As grass leases continue to get harder to find and more expensive to acquire, and drought continues to threaten the Great Plains, cow/calf producers are showing more and more interest in feeding pairs in a confinement system.

In this month's BeefWatch Producer Perspective Podcast, Dr. Danny Klinefelter who is a retired agricultural economics and professor from Texas A&M University shares about The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers (TEPAP) which is a designed for ag business owners and managers looking to develop their skills.

Topics discussed include:

The cool spring followed by a quick warm up could make for the perfect storm. Grass tetany usually occurs in the spring when cool weather is followed by a warm period. It is typically seen in early lactation cows grazing cool-season grasses during cool, cloudy, and rainy weather. 

In this month's BeefWatch Producer Perspective Podcast, Brian Sprenger who is part of a family owned and operated ranch near Sidney shares how his family utilizes annual forages as grazing resource. Some of the topics that Brian discusses in the interview include:

Do you rent pasture? What happens if drought lowers pasture production below expectations? Specifically, what does your pasture lease say about drought?

It’s hard to think about drought in mid-winter but drought can play havoc on pasture leases. All too often, pasture leases fail to include an appropriate plan to adjust to this problem.

Estrus synchronization optimizes labor and time, and improves the ease of using artificial insemination (AI) (Lamb et al., 2009). Use of AI allows access to superior genetics, accelerates genetic change within a herd, and is frequently less expensive than natural service (Johnson and Jones, 2004). Synchronized females 1) exhibit estrus at a controlled time, 2) have increased calf uniformity, 3) calve earlier in the season, and 4) wean calves that are older and heavier (Perry, 2004).

As fall harvest comes to a close many cows will be turned out on cornstalks to graze the crop residue left after harvest for the winter. This can be an economical forage resource for many producers. Keeping feed costs low while maintaining production is an important part of profitability. Knowing the nutrient needs of cows is key to knowing what supplementation strategy is necessary.

Cow depreciation is frequently the second or third largest expense to the cow-calf enterprise after feed. Depreciation is a non-cash expense that is often overlooked by cow-calf producers.

Depreciation for a cow is calculated as the following:

Purchase Price or Replacement Cost – Salvage Value/Productive Years in the Herd

To demonstrate how significant this expense can be, examine an example of current bred replacement heifer prices against today's cull cow values.

Common mullein is becoming an increasing concern to grassland managers as the aggressive forb spreads from old fields, abused areas, and rights-of-way to grasslands. Woolly leaves complicate control by discouraging grazers and obstructing herbicide contact. Although seeds are not produced until the second growing season (the first year’s growth is only a vegetative rosette and does not produce a stalk or seed head), this yellowed flowered biennial is a prolific seed producer with each plant producing over 175,000 seeds and each seed remaining viable for over 100 years.

An economic analysis of annual cow costs in Nebraska shows that feed cost represents approximately 40-70% of all costs when labor and depreciation are included. An economic analysis values owned pasture and raised feed at market value. The cows are asked to pay fair market value for both grazed and fed feed. When pasture, cornstalks and hay are calculated in at market value, feed costs for the cow herd can easily be north of $550 per cow.

Distillers grains are a common component in finishing diets in Nebraska. Their inclusion has resulted in improved performance while also improving cost of production. Recently, ethanol plants have been removing fiber components and corn oil, thus changing the composition of the available distillers grains.

The following article is a summary of research conducted by University of Nebraska meat scientists evaluating dietary impacts on ground beef shelf life and fatty acid profile. The original article can be found in the 2016 Nebraska Beef Report pages 164-166.