What is a respectable value of a beef replacement heifer for the coming 2019-2020 production season? This can be a complicated choice, but a vital one that requires some clear thinking. It is important to have a handle on this value since future prosperity partially depends on it. Pay too much and future profits and net worth will suffer. Non-participation in the market is not likely to be an option since cow numbers are necessary to maintain productivity.

Putting cows out on corn fields with a lot of corn is a recipe for acidosis (grain overload), abortion, and possibly death, if their rumen bacteria are not properly prepared. Cattle that become acidotic for even a short time can have reduced performance long term due to damage to the rumen wall. Therefore, taking the time to avoid acidosis is very important.

How do I know how much corn is in the field?

Have you ever been overwhelmed by the amount of manure regulations in Nebraska? Or anywhere? Let’s make it a little easier to digest.

The good news is that Nebraska regulations related to manure do not change very often. In fact, the current regulations have been in effect since October 2011. So everyone can better follow the rules, let’s break it down into something that is a little easier to follow.

Corn silage can be an economical feedstuff in finishing diets, especially when corn prices are high. Feeding corn silage gives cattle feeders the opportunity to capitalize on maximum quality and tonnage of the whole corn plant, while stockpiling large quantities of feed. Considering forage prices, feedyards with bunker storage or flat storage should consider silage this year, even if only used as a roughage source.

Yucca plants, which are also called soapweed by many people, have nearly overrun many rangelands.  There are ways, though, to reclaim those grazinglands. 

Across much of western and central Nebraska, yucca has nearly taken over some pastures.  While they may be able to produce attractive flowers, dense stands of yucca can devastate grass production.

Check out the exciting line up for this year’s Range Beef Cow Symposium in Mitchell, NE November 18-20. On Monday afternoon the program will kick off with beef quality assurance training and certification and you won’t want to miss the Ron Gill Stockmanship Clinic. Tuesday morning will begin the traditional program with Drs. John Hall and Benton Glaze from University of Idaho talking about when it pays to artificially inseminate and breed complementarity.  Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam from UC-Davis will talk about alternative meats.

“What material should I use for my new silage pad?” is probably a question most producers ask once a decade at most, but it is an important decision for maintaining an efficient feeding program.  Asphalt (e.g.

Many beef producers are preparing to wean, or at least thinking about it. After weaning and prior to winter can be one of the most economical times to improve the body condition score (BCS) of a spring-calving cow. Producers should look at weaning date within each year as a supplement strategy to put body condition back on cows before winter. If cows are thinner than normal, a producer may want to consider weaning earlier to give those cows a chance to gain body condition, especially with the younger females. Heifer and cow BCS at calving can impact subsequent rebreeding performance.

Two technologies that are available to producers to utilize to detect pregnancy in heifers or cows are blood tests and ultrasound. These two technologies can be utilized to detect pregnancy as early as 30 days post breeding. Early detection of pregnancy in beef heifers or cows provides producers with information that allows them to make timely management decisions. A recent article Choosing a Method for Pregnancy Diagnosis discusses the use of these two technologies.

Making silage is an effective way for many producers to best use the resources available to their operation. However, for some, spoilage and shrink can result in significant loss that can greatly increase the cost of silage fed and impact animal performance. Bagging of silage offers flexibility for operations of all sizes to produce silage while potentially reducing spoilage and shrink loss.

Often times the terms baleage and haylage are used interchangeable in conversation due to the state or country of the farm/ranch or simply by the type of operation. So how are baleage and haylage different and why are they used?

The abundant spring and early summer moisture we have received in Nebraska has been record setting in many areas and has resulted in hay meadows and fields being inundated with water.  Even if the rain stops, for many producers, these flooded hay meadows and fields will produce significantly less this year, due to the damage caused to forage stands by the standing water.  This sets up a scenario where many producers may find themselves short on hay for the upcoming winter of 2019-2020.

If planting in July, warm season annual grasses are good options for forage production. They can be used to produce hay, silage, green chop, or grazing both during the summer or winter. However, if the desired use is winter grazing and the need is for high quality forage, then delaying planting until August and using cool-season winter sensitive species like oats may be a better fit. This article provides information on species selection and some key management considerations based on desired use.

On most ranches, average cow size has increased significantly over the last three decades as a result of genetic selection. These changes do not come without consequences to forage intake. If the per-head counting method has been used to plan and track grazing, stocking rates may have unknowingly increase over time caused by increased forage intake of larger cows. Just as a lineman on a football team will eat more than the punter, larger cows will typically consume more forage than smaller cows.

Several enhancements and improvements to the Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) insurance program will take effect on July 1, 2019. LRP is an insurance contract offered by the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) to help livestock producers protect against unexpected down swings in market price.

One change is that LRP insurance coverage for fed cattle, feeder cattle, and swine is expanding to include all 50 states. Several other changes will be of particular interest to Nebraska cattle producers. 

Every few years we seem to be faced with reasons to dust off these tax laws, but it has been a long time since it hasn’t been for drought. In 2019, we are looking at how these apply to flooding in the Midwest.

Livestock Deferrals

One-Year Deferral

A one-year deferral is available for all types of livestock (draft, dairy, breeding, and feeding) if you qualify for the following:

After this spring’s blizzards and flooding, fence rebuilding is a priority for many livestock producers. In setting new fences, questions may come up regarding opportunities for financial assistance as well as neighbor responsibilities as outlined in Nebraska fencing laws. This article discusses a USDA cost-share program, Nebraska fencing law, and considerations as you assess the damage.

Artificial insemination (AI) is the most powerful tool cow-calf producers have to improve beef cattle genetics. Still, they have been slow to adopt this technology due to the time and labor of heat checking and a market structure that until recently did not reward genetic improvement. However, markets are now rewarding improved genetics (e.g. premiums) and improved fixed time AI (FTAI) protocols make it easier for the cow-calf producer to use AI.

Maintaining beef cattle in a dry lot is an alternative management system to traditional pasture or range beef production initially developed to offset the lack of pasture during drought conditions. Dry lot management continues to be used in situations when grazing is unavailable. There is one production issue that remains constant for any livestock producer in any management system, and that is flies. They are the face fly, horn fly, house fly, and stable fly depending upon the dry lot system utilized.

The start of the growing season will be here soon and it is time to finish up grazing and forage plans for the upcoming year.  Rangeland and pasture production in 2018 was very good with many areas of the state seeing production 10 to 30% above average.  This, of course, was the result of abundant and timely rains during spring into mid-summer.  While long-range weather forecasts always have some uncertainty, the Climate Prediction Center currently indicates weak El Nino conditions in the Pacific Ocean.&nbs

We will resume the feedyard extension webinar series this week, on Wednesday, March 27. It will be the first of eight feedyard extension webinars planned for 2019. The webinar will be broadcast live at 12:30 pm (central) and each topic will only last 10 to 15 minutes and will allow for questions. 

Topic: Feedyard Assessments: How To
Speakers: Brian Vanderlay and Rob Erich

In beef production, we tend to overdue genetic selection with the mentality that “more is better” or “bigger is better” in efforts to increase production. In doing so, we tend to select for short-term traits such as growth and milk yield to increase calf weaning weight for the potential of increased profitability.

Brittle bone disease, or osteogenesis imperfecta, is a detrimental disorder in livestock.  Calves with the condition commonly suffer multiple bone fractures in utero or at delivery, and if able to stand, have lax tendons.  Depending on the cause, calves may also have blue coloration in what is otherwise the white of the eye and soft teeth. Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) occurs in many species where it is more highly studied.  In most cases, it is attributed to a new genetic mutation that occurred in the affected individual. 

Colostrum, or first milk produced by the mother after birth, is high in nutrients and antibodies.  A newborn calf lacks disease protection because antibodies do not pass across the cow’s placenta to the fetus’ circulatory system.  Antibodies in colostrum provide calves with their initial protection.

Calves need about two quarts of colostrum (or at least five percent of the calf’s body weight) within four hours of birth – ideally within 30 minutes – and one gallon within 12 hours.

 During the past two years, I have received several tick samples removed from horses. The first week of January, I received my first sample for 2019.  Yes, one tick species thrives during Nebraska winters and that is the winter tick.

One challenge farm/ranch operators have is to accurately find where to make changes to an operation to increase profits. Many have the records and numbers but don’t know where to start. A system of financial analysis developed nearly 100 years ago by an explosive salesman for DuPont Explosives Company is a useful tool for farm/ranch managers analyzing financial performance. It is a simple system that can point managers in the right direction when looking for the correct places to make operational improvements. This avoids wasting time and effort chasing unicorns.

As supplementation costs continue to rise across Nebraska, producers are looking for economical ways to meet protein and energy requirements of their cattle. Hay produced on irrigated grass and subirrigated meadows can be a potential supplementation source throughout Nebraska.

Fall rainfall, and even snow, is good for wheat and next year’s crops, but it does have its drawbacks.  One challenge is rain’s impact on corn stalk feed quality.

Rain in the fall usually is welcomed despite the delays it causes with crop harvest.  Pastures and alfalfa benefit from extra growth and winterizing capabilities.  Wheat and other small grains get well established as do any new fields of alfalfa or pasture.  The reserve moisture stored in the soil will get good use during next year’s growing season.

Ammoniation can be used to make low quality forages, like corn residue, have digestibility and protein content that is the equivalent of, or slightly better than, grass hay. 

The Process of Ammoniation

Ammoniation of corn residue is relatively easy (although working with anhydrous ammonia can be dangerous and proper safety precautions must be taken).  To ammoniate residue, the bales will be stacked together and the outside covered with plastic.

This summer western Nebraska has been blessed with rain. Unfortunately, these rains have often been accompanied by hail. As a result, some once promising corn crops have been harvested for corn silage increasing the availability of this energy source in areas where it is not typically abundant. Several producers have had questions about the value of corn silage compared with sugar beet pulp, a more familiar commodity in western Nebraska for growing cattle.

Weaning season is right around the corner for producers. However, some producers do not think about how their management techniques can affect calves when entering the feedlot. These techniques can affect how calves are managed when received at the feedlot and subsequently, can determine the number of head in a pen during receiving. This article will review the difference in bunk space requirements between calves that are weaned and shipped immediately to a different location compared to calves that are preconditioned before entering the feedlot.

Roughly half of all neighbor complaints of livestock odors originate from land application of manure. A weather forecast and a little knowledge of odor dilution can be a powerful tool for keeping your neighbors happy, or at least avoiding those irate phone calls. This article summarizes those weather conditions that should be considered when planning manure application.

How should you graze regrowth in pastures that had tall growth trampled during a previous grazing? I don’t know but I have some ideas.

Grass growth got away from many of us Nebraskans this spring. For some reason the rainfall and temperatures and sunshine all combined to quickly produce so much tall grass that cattle couldn’t eat fast enough.

Across the Great Plains the end of summer generally brings hot and dry conditions to the region. Both warm and cool season grasses begin to mature and decline in forage quality by late July and August. This decrease in diet quality can present challenges for the May calving heifer, who is still growing and nursing her first calf. The breeding season for May calving cows starts in late July and August.

The high rainfalls experienced in recent weeks have left many feedlot holding ponds full and operators looking for irrigation options for applying animal manure during the growing season. This article focuses on important considerations for application of open lot holding pond effluent and diluted manures during the growing season without damaging the crop. Three take home messages from this article include: