Projections, Productions and Profits

Projections, Productions and Profits

John Bonner Ph.D.

Land O’Lakes

What will be your return on investment be for 1999? You have probably checked the protein content of your forages. You have closely monitored your feedbunk and you have set production goals for your cattle, but have you checked out the overall cattle market outlook and situation? In a recent presentation sponsored by Elanco, Quality Liquid Feeds and Land O’Lakes, Mr. Randy Blach of CattleFax reviewed cattle and meat supplies and demand as well as the feed grain outlook for 1999. He presented several key graphs, charts and projections that should help you focus on maximizing your profits.

One interesting fact that you may have overlooked is that an average $20/head profit during the last three years would have translated to a 37% annualized return on investment, assuming 130 days on feed. This compares to an average $33/head loss that cattle feeders have experienced during that same time frame. The table below was presented and reflects the return on investment that your competition may be happy with over the course of time.

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Grazing Legumes and Bloat – Frequently Asked Questions

Grazing Legumes and Bloat – Frequently Asked Questions

Ropin’ the Web

What legumes cause bloat?

Legumes that can cause bloat are alfalfa, sweet clover, red clover, alsike clover & white clover. Examples of non-bloat legumes are bird’s–foot trefoil, sainfoin & cicer milk vetch.

What type of bloat do legumes cause?

The bloat legumes cause is usually a frothy bloat. Understanding frothy bloat and how it is caused may help understand bloat control on legume pastures.

What causes frothy bloat?

Frothy bloat results from the quick degradation and fermentation of plant material and rapid release of plant cell material. This material traps fermentation gases in a thick foam. The foam prevents the animal from being able to burp up the gases. The accumulation of trapped gases in the rumen may lead to the animal’s death.

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Can “Grass-Fed” (Cattle) Escape The Niche Business?

Can “Grass-Fed” (Cattle) Escape The Niche Business?

Cattlenetwork.com

Grass-fed is the current clamor of the market. Many folks do not know what it means. My feeling is that it is critically important that people understand the terms and what they mean. I like to compare 100% grass-fed beef to pregnancy-either you are or you are not. All beef producers want the “grass-fed” claim since all cattle do eat grass for a substantial part of their lives.

The real changes to the tissue and the health benefits of the beef occur when the cattle begin to eat grain. When cattle eat just grass they cannot get Mad Cow (the consumer doesn’t want this); they have almost immeasurable levels of E. coli because acidosis does not occur in the gut. Read about the Cornell research at http://brcruminations.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html. There are no nutrient loading problems since manures are spread evenly daily and incorporated into the soil. Once you remove grain from the cattle raising equation, you eliminate plowing, petroleum based fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, soil compaction, fossil fuels for tillage, harvest and transport.

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Angus Breeders have New Option for Feeding Natural Calves

Angus Breeders have New Option for Feeding Natural Calves

Cattle Today

Cattlemen with top quality Angus herds have a new option for feeding their natural calves.

The Beef Marketing Group (BMG), headquartered at Great Bend, Kansas, announced its Customer Ownership Program in May. BMG will pay a $100 per head premium for all cattle harvested as natural.

 “We want to get closer to producers and build relationships,” said Kenny Wiens, BMG director of procurement. “By doing so, we should get higher quality cattle and more opportunities for profit at every stage of beef production.”

BMG is a marketing cooperative of 14 feedyards in Kansas and Nebraska. Five of those are currently dedicated to the production of natural beef as part of an agreement with Tyson Fresh Meats, the top volume Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) licensed packer. To qualify for Certified Angus Beef ® brand Natural, cattle must be individually identified and never received antibiotics, hormonal implants, ionophores or animal by-products.

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Another Option To Market Cattle

Another Option To Market Cattle

Marshall County Journal

South Dakota cattle producers have another option for marketing their South Dakota Certified Enrolled Cattle now that the state has launched the South Dakota Certified Enrolled Cattle Natural Program, according to Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Even.

“This is a logical step for us to take as we continue to find new markets for our South Dakota Certified Enrolled Cattle,” Even said. “The global natural and organic food markets experienced double-digit growth the past two years and the expected growth rate for 2007/2008 should exceed 15 percent each year. There is no question that natural and organic products are now a true market segment and not simply a niche or fad,” he added.

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Nelson seeks answers from USDA on beef shipments

Nelson seeks answers from USDA on beef shipments

Beatrice Daily Sun

By MARGERY BECK

OMAHA, Neb. – U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson is seeking answers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture _ and one-time political rival, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns _ regarding recent beef shipping mistakes.

Nelson, a Democrat from Nebraska, has repeatedly pointed to bumbling by USDA inspectors in recent weeks for boxes of American beef meant for U.S. consumption being mistakenly shipped to South Korea.

Another case was reported this week, less than two weeks after South Korea lifted a brief ban on American beef imposed because of two similar cases.

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Large-animal vets in short supply

Large-animal vets in short supply

Task force hopes to find solutions

By Gregory A. Hall

The Courier-Journal

Statistics showing 25 Kentucky counties don’t have a food-animal or large-animal veterinarian, reinforced what Debbie Reed already knew.

“In fact, one of those zeros on here is my fault,” Reed told a Kentucky Farm Bureau task force during its first meeting yesterday in Louisville.

Reed started a practice in Jackson County in 1988 and closed it 18 years later, when she took her current job at Murray State University, because there was no other veterinarian to buy it.

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Bayer Animal Health Introduces QuickBayt® Spot Spray

Bayer Animal Health Introduces QuickBayt® Spot Spray

Lure flies into certain death – the next generation of fly bait

SHAWNEE, Kan. (April 19, 2007) — With the introduction of new QuickBayt® Spot Spray from Bayer Animal Health, nearly any area can be transformed into a “fly-free” zone. QuickBayt Spot Spray provides powerful fly control where it is needed most, treating places conventional granular baits can’t reach. QuickBayt Spot Spray can be sprayed directly onto surfaces where flies tend to rest, both indoors and outdoors, and the highly attractive formula lures flies to a quick death.

QuickBayt Spot Spray is the next generation of fly bait and is the perfect complement to QuickBayt Fly Bait (imidacloprid). With the same powerful active ingredient, QuickBayt Spot Spray is just as fast and just as powerful — killing flies in less than 60 seconds. And with the added application flexibility of QuickBayt Spot Spray, users can control flies for up to six weeks with an indoor application.

QuickBayt Spot Spray is applied directly on the surfaces where flies tend to rest, such as window sills, ceilings, walls, barn beams, etc., and allows treatment in places that can’t be controlled with conventional granular baits. Application can be made outdoors, indoors, in and around animal facilities — virtually any surface that’s not within reach of consumption by livestock or domestic animals.

 “Flies can be a major economic pest for large operations, and a terrible nuisance for small farms and other facilities,” says Joerg Ohle, President and General Manager of Bayer Corporation’s Animal Health Division, North America. “QuickBayt Spot Spray is an innovative solution that provides increased application flexibility and effective control.”

Easy to use and highly effective, QuickBayt Spot Spray is the first product of its kind to use imidacloprid, a potent active ingredient that kills flies fast. With the highly attractive formula, which contains muscalure and a flavoring agent, flies can’t resist QuickBayt Spot Spray, but non-target organisms, such as animals, children, and pets, will avoid QuickBayt Spot Spray due to its bittering agent. QuickBayt Spot Spray starts killing flies in less than 60 seconds and is effective against flies resistant to organophosphates and pyrethroids.

 “We experienced excellent results with QuickBayt Spot Spray during our trials here at the university,” says Dr. Ron Byford, Professor of Veterinary Entomology at New Mexico State University. “I think the flexible spray application will be a welcome addition for facilities facing fly control issues.”

For spray applications, simply add one pound of product to one gallon of water and agitate until completely mixed. One gallon of finished spray will treat 1,000 square feet of fly-resting surfaces – providing complete coverage for an area with 2,000 square feet of floor space. For paint-on applications, add eight ounces of product to eight ounces of water and mix to desired consistency, applying in narrow bands up to six inches wide. Read entire package label before use.

For more information about nuisance fly control, call Bayer Account Services at 1-800-633-3796 or contact your local animal health supplier. Please visit http://www.QuickBayt.com <http://www.quickbayt.com/&gt; . In addition, tune into RFD-TV’s “Cattleman to Cattleman” program to learn more about nuisance fly control.

FSA office closures concern area leaders

FSA office closures concern area leaders

By AARON BEARDEN

News-Journal.com

The Cass/Marion County Farm Service Agency office is among four East Texas farm service offices that are targeted for closure, but the Cass County Commissioners Court is not letting it go without a fight.

Cass County Judge Charles McMichael said the agency office is ?very important? to farmers in his county.

The Cass County Commissioners Court this month adopted a resolution declaring its ?continued support of the Farm Service Agency Program in that the services offered will continue to be available in Cass County.?

Although he said the office will probably not be closed for several months, McMichael hopes initiatives, such as the county resolution and a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, will keep the Cass/Marion office open. He added that closures would place undue burden on local cattle and poultry producers.

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Cattle conference not all bull

Cattle conference not all bull

Trade organization’s annual convention mixes fun and business

By Matt Stensland

Craig Daily Press

Getting transformed into a cow in heat was not on the printed agenda for this year’s Colorado Cattlemen’s Association convention, but that’s exactly what happened to cattle producer David Mendenhall on Tuesday.

Mendenhall, of Rocky Ford, was “Day 0″ in the estrous cycle of a cow. He was one of five audience members chosen to take part in a demonstration by Virginia Tech Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences Professor W.E. “Bill” Beal.

Beal used the same technique to teach Colorado cattle producers about the reproductive physiology of beef cattle that he uses with his undergraduate students.

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Cattle In The Americas

Cattle In The Americas

By Clint Peck

Beef Magazine

With the world’s largest commercial cattle herd — estimated at 180-190 million head — cow numbers in Brazil have grown by 5 million head/year the past decade.

But there are signs growth is slowing, due largely to competition for the better agricultural land. Exploding ethanol production has Brazilian farmers converting cattle pasture to sugar cane at warp speed. It’s projected that by 2009 in the state of Sao Paulo nearly 2 million acres of prime cattle pasture will be converted to sugar cane for the 90+ ethanol plants soon due on line in that state alone.

Brazil has 180-200 million acres of land that could be developed for grazing systems. But much of that vast resource lies in the drier, remote east-central, subtropical brushland where clearing, seeding to improved forages, water development and fencing is necessary.

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USCA opposes plan to regionalize beef trade

USCA opposes plan to regionalize beef trade

Prairie Star 

SAN LUCAS, Calif. – In a letter sent on June 19 to the Senate Finance Committee, the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) made it clear that opposing regionalization of Argentina, related to animal health disease issues for import purposes, is one of the organization’s “top member-driven policy issues.”

USCA urged Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to “strongly oppose any attempt to weaken oversight or regulation of trade with Argentina.”

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Cattle Preconditioning Forum: Pinkeye Causes Discomfort For Cows & Producers

Cattle Preconditioning Forum: Pinkeye Causes Discomfort For Cows & Producers

Cattlenetwork.com

Cattle sporting a red, swollen, itchy and sore eye due to a pinkeye infection often change their behavior to alleviate the discomfort. Those changes, when combined with the internal impacts of the infection, can cost cattle producers a pretty penny.

 “Pinkeye infections cause significant discomfort for livestock and can lead to blindness if left untreated,” says Dr. Joe Dedrickson, Director of Merial Veterinary Professional Services.

 “Cows with the disease often reduce feed intake and search out shady areas due to sun sensitivity of the affected eye.”

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Antimicrobial Resistance: Implications for the Food System

Antimicrobial Resistance: Implications for the Food System

Feedstuffs Foodlink

Effective food safety systems integrate science and risk analysis—risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication—at all levels. In risk assessment, scientific data are used to identify, characterize, and measure hazards; assess exposure; and characterize risks.

Resistance gene transfer is a complex scientific phenomenon that takes place within a larger macrobiologic ecosystem and social system. It is critical that this bigger picture be recognized when potential policy changes are considered. A thorough risk assessment can provide a framework for the needed “big picture” view of a problem, its sources, and the consequences of proposed policy changes. Observance of similar resistance genes in food animals and humans does not explain the causal pathway or flow of genetic information; a solid epidemiologic method is essential to gain an understanding of the system.

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