Steve Cornett: Parched Pastures Force Good Cows to Market
Beef Today
So the cattle inventory came out and showed that cow owners continue to liquidate despite record prices and you wonder why? Well, folks, times are tough in Texas. And not just in Texas. Look at the drought monitor and consider just how large an area is not just dry but parched.
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Consider your weaning options
Ivan Rush
Tri State Livestock News
Fortunately the Northern inter-mountain region has received excellent moisture this year so plenty of forage is available for most cow-calf pairs. The heat has certainly set in, so cool season growth grass has ceased.
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Cutting the Stress When the Heat is On
Linda H. Smith
DTN
If there is a drawback to fall calving, it is summer weaning. Calves are under enough stress as it is. Add summer heat and humidity, and you’ve got the potential for real trouble.
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Managing Heat Stress
Wes Ishmael
BEEF
With the dog days of summer coming earlier and the added number of lighter-weight cattle moving for this time of year, managing heat stress becomes even more urgent.
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Michigan Livestock Expo Delivers on All Fronts
Dan Cash
The Michigan Livestock Expo promised to charm in its third annual year and the event delivered on all fronts, bringing in big bucks, big names and, most of all, a big turnout of youth exhibitors and livestock.
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Hay, grass shortage could be widespread
Linda Breazeale
News 360
Mississippi could join Texas, Oklahoma and other Southeastern states in widespread shortages of hay and forages if dry conditions continue.
Rocky Lemus, forage and grazing systems specialist with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service, said Mississippi cattle producers are seeing about 50 percent losses of pasture and hay production.
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Beef shortage means hold onto cows
Chris Hurt
Axcess News
The quantity of beef available to consumers in the U.S. has declined a startling amount in recent years and that trend is going to continue. The declining supplies are related to continuing liquidation of the cow herd in the past few years due to high feed prices, a weak U.S. dollar that is spurring beef exports, and of course drought in the southwest and southeast.
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Spreadsheet Helps With Drought-Related Culling
Hay & Forage Grower
The Texas AgriLife Extension Service and Oklahoma State University have developed a spreadsheet program to help cattle producers make culling decisions due to extreme drought.
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Drought Withers Smallest U.S. Hay Crop in a Century to Boost Cost of Beef
Whitney McFerron and Jeff Wilson
Bloomberg
The smallest U.S. hay crop in more than a century is withering under a record Texas drought, boosting the cost of livestock feed for dairy farmers and beef producers from California to Maryland.
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The Theology and Market Implications of Drought
John Harrington
DTN
According to the testimony of Noah and his weary crew of zoo-keeping sailors, the ability of the Lord God Almighty to make it rain when he’s in the mood is pretty much unquestionable.
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