Beef Cattle

OSU Extension Service provides up-to-date information on beef cattle in Oregon and throughout the country, and facilitates the communication among producers, industry personnel, and OSU – Extension faculty.

Resources include areas such as:

Reproduction
Calves
Nutrition
Breeding and Genetics
Management

Processing Meat Animals at Home

The cost and supply of food is concerning to many these days. Disruptions in the cattle, sheep, and swine markets, particularly in the slaughter-packer sector, have indeed threatened the availability of meat and put pressure on prices at the supermarket and at the livestock producer level. This has caused us to rethink the way we produce and process food. Some are considering backyard slaughter of livestock. Many important steps need to be taken prior to and after the actual slaughter of any meat animal. These are necessary for safety and meat quality.

Check out our collection of helpful information

Shelby FIlley

Reproduction

Ready for Calving

Cattle managers can decrease the amount of calving difficulty through bull selection, nutrition and exercise. Don’t wait until calving begins, follow this checklist and set up the supplies and support you will need.

Shelby Filley | Dec 2010 | Article

Development of Replacement Heifers

This article will focus on some strategies that beef producer have in order to improve heifer development programs, and hence the entire profitability of cow-calf production systems.

Bruno I. Cappellozza | Sep 2019 | Educational Document

More reproductive resources

Calves

Advantages to cows and their calves: creep-feeding vs. early weaning

Creep-feeding and early weaning are two options for managing cows and calves. Each practice has a specific purpose, but these strategies can be misapplied.

Shelby Filley | Jun 2018 | Article

To Grass or Not to Grass... That is the Calf Question

When the costs of gain in the finishing phase are high, heavier weight cattle are more attractive to feeders compared to lighter weight cattle. This publication discusses the pros and cons of keeping cattle on grass to gain more weight prior to entering the final growth phase before harvesting.

Shelby Filley, Chad Mueller | May 2013 | Article

Extra pounds on weaned calves may pay dividends

Although calves are typically sold for high dollars per pound and at a lighter weight, having the calves sold with higher weight may be worth more than the resources put into making the calf larger.

Shelby Filley | Jan 2011 | Article

More calving resources

Management

We encourage cow-calf producers to evaluate their individual operation(s) and use these suggested management guidelines to determine a system that works best for their ranch, environment, and facilities. This article covers general cattle management issues related to the production year including suggested herd health programs.

Management Guide for Beef Cattle

The objective of this article is to provide SUGGESTED management guidelines for cow-calf producers. We encourage producers to evaluate their individual operation(s) and use these guidelines to determine a system that works best for their ranch, environment, and facilities.

David Bohnert, Dustin Johnson | Sep 2019 | Educational Document

See other management resources

Nutrition

How to Test Hay for Nutrient Content: This article explains the different ways of testing hay for livestock consumption. It includes information about analyses, labs and lab methods too.
OSU Beef Nutrition Workbook: A comprehensive workbook covering many aspects of beef cattle nutrition. Includes worksheets for users to apply the concepts to their own operations. Chapter titles are: 1. Animal Nutrient Requirements 2. Forage Value 3. Evaluating Feeds 4. Minerals and Vitamins 5. Ration Balancing 6. Supplements and Supplementation Strategies 7. Body Condition 8. Heifer Nutrition and Development

More nutrition resources

Breeding and Genetics

Reproduction for Next Year Starts Now: You are probably wondering how this applies to you if your cows are still pregnant and calves aren’t expected just yet. Let’s take a few minutes and review events prior to and after calving that have an impact on subsequent reproductive processes (and calves).
Temperament and performance of beef cattle: For over a century, the word temperament has been used to define the fear-related behavioral responses of cattle when exposed to human handling. As cattle temperament worsens, their response to human contact or any other handling...

More breeding and genetics resources

OSU Soap Creek Ranch

Photo by: Shelby Filley

Learn directly from Extension faculty

Find out about upcoming OSU Beef Cattle Sciences Extension activities happening across Oregon. We have OSU Calving Schools, Artificial Insemination School, Cattlemen’s Workshops, OSU – Range Field Day, OSU – Beef Industry Tour, and more.

Extension activities

Latest Resources

Cyanobacterium research - Oregon Beef Council Report

This report is on research done in response to the death of 23 steers near Lakeview, OR in June 2017 was due to poisoning by microcystin toxin produced by the newly recognized Anabaena sp. JUN03 cyanobacterium. See page 33 of the report.

Peter Schreder, Theo W. Dreher, Lindsay P. Collarta, Ryan S. Muellera, Kimberly H. Halsey, Robert J. Bildfell, Arya Sobhakumarie, Rodney Ferry | Jul 2020 | Online Resource

Storing meat in your freezer

This short article describes best practices for freezing meat.

University of Illinois Extension | Jul 2020 | Online Resource

Beef Cutting Guides

Cutting guides from Cattlemen's Beef Board.

Jul 2020 | Online Resource

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News

Tensions lessening between rangeland fire groups and government agencies

A study led by Oregon State University finds that tensions between Rangeland Fire Protection Associations and government agencies have lessened– rapidly in Idaho and gradually in Oregon.

Chris Branam | Oct 24, 2019 | News Story

Penned beef heifers stressed, sedentary and experience delayed puberty

Findings offer guidance for ranchers

Chris Branam | Sep 5, 2017 | News Story

Cows witnessing wolf attacks suffer PTSD-like symptoms, new research shows

Stress response could lead to lower pregnancy rates, lighter calves, and sickness

Chris Branam | May 4, 2017 | News Story

All News

Similar information and scholarly work can be found from the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences - Animal and Rangeland Sciences.

Visit the Beef Sciences website

Photo by Reinaldo Cooke.

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Pasture and Forages

Meet Our Experts

Juliana Ranches

Assistant Professor, Extension Beef Specialist

David Bohnert

Director

Sergio Arispe

Livestock

Shelby Filley

Regional Livestock & Forage

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Is beef with liver flukes safe to eat?

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