BeefTalk: Wean Early and Save 25 Percent of Pasture Forage

BeefTalk: Wean Early and Save 25 Percent of Pasture Forage

Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service

Did you know you can save more than 25 percent of available forage by weaning calves early? The current dryness affecting the land has caused all livestock producers to review options. For some in a drought situation, the only real solution is rain. But producers need to take charge, whether the season is dry or wet.

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Keeping Cows Pregnant Through the Summer

Keeping Cows Pregnant Through the Summer

Dr. Justin Rhinehart

University of Tennessee

In normal situations where the bull is fertile and covers cows at the right time, fertilization rates approach 100%. So, if a normally expected single-service conception rate is 60-80%, the difference comes from embryonic or fetal loss. Most of this loss occurs in the first few days of development and those cows or heifers come back in heat and get another opportunity to get settled 19-24 days later. Missing one cycle means that cow’s calf will be younger and lighter at weaning. But, losing a pregnancy after they pass over as heat cycle compounds the economic loss.

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Different grazing methods should be of interest to both sheep and cattle producers

Different grazing methods should be of interest to both sheep and cattle producers

DALE HILDEBRANT

Farm & Ranch Guide

“We are really fortunate in the Great Plains in the fact that our grasses are extremely forgiving,” Kiser said. “You can abusive them pretty heavily and that actually triggers the grass to grow better.”

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North Dakota Drought Forcing Herd Reductions

North Dakota Drought Forcing Herd Reductions

Greg Henderson

Drovers

After a severe winter, North Dakota ranchers are now forced to reduce their herds due to a developing drought. Ranchers say the drought, coupled with a depleted hay supply following one of the wettest winters on record, has left them short on feed to sustain their herds through the season.

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Prevent scours in newborn calves

Prevent scours in newborn calves

RYAN CROSSINGHAM

Agri View

North Dakota State University-Extension livestock experts are advising producers to monitor their newborn calves for scours, an intestinal-tract infection that causes diarrhea in calves. Symptoms of scours include a wet tail, a puddle of liquid manure, blood oozing out of the anus, listlessness and dehydration. Calves suffering from scours will also have sunken eyes, and they may feel cool to the touch.

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Evaluating Sustained Cow Production: Alternative Definitions of Stayability

Evaluating Sustained Cow Production: Alternative Definitions of Stayability

Tamar Crum, Scott Speidel

A Steak in Genomics™

Successful females for stayability varies depending on which of the definitions of stayability the breed association has adopted. It is shown that stayability to 6 years of age is a heritable trait. Stayability is a HUGE driver of herd profitability and accounts for 53-77% of the value of of the maternal indices.

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Failing to plan for drought is planning to fail

Failing to plan for drought is planning to fail

Tri State Livestock News

NDSU Extension specialists offer livestock producers suggestions for dealing with drought. Cattle producers should be prepared to deal with drought this year, North Dakota State University range and livestock experts warn. Despite heavy snowfall in many areas of North Dakota during the winter, the current U.S. Drought Monitor shows approximately 75 percent of the state is classified as abnormally dry. The remaining 25 percent has moderate drought.

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Safety Considerations for Hay Baling Season

Safety Considerations for Hay Baling Season

Kent McGuire

Ohio Beef Cattle Letter

As we progress into summer, hay baling moves to the forefront of things to be done on the farm. Hay baling season can come with its own set of hazards that can cause injuries. These include equipment hazards, working in hot temperatures, lifting injuries, and even the stress of getting hay down, dried and baled in a narrow window to beat the weather.

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In Montana, land transfer threatens the American rancher’s way of life

In Montana, land transfer threatens the American rancher’s way of life

The Guardian

If you want to appreciate the prairie landscape that inspired President Theodore Roosevelt to set aside 230m acres as national land, you have to pull off the interstate somewhere in the Dakotas, or in the eastern third of Montana, Wyoming, or Colorado. Follow a dirt road for a few miles, roll down your windows, and shut off your engine.

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Waste not, want not

Waste not, want not

Morning Ag Clips

Making a living raising cattle isn’t as simple as just buying a herd and turning it out to pasture. Cattle require specific diets to maintain proper nutrition and weight gain. And how to do this in the most effective and efficient way possible has interested both ranchers and researchers for generations.

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