News Update
June 15, 2015
Saint Louis Fed First-Quarter Ag Survey
Amid an ongoing worldwide slump in grain prices, Eighth District agricultural bankers reported a continued decline in farm income during the first quarter of 2015 compared with the previous year, according to the latest Agricultural Finance Monitor published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis. Meanwhile, the average value of quality farmland also declined, with this trend expected to continue during the second quarter.
Bankers noted a continued decline in farm income compared with the same period a year earlier. Based on a diffusion index methodology with a base of 100 (results above 100 indicate proportionately higher income compared with the same quarter a year earlier; results lower than 100 indicate lower income), the farm income index value was 49 for the first quarter.
For more information, please view the full release on the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA website.
Expert: Texas Floods can Present Health Problems
to Livestock, Pets
Livestock and pet owners should be on the lookout for potential animal health issues related to flooding throughout Texas in recent weeks, said a Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory expert.
Insect-borne diseases, toxic forages and skin irritations are just a few potential hazards to consider when it comes to the health of beef cattle, horses and pets.
“When you have so much water, including standing water, you begin to see many health issues arise,” said Terry Hensley, assistant director of the laboratory and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service veterinarian, College Station. “When you have this much rain, it disturbs the soil and brings a host of bacterial spores, like clostridium, to the surface, which can then be washed from pasture to pasture.”
Foot issues can arise in horses and cattle, Hensley said. Horses in wet, muddy pastures have the increased chance of developing a hoof abscess. Hensley said horses that show signs of lameness should be examined by a veterinarian to determine the extent of possible infection. Other potential problems from excessive rain for consecutive days without shelter can be crusty, scaly skin.
For more information, please view the full release online.
Backgrounding Facility Designs
According to Chris Hurt, Purdue University Extension economist, 2015 may see the lowest feed prices of the past five years. Kevin Good, CattleFax analyst, projects 750-pound (lb.) feeder calves to range from $195 to $240 per hundredweight (cwt.) and average $220 per cwt.
Cheap feed and profitable feedercattle prices make backgrounding calves — feeding them from weaning to a heavier weight prior to sending them to a feedlot — a tempting option.
In the 2014 North Dakota State University Extension service workshop “Backgrounding Cattle 2014,” area livestock specialist John Dhuyvetter said that with cheap feed and animals that perform, feeders could see costs of gain in the 60¢- to 80¢-per-lb. range.
Backgrounding is commonly a winter task and oftentimes requires feeding harvested high forage rations in feedlot situations until the calves make the desired sale weight. Designing a functional backgrounding facility reduces feed waste significantly, which is the backgrounder’s highest cost.
For more information, please view the full Angus Journal article online.
Mimic Mother Nature
The best place to calve your cows may be on green grass in the warm sun, but that may not always be an option. Your bullmarketing plan, large numbers of calving heifers, or even working around a crop production schedule may force some inclement winter-weather calving. To make the most of the decision to calve indoors, set up your barn to meet basic needs.
“Calving barns must have no drafts but good ventilation to mimic the outdoors. Ridge vents with upward air flow can help you avoid respiratory issues,” says Michigan State University Beef Extension Specialist Dan Buskirk. “Also to mimic the outdoors, you need clean, non-crowded areas and nonporous surfaces that clean easily. Cows don’t calve in the same spot outdoors.”
For more information, please view the full Angus Journal article online.
Pain Management
The cattle industry has made progress in low-stress handling and better ways to manage cattle, but another issue to address is pain management when doing routine procedures such as branding, castrating and dehorning. Daniel Thomson, professor of production medicine and epidemiology at Kansas State University and director of the Beef Cattle Institute, says there are multiple techniques to accomplish castration and dehorning, including use of polled genetics to eliminate horns, but the most important thing is the age of the animal.
“We should do it as young as possible. If [a] cattle producer is catching calves soon after birth to put tags in an ear, this is the time to castrate — rather than waiting until they are 2 months old at branding or at weaning. I tell my students that the longer the testicles are attached to the calf, the more attached the calf is to the testicles. This sticks in people’s minds to emphasize the importance of early castration,” says Thomson.
For more information, please read the full Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
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