News Update
May 7, 2010

Angus Tag Store Offers Low-Cost ID Options

Developing an identification system is a critical component of any cattle operation — but it shouldn’t be costly. That’s why the American Angus Association developed the American Angus Tag Store, available at www.angus.org/tagstore. The interactive site offers customizable, low-cost tag options and easy online ordering.

“Since the introduction of the AngusSource® ear tag, producers have asked if they can purchase ranch tags and other ID products from the Association,” says Sara Snider, Association AngusSource director. “Our partnership with tag manufacturer Destron Fearing™ allows us to meet those needs.”

Plus, Destron Fearing has agreed to donate 5% of net proceeds to the Angus Foundation to support the Beef Leaders Institute (BLI), the American Angus Association’s leadership and educational training program geared toward Angus breeders 25-45 years old. Read more.

Cattle Research Examines Impact of Winter Coats

Imagine the misery of wearing a winter coat outside in Mississippi as late as May, June or even July. People would want to stay in the shade or in cool water. Eating a big meal would not be very appetizing. Cattle may feel the same way, especially if they are from the longhaired breeds of cattle, including Angus, Charolais and Hereford.

Mississippi State University (MSU) researchers are taking part in a joint research project with North Carolina State University to establish an evaluation system for cattle hair shedding. Additionally, they are looking for performance differences among cattle that shed their winter coats earlier than others.

“Our first objective was to develop a scoring system to assess the animal’s ability to shed in the spring,” said Trent Smith, assistant professor of animal and dairy sciences in MSU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “We score animals on a monthly evaluation on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being 100% shed or slick and 5 indicating no shedding at all. A score of 2 is 75% shed, 3 is 50% shed, and 4 represents 25% shed.”

Researchers have evaluated more than 1,000 cattle during the last three years, including many from North Carolina State and MSU herds as well as several private herds. Scoring is conducted by two researchers monthly from March through July, and average scores are recorded on each animal.

“Our second objective is to determine if producers should care about how fast a cow sheds its winter coat,” Smith said. “We want to see if reaching their comfort zone quicker improves their productivity.”

Some of the production factors the researchers are considering include calf weaning, reproduction status as related to fertility, and ability to stay in good body condition, particularly throughout the warm months.

“If we see a link between slow hair loss in the spring and negative performance in production, producers may want to consider keeping the cattle with the desirable shedding rates,” Smith said. “Initial results suggest that shedding tendencies are heritable.”

MSU researchers with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station are expanding their information gathering beyond the hair-loss scoring system.

“We’ve carried our research a bit further. We are also evaluating hair lengths, thermal images and have taken skin biopsies for estimation of hair follicle numbers,” Smith said.

This research could be especially important to breeds of dark color, including Angus cattle, whose solid black coats provide additional heat units to their bodies. Funding for a large portion of this research is from the American Angus Association.

Sally Northcutt, genetic research director for the American Angus Association, said the research could have a significant impact on breeders across the nation.

“Angus cattle are raised in a wide variety of environments from Montana to Florida,” Northcutt said. “In some areas, hair retention might be more important than hair loss.”

The geneticist said about 50% of the registered Angus cattle in the country are produced through artificial insemination (AI). Angus bloodlines are evaluated on 21 genetic values, including temperament, carcass quality, calving ease and weaning weights. It is possible hair shedding could become another one of the values that impact breeders’ selections.

— Adapted from a MSU Ag Communications release.

Can Feeding DDGS Maximize Livestock Profitability?

Pork producers and cattle feeders are making their first profits in many years, thanks to lower numbers of livestock and a growing domestic and export demand for U.S. beef and pork products. Both hogs and cattle are expected to be in the black for the balance of the year, but economists are warning producers not to expand in an effort to take advantage of the profitability. As an alternative to expansion, some producers may want to increase their profits with operational changes, and here is an idea that may work for some.

Feed cost can be the killer in livestock production, and when corn and soybean prices climbed in 2007 and 2008, many livestock producers were forced out of business because they had been operating for many quarters in the red. With meat prices higher and corn and soybean prices more stable, some livestock feeders may be able to increase their profitability by replacing corn and soybean meal with dried distillers’ grains with solubles (DDGS). That is the premise of Kansas State University (K-State) economist Dan O’Brien. His research indicates the expansion of the biofuels industry has provided an increasing amount of DDGS over time. The annual production of DDGS has increased more than tenfold in the period from 2002 to 2009, surpassing 58 billion pounds (lb.) last year.

O’Brien says animal scientists have demonstrated the effective use of DDGS in livestock rations, as well as the limitations, which vary from one specie to another. Those limits are estimated at 20% for dry DDGS for cattle, 10%-15% for dairy cattle, and 10% for hogs and poultry. In the past year, 39% of the domestically used DDGS were used for dairy, 38% for beef cattle, 15% in swine rations and 7% in poultry rations.

O’Brien quotes a study by Argonne National Laboratory that 1 lb. of DDGS can displace 1.25 lb. of corn for beef cattle. While the nutrition may be balanced and the limits may not be exceeded, what about the cost?

Since livestock feeders will develop rations to create the most revenue over feed costs, most will try to maximize output of livestock products at an economical cost, and will continually try to balance the cost of a variety of feedstuffs. The K-State economist, looking at the changing price relationships over time, says the more likely that more of a feed product would be fed compared to its lesser cost. He says since January 2007, the per pound costs of corn and DDGS have been nearly equal, but DDGS has been priced less since July 2009. Soybean meal prices per pound have been higher than corn or DDGS from early 2007 into early 2010.

Specifically, Iowa DDGS prices have been trending lower relative to both corn and bean meal for the past three years. In early 2007, DDGS were 50%-60% of corn prices. They dropped to 17%-18% in September 2009, and have risen to 31%-36%. Relative to soybean meal prices, DDGS has been 67% of meal prices since September 2009 and currently are at 38%. In Nebraska, wet distillers’ grains were compared to corn and soybean meal prices, and were much lower in price than the DDGS.

O’Brien concludes that DDGS prices in both Iowa and Kansas are less than corn or soybean meal and have been since 2007, and are near the low in relationship to soybean meal prices. He says that is providing an incentive to livestock producers in an effort to maximize profits.

— Release by University of Illinois.

Potential Wheat Freeze Injury Determined By Several Factors

A hard freeze was predicted for the night of May 7 in parts of Kansas. In such instances at this stage of development, wheat will suffer some injury. The extent of that injury will depend on several factors, said Brian Olson, K-State Northwest Area crops and soils specialist, and Jim Shroyer, K-State Extension agronomist.

A number of factors will determine freeze damage: the stage of development of the wheat, the density of the stand and condition of the plants, the extent and duration of low temperatures, temperature gradients within the field, soil moisture, and the wind speed, Olson and Shroyer said.

The K-State agronomists summarized the effect of these factors: for a list click here.

If a freeze occurs, the best thing producers can do for the first few days is to simply walk the fields to observe lodging, crimped stems, and damaged leaves, Olson and Shroyer said.

“Be patient. It will take several days of warm weather to accurately evaluate the extent of damage. After several days, producers should split open some stems and check the developing head. If the head is green or light greenish in color and seems firm, it is probably fine.

If the head is yellowish and mushy, it may have freeze injury,” Olson said.

There are also early signs producers might notice right away, the K-State agronomists added.

Producers should remember that even if primary tillers are damaged, less-developed secondary tillers may be fine, Olson said. “If there are enough secondary tillers that survive, these tillers should be able to compensate and keep yield losses to a minimum,” he added.

More information on freeze damage to wheat is available in “Spring Freeze Injury to Kansas Wheat,” K-State Research and Extension publication C646, available at county and district Extension offices and on their website at: www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/crpsl2/c646.pdf.

— Release by K-State Research and Extension.

— Compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.