Month: March 2018

Don’t Forget Tetanus Prevention when Banding Bulls!

– Michelle Arnold, DVM (Ruminant Extension Veterinarian, UKVDL), University of Kentucky

In the United States, more than 17 million bulls are castrated yearly that range in age from 1 day to 1 year-old. Tetanus (Clostridium tetani infection) is a potentially life-threatening neurologic disease affecting all species of domestic livestock, including cattle. The clinical signs of tetanus are subtle and often missed until the disease is advanced. At that point, treatment and management of the affected animal is very difficult and the chance for recovery is poor. Recognition of the initial signs of stiff legs, an anxious expression with ears held back toward the poll, moderate bloat, erect tail, and the unusual “flick” of the third eyelid across the eye leads to an accurate early diagnosis and allows treatment to begin when it is most effective. Any calf castrated with an elastrator band should be given tetanus prevention in the form of either tetanus toxoid (two doses required with the 2nd given two weeks prior to castration), tetanus antitoxin (given the day of banding) or, in some cases, both are Continue reading →

Posted by at Posted in Health

Weekly Livestock Comments for March 16, 2018

– Andrew P. Griffith, University of Tennessee

FED CATTLE: Fed cattle traded steady to $1 higher compared to a week ago on a live basis. Prices on a live basis were mainly $127 to $128 while dressed prices were mainly $205 to $206.

The 5-area weighted average prices thru Thursday were $127.94 live, up $1.18 from last week and $205.81 dressed, up $1.97 from a week ago. A year ago prices were $128.75 live and $208.01 dressed.

Despite all the rumblings of the high cattle on feed numbers and the soon to be glut of beef on the market, finished cattle prices continue to find support. Sure, this is the first week in which finished cattle prices dipped below year ago prices from the same week since mid-September of last year, but finished cattle have consistently Continue reading →

Options for Improving Damaged Pastures

– Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Wayne County and Stan Smith, OSU Extension PA, Fairfield County

As trampled and pocked up winter feeding areas begin to dry out, consider all the alternatives that will allow these beat up paddocks to recover and become productive again.

Ohio’s roads and highways aren’t the only things that have suffered from a winter that’s alternated between sub-freezing temperatures, and abundant rainfall on top of saturated surfaces. As spring quickly approaches, pastures and paddocks that have served as cattle feeding areas this winter are a sea of pocked up mud. While road crews are out repairing damaged roads by tamping cold patch into the pot holes, it’s simply not that easy to repair soils that are expected to breathe life into growing plants during the coming months.

That said, a key decision many are facing regards whether or not Continue reading →

Managing Mud

– Victor Shelton, NRCS State Agronomist/Grazing Specialist

Mud . . . not good for man or beast.

It wasn’t too long ago that you were hearing that some parts of the state were actually still in drought status. I believe it is safe to say, without even looking it up, that that is no longer a problem. Instead, completely thawed and very soggy ground is prevalent.

It’s been a few years since I’ve seen this wet of an early spring. In fact, maybe about twenty years. We are quite often still blessed with some free “concrete” this time of year. As much as I like the warmer days right now, I probably wouldn’t turn down some frozen ground to reduce mud and the impact of very saturated ground. One guy told me that if it were just a hair warmer, he might go barefoot since he was tired of getting his boots stuck in the mud.

If you are not prepared for such wet weather, then it can be quite frustrating. Mud is certainly worse around feeding, watering, and other concentrated areas. One of the best solutions for these concentrated areas is to Continue reading →

Expect to Hang Two-thirds of the Cow’s Weight on the Rail

– Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

I enjoy pondering over numbers collected from the Dickinson Research Extension Center beef herds.

One number I ponder over, for example, is cow size and how it relates to carcass size. Just like the industry, the discussion of cow size is complex, and pondering includes searching for ways or numbers that help me understand and ultimately explain the impact of cow size within the industry.

Ultimately, the producer decides what gate to open and what bull to buy, and entwines all the pieces into a cow-calf operation.

We do know that carcass size is very relevant because it is a driver of income. Recently, the center dispersed two cow herds due to the lack of feed. The long-term essence of these two herds was a targeted 300-pound difference in the Continue reading →

Ohio Beef Expo Kicks Off March 16

Don’t miss Ohio’s premier beef cattle event, March 16-18!

The Ohio Beef Expo, the premier event of Ohio’s beef industry, will take place March 16-18 at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus, Ohio. This annual event, coordinated by the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA), includes a kickoff social; breed sales, shows and displays; an educational seminar; a three-day trade show and a highly competitive junior show.

OCA members and Expo exhibitors are invited to attend The Social, sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, on Continue reading →

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Tariffs and Beef Trade

– Josh Maples, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Mississippi State University

Wherever you get your news, you likely couldn’t avoid hearing a particular T word last week: tariffs. On the heels of the announcement that the U.S. will impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports, many prognosticators were taking sides on the impact the tariffs would have on businesses and consumers. Don’t worry, this article is not about metals and I’m no forecaster of those industries. However, tariffs are something that those in the beef industry have been talking about for a long time. Also released last week were the latest monthly U.S. beef trade data that show continued impressive growth of U.S. beef exports. So while we have a tariff example fresh in the news and a report of strong beef exports, perhaps it’s a good time to touch on Continue reading →

USDA’s Outlook Forum Gives a Preview of What Lies Ahead for the Cattle Industry

– Brian R. Williams, Assistant Extension Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Mississippi State University

The United States Department of Agriculture held its annual Agricultural Outlook Forum a couple of weeks ago in which many topics relevant to the agricultural industry were discussed at length. Topics of discussion ranged from trade to regulation and from policy to rural development. But the one topic that is always a mainstay at the annual forum are the market outlooks for most of our major commodities. The outlooks at the forum include information regarding the current supply and demand situation as well as projections for the current production year and a discussion of the factors that are the driving forces behind those projections.

The most important aspect on the supply side of the cattle industry comes back to the Continue reading →

Understanding Customer Relations in a Changing Beef Industry

– Garth Ruff, Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator, OSU Henry County Extension (originally published in the Ohio Farmer on-line)

“The customer is always right.” If they want to purchase cattle only from feeders with a BQA certification, then to access their market that’s what we’ll need to do.

Things are at a high pace in Ohio’s Extension offices as we move towards spring with not only agriculture programming but 4-H as well. One of the programs that combines both the agriculture and youth is Quality Assurance, a program required for youth in order to exhibit livestock projects at the various fair and expositions across the state. The youth QA program began twenty some years ago in Ohio as the result of some food safety concerns regarding exhibition livestock.

Introduced in 1989, Continue reading →

Do Some Selection Tools Result in Unintended Consequences?

– Justin Sexten, Ph.D., Director, CAB Supply Development

You hear more about mature cow size and growth potential of calves, now that profit ebbs and flows with the cycle. We’ve written about mature size, but not much about how to use the relevant tools to change it. So now, let’s examine the strategies and tools available, and the unintended consequences of ignoring them.

Commercial breeders can draw on more selection tools than ever before to improve the next generation of cows to match the market and ranch environments. Genomic testing can identify sires in multi-bull pastures while indexing heifer genetic potential and sorting outliers for adaptability and docility. You could start with Continue reading →