BeefWatch Archive

Beefwatch Archive

To read articles prior to September 2017, please visit the article archive on UNL Announce.

Characteristics of Top Agricultural Business Managers

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:

Stretching Grass while Maintaining Cattle in the Pasture

As drought conditions worsen through a large portion of the Great Plains, many beef cattle producers are starting to evaluate ways to stretch forage resources potentially in jeopardy.

Calculating Forage Demand and Forage Availability

A common conversation I have with producers usually goes something like this, “I’m renting out 50 acres to my neighbor who wants to run 30 cows on it, does that sound about right to you?” This is a perfectly legitimate question, however, more details are needed on both the cattle and the pasture to fully answer this question. 

Injectable Trace Mineral did not Influence Reproductive Performance in Beef Heifers

Many producers provide a free-choice trace mineral to grazing cattle throughout the year. Trace minerals have been shown to have an essential role in reproduction. When a free-choice trace mineral supplement is provided, some individual animals will consume more than the recommended amount, while others may consume none at all.

Controlling Horn Flies on Pastured Cattle

Pasture fly season is approaching and now is the time to evaluate your horn fly management plan for the 2018 grazing season. First, re-evaluate last year’s plan. Did it provide adequate fly control?

Dryland Pastures for Western Nebraska

Planting perennial grasses on marginal dryland cropping areas has long been recommended as a sound conservation practice. Planting perennial grasses for conservation also may provide opportunities to increase livestock production.

Dry, Wet, or Average: Planning for the Grazing Season

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. In 2017, many areas in the state experienced dry conditions during the month of June and some areas were very dry during both June and July.

Manure's Impact on Yield, Nitrogen, and Carbon

Manure is often viewed by many as an environmental liability. However, if manure is applied at rates equal to or less than the nitrogen (N) requirement of a crop, can manure produce environmental benefits over commercial fertilizer?

Grass Tetany Considerations with a Late Spring

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. 

Capturing Value in Cropping Systems Using Cattle

The University of Nebraska is conducting research around the idea of integrating cattle and cropping systems to best use the resources in Eastern Nebraska. Recently, a field day was held at ENREC (formerly ARDC) near Mead to showcase this work.  The proceedings for the field day are available at https://go.unl.edu/2018capturingvalueresources.