Month: May 2021

Over Winter Residual Forage Height Impacts Spring Growth and Yield!

– Victor Shelton, NRCS State Agronomist/Grazing Specialist

Forages are really starting to grow; fall management does impact growth but not much on this plot with four inches of residual.

You will probably note, as you walk or drive your ATV around your fields, that there may be differences in growth. The reasons for those differences can vary but include irregularities in fertility, last autumn’s stop grazing heights, soils, compaction, rest after grazing and the forages themselves.

Back in February, I talked about how fall management influences spring forage growth. Pastures that are continuously grazed throughout the winter, and especially those grazed continuously from the end of the last fall growth prior to going dormant, usually have compromised energy reserves. If kept grazed close with no deferment or rest, they will also have reduced root mass. This automatically reduces energy storage space and later resilience to Continue reading Over Winter Residual Forage Height Impacts Spring Growth and Yield! →

Beef Bull Monitoring Research Project

Participate in this study and find out if your bulls are working full time.

Reproduction is a primary determinant of cow calf production efficiency. Breeding soundness exams (BSE) are helpful in identifying bulls with poor fertility prior to the breeding season. However, BSEs are not reliable in identifying the potential for breeding impediments that develop during the breeding season such as injury or foot rot which can have devastating effects on pregnancy rates. In addition, BSEs do not adequately evaluate libido and mating ability of bulls which has been shown to directly impact pregnancy rates.

In an effort to identify breeding impediments that may occur during the breeding season and measure the libido of bulls in multiple sire pastures, Ohio State University Cattle Reproductive Professor Dr. Alvaro Garcia-Guerra has initiated a research study that you are invited to participate in. If you have Continue reading Beef Bull Monitoring Research Project →

Don’t Forget a Breeding Soundness Exam

– Dr. Les Anderson, Extension Professor, University of Kentucky

The spring breeding season is here and hopefully your herd is prepared. One key management tool we can use to reduce the risk of pregnancy failures is getting a breeding soundness examination on your bulls.

A breeding soundness examination is done by a veterinarian, costs $50-100, and is a producer’s only method to assess the breeding capability of their herd sire(s). Breeding soundness exams accurately determine bulls who cannot produce normal sperm cells and bulls who are no longer capable of breeding cows due to injury or a physical ailment.

Breeding soundness exams should be Continue reading Don’t Forget a Breeding Soundness Exam →

The cost of negotiated trade and true price discovery

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

There was a question last week about all the different methods that have been proposed to achieve adequate negotiated trade and true price discovery in the finished cattle market. There has been proposed legislation as well as efforts by NCBA that is a voluntary framework, but NCBA’s voluntary framework could lead to them pushing for a policy framework if packers and cattle feeders do not meet minimum thresholds.

For those interested in the specifics, this information can be found from several sources online. However, it is important for interested parties to understand that any type of mandate or policy will increase costs to the industry directly in two ways.

The first way is that it will increase transaction costs between packers and feedlots as they will Continue reading The cost of negotiated trade and true price discovery →

Rising Feed Prices Create Divergence Between Fed and Feeder Cattle Values

– Kenny Burdine, Livestock Marketing Specialist, University of Kentucky

As I write this on the first Monday of May, it’s hard not to think about all the changes we have seen over the last year. A quick look at the year-ago column of the price table below reveals how much better things are in most markets than they were this time last year as we were dealing with increasing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Early May was about the low point for cattle harvest in 2020 and can be easily picked out by the bottom made this time last year in the slaughter steer price chart above (see the dotted 2020 line). Historically, May is a good month for fed cattle and beef prices as weather is warming up and we are moving into the spring grilling season. This can be seen in both the Continue reading Rising Feed Prices Create Divergence Between Fed and Feeder Cattle Values →