News Update
April 18, 2017
11 Months of Grazing
Near Gordon, Neb., Plum Thicket Farms offers up some impressive numbers. The operation includes 563 acres of irrigated farmland, 1,774 acres of dryland farm ground, 2,230 acres of deeded native pasture, 1,850 acres of leased pasture and 380 acres of leased cornstalks. In 2015, they managed nearly 300 cow-calf pairs, 99 yearling heifers, 499 stocker steers from May through July, and a couple hundred head of steers and yearling heifers they carried over to 2016.
They strive to maintain an 11-month grazing season and have produced 2 pounds (lb.) per day average gains on calves grazing sorghum swaths.
Of their family operation, Nancy Peterson says, “Pasture is our most limiting factor.” However, she adds that the secret to their success has been through the reliance on annual forages integrated with the use of irrigated crop ground and dryland pastures.
View the complete Angus Journal feature article online.
Faith After Fire
Entering Clark County, Kan., you’re greeted by a sign reading, “Fire damage ahead. Use caution.” It doesn’t completely prepare you for the charred, twisted fences and scorched earth that follow. Nearly a month after the devastating March 6 wildfires that swept through counties in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas, shoots of green grass are beginning to appear from the dust and the ash.
In Clark and Comanche counties alone, the area hardest hit, fires burned an estimated 484,000 acres, 461,000 of those in Clark County. Hundreds of miles of fence were destroyed, thousands of cattle perished and more than 100 structures, including homes, bridges and outbuildings, were lost. A truck driver died in Kansas, and as many as six more lives were lost in Texas and Oklahoma.
The devastation is evident. It’s easy to see. Yet, shining through that darkness are the optimism and sense of community being illustrated by the town of Ashland, Kan., and the surrounding communities.
Continue reading this Angus Media news article online.
2017 Census of Agriculture
The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts the Census of Agriculture just once every five years, and it’s that time again. Currently, the census is the only complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. It includes even the smallest plots of land — rural or urban — growing fruits, vegetables or raising food animals, if $1,000 or more of such products were raised and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year.
This December, the 2017 Census of Agriculture will be mailed to more than three million U.S. farmers. Your support in promoting the census is critical to its success. During the next few months, please help us remind producers of the importance of their responses. It is through the census that they can show the nation the value and importance of agriculture.
For more information, read the NIFA news release online.
Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook
Weights of food animals and milk per cow for dairy animals vary by season and according to market conditions faced by producers. Hog and cattle producers likely marketed animals at a more rapid pace in response to favorable first-quarter hog and fed cattle prices.
For broilers, lower weights may have been caused, in part, by quality concerns in larger birds. Average milk per cow peaks in the spring, declines in the summer, and reaches a low point in the fall. It has been robust so far in 2017 as favorable milk-feed price ratios have likely supported feeding higher quality rations.
Cattle/Beef: Beef production is forecast higher on greater cumulative slaughter volumes and slightly heavier dressed weights. February 2017 also saw an increase in the pace of live cattle imports from Mexico and Canada. February beef imports were more than 14% lower than a year ago, while beef exports increased 19%
View the complete ERS report online.
K-State to Host Spring Field Day
–The Kansas State University (K-State) Southwest Research-Extension Center will host its Spring Field Day Thursday, May 25, from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the center, located at 4500 E. Mary St. in Garden City, Kan.
The Spring Field Day is an annual event hosted at the research center for more than a decade. It provides an opportunity for K-State researchers to engage local producers, to provide updates and to receive feedback on the status of current research programs.
Producers attending the field day will learn about wheat and canola varieties and agronomy management practices to maximize productivity.
“This field day provides a platform to keep producers up to date on new research and technology and a medium for dialogue between researchers and producers,” said A.J. Foster, K-State agronomist at the Southwest Research-Extension Center.
Go online for more information on the event.
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