Archive for the ‘Agriculture News 09’ Category

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Cattle Breeds: Nugget Hereford Champions Named

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Golden Oak Outcross 18U and C -S Gran Torino ET won the grand champion bull titles at the 2009 Western Nugget National Hereford Show Dec. 4-5 in Reno, Nev.

Brian Baragree, Absarokee, Mont., evaluated the 223-head show, which included 35 polled bulls, 27 horned bulls, 87 polled heifers and 74 horned heifers.

Polled grand and spring yearling champion bull honors went to Golden Oak Outcross 18U, owned by Hoffman Herefords, Thedford, Neb.; Ward Ranch, McAlester, Okla.; and Churchill Cattle Co., Manhattan, Mont. He is the March 10, 2008, son of Golden-Oak Fusion 3S.

Polled reserve and champion senior bull honors went to UPS TCC Nitro 1ET, owned by Upstream Ranch, Taylor, Neb.; Adams Hirsche Herefords, High River, Alta., Canada; Colyer Herefords, Bruneau, Idaho; and South Mountain Ranch, Caldwell, Idaho. He is an April 15, 2007, son of GH Neon 17N.

Horned grand and yearling champion bull honors went to Williams Ferguson Ranch L.P., Decatur, Texas; Dennis Schock, Sherman, Texas; and Colyer Herefords with C -S Gran Torino ET. The March 1, 2008, bull is sired by DM BR L1 Domino 146.

Horned reserve grand and champion junior bull calf honors went to Churchill Frontier 9137W ET, owned by Churchill Cattle Co., Manhattan, Mont. He is a Feb. 12, 2009, son of CRR About Time 743.

Top honors in the polled female show was awarded to Kari Brumley, Orovada, Nev., with CRR 4037 Delilia 877. The female was first named spring yearling champion female and is a March 5, 2008, daughter of THM Durango 4037.

Polled reserve grand and junior champion female honors went to Allyson Spears, Brentwood, Calif., with C Miss Nitro 9152. She is a Feb. 14, 2009, daughter of UPS TCC Nitro 1ET.

In the horned female show, taking top honors was Drew Perez, Nara Visa, N.M., with C&M New Mexico Lady 8040. The female was first named spring yearling champion female and is an April 9, 2008, daughter of KJ BJ Bounty Hunter 741P.

Horned reserve grand and junior champion female honors went to Amelia and Greg Stallings, Eugene, Ore., with C Notice Me Nitro 9161 ET. She is a Feb. 27, 2009, daughter of UPS TCC Nitro 1ET. Earlier in the week she also was named reserve champion in the junior show.

In the polled cow-calf show, TCW Sweet Dreams 609S shown by Weimer Cattle Co., Susanville, Calif., was chosen champion. She is March 5, 2006, daughter of SHF Marshal 236G M33 and showed with an April bull calf by BR DM Channing ET.

Weimer Cattle Co. also won the polled best six head, premier breeder and premier exhibitor awards. Largent & Sons, Kaycee, Wyo., showed the horned first-place get-of-sire with a group sired by GH Rambo 279R. Colyer Herefords was named horned premier breeder and Brandt Downing, Butte Falls, Ore., was awarded horned premier exhibitor honors.

Source: www.cattlenetwork.com

www.PerryFarmsGrassFedBeef.com

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Nutrition, Facility Preparation Vital To Successful Calving Season

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Calves born with any sort of difficulty at birth are four times more likely to die than those without, which is why conditioning cows for calving is extremely important, said Ron Lemenager, Purdue University beef nutrition specialist.

As the spring calving season approaches, producers should look at three key factors to prepare cows to calve.

 “The first key factor is to get cows into the right body condition so they have enough energy for normal calving,” Lemenager said. “For most cows we recommend a body condition score of five and for first calf heifers a body condition of 5.5-6.

 “Making sure cows have proper nutrition also will insure a higher quality colostrum, or first milk after calving, which gives the calf disease protection and a dense nutrient supply.”

Proper nutrition includes a diet high enough in energy for the cow to have a normal calving experience, the right protein content and vitamins and minerals. But with the rainy hay season this past year, poor hay quality may mean producers need to supplement diets.

 “Most producers probably have enough hay, but the quality is such that it’s likely short in energy,” Lemenager said. “Producers should get an analysis of their hay and then develop a supplementation stragey. It’s also important that the cow has access to a high quality free choice mix of vitamins and minerals, which are commercially available.”

Nutritionally speaking, one thing producers need to keep an eye on is the amount of dried distillers grains (DDGs) they’re feeding their cowherds. Because DDGs are high in protein, cows should be fed DDGs to meet protein needs, not energy needs.

 “If producers do feed DDGs, they need to be careful not to overfeed protein because too much protein will increase calf birth weights, as well as blood nitrogen levels, which can negatively affect both conception rate and embryo survival,” Lemenager said.

“Using distillers grains beyond protein requirements can cause a sulfur toxicity,” Lemenager said. “At high levels, sulfur also can complex with other minerals, like copper, which is an extremely important mineral for reproduction.”

In addition to conditioning cows, producers should look at their facilities and make sure they are prepared to house newborn calves in inclement weather—something Lemenager said is extremely important for calf survival.

Even with conditioned cows and proper facilities, some operations may still deal with calf scours, or neonatal diarrhea.

 “This will be on an operation-by-operation basis, but if there is a history of calf scours, producers will want to work with a veterinarian to come up with a vaccination strategy for the cows that will provide passive immunity to the calf through high quality colostrum,” Lemenager said.

Source: www.cattlenetwork.com

www.PerryFarmsGrassFedBeef.com

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Cattle Feeding: Is My Alfalfa Safe To Graze?

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Is my alfalfa safe to graze? When I hear that question I can almost imagine the scenarios from which it comes. Usually corn stalks are ready to be grazed. It would be convenient and useful to include an adjacent alfalfa field for extra grazing and protein. The other scenario has grazing ending on summer range but final growth alfalfa is still standing in the field.

In most cases the alfalfa still is quite green, despite several nights with low temperatures in the teens or even single digits like we had last week. There has been some wilting and yellowing but most leaves still are attached to the plant stems.

The real question often being asked is “Can I be sure my cows won’t bloat and die if they graze my alfalfa?”. To be quite honest, you never can be 100 percent certain that alfalfa won’t cause bloat. I remember back to my days on my father’s small dairy farm. Over the years that I helped on his farm, my dad had two cows that would bloat even when eating dry alfalfa hay. Since they were good milkers he didn’t want to cull them. So those cows were hand fed small amounts of alfalfa hay at a time so their bloat could be minimized.

Thus, the only true answer to questions about grazing alfalfa safety is ‘probably’. But still use good husbandry methods to reduce the risk. Have cows full before turning out to alfalfa. Wait until mid-day, after frost or dew is gone, before turning out. Provide other dry, palatable feeds. And keep a close eye on them for at least the first couple days.

Alfalfa can be safe to graze. Just be careful and realistic.

Source: www.cattlenetwork.com

www.PerryFarmsGrassFedBeef.com

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