Ohio Beef Newsletter available

The September 20, issue # 505, of the Ohio BEEF Cattle letter is now posted to the web at: http://fairfield.osu.edu/ag/beef/beefSept20.html

This is the time of year when we might expect the fed cattle market to make an upward turn . . . but, why has it happened so early, and so rapidly, and maybe more importantly . . . will it be sustained? Nevil Speer offers some thoughts this week.

Articles include:
* More Revenue, More Placements, More Risk
* Forage Focus: Fall Forage Fertility
* Beef Field Day Planned for September 30
* Weekly Roberts Agricultural Commodity Market Report

Stan
———-
Stan Smith
Program Assistant, Agriculture
OSU Extension, Fairfield County
831 College Ave., Suite D
Lancaster, OH 43130

e-mail: smith.263@cfaes.osu.edu
voice: 740.653.5419 ext. 24
fax: 740.687.7010
Visit:
Fairfield Co. OSU Extension – http://fairfield.osu.edu
OSU Beef Team – http://beef.osu.edu

Prepare to prevent Fall and Winter Health Problems

Prepare to prevent Fall and Winter Health Problems

by: Dr. Floron C. Farids Jr., DVM

Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Cattletoday.com

As a cow calf herd goes into the fall season after a hot, dry summer, the entire herd may be stressed. Excessive heat, short grass and low water tanks stress cattle and make them more susceptible to diseases. Unsanitary conditions and abrupt diet changes also can lead to illness, as can other circumstances of stress. At the end of the summer, the cows are likely pulled down to a thin body condition from nursing the calves, the bulls worn out from breeding, and the calves shocked from weaning.

FULL STORY

In The Cattle Markets: Declining Domestic Demand for Beef

In The Cattle Markets: Declining Domestic Demand for Beef

Cattlenetwork.com

Strong demand for beef in the U.S. market helped U.S. cattle producers weather the loss of key export markets in 2004. Demand growth in 2004 was a continuation of a trend that got underway in the late 1990’s. After spiraling downward for the better part of two decades, domestic beef demand started to improve in late 1998 and early 1999. And, with the exception of a very mild downturn in 2002, year-to-year improvements in domestic beef demand were the norm from 1999 through 2004. But that situation began to change in 2005.

FULL STORY

Editorial: Farming green — and getting punished

Editorial: Farming green — and getting punished

Farm policy should reward proven conservation techniques.

Startribune.com (MN)

For years, agribusiness lobbyists have scoffed at conservation agriculture as a utopian ideal that would drive real farmers into bankruptcy. They should meet Dan and Cara Miller.

The husband-wife team farm 560 rolling acres along Spring Valley Creek in southeastern Minnesota — a place where intensive cultivation of row crops would quickly send polluted runoff into the Mississippi River watershed.

So instead, the Millers raise Angus beef cattle and graze dairy heifers on pasture grass — a crop that holds the soil all year long and requires no fertilizer beyond, well, what the cows provide. The Millers plant an additional 386 acres in alfalfa and corn for silage, crops that produce cattle feed with few chemicals and little plowing.

FULL STORY

DJ SURVEY: USDA Sep 1 Cattle Figure Could Be A Record

By Jim Cote

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Agricultureonline.com

CHICAGO (Dow Jones)–A record Sept. 1 number of cattle resided in the

nation’s cattle feedlots, according to the average of analysts’ estimates for

this Friday afternoon’s monthly U.S. Department of Agriculture cattle-on-feed

report, scheduled for release at 2 p.m. CT (1700 GMT).

Analysts predict cattle owners during August placed more cattle than a year

ago in front of feeding pens for a third straight month.

A projected 8.8% large-cattle-feedlot population increase versus last Sept. 1

to 10.88 million head would top the 10.855 million head on Sept. 1, 2001, and

would be the largest in the data series, which began in 1996.

The analysts’ average estimate for cattle placed on feed during August was

109.4%, compared with a year earlier. The August marketings average was pegged

at 101.4% of last year.

FULL STORY

U.S., South Korea discuss bone chip tolerances

U.S., South Korea discuss bone chip tolerances

Brownfield Network

by Peter Shinn

Dow Jones reports U.S. and South Korean officials met today in Seoul to discuss the issue of establishing tolerances for bone chips in U.S. beef shipments. South Korea re-opened its market to U.S. beef earlier this month.

But at that time, U.S. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns said there were additional technical details to work out. And U.S. beef industry officials have said establishing a tolerance for bone chip fragments in U.S. beef shipments is a key issue.

Hong Kong earlier this year blocked beef shipments from some U.S. beef plants after finding bone fragments in U.S. beef, and that’s a scenario the U.S. beef industry would like to avoid with South Korea. There’s no word yet on whether U.S. and South Korean officials have reached a deal on the matter.

FULL STORY

A Herdsman’s Handbook for the Modern Homesteader

A Herdsman’s Handbook for the Modern Homesteader

Motherearthnews.com

Beginning farmers usually do pretty well with gardens, chopping wood and building outhouses. . . but the birth of that first calf or litter of pigs generally sets ‘em back a couple of notches. R.J. Holliday DVM, a veterinarian in Missouri and MOTHER contributor, intends to remedy, the situation,. His tool? A news handbook precisely designed to explain all the animal facts of life in language that new back- to-the-landers can understand.

MOTHER is serializing the manual as Dr. Holliday completes each chapter and here’s installment No. 3:

Special thanks to Gregory L. Faulkner, DVM,

for his help in illustrating this series.

The birth of any animal on a homestead is a joyous occasion. It’s best if the new-born arrives unassisted, of course, hut—if not—there’s a great deal of satisfaction for the dedicated herdsman in the knowledge that he has the skills to enable him to help bring a new life into the world.

FULL STORY

Dollars Show Hereford Demand; AHA Releases Year-End Report

Dollars Show Hereford Demand; AHA Releases Year-End Report

Hereford World

Prices paid for both Hereford bulls and females increased dramatically during the 2005-06 American Hereford Association (AHA) fiscal year (Sept. 1-Aug. 31), pointing to the growing demand for Hereford efficiency in conversion, hardiness, fertility, longevity and disposition.

In sales reported in Hereford World, the AHA’s official publication, the average bull price increased 8.4% from $2,894 last year to $3,137 this year, while the female average grew by a remarkable 25.4% from $2,362 to $2,962. Combined, the bulls and females brought $412 more per head on 2,895 more animals.

“The AHA finds itself in a strong, viable position within the seedstock industry,” says Craig Huffhines, AHA executive vice president. “The economics have been excellent for Hereford breeders, as prices for bulls and females steadily rise and as the market share for Hereford genetics takes on new heights this decade.”

FULL STORY

Drought, worms plague Georgia cattle

Drought, worms plague Georgia cattle

Total losses could exceed $570M

ELLIOTT MINOR The Associated Press

The York Dispatch (GA)

ALBANY, Ga. — Georgia’s cattlemen have a lot to beef about this year.

A drought since the spring has hurt pastures and forced some producers to reduce their herds because they don’t have enough grass to graze them. Some had to purchase hay to sustain their herds, or use hay they would normally store for winter feeding.

Then they were hit by an unusually heavy invasion of army worms, voracious green caterpillars that can devour a lawn or pasture in days. Producers fought back with pesticides to save their scant supply of grass spared by the drought. The chemical warfare on worms was an unwelcome expense.

FULL STORY

Beware of nitrate poisoning in livestock

Beware of nitrate poisoning in livestock

By NDSU Extension

Minnesota Farm Guide

Cattle and sheep may be susceptible to nitrate poisoning during drought conditions in North Dakota.

“Nitrate poisoning occurs when cattle and sheep ingest forage or feed with a high-nitrate content,” says Justin Luther, North Dakota State University Extension Service sheep specialist. “Clinical signs of nitrate poisoning are related to a lack of oxygen in the blood, and may include an increase in heart rate and respiration rate, noisy breathing, brownish- or bluish-colored mucous membranes and sudden death.”

FULL STORY

Ideal time for harvesting alfalfa

Ideal time for harvesting alfalfa

By MARK MECHLING

OSU Extension Agent

Zanesvilletimesrecorder.com (OH)

Early September is ideal for taking that last yearly cutting of alfalfa. The timing of this cutting can be very important to the long-term health of the stand. It is best for alfalfa to not be cut during the five to six-week period before a killing frost. During this critical period, cold resistance and energy reserves for winter survival are built up.

A killing frost for alfalfa occurs when temperatures drop to 25F or less for several hours. So the period from mid-September through October is the critical fall rest period in our region. Harvesting during this period disrupts accumulation of energy reserves and development of cold hardiness.

FULL STORY

Freeze Branding can be Effective form of Identification

Freeze Branding can be Effective form of Identification

by: Jane Parish

cattletoday.com

With the National Animal Identification System (NAHMS) in the spotlight, there is significant emphasis on individual identification of beef cattle. Individual animal identification is an integral part of good herd record keeping and management.

Selection decisions, pairing up cows and calves, treating injured or ill cattle and estrus detection are just a few of the many routine management practices where individual animal identification is important.

The 1997 National Animal Health Monitoring System Beef ’97 study found that approximately half (51.9 percent) of the beef cattle operations surveyed across the United States used no individual calf identification. Operations with over 50 head were more likely to use some form of individual calf identification (78.1 percent of the larger herds compared to only 40.8 percent of smaller operations with less than 50 head used individual calf identification).

Plastic ear tags were cited as the most common form of individual animal identification regardless of herd size. In the Southeast, 30.2 percent of beef cows were individually identified using plastic ear tags, 16.0 percent with hot iron brands, 11.6 percent with ear notches, 5.9 percent with ear tattoos, 2.3 percent with metal ear tags, and only 1.2 percent with freeze brands.

FULL STORY

Gelbvieh: Marketing Feeder Cattle Seminar Slated for Louisville

Gelbvieh: Marketing Feeder Cattle Seminar Slated for Louisville

Cattlenetwork.com

A seminar on “Effectively Marketing Feeder Cattle in the Southeast” is slated for Wednesday, November 15, 2006 at the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center in Louisville, Ky. Drovers magazine and Mitchell Marketing Service together with the American Gelbvieh Association is sponsoring this event.

The free seminar will feature a panel of speakers answering the challenges facing cattle producers in the eastern United States and an update on the National Animal Identification program. This event begins at 3:30 p.m. in West Hall of the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center. This event is being held in conjunction with North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE). The panel of speakers and their topics include:

Greg Ritter, Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association President and founding member of the Barren County Cattle Marketing: The basics of setting up a cooperative marketing group to commingle feeder calves and share expenses and labor.

FULL STORY