News Update

May 30, 2018

Grazing Can Reduce Wildfires

Many people today think fire is “natural,” but devastating fires are not. Grazing is healthier for the landscape.

“Fire can oxidize a lot of material and waste it, whereas grazing recycles it better,” says Fred Provenza, professor emeritus in the Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University.

Native Americans burned the prairies, and lightning set some fires, but those areas were also being grazed — with large herds of bison, elk and antelope. There wasn’t a lot of fuel load to carry a major fire. A fire episode was usually a flash-through that didn’t damage so much.

Fire is the biggest problem in areas that are not grazed enough, such as western rangelands that have had livestock numbers reduced by land management agencies. If there is too much fuel load, it is a hotter fire that destroys plant roots and seed bank, and it damages top layers of soil. Then there will be nothing but opportunistic invasive weeds coming back in because the perennial grasses, forbs and shrubs are gone.

Continue reading this Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.

— Adapted from a release by Heather Smith Thomas for Angus Journal.

Limit Feeding Cattle During Drought Webinar Online

The May Great Plains Grazing webinar, “Limit Feeding Cattle During Drought,” is now available online. If you weren’t able to make it or just want to watch again, you can now access the full video, download the presentation, and access related publications and tools on the Great Plains Grazing website at www.greatplainsgrazing.org/limit-feeding-during-drought.html.

In years when hay and forage production is low due to drought, hay prices often escalate, and in severe cases, forage of any kind may be hard to obtain. Limit feeding can be a cost-effective strategy to retain the cow herd nucleus during these periods. Depending on the price of grain, nutrients to maintain and grow cattle may be cheaper to purchase through concentrate feeds rather than roughage. This nontraditional approach is often referred to as “program feeding” or “limit feeding” because the diet is much more nutrient dense compared to hay or dry grass, and the amount consumed must be limited.

Limit feeding is not for everyone. Adoption is limited by the additional labor requirement, management skills, feed storage capacity, and the availability of feed bunks, feed delivery equipment, and a well-drained drylot or sacrifice pasture.

Read the full news release online.

— Adapted from a release by Great Plains Grazing.

Don’t Let Fire Ants Ruin Your Summer

Dealing with fire ants is no picnic, but getting rid of them can be as easy as step 1, step 2, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts.

Allen Knutson, AgriLife Extension entomologist, Dallas, Texas, said spring is a good time to control fire ants, as this is when they search for food and build mounds, which makes them easier to locate.

Broadcast baits are the core of AgriLife Extension’s recommended treatment. The method becomes effective as temperatures begin to rise and ants begin to gather forage to feed their new brood, he said. Once hot, dry summer conditions set in, fire ants become less active and mounds become less visible as ants go deeper in search of moisture.

“It’s time now in central and southern Texas to put out baits. But we encourage homeowners in north central Texas to wait a few weeks to begin applying baits because of our cooler soil temperatures,” Knutson said. “It’s a good time to apply baits in spring as they are generally slow-acting. It typically takes two to four weeks to see results from using baits containing indoxacarb, spinosad or hydramethylnon. Starting as early as possible provides more time to enjoy summer without fire ants.”

Read the full Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.

— Adapted from an article by Adam Russell, Texas AgriLife Communications.

Recorded Presentations Now Available
from 2018 Stakeholders Summit

The Animal Agriculture Alliance announced May 29 that materials from the 2018 Stakeholders Summit, themed “Protect Your Roots,” are now accessible online. The Summit, hosted May 3-4 in Arlington, Va. attracted 305 attendees, making it the largest Summit to date.

Recorded presentations from the Summit’s 20 expert speakers are available to view at: http://agtoday.us/2018-aaa-summit. Videos from the 2016 and 2017 summits are also available at the same link. Highlights and quotes from the sessions can be accessed at: http://animalagalliance.org/resourcelibrary/results.cfm?ID=1107. To request PDFs of presentation slides, contact the Alliance at info@animalagalliance.org.

“Whether you couldn’t make the event or want to hear the impressive speakers again, we encourage you to watch the presentations from this year’s record-breaking Summit,” said Kay Johnson Smith, Alliance president and CEO. “Attendees were presented with new research on consumer preferences and animal welfare, insights on future food trends, tips on how to engage about animal agriculture, strategies to protect against activist threats and more. Each presentation offered advice on how farmers, ranchers and industry professionals can grow into the future.”

For more information, read the full Alliance news release online.

— Adapted from a release by Hannah Thompson-Weeman, Animal Agriculture Alliance.

NFU Condemns DOJ Approval of Monsanto Acquisition by Bayer

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) May 29 approved German drug and chemical giant Bayer’s $62.5 billion acquisition of Monsanto. The deal will consolidate control of more than a quarter of the world’s seed and pesticides market and create the largest seed and crop chemicals company in the world.

National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson said in response to the announcement:

“Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto culminates the latest and most disturbing round of consolidation amongst the handful of companies that control both United States and global agricultural markets. Three massive companies now control the markets that supply agricultural inputs like seeds, traits and chemicals. This extreme consolidation drives up costs for farmers, and it limits their choice of products in the marketplace. It also reduces the incentive for the remaining agricultural input giants to compete and innovate through research and development.

“While we appreciate the significant divestitures agreed to as part of this approval, Farmers Union condemns DOJ’s continued rubber-stamping of mergers in the food and agriculture arena. We will now focus our efforts on ensuring the promises made by Bayer and Monsanto throughout this approval process are kept.”

Learn more in the NFU news release online.

— Adapted from a release by Andrew Jerome, National Farmers Union.

— Compiled by Paige Nelson, field editor, Angus Journal.