MANAGEMENT...
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Bale feeder choice can reduce hay waste, save dollars.
"Management of input costs is a key business concern and can mean the difference between operational profit or loss, and when it comes to hay waste, using the right type of bale feeder can make a significant cost-savings difference," says David Lalman, Oklahoma State University (OSU) Cooperative Extension beef cattle specialist.
Research conducted by Lalman and other scientists with OSU's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources indicates that using a cone-style feeder or modified cone feeder with a sheeted bottom should reduce hay waste to approximately 5%-6% of the original bale weight. Read more.
Consider Cover Crops For Fall Grazing
Among no-till grain farmers, cover crops — a second crop planted immediately after harvest — are becoming a popular management practice that enhances cropland soil health. For cattle producers, these cover crops can also be a hot ticket for economical fall grazing.
Bryan Jorgenson of Jorgenson Land and Cattle near Ideal, S.D., has been planting cover crops into harvested wheat fields each August for the past six years. He's planting a cocktail mix of turnips, radishes and lentils on about 650 acres.
He explains, "We are learning the cover crops extend the time there's an active root growing in the soil. Typically after wheat harvest the soil was dormant from August to May and there was nothing to feed the soil microbes. Cover crops create a root environment up until a killing frost, and those cover crops may green up again in the spring before planting. So there's much less time that the soil is dormant."
Ron Torell with his wife, Jackie
Cow Camp Chatter
Short-term cows
For years our industry has referred to spent cows as culls. This is perhaps a poor choice of words used to describe market-ready animals. As beef producers, each of us has the responsibility to recognize when it is time to send a cow to market. The industry cannot tolerate the marketing of shelly, weak and down cows.
In an effort to capitalize on the best calf market the beef industry has ever experienced, many cattlemen are looking at ways to economically expand their 2012 brood cow inventory. One option is to defer issuing pink slips to the experienced veterans of the herd — those pregnant, smooth-mouthed cows who are 10 years old and beyond. These senior bovine employees have already proven themselves, yet they are past their prime largely due to their age and lack of teeth.
Squeezing that last calf out of an old cow does not work in every case. It may, however, if you apply a few basic management principles. Read more.
Take Precautions to Prevent Equipment Theft
Equipment and tools are costly investments to any farming operation. Recently, they've become attractive targets to thieves.
Kenny Perry and Tad Campbell, University of Kentucky (UK) Cooperative Extension Service agents in Graves and Mason counties, respectively, say thefts of farm equipment and tools have increased in the past 12-18 months in their counties. They attribute this to the high price of scrap metal and copper along with a down economy, among other factors. Read more.
Study Looks at Feed Intake, Eating Habits
AgriLife research studies focus on residual feed intake.
Feed efficiency in beef cattle is getting a closer look by a Texas AgriLife Research scientist, who is evaluating both feedlot performance and feed intake to improve profitability and reduce the environmental impact of beef production systems.
Gordon Carstens, an AgriLife Research animal nutrition scientist, along with other agency researchers, has been using GrowSafe technology to measure feed intake and feeding-behavior traits such as daily visits and time spent at the feed bunk. Read more.
Kris Ringwall
Beef Talk
Fifteen years ago, beef cow management focused around production. Has much changed?
At that time and somewhat true today, much of the beef cow management focused around production.
Following recent field days, several thoughts about cow size surfaced, which triggered some discussion. In fact, as attendees and students were reviewing previous discussions on what are the best cow systems, they could not help but notice a change at the Dickinson Research Extension Center (DREC).
The center's March-April calving system to maximize calf growth and minimize calf age at harvest had somehow switched to a May calving system and later calf marketing. Words, such as yearlings and grass finishing, certainly were surfacing, and even questions about the appropriate cow size were being asked. Read more.
Handy Corral for Your Tools
Whether it's in the barn or out by the chute, there never seems to be the perfect spot to put sorting sticks, pitchforks, shovels, rakes and other long-handled equipment. They tend to get stacked in the corner or up against a fencepost — and too often fall down into the mud and muck and create a safety hazard for man and animal.
But an easy solution can help "corral" all these tools. Simply use a piece of corrugated plastic pipe about a foot in diameter and 3-4 feet long. Mount the pipe to a wooden fence post and you've created an easy storage solution. The long handles are easy to slide through the pipe and won't fall down. So you'll have an easy-to-access — and clean — handle the next time you need to grab a rake, shovel or fork.
New Products
Industry affiliates provide a wide array of products and services to assist you on the farm and ranch. Here's an assortment of new products to hit the market recently.
- Grain-cart weighing system
- New name for spray oil emulsion
- ID device
- Using gypsum to replace soils for crops
- Company unveils lineup of "efficient power" equipment
Angus Advisor
Click here for October herd management tips from cattle experts across the nation. Advice separated by region.
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