Ozarks Farm & Neighbor Newspaper – written for, by & about farmers

Demand for beef is down. Can you blame the recession? Not entirely, but it’s a darned inconvenient coincidence.
It’s hard to argue that beef quality was too low, because production of every class of premium beef has been trending up for some time.

In the last article I started a series on foot problems and lameness in cattle. We covered regular foot rot and basic anatomy. Let’s move on to a common lameness in dairy cattle, and one seen once in a while in beef cattle, hairy heel warts. This is an infection caused by a Serpien species of bacteria. It is found in wet and nasty conditions, commonly in manure. This bacterium invades the heels of the rear feet, commonly causing strawberry-looking lesions with hair growing out of them. Hence, the name hairy heel warts. Others have also called it strawberry foot rot.

Name:  Dalton Haller, age 17
Parents:  Joe Haller and Allison Gentry
FFA Chapter:  Magazine FFA Chapter, Advisor, Joe Bob Stanton

Name:  Mike Bradshaw

B-J Manufacturing, Inc.

Owners:  Joe (right) and Pat Jones
Location:  Harrison, Ark.

There is a lot of proposed legislation and regulation being debated in both Congress and in the USDA’s halls right now. From The National Animal Identification System “listening sessions” to the House's “Cap and Trade” bill and another, similar measure in the Senate, there are heated, and vastly differing opinions on what effects upcoming changes might mean to agriculture. I know for sure there were provisions in the “Cap and Trade” bill that could have meant a “cow tax” targeting livestock’s greenhouse gas emissions, which would drastically affect all of us. Fortunately, there were enough ag-minded Congressmen and women out there to stop that legislation from staying in the bill, thus far. Then there's NAIS'  three sides of the issue – supporters for mandatory ID systems, those for voluntary ID systems and those opposing all national ID programs. There is a lot of debate out there on this issue, and make no mistake – the outcome of this debate will affect you! I encourage you to research these issues, and let your voice be heard. The NAIS website has places you can submit your opinions. Go to www.ozarksfn.com to find a link to that site.