News Update
July 7, 2010

NJAS Travelers: Stop at the Grant Monument, Win Gas

As you “Rush to the Rockies,” stop to visit the first home of Angus in the U.S. and win $50 gas money!
Many NJAA members will travel across Kansas and I-70 headed to the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS) in Denver, Colo.

The Kansas Junior Angus Association, co-host of the 2010 NJAS, invites NJAA members to make a stop at the historical site in Victoria, Kan., dedicated to the first Angus in the United States. A monument to George Grant, a Scottish merchant and the first importer of Angus cattle to the United States, was erected in Victoria in 1943 at Grant’s burial site.

Stop and enjoy the beautiful scenery, including the Grant home. There is room to park and turn around trailers. Read more.

New Cattle Trails Stocker Conference Set For July 24

Cattle producers looking to pick up the latest science-based updates on stocker management practices should register now to attend the July 24 Cattle Trails Stocker Conference in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The conference is a collaborative effort between the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service and Texas AgriLife Extension Service, and will alternate between Wichita Falls and Lawton, Okla., in successive years. Its purpose is to help cattle owners and stocker operators drive their animals to profit.

“We’re excited about the opportunities presented by partnering with Texas AgriLife to enhance our educational and skill-building programs for cattle producers, many of whom attended our annual Southwest Cattle Conference that traditionally took place in September,” said Bob LeValley, Oklahoma State University (OSU) Cooperative Extension area livestock specialist. “This new conference will replace that one.”

The 2010 conference will take place at the Multi Purpose Events Center, located at 1000 Fifth St. in Wichita Falls. Conference sessions will begin at 8:30 a.m. and finish at approximately 4:30 p.m. Cost is $20 per participant, which will include a noon meal, refreshment breaks and proceedings of the topics discussed at the conference.

To register, producers should contact their local Cooperative Extension county office. Anyone seeking additional information should contact LeValley through the Southwest Area OSU Cooperative Extension Office in Duncan at 580-255-0546.

Topics of this year’s sessions will include animal rights v. animal welfare, Ohio’s approach to activists; cattle and wheat market outlooks; economics of wheat-stocker operations; wheat pasture research updates; wheat production advances; small grains forage production; and effective backgrounding and animal health.

Sessions will be led by experts from OSU’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and Texas A&M University.

— Release by Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.

Beef Reproduction Topics Set For Nashville Meeting, Aug. 5-6

Breeding management that cuts costs and improves returns from beef herds will be featured at a meeting, Aug. 5-6, at Nashville, Tenn.

“Applied Reproduction Strategies in Beef Cattle” will be discussed by specialists from land-grant universities, including two specialists from the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU).

Dave Patterson, MU Extension beef specialist, will talk on “Protocols for Heifers.” He will tell of recent research at the MU Thompson Farm, Spickard, Mo. In the most recent ultrasound pregnancy check, his crew achieved 70% pregnancy on heifers bred all on the same day at start of the breeding season.

Mike Smith, MU professor of animal sciences, will talk on “Physiological Principals of the Estrous Cycle.” The basic research for estrus synchronization and timed artificial insemination (AI) was developed from studies from MU’s Food for the 21st Century program.

The two-day conference has major program blocks on “Physiology of Pregnancy,” “Estrus Synchronization,” “AI in Your Operation” and “Management, Environment and Nutrition.”

Talks include marketing AI calves, bull management considerations, management factors affecting fertility and nutritional influences on reproduction.

A popular part of the program is a producer panel. Farmers will discuss “How we implement an AI program on our operations and what are the benefits?”

The beef task force held a similar meeting at Saint Joseph, Mo., in 2006. The program is for interested producers, beef industry representatives and veterinarians. Continuing education credits are available for professionals and veterinarians.

The program is planned and sponsored by the University of Tennessee and the Beef Reproduction Task Force. Cooperating state universities in the task force are Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, South Dakota, Florida, Illinois and Missouri.

The program will take place at the Nashville Airport Marriott, 600 Marriott Drive, near Interstate 40 at Exit 215.

Registration includes some meals, breaks, receptions, trade show and publication. The fee prior to July 22 is $150 per person. Late registration will be $200. Student fee is $75.

Registration forms are available at http://westcentral.unl.edu/beefrepro or from Justin Rhinehart at 615-835-4561 or jrhinehart@utk.edu.

On behalf of the Beef Reproduction Task Force, Angus Productions Inc. (API) provides online coverage of the event. Please visit the site at www.appliedreprostrategies.com, where you can find speaker bios, schedules, the newsroom and more.

— Release by MU Extension.

Removing Bales Quickly Reduces Wheel Traffic Damage

With all the delays and interruptions to this year’s hay harvest, it’s not uncommon to see hay bales left in the middle of the field. This practice can affect future yields in two ways.

Plants directly under the bale or stack are killed if covered for more than a week or two. This may not hurt yield too much, but it can create an optimum environment for weeds to get started.

Most damage, though, is due to wheel traffic on the regrowth. Studies have shown that when fields are dry, the yield of plants driven on prior to the start of regrowth was about 5% to 7% less at the next cutting. It gets much worse if you wait to remove bales. Just seven days after cutting, when regrowth shoots had started to grow, yield was reduced over 25% and fewer plants survived. In both situations, when plants were driven on a second time the same day, yield was further reduced only a couple percent.

Worse yet is removing bales when fields are wet. When this happens, wheel traffic causes much more compaction and

yield loss typically exceeds 30%.
These studies emphasize the benefits of baling and removing bales from hay fields as quickly as possible after cutting as well as minimizing driving on wet soils. They also suggest that following the same trail when removing bales or stacks from fields can reduce losses from wheel tracks by limiting the total area damaged.

— Release by Bruce Anderson, Extension Forage Specialist, University of Nebraska.

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