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BEEF Cattle questions may be directed to the OSU Extension BEEF Team through Stephen Boyles or Stan Smith, Editor
Previous issues of the BEEF Cattle letter
Issue # 327
February 19, 2003
"The Same Old, Same Old Won't Work"
There is no question that it is human nature for many of us to resist change. This can be especially true for cattlemen. Today's producer is faced with the reality that changes must be made in the way that we do business in order to remain viable in our ever-changing economy. Every production practice must be examined to determine its contribution to the profitability of an operation.
This theme is the focus of a beef educational meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 4. The meeting will be held at the Wharton Building on the Highland County Fairgrounds in Hillsboro. A complimentary dinner will be served starting at 6:00 p.m. and the program will begin at 7:00 p.m.
The featured speaker for the program will be Galen Fink of Manhattan, Kansas. Galen, along with his wife Lori and daughter Megan, operates Fink Beef Genetics, a registered Angus and Charolais seedstock operation. This unique operation provides a wide range of products and services that encompass the scope of the entire beef industry including purebred and commercial seedstock, value added marketing and delivering beef directly to the consumer. They utilize high-accuracy proven sires through A.I. and implant more than 1000 embryos each year. The Finks commitment to the beef industry is evidenced by their involvement in two restaurants in Kansas, one of which is the oldest continuously operating restaurant west of the Mississippi River. The Fink family is widely recognized for its leadership to the beef industry and have received numerous prestigious awards.
Fink will discuss a variety of important topics for today's cattleman. Some of these topics will include: Crossbreeding based on science, not fads; Why the "average" producer should not develop replacement heifers; Using terminal sires; and Marketing options.
Advance reservations for the complimentary dinner are requested by February 28, 2003. Everyone is welcome to attend. Contact John Grimes at OSU Extension - Highland County at 937-393-1918 to make reservations or direct any questions about the program. This event is sponsored by the Highland County Cattlemen's Association and OSU Extension - Highland County.
OBT 84 Day Data and Open House
Due to the recent severe weather and resulting challenges, Ohio Bull Test (OBT) data collection and weigh day was delayed until Wednesday, February 19. The data will be posted to the OBT website within a few days.
In addition, the Ohio Bull Test is holding a field day on Saturday, March 1, 2003 at the Eastern Ohio Resource Development Center (EORDC) in Belle Valley, Ohio. Plans for the day include an educational program and complementary lunch sponsored by Gerber and Sons of Baltic. Members of the Ohio Bull Test committee and Ohio State University Extension Beef Team will be available to answer questions.
The educational program will start at 10:00 AM March 1. On the agenda are presentations by OSU Extension personnel covering: bull nutrition from pre-test through the breeding season, Ohio Bull Test sired calves feedlot performance and carcass data results, and evaluation of structural soundness in breeding bulls. After lunch there will be time to view the bulls and socialize.
There are 152 bulls on-test including: 98 Angus, 38 Simmental, 5 Gelbvieh, 4 Polled Hereford, 3 Charolais, 2 Red Angus, 1 Maine-Anjou, and 1 Chi Maine. All Simmental bulls are participating in the Fourth Annual Eastern National Simmental Bull Test, being held in cooperation again this year with the OBT.
Approximately 115 of the top bulls on-test will sell during the 34th annual Ohio Bull Test Sale on Saturday, April 19, 2003, beginning at noon. Performance records provided on the bulls upon completion of the test will include: birth weight, weaning weight, pelvic area, scrotal circumference, frame score, ribeye area and fat thickness measured by ultrasound, Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs), Five State Beef Initiative Power Scores, weights, and average daily gain during the test. Only bulls meeting minimum performance requirements and classified as "Satisfactory Potential Breeders" are eligible for the sale on April 19, 2003.
The Ohio Bull Test is a program of the Ohio Cattlemen's Association in educational partnership with The Ohio State University Extension and Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.
The most current information about the test can be found on the Ohio Bull Test web site at http://bulltest.osu.edu. Contact Justin Lahmers at jlahmers@ohiobeef.org or 614-873-6736 for more information.
Livestock Need Fresh Air - John Smith, OSU Extension Agent, Auglaize County
Just because it is winter and cold outside, don't close up livestock buildings. Good ventilation is important to animals as well as humans, all year around.
When the weather turns cold, the natural tendency is to shut the livestock buildings up to keep them warmer. This traps moisture, odors, and gases in the building. Fresh air in the building is important to the health of the animals and the people taking care of them.
Poor ventilation can cause poor animal response to growth and production due to respiratory problems. Odors, high humidity, and condensation of moisture on the walls are an indication of poor ventilation. Good ventilation in a livestock building will remove air-borne diseases, excess moisture, and gases.
Some ventilation tips from Dr. Mike Veenhuizen, Consultant and Agricultural Engineer include:
1. Don't completely close other vents and exhaust openings needed to bring in the proper amount of fresh air in wintertime. Fresh air is needed; drafts aren't.
2. You can cut drafts in long buildings by building partitions across the building from floor to ceiling every 50 feet to 75 feet.
3. Don't close windward air inlets; it will create negative air pressure in the building and draw snow and cold air down through ridge vents.
4. Use hovers - low hanging ceilings - or heat lamps over small animals. This is especially helpful in swine buildings where baby pigs need a much warmer environment than the sow. (Editor's note: Calf hutches in calving areas offer cattlemen a similar advantage.)
5. Keep fan shutters and blades clean - dirty blades alone can cut your ventilation capacity as much as 40% and add to the dust in the building.
6. Make sure thermostats and controls are calibrated to keep mild weather ventilation fans and heaters from running at the same time.
7. If the building has a manure storage pit under it, be absolutely sure that the pit is properly ventilated: Fumes backing up into the building can be deadly.
Animal Welfare Guidelines of Processors & Retailers Featured at OLC Annual Meeting/Industry Symposium
With more and more processors and retailers developing, adopting and implementing animal welfare guidelines for food-producing animals, livestock, dairy and poultry farmers need to understand the impact such changes will have on their industry. For this reason, the 2003 Ohio Livestock Coalition (OLC) annual meeting and industry symposium will focus on this specific issue.
"Myths & Facts about Animal Welfare Initiatives" is the theme for the meeting/symposium that will be held Tuesday, February 25, at the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Bromfield Administration Building, 8995 E. Main St., Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Registration will begin at 9:00 a.m. with the program getting underway promptly at 9:30 a.m.
Highlighting the symposium's opening general session will be a presentation from the quality assurance management team of Wendy's International, which has its headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, discussing the fast-food restaurant's animal welfare program that has been applauded by Temple Grandin, a world-renown animal behavior scientist.
Additional presentations will feature representatives from three national commodity organizations discussing how such programs will affect livestock, dairy and poultry production. Speakers will include Gary Wilson, a Muskingum County, Ohio, beef cattle producer who chairs the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's animal welfare committee; Gene Gregory, senior vice-president for United Egg Producers, an organization that within the past year has announced new animal welfare guidelines for laying hens, and Dr. Paul Sundberg of the National Pork Board, which is developing an animal welfare assessment score sheet for pork production facilities.
Darrin Johnston, farm news director of WRFD AM 880, Worthington-Columbus, Ohio, will moderate a panel discussion featuring Wendy's quality assurance management team and the commodity organizations' representatives immediately following lunch. To conclude the symposium, Dr. James Kinder, chair of the department of animal sciences at the Ohio State University's College of Food, Agriculture & Environmental Sciences, will discuss the department's initiative to include and incorporate animal welfare disciplines in the department's curriculum.
Registration fee for the meeting-symposium is $25 per person, which includes morning refreshments, a catered lunch featuring Honey Baked Ham, speakers' fees (where applicable) and related presentation materials. Reservations are required, and are due postmarked and paid in full by February 15, 2003, to the OLC office. A $10 late fee will be assessed for registrations postmarked and paid after this date, or for anyone will pays at the door the day of the meeting.
For additional information, contact the OLC office at (614) 246-8288 or dwhite@ofbf.org.
The $80 cattle market came before I expected it, but it also did not last. It appears that the packers cut line speed last week, and that eliminated the need to go out and bid up cattle as they did the prior week with top prices up to $82.50. Boxed beef values, even with the reduced weekly slaughter, did not hold up and were well off recent highs at week's end. Cattle on feed numbers from Friday showed the on-feed count down 7.7 percent, about as expected, but marketings were lower than expected and that will hurt the feedyards' efforts to get higher prices. Late week prices were in the $78 area in the South and more nearly $77 in the North with all prices down significantly from week earlier levels. We have a clear double top at $80 on the April live cattle futures, and short hedges placed on the second rally to that price are looking excellent at this point. Hold short hedges while the short-term fundamentals try to work themselves out. Last Thursday's dip toward $75 was nearly a 62 percent correction of the move up that started last October on the April contract and I don't expect to see the $80 level again on the April. A corrective rally back up toward $78 should be seen as a selling opportunity.
The break in the live cattle futures was accentuated in the feeder cattle. The nearby March plunged last Thursday below $74 and the earlier life of contract low on that future is $73.50. Look for this market to churn at these lower levels as the live cattle futures react to the Cattle on Feed report. Feeder cattle are being hurt by the big discount in the summer live cattle futures and the lack of equity in the feedlot complex coming off 2 years of largely sustained losses. On any dip back toward $74 by the March feeder cattle, I would buy back short hedges on any feeder cattle out through the summer months and start to place long hedges aggressively on the March, April, May, and August contracts. I see significant upside in this market from levels I clearly did not think we would see during February as we move toward seasonal strength in the March and April period and get a boost from any holding of heifers that comes from the cattle cycle as the grass starts to turn green.
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
