Livestock Briefs: Tri-County calf meetings set

WHITEWATER, WI

Tri-County Winter Cow-Calf meeting set

Jefferson, Walworth, and Rock County UW-Extension offices will be hosting the 3rd Annual Tri-County Winter Cow-Calf Workshop. This year’s winter workshop focus will be on male and female reproduction. Topics will include: Bull Criteria and Selection presented by Alicia Prill-Adams, Assistant Farm Director at UW-Platteville Pioneer Farm, and Breeding Protocols in Cow and Heifer Reproduction presented by Dr. David Chapman, Stateline Veterinary Service in Darien.

The two-hour workshop will begin at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016 at the UW-Whitewater Innovation Center, 1221 Innovation Dr., Whitewater. The registration fee is $5, which includes refreshments and educational handouts.

BQA continuing education credits have been requested. Call for updated status.

Pre-registration is requested by Dec. 12. To register call 920-674-7297 or email kimb@jeffersoncountywi.gov. Provide your first and last name, address, phone number, email address and how many people are attending.

For more information, call Kristine Ely (Walworth County) 262-741-4968; LaVern Georgson (Jefferson County) 920-674-7295 or Nick Baker (Rock County) 608-757-5698.

WEST ALLIS, WI

State Fair Dairy Promotion Board scholarships available 

The Wisconsin State Fair Dairy Promotion Board is offering $1,000 scholarships, for use during the 2017-18 school year, to third and fourth-year college students pursuing dairy-related or food science degrees at one of Wisconsin’s four-year universities.

Additional $1,000 scholarships will offered to high school seniors planning to pursue a dairy-related or food science degree at one of Wisconsin’s four-year universities or students studying in a two-year, technical school program related to dairy or food science.

Applicants will be evaluated on involvement and leadership in dairy-related activities, scholastic achievement, and career objectives. Finalists will be interviewed in mid-April, with the recipients to be recognized at the 2017 Wisconsin State Fair. Applications are available at http://wistatefair.com/competitions/dairy-promo-board/. The application deadline is March 24.

For more information, contact Katy Katzman at 262-903-6727 or katzman@idcnet.com.

HELENA, MT

Brucellosis found in 2 bulls on ranch 

Two bulls on a Beaverhead County ranch have tested positive for brucellosis.

The Department of Livestock says the bulls were euthanized and all other animals on the ranch have tested negative for exposure to the bacteria that causes cattle to abort.

The ranch is within Montana's brucellosis Designated Surveillance Area. The infected bulls were identified during a voluntary whole-herd test and the ranch has been placed under quarantine.

State Veterinarian Dr. Marty Zaluski said the early discovery shows the DSA program is working to protect the state and its trading partners.

Officials have determined elk to be the likely source of the brucellosis infections in livestock in the Greater Yellowstone Area. Livestock officials say this is the eighth brucellosis infected herd found since the creation of the DSA in 2010.

LARAMIE, WY

Tougher penalties for shooting livestock in Wyoming sought 

Ranchers in Wyoming say there's been an increase in people shooting livestock and the Legislature should enact more severe penalties for that crime.

Wyoming Farm Bureau spokesman Brett Moline says people have been shooting livestock on both private and public land.

Wyoming Public Radio reports Farm Bureau members want tougher penalties. Right now, anybody caught killing livestock is fined and must pay the rancher for the animal's market value.

Farm Bureau members agreed at a recent meeting that livestock poachers should have to pay four times the amount of the animal's market value.