and academic experience, the book explores the demographics, structure, challenges and segments of the industry from a balanced point of view. A must for any professional library, this paperback edition includes concepts of beef quality assurance and devotes chapters to the management of information, the traditions of the business and the future of the industry. Systems philosophy that looks at the biological, ecological, financial and marketing issues impacting the industry. Discusses each segment of the production and processing chain from a management/decision-making perspective. Identifies the significant biological and economic principles that contribute to the profitable and sustainable production of beef cattle. Written by a leading researcher and consultant in the field. This book provides a well of resource and reference material intended for the industry professionals and affiliated professional managers with a detailed evaluation of the demographics, structure, challenges, and segments of the beef industry.

Customer Reviews:

Rancher rates it the best.......2007-03-08

I have been a cattle rancher for over 30 years and this is the best reference book I have ever found to help me in my operations.

A GREAT up-to-date text for students or aspiring ranchers!.......2003-12-30

If you are considering cattle ranching or producing beef in a feedlot this book will be invaluable to you or your students.

I found the inclusion of general management advice to be especially valuable.

The data provided to analyze the income potential of various types of production considerations also is appreciated.

Book Description

A fundamental source of information in agricultural education, this book is extremely reader-friendly and organized into specific, short topics within broad general sections. Its coverage encompasses the skills needed to be competitive in today’s industry, and emphasizes the need for possessing a healthy balance between understanding the scientific principles of dairy science and the practical art of implementing those principles. A nine-part organization covers the dairy industry, genetic improvement, dairy nutrition, dairy feeds, reproductive physiology, lactation physiology, dairy health and disease, dairy cow comfort, and integrating disciplines: dairy management systems. For individuals interested in the agricultural field.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent dairy handbook.......2000-03-30

Dairy Cattle Science is a excellent handbook reviewing most aspects concerning dairy farming and consulting. There are very good chapters on nutrition, management and reproduction (breeding) for instance. Ofcourse this book is mainly for US situations but very useful for other parts of the World.

Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture (Plume)

Average customer rating:

Beyond Beef, Rifkin.
It sealed the deal on being a vegetarian
Better Books out there
As timely as ever regarding out of control corn and animal fat
Great book

Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture (Plume)
Jeremy Rifkin
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452269520

Customer Reviews:

Beyond Beef, Rifkin........2007-03-26

This was an important book in the early 1990s, and although the thesis demands our attention now more than ever, it is still generally ignored, perhaps in small part because Rifkin's book is not at all perfect. The first third is the author's 'abridged' version of the entire human-bovine history, and the critical reader will have ample cause to question many broad assertions in Rifkin's sweeping saga, especially in the early chapters. I must agree with an earlier reviewer who rightly describes Rifkin's 'historical' generalizations and selected references as being "a mile wide and an inch deep." It is unfortunate, but this stylized yarn-weaving detracts somewhat from critical assent when Rifkin finally approaches the 'meat' of the thesis in chapter 15.
There are many excellent points made when Rifkin finally makes room for them (parts 3-6), but the quality of his reference sources continues to be dubious in some, though certainly not all, instances. The book finally hits its stride and makes its import observations in parts 4 (Feeding Cattle and Starving People) and 5 (Cattle and the Global Environmental Crisis). If the information here doesn't direct the reader toward a vegetarian lifestyle (or at least to rethinking the centrality of meat in his/her diet), he or she may be a pretty hardened case of wanton self-indulgence and thoughtless hedonism. We must hope that sometime soon, western consumers might become as interested in the welfare of human beings and of our entire planetary home, as they are in self-pleasuring. In fact, the reader may want to read this portion of the book only (chapters 22-32) before moving on to a better book -- MAD COWBOY: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat, by Howard F. Lyman.
Depending on the crop, plants can provide 5 to 26 times as much protein per any given unit of land, than can beef. In 1984, when thousands of people were dying for lack of food in famine-ravaged Ethiopia, feed crops produced there were being shipped to livestock producers in Europe! The affluent 'first world' continues to orchestrate, in large part, the starvation of hundreds of millions of the worlds poorest people, and does so in a way not only embarrassingly decadent, but demonstrably stupid: "In 1917 the Allied Powers threw a naval blockade around the German-occupied territories of northern Europe. The Danish people were particularly hard hit by the blockade. With its normal food supply routes cut, the Danish government was forced to enact a rationing program based on increasing the intake of potatoes and barley and virtually eliminating meat. Overnight, some three million Danes were turned into vegetarians, with some interesting results. During the year of rationing, the death rate from disease fell by 34 percent." p170. This was cited in the journal of the AMA.

Interesting stuff, but read Lyman's book instead.

It sealed the deal on being a vegetarian.......2006-08-07

This book was so amazing! I had become a vegetarian several months before reading it, but after reading it, there was no question in my mind- I'm never touching meat again!
Its an eye opening look into the facts and world of the beef industry. I highly recommend it if you are on the fence about red meat.

Better Books out there.......2006-08-01

The problem I have with this book, as well as a lot of other Rifkin's books, it's not the message that is being conveyed, it's how it's being conveyed. Rifkin's research style is a mile wide and an inch deep. I pined to have some of the chapters be at least a couple pages longer so there was more substance. He makes wide, sweeping generalizations with the minimum of hard data to back it up.

That, in addition to this book now being well over a decade old, makes me very reluctant to recommend. There are better, newer books that have the same point of view that are better written. And this is coming from a reviewer who has not eaten beef since 1997.

As timely as ever regarding out of control corn and animal fat.......2006-02-22

Important book outlining the culture of animal consumption (beef), it's devastating effect of the environment and natural resources, as well as afflicting human health.
Book sets stage for understanding what kinds of transformations
are needed for humans to sustainably survive as population and appetites continue to grow voraciously. Imagine the land resources, food resources, and the improvement in quality of life possible if corn and beef were removed from the landscape.

Great book.......2004-02-27

There's not much to add to what's already been said. I just want to echo the praise... It's a formidable book - scholarly and persuasive; it's a fascinating history. It's also a very easy book to read, one you won't regret reading: it's eye-opening.

Beef Cattle Science (Animal agriculture series)

Average customer rating:

Yes, friends, Ensminger's books are great sources of info!
Is this the beef book for you?
Excellent - a must fo anyone who raises beef cattle,
The "Bible" of the cattle industry.

Beef Cattle Science (Animal agriculture series)
M.E. Ensminger
Manufacturer: Vero Media Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

The Stockman's Handbook (7th Edition)
Beef Production Management and Decisions (5th Edition)
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Beef Cattle Production: An Integrated Approach
Beef Cattle, 8th Edition

ASIN: 0813424984

Customer Reviews:

Yes, friends, Ensminger's books are great sources of info!.......2003-07-11

Friends have prompted me to review this book.

This is a highly technical gem oriented to the university student. Those of you for whom English is a second language will gain a great deal of referring to your Oxford dictionaries but it will be well worth it if you truly want to understand everything about raising beef cattle.

While your at it, order Stockman's Handbook - somewhat less academic and a bit easier to read. Both books are five star quality!

Is this the beef book for you?.......2003-07-11

I first learned of this book through Amazon and read the reviews. It is a very technical book but it is very complete.

Excellent - a must fo anyone who raises beef cattle,.......1999-04-12

A MUST for anyone with 2 head o 50,000 head. Colorado State University textbook. Index is not the best, but it's a MUST HAVE reference bookl.

I also, have his STOCKMAN'S HANDBOOK -- a must for anyone with livestock.

Author just passed away. I was waiting for the 8th Edition.

Some of the infomation is basic, but it IS a big, heavy book.

The "Bible" of the cattle industry........1998-12-24

When my chldren and I fisrt ventured into our 4-H Club/Calf experience this was the book we found . When we search for other sources of beef cattle information most other books come up short in depth and scope. The only other sources we trust are our experienced local cattle breeders and the vets that are beef specialists and even they tell us to look to this book as the final source.

I've given this book 4 stars only because it's depht sometimes reaches to the scholarly level. That's why I tell my wife I'm giving myself a collage education in beef when I read this into the late hours of the night.

Use this book as the first and last word when you need to gain beef cattle experience. It's in your library too. But it will look good on your own shelf when you need to use it in an emergency late in the night.

Grass-Fed Cattle
Average customer rating:

If you only have one book on raising grass-feed cattle this is the one to have

OMG

Grass-Fed Cattle
Julius Ruechel
Manufacturer: Storey Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Storey's Guide to Raising Beef Cattle: Health/Handling/Breeding

Getting Started with Beef & Dairy Cattle (Getting Started With)

Pasture Perfect: The Far-Reaching Benefits of Choosing Meat, Eggs, and Dairy Products from Grass-Fed Animals

How To Raise Cattle: Everything You Need To Know (Everything You Need to Know)

Small Scale Livestock Farming: A Grass-Based Approach for Health, Sustainability, and Profit

ASIN: 1580176054

Book Description

With grass-fed beef popping up on menus across North America, and more small-farm owners venturing into this growth area, the time is right for a comprehensive book on how to raise, manage, and market grass-fed cattle.

Grass-Fed Cattle, the newest addition to Storey’s library of best-selling livestock books, covers every aspect of raising and care, including herd selection, breeding, yearly cycles, cultivating and maintaining healthy soil and grass, fencing and pasture rotation, winter grazing, pests and diseases, and necessary equipment.

Author Julius Ruechel, who has been raising beef cattle on his family’s farm since his start as a 4-H member, packs this handbook with everything a farmer needs to know, regardless of herd size and acreage. His advice and systems are applicable to the smallest backyard hobby farms as well as the largest commercial herds and ranches.

In addition to essential farming information, Ruechel devotes a major section of the book to marketing. He discusses niche market opportunities, scheduling the selling and buying of cattle for the greatest profit, finishing the beef and arranging for slaughter, labeling, dynamic marketing, and financial planning and record keeping. He also includes chapters specially addressed to the conventional farmer who is transitioning to natural production, the farmer who is considering leasing or buying land, and the farmer who wishes to pursue organic certification.

The first book of its kind, Grass-Fed Cattle is an indispensable, authoritative reference for anyone interested in raising cattle or looking for a profitable farm venture.

Customer Reviews:

If you only have one book on raising grass-feed cattle this is the one to have.......2007-07-18

I've read everything on raising grass-fed cattle from Allan Nation and Jim Garrish to Joel Salatin and I have to say, this is the most comprehensive guide to setting up a grass-fed beef business I've found.

You can only fully appreciate this book if you are actually trying to raise grass-fed animals. Each time I run into a difficulty with my herd or the land my cattle are grazing, I find sound guidance to the problem in this book. For instance, the section on managing the calving season on pasture (a topic I haven't seen mentioned in other books) seems particularly brilliant to me after having spent a day looking for a hidden calf.

If you are just setting up a grass-fed business this is the book to have. Julius Ruechel guides you in putting the pieces of land, vegetation, water, animals, and seasons together with human management to create a system that reflects and capitalizes on the synergistic complexity of nature while fully respecting all of her living components.

The only caution I would add is that it is a big continent, and no book can fully reflect the variations in climate, terrain, and scale found here. So you will need to adapt some of the advice to reflect your local conditions.

I have been reading these reader reviews for years, but this is the first book that has inspired me enough to write a review, so if you are reading Mr. Ruechel, please accept my thanks. I only wish your book had been out when I first entered this business.

OMG.......2007-07-07

This book sat way to long on my shelf. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Sometimes it takes someone outside of the industry to be able to step back and see what's wrong. Put your farm back in synch with nature and see your problems reduced and your profit increase. This book is the most well rounded book on every subject I've found. Also great worksheets to make your business plan.

How To Raise Cattle: Everything You Need To Know (Everything You Need to Know)

Average customer rating:

A top primer introducing the topic.

How To Raise Cattle: Everything You Need To Know (Everything You Need to Know)
Philip Hasheider
Manufacturer: Voyageur Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Storey's Guide to Raising Beef Cattle: Health/Handling/Breeding
Beef Cattle: Keeping a Small-Scale Herd for Pleasure and Profit (Hobby Farms Series)
Getting Started with Beef & Dairy Cattle (Getting Started With)
Grass-Fed Cattle
Small Scale Livestock Farming: A Grass-Based Approach for Health, Sustainability, and Profit

ASIN: 0760328021

Book Description

A few head of cattle or a large herd, a small farm or vast ranch, dairy cows or beef: Whatever your circumstances or objective, if you want to raise cattle, this book tells you all you need to know. A primer for the new farmer and a refresher for the veteran, How to Raise Cattle guides readers through beef and dairy operations from beginning to end—from choosing the right breed to providing proper feed and shelter, and from the concerns of health care to the finer points of breeding and marketing. Clearly written and illustrated with helpful examples, the book covers beef and dairy enterprises large and small, conventional and organic. It will prove the essential resource for today’s cattle farmer.

Customer Reviews:

A top primer introducing the topic........2007-07-08

Whether your goal is to raise one cow or a larger herd of dairy or beef cattle, HOW TO RAISE CATTLE: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW offers easy directions for any who would house, feed, choose breeds and raise cattle and calves. From basic health issues to showing cattle at fairs, over 200 color photos accompanies basic details any would-be cattle owners will find invaluable. Rural library holdings or college-level collections strong in agricultural sciences will find it a top primer introducing the topic.

Getting Started with Beef & Dairy Cattle (Getting Started With)

Average customer rating:

Getting Started With Beef and Dairy Cattle
Fantastic--as usual!

Getting Started with Beef & Dairy Cattle (Getting Started With)
Heather Smith Thomas
Manufacturer: Storey Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Raising a Calf for Beef (A Garden Way Publishing Book)
Grass-Fed Cattle

ASIN: 1580175961

Book Description

With nearly every supermarket now featuring an “organic” section, the demand for organically grown meat and dairy products has risen rapidly in recent years. Small farmers have taken note, and many more beginners are considering cattle as a viable farm commodity. Getting Started with Beef & Dairy Cattle is the essential handbook for this growing audience.

Heather Smith Thomas, a lifelong cattle rancher and author of several previous books for more experienced farmers, offers a succinct layperson’s guide to the basics of raising a small herd of cattle, whether for meat or dairy products. She outlines organic and natural farming methods and covers all the information needed to get started and be successful.

Getting Started with Beef & Dairy Cattle encourages new and beginning farmers to start small, and start right. Thomas explains as simply as possible the basics of selecting and raising a calf, along with feeding, shelter, and care guidelines. She also covers breeding and calving, as well as tips for managing a herd throughout the seasons. There’s basic health care information for preventing disease and addressing common ailments. For those raising beef cattle, Thomas offers guidelines for butchering; for those raising dairy cattle, there are step-by-step guidelines on milking.

With a whole new generation returning to the farm who don’t have a family history of farming, Getting Started with Beef & Dairy Cattleis a much-needed resource. Heather Smith Thomas has devoted her life to passing on the knowledge, understanding, and attitude necessary to become a successful farmer.

Customer Reviews:

Getting Started With Beef and Dairy Cattle.......2007-03-08

I started reading it right away and realized it was over my head. But then as I continued through it, I knew there was too much information for just a quick read. I gave it to my husband, and he's going through it now. Since he works offshore, he's able to read and reread and even read again those parts that are 'foreign' to us. But once you've eliminated the parts that won't pertain to your cattle, it's a great book. There's almost enough to make it 2 separate books so it would be easier on a novice. It's a book every "wanna be" cattleperson should read.

Fantastic--as usual!.......2006-12-14

I have a number of Heather Smith Thomas' horse books as well as Storey's Gude to Raising Cattle and I think this is one of Heather's best so far. As is typical of her writing (and Storey books in general), everything is presented in an orderly, interesting, and easily absorbed manner--the great illustrations are icing on the cake! I have only one bovine, a pet steer at that, yet the cattle care information in this volume was as applicable to my one steer as it would be to a herd of farmed beef cattle. This is by far the most useful small-scale cattlekeeping guide I've yet seen. Highly recommended!

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Cattle Behaviour and Welfare
Clive Phillips
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0632056452

Factors Affecting Calf Crop: Biotechnology of Reproduction

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Factors Affecting Calf Crop: Biotechnology of Reproduction

Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0849311179

Book Description

In today's world, we are witnessing simultaneous breakthroughs in reproductive technologies, genomics, and molecular biology. Advances in molecular genetic technology and understanding of the bovine genome have led to the development of tools that can be used to enhance profitability on cow-calf enterprises. Factors Affecting Calf Crop: Biotechnology of Reproduction provides a detailed compilation of current and forthcoming technology for managing reproduction in cattle. The book discusses topics such as: approved techniques for controlling the estrous cycle in cattle; managing follicular growth with progesterone, estrogens, and prostaglandins; freezing, thawing, and transfer of cattle embryos; application of embryo transfer to the beef cattle industry; embryo transfer in topically adapted cattle; new factors affecting bull fertility; embryo collection and utilization technology, in vitro fertilization, somatic cell cloning, and genetic technologies; uses of real-time ultrasound; and sexed semen. Over 25 leading animal scientists have combined their expertise to produce the first single-source reference that covers successful reproductive techniques that will, most likely, be the wave of the future. Expansive in scope, the book addresses current biotechnologies as they impact the production of beef cattle. Written at a level to appeal to the researcher, commercial producer, or student, Factors Affecting Calf Crop: Biotechnology of Reproduction presents you with a wealth of technologies applicable to animal agriculture.

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Beef Cattle, 8th Edition
A. L. Neumann , and Keith S. Lusby
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Storey's Guide to Raising Beef Cattle: Health/Handling/Breeding
Beef Cattle Production: An Integrated Approach
The Stockman's Handbook (7th Edition)
Beef Production Management and Decisions (5th Edition)
Beef Cattle Science Part A/B (7th Edition)

ASIN: 0471825352

Book Description

The most complete text and reference on contemporary beef cattle production available. New edition merges current production technology with management and flexible marketing. Text organization reflects the industry: cow-calf (including purebred herds), stocker or growing phase, and the feedlot or finishing phase. Explains scientific basis of beef production. Describes proven management techniques for efficient production.

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