cattle ranching

As the extreme heat continues across Oklahoma, it not only poses a threat to humans, but also cattle.

A highly concentrated beef market has meant higher prices for consumers and lower returns for the people raising the animals. Some ranchers in the Midwest and Great Plains want a new option by organizing their own processing plants.

As an invasive tick species spreads westward across the U.S., so does the threat of a new disease in cattle. Researchers are sounding the alarm.

From deadly wildfires to choking dust storms to decimated crop harvests, this year’s drought has left its mark across the country. For the hardest hit areas, such as the Great Plains, recovering from the far-reaching impacts of this historically dry year won’t be easy.

Kansas — along with most of the U.S. — is plagued with a stubborn drought that the state’s governor has declared to be an emergency. Most of western and southern Kansas is in extreme or exceptional drought.

The weather event that killed thousands of cattle in southwest Kansas last month was a rare combination of extreme factors. But it highlights the ongoing risk that heat stress poses for cattle, especially as climate change pushes temperatures higher.

The National Audubon Society is taking a market-based approach to conservation. Its “bird-friendly beef” certification program proposes to measure ecosystem health by using birds as a metric.

Prairie wildlife needs a patchy landscape, in which different areas bear the marks of varying degrees of grazing. Scientists have a plan to achieve that.

The crossbreed gained some attention in the 1970s. Supporters today say there is big potential to provide better, healthier meat by combining the best qualities of the two animals, in just the right amount.

A Texas A&M University entomologist says insects can be much more efficient and environmentally friendly sources of food for livestock than traditional feed.