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Previous issues of the BEEF Cattle letter

Issue # 586

May 7, 2008

Back to the Basics? - Dr. Roy Burris, Beef Extension Specialist, University of Kentucky

Most of us tend to make situations more complicated than they really are. It is my opinion that we could solve most of our problems if we just got back to basics. The solution might not be easy, but it could be simple.

Let's look at the national news for a moment. The talk about the presidential election and the "possibility" of a recession keeps the airwaves busy. The events surrounding the presidential election make my head spin. We've got primaries, caucuses, proportional wins, winner-take-all and super delegates. I have a radical thought. What about one person - one vote? Just add 'em up! This reminds me of the old saying that "a giraffe is just a horse put together by a committee".

Now, what about the economy. The big debate concerns the technical definition of a recession. I'm not an expert there either but I'd bet most cattle producers would say that the purchasing power of their dollar has receded. Is it a recession? Who cares what they call it? We just say "things are tough" and keep going.

Here's the problem. Corn is over six dollars a bushel, gasoline and diesel are getting higher every day (oil is over $100 a barrel) and nitrogen fertilizer is off the chart. All of this follows a year of drought and feed shortage. We find ourselves vulnerable to another disaster. The most basic question is "how do we survive"?

In the short term, we must make sure that another drought doesn't put us out of business. We have "zeroed-out" all of our feed reserves and our hay supply. We have to restock. Simply put … "let's make hay while the sun shines". Take every window of opportunity that you get. Also, consider some warm-season hay crops so that we aren't totally dependent upon making hay in the spring-time.

Ever since we started using big round bales of hay, some have flirted with disaster by storing all of their hay outside and not being able to carry any over. We should have the goal, and the ability, to keep an extra one-third of our annual hay needs stored inside for emergency feeding. Consider an old barn or a new structure for hay storage.

We also need to manage our pastures to take advantage of legumes and minimize our use of nitrogen fertilizers. Clovers will also improve the nutritional quality of pastures and hay.

Our long-term adjustments are just as basic. We need to match cattle genetics to our farm's available forage resources. We continue to select cattle for "more frame-more milk" with little concern for the nutritional cost or, more importantly, the effect on reproduction. If you really want bigger calves, use a moderate-sized, efficient cow and a terminal cross sire. Rediscover crossbreeding.

We have the genetic information to help make breeding decisions but we abuse their intended use. EPD's are tools which allow you to make a more informed decision. They are not an end in themselves. Why do we always think that a large number must be better?

Take cow size and milk production, for example. What happens if we keep using bulls with bigger numbers for yearling weight and milk EPD's? These two things have a dramatic effect on nutritional needs of their off-spring. If you don't meet the cow's nutritional needs, they don't rebreed. It's that simple.

Does cow efficiency really matter? Let's consider two different cows in the first 60 days of lactation. First, a 1100 lb cow with a body condition score (BCS) of 5 and producing 15 lb of milk daily could have her nutritional needs met with 24 lb of average hay and 3 lb of corn. The second, a 1400 lb cow with a BCS of 4 (needs to gain around 80 lb before breeding) and producing 30 lb of milk daily would need about 18 lb hay, 12 lb corn and 1.3 lb of soybean meal, for example. So you say the second cow will wean a bigger calf. Maybe, but she won't wean anything if she doesn't get pregnant.

It is time to select bulls and order semen for spring breeding. The trend, as I see it, is that most of us will select Angus bulls for example, with yearling weight EPD of greater than 100 and milk EPD of well over 30. Where does that put us in terms of reproductive efficiency? Do we really think that we'll see cheap corn anytime soon?

Let's just get back to the basics and stay focused on functional cattle which produce efficiently under our management and our environmental conditions with a minimum of extra attention. Keep it simple.

Shortening the Calving Season: A Success Story - Dr. Les Anderson, Beef Extension Specialist, University of Kentucky

Most producers will agree that having a short breeding and calving season has advantages. Research has shown that controlled calving improves weaning weight, reproductive rate, cow performance, production efficiency, and profitability. Even though most producers would like to have a short, controlled calving season, most find it difficult to accomplish.

Last year, the University of Kentucky conducted a demonstration in cooperation with Mr. Wendall Gabbard in Jackson County. Our goal was to shorten the calving season of Mr. Gabbard's cowherd from 10 months to two, 60 day calving-seasons; one in the spring and one in the fall. Cows in this herd calved from Feb until November. We decided to establish a group of cows that would calve in March and April and a group of cows that would calve in September and October.

We began this demonstration in the Fall of 2006. Cows that calved from February 1st to May 1st were selected for the spring herd (20 cows). The remaining cows were selected for the fall calving herd (24 cows). Most of the cows selected for the fall calving herd calved in October and November. Estrus was synchronized in this herd by inserting a CIDR® (Phizer, Inc.) device into the cows for 7 days immediately preceding the bull turnout. The day after the CIDR devices were removed, the bull was turned out with the cows. The bull used was a mature bull and had passed a breeding soundness examination.

The results of this trial were very interesting. Pregnancy rate was fantastic as 23 of the 24 cows conceived. Unfortunately, two of the cows were observed aborting before calving. All 21 of the cows calved from September 11th to November 11th. Eighteen of the cows calved in the first 40 days. Certainly, Mr. Gabbard was pleased with the reproductive performance of his cowherd and remarked that this was the heaviest set of calves he has ever had.

The following breeding season, Mr. Gabbard simply turned a bull out with his cows. Of the 21 cows in the fall calving herd, 18 conceived within the first 30 days of the breeding season, two conceived the next cycle and only one cow was open. Obviously, once this cowherd was "straightened out", cow reproductive performance remained high.

Inserting a CIDR device for 7 days prior to bull turnout can help shorten the breeding and calving season. The cost of the CIDR devices is usually about $10 per cow. However, based upon the breeding performance and weaning weight achieved in Mr. Gabbard's cowherd, we estimated that using the CIDR devices returned approximately $110 per cow.

Forage Focus: First Cutting 2008 - Paul H. Craig, Dauphin County PA Educator

In the South Central region of PA the 2008 Spring Season is in full swing. In many areas graziers reaping the bounty of the spring flush of grasses. The weather is always the fly in the ointment but cattle and other livestock never seem to mind the fact that their forage doesn't need to dry down for harvest. Haylage and hay harvest are another matter.

With the high commodity feed costs the production of the highest quality first cutting becomes more of an economical incentive for timely harvest than ever before. It has been said many times before but will be especially critical this year but high quality forage production means timely harvest often during narrow windows of opportunity. Avoid any delay in harvesting first cutting! It's been said before but always worth repeating. When it is time to make forage - Stop planting corn and make hay!!

Forage producers know that the first cutting of alfalfa and grasses is the largest yielding cutting each year. Some estimates show first cutting can be 40% of total yields. Because of this, first cutting has the potential to provide forage feeders with either some outstanding forage quality or unfortunately, large amounts of poor quality forage for the entire feeding season.

First cutting also sets the stage for all preceding forage harvests. A delay in first cutting will significantly reduce quality and reduce maximum forage yields for the season. Are you ready for forage harvest?

Many of the top quality producers don't get caught behind on first cutting. If weather conditions in early to mid-May are suitable for cutting forage grasses and alfalfa they don't delay. Many growers harvest alfalfa stands as early as late pre-bud or at sign of first bud to maximize forage quality if there is a window of harvest opportunity. Weather may turn wet and keep you out of the fields for 10 days or more and the resulting forage will be disaster for a feeding program. When taking an early harvest (pre or early bud) allow at least 3^rd or 4^th cutting to reach early bloom, top-dress (K₂O) and stay ahead of potato leafhoppers this summer to allow the stand to build up root reserves.

Because of the importance of getting forage harvested on time and quickly and the fact that a heavy first cutting will slow harvest speed, haylage or baleage should be the harvest method of choice.

Here are a few production pointers for making quality haylage and baleage. Optimum moisture levels for grass crops are 45 to 63%. Because alfalfa is high in calcium, which buffers haylage fermentation, moisture levels for alfalfa haylage should be slightly less, 40 to 55% moisture. If making baleage, be sure to wrap bales with at least 6, preferably 8 mils. of plastic to ensure an airtight seal. Wrapping should take place within 24 hours, preferably sooner.

Limit bale diameter to 4 feet to minimize handling extremely heavy bales and ensure safety. Store bales on the ends, which have significantly more layers of plastic wrap, for protection. Mark and store by cuttings. Baleage made with optimum moisture conditions, at earlier stages of maturity and wrapped properly has the potential for 12 months or longer storage. Bales made under less optimum conditions will not have the storability and may need to be fed out in 3 to 6 months.

Training will last for approximately two hours beginning at 9:30 a.m.. There is a $10 charge at the door to cover the cost of materials, and reservations are requested by June 13. Contact Gene McCluer, OSU Extension Educator in Hardin County (419.674.2297), for reservations or more details.

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

LIVE CATTLE futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) were off on Monday pressured by profit taking and slow trading. The JUNE'08LC contract closed at $91.200/cwt, down $0.925/cwt and $2.550/cwt lower than last week at this time. AUG'08LC futures were off $0.775/cwt at $97.475/cwt. The grilling season is expected to slow after Mother's Day and Memorial Day before picking up again for the 4th. The USDA 5-area price reported on Monday was steady at $92.27/cwt. Also on Monday USDA put the choice beef price at $154.27/cwt, up $0.81/cwt. According to HedgersEdge.com, packer margin estimates were still positive at $47.35/head but $14.55/head lower than a week ago. The estimated average buy for a packer was $92.16/cwt vs. a $96.04/cwt breakeven. This market looks like it may have lost some steam from the recent 30-day run up in prices. Cash sellers should consider selling cattle as soon as they are ready. It might be a good idea to price short-term corn inputs at this time.

FEEDER CATTLE at the CME closed mostly up on Monday with the nearby and the March'09 and the April '09 contracts off somewhat. The May'08FC contract finished at $105.250/cwt, off $0.400/cwt and $1.50/cwt lower than a week ago. AUG'08FC futures were up $1.000/cwt at $108.250/cwt but down $0.925/cwt from last Monday. Heavy spreading in the September/May, lower corn prices, and technical buying were supportive. Cash prices in Oklahoma City were up as much as $1-$3/cwt. The latest CME Feeder Cattle index for May 1 was placed at $104.87/cwt, up $0.21/cwt. Looks like August feeders are rallying on improved pasture conditions. Might be a good idea to price any short-term corn needs … if you don't have grass.

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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.

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