Ohio Beef Newsletter available

The January 17, issue # 521, of the Ohio BEEF Cattle letter is now posted to the web at:

http://fairfield.osu.edu/ag/beef/beefJany17.html

Obviously, our Western neighbors have lost significant numbers of cattle that will never reach market to recent storms. However, are there other longer term fed cattle market implications historically from such weather (and also grain market) events? Nevil Speer explains in this week’s letter.

Articles include:

* Winter + Corn = ???

* Poor Temperament Adversely Affected Performance & Profit

* Improving Beef Quality

* Forage Focus: The Case for Forage Legumes

Stan

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Stan Smith

Program Assistant, Agriculture

OSU Extension, Fairfield County

Marginal Perspectives

Marginal Perspectives

Beef Stocker Trends

“First, identify the sensitive variable you think you can use to improve your profitability. Second, examine what effect a small change in this sensitive variable will have on your marginal returns. Lastly, determine the marginal cost of making the small change. If marginal returns are greater than the marginal costs, move forward with making the needed change. These small changes can surely help you achieve a bigger profit and/or reduce a loss,” says Walt Prevatt.

FULL STORY

Master Cattle Transporter Training Offered

Master Cattle Transporter Training

Story by Troy Smith

Angus Beef Buletin

Ken Real is always glad to see a load of incoming feeder cattle arrive in good shape. The Nebraska cattle feeder is relieved to see them unloaded at the feedyard, uninjured and showing minimal stress. It’s even more satisfying to see newly arrived cattle make the transition to their new environment with a minimum of sickness.

FULL STORY

Grassley introduces packer ban

Grassley introduces packer ban

by Jason Vance

Brownfield Network

Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley is introducing a bill that would ban packers from owning livestock for slaughter.

“Outlawing packer ownership of livestock would make sure the forces of the marketplace would benefit farmers just as it does the slaughterhouse,” Grassley said. “You could say packer ownership of livestock frustrates and compromises the marketplace so the farmer doesn’t get a fair chance.”

FULL STORY

Precalving fat supplementation

Precalving fat supplementation

Angus Journal

by Rick Rasby, Extension beef specialist, University of Nebraska

Adequate energy is needed to achieve optimal reproductive performance in beef cows. Historically, energy for beef cows is supplied through the forage resource base, either grazed or harvested. If energy supplementation is needed during conditions when forage is lacking, high-energy supplements that have a base of corn, wheat midds, barley, or grain byproducts such as distillers’ grains and corn gluten feed are often used.

FULL STORY

Raised by raising cattle

Raised by raising cattle

By following their father’s footsteps, two Wyoming sisters found a life they love and, in the process, funded their futures

By Joey Bunch

Denver Post

The sisters grew up raising and selling their own cattle. The profits have paid for their educations, and on Tuesday they were splashing through the stockyard muck to groom their shorthorn steers for the market sale at the National Western Complex stockyards.

“They do all the work,” said their proud father, Lee Elliott, of the two accomplished cattlewomen he raised. “I don’t have to tell them anything.”

The pair have sold hundreds of cattle on their own over the years.

FULL STORY

Cattle Update: Grass Tetany Revisited

Cattle Update: Grass Tetany Revisited

Cattlenetwork.com

Unfortunately for several cattle producers in the state, grass tetany season arrived early and with a vengeance. Reports of cows down from grass tetany have been coming in to the Extension offices. The following article is an abbreviated version of a January 2007 article in the Mississippi BCIA newsletter. It describes grass tetany prevention and management practices for Mississippi.

What is grass tetany?

Grass tetany, also known as grass staggers or hypomagnesemia, is one of the more common metabolic disorders in beef cattle in Mississippi. Grass tetany results when magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) levels in forages are too low to meet the requirements of cattle and cattle do not receive adequate Mg and Ca supplementation. Grass tetany can result from low magnesium intake, high potassium (K) and low sodium intakes (which affect magnesium absorbtions, or low blood calcium

FULL STORY

Grass Guzzlers

Grass Guzzlers

Concerns about environment, penned cattle has some farmers returning to natural pasturing

Carol Price Spurling

Spokesmanreview.com (WA)

One popular image of the West is tranquil cattle grazing on vast expanses of golden green rangelands. Cue the cowboys and a sunset, and the stage is set for one of the most American of meals: beef.

The image used to be accurate. All cattle are ruminants – that is, grass eaters. Ruminants transform grass, which people can’t digest, into meat, which is very nourishing for people – and generally considered delicious.

FULL STORY

Cattle tough to take care of in cold, but it could be worse

Cattle tough to take care of in cold, but it could be worse

By Scott Fitzgerald

Enidnews.com (OK)

Northwest Oklahoma cattle producers are grateful the recent winter storm was not as severe as it could have been.

Like any winter season, however, it’s tough to tend to cattle, and the freezing rain or sleet compounds the task.

“From a logistics standpoint, the inconvenience of it all is a big problem. Hay bales are stuck to the ground. Getting feed to the cattle is hard. Gates are slick and frozen shut,” said Greg Highfill, area livestock specialist with Oklahoma State University Extension Service.

FULL STORY

Southern Cattle Co. Purchases the 2007 Angus Foundation Heifer Package

Southern Cattle Co. Purchases the 2007 Angus Foundation Heifer Package

American Angus Association

John Downs, owner of Southern Cattle Co., Marianna, Fla., bid $135,000 January 11 to purchase the 2007 Angus Foundation Heifer, donated by Frank and Belinda VanderSloot, owners of Riverbend Ranch, Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The heifer package was auctioned during the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colo., with all proceeds benefiting the Angus Foundation, the not-for-profit affiliate of the American Angus AssociationSM that funds and supports programs involving education, youth and research in the Angus breed and agricultural industry. Bear Mountain Angus Ranch, Melba, Idaho, owned by the Stoller family, was the contending bidder.

FULL STORY

Cultivating with computers

Cultivating with computers

Farmers use high-tech tools to manage herds and fields

By ANDREA GUINN and YING YING JOYCE CHOI

Missourian (MO)

Harold Thompson’s office is something of a control deck. Three personal computers, each with a unique purpose, line the desk space overlooking his 3,900-acre corn and soybean farm near Marshall. John Deere figurines are scattered about, along with stacks of books such as “Wireless Networking for Dummies” and “How to Do Everything with Your iPaq Pocket PC.”

Larry Blase reviews his agricultural database in the kitchen of his parents’ home outside Columbia. Blase said using computers to catalog data has helped him improve the quality of his black Angus herd. (ADAM WISNESKI/Missourian) “It’s almost like a disease, once you get started,” Thompson said of bringing computer technology to the farm.

FULL STORY