Livestock

Asian Longhorned Tick Confirmed in Ohio

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) announced the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, has confirmed that an exotic tick, known as the Asian longhorned tick, has been found in Gallia County.

The tick was found on a stray dog originating from Gallia County, which was later transported to a shelter in Canal Winchester. The tick was identified on May 28 by The Ohio State University and sent to the federal lab for confirmation.

“Due to the nature of this pest, the female ticks can reproduce without a male, so it only takes one tick to create an established population in a new location,” said Dr. Tony Forshey, ODA State Veterinarian. “This pest is especially fatal to livestock, so producers should practice preventative measures and be on the lookout for this new threat.” Continue reading →

Pork Exports Rely on China

World pork markets were disrupted the last couple of years, first by African swine fever in China, followed by a U.S.-China trade dispute. Then, in 2020, came COVID-19.

ASF drastically reduced pork production in China starting in 2018 and continuing into 2020. This reduction created a tremendous opportunity for the U.S. to increase pork exports to China to help fill the animal protein void in Chinese consumers’ diets. So, what has taken place in 2020?

Despite pork supply chain disruptions in the U.S. resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. pork exports have increased dramatically. From January through May, exports rose 21% above the prior year. But it’s clear that exports would have been even larger without the disruptions that occurred as COVID-19 infections caused processing plant closures and slowdowns. Continue reading →

USDA Announces Changes To Livestock Gross Margin Insurance Program

Source: USDA

USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced changes to the Livestock Gross Margin (LGM) insurance program for cattle and swine beginning in the 2021 crop year. Changes include adding premium subsidies to assist producers and moving premium due dates to the end of the endorsement period for cattle.

“These changes build upon RMA’s continued effort to make livestock policies more affordable and accessible for livestock producers,” RMA Administrator Martin Barbre said. “We are working to ensure that these improvements can be implemented by the July 31 sales period so producers can take advantage of these changes as soon as possible.”

Prior to this change, LGM-Cattle and Swine did not have premium subsidies. Now, subsidies have been added and are based on the deductible selected by the producer. For LGM-Cattle, the subsidy will range from 18 percent with 0 deductible up to 50 percent with a deductible of $70 or greater. For LGM-Swine, the subsidy will range from 18 percent with 0 deductible up to 50 percent with a deductible of $12 or greater. Continue reading →

Bunk Management; Impacts Animal Performance and Health

Feed bunk management plays an important role in both animal performance and preventing acidosis in the feedyard.

During the first session of the 2020 Ohio Beef Cattle Nutrition and Management School that was hosted by the OSU Extension Beef Team,  Dr. Francis Fluharty, Ohio State University Professor Emeritus and current Professor and Head of the Department of Animal and Dairy Science at The University of Georgia, focused a portion of his presentation on the significant impact that proper feed bunk management has on feed conversion, prevention of acidosis, and overall profitability. Here, in less than 8 minutes, Dr. Fluharty explains why bunk management is so important, nearly doubling the rate of gain and improving feed conversion by greater than 40% in one study.

Glenn Selk: Shorten Breeding Season To Produce Uniform Calf Crops

By: Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist. Previously published by Drovers online.

In low margin businesses such as cow/calf ranching, taking advantage of every profit-enhancing tool in the tool box is important to long term success and survival.

Well-defined 60-day breeding and calving seasons will pay off in heavier, and more uniform groups of calves to sell at marketing time.  If a small cow operation can market a sizeable number of calves together in one lot, it will realize a greater price per pound (on the average) than similar calves sold in singles or small lots.  Proof of this concept has been reported in at least 5 different states.  Studies in Kentucky, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona have shown advantages in sale price for uniform lots of calves compared to singles and small lots (5 or less). Continue reading →

Meat vs COVID-19; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Supply and Demand

By: Stan Smith, OSU Extension, Fairfield County

While supply chain issues have caused short term disruptions in some retail meat cases, livestock inventory is more than adequate to meet demand.

To suggest that supply in local meat cases has been disrupted since schools closed and ‘stay-at-home’ orders were issued last month might be an understatement.

The good is simply this. We have more than adequate supplies of market ready livestock on the farm to accommodate the consumer’s demand for meat.

The bad is that COVID-19 caused disruption to the meat supply chain that created short term shortages in the meat case, and fluctuations of price in both the meat case and especially livestock at the farm.

The ugly is these concerns are likely to affect both the farmer and the consumer for weeks, and perhaps even months to come. The solution to the chain of events that have caused the problems in the supply chain all revolve around how quickly COVID-19 is arrested and the lives of consumers and all the members of the meat supply chain can return to normal. Continue reading →

Meat Production Threatened With Disruption

By: Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University

The U.S. meat industry faces unprecedented threats as COVID-19 sweeps through labor forces at meat processing facilities nationwide.  Production of beef, pork and poultry are simultaneously threatened as COVID-19 infections affect labor availability and processing capacity in multiple facilities across all meat industries.

Reduced processing capacity could cause backups in live animal supplies if animals cannot be processed in a timely fashion. The severity of impacts will depend on specific situations and locations but could include costly delays in holding animals until slaughter, backlogs in production facilities, or even disposal of animals.

Such disruptions could result in reduced flows of fresh meat to consumers, compounded by the continuing bottlenecks created by the drastic reduction in the food service sector, roughly half of total food distribution. Since early March, those bottlenecks resulted in limited meat availability in retail grocery despite an ample supply of meat production. Continue reading →

Don’t Buy the Cheapest Mineral Out There

By: Francis Fluharty, University of Georgia Animal Sciences, and Stan Smith, OSU Extension

The mineral content of forages is always a concern when feeding the brood cow, but it’s of even greater concern after wet weather and rapid forage growth like that which was experienced the past two springs and early summers. In this 4 minute excerpt from the 2020 Ohio Beef Cow/Calf Workshop, Dr. Francis Fluharty explains the benefits, and also his concerns for feeding the cow herd highly digestible minerals in the appropriate amounts.

What To Do About Mold In Feed

By: Erica Lyon, OSU Extension Harrison & Jefferson Counties. Originally published by the Ohio Farmer online.

Now that we are getting into the summer months, moldy feed might not be on your mind right now, especially if your livestock are grazing. But now is a great time to be cognizant of the conditions that lead to moldy feed in the winter months. The conditions that forages are grown and harvested in can determine the risk of mold developing later in storage.

First, let’s talk about what mold is. When we say something appears “moldy,” it usually has a dusty or fuzzy appearance or seems off-color. Maybe it produces a certain moldy odor. While many microbes might be referenced when we say mold, it is usually one group of microbes that is causing the problem: fungi. Continue reading →