Ohio Beef Newsletter Available

The July 18, issue # 546, of the Ohio BEEF Cattle letter is now posted to the web at: http://fairfield.osu.edu/ag/beef/beefJuly18.html

In response to a recent question from one of our readers regarding feeding corn as green chop, this week Bill Weiss offers some words of caution.

Articles include:
* Forage Focus: Drought-Stressed Corn For Silage
* Chopping Soybeans for Silage
* Teff Yields 1.2 Ton in 40 Days
* Heifer Development Field Day, July 24
* “Handling, Feeding, and Marketing Cattle for Profit”
* Meat Demand and Summer Reading
* Weekly Roberts Agricultural Commodity Market Report

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

Keynote Discussion to Focus on Demand Issues at BEEF Quality Summit

Keynote Discussion to Focus on Demand Issues at BEEF Quality Summit

Penton Media

Penton Media’s BEEF magazine will host its second annual BEEF Quality Summit, Nov. 7-8, 2007 at the Holiday Inn Centre in Omaha, Neb. The theme of this year’s conference is “Beef Quality in the Ethanol Era” and conference sessions will focus on the impact of increased ethanol production on beef carcass and retail product quality; beef industry infrastructure and economics; and key business issues for producers. Full conference details are available at http://www.beefconference.com.

FULL STORY

Global Warming Activists Target Farmers

Global Warming Activists Target Farmers

James M. Taylor

Heartland Institute

When politicking in Farm Belt states, global warming alarmists frequently assert global warming legislation will benefit farmers. They say the measures will encourage ethanol production and induce industry to purchase carbon sequestration credits from farmers engaging in no-till agriculture.

Once out of the farmers’ earshot, however, global warming alarmists make it all too clear they see farmers as more of a problem that needs correction than a friend who deserves reward.

FULL STORY

More Illinois operations also use ethanol feed products

More Illinois operations also use ethanol feed products   

By TIM ALEXANDER

Farm World

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The number of cattle and hog operations in the United States which use ethanol co-products such as distillers dried grains (DDGs) as livestock feed is on the rise, according to a survey of 9,000 Midwestern farmers conducted by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

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Beef Cow/Calf Planner Available

Beef Cow/Calf Planner Available

University of Minnesota Beef Industry Center

The Cow/Calf Planner is a Cow/Calf Management Calendar that offers timely information and suggestions on managing your herd utilizing five different management categories:

CALVING – Calving is a critical time of year that requires equipment, supplies, labor and facility preparations. This calendar prepares you for the calving season and offers suggestions to manage your calf crop.

BREEDING – Reproduction is one of the most important economical traits in the beef industry. Breeding season success is a reflection of your herd management practices of the previous year. This calendar helps you prepare and manage for the breeding season and offers tips on breeding season success.

MANAGEMENT – Management plays a large role in all aspects of an operation and greatly impacts economics. This calendar provides strategies for managing areas of an operation that can easily be over-looked and have major impacts on your economic returns and production goals.

FULL STORY

Implant Cattle Properly

Implant Cattle Properly

Clyde Lane, Jr., Professor – Animal Science, University of Tennessee

Growth stimulating implants offer the commercial cow-calf producer a fast, easy-to use method of increasing the weaning weight of calves when used properly. Implants have been proven effective through research, as well as through routine use in the beef industry.

Implanting is a relatively easy management practice to perform, however, adequate restrain of the animal is required. If inadequate facilities are available, consideration should be given to purchasing/constructing

Implants are placed under the skin on the back of the ear. They exert a positive effect by increasing growth hormone and insulin, resulting in increased formation of muscle tissue and decreased fat. Growth hormone is naturally produced by the pituitary gland and is an important regulator of growth.

FULL STORY PDF

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NCBA: House Ag Committee Compromise Improves COOL Law For Cattlemen

NCBA: House Ag Committee Compromise Improves COOL Law For Cattlemen

Cattlenetwork.com

Thursday night, the U.S. House Agriculture Committee advanced a compromise provision that addresses the mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements for beef and many other meat products, set to take effect in September of 2008. While it will not repair all shortcomings in the COOL law, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) says the compromise measure makes many improvements for the nation’s cattlemen.

 “We support the concept of country-of-origin labeling, but NCBA has contended for many years that a poorly written COOL law will be harmful to the U.S. cattle industry,” says Jay Truitt, NCBA vice president of government affairs. “While others were content to let a flawed law take its toll on cattlemen, we kept working for improvements. Last night, those efforts paid off to some degree.”

FULL STORY

Baxter Black: I’M RIDIN’

Baxter Black:  I’M RIDIN’

by: Baxter Black, DVM

Cattle Today

My Papa told a story from his childhood dust bowl days

He was out a’ridin’ fences tryin’ to find ‘em, anyways

When he saw a cowboy buried in the sand up to his waist

Papa trotted up behind him till he saw the feller’s face.

FULL STORY

Cow Calf: Stockpiled Bermudagrass Can Reduce Winter Feed Costs

Cow Calf: Stockpiled Bermudagrass Can Reduce Winter Feed Costs

Cattlenetwork.com

Harvested forage costs are a large part of the production costs associated with cow-calf enterprises.  A recent Oklahoma State University trial had the objective to economically evaluate stockpiled bermudagrass.  The research found that this practice can reduce cow-wintering costs.  Forage accumulation during the late summer and fall is variable from year to year depending on moisture, temperatures, date of first frost and fertility.  The OSU research has found that 50 to 100 pounds of actual nitrogen fertilizer per acre applied in the late summer has produced 1000 – 2000 pounds of forage per acre.  In some ideal situations even more forage has been produced. 

FULL STORY

Farm bill deal-making far from done

Farm bill deal-making far from done

Senate staffers likely to work on it in August to prepare for committee action.

By Michael Doyle

Sacramento Bee

WASHINGTON — Farm bills like the one approved by a House committee last week take time, skill and a really big checkbook.

Not to mention constant vigilance.

“We tend to get cynical about whether we will ever see anything out of this,” admitted San Joaquin Valley grower Tina Mizuno.

Mizuno and her husband, Robert, grow peaches, grapes and other crops near Reedley. Their orchards produce what are known, generically, as specialty crops.

These are the fruits and vegetables largely ignored in past farm bills. But in the legislation approved around midnight Thursday by the House Agriculture Committee, the specialty crops secured roughly $1.7 billion over five years. It will pay for research, marketing and federal snack and school-lunch purchases.

FULL STORY

Not Too Common Sense

Not Too Common Sense

By: Lisa Hare

Yankton Press & Dakotan

The issue of Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) has circled around again to take a front-and-center position in the media.

That in itself isn’t too newsworthy. The regulation that was signed into law, which was never implemented, has been batted around for years now, accomplishing little else besides providing a working example of the power of AgBiz USA. The issue even hit mainstream America on CNN the other night when Lou Dobbs featured National Farmer’s Union president Tom Buis speaking about the delays and frustrations associated with COOL.

FULL STORY

USCA: COOL Victory In House Ag Committee

USCA: COOL Victory In House Ag Committee

Free Republic

After days of intense negotiations the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, on Thursday evening, July 19, unanimously passed its version of the 2007 Farm Bill. By voice vote the committee adopted clarifications to the country of origin labeling law (COOL) just before it approved the new five-year farm policy package in total. The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) was actively engaged in the negotiation process, helping fend off several attempts by opponents to weaken COOL.

Under the committee’s plan, three different labels were created to identify the country of origin for meat, including “Product of the U.S.” meaning the meat is harvested from an animal born, raised and processed in the United States.

FULL STORY

Area Hay Concerns

Area Hay Concerns

Reporter: Lauren Hanson

WBKP (KY)

Area farmers continue to be concerned over the drought’s effects and they now say it’s causing them to cut into their hay supply.

Garnett Owens has 75 to 80 head of cattle.

He rotates the fields they graze in, but since the grass is growing back at a slower pace, because of the dry conditions, there’s still a problem.

Dry grass is leading many farmers to cut into their winter hay supply.

Owens experiments with different techniques that may help the grass grow as the weather fluctuates. Last year he planted a warm season grass called Gamma Grass.

FULL STORY

Area Cattle Farmers Having Tough Time Keeping Stock Watered and Fed

Area Cattle Farmers Having Tough Time Keeping Stock Watered and Fed

Submitted by Nordia Epps

WDEF News (TN)

Usually Betts Berry just clips and grazes one particular field at Huntland Farm, but not this year. Betts Berry, Huntland Farm, “People are really desperate for hay.” This year she and a fellow farmer made a deal. He cuts and bales it and they share the profits. It’s the longest drought this 27-year cattle farming veteran has seen. Finding food and water for cattle is becoming a challenge. Betts Berry, “A lot of producers, if they don’t have enough pastures to graze their cattle, they’re having to sell their cattle. If they’re not selling their cattle they’re scrambling around trying to find enough hay to feed.” With hay in high demand, prices have jumped dramatically “The 800 950 pound rolls that usually sell for anywhere from 20 to 35 dollars a roll is going for 35 to 45 dollars a roll,” Berry says.

FULL STORY

Livestock Virtually Fenced In

Livestock Virtually Fenced In

Medilexicon.com

A virtual fence for livestock that allows better use of pasture, protects the environment and reduces labour, is being developed by the CSIRO Food Futures Flagship using satellite technology.

The project is focussed on developing an animal-friendly virtual fencing system for cattle that enables the animals to be confined without using fixed fences. At this stage in the development of what is designed to be a commercial product, the research team has developed a prototype system and successfully demonstrated its use on a herd of cattle.

CSIRO’s Dr Andrew Fisher said the system works in a similar way to a conventional electric fence for livestock, except that the fence is invisible. It is a major improvement on existing virtual fencing approaches.

FULL STORY

Conference to showcase bison’s benefits

Conference to showcase bison’s benefits

DIRK LAMMERS

York News-Times

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The North American bison is continuing its cross-country stampede into restaurants, butcher shops and natural food stores.

Red meat’s burgeoning niche industry grew 21 percent during the first half of 2007, with 23,796 buffalo slaughtered during the six-month period, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

That’s dramatic growth, said Dave Carter, executive director of the National Bison Association, but it’s nowhere near the beef industry’s 125,000 head a day.

FULL STORY

State Fair ag director is accused of a conflict of interest

State Fair ag director is accused of a conflict of interest

Chicago Tribune

WEST ALLIS, Wis. – The Wisconsin State Fair agriculture director is accused of a conflict of interest because he was part owner of two Simmental heifers that won champion and reserve champion ribbons the last two years.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel obtained 2006 and 2007 memos to State Fair Park Director Randy Prasse outlining what Wisconsin State Fair Agriculture Director Brian Bolan described at the time as his “potential conflict of interest.”

FULL STORY

Virginia cattlemen get scoop on corn

Virginia cattlemen get scoop on corn

Kevin Howell

The Hearld Journal (IN)

CLYMERS – Demand for corn in the production of ethanol has kicked up more than the price of grain for farmers raising the crop.

It’s also pushed up the cost of feeding livestock and that’s a concern for livestock producers like the 42 beef cattlemen from Tazewell County in southwestern Virginia who made The Anderson’s ethanol facility in Clymers one of several stops on an annual agricultural tour this year.

The intent of the tour of the Cass County facility was to get a better understanding of the ethanol market and its effect on livestock production.

FULL STORY

It’s more than the cows, 4-H’ers say

It’s more than the cows, 4-H’ers say

By Kristi Dyes

dailyherald.com

For many teens who go to the Kane County Fair this year, it isn’t just fun and games.

On Thursday’s day two of the fair, 4-H judging continued in full swing.

Many teens were preparing to show their livestock and projects to judges.

“No matter how much you know, the judges always know more,” said Kevin Becker, 16, of Hampshire, who has been involved in 4-H for about eight years. He has four exhibits this year, including poultry and electronics.

FULL STORY

Competition title in farm bill would correct cattle industry imbalance

Competition title in farm bill would correct cattle industry imbalance

By MARGENE EIGUREN, R-CALF USA Region 1 director

Prairie Star

There has been a lot of coverage of commodity, conservation and disaster payments, but many U.S. cattle producers believe the core problem facing the cattle industry today is that the overall framework, which defines how our cattle industry operates, is no longer adequate to ensure a balanced and properly functioning competitive marketplace.

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