Month: October 2019

Hay Quality Indicators

– Christine Gelley, AgNR Educator, Noble County, OSU Extension

The drastic swing in temperatures from one day to the next last week should remind us all that it truly is autumn and that winter is coming. The challenges of the 2019 forage production season continue to add up. With droughty conditions across the state for the past two months, what was too lush for too long, is now crunchy and brown. Some producers are already feeding hay to their livestock, some are hoping that the forage they have stockpiled for late-fall/winter grazing will pay off. Hopefully it will with a little rain.

We ended 2018 with the lowest stock of stored forages since 2012 and the fourth lowest in the past 70 years. I don’t think 2019 has been much help. Quality forage is in short supply and high demand. Which means all forage has increased in monetary value by the ton.

If you are a hay marketer, this sounds positive. The price is up and your input costs stay relatively flat year to year, factoring in land value, equipment, fuel, and labor. But, is it positive? Maybe, if you don’t need to keep any hay for yourself.

Let’s look at an example: Continue reading →

Forage Value Based on Nutrients

– Clif Little, OSU Extension Guernsey County

A forage nutrient analysis is an underutilized tool. Nutrient content determines forage value. In addition, forage dry matter content influences livestock feed amounts required per day and ability to properly preserve forages for winter feeding. Consider the calculations values below for a second cutting grass hay (harvested in late June), a first cutting grass baleage (harvested in late May), and a first cutting perennial warm season grass hay (harvested in mid-July).

  As Fed
  DM% CP% ADF% Ca% P% $/cwt $/ton
Grass 2nd cut hay 83.0 15.1 35.3 0.56 0.33 $11.33 $188.14
Baleage 1st cut 33.1 12.2 40.1 0.42 0.31 $10.82 $71.62
Per.warm season hay 84.0 11.6 46.1 0.35 0.14 $8.96 $150.50

The value of the forage above was calculated by totaling the sum value of energy, protein, calcium, and phosphorus contained in each forage.  The price per unit for each of these nutrients was obtained from the commodities below and calculated utilizing the Continue reading →

Forage Management; It’s Not Too Late!

– Victor Shelton, NRCS State Agronomist/Grazing Specialist

Stockpile forages now to provide needed rest and forage for later this winter.

Fall is here even if it doesn’t feel like autumn weather. I like warm weather and am always sad to have to see it go. Several people have commented to me about dry conditions. For me, after almost a year with no completely dry periods, it has been nice for a change, especially to not have to get the baler out after mowing the lawn.

But the dryness is a concern and has caused a lot of stress on plants. After continuous wet conditions all spring and into summer, plants got lazy. They didn’t have to grow deep roots to find water earlier in the year and when the rains stopped after prolonged wet periods, shallow-rooted plants were not prepared for it.

Soils that were compacted by use under wet conditions further reduced the ability for those plants to grow downward. Overgrazing forages and not maintaining good stop grazing heights does not support Continue reading →

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Spotted Knapweed Still Lingers

– Christine Gelley, AgNR Educator, Noble County, OSU Extension

On a drive to Zanesville yesterday I was unhappy, but not surprised to see spotted knapweed continuing to put out fresh, pretty, flowers along the roadsides. To do my civic duty, we will talk about spotted knapweed once more before the growing season ends. Tell your friends in the neighborhood watch program to keep this plant from going to seed. Frost is not far off, maybe some will meet their demise by the dropping temperatures, but I would not bet money on it.

The color of the flower is similar to that of red clover, the growth habit is similar to chicory, and the flower shape is similar to Canada thistle and ironweed. Two other plants that could be confused this time of year are New England Aster and Billy Goat’s Weed.  However, the combination of growth habit, color, and Continue reading →

Huge Beef Quality Price Spreads

– David P. Anderson, Professor and Extension Economist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Beef production has dipped below a year ago over the last couple of weeks, leading to some higher fed cattle prices and a widening Choice-Select price spread.

Over the last four weeks total beef production is more than half a percent below the same period a year ago. As we all know, not all beef is the same. Over this period, fed steer and heifer slaughter is down 1.7 percent, while cow slaughter is up 4.2 percent. Digging in a little deeper, fed steer slaughter is down 6.5 percent while fed heifer slaughter is up 6.7 percent. Dressed weights continue to be down about 2 pounds per head over the last month for steers, heifers, and cows. Combining weekly slaughter and dressed weights leaves fed beef production about Continue reading →

What’s in your hay?

– Ted Wiseman, OSU Extension, Perry County (originally published in The Ohio Cattleman)

I don’t think that anyone would be surprised if I stated that getting hay made this spring was a real struggle.  Spring arrived with beef cows in some of the poorest body conditions that we have seen in years.  It is possible for an animal to starve to death with hay in front of them every day all winter.

My intent in this article is to simply illustrate the importance of getting your hay tested this year and to work with a nutritionist to establish a feeding program. Forages analyzed from this year indicate that quality is going to be an issue again.  Many of the first cutting samples from this year have protein levels in the single digits and total digestible nutrient (TDN) levels, in the 30s and 40s.  To put this into perspective straw has a crude protein level around 4 percent and TDN levels between 25-55.  To make matters worse we have an extremely low supply of forages and straw this year.

The following three tables focus mainly on the energy levels in forages and at three different stages of beef cow production.   In this scenario we have a 1200-pound cow and keeping dry matter intake (DMI) constant at 2 percent.  At each TDN level for forages analyzed it shows how much hay, corn and soybean meal it would take to meet these requirements.  These tables equate to requirements of a beef cow at 9 months gestation (Table 1), at calving (Table 2) and at Continue reading →

Be Aware of Late-Season Potential Forage Toxicities

Even alfalfa can accumulate toxic levels under severe drought stress!

– Mark Sulc, OSU Extension Forage Specialist

Livestock owners feeding forage need to keep in mind potential for some forage toxicity issues late this season. Nitrate and prussic acid poisoning potential associated with drought stress or frost are the main concerns to be aware of, and these are primarily an issue with annual forages and several weed species, but nitrates can be an issue even in perennial forages when they are drought stressed. A few legumes species have an increased risk of causing bloat when grazed after a frost. Each of these risks is discussed in this article along with precautions to avoid them.

Nitrate Toxicity

Drought stressed forages can accumulate toxic levels of nitrates. This can occur in many different forage species, including both annuals and perennials. In particular to Ohio this year, corn, oat and other small grains, sudangrass, and sorghum sudangrass, and many weed species including johnson grass can accumulate toxic levels of nitrates. Even alfalfa can accumulate toxic levels under . . .

Continue reading Be Aware of Late-Season Potential Forage Toxicities

Developing a Herd Health Program

– Steve Boyles, OSU Beef Extension Specialist

There are Key Practices to Develop a herd health plan that conforms to good veterinary and husbandry practices:

  • Provide disease prevention practices to protect herd health including access to veterinary medical care.
  • Follow all FDA/USDA/EPA guidelines and label directions for each product.
  • Use FDA-approved feed additives including those requiring a veterinary feed directive (VFD) in accordance with label requirements.

The FDA requires all VFD records to be retained for two years and available upon FDA request for inspection. Keep extra-label drug use (ELDU) to a minimum and only when prescribed by a veterinarian working under a Veterinary/Client/Patient Relationship (VCPR). Properly administer products labeled for subcutaneous (SQ) administration in the neck region.

When available, use products approved for SQ, intravenous (IV), intranasal (IN) or oral administration rather than Continue reading →

Ethanol Movements Impact Distiller Grains as an Input to Cattle Feeding

– Elliott Dennis, Assistant Professor & Extension Economist, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska – Lincoln

Much of this past crop year has focused on the larger than normal uncertainty of supply in the grain markets due to delayed planting, slow crop progress, and prevent planting acres. As the supply of corn decreases basis increases. Increasing basis is favorable for grain producers but less favorable for ethanol plants. Due to lack of supply and increasing basis coupled with small-refinery waivers issued by the EPA, many ethanol plants have chosen to temporarily stop operating. For example, the Sioux Center ethanol plant halted production in the middle of September.

Lets take the Sioux Center ethanol plant as example to illustrate the lack of supply and corresponding response in corn basis. First, Farm Bureau compiled the USDA FSA’s corn prevent planting report (https://www.fb.org/market-intel/prevent-plantings-set-record-in-2019-at-20-million-acres). Examining this chart shows that Continue reading →

USDA Cattle on Feed Report for September

– Stephen R. Koontz, Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, Colorado State University

The USDA NASS Cattle on Feed report for September was released last Friday. My take on the report is that it is reasonably bullish. The fear and panic that impact cattle markets after the news of the fire at, and temporary closure of, the Tyson Finney County Plant has not much abated over the past 6 weeks. The Cattle on Feed report communicates that the market is adapting to the situation and it appears to me that there is no overwhelming bad news in the report – or other supporting USDA reports.

Cattle on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 head or more head totaled 10.982 million head on September 1, 2019. The inventory was 1.3% below September 1, 2018. This is modestly fewer Continue reading →