News Update
March 20, 2013
Bull Evaluations Needed to Ensure Successful Breeding Season
Bull reproductive evaluations can offer some insurance to beef producers heading into the spring breeding season, and high cattle and feed prices make the exams especially important this year, a Purdue Extension beef specialist says.
The exams are conducted by veterinarians or reproductive physiologists who check the animals’ overall and reproductive health, including body condition, feet and leg condition, eyes, and internal and external reproductive organs.
“The goal of having a herd bull is to get all cows bred, and that means the bulls need to be physically sound,” Ron Lemenager said. “Cattle and feed prices are both too high not to give cows every opportunity to get bred. If you’ve never evaluated your bull before, this is the year to do it.”
It’s critical for producers to be sure that all bulls, not just yearling or young bulls, are sound for breeding — and that includes those that were evaluated or bred cows previously.
“Evaluations are an every year deal,” Lemenager said. “Just because a bull bred cows last summer does not necessarily mean that he’s going to breed cows this year.”
Part of the exam is to check for frostbite or other reproductive organ ailments that could hinder breeding. Semen also is evaluated based on motility and morphology and if sperm are alive or dead.
It takes about 60 days for bulls to produce sperm, so Lemenager recommended that producers have their bulls evaluated 45-60 days before their breeding season begins. Doing so also allows time to recondition and retest animals that don’t score well.
“If a bull has poor semen quality or has some physical anomaly, it gives producers an opportunity to re-evaluate the animal before the breeding season begins,” he said.
If the animal fails a second reproductive evaluation, there is still time to find a replacement bull.
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Snow Can Present Challenges for Livestock
Spring is here, but parts of Missouri still aren’t through with winter weather.
A University of Missouri Extension livestock specialist notes that snow makes it harder for animals to find available forage, and cold weather increases their nutrient needs.
“They are going to need to be able to consume higher-quality forage to make up for the less available forage they can find,” said Daniel Mallory.
“Having more forage available at the beginning is always an option if producers know a storm is coming,” Mallory said. “They can put out extra hay in case they aren’t able to get out the next day. Otherwise, it is going to be a time-consuming job clearing a path to deliver enough forage.”
Herds calving early in the spring also present challenges. Mallory recommends providing shelter for young calves.
“Small sheds are a good option and can be bedded with straw to keep them dry,” he said.
The same principles also apply to sheep, but Mallory says it is important to realize that sheep are much smaller than cattle, so it doesn’t take as much snow to adversely affect them.
If inclement weather is on the way, try to move animals closer, he said.
“Move them closer to the house, move them close to a barn,” he said. “That way, if you need to work them you don’t have to travel as far.”
Cattle getting out on roads during a storm can cause accidents. Providing easy access to feed will help keep cattle from pushing on fences in search of forage.
Mallory warns against using high-moisture feeds because of the possibility of feeding ice chunks. Processing high-moisture forage before feeding will help digestion and prevent unnecessary expenditure of energy by the animal to break up the frozen particles. Also, if you know colder weather is coming, feed higher-quality forage right before that so they will have more energy.
To combat drifting that can bury cattle, Mallory recommends creating windbreaks. Decide where drifts will be and keep livestock out of those areas.
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Workshop Scheduled for April
Six beginning farmer and rancher workshops are scheduled across Nebraska.
The workshops are funded by the USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Grant Program and are offered by the Center for Rural Affairs, University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) Extension and the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society.
Three of the workshops will focus on the concepts of mob grazing and/or marketing grass-fed beef, while the other three will focus on the beginning farmer and vegetable/fruit production.
The mob grazing and/or marketing grass-fed beef workshop will feature established farmers and ranchers who use one or both of these concepts. They will speak about their operations and answer questions. An attorney from Legal Aid of Nebraska will discuss pasture leases right before lunch. Following lunch there will be a session on beginning business planning, where participants will learn about basic business principles, such as net worth, cash flow, income profit and loss statements and how these can be important business tools in a mob grazing and grass-fed beef operation.
At the vegetable/fruit production workshops, established produce growers will discuss their operations and the various production and marketing strategies they use on their farms. Beginning business planning principles also will be discussed and explained for use in a vegetable/fruit farm.
The free workshops include refreshments, lunch and some resources as part of the workshops.
Please preregister at least three days before each event by calling Gary Lesoing, UNL Extension in Nemaha County, at 402-274-4755.
Workshop dates, times, locations and focus are:
- April 3 — 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Holiday Inn Express, 920 S. 20th St., Norfolk, mob grazing and grass-fed beef
- April 4 — 9 a.m.-3 p.m., UNL Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1071 County Road G, Ithaca, mob grazing and grass-fed beef
- April 8 — 10 a.m.-3 p.m., UNL Extension in Lancaster County, 444 Cherrycreek Rd., Suite A, Lincoln, vegetable/fruit production
- April 9 — 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Ramada Inn, 301 S. Second Ave., Kearney, mob grazing and grass-fed beef
- April 12 — 10 a.m.-3 p.m., UNL Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1071 County Road G, Ithaca, vegetable/fruit production
- April 16 — 10 a.m.-3 p.m., UNL Extension in Douglas and Sarpy Counties, 8015 W. Center Rd., Omaha, vegetable/fruit production.
New Waterway Bill Addresses Critical Needs
The recently introduced Waterways are Vital for the Economy, Energy, Efficiency and Environment Act of 2013 (WAVE 4) will address the critical needs of the inland waterways system, create American jobs, foster growth in U.S. exports and continue to encourage the economic benefits that the nation’s waterways generate, according to American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).
“Construction, dredging and repairs to our locks and dams will help ensure the reliability of the most affordable, energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable mode of transporting agricultural products,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman.
Forty-one states, including all states east of the Mississippi River and 16 state capitols, are served by commercially navigable waterways. Further, more than 60% of America’s grain exports and many other important commodities such as fuel, coal and agricultural inputs also move through the U.S. inland waterway system.
Reps. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) and Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) are original sponsors of the bill.
K-State Animal Science Students Heading to National Competition
A team of Kansas State University (K-State) students won the 2013 Midwest Regional Animal Science Academic Quadrathlon in Des Moines, Iowa, March 10-13. The team competed against 16 other university teams.
The students who comprised the K-State team, their majors and hometowns, included: Chase Miller, junior in animal sciences and industry, Harrisonbury, Va.; Kiah Gourley, junior in animal sciences and industry, Philomath, Ore.; Analena Simmons, senior in feed science and management and minor in animal sciences and industry, Barnard, Kan.; and Angela Vesco, senior in animal sciences and industry, Winnemucca, Nev. Karol Fike, faculty member in animal science, serves as the team advisor.
The competition includes four events: laboratory practicum, quiz bowl, oral presentation and written exam. The material in the events covers animal science and industry information, with the oral presentation focusing on related topics currently in the news.
The K-State team won the oral presentation, placed third in laboratory practicum and tied for third in the written exam. The oral presentation topic was the role of animal products in a healthy diet.
K-State’s team is sponsored by Fourth and Pomeroy Associates Inc. of Clay Center, Kan. Joe Ebert, Fourth and Pomeroy’s vice president and general manager, is a 1971 K-State graduate in animal sciences and industry, and Joe Brown, company president, is a 1959 graduate in feed science and management.
The regional competition followed a local academic quadrathlon in February at K-State, where 16 teams made up of K-State students competed to move on to the regional competition. The team will represent K-State and the Midwest Region at the national competition this July in Indianapolis, Ind., held in conjunction with the American Society of Animal Science meetings.
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