Skip the Hay, Graze More, Feed Less

Skip the Hay, Graze More, Feed Less

Becky Mills

Progressive Farmer

Every day without hay is a good day for Tim Tucker. “It is the most expensive feed we use,” he notes, valuing the commodity at around $40 per roll. The Uriah, Alabama, producer either has hay custom harvested from surplus, over-seeded ryegrass pastures, bahiagrass, bermudagrass and crabgrass fields, or he buys peanut hay.

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From immune function to growth and reproduction, minerals are key to cattle health and performance

From immune function to growth and reproduction, minerals are key to cattle health and performance

Kindra Gordon

Angus Journal

If your cow herd is struggling with poor pregnancy rates, weak newborn calves or lackluster growth in general, a mineral deficiency could be to blame. “Minerals matter because they support many of an animal’s biological pathways,” notes Stephanie Hansen, an Iowa State University beef feedlot nutrition specialist.

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What The Election Means for Farmers and Ranchers

What The Election Means for Farmers and Ranchers

Portia Stewart

Drovers

In this week’s DC Signal to Noise Podcast, Pro Farmers’s Jim Wiesemeyer and John Herath of Farm Journal look at the key outcomes of the Nov. 3 election and how the election will impact agriculture. The analysis includes a look at who might fill key ag positions in a new administration and new Congress and the outlook for coronavirus aid in a lame duck session.

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Biden could do a lot to fight factory farming even without Congress

Biden could do a lot to fight factory farming even without Congress

Dylan Matthews

Vox

Editor’s note: Stories of this ilk are included in the blog to inform those in our industry how agriculture is being presented to and perceived by the public.

Jonathan Lovvorn, a colleague of Morris’s and faculty co-director of Yale’s Law, Ethics, & Animal Program, tells me he’d like to see Biden “issue an [executive order] directing USDA, EPA, and other agencies to catalog all the regulatory and enforcement exemptions currently bestowed on factory farms, and to develop a regulatory action plan to restore environmental, labor, animal welfare, and climate accountability to this industry.”

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Stretching the Hay Supply this Winter

Stretching the Hay Supply this Winter

Iowa Beef Center

Drought and other weather events have ultimately caused a tight forage supply going into the winter-feeding period for multiple operations. Here are some tips to make the most of the forage resource you’re feeding this winter.

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Prepare Your Water Systems For Winter

Prepare Your Water Systems For Winter

Lisa Moser

Drovers

There is nothing like a refreshing drink of water to hydrate one’s body, but what happens when the only available water is frozen?  As beef producers manage the herd in dropping temperatures this winter, Kansas State University Beef Cattle Institute experts stress that now is the time to make sure the watering systems are set up for full time access to clean, drinkable water.

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Cattle industry looks for legislative market fix

Cattle industry looks for legislative market fix

Michelle Rook

AgWeek

A segment of the cattle industry is looking for a legislative fix to the market meltdown from this year’s COVID-19 pandemic and the 2019 packing plant fire in Holcomb, Kan. Many cattle producers and lawmakers are frustrated and impatient with the Department of Justice investigations into both events and have decided to take matters into their own hands.

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Constant challenge for producers: evaluating replacement heifers

Constant challenge for producers: evaluating replacement heifers

GLENN SELK

The Eagle

In this 100-cow-herd scenario, about 30 heifers need to be kept and exposed to artificial insemination or the bull to assure the target number of pregnant heifers is met. This allows for natural selection pressure on early puberty and reproductive soundness if the breeding season is short (30 to 45 days). More pasture space and breeding costs will be needed because of the larger number of heifers kept.

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How the federal farm bill hurts Kansas and how to begin fixing it

How the federal farm bill hurts Kansas and how to begin fixing it

PAUL JOHNSON

Hays Post

Federal farm bills direct Kansas agriculture. The larger farms in Kansas and their bankers farm the farm bill to reap a significant share of more than $1 billion annually in federal payments to the state. The farm bill has fundamental flaws. Its payments go disproportionately to larger farms, ensuring greater consolidation of farms and driving down rural population and economies.

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Bexar County Beef Cattle Short Course goes virtual

Bexar County Beef Cattle Short Course goes virtual

AgriLife Today

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Bexar Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will present the 2021 Beef Cattle Short Course webinar series on Jan. 12 and Jan. 19.  The program is free and open to anyone interested in beef cattle production in southern and Central Texas.

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