Month: October 2024

Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage Insurance Basics

– William Secor, Ph.D., UGA Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics

It feels like some kind of weather event has been affecting Georgia beef cattle markets every few months this year. It was about this time last year that North Georgia began to deal with drought conditions that caused many to feed hay earlier and longer than normal. Winter brought drought alleviation for the Southeast and the Southern Plains. Then came intermittent dryness and drought over the summer and into early fall for many in Georgia. Lastly, Hurricane Helene devasted a large swath of Southern and Southeastern Georgia.

Forage production is risky (Table 1), and weather is one risk among many in forage production. To manage forage production risks, producers can take several different actions. For example, producers may . . .

Continue reading Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage Insurance Basics

Cattle and Beef Markets

– Stephen R. Koontz, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, Colorado State University

Cattle and beef markets started the fourth quarter with some considerable price optimism. Live cattle futures and feeder cattle futures rallied to close to levels seen prior to the second price break in August. We are still some distance from the levels seen at the beginning of the year, but moves in September were strongly higher, and the discussions are markedly different from the second quarter. What are the underlying fundamentals?

The boxed beef cutout value is off $30/cwt from the peak of the summer but firm for the week at slightly better than $300. The 5-area weighted average fed animal prices are in their third week of strengthening, and this is the first time since the market turned lower in August. Live prices are just short of $190. With this combination it looks as if Continue reading Cattle and Beef Markets →

Weekly Livestock Comments for October 11, 2024

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

The Choice cutout was up $8.69 from a week ago.

FED CATTLE
Fed cattle traded steady to $1 higher on a live basis compared to last week. Prices were mainly $186 to $188 on a live basis. Dressed trade was mainly $294 to $296.

The 5-area weighted average prices thru Thursday were $187.08 live, up $0.05 compared to last week and $295.90 dressed, down $3.77 from a week ago. A year ago, prices were $184.14 live and $291.67 dressed.

Finished cattle are trading with a $1 to $2 negative basis in most cattle feeding regions with October live cattle futures trading a little over $189 per hundredweight. What is more interesting about the futures market is the October through April contracts are all trading within a $1.25 per hundredweight range while the contracts from June 2025 through February 2026 are trading in a $2.58 per hundredweight range at the time of this writing. Additionally, next year’s price expectation is Continue reading Weekly Livestock Comments for October 11, 2024 →

Feeding storm-damaged soybean grain to cattle

– Jason Hartschuh, Extension Field Specialist, Dairy Management and Precision Livestock, Ohio State University Extension and Garth Ruff, Field Specialist Beef Cattle and Livestock Marketing, OSU Extension

Some elevators have rejected badly damaged soybeans.

The storm damage from Hurricane Helene to soybeans has caused reports of $6 per bushel discounts due to sprouting and off-color damage. We have received a few questions about feeding these soybeans to livestock. For now, we will have to generalize the nutritional value and risks based on information from past experiences in other regions of the country, but we have submitted soybeans for feed testing.

If you plan to feed whole damaged soybeans to your livestock a complete feed analysis is needed that includes a fat content analysis, mold, and mycotoxin test. While expensive, a full mycotoxin panel should be run because soybeans can contain many toxins including ZEN, FUM, DON, and Aflatoxins.

Damaged and discolored soybeans make a good protein source for cows and can be used in heifer development rations along with Continue reading Feeding storm-damaged soybean grain to cattle →

Drought to Frost: Feeding Safe Forages

– Jason Hartschuh, Extension Field Specialist, Dairy Management and Precision Livestock, Ohio State University Extension

Sorghum-sudangrass hybrids have high to intermediate toxic potential.

This year is presenting many challenges when it comes to forage toxicity and ensuring that we have safe feed for our livestock. Drought conditions have led to an active discussion on forage toxicity and the potential for frost in the future presents an additional concern. These environmental conditions increase the risk of prussic acid poisoning, nitrate poisoning, and increased bloat in multiple methods of feeding forages. Recent rainfall has finally allowed for rapid forage growth but unfortunately in some species, this rapid growth poses a risk to your livestock during future frost events.

What is prussic acid toxicity?
Prussic acid toxicity is the accumulation of prussic acid (i.e. hydrogen cyanide) in forage plant tissue. Prussic acid is the product of a reaction between two naturally occurring plant molecules, cyanogenic glycosides and degrading enzymes. Plant cell walls usually separate the two, but a frost event freezes the Continue reading Drought to Frost: Feeding Safe Forages →

Lungworms and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Cattle

– Dr. Michelle Arnold, DVM, MPH UK Ruminant Extension Veterinarian

Figure 1: Adult cow displaying signs of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) due to lungworm larvae migration. Photo courtesy of Thompson Farms.

“Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome” or “ARDS” is a rapid and dramatic onset of severe breathing difficulty due to lack of oxygen transfer across the air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs to the bloodstream. Affected cattle exhibit open-mouth breathing with the head and neck extended, nostrils dilated, a sway-back appearance, foam coming from the mouth, an open-shouldered stance, and sometimes become aggressive (see Figure 1). Breathing is shallow and rapid (35-75 breaths per minute) and may have a loud grunt associated with exhalation. Temperature is typically normal or mildly elevated depending on severity of the condition. In extreme cases, air pockets can be felt under the skin on the upper portions of the neck, shoulders and back (subcutaneous crepitation). Mild exercise is enough to cause the animal to collapse and die.

Generally, there is no coughing nor signs of infection such as fever or depression. Severely affected animals frequently Continue reading Lungworms and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Cattle →

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The 3 Ps of Herd Expansion: Profit, Pasture and Patience

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

As I write this article in early October, beef cow inventory is at a 62 year low. Tight supplies have driven cattle markets and calf prices have increased by roughly $1 per lb over the last two years. With limited heifer retention and beef cow slaughter on track to exceed 10% of beef cow inventory for the year, it appears very likely that beef cow numbers will be even lower going into 2025. At some point, we will expand this cowherd but there appears to be little evidence that producers have an appetite for that currently. In order for the cow herd to grow, we need to have the 3 Ps of herd expansion at the cow-calf level: profit, pasture and patience.


The first P is probably the most obvious – profit. There will be no interest in cowherd expansion if money is not being made at the cow-calf level. While profit has largely been there recently, it is important to remember that these Continue reading The 3 Ps of Herd Expansion: Profit, Pasture and Patience →

Drought 2024: Winter Feeding Options for Beef Cows

Plan to attend one of these meetings.

Although hurricane Helene provided some much needed moisture across southern and eastern Ohio, drought conditions persist and impacts will linger through this coming winter. With severe drought from July through September hay inventories have been negatively impacted and many producers may find themselves short on forage for the winter and early spring.

Join OSU Extension field specialists Jason Hartschuh and Garth Ruff at one of four locations across southern and eastern Ohio as they address managing forage shortages due to drought.

Topics discussed will be alternative feeding strategies, comparison of feed ingredients, and managing cow herd inventory.

All programs start at 6:30 p.m. and there is no RSVP needed for any of the following locations Continue reading Drought 2024: Winter Feeding Options for Beef Cows →

You can’t manage what you don’t measure!

– Stan Smith, PA, Fairfield County OSU Extension

Maybe never more than now, during what has become known as perhaps the worst drought in Ohio history, has the adage “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” been more valid or meaningful to those trying to feed a beef cow. With cattlemen looking for alternative feedstuffs in the absence of adequate pasture and hay supply, it’s important for those who are balancing the needs of cows in various stages of production to know the nutritional value of the various feedstuffs they may be utilizing. In this excerpt from one of the OSU Extension Beef Team’s 2021 Beef School sessions, Perry County Educator Ted Wiseman goes over the interpretation of a forage analysis and how various quality of forages may need to be supplemented.

Find Wiseman’s presentation Analyzing Forage Quality to Meet the Nutritional Needs of the Beef Cow in it’s entirety linked here.

Two more videos on Emergency Drought Water Management

The Eastern Ohio Grazing Council recently dropped two more videos sourced by Rachael Cline, Natural Resource Specialist with USDA/NRCS, on Emergency Drought Water Management. The first one below focuses on managing limited water supply through herd management, and the second focuses on water trough management.