News Update
September 24, 2013
Time to Check Your Bulls;
Special Bull Clinics in
Southwest Missouri Make it Easy to Do
Four Missouri bull breeding soundness clinics are scheduled in early Oct. at Miller, Cassville, Diamond and Aurora veterinary clinics, according to Eldon Cole, a livestock specialist with University of Missouri (MU) Extension. This fall, the clinic options include a new location in Diamond, which should be more convenient for herds in Newton and Jasper counties including: Oct. 7 at the Barry County Veterinary Service in Cassville; Oct. 8 at the Animal Clinic of Diamond in Diamond; Oct. 9 at the Dake Veterinary Clinic in Miller; and Oct. 10 at the Countryside Animal Clinic in Aurora.
Getting a bull tested is the only way to make sure they can perform during breeding season. According to Cole, bulls can go bad for a variety of reasons. It may be related to health, injury, weather or advanced age.
“We started these special soundness clinics in 2005 to bring awareness to cow herd owners of the need to not take the bull for granted. We’ve found after doing 1,483 tests that it’s common to find 10% of the bulls unsatisfactory for breeding,” said Cole.
Some clinics have found 15% of the bulls to be unsound. Injuries and noticeable numbers of cows returning to heat are reasons bulls show up at the clinics, thus the 10%-15% figures may be a little higher than normal.
“Veterinarians tell me they like the special clinics as they can set up for only testing bulls and get several of their clients with only one or two bulls to come in. Larger bull batteries can come in other times,” said Cole.
In addition to checking the bull’s reproductive soundness, hooves can be evaluated and vaccinations given, plus testing for trichomoniasis and treatment for internal and external parasites can be done. Zoetis reps will be at some of the clinics and will be glad to collect DNA samples from bulls for genetic evaluation.
For more information, please view the full release here.
2013 Tax Planning Needs to Happen Now, Not Later
A common management practice for most farm operations is to do year-end tax planning in November and December each year to manage the farm’s financial position. For 2013, Michigan State University Extension recommends that you begin your tax planning now, as this is going to be a transition year for many farms in the Saginaw Valley area. It is clear that we have a commodity market shift in place and this year’s crop is on track for some major reductions in yields in many cases, with the potential for a major income drop in 2014. Income and tax planning can buffer this downturn.
A large number of farms carried the majority of their 2012 crop and livestock production sales into the winter of 2013. During the winter of 2013, many Saginaw Valley farms were able to take advantage of very good 2012 crop inventory amounts and commodity market prices that were very good. This situation pushed 2013 income to higher levels than in past years and increased the need to now manage that income with expenses and inventory management. By putting together a multi-year plan of action now, a farm has more time to balance out commodity sales, purchases of inputs and refine plans for inventory management of the commodities that will be harvested and produced over the remainder of the year. A simple tax worksheet >is available that you may want to consider using if you do your own tax planning.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Lone Star Healthy Streams Workshop Set
for Oct. 16 in Giddings
A Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop is set for Oct. 16 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office for Lee County in Giddings.
The workshop will be from 6-9 p.m., with snacks and course materials provided. The registration fee is $10, and one general continuing education credit will be available for licensed private pesticide applicators through the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Workshop presentations will focus on basic watershed function, water quality and specific best-management practices that can be implemented to help minimize bacterial contamination originating from beef cattle and feral hogs, said Jennifer Peterson, AgriLife Extension program specialist in College Station.
The goal of the Lone Star Healthy Streams program is to educate Texas livestock producers and land managers on how to best protect Texas waterways from bacterial contributions associated with livestock production and feral hogs, Peterson said.
Currently, about 300 Texas water bodies do not comply with state water quality standards established for E. coli bacteria, she said. By participating in this workshop, livestock producers and landowners can learn about specific conservation practices that can be used to help improve and protect the quality of Texas water.
To RSVP, visit http://lshs.tamu.edu/workshops/ and select a course or call Peterson at 979-862-8072.
NFU Statement on Shareholder Approval
of Smithfield Sale to Chinese Company
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued the following statement in response to shareholder approval of the sale of Smithfield Foods Inc. to Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd:
“It is a sad day for family farmers and consumers when the largest pork processing company in the United States is sold to a Chinese interest.
“Putting ownership of our food system in the hands of other countries does not bode well for the future of our agricultural marketplace. Congress should revisit the official approval process for such transactions with an eye toward assuring that our food systems are more stable, safe and secure, and are based on a model of family farmers and ranchers.”
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