Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA

Hay-buying Tips

If adverse summer weather made hay buying a necessity, here are tips to make the best purchases.

Neal and Amanda Sorenson of Powder River Angus Ranch, Spotted Horse, Wyo., purchase hay most years.

Neal says they try to buy good-quality hay that doesn’t have weeds, because they don’t want to bring any weeds to the ranch.

“Sometimes when we need to buy a lot of hay, we’ve purchased malt barley straw to help stretch our forage at less cost. It’s softer than wheat straw, cows eat it better, and it’s usually weed-free because there can’t be any weeds in barley that’s made into beer. There’s usually a little grain in it. This makes good feed, at about half the price of hay,” he says.

Nose pump provides water in cold weather with no electricity.

Cold weather can create challenges in pastures where there’s no electricity for pumping water or heating a stock tank.

Jim Anderson, a rancher near Rimbey, Alta., Canada, solved winter water problems by creating a system in which cattle themselves pump water that won’t freeze. He uses a piston pump, like the old-fashioned well in which a person works a handle up and down to lift water. He modified it so cattle could push a lever with their nose to operate the piston pump.

Sharp turn to cold brings threat of fescue foot in beef cow herds.

Odd fall weather and fescue pasture growth set up potential poisonous pastures causing fescue foot in cow herds.

Fall growth after a drought produces more toxins in infested tall fescue grass. The poison develops after rains start regrowth following a drought, says Craig Roberts, University of Missouri Extension specialist.

Roberts urges herd owners to keep close watch on their cows. “At first sign of a limp, take the cow off the toxic grass,” Roberts says.

On Target

Cause and effect.

We sometimes associate cause and effect without knowing the real link, or as an academic buzz phrase has it, “correlation does not equal causation.” A quick search provides a humorous example. Did you know ice cream sales and shark attacks are highly correlated? While true in a broad sense, the actual reason for similar seasonal trends is that hot weather brings greater ice cream consumption, as well as more swimming along beaches where sharks lurk.

FDA releases report showing antimicrobials distributed for food-producing animals declining for two years.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that domestic sales and distribution of all medically important antimicrobials intended for use in food-producing animals decreased by 33% between years 2016 and 2017. The 2017 Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals also shows that domestic sales and distribution of all medically important antimicrobials decreased 41% since 2015 (peak year of sales/distribution) and decreased 28% since the first year of reported sales in 2009.

Beef Talk

Data are the foundation for developing cattle goals.

Farm and/or ranch decisions usually are based on two choices: data or “gut feeling.”

Choosing the latter means choices that essentially drift with the beef industry, because “gut feeling” is a product of comfort within the beef industry environment. For cow-calf producers, comfort within the business is good.

ANGUS BEEF BULLETIN EXTRA

Management

Hay-buying Tips

If adverse summer weather made hay buying a necessity, here are tips to make the best purchases.

Frostfree Nose Pump Winter Stock Water

Nose pump provides water in cold weather with no electricity.

Fescue Foot Threat

Sharp turn to cold brings threat of fescue foot in beef cow herds.

On Target

Cause and effect.

Animal Antimicrobial Use Down

FDA releases report showing antimicrobials distributed for food-producing animals declining for two years.

Beef Talk

Data are the foundation for developing cattle goals.

Angus Advisor

Our team of Angus advisors offer regional tips for herd management for the winter season.

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