News Update
August 17, 2010

American Angus Association to Host Annual Meeting

The American Angus Association will host its 127th Annual Convention of Delegates and related Angus activities in conjunction with the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE), Nov. 13-16, in Louisville, Ky.

Hundreds of Association members and Angus enthusiasts will attend the event, which includes the Annual Meeting, educational sessions, social events and a 2010 Super-Point Roll of Victory (ROV) Angus Show — also designated the 2011 National Angus Show.

The Angus show schedule will differ slightly from past schedules. The junior show will take place Sunday, Nov. 14; the ROV bulls will show Monday, Nov. 15; and all ROV females, including cow-calf pairs, will show on Tues., Nov. 16. Jeff Dameron, Normal, Ill., will judge the show.

All shows begin at 8 a.m. in the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center (KFEC) Freedom Hall. (NAILE show entries are due Oct. 1. Call 502-595-3166 or visit www.livestockexpo.org for more information.) Read more.

Beef Producer Issues Addressed During McNay Farm Field Day Sept. 9

An upcoming Iowa Beef Center and Iowa State University (ISU) Extension field day will help producers tackle issues ranging from winter cow nutrition to weed and brush management demonstrations.

The McNay Memorial Research Farm fall field day will take place Sept. 9 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Attendees will be treated to a free meal served at the farm in Lucas County, Iowa.

The field day agenda includes current topics affecting beef producers in southern Iowa, including:

• weed and brush management demonstrations
• cow body condition scoring, winter cow nutrition and neonatal calf health
• forage establishment recommendations
• supplementing beef cattle on grass
• strategic deworming

Visit the Iowa Beef Center website for more information about the event, or contact Joe Sellers, ISU Extension beef program specialist, at his office at 641-203-1270 or the McNay farm at 641-766-6465, or via e-mail at sellers@iastate.edu. The farm is located six miles south of the Chariton airport, or four miles south and two miles east of Lucas.

The Iowa Beef Center at ISU in Ames, Iowa, was established in 1996 with the goal of supporting the growth and vitality of the state’s beef cattle industry. It serves as the university’s Extension program to cattle producers and is comprised of faculty and staff from ISU Extension and the colleges of agriculture and life sciences and veterinary medicine. Together, the Iowa Beef Center’s members work to develop and deliver the latest in research-based information regarding the beef cattle industry. For more information about the Iowa Beef Center, visit www.iowabeefcenter.org.

— Release by ISU Extension.

Oklahoma Beef Quality Summit

The Oklahoma Beef Council (OBC) annually conducts a two and a half day seminar called the Oklahoma Beef Quality Summit. Using the National Beef Quality Audit as the foundation, the Beef Quality Summit course offers all segments of the industry the opportunity to see the causes and results of quality challenges facing the beef industry.

Working in teams, summit attendees evaluate live cattle in an effort to predict quality and yield, then follow the cattle through the harvest and grading process. Teams will break down a carcass, which provides an eye-opening education on yield and beef cuts. It is an outstanding event that through the years has included all segments of the industry from small cow-calf producers and chefs to feedyard owners and the largest retailers in the country.

The OBC and Oklahoma State University will hold two back-to-back sessions of the Oklahoma Beef Quality Summit. The first session will begin at 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 27, and will finish at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010. We will repeat with a second session beginning at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29 finishing on Friday at noon. If you would like further information, please visit www.oklabeef.org or call Staci Amato at 405-840-3777.

— Release by OBC.

Cattle Producers Need to Watch Herds, Pastures; Plan for Fall Growth

The extensive streak of triple-digit days is expanding the number of dangers faced by livestock as pastures and livestock appetites wither and pressure from insects increases, say cattle experts with the University of Arkansas (U of A) Division of Agriculture.

Producers around the state are reporting issues with fall armyworms and voracious caterpillars with an appetite for lawns and pastures. Extension agents in several counties have said 2010 has been one of the worst years for fall armyworms they’ve seen.

“The long, cold spring left pastures with fescue and ryegrass short and lower in quality and Bermuda grass came later than normal,” said John Jennings, professor-forages, for the U of A Division of Agriculture. “Then it became hot and dry.”

It’s been feast or famine since.

“Some of the producers who received rain got floods,” Jennings said. “Others have had no rain. The rest have worms.”

In some parts, “grazing pastures have held up amazingly well,” said Tom Troxel … “But if they don’t get rain, some producers will have to start feeding hay.”

Jennings said growers have to watch their pastures closely for overgrazing, which leaves poisonous weeds such as perilla mint open to grazing.

Hot, dry weather can also turn an ally into an enemy. Johnsongrass, which can be high-quality forage for cattle, can cause prussic acid poisoning. Prussic acid is also known as hydrogen cyanide.

“The only symptom is when you find dead cattle,” Troxel said, with Jennings adding, “It’s a quick death.”

The heat cuts into a cattle producer’s work in other ways, Troxel said.

“Heat reduces appetite, causing cattle to eat less,” Troxel said. “When they eat, the digestive process creates heat and makes the animals hotter. I’ve see calves that lost 35 pounds a week because of loss of appetite.”

Heat can also kill directly. Troxel said he has heard about two bulls killed by the heat.

Jennings advised producers to keep an eye not only on present pasture conditions, but also be thinking ahead for fall and winter feeding.

Even if no rain falls, Jennings said producers should consider adding nitrogen fertilizer to Bermuda pastures in mid-August to promote forage growth for fall grazing, before the grass goes dormant with cool weather.

“They can’t afford to wait for the next rain,” he said. “When nighttime temperatures drop, it may be too late.”

With good growth and planning, cattle producers may be able to have enough grazing to last through December before feeding hay.

For information on forage production, visit www.aragriculture.org/forage_pasture.htm, or contact your county extension office.

— Release by U of A Division of Agriculture.

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