More Beef Exports and Less Imports Supports Beef Markets

– Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension

U.S. beef exports continue the 2016 trend with additional improvement so far in 2017. February total beef exports were up 19.3 percent and combine with the January total for a year to date increase of 20.1 percent year over year for the first two months of the year. This extends the annual 12.6 percent year over year increase in 2016.

Japan remains the top destination for U.S. beef exports, up Continue reading

Establishing New Forage Stands

Mark Sulc, OSU Extension Forage Specialist

This month provides one of the two preferred times to seed perennial cool-season forages. The other preferred timing for cool-season grasses and legumes is in late summer, primarily the month of August here in Ohio. The relative success of spring vs. summer seeding of forages is greatly affected by the prevailing weather conditions, and so growers have success and failures with each option.

Prepare a good seedbed for conventional forage seedings.

Probably the two primary difficulties with spring plantings are Continue reading

Grazing Bites: Questioning Grazing Efficiencies

– Victor Shelton, NRCS State Agronomist/Grazing Specialist

I’m a bit late getting this out this month and it has nothing to do with avoiding April fool’s Day; I’ve actually been under the weather. Amongst other things, that has made me stop and think a little about time, specifically the value of time. When I was young, time seemed endless and even summers seemed long. As we age, we start wondering not only what happened to the month that we are in, but what happened to the last year! There are certainly moments in time that I would give any amount of money to have back; those are high value moments. It is easy to find ourselves trapped in a set of habits or in a redundant pattern that holds us hostage and eats away our time; those are very low value. Every time I find myself doing something with no rhyme or reason. I often ask myself “Why am I doing this?” This is not true about time spent on grazing management.

There are certainly Continue reading

Managing Spring Grass: Going from 0 to 60!

– Dr. Chris D. Teutsch, Associate Extension Professor, Forage Specialist, University of Kentucky

Spring can often be one of the most challenging times of the year for graziers. Grass growth goes from nonexistent to excessive in a matter of weeks and in many cases grazing livestock have a hard time keeping up with it.  This can result in lower quality forage that is less palatable. The growth of new forage is also delayed by not removing the growing point of our cool-season grasses. The presence of the growing point suppresses tiller formation at the base of the grass plant. The following suggestions can Continue reading

Lush Spring Forages and Beef Cow Reproduction

– Ryan Sterry, UW Extension Agent- St. Croix County Agriculture Agent, and recently appeared in the Wisconsin Agriculturist

After a long winter, most of us relish the first few warm and sunny days of spring. For our beef farmers, those first spring days also signal that our pastures will be greening up soon. Making the transition from winter feeding to spring pasture often represents our most economical and labor efficient feeding of the year. While both farmers and their cows may be excited to get on the first grass of the year, recent research shows that easing the transition from stored feeds to pasture can impact the herd’s reproductive performance.

At the 2017 Driftless Beef Conference, Travis Meteer of the University of Illinois-Extension outlined three challenges with lush spring pastures for Continue reading

New OSU Extension Forage Website Launched

Mark Sulc, OSU Extension Forage Specialist

Our new Ohio Forages website has been launched, and can be found at https://forages.osu.edu/.  This is the same url as our old Ohio Forage Network site.

­­We intend for this website to be the go-to place to find all things forage within the Ohio State University Extension system. We are still in the process of Continue reading

Hillsboro Seedstock Improvement Sale Results

John Grimes, OSU Extension Beef Coordinator

The Ohio Cattlemen’s Association hosted their annual Seedstock Improvement Sale on April 8 at the Union Stock Yards sale facility in Hillsboro.  A total of 37 yearling and two-year-old and older bulls were sold for a total of $74,275 to average $2,007 per head.

Two individuals tied for the top-selling bull honors.  One of these top sellers was Continue reading

Posted in Events

Weekly Livestock Comments, April 7, 2017

– Andrew P. Griffith, University of Tennessee

FED CATTLE: Fed cattle traded was not established at time of publication. Bids ranged from $122 to $124 on a live basis with dressed bids ranging from $196 to $200. Ask prices were $128 and higher. The 5-area weighted average prices thru Thursday were $121.71 live, down $6.17 from last week and $197.37 dressed, down $7.97 from a week ago. A year ago prices were Continue reading

Decisions Made Now Can Impact the Entire Grazing Season

Chris Penrose, Associate Professor and Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, OSU Extension (this article was published previously in the Ohio Farmer magazine at ohiofarmer.com)

Considering how early our forages broke dormancy this year, we will soon reach a stage where our forage management decisions can affect grazing for the entire season. In 2012 when we also experienced a very early spring our forages were finishing up their “reproductive” stage of growth with grasses setting seed heads and legumes blooming by late April. After they set seed, perennial plants quickly transition from the Continue reading

Should I add more legumes to my pasture?

Christine Gelley, OSU Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Noble County (This article first appeared in Progressive Forage on-line)

Including legumes in grass pastures has the potential to increase the overall nutritive value of the pasture and decrease the need for supplemental nitrogen fertilizer. Read on to find out if you should add more legumes to your pasture.

What is so special about legumes?

There is something special about legumes that sets them apart from our other forages. They have the ability to Continue reading