Month: July 2016

Late Summer Seeding of Perennial Forages

– Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Wayne County and Mark Sulc, OSU Extension Forage Specialist

Although it may be a dim memory at this point, we started the 2016 growing season on the wet side.  Some planned spring forage seedings did not happen due to wet conditions and a compressed spring planting season.  Add to this the fact that some alfalfa stands are not holding up as planned because of harvest injury during the wet and rainy conditions of 2015 and now the dry summer conditions of 2016 and there are potentially a lot of acres of alfalfa or another perennial forage that need to be planted as we look ahead to 2017.  August gives us another window of opportunity to establish a perennial forage stand and Continue reading Late Summer Seeding of Perennial Forages →

Weekly Livestock Comments, July 22, 2016

– Dr. Andrew P. Griffith, University of Tennessee

FED CATTLE: Fed cattle traded $2 to $3 lower compared to a week ago on a live basis. Live prices were mainly $113 to $115 while dressed trade was mainly $183 to $185. The 5-area weighted average prices thru Thursday were $114.65 live, down $2.35 from last week and $184.83 dressed, down $2.59 from a week ago. A year ago prices were $145.40 live and $232.03 dressed. Cattle feeders are walking a tight rope as fed cattle prices continue to Continue reading Weekly Livestock Comments, July 22, 2016 →

Placements Big Surprise in COF Report

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

USDA released its July Cattle on Feed Report on July 22, which gets us to mid-year in cattle on feed inventory.  While marketings were largely in line with the pre-report estimates, June placements were the big surprise, only up 3 percent compared to last year.

Marketings were up 9.4 percent compared to Continue reading Placements Big Surprise in COF Report →

Does crabgrass really hate you?

– Christine Gelley, Ohio State Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Noble County (This article first appeared in the Summer, 2016 issue of The Ohio Cattleman magazine)

You may have heard the rumor that crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis) hates you. Those who profit from the sale of lawn care products may like you to believe that, but despite the claims, it really isn’t true. Each year crabgrass works toward accomplishing the goal of all living things, to reproduce, and if it had a life motto it might be something like: “Life is short, so live it!” Any plant out of place can be considered a weed and in the eye of many, crabgrass fits this description. However in a forage system, crabgrass can be the right plant, in Continue reading Does crabgrass really hate you? →

Plant Concerns in Dry Weather

– Clif Little, OSU Extension Educator Guernsey County

Nitrates: Plants naturally contain some nitrate, but forages and some weeds grown under stress conditions, such as drought may contain excessively high nitrate concentrations. Sudangrass, sorghum, pearlmillet,  corn, pigweeds and lambsquarter can all accumulate high levels of nitrates.  Nitrates accumulate in plants when there is a relatively large amount of available soil nitrate and plants take up the nitrates but don’t completely Continue reading Plant Concerns in Dry Weather →

Some Ideas on Converting from Year-round Calving to a Controlled Breeding Season

– Dr. Les Anderson, Extension Beef Specialist, University of Kentucky

Maintaining a controlled breeding and calving season can be one of the most important management tools for cow-calf producers. A uniform, heavier, and more valuable calf crop is one key reason for keeping the breeding season short. Plus, more efficient cow supplementation and cow herd health programs are products of a short breeding season. However Continue reading Some Ideas on Converting from Year-round Calving to a Controlled Breeding Season →

Impacts of the Dairy Industry on Beef Markets

– Brenda Boetel, Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Wisconsin-River Falls

The Holstein beef market is an integral part of the beef supply chain.  Derrell Peel pointed out in his Cow/Calf newsletter dated June 20, 2016 how although the dairy cow represents on average only 22 percent of all cows, they have represented an average of 47 percent of total cow slaughter over the last 20 years and 57 percent of total cow slaughter in 2015.  In 2015, dairy cow slaughter accounted for approximately 1.9 billion pounds of beef.

Obviously, the percentage of beef supply coming from dairy cattle is dependent both on Continue reading Impacts of the Dairy Industry on Beef Markets →

Summer Plods Along

– Stephen R. Koontz, Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University

On July 13 we are three weeks and a day into summer and the prior week was not so eventful for cattle and beef markets.  There continues to be a mix of bullish and bearish news to consider.  So what do the fundamentals and technical say?

Marketings and slaughter continue to be Continue reading Summer Plods Along →

What’s in a Number?

– John F. Grimes, OSU Extension Beef Coordinator

I have to admit that statistics was not my favorite class in college.  I don’t remember my final grade but I do remember being satisfied that I received a passing grade and would not have to re-take the class.  This small part of my past is in direct contrast to how I view statistics today.  I have always enjoyed following sports statistics as a hobby.  However, my career and farming interests have made me appreciate the importance of beef industry statistics.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) annually provides important statistical data about Continue reading What’s in a Number? →

To Mow, or Not to Mow . . . the Pasture?

– Victor Shelton, NRCS State Agronomist/Grazing Specialist

I could easily talk about the weather. It seems to be a very popular subject no matter the setting. It certainly influences when we can do things, often messing with getting things done during the best timeframe.

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Heavy seed head production; clipping could be beneficial. Photo by Victor Shelton

We talked about clipping pastures in June. I’m still getting questions and comments by email about it; all good. There certainly are two sides to this fence: those that think mowing or clipping pastures is just something that has to be done and those that think it wastes Continue reading To Mow, or Not to Mow . . . the Pasture? →