Dairy

Avian Influenza Detected in Dairy Cattle

On Monday, March 25th 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 OSU Extension Vet Med team worked on a factsheet attached here. The following are answers to common questions producers and the general public may have about this outbreak.

2023 OSU Beef School Opportunities

Join the OSU Extension Beef Team with three upcoming educational opportunities. by Garth Ruff, Beef Cattle Specialist.

2023 OSU Beef Team Virtual Beef School

Starting in January and running through April, the 2023 OSU Beef Team Virtual Beef School will be hosted on Zoom on Wednesday evenings once a month at 6:30 PM. Topics will include Beef Inputs and Outlook, Managing Reproduction, Herd Health Management/Update, and Beef Team Live Roundtable. Participants can attend one or all sessions a no cost. To register for the webinars go to http://go.osu.edu/beefschool23. Official Virtual Beef School Flyer

Specific Dates and Topics.

  • January 11 – A Look at Input Costs, Barry Ward, OSU Extension; Cattle Market Outlook, Garth Ruff, OSU Extension
  • February 8 – Presynchronization and Improving Fertility of Beef Cows, Alex Crist, OSU Animal Sciences; Synchronization and Natural Service, Dean Kreager, OSU Extension
  • March 8 — Asian Longhorn Tick and Theileria, Dr. Risa Pesepane, OSU Vet Preventative Medicine; Managing Disease in 2023, Dr. Justin Kieffer DVM, OSU Animal Sciences
  • April 12 — Beef Team Live Roundtable, Ask Questions and Discuss Answers with OSU Extension Beef Team Members

Ohio Beef Cattle Feeding School

On February 6, 2023, there will be a Beef Cattle Feeding School. This year’s Cattle Feeding School will focus on adding value to the cattle feeding enterprise with three featured speakers at two different locations (Hancock and Wayne County). The cost of the event is $20 at each location with a meal provided.

  • Dr. Jerad Jaborek, Michigan State Beef Feedlot Specialist will discuss Marketing and Feeding Considerations for Dairy Beef and Beef x Dairy Cross Cattle.
  • Can we add value to beef manure? Eric Richer, Farm Management Field Specialist will be covering Compost and Fertilizer Potential for Pen Pack Beef Manure.
  • The third speaker of the evening will be GarthRuff, Beef Cattle Field Specialist who will talk Beef Market Outlook for 2023.

The Hancock County event will take place from 12:00 – 2:30 PM at the OSU Extension Office in Hancock County, 7868 County Road 140, Suite B, Findlay, OH 45840. The Wayne County event will take place from 6:00 – 8:30 PM at OARDC Shishler Conference Center, 1680 Madison Ave, Wooster, OH 44691.

Check out the 2023 Ohio Beef Cattle Feeding Flyer to reserve your spot and register for the event.

Ohio Beef Cow/Calf Workshop -Optimizing Herd Fertility

Join the OSU Extension Beef Team on Monday, February 20, 2023, 9:00 am -2:30 pm, at Clemens Farms, 5135 N.Bankes Rd., Malta, OH 43758 for a Cow/Calf Workshop dealing with herd fertility. The cost is $10 per person and the event is limited to the first 50 attendees. Participants must RSVP to OSU Extension Morgan County at 740-962-4854 by February 15, 2023. The event will include a Beef lunch and all materials. Participants are to dress for hands-on demonstrations.

Presentation Topics:

  • Feed Sampling and Nutrient Analysis
  • Mineral Nutrition for Beef Cows
  • Heifer Development Strategies
  • Heifer Synchronization Options
  • Body Condition Scoring and
  • Facilities Tour

Contact information: Chris Penrose, OSU Extension Morgan County. 740-962-4854 or Garth Ruff, OSU Extension Beef Cattle Field Specialist. 740-305-3201.

To see the official flyer: 2023 OH Cow Calf Workshop – Flyer

Ohio Dairy Producer Lunch and Learn Series

The OSU Extension Dairy Team will be offering a series of webinars this winter to provide producers with timely updates on risk management strategies, milk market outlook, farm safety, and maximizing manure value. The webinars will take place at 1 pm on the following Fridays:

  • March 4: Keeping Yourself and Employees Safe on the Farm: Dairy farms can be a dangerous place, thus keeping our families and employees safe is critical. Taylor Dill and Jamie Hampton will be talking about assessing safety risks on your farm and developing a plan to help keep everyone on your farm safe.
  • March 18: Utilizing Your Farm’s Manure to Maximize Farm Profit: Manure can be an income or an expense, depending on how it is managed. Maximizing manure nutrient retention can help make it an income, especially with current fertilizer prices. Learn more about the current fertilizer situation and ways to better utilize manure from Glen Arnold, Chris Zoller, Eric Richer, Haley Zynda, and Chris Shoup.

To register for the webinar series, visit https://go.osu.edu/2022osudairyprogram. If you have questions about these educational programs, please contact Jason Hartschuh at Hartschuh.11@osu.edu.

Additionally, you can find the recorded session by contacting the dairy team.

  • February 11: Dairy Risk Management: The first two risk management tools many producers utilize are the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) and the Dairy Revenue Protection programs. Dianne Shoemaker will be covering changes that have been made to the DMC program, including the supplemental coverage which allows for an increase in milk production coverage. Jason Hartschuh will be covering the Dairy Revenue Protection program which can be used to set a floor under your milk price.
  • February 18: Milk Production, Demand, and Price Outlook for 2022: Dr. Chris Wolf, the dairy economist at Cornell University, will be providing us updates on current dairy markets. Milk prices have been continuing to climb – what are the driving factors and how long will milk prices stay up? Even with higher milk prices, margins may stay tight.

Management Considerations for Beef x Dairy Calves

Regardless of the genetics of cattle, you’re feeding, you will find value in listening to this three-part webinar series.

This article originally appeared in the Ohio BEEF Cattle letter at https://u.osu.edu/beef/2021/05/12/management-considerations-for-beef-x-dairy-calves/

During the first session (embedded below) held on April 21 the focus was on marketing dairy beef calves and featured Larry Rose and JT Loewe of JBS as they discussed the quality of the cattle they seek to purchase, their pricing structure, and the demands they have for high quality, consistently sized and correctly finished dairy crossed beef cattle. Regardless of the genetics being fed, the speakers shared a strong message for the value of consistency and proper finish the market is demanding in all fed cattle. Garth Ruff, Ohio State University Extension Beef Field Specialist, and Jerad Jaborek, Feedlot Systems Extension Educator at Michigan State University, hosted a three-part webinar series on management considerations for beef sired calves from dairy cows that covered a variety of topics related to marketing, genetics, and management of crossbred beef x dairy cattle.

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