Month: June 2022

Data That Delivers

– Jason Duggin, Beef Cattle Specialist, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences – University of Georgia

Imagine a business that didn’t track its inputs or its outputs. Obviously, that would be a bad scenario. The demand for information is rapidly increasing when it comes to all sectors of the beef chain from commercial cow-calf to retail. The digital age we currently live in combined with genomic testing has streamlined selection and marketing to a speed that even now seems almost fictional. Inputs and outputs are the future of the industry and for all progressive cattle producers.

Retailers of all sizes are delving into marketing that connects consumers to the farm. As you may expect, large retailers can already scan a bag of lettuce and tell what farm it came from. If the thought of that makes you nervous, I don’t blame you. However, the pros may outweigh the cons for most. Some leaders in the retail segment are looking ahead to a time when consumers can scan a QR code on a package of ribeye steaks to learn about the ranch or farm that it originated from. At least as of this writing, people will pay for that kind of story. Restaurants are increasingly promoting premium known-source menu items. You may also hear the term Blockchain which is a digital record of transactions from start to finish.

If scenarios like this seem too far-fetched, that is understandable, but regardless of how far we take our marketing, the information we provide to the next person in the beef chain can make . . .

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The Impact of Dairy Cow Slaughter on Cull Cow Markets

– Dr. Kenny Burdine, Extension Professor, Livestock Marketing, University of Kentucky

There has been much discussion about beef cow slaughter this year. Dry weather, rising input costs, and strong cull cow prices are resulting in large numbers of beef cows leaving cow-calf operations and moving into the beef system. It has actually been somewhat surprising that cull cow prices have remained as high as they have given beef cow slaughter levels. Certainly, some of this strength in prices is due to strong demand, but dairy cow slaughter is an often overlooked component of cow slaughter and I wanted to discuss that in a bit more detail this week.

As of January 1, 2022, the USDA estimated there were a bit over 30 million beef cows, and just under 9.4 million dairy cows, in the US. While inventories of both fluctuate though the years, it is very common for there to be 3 to 3.5 times as many beef cows in the US as there are dairy cows. However, because the dairy cow herd gets culled more harder than the beef herd, dairy cow slaughter typically accounts for around 50% of all cow slaughter. One way to illustrate this would be to consider Continue reading The Impact of Dairy Cow Slaughter on Cull Cow Markets →

Less Than Sweet Honeysuckles

– Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County OSU Extension

You can pick the flowers, but please destroy the honeysuckle plant!

Honeysuckle is a commonly found plant that often draws attention of passersby with its pleasantly fragrant blossoms from April to July. The sweet nectar inside its tubular flowers is edible by many animals and even people. There are over 180 known honeysuckle species in the northern hemisphere. It’s beauty and fragrance lead to the introduction of many non-native honeysuckle species to North America in the 1800s primarily for ornamental use. Despite the sweetness it adds to the air, the impacts it has on our environment are certainly not sweet.

Unfortunately, four of these introduced species are extremely aggressive in our landscapes and have created an imbalance in natural systems due to their ability to outcompete native plants for resources. The types of honeysuckles which are damaging to these spaces are Japanese honeysuckle, which is a vining type, and three bush type honeysuckles- amur, morrow’s, and tartarian. Some species form dense thickets of shrubs and some spread with vast creeping vines that can strangle neighboring plants. These honeysuckle species are commonly found in pastures, woodlands, reclaimed sites, and waste spaces.

Because of their invasive status in Ohio, it is every landowners’ legal responsibility to control their spread. Although they can be used as Continue reading Less Than Sweet Honeysuckles →

Be Mindful of Heat Stress to Maintain Stocker Calf Gains

– Dr. Jeff Lehmkuhler, University of Kentucky, Department of Animal & Food Sciences

Continued drought conditions will continue to limit forage growth in some regions.

As I am writing this, bluegrass has flowered, and I’ve seen fescue plants with flowers emerging. This spring has been a bit cool slowing grass growth, but warmer temperatures will certainly begin to kick grass growth into high gear within the next couple of weeks. Precipitation and soil moisture continues to be a struggle in the western half the United States as shown in the Monthly Drought Outlook figure from the National Drought Monitoring website. These continued drought conditions will continue to limit forage growth in these regions.

Forage availability is a key driver of stocker calf performance followed by forage quality. As we move through the spring months and begin to see temperatures increase, forage growth slows. Previous research demonstrates that the photosynthesis of plants is negatively impacted by increasing temperatures. Photosynthetic rates of tall fescue can be reduced when temperatures reach 86F/77F degrees Fahrenheit, day/night. Areas in Kentucky had eight days in May during 2021 that had daytime high temperatures of 86 or higher. Several days in June, July and August are normally going to be 86 F or warmer. These warmer temperatures slow forage growth of our perennial cool-season forages. More importantly, research has demonstrated that Continue reading Be Mindful of Heat Stress to Maintain Stocker Calf Gains →

Beef Business Foundations; Understanding Calf Price Differentials

A common question among cattlemen is why calf prices differ from state to state, from market to market, or from cattleman to cattleman. Understanding why price differentials exist is key to understanding how to maximize your selling price and make management decisions to support your operation and goals. Here, Dr. Kenny Burdine, Extension Professor for Livestock Marketing at the University of Kentucky answers that question.

Feeder Cattle Lot Size

– James Mitchell, Livestock Marketing Specialist, University of Arkansas

In the previous post to this site Kenny Burdine is featured in a video for the UK Ag Econ Beef Business Foundations series where he talks about feeder cattle price differentials. Among the factors affecting feeder cattle price, perhaps the most important, in my opinion, is feeder cattle lot size. Cattle producers receive premiums at auction for selling large lots of cattle of a similar type and quality – ideally, a pot-load. For producers selling 500-pound calves, this would equate to approximately 80 head. Premiums for lot size will vary. In Kentucky, 80 head lot sizes receive an average premium of $20-$23 per cwt (Halich and Burdine, 2015).

Lot size is one of the biggest marketing challenges for cattle producers. Many producers do not have large enough cow herds to sell 80 calves. For example, 80 percent of cattle operations in Arkansas have fewer than 50 beef cows. The discounts for small lot sizes will tend to outweigh the premiums that producers will receive for other cattle characteristics like preconditioning.

One of the biggest comments I get from producers in the fall is that they Continue reading Feeder Cattle Lot Size →

Kentucky’s PVAP Program; Lesson learned about adding calf value

– Stan Smith, OSU Extension PA

The Kentucky Post Weaning Value-Added Program (PVAP)-Precondition was started in 2019 to encourage cow-calf producers to wean and precondition calves prior to marketing. Recently Kevin Laurent, Extension Specialist in the University of Kentucky Department of Animal and Food Sciences, shared the following regarding what they’ve learned from the program about adding value to feeder calves:

So, what have we learned? Although market conditions can always derail the best laid plans, the best hedge against market swings from a feeding standpoint is weight gain. Anything we can do prior to and at weaning to promote feed intake and weight gain should pay dividends. Some of these strategies are as follows: Continue reading Kentucky’s PVAP Program; Lesson learned about adding calf value →

A Rose We Love to Hate

– Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County OSU Extension

If not already, these bloom will soon be common site throughout Ohio!

Mutiflora rose is in full-bloom beginning last week! The sweet aroma of roses and honeysuckle drifting through the June evening air is almost heavenly when paired with the scent of freshly mowed hay. As sweet as they smell, both multiflora roses and Japanese honeysuckle are invasive weeds commonly found in Ohio pastures and woodlands.

I tend to be less critical of these two weeds than many others simply because they are not poisonous to livestock, they can provide some benefit to wildlife (primarily birds and insects), and they can be target grazed with small ruminant animals. Goats are quite effective grazers of both roses and honeysuckle because they have a specialized prehensile lip that allows them to select individual leaves from plants and avoid thorns and woody tissue.

However, NO ONE should be propagating these plants on purpose or ignoring them in the landscape. Because they have invasive status in Ohio, it is every landowners’ legal responsibility to control their spread. My stance is, make the invasives that are poisonous your top priority for control, then address the invasives that won’t cause death if something consumes them before you can control them. Better yet, work with Continue reading A Rose We Love to Hate →

Hay barn fires a real hazard

– Jason Hartschuh, CCA, Allen Gahler, Mark Sulc, OSU Extension

Hay barn fire

Mother nature has been at it again, hardly giving us enough days to make dry hay with a risk of pop-up showers every afternoon. These conditions are very dangerous for hay producers since wet hay does just rot it may also burn. Hay fires are caused when bacteria in wet hay create so much heat that the hay spontaneously combusts in the presence of oxygen. At over 20% moisture mesophilic bacteria release heat-causing temperature to rise between 130°F to 140ºF with the temperature staying high for up to 40 days. As temperatures rise thermophilic bacteria can take off in your hay and raise the temperature into the fire danger zone of over 175°F.

Assessing your risk

If the hay was baled between 15-20% moisture and acid preservatives were used there is still potential for a hay fire but not as great as on non-treated hay. Having a moisture tester on your baler can help you know the variability across your field in moisture and when to use hay preservatives. Without a moisture tester if you find darker . . .

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Plan Now for Tenth Annual OCA Replacement Female Sale

This year’s sale will be held on November 25 in Zanesville

The 2022 date for the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) tenth annual Replacement Female Sale will be Friday evening, November 25. The sale will be held at the Muskingum Livestock Auction Co. in Zanesville, Ohio and will begin at 6:00 p.m.

The tenth edition of OCA 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, 2023 and may be of registered or commercial background. Bred females must be bred to a bull with known EPD’s and calves at side of cows must be sired by a bull with known EPD’s. Pregnancy status must be verified by an accredited veterinarian through traditional palpation, ultrasound or by blood testing through a professional laboratory. Analysis must be performed within 60 days of sale. Consignments will also be fulfilling of specific health requirements.

Why discuss a sale that is several months away? The middle of the Continue reading Plan Now for Tenth Annual OCA Replacement Female Sale →