A Publication of:

OSU Extension - Fairfield County

831 College Ave., Suite D, Lancaster, OH 43130

and the

OSU Extension BEEF Team

BEEF Cattle questions may be directed to the OSU Extension BEEF Team through Stephen Boyles or Stan Smith, Editor

You may subscribe to this weekly BEEF Cattle letter by sending a blank e-mail to beef-cattle-on@ag.osu.edu

Previous issues of the BEEF Cattle letter

Issue # 550

August 22, 2007

Taking Stock and Moving Forward - Dr. John B. Hall Extension Beef Cattle Specialist, VA Tech

August is usually a hot but fairly easy time in the cow calf operation. However, this year the dark clouds on the horizon don't appear to have much rain in them. The drought continues to expand and worsen in most parts of Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic. This August is a good time to take stock of your resources and cattle. Then use this information to make management decisions.

Taking Stock - Feed inventory is the first item that needs to be addressed. Most pastures are in poor shape and first cutting hay supplies are short. Prospects for an above average second cutting are not looking real good. Here are some taking stock items to consider:

* Estimate current total hay supplies - not just bales but tons of hay. Don't overestimate bale weight

* Take forage samples of hay and analyze them for quality

* Make a realistic estimate of second cutting hay yield prospects

* Find out current availability and price of by-product feeds in your area

* Consider temporary fence and water options

* Inventory the cow herd - on paper divide cattle into the following groups

* Developing replacement heifers

* Pregnant heifers

* Young cows

* Mature cows

* Old cows

* Bulls

Estimate the total feed needs from now until April 2008. Each cow or bull will need at least 30 to 35 lbs of hay or equivalent in pasture per day. Pregnant heifers and developing heifers will need 20 to 30 lbs of hay or equivalent per day. Feeder calves will need 12 to 15 lbs. per day. These numbers include some wastage of feed, but operations with excessive feed wastage will require more lbs per animal. Then compare the feed needed to current feed available.

Here's an example:

From August 1, 2007 to April 20, 2008 is 263 days. Cattle inventory and feed (dry matter) needs for a 60 cow spring calving herd are shown in table 1. Total tons of feed needed is 346.9 tons. Current feed inventory includes 120 round bales averaging 1100 lbs, 160 acres of pasture, and 45 acres of hayland. Each acre of grass contains 200 to 300 lbs of hay equivalent per inch of grass above 3 inches. Utilization rate of rotated pasture is 50%. In other words, cattle can only eat about half of the grass available. The rest of the grass is trampled or soiled by urine and feces. Grass is currently growing at about 3 to 4 inches per month.

Table 1. Cattle inventory and feed requirements until April 2008.

An estimated feed inventory is shown in Table 2. This inventory assumes pasture will continue to grow at 4 inches per month through October and utilization is 50%. Second cutting hay will be harvested in September. Current feed inventory is in essence all the forage available until mid-April 2008.

Table 2. Estimated current feed inventory

Comparing the dry matter needs to current availability, it is easy to see there is a short fall of over 120 tons. If we had to purchase this forage at $80/ton, then we would be spending an extra $9,600 or almost another $115 per animal to make it until next spring. Of course, this is a worst case scenario with little expectation of improved moisture this fall. Still we need to consider our options for making it through the winter.

Moving forward - Reduce cattle inventory. One option is to sell all animals that do not have the potential to produce a quality calf to sell next fall. In addition, this includes animals that can relatively easily be replaced. Animals that fall into this category are open cows, old cows, weaned replacement heifers, and bulls. If we take this drastic step, the forage shortfall is cut to one third to 40 tons (compare Table 2 and 3). However, we still will have the same number of calves to sell next fall. Decisions on buying replacement bulls and pregnant replacement heifers can be deferred to next spring when pasture and feed availability may be improved.

Table 3. Feed needs for reduced cattle inventory.

Stockpile forage. Another possibility is to graze hay fields instead of making second cutting hay, and stockpile 45 acres of pasture. To stockpile during this dry weather 40 units of N is recommended. Utilization of stockpiled fields is higher than pasture at about 70%. This reduces our feed shortfall to 30 tons (Table 4). This would mean purchasing an additional $2,400 of hay (or about $2,000 worth of corn gluten feed) plus 1800 units of N.

Table 4. Impact on grazing hay fields and stockpiling on forage availability.

What about rain. If we get a good fall combined with reducing cow numbers and stockpiling, then things look pretty good (Table 5). In fact, we end up with a surplus of about 20 tons of forage. This may allow the operation to keep one of the bulls and still have hay to sell next spring. By next spring, hay may be a very profitable commodity.

Table 5. Effect of adequate fall rain, grazing hay fields, and stockpiling on forage availability.

The bottom line - The examples above only consider the dry matter intake of the animal as met by hay and pasture. In addition, these examples assume that forage quality is adequate to meet animal needs. Producers should be very careful to obtain forage analyses and work with their Extension agent or nutritionist to make sure hays meet the needs of the animal. It will not be uncommon for energy supplements to be needed in addition to hay, especially for pregnant heifers and replacement heifers.

To continue to be a viable and perhaps profitable operation, producers will need to consider a combination of strategies to make it through the drought. The first and most important consideration is to make a realistic inventory of feed resources and cattle needs. Then producers should employ a combination of:

* Cattle inventory reduction

* Alternative grazing and forage practices

* Feeding of alternative feeds

Producers should try to consider all the options, and should not be afraid to seek assistance from Farm Management Extension Agents or other Agricultural Extension agents. Remember prayer never hurts either.

Forage Focus: We Still Have Options for Fall and Winter Feed - Jeff McCutcheon, OSU Extension Educator, Knox County

Most of my recent conversations with producers have been about their feed options this year. Besides stockpiling fescue, grazing standing corn and corn residue, there is still plenty of time to plant and grow high quality forage that can be utilized by grazing this late fall and winter. The key here is grazing. If you only think about making hay then your choices are limited.

There are several choices that may be available to you. Any of these options can stretch winter feed and keep costs down, especially when strip grazed with electric fence. Limiting animal access to these forages by strip grazing will improve utilization of the forage.

Due to the current soil moisture conditions no-tilling may be the best option over conventional tilling. Fields available for planting can include those with small grain stubble or those sacrifice fields you have been feeding in while the pastures were dormant. Options such as brassicas, rye and oats can even be sown by aerial seeding into standing corn and soybean fields before they are harvested.

Brassicas

Brassicas are one option. They can reach maximum quality in as little as 60 days and maximum yield in 70 to 90 days. The tops can tolerate temperatures to 15-20 degrees F and the bulbs are 5-10 degrees F hardier. Current seed cost run from $1.75 to $4.00 per pound.

Brassicas can be no-tilled with prior application of a burn-down herbicide. Seeding rate should be 2.0 lbs/acre for turnips. It is a challenge to get the seeding rate that low. If broadcasting consider mixing in fertilizer to keep the seeding rates that low. If fertility levels are adequate, the only additional fertilizer needed is 50 pounds of nitrogen. Yields can range from three to five tons of dry matter per acre, counting both the tops and bulbs with adequate rainfall.

Cereal Rye

Cereal rye is another option that can produce a high quality crop for grazing in December and in March. This crop is high quality and is the first crop to green up in the spring. Rye should be planted from the middle of August through the middle of September at 90-100 pounds of seed per acre. When the rye is two to four inches tall, 50-75 pounds of nitrogen will stimulate growth and additional applications in March will increase production. Currently seed cost is around $10.25 per bushel. This will not produce as much fall growth as oats or brassicas.

Begin grazing when six inches of growth is available and leave two to three inches of stubble after grazing. Heavy fall grazing increases the risk of winter kill, unless excessive fall growth is present. Do not graze when the small grain is dormant or when the ground is frozen and subsequent spring growth and/or grain production is desired.

Spring Oats

Spring oats can be planted from July to mid September for high quality grazing in late fall and early winter. Planting 100 pounds of oats per acre with an additional 50 pounds actual N can yield over 2 tons of dry matter per acre. The advantage to oats in a crop field is that you do not have to worry about killing it next spring. Oats will grow until a hard freeze but will retain its feed value after it is dead. Currently clean feed oats run about $14.00 per hundred.

Italian Ryegrass

Ryegrass is also an option. Planting annual ryegrass at 20 pounds with 50 pounds of N to the acre could yield around one ton of forage for this fall and 3 to 6 tons next year. Not all annual ryegrasses are winter hardy. Check forage performance trials to see which ones can survive our winters.

All of these options will require adequate rainfall, good establishment and management to reach their full potential. I did not cover all of the establishment or management aspects here. For that information on all of these options contact your local Extension Office or check out the web sites http://forages.osu.edu or http://beef.osu.edu/drought07.html

Feeding Corn Stover to Ruminants - Maurice Eastridge, OSU Department of Animal Sciences

With the dry conditions this year in many areas of Ohio, the yield of hay has been reduced and corn silage yields are going to be quite variable based on planting time and geographic area. Therefore, forage supplies are going to be quite limited this year, and several areas have been already reporting unreasonably high hay prices. Obviously, ruminants must have forage in their diets to remain healthy. Also with the current hay and grain prices, overall feed costs are going to be elevated for quite some time. With these conditions, alternative forage sources are being considered, including the feeding of corn stover (corn plant after grain harvest). The composition of corn stover is provided in Table 1, and it is compared to the composition of corn grain, corn silage, and wheat straw. The grain and forage components of corn are low in protein, but they especially contribute energy to the diet and fiber for ruminal health. Because of the lower starch and higher fiber, corn stover provides less energy than corn grain or silage. The comparison of the composition of corn stover with wheat straw is made because wheat straw is sometimes fed at low concentrations (2 to 8% of dietary DM) to lactating dairy cattle as a source of effective fiber (fiber that stimulates rumination) and higher concentrations are sometimes fed to nonlactating, nongrowing ruminants. The price for wheat straw is often quite high and the supply often limited caused by the demand for its use as bedding and feed. When you consider that about 50% of the corn plant is stover and that at least 4 times more acres of corn are produced in Ohio compared to acres of wheat, the availability of corn stover is not limited. The composition of corn stover and wheat straw is somewhat similar and are similar in price values at the reported DM (Table 1), but at similar DM (e.g. 90%), corn stover is valued at about 5% more than wheat straw.

Some things that must be considered when feeding corn stover are:

1) Animals can be pastured on a corn field harvested for grain, but their presence in the field must be limited initially because they will eat too much grain that was left in the field. A considerable amount of feed wastage also occurs with pasturing corn fields.

2) Because of the low protein in corn stover and the limited intake that may occur, additional supplementation usually necessary, even for nonlactating, nongrowing animals.

3) The feeding value of ammoniated corn stover is higher than for unammoniated stover. Ammoniated corn stalks (2 to 3% of DM; increase in CP by 6 to 8 percentage units) fed with 2 lb/day of grain supplement to 525 lb steers increased DM intake, DM digestibility, and N retention compared to unammoniated corn stalks fed with the same amount of supplement (Purdue University). Mature beef cows fed similar diets had higher DM intake and weight gain with ammouniated versus unammoniated corn stover.

4) Because of the large particle size of corn stover, challenges may occur when adding stover to a total mixed ration because cows can readily sort thorough the TMR, leaving the corn stalks in the bunk and having lower fiber intake than anticipated. Therefore, reducing the particle size before or during mixing will be important in reducing the risks for sorting.

5) The corn stover certainly can provide a considerable amount of energy and fiber as a forage source; however, very low inclusion rates in lactating cow diets can help to provide an effective fiber source (95% of the fiber in corn stover is regarded as effective fiber) and may also be used to reduce a small amount of starch from the ration. However, corn stover is not an effective replacement for grain, even if pelleted. For example, in an University of Illinois study reported this year, corn stover was treated with calcium oxide and water, mixed with distillers grains (3:1 corn stover:distillers grains), and then pelleted. Diets fed to lactating dairy cows containing 40% corn silage, 10% alfalfa silage, 5.5% soybean hulls, and either 0, 11, or 22% of the corn stover pellet to replace corn grain. As the amount of corn stover pellet increased, DM intake, milk yield, and milk protein percentage decreased. Thus, even with chemical processing and reduction to a small particle size, corn stover is not a replacement for corn grain as an energy source.

The supply of corn stover is plentiful and it should be evaluated as a source of forage in diets for ruminants during times of limited forage supply and when desiring to provide low amounts of additional effective fiber in diets for maintaining rumen health.

Table 1. Composition (DM basis) of corn-based feeds and wheat straw.

(1)DM = Dry matter, CP = crude protein, TDN = total digestible nutrients, ME = metabolizable energy, NEL = net energy for lactation, NEm= net energy for maintenance, NEg = net energy for gain, NDF = neutral detergent fiber, and ADF = acid detergent fiber.

Weekly Roberts Agricultural Commodity Market Report - Mike Roberts, Commodity Marketing Agent, Virginia Tech

LIVE CATTLE futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) closed higher in light trading on Monday. The AUG'07LC contract closed at $91.950/cwt, even with last Friday's close and $1.200/cwt higher than last Monday. The OCT'07LC contract settled at $95.650/cwt, up $0.175/cwt and $0.60/cwt better than last week at this time. Last Friday's USDA cattle reports were somewhat bullish, fueling Friday's rally and supporting deferred live cattle prices. Floor sources late on Monday said that the market still "feels like" more feeders will be coming on in October even though placements were a surprise. USDA reported July placements at 1.622 million head, off 17% from last year at this time as traders expected about a 13% reduction. Placements were also 3% below 2005 levels, the lowest they've been since 1996. Marketings were placed at 2.0 million head for July, 3% above 2006 levels and 4% above 2005 levels. On-feed supplies were placed at 95% of last year versus the expected 96%. Cash cattle prices were firm with the 5-area-weekly-weighted-average price at $90.25/cwt vs. $90.45/cwt last week. It was reported that some feedlots were expecting sales up to $92.00/cwt this week amid tight supplies. Export prospects are expected to brighten with the upcoming South Korean Agriculture Ministry announcement regarding U.S. beef imports. USDA on Monday lowered the choice boxed beef cutout by $0.12/cwt to $143.67/cwt. According to HedgersEdge.com, the average beef packer margin for Monday, August 20, was a negative $3.50/head, $2.65/head better than last Friday and $11.65/head better than last Monday. Cash sellers are looking at good prospects for prices over the next six months. It might be wise to hold off pricing near-term corn inputs at this time while waiting to make a pricing move over the next 3 to 4 weeks as corn harvest approaches.

FEEDER CATTLE contracts at the CME were up somewhat across all contracts on Monday. The AUG'07FC contract closed at $116.450/cwt, up $0.025/cwt and $0.925/cwt higher than last Monday. SEPT'07FC futures finished at $117.375/cwt, up $0.500/cwt and $2.025/cwt higher than a week ago. Expectations for increased October placements weighed on the market. Good prospects for better live cattle prices in the deferred months and tighter feeder cattle supplies supported feeders all day, according to more than one floor source. This spillover from live cattle and a supportive USDA cattle report brightened the outlook for feeders into next year. Oklahoma cash feeders were reported up to $1.00/cwt higher on Monday. The latest CME Feeder Cattle Index for August 16 was down $0.42/cwt at $116.39/cwt. It is still a good idea for feeder sellers to continue to aggressively market livestock. Hold off pricing corn supplies for now. Prices should get better over the next 3-4 weeks as harvest gets going.

CORN on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) closed up on Monday. The SEPT'07 contract finished at $3.316/bu, up 3.2¢/bu from Friday, regaining 10.2¢/bu lost last Thursday and correcting to almost even with last Monday. The DEC'07 contract finished at $3.486/bu, up 3.0¢/bu from Friday, almost the identical story of the September contract; nearly even with last Monday while gaining 10.0¢/bu back from last Thursday's skid. Light technical trading was the rule of the day. No one was interested in selling amid weather-neutral news. Virginia did experience some lodging-weather of late but other states south and north of here are in a continuing pattern. Export demand was good and proved bullish for corn on the day, according to several floor sources. A Taiwanese entity is expected to tender an offer for between 23,000-29,000 tonnes (900,000 bu - 1.14 million bu) of corn on Wednesday. USDA reported corn-inspected for export at 38.6 million bu, within estimates for 34-39 million bu. Late Monday afternoon USDA raised the corn crop good-to-excellent rating 2 points to 58% with 6% of the U.S. corn crop mature. This is near the 5 year average of 5% mature at this time. Several trading-floor sources said the market expected the crop rating to remain the same as last week. Funds were buying, going after over 1,000 lots. The CFTC Commitment of Traders report showed large speculators expanding bullish positions in corn at 110,000 contracts, up 7,400 lots as of August 14. Cash sellers having priced up to 50%-60% of this year's production are okay. If your crop is on track with contract commitments it might be a good idea to price more at this time. Be careful not to overprice this year's production. It would be a very good time to have up to 50% of the 2008 crop priced now as the DEC'08 corn contract closed at $3.926/bu, up 2.0¢/bu from Friday but lower than last Monday by 6.4¢/bu. I do expect downward pressure on price to increase and basis to worsen as this record harvest approaches with not enough storage to take care of the crop. If interested, you may contact me about grain storage bag research that I am doing.

Visit the OSU Beef Team calendar of meetings and upcoming events

BEEF Cattle is a weekly publication of Ohio State University Extension in Fairfield County and the OSU Beef Team. Contributors include members of the Beef Team and other beef cattle specialists and economists from across the U.S.

All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status. Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Admin. and Director, OSU Extension. TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868

Fairfield County Agriculture and Natural Resources