Despite progress, beef industry faces threats
Kansas cattle producers, meatpackers grapple with danger of bioterrorism
Dec. 15, 2006
A $6 billion economic behemoth, the Kansas beef industry flourishes as part of what boosters call the safest and most efficient food supply in the world. <<Read More>>
Local beef gains consumer confidence
Grass-fed cattle help support rural towns' economies
Dec. 14, 2006
At a rural spot in Ottawa County, ground beef is in demand. But it isn't sold from a giant supermarket. It's supplied, rather, at the farm of Jim and Kathy Scharplaz. Their sale of grass-fed beef directly to consumers has grown into a healthy business during the past decade. <<Read More>>
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Kansas markets inspected
Wally Leecy of Ottawa doesn't trust the wrapped meat he regularly buys. <<Read More>>
Creekstone Farms wants to put beef to the test
Dec. 13, 2006
It seems average enough -- a small town amid Kansas' rural landscape, surrounded by hills, pastures and cropland. It's the hometown of a Kansas governor and a high school state championship baseball team. <<Read More>>
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9-11 led to changes in meat plants
Fences alone can't protect the nation's food supply, including its beef, said Rod Wheeler. Equally important is awareness. <<Read More>>Fake documents lead to meat security worries
Some are legal. Others -- no one can say for sure how many -- have forged or stolen documents falsely indicating they are in the United States legally. <<Read More>>
Feedlots adjust to new biosecurity challenges
Illnesses are easy to spread, could endanger beef herds
Dec. 12, 2006
Daily inspections of cattle are routine at Seller's Feedlot in Lyons. They're a staple at J O Cattle Co. in Holcomb, too, and at Cattle Empire in Satanta. <<Read More>>
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Antibiotic use in cattle remains consumer concern
Just as in humans, the use of antibiotics quickly can help a sick cow return to the pink of health. <<Read More>>
Tracking cattle
Current system is voluntary, not fully developed
Dec. 11, 2006
Mike Corn,
Hays Daily News
ZURICH -- Darrell Sutor, who at age 86 raises Hereford cattle on his Rooks County ranch, has a deep disdain for government paperwork. But he welcomes government intervention when it comes to health-related issues in the cattle business. <<Read More>>
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Kansas is a high traffic cattle state
Cattle trucks by the hundreds roll across Kansas each day, carrying thousands of head of cattle. They come from across the country and beyond -- Texas, Iowa, Canada, Mexico. <<Read More>>
Beef Builds Kansas
For more than a century, beef has been a vibrant, though volatile, force in the Kansas economy
Dec. 10, 2006
Tim Unruh,
Salina Journal
When baby calves hit the ground in the spring and fall, they're destined for a six-month stay with their mothers before being weaned and sent to a pasture for a short period of grazing. At about 850 pounds, they are shipped to a feedlot, where in four months their weight will balloon to more than 1,200 pounds.
<<Read more>>
