News Update
June 9, 2009

Virginia Angus Ass’n to Host Presidential Angus Tour

The Virginia Angus Association will host a “Presidential Angus Tour” Aug. 23-25. Attendees will have the opportunity to take pleasure in Virginia’s well-known Southern hospitality, view some outstanding cattle from premier breeders in the state and experience some of the United States’ historical landmarks. This tour will include stops at several Angus farms in northern and central Virginia as well as stops at two presidential homes — Monticello and Montpelier.

Registration for the Presidential Angus Tour is $80 per person before July 20 and $130 per person after, and includes a reception on Sunday, Aug. 23, lunch and dinner on Monday and Tuesday, admission to Monticello and Montpelier and an embroidered fleece jacket. The final registration deadline is Aug. 12, 2009.

The headquarters hotel for the tour is the Doubletree Hotel in historical Charlottesville, Va. Rooms are available starting Saturday, Aug. 22 through Tuesday August 25, at a rate of $109 for single or $119 for double rooms (tax not included). The room prices include a breakfast buffet. Reservations can be made by contacting the hotel directly at 434-973-2121. Please ask for the Virginia Angus rate when making room reservations.  Participants can fly directly into the Charlottesville/Albermarle Regional Airport and travel to the hotel via the provided hotel transportation.

All participants are encouraged to come in a day early and attend the 2009 Virginia Cattlemen’s Field Day.  The Field Day will be hosted by Edgewood Angus in West Point, Va. This event will feature cattle and equipment displays as well as a panel discussion. The panel will include Mark McCully, director of supply development for Certified Angus Beef LLC; Brian House, program manager of Select Sires; and Mark Gardiner, president of Gardiner Angus Ranch.

For more information about the Presidential Angus Tour or to print the registration form, visit www.vaangus.org or call the Virginia Angus Association office at 540-337-3001. A schedule is also available at www.angus.org/Pub/Newsroom/Releases/09_VA_Tour_Preview.html.

— Release provided by the American Angus Association.

2008 Data Show Kansas Farm Income Rises for Second Straight Year

It may seem like a distant memory amid the current U.S. and global economic struggles, but strong crop prices boosted many Kansas farmers’ net income last year for the second year in a row.

In its annual summary, the Kansas Farm Management Association (KFMA) revealed that average net farm income for 1,452 KFMA member farms was $123,397 — up 7.3% from an average $115,035 in 2007 and well above the $46,593 average for 2006.

“Crop prices were higher (in 2008),” said Kevin Herbel, KFMA administrator, adding that growing conditions for wheat were better last year than they were in 2007, when a freeze cut production, particularly in central Kansas.

KFMA reports net income on an accrual basis — adjusted for any inventory changes between the beginning and end of the year. They represent the return on the farmer’s labor, management and investment in the operation.

Herbel emphasized that the KFMA data is a barometer of Kansas agriculture statewide — not a definitive picture of every operation. In fact, about 16% of the KFMA member farms had negative net farm income last year. That was generally tied to their type of enterprise, timing of purchases or timing of sales.

Plenty of factors were working against farmers last year, said Michael Langemeier, agricultural economist with Kansas State University (K-State) Research and Extension.

For example, total farm expenses increased about 18%, with the largest increases in fertilizer (up 35%) plus herbicide and insecticide (up 34%). Seed costs were up 12%. Gas, fuel and oil were up more than 30%. Other machinery and equipment expenses also increased, with a 16% increase in total repair expense and a 9% increase in depreciation. But, lower interest rates led to a 5% decrease to $21,791 per farm in interest expense for 2008.

Just as in 2007, livestock operations bore the brunt of the price and cost volatility that weighed on net income. As in the previous year, livestock producers were hit with high feed costs and lower livestock prices, Langemeier said. In turn, average net farm income for operations primarily in the cattle backgrounding business was a negative $10,355 and for cow herd operations, just $32,674.
“This was the third year in a row that there was negative net income for backgrounding cattle on the farm,” Herbel said.

In addition to the disparity between livestock and crop enterprises, regional disparities emerged, too, Herbel said.

More information about the KFMA and its “2008 Summary and Analysis” is available on the K-State Research and Extension agricultural economics web site, www.agmanager.info/kfma.

— Release provided by K-State Research and Extension.

Lake Granbury Workshop to Protect Water Quality Rescheduled

The Texas Watershed Steward program has rescheduled a free workshop on protecting the Lake Granbury watershed.

The workshop, open to the public, will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 30 at Granbury First United Methodist Church, 301 Loop 567, Granbury. The May 12 workshop was postponed because of concerns about the H1N1 flu virus.

The program will educate property owners and other area residents on maintaining a healthy watershed, said Jennifer Peterson, a Texas AgriLife Extension Service program specialist for water quality. It is designed to help residents become involved in local watershed protection and management activities.

Some people aren’t aware that ordinary activities can contribute to pollution in their drinking water supply, Peterson said. Bacteria, including E. coli and fecal coliform, have risen dramatically in some streams and canals that flow to the lake. The conditions threaten recreational activities such as swimming and boating.

“Washing your car, fertilizing your lawn or improperly disposing of pet waste can contaminate your main source of water,” Peterson said.

The Lake Granbury program will also cover efforts by the Brazos River Authority, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Water Resources Institute and other partners to help improve and protect water quality in the lake.

All participants will receive a free copy of the Texas Watershed Steward Curriculum Handbook, gifts, prizes and a certificate of completion. Several types of continuing education credits are also available.

More information on the Lake Granbury project is available at www.brazos.org/gbWPP.asp and http://tws.tamu.edu.

Organizers are asking participants to preregister in order to ensure an accurate count of materials, Peterson said. For information on continuing education hours or to preregister, visit the Texas Watershed Steward web site, http://tws.tamu.edu, or contact Peterson at 979-862-8072 or jlpeterson@ag.tamu.edu.

The Texas Watershed Steward program is sponsored by AgriLife Extension and the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.

— Release provided by Texas AgriLife Extension.

For the Most in Pasture Management, Measure Forage DM

For livestock producers wanting the most out of their pastures, measuring forage dry matter (DM) content before and after livestock grazing is the most effective way of managing an intensive grazing system.

Pasture measurement allows a grazier to determine how much forage dry matter (DM) is available in a pasture paddock, and once that is estimated, the producer can figure out how many animals should be grazed for a given period of time.

“Pasture measurement will help the grazier to make decisions about how to best use pasture paddocks and over time will provide a trend of how much forage dry matter is being produced per week,” said Rory Lewandowski, an Ohio State University (OSU) Extension educator in agriculture and natural resources. “Using this type of information can help a grazier plan the livestock rotation for periods of rapid growth as well as periods of slow growth. The trend can provide an early warning system in a drought year and help the grazier plan accordingly.”

Lewandowski offers some strategies for taking pasture measurements. One strategy is to measure a paddock due to be grazed on a weekly basis.

“This will help to give you an idea about your rotation speed. If you are consistently measuring 2,400 to 3,000 pounds (lb.) of forage dry matter per acre in paddocks about to be grazed, this indicates the rest period has been long enough,” Lewandowski said. “If forage dry matter is less than 2,200 pounds per acre, then rotation speed should be slowed down to allow the pasture more time to recover and grow.”

Another strategy is to measure the paddock before and after animals are turned out.

“These additional measurements will give you information about how you are managing plant residual, an important part of how quickly a plant recovers from a grazing pass. Most pastures should be managed so there is 1,200 to 1,400 pounds of forage dry matter after animals have grazed,” said Lewandowski. “The other advantage of this strategy is that you will get a good idea of pasture growth rate in terms of how much dry matter is being added per acre each week.”

To take pasture measurements, the most economical option is to use a pasture stick. The current pasture stick model being used in Ohio has a scale to measure forage height, a scale to estimate forage density, a table of pounds of dry matter per inch for various pasture forage types, information about length of grazing rotations, and information about calculating the pounds of dry matter available for grazing.

The basic steps involved in using the grazing stick are:

• Measure pasture height in 20-30 random areas of the paddock. Record those heights.
  
• Add the measurements to get a total and then divide that total by the number of measurements. This will give you average pasture height.
  
• Estimate pasture density using the dot scale on the pasture stick. This will allow you to estimate the pounds of dry matter per inch.
  
• Multiply the average height (in inches) by the pasture density (pounds of dry matter per inch). This will give you the total dry matter per acre in that paddock.
  
• Subtract the amount of residual dry matter you want to leave in the paddock. This is plant height after grazing times the pounds of dry matter per inch. “If you plan for a 3- to 4-inch residual, 1,200-1,400 pounds is about right,” Lewandowski said. “Consider the result of total dry matter minus residual dry matter to be the forage available for grazing.”
  
• Figure out the amount of utilizable forage. “All of the forage available for grazing will not actually get grazed. There will be waste,” Lewandowski said. “The smaller the paddock size and the fewer days animals spend in that paddock, the higher the grazing efficiency.” If you are moving animals every 3-4 days, use a 60% grazing efficiency to start with, Lewandowski said. Multiply the available forage dry matter by the grazing efficiency expressed as a decimal. For example: 1,500 lb. of dry matter times 0.60 equals 900 lb. of utilizable forage dry matter per acre.
  
• Figure out the livestock need in pounds of dry matter per day. “Most livestock will consume between 2.5% to 3.0% of their body weight in dry matter per day,” Lewandowski said. “You will need to know the average body weights of your livestock.” Multiply the dry matter per day requirement for an individual animal by the total number of animals that will graze in that paddock. For example: 30 head of sheep that average 150 lb., consuming 2.75% of body weight in dry matter per day is 150 times .0275 equals 4.1 lb. of dry matter per day. And 4.1 lb. times 30 head equals 123 lb. of dry matter per day that is needed.
  
• Figure out what the paddock can support. Divide the utilizable forage by the livestock requirement to get how many days of grazing the paddock will provide. For example: 900 lb. of utilizable dry matter divided by 123 lb. of dry matter needed per day equals 7.3. “There should be about a week’s worth of grazing in this paddock,” Lewandowski said.
  
• Make adjustments based on the measurement calculations. “For example, if your goal is to rotate every 3-4 days and in our example we found that one acre is providing 7 days worth of grazing for 30 head of sheep, then provide about 0.5 acres every 3 days,” Lewandowski said.
  

Another option to measure pastures is the rising plate meter, which has a built-in counter.

To use the rising plate meter, record the beginning number on the counter, make 30 measurements, and record the end number. Then subtract the end number from the beginning number and divide that result by the number of measurements to get an average. Multiply this average by a conversion factor (currently 107.04) for cool-season grass pastures. Use this number as the total forage dry matter acre and follow the steps outlined for the pasture stick to make the remaining animal use calculations.

“The plate meter is quicker, but the cost of this instrument is about $450, compared to $5 to $7 for the pasture stick,” Lewandowski said. “It is important for graziers to put some effort into pasture measurement if they want to increase their pasture management skills. Pasture measurement can help to take some of the guesswork out of allocating pasture forage and it can help to reduce the slope of the learning curve associated with management intensive grazing.”

For more information on pasture measurement and the instruments used, contact Rory Lewandowski at lewandowski.11@osu.edu.

— Release provided by OSU.

— compiled by Crystal Albers, associate editor, Angus Productions Inc.