Britain At Breaking Point?
Over the coming weeks and months, American farmers and ranchers will probably hear a lot of apparent anti-U.S. farming reaction from the UK. On behalf of all British farmers, please don’t take it personally. The ‘B’ word In 2016, 51.89% of Britons voted to leave the European Union in what is now known as the Brexit referendum. Objectively, it is fair to say that most British farmers were more than a little ‘misled’ in the pre-election promises and predictions from…
In Control Of Our Impulses
What defines success when we are working cattle? Years ago success for me was just getting the job done. Now, success is about specific outcomes I want to achieve. At the end of the day, regardless of techniques, do’s and don’ts or rights or wrongs, they are all academic if the outcome isn’t achieved. The outcome I strive for now is calm, relaxed cattle. When I pressure cattle to ask them to move or turn, slow down or speed up,…
Chicken On Grass
Pastured chickens will obtain a certain amount of nutrients from the pasture, as well as insects and other small invertebrates, and from small seeds, fruits and berries. Although there is little consensus about exactly how important each of these sources of nutrition is, scientists agree that the potential contribution of pasture (grass, insects and worms) is highly variable and generally very small. From a welfare and productivity perspective, it is therefore vital for pastured poultry farmers to supply a well-balanced…
The Immune System
“The immune system.” When captured in these three words it sounds simple, almost straightforward—a single entity or, at the very least, a tightly coordinated set. Is it that simple? Not at all. Coordinated? Well, yes and no. To begin to sort it out, let’s meet a few of the key players. Natural killers A wide variety of white blood cells emerge from stem cells in the bone marrow. Natural killer (NK) cells need help identifying diseased cells in the body.…
New Approaches To Worming
The following article was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Some of this material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Organic Research and Education Initiative under award number 2016-51300-25723. Mention of trade names or commercial products is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA is an…
