Basic Design of a Lease Agreement for Cows

Basic Design of a Lease Agreement for Cows

Ropin’ the Web

Drought impacts grass production and feed availability. This document addresses some of the issues you and your landlord will need to consider when renting pasture or “boarding” your cows.

The Who, What and Why

Date of the Agreement?

Who are the Parties in the Agreement?

Prepare a statement that sets out the intent of the agreement that both parties agree to. For example: This agreement is entered into for the housing, feeding and caring of cattle as a result of a drought situation faced by the owner of the cattle.

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Cattle Update: Is Preconditioning Cost-Effective?

Cattle Update: Is Preconditioning Cost-Effective?

Cattlenetwork.com

Do the returns from preconditioning exceed the costs associated with the practice? Will appropriate rewards accompany the additional time, labor and expense that goes into preconditioning a set of calves? The answer may differ from one producer to the next. Many producers have shied away from preconditioning programs based on a perception that the buyer receives most of the benefits and may not adequately compensate the cow-calf producer for the added value. A recent Colorado State University survey of feedlot managers revealed that they would be willing to pay premiums for several value-added practices should they fit the purchase criterion, including the willingness to pay more for calves managed using a proper vaccination schedule (83.3 percent).

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Cows and Goats

Cows and Goats

by: Baxter Black, DVM

Cattle Today

Vicki asked if I’d ever run any goats. None, I said. We don’t have the right fence. Matter of fact, in Arizona we work on one of the lower investment management principles, the “illusion of a fence.”

It seems to work good on my cows. I inherited lots of old fence and corrals along with the cows I bought. Cows walk up to a two-strand bob wire fence with one willer stay and then confer, “Whoa back, Bessie, I believe this is our perimeter. We can not advance further!”

“What ya mean we can’t advance further! We could walk under that water gap carrying the Mexican flag and juggling avocados.”

“No, no Bessie, not here in Arizona. If it looks like a fence, it is one. Therefore, we can’t go through it.”

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White, 69, is remembered for making a difference

White, 69, is remembered for making a difference

Renowned Va. Extension forage specialist known as ‘type of person who comes along every 100 years’

By Jane W. Graham

American Farm

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Dr. Harlan Edward White, 69, who died on June 5 after an extended illness, is being remembered as a good man who made a difference in the lives of many and as a research scientist whose work made an impact on the world.

“Dr. Harlan White understood grasslands and the people who manage them like very few others,” said Dr. Steven C. Hodges, head of the Virginia Tech Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences in an e-mail, of the retired Virginia Tech Extension forage specialist.

White, who retired about 10 years ago after 28 years at Virginia Tech, was a leading forage scientist and was recognized by his fellow scientists and agriculturalists with numerous statewide, regional and national awards, Hodges said.

“Harlan was the type of person who comes along every 100 years,” said Jerry Swisher, a retired Extension dairy scientist, farmer and close friend. “He had the ability to lead people and make a truly significant contribution to society and agriculture that will have a tremendous impact.”

The Seaford, Del., native was educated at the University of Maryland and Rutgers University. He served in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps, being discharged with the rank of captain, before joining Virginia Tech’s Cooperative Extension Service in 1966.

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University Of Tennessee Field Day Is July 26

University Of Tennessee Field Day Is July 26

Hay and Forage Grower

The University of Tennessee Making Forages Work Field Day will be held Thursday, July 26, at the Middle Tennessee Research and Education Center, Spring Hill. It will feature information about dealing with high fertilization costs and evaluating forage options. Other scheduled topics include establishing switchgrass and advantages of net-wrapping large bales. Grass management and cattle behavior sessions are also planned.

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Ag Research Station to host field day

Ag Research Station to host field day

Marshfield News-Herald

Crops, fertility, forages will be the focus of the Marshfield Agricultural Research Station’s Summer Field Day on June 27.

The event begins with refreshments at 10 a.m. and a Marshfield Station update by staffers Tom Drendel and Mike Bertram at 10:20 a.m.

The 90-minute morning program begins at 10 a.m. with UW-Madison soil scientist Carrie Laboski discussing manure phosphorus availability to corn, followed by UW agronomist Joe Lauer discussing crop rotations and UW agronomist Chris Boerboom talking about corn herbicides.

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Across the U.S., stress from drought spreads

Across the U.S., stress from drought spreads

BY PATRICK O’DRISCOLL

USA TODAY/Detroit Free Press

DENVER — Drought, a fixture in much of the West for nearly a decade, now covers more than one-third of the continental United States. And it’s spreading.

As summer starts, half the nation is either abnormally dry or in outright drought from prolonged lack of rain that could lead to water shortages, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly index of conditions.

The index shows Michigan is nearly drought free, with only some counties in the western Upper Peninsula experiencing a moderate drought.

Welcome rainfall from the recent Tropical Storm Barry brought short-term relief to parts of the fire-scorched Southeast. But up to 50 inches of rain is needed to end the drought there, and this is the driest spring in the Southeast since record-keeping began in 1895, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

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Horse Slaughterhouse Fights to Stay Open

Horse Slaughterhouse Fights to Stay Open

BY TARA BURGHART

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

Herald Tribune (FL)

DEKALB, Ill. — This agricultural town is nicknamed Barb City because the spiky wire was perfected here. But the mayor receives postcards from animal activists saying it should be called the city of barbarians.

DeKalb is home to the last remaining plant in the United States where horses are slaughtered for human consumption. Except for a portion sold to U.S. zoos, the horse meat is shipped to be eaten by diners overseas.

The state banned such slaughters last month, and a federal judge could rule as soon as Thursday whether Cavel International Inc. can stay open while it appeals. A temporary order allowing it to operate expires after Thursday

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Summer grazing tour June 14

Summer grazing tour June 14

Hagan farm in Monroe County will be the site

By GARY TILGHMAN

Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW — Mark your calendar to attend a Summer Grazing Tour in Monroe County on June 14. It will begin at 4 p.m. on the John Hagan Farm near Mt. Hermon.

This program is sponsored by the Kentucky Forage and Grassland Council.

Topics of discussion include: New Innovations in Forages, Developing and Monitoring Quality Summer Pastures, Mineral Selection for Grazing Beef Cattle, Pasture Weed Control, Grazing Considerations for Horses, Parasite Control in Goats on Pasture, Managing Pastures for Goat Production, Economics of Rotational Grazing, and Using Warm Season Grasses in Rotational Grazing Systems.

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Forage Shortage? Make Plans Now!

Forage Shortage? Make Plans Now!   

Cattlenetwork.com

By now, hopefully most of you have made your first cutting hay, have rotated through each pasture a couple of times, and have clipped all of your pastures to ensure vegetative growth into summer. And I’m sure plenty of you have realized by now that your forage production may not have met your expectations, and may have come significantly short, in both hay and pasture settings. Probably due in part to the Easter freeze, and the abnormally dry month of May, or a combination of the two – our spring growth has just not provided us with the tonnage we desire in most areas of Ohio. And as we continue through a hot, dry spell in most of the state into the first weekend of June, livestock graziers and hay producers alike are beginning to worry about their forage supply.

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Japan to start sampling-based inspection of U.S. beef vs. 100-percent reinspection

Japan to start sampling-based inspection of U.S. beef vs. 100-percent reinspection

AG Professional

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns made this statement today regarding progress in expanding beef trade:

“Recent developments are demonstrating that our constructive and steady discussions with our trading partners are showing positive results for future U.S. beef exports. I am gratified that progress has been made with three key nations.

“Japan today announced, after its recent audits of U.S. meat plants, that it has eliminated its 100-percent re-inspection of U.S. beef and beef products, and will implement a sampling-based protocol. We are eager to refocus our discussions with Japan on beef trade based on OIE standards.

“Recently, South Korea agreed to resume imports of U.S. boneless beef, and we continue to press them to implement import requirements for U.S. beef and beef products consistent with OIE guidelines on BSE.

“Malaysia today announced that it has agreed to import U.S. beef, consistent with World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines, permitting bone-in beef and variety meats from cattle of all ages. We applaud this decision and look forward to confirming the details with the Malaysian government.

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Cow Calf: Minimize Risk…..With Good Fences

Cow Calf: Minimize Risk…..With Good Fences

Cattlenetwork.com

Picture this. You’re traveling down a gravel road and you stop and wait for your neighbor to move his cows across the road. It’s probably time to move them to a new pasture or milk the family milk cow. It’s okay, you’re not in a hurry.

Now, wake up! It was a pleasant thought, but those days are gone. That gravel road is replaced with a 2 or 4 lane highway and the driver of the car is doing seventy with a cell phone in his ear. Better keep your cows off the road.

Cows do get on the roads, and accidents and law suits do follow. So, how do you minimize your risk? One large law suit could wipe you out. Consider (1) “bull-proof” fences, (2) latched/locked gates, (3) frequently checking fences and cattle, and (4) liability insurance. These are all part of your risk management plan.

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Cattle producers have several alternatives to help control flies.

Cattle producers have several alternatives to help control flies.

Mark Parker

Cushing Daily Citizen

— The buzz on fly control is pretty simple — there are a lot of effective ways to limit flies on cattle.

Just as there’s more than one way to skin a cat, there’s a whole host of means to kill flies — ear tags, sprays, pour-ons, dust bags, oilers, larvicides.

The key, according to Kansas State University Extension Beef Specialist Karl Harborth, is to select the one that best fits your situation.

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Report: U.S. meatpacking facilities pass

Report: U.S. meatpacking facilities pass

IMPORTS: Japan says it inspected 28 plants in 14 states to see if they complied with its restrictions.

By CHISAKI WATANABE

The Press-Enterprise

TOKYO – Japan will no longer check every American beef shipment after finding no safety problems at dozens of U.S. meatpacking facilities it inspected last month, the government said Wednesday.

The two countries are expected to hold talks aimed at easing restrictions on U.S. beef imports as early as this month, news reports said.

Japanese officials found no problems while inspecting 28 meatpacking plants in 14 U.S. states in May, the government said in a report released Wednesday.

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ALL DRIED UP

ALL DRIED UP

State’s water shortage has cattle ranchers worried

BY STACEY SHEPARD, The Bakersfield Californian

Longtime cattleman Carl Twisselman wears a hat that says “Beef: America’s Strength.” But the western Kern County rancher has struggled to keep the meat on his herd’s bones this year.

Twisselman’s 1,200 head of cattle feed on grass that grows in the Temblor Range in McKittrick, the western boundary of Kern County. But the mountains have seen scant rainfall this winter and never turned green.

“There’s just no feed at all. It’s just bare as can be up there,” said Twisselman, 67.

With dairy farmers still struggling to cope with losses from last summer’s heat wave and a January freeze that devastated the citrus crop, the lack of water this year is the latest in a series of bad weather luck to wreak havoc on Kern County farmers and ranchers.

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Use Pregnancy Diagnosis To Cull Replacement Heifers Early

Use Pregnancy Diagnosis To Cull Replacement Heifers Early

Cattlenetwork.com

Many ranchers choose to breed the replacement heifers about a month ahead of the mature cows in the herd. In addition, they like to use a shortened 45 to 60-day breeding season for the replacement heifers.

The next logical step is to determine which of these heifers failed to conceive in their first breeding season.

This is more important today than ever before.

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Japan takes step forward on U.S. beef

Japan takes step forward on U.S. beef

by Peter Shinn

Brownfield Network

Japanese inspectors who last month visited all 35 U.S. beef plants that export beef to Japan have given the facilities a clean bill of health. And Wednesday, Japanese officials announced they will stop 100% inspections of U.S. beef imports and instead inspect a randomly selected statistically valid sample of U.S. beef shipments to Japan.

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Chief Economist Greg Doud called the announcement good news. He said it removes a bottleneck that has been limiting U.S. beef exports to Japan.

“What that should do is allow some of the cattle that we have eligible to be able to move in a more timely fashion,” Doud said. “And hopefully, that means that you’ll have more retailers and others really begin to procure the product.”

But as Doud suggested, a bigger stumbling block limiting U.S. beef exports to Japan is that Japan currently allows only boneless U.S. beef from cattle younger than 21 months of age. And the favorable report from the Japanese inspectors should also help clear the way for talks on easing those restrictions.

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