Livestock
What’s so Critical about Fall Cutting?
Amber Friedrichsen, Associate Editor, Hay and Forage Grower
(Previously published in Hay & Forage Grower: August 29, 2023)
The critical
fall period for alfalfa has been said to start about six weeks before the first killing frost, which is roughly around the first week of September for most of the Midwest. This hard stop in harvest schedules is supposed to ensure plants store enough energy in their roots to survive the winter, but with improved alfalfa varieties, variable stand conditions, and warmer weather patterns, how critical can this period really be?
Despite heat indices recently reaching the triple digits in some parts of the Central U.S., temperatures will likely calm down as we flip the calendar from August to September. The sun is also setting noticeably earlier each day, and the combination of milder temperatures and shorter day lengths sends a signal to alfalfa to prepare for fall dormancy.
Pricing profitably: Direct-to-consumer meat sales have the potential to increase farm revenue
By Brianna Gwirtz, OCJ field reporter
(Previously published online with Ohio’s Country Journal: August 27, 2023)
The input
costs to farm have been continually rising for many years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) February 2023 Farm Sector Income forecast projected total farm production expenses in 2023 at nearly $500 billion, up 4% from the prior year, but up $87 billion, or more than 28%, from 2020. For those raising livestock, looking outside of the typical commodity markets and focusing on direct-to-consumer meat sales may be an opportunity to increase revenue.
Mineral Supplementation on Pasture
– Ted Wiseman, OSU Extension, Perry County (originally published in Farm & Dairy)
Grazing livestock require minerals to promote growth, milk production and several metabolic functions. How do we know that our mineral program is adequate to meet the needs of our grazing livestock? In previous articles we have stressed the importance of analyzing hay samples for winter feeding. But how many of us have sampled our pastures for nutrient content? We know that magnesium in early spring is important to prevent grass tetany, but what about the rest of the year?
Preharvest Intervals for Soybean Herbicides Applied Postemergence
Preharvest intervals indicate the amount of time that must elapse between the herbicide application and crop harvest. Failure to observe the preharvest interval may result in herbicide residue levels in the harvested portion of the crop in excess of established limits. Also, livestock grazing or foraging treated soybean is not allowed on the labels of many postemergence soybean herbicides. Table 1 contains information regarding preharvest intervals and grazing restrictions for a number of postemergence soybean herbicides.
Table 18 from the OSU Weed Control Guide shows the PHI and feeding restrictions for postemergence soybean herbicide applications.
Weed of the week – Common Pokeweed
Common Pokeweed (AKA – Pokeberry)
Family: Pokeweed Family
Life cycle: Perennial
Description: A large, 3 to 10 ft tall, perennial weed with thick, reddish-purple branched stems and dark purple to black berries. All parts of the plant are poisonous to cattle, horses, swine, and humans, especially the roots.
Seedlings: Cotyledons 7-33 mm long, 6-11 mm wide, egg-shaped but pointed at the apex. Stems below the cotyledons (hypocotyls) are without hairs, succulent, and often purple-tinged. Young leaves alternate, egg-shaped but pointed at the apex, and without hairs. Cotyledons and young leaves are pale green in color, with reddish tinted petioles.
Roots: Large, white tap root up to 6 inches in diameter.
Stem: Branch from the root crown at the base of the plant, erect, large, smooth, purple-tinged.
Leaves: Alternate, 3 1/2-12 inches long, 1-4 inches wide, egg-shaped, petiolated, without hairs, and are smaller in size toward the top of the plant.
Flower: Individual flowers small (6 mm wide) with 5 white to pink-tinged sepals.
Fruit: A berry, 7-12 mm, green when immature, dark-purple to black when mature. Contain a dark red juice.
Special identifying characteristics: Large, tree-like plant with egg-shaped leaves, purple-tinged stems and dark purple berries.
Pokeweed Control in Corn and Soybeans
Beef Quality Assurance
Expect to See More Ticks Statewide this Season
Farm and Dairy (Previously Published online with Farm and Dairy: May 1, 2023)
Backyard
lovers, campers, outdoors enthusiasts, and pet owners beware. If you thought last year’s tick season was bad, just wait. This year has the potential to be even worse.
Ticks — and the diseases they carry — are on the rise in Ohio and will likely continue to increase. There has been a steady increase in tick-vectored disease numbers in Ohio each year, and officials don’t expect to see a reverse of the trend, said Tim McDermott, an educator with Ohio State University Extension, the outreach arm of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
“While you can encounter a tick during any season, spring marks the beginning of heavy tick season, and this year, the tick population statewide is expected to continue to rise,” he said.
McDermott said there are multiple factors contributing to the increase in tick-vectored disease, including global climate change, tick range expansion, and increasing numbers of wildlife living in close proximity to people.
Statewide Sheep Tour
Asian Longhorned Tick found in Morgan County
– Chris Penrose, Professor & Extension Educator, Agriculture & Natural Resources, OSU Extension, Morgan County
I became disheartened a few weeks ago after I sent a bunch of ticks to a lab on campus to get identified and they confirmed what I feared: that we have the Asian Longhorned tick here in Morgan County. If I am correct, that makes five types of tick we likely have present in the county and many parts of Ohio. Ticks can give us Lyme Disease, Anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and a disease that makes us allergic to red meat.
The Asian longhorned tick attacks wild and domestic animals and humans. Photo by Anna Pasternak, UK entomology graduate student.