Author: Smith

Managing hay fields and pastures after storm damage

– Jason Hartschuh, OSU Extension Field Specialist, Dairy Management and Precision Livestock

Something as seemingly harmless as insulation can be problematic.

As the number of straight-line wind and tornado events seems to be increasing so does the number of times that parts of nearby buildings end up spread out across our pastures and hay fields.  This debris can cause significant health risks to grazing livestock, as well as animals fed harvested forages from these fields. Debris that is blown into pastures and hayfields quickly becomes hard to see as forages take off and grows in the spring. In pastures or stored hay, livestock often eat foreign materials that are present in the field either mixed in with the forage or just from curiosity. There is also a risk of livestock being injured from foreign materials entering the animal’s hooves or being tangled in the debris in a pasture. Each type of debris can cause slightly different challenges.

Large debris such as roofing, boards, and other debris scattered by the storm are the easiest to see and clean up. Once the large debris is no longer visible it is easy to move on to the next cleanup project, but the small stuff needs cleanup just as badly.  Fiberglass insulation can be especially challenging as it can lead to blockages, bloat, and irritation of the digestive tract. Small amounts of fiberglass may create small cuts in the esophagus causing irritation when the animal eats even after the bite that contained fiberglass. It can also cause Continue reading →

Be Patient: Management of regrowth impacts overall production

– Victor Shelton, Retired NRCS Agronomist/Grazing Specialist

“Before and after the hooves, the grasses must survive, patience, we hold, initial grazing to thrive.”

As I write this, the sun is trying to shine and provide more growing degree days for plant growth.  Forage growth might seem a bit early this year, and it is, but not much earlier than last year at this time.  Southern Indiana is about a week to ten days earlier than last year. Some northern sites are about two weeks ahead of last year, but certainly still behind southern portions.

Do not get me wrong, I am glad to see new green growth on perennial forages, but I haven’t forgotten last year yet.  Last April we had a couple fairly hard freezes in late April.  Nice, new, tender forage growth does not appreciate freezing temperatures.  Last year’s cold spell set forages back, stressed plants and initiated early seedhead production which reduced yields.  If it wasn’t grazed or clipped quickly to get it back in a more vegetative stage, production was really impacted.  I tried both ways and wish Continue reading →

Assessing Forage Stands and Winter Damage

– Kyle Verhoff, Allen Gahler, Jason Hartschuh, CCA, OSU Extension

Heaving is a common form of winter damage.

Spring is here and now is a great time to walk fields and note how the forages faired. Winter damage is difficult to predict and the variability of temperatures this past winter across the state can present some difficult conditions for forages. Depending on the location and what type of forage field, winter damage may be a major concern, particularly for forages with taproots like alfalfa. Stands should be assessed carefully during spring green-up for concerns, such as heaving and crown and root diseases. A thorough and timely assessment will allow for planning any necessary adjustments for the 2024 season.

Assessment

When making a stand assessment, it is important to not only make above ground observations by way of a stem count but to also . . .

Continue reading Assessing Forage Stands and Winter Damage

Avian Influenza Detected in Dairy Cattle

– Buckeye Dairy Network, CFAES, The Ohio State University

.

On Monday, March 25 th the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued a statement confirming the identification of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in dairy cattle located in Texas and Kansas. They have suspected that HPAI may be a contributing factor in the unclassified illness affecting older, mid to late lactation dairy cattle in several herds in New Mexico, Texas, and Kansas over the past two months. It is not yet clear if all reports of the unclassified illness are caused by HPAI. The full press release from USDA can be found here.

The following are answers to common questions producers and the general public may . . .

Continue reading Avian Influenza Detected in Dairy Cattle

EDITOR’s NOTE: Yesterday, April 2, the Ohio Department of Agriculture confirmed a dairy herd in Ohio tested has positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza. Learn more in this article from Farm and Dairy.

Posted by at Posted in Health

Prospective Plantings, Feed Prices and Implications for Feeder Cattle Markets

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

Input prices have been a major topic of discussion over the last couple of years. As I write this, we are enjoying some extremely high cattle prices. But those high prices have been at least somewhat offset by increases in production costs. This has been true of feed, fertilizer, fuel, machinery, labor and many other inputs. On the heels of USDA’s Prospective Plantings report, it seemed to be a good time to discuss recent trends in feed prices and the impact this tends to have on feeder cattle values.

For some recent perspective, the US average corn price per bushel is tracked in the figure above from January 2020 through February 2024. One can quickly see the low-price levels during COVID, price levels exceeding $7 per bushel during 2022, and the significant price decreases seen through the 2023 season. Corn tends to be the market leader and trends in corn price are typically representative of other feedstuffs. Clearly, the Continue reading →

How to Use a Grazing Stick

– Christine Gelley, Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Noble County, Ohio State University Extension

A grazing stick helps estimate days of grazing that remain in a paddock.

Measuring the amount of forage available for livestock to graze is a helpful task for designing and adjusting pasture rotations for grazing livestock. There are many potential methods for measuring the amount of forage mass that is growing in a pasture. All of them require time spent in the pasture and repetitious measurements to develop estimations of whole pasture forage availability. One of the simplest methods for estimating forage availability is using a grazing stick.

What does the grazing stick do?

A grazing stick combines information about forage height, forage density, species of forages growing in the pasture, and residual grazing heights into a tool that . . .

Continue reading How to Use a Grazing Stick

Practical Considerations for Managing the Spring Flush

Dr. Chris D. Teutsch, University of Kentucky Research and Education Center at Princeton

In March we often find ourselves wringing our hands waiting for grass growth to start and a short time later our pastures are growing so quickly that we can’t seem to keep up with them. This time of the year can often be one of the most challenging for graziers. Grass growth goes from nonexistent to excessive in a matter of weeks and if you are properly stocked grazing livestock can have a hard time keeping up with it. The following suggestions can help you to control spring growth and get the most out of your spring pastures Continue reading →

Proactive Forage Management for Grazing Success

– Jennifer J. Tucker, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Beef Extension Specialist, University of Georgia

The goal of grazing management is efficient production and utilization of a forage base.

Attend any forage focused Extension program and you will assuredly discuss the importance of soil fertility, forage quality, having a forage plan, and utilizing proper seeding and planting practices. Each of these are key fundamentals to efficient and effective forage management and utilization and should not be overlooked in this article. A limitation of even one of these areas can have a dramatic effect on overall forage production and operational productivity. Today, however, we are going to take a closer look at what’s happening between the pasture and the highway and discuss a few other key variables in forage management.

The Goal of Grazing Management
Whether a large producer with generations of experience, or a smaller operation just starting out, the overall goal of forage grazing management is the same: Efficient production and utilization of a forage base that is able to meet the needs of the livestock herd.

Below are three key principles needed to . . .

Continue reading Proactive Forage Management for Grazing Success

Weekly Livestock Comments for March 22, 2024

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

FED CATTLE
Fed cattle traded $2 higher compared to last week on a live basis. Prices were largely $189 to $191 on a live basis and $301 to $303 on a dressed basis.

The 5-area weighted average prices thru Thursday were $189.52 live, up $1.70 compared to last week and $301.99 dressed, up $3.58. A year ago, prices were $164.39 live and $265.07 dressed.

April live cattle futures have found no direction the past month other than marking time. At the same time, cash live cattle prices have been pushing to achieve the expectations of the futures market for April and have now eclipsed those expectations. Despite this occurrence, live cattle futures are pricing cattle lower through the summer and fall months. Does this mean finished cattle prices will begin to soften as the market moves into May and June? They certainly could, but a lot will Continue reading →

Updates from the March 2024 Cattle on Feed Report

– James Mitchell, Livestock Marketing Specialist, University of Arkansas

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released a report on March 22, 2024, detailing the status of U.S. cattle on feed inventories. As of March 1, 2024, the total inventory of cattle and calves on feed in feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 plus head stood at 11.8 million, marking a 1 percent increase compared to the figures from March 1, 2023. On-feed inventories remain above 2023 totals for the third consecutive month of 2024. By no means is this an indication of herd expansion at this point. It highlights the differences between short- and long-run cattle inventory dynamics.

Feedlot placements in February 2024 increased 10 percent year over year and 6 percent compared to January, totaling 1.89 million head. This marks the Continue reading →