Month: September 2018

Effect of Corn Residue Grazing or Baling on Subsequent Crop Yield and Nutrient Removal

– Kristen Ulmer, Jordan Cox, Manbir Rakkar, Robert Bondurant, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, Mary Drewnoski, Karla Jenkins, James MacDonald, and Rick Rasby. Condensed from the Nebraska Research Report on Grazing or Baling Corn Residue by S. Boyles, OSU Beef Extension Specialist

For every bushel of corn, 18 lbs. of stems, 5.8 lbs. of cobs and 16 lbs. of husks and leaves are produced. Opportunities exist to remove the corn residue from the field for feeding later, or grazing residue in the field. There continues to be questions about the effect of residue removal on corn grain yields in subsequent years. Because yields are the most important profit indicator for a crop farmer, it is necessary to evaluate possible changes in grain yield with residue removed either by baling or grazing. With corn residue baling, it is important to determine the amount of nutrients removed per acre from the field to determine potential impacts on Continue reading Effect of Corn Residue Grazing or Baling on Subsequent Crop Yield and Nutrient Removal →

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Seasonality of Feeder Futures

– Matthew A. Diersen, Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Economics, South Dakota State University

Last spring I had the privilege to teach an SDSU course titled “Trading in Agricultural Futures and Options”. An assigned exercise was to propose and evaluate a strategy that could be routinely implemented. Seasonality was a common theme, asking things like “When do new-crop soybean futures peak in price?” After hearing some of the pitches by students, I wrote a note to myself to evaluate seasonality of feeder cattle futures prices.

Conventional wisdom says that markets are efficient and that any pattern that could be exploited should be arbitraged or bid away by speculators. At the same time, this is the feeder cattle market, which is a little thinner and more difficult to trade than many markets. As it is approaching the time of year for potentially backgrounding calves in the northern plains, the focus will be on the March feeder cattle futures. Thus, someone with calves may be following the Continue reading Seasonality of Feeder Futures →

Today, BQA Means More Than Just Needles in the Neck!

– Stan Smith, OSU Extension PA, Fairfield County (originally published in The Ohio Farmer on-line)

Simply becoming BQA certified is a start, but it isn’t enough anymore. Consumers want to be confident what we produce is nutritious, sustainable and humanely raised.

Do you remember when nearly everyone had a friend, neighbor or relative who had farm raised eggs, fresh from the farm raised meat, or milk straight from the cooler that you could make ice cream with? What about the days when no one questioned your livestock or crop management practices, didn’t question why you treated a sick animal with antibiotics in hopes of getting it well, and simply knew that if you were feeding it to your family, it was equally safe and nutritious for their family?

Unless you’re at least 40 or 50+ years old, perhaps you don’t.

Today, consumers are increasingly expressing concern for not only safety and quality in the foods they feed their families, but also animal health and the sustainability of the production systems their food’s raised in. These evolving consumer concerns have caused Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) to come to the forefront in most any recent conversation involving the future of our beef cattle market.

BQA originated in the ‘80’s due to injection-site lesions on cattle that started drawing the negative Continue reading Today, BQA Means More Than Just Needles in the Neck! →

Preconditioning Calves; Is it in the Cards?

– Adam Hady, UW Extension Agriculture Agent, Richland County (article recently appeared in the Wisconsin Agriculturist Magazine)

As the summer grazing season winds down and the time is getting near for cow calf producers to wean calves, they might be asking themselves, with the prices of many agricultural commodities, can I add some value to my calves by preconditioning my calves or just sell them right off the cow? For starters, what is preconditioning, and why would we do it? Preconditioning is a practice that gets calves ready for the next phase of production and done with proper management can add a few dollars into the cow/calf producer’s pocket. In general, these are programs that are done for 30-60 days with 45 being the most common. During this time, calves are weaned, vaccinated, bunk broke, and water tank broke.

So, how does holding these calves for 45 days actually make the cow/calf operator any money? They have the cost of feeding the calves, vaccinating, yardage, and death loss. Knowing feed cost and price slides are the key factors adding extra dollars through preconditioning. Understanding these factors can also help you make the decision on the possibility of backgrounding longer into the winter or sell the calves outright versus preconditioning. Overall, the goal to preconditioning is to sell a few more pounds of calf by being able to put on some cheap pounds of gain and add some value to the calf by having an Continue reading Preconditioning Calves; Is it in the Cards? →

Economic Greats – 93 Percent of Cow’s Weight Harvested

– Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension

As I was reviewing Cow Herd Appraisal Performance Software (CHAPS) records recently, cow Y1002’s record popped up.

Because of the weight of her calves at harvest (93 percent of her weight), she is one of the economic greats of the Dickinson Research Extension Center’s herd.

Y1002’s dam is half-Red Angus and half-Angus, and Y1002 was sired by an Aberdeen bull called Cadet Quartermaster. I would call Y1002 a frame score 3, 1,100-pound cow. Her weight has averaged 1,069 in the fall, but as she ages, she will put on some weight.

Y1002 has weaned a calf every year. Her 2015 calf (C5132), born on a late spring day, May 26, comes to mind as Continue reading Economic Greats – 93 Percent of Cow’s Weight Harvested →

Nomination Deadline for 2018 OCA Replacement Female Sale is October 1

– John F. Grimes, OSU Extension Beef Coordinator

Nominations are due October 1 for this November 23rd sale in Zanesville.

The Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) is providing an opportunity for both the buyers and sellers of beef breeding cattle this fall. On Friday evening, November 23, the OCA will be hosting their sixth annual Replacement Female Sale. The sale will be held at the Muskingum Livestock facility in Zanesville and will begin at 6:00 p.m.

The 2018 Ohio Cattlemen’s Association Replacement Female Sale will provide an opportunity for both buyers and sellers to meet the need for quality replacements in the state. Consignments may include cow-calf pairs, bred cows and bred heifers. Females must be under the age of five as of January 1, 2019 and may be of registered or commercial background. Bred females must be Continue reading Nomination Deadline for 2018 OCA Replacement Female Sale is October 1 →

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Eastern Ohio Beef & Forage School Begins October 2nd

The 2018 Eastern Ohio Beef and Forage School will consist of three consecutive Tuesday evening classes beginning October 2, 2018 at the Eastern Agricultural Research Station (16870 Bond Ridge Road Caldwell, OH 43724). Classes will be held from 5:30 to 8:00 PM and include a meal. The cost to attend is $25 flat rate for one or all three classes combined.

Call Guernsey County Extension at 740-489-5300, or complete this registration form to participate.  Please register by September 24.

  • October 2 will include Beef Quality Assurance Certification Training and Newborn Calf Care.
  • October 9 will focus on farm costs and profits with sessions on identifying and framing key factors in the cost of production and the cost of replacement cows.
  • October 16 will focus on forages and grazing with sessions on regenerating pastures after pipelines & winter feeding and improving water quality with forages.

Contact the Belmont, Guernsey, Monroe or Morgan County OSU Extension office for more information.

Weekly Livestock Comments for August 31, 2018

– Dr. Andrew Griffith, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Tennessee

FED CATTLE: Fed cattle trade was not well established at press. Asking prices on a live basis were mainly $111 to $112 with bids from $106 to $107. Dressed bids ranged from $168 to $170.

The 5-area weighted average prices thru Thursday were $107.17 live, down $1.91 from last week and $169.31 dressed, down $3.51 from a week ago. A year ago prices were $104.67 live and $165.65 dressed.

Despite Labor Day weekend looming, cattle feeders and packers found little to no common ground early in the week. The failure to agree on a price pushed cattle trade to a late week occurrence which has become common place the past several months. Live cattle futures are hollering for lower prices, which is a welcome sound for packers. However, cattle feeders are holding firm because closeouts plunging deeper into the red is not acceptable. It would seem inevitable that finished cattle prices will hit Continue reading Weekly Livestock Comments for August 31, 2018 →