LIVESTOCK NEWS A newsletter providing information for livestock producers in BUNCOMBE, HENDERSON & POLK COUNTIES

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1 LIVESTOCK NEWS A newsletter providing information for livestock producers in BUNCOMBE, HENDERSON & POLK COUNTIES Buncombe County Center Summer 2012 Inside This Issue Reducing Hay Storage Losses, p.2 Asheville Wool Pool, p.2 Pastures: To Clip or Not Clip, p.3 Tri-State Beef Conference, p.3 Consider Weaning Calves Born in Late Winter & Early Spring, p.4 Heat Stress in Cattle, p.5 Mountain Cattle Alliance Sale, p.6 Feeder Calf Sale, p.6 Coming Events, p.6 Contact Us Ethan G. Henderson Extension Area Agent Agriculture-Livestock, Dairy, Horses, Forages Buncombe, Henderson and Polk Counties North Carolina Cooperative Extension Buncombe County Center 94 Coxe Avenue Asheville, NC Phone: (828) Fax: (828) Distributed in furtherance of the acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status or disability. In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation. North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating. Buncombe County Center, 94 Coxe Avenue, Asheville, NC FAX: Henderson County Center, 100 Jackson Park Road, Hendersonville, NC FAX: Polk County Center, PO Box 187, Columbus, NC FAX: Hello! My name is Ethan Henderson. I am very thankful for the opportunity to introduce myself as your new Extension Area Agent covering livestock and forages. I am from Haywood County but have also spent a lot of time in Buncombe County where I grew up working alongside my grandfather, a long-time cattle producer. New Livestock Agent Prior to coming to work for Cooperative Extension I worked at the Western North Carolina Regional Livestock Center in Canton. I ve had the opportunity to meet with many livestock producers in the past couple of months; and those of you who I haven't met, I look forward to meeting in the near future. As an Area Agent I will be covering three counties including Buncombe, Henderson and Polk. I will be in Buncombe County on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; Henderson County on Tuesdays; and Polk County on Thursdays. Please call the Cooperative Extension Center if you have any questions, would like to schedule a farm visit, or just want to call and say hello Hay Field Day The annual Hay Field Day will be held on Thursday, July 12, at the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville, NC. Registration will be from 9:30 to 10:00 am and the program from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The field day will feature hay making demonstrations by regional equipment dealers and will also include educational discussions led by the NC Department of Agriculture, NC Cooperative Extension, Haywood County Farm Bureau and the Farm Service Agency. Topics to be covered include: sprayer calibration, a Farm Service Agency Update, preparing for emergencies on the farm, pesticide and farm safety, and pasture and hay field fertility. Pesticide credits for categories N, O, D and X totaling 2 hours will be available. An assortment of industry representatives will be available during the trade show. A BBQ lunch sponsored by Carolina Farm Credit will be provided. Persons with disabilities and persons with limited English proficiency may request accommodations to participate in activities mentioned in this newsletter. Please contact Steve Duckett at during business hours at least 3 days prior to the event to discuss accommodations.

2 Page Hay Field Day (continued) For additional information contact Kaleb Rathbone at the Mountain Research Station, , or the Buncombe County Center of NC Cooperative Extension at This event is a joint program of North Carolina State University, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Haywood County Soil and Water Conservation District. If you have a disability or desire any assistive devices, services or other accommodations to participate in this activity, please contact the N.C. Agricultural Research Service at during business hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at least two weeks before the event to request accommodations. Reducing Hay Storage Losses Source: Gary Bates, University of Tennessee Plant Sciences Department One of the best ways to make hay inventory last longer is by wasting less of the hay. Most people would agree that a 5 x 5 bale that sits outside during the winter will have approximately six inches of rotted forage around the outside, but most people do not realize that this six inches of loss is 30 percent of the bale. This is the same thing as taking every third bale out of the field and throwing it into the ditch, because no value is coming from it. Storing bales unprotected from the elements results in a loss of one-third of the hay produced (Table 6-2). If a round bale is worth $15, then for every bale stored outside, uncovered, $5 is lost. If bales are stored inside or off the ground and covered, the hay supplies go farther because less hay will be lost due to rotting. If possible, store hay inside a barn. This will do the best job at protecting the hay from the elements. If barn space is not available, get the hay off the ground by putting it on crushed stone, tires, poles, etc. As much hay is lost because of water taken up from the bottom of the bale as from rain damage. The next step is to cover the bales with some sort of plastic. Several types of hay tarps are available and have been shown to be relatively durable and effective. Be sure to tie the tarps down securely. One of the best ways to do this is by laying ropes down and placing the bales on top of the ropes. These ropes can then be used to anchor the tarps. Be sure to not completely cover the ends of the hay stacks. If there is not any air movement up and down the stack under the tarp, there could be a significant amount of mold development on the hay. Table 6-2. Effect of Storage Method on Hay Loss Storage Method Percent Loss barn 6 hay tarp 12 uncovered, on ground 35 Asheville Wool Pool The Asheville area Wool Pool is scheduled for Wednesday, July 25, at the WNC Regional Livestock Center in Canton. Hours of operation for the Wool Pool will be from 8:00 am until 11:00 am. This year s Wool Pool will be held in conjunction with the Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America. Did you know that you can receive this newsletter via ? If you are interested, please contact us either by phone at or at deanna_jordan@ncsu.edu.

3 Page 3 PASTURES: TO CLIP OR NOT TO CLIP? Source: Ohio State University We are getting rains and temperatures that are helping pastures to produce a lot of dry matter growth. Along with that growth has come seed head production. Once that grass plant produces a seed head, it stops producing vegetative tillers and the quality of the plant declines as fiber percentage increases, while crude protein and energy percentage decreases. In the Pasture for Profit grazing schools, one of the pasture management principles is remove seed heads and strive to keep the plant in vegetative growth. Seed heads can be removed by grazing animals or avoided if grazing passes are timely; however, with the growth rates we experience in the spring, it would take some high stocking rates and densities to avoid seed heads or remove all the seed heads. Most, if not all, beef cattle owners are going to have to deal with seed heads in their pasture. The second option is to clip those seed heads off. This is a necessary pasture management chore isn t it? We have had several interesting discussions about clipping pastures recently. As a result, we are refining our recommenddations about pasture clipping, and adding some qualifications. While it is true that clipping seed heads will allow the plant to go back to vegetative growth and will result in higher quality forage, it is also true there is a cost associated with clipping pastures. The Ohio Custom Rate publication (2008) says bush hogging costs about $15/acre. To get a payback from that $15/acre the beef cattle producer must be able to utilize the benefits that clipping is producing. Here are some considerations: Do my cattle need the increased quality that clipping seed heads will produce? A vegetative plant is high in crude protein. A beef stocker may need this kind of quality. A first calf cow may need the higher quality forage. Does a mature cow in milk need vegetative quality pasture? Pastures clipped in May are likely to produce another set of seed heads. Will you be able to get another grazing pass in to utilize the quality before seed heads form again? Instead of clipping seed heads in all pasture paddocks, could some paddocks be dropped out of the early season rotation and used for hay production? If the paddocks that remained in the early season rotation could then be subdivided, in effect increasing the stocking density, the cattle would graze more evenly with less selection, and minimize the need for clipping. If economics dictated that pastures could only be clipped one time per year, when would be the best time to clip? Clipping in late July/early August would insure that regrowth is vegetative and would prepare paddocks for a stockpiling option. On the other hand, that $15/acre cost for clipping off seed heads might also be looked at as management that is necessary to open up the pasture canopy, let sunlight in and insure that lower-growing white clover stays in the pasture mix. Clipping might be important in your management scheme to allow grass plants to continue vegetative growth and tillering to thicken the sod base and fill in bare areas, or simply as management to hasten recycling of plant nutrients in the pasture paddock. Some may even view clipping seed heads as giving an added benefit of reducing some weed pressure in pasture paddocks. The point here is that the beef producer should know what they are trying to accomplish when pastures are clipped. Clipping should meet some management objective. I d be glad to continue this discussion and hear your point of view. Tri-State Beef Conference Washington County Fairgrounds, Abingdon, VA August 6-7, 2012 This year s conference will address topics of interest to both stocker and cow-calf producers. Participants will hear from speakers on topics such as market outlook and planning, forage economics, cattle health, risk management, and nutrition. The conference is presented by the University of Tennessee Extension, Virginia Cooperative Extension and North Carolina Cooperative Extension. Call the Buncombe County Cooperative Extension Center at for more information.

4 Page 4 Consider Weaning Calves Born in Late Winter and Early Spring Source: James B. Neel, Professor of Animal Science and Extension Beef Cattle Specialist University of Tennessee Cow-calf producers should consider the option of weaning the calf crop born in late winter or early spring. Most producers do not wean their calves because they have considered it to be a bothersome practice. Others may say, I want my calves to gain more weight or I want my cows to work for nine months ; but there are many factors that cow-calf producers should consider when evaluating the option of weaning. Following are some that might make weaning an attractive option to improve profitability. The forage supply usually becomes limited during July and August. Tennessee s cow-calf industry is based on utilizing fescue, and it is at its lowest quality during these months. Weaning calves will help to provide more forage for the cows. It will reduce the stocking rate and dry up the cows. With the milk production being almost nonexistent in cows calving in late winter/early spring, it will reduce the cows nutrient requirements and as a result, their pasture needs, thereby stretching the grazing available for the cows. Dry cows will consume less forage than those that are nursing calves. They will consume about 2 percent of their body weight, while those lactating will consume about 2.5 percent of their body weight. As a result of the calves being weaned and the cows nutrient needs reduced, the cows will gain weight and should be in a better body condition. An improved body condition score (BCS) at calving will aid in a stronger calf at birth and both an improved volume and quality of colostrum for the newborn calf. With an improved BCS, the cows will also have a shorter post-partum interval and breed back earlier than if they were in a thin condition at calving. The beef cows milk production is at a low level during July and August. Milk production of the cows is at its highest about 60 days following calving and declines thereafter to its lowest level during these months; therefore, the nutrients the calf gets from the milk does little to produce adequate gain. Weaned calves will make efficient use of a concentrate ration. They will convert feed at a rate of 3.5 lbs. feed to 1 lb. of gain. They will also make respectable gains. Summer 2002 On the Farm demonstrations conducted in Tennessee with weaned calves produced gains ranging from 1.72 lbs. per day to 2.95 lbs. per day (Rawls, Emmit). The results of these demonstrations show that it can pay to wean calves and feed them for 45 days prior to marketing. In addition to weaning and feeding, the calves should be exposed to a recognized health and management program that also will add value. The best way to receive the full value gained by weaning and feeding the calves and the health program is to market through a graded feeder calf sale. Weaning calves is an option that cow-calf producers should consider. The practice not only has a positive impact on the market weight value of the calves, but it also aids in stretching the pasture and/or forage availability, improves the condition of the brood cows, and results in improved reproductive performance of the brood cows.

5 Page 5 Heat Stress in Cattle Source: Milton W. Orr, Extension Agent The University of Tennessee Extension Greene County When we think about heat stress in cattle, the first thing that comes to mind are cattle that are in confinement, such as dairy animals. Interestingly enough, the animals that are most susceptible to heat stress are those that are in fields where shade and/or air movement may be limited given that animals in confinement have some means of artificial cooling to relieve stress. Usually, those animals in confinement are in a controlled situation in regards to air movement, usually with fans or misters to make them more comfortable. It is important to remember that cattle become uncomfortable at temperatures 20 degrees less than the temperature where humans become uncomfortable. This means that if you are uncomfortable at 80 degrees, and feel hot at 90 degrees, cattle may already be in the danger zone at these temperatures. Cattle that are heavier (in excess of 1,000 lbs.), and dark-hided cattle, along with cattle that may be stressed due to disease or transportation will be more susceptible to heat-related stresses than any others. Producers should realize that it is not possible to control the weather and some instances will occur that are beyond their control. Not all stresses can be eliminated under usual and customary production practices, but measures should be taken to make cattle more comfortable where possible and practical. Some of those measures are listed below: Shade. Where possible, provide either natural or artificial shade for cattle. Altering fencing or opening up a new pasture for animals will sometimes allow cattle access to areas where air movement and shade are more available. Portable shades can be utilized as well especially when placed on higher ground to allow air movement to help cool the animals. Shade can be built or be as simple as parking machinery or trailers in the field to provide shade in the afternoon. Water. Assure that your animals have a water source that is clean to insure adequate water intake. While water temperature is not important up to about 90 degrees, keep in mind that a lot of black or dark colored tanks can increase water temperature to more than 100 degrees. The same is true for black plastic pipe supplying water to animals in the field; therefore, it is wise to place water tanks in shady areas near where the animals will be loafing during the hot part of the day or use lighter colored tanks to reduce water temperature. Intake is extremely important as cattle can drink 1% of their body weight per hour when stressed by temperature. Reduce Management Stress. Try not to do any more management related practices such as health programs, castration, weaning, etc. when temperature results in dangerous THI values. If necessary to treat animals or move them through a handling facility, try to do these practices at night when it is cool or very early in the morning to reduce stress. Cattle should not spend more than 30 minutes in the facility when the THI value is above 79. This would also apply to any necessary movement of cattle from field to field. Plan Transportation. When transporting cattle during hot weather, plan to haul cattle during the cooler parts of the day such as later at night or early in the morning while allowing ample time for the cattle to become adjusted and find shade once they reach their destination. Don t crowd cattle in trailers during hot weather, allowing extra space to reduce stress. Know the Signs of Heat Stress. When cattle are extremely stressed, they will become lethargic and may be seen panting for breath. Some cattle will breathe with their mouth open and be seen with excess saliva hanging from the mouth. When these signs are noticed, producers should take every effort practical to cool the animals immediately. This might include spraying with water, moving the animal to an area where air movement is better, moving the animal under a fan, or providing artificial shade if the animal is non-ambulatory. Heat stress is a real concern for producers and can greatly decrease profitability. It is important to remember, however, that there are usual and customary production practices that are commonly accepted in beef cattle management. While producers should provide certain measures of comfort, there will be limits as to what is practical and appropriate to provide.

6 Buncombe County Center 94 Coxe Avenue Asheville, NC Page 6 Upcoming Mountain Cattle Alliance Sale WNC Regional Livestock Center - Canton The next scheduled sale for the Mountain Cattle Alliance will be August 7 for September 26 delivery. These sales are open to all producers with cattle that qualify on a quality basis. Please call Ethan Henderson at or Lisa Shelton at if you would like to consign cattle or need more information. Feeder Calf Sale WNC Regional Livestock Center - Canton September 5, 2012 Sale - 7:00 pm - Check-in - 7:00 am - 5:00 pm Steers and heifers sold by hundred weight. Calves have to be vaccinated for blackleg and malignant edema. Cattle are tagged and weighed as received. Grading Guidelines: L1 - large frame, average or above in thickness M1 - medium frame, average or above in thickness S1 - small framed, average or above in thickness LM2 - variable in frame size, thin to average in thickness 2012 Coming Events July 12 Hay Field Day, Mountain Research Station, Waynesville July 25 Asheville Wool Pool, WNC Regional Livestock Center, Canton Aug 6-7 Tri-State Beef Conference, Abingdon, VA Aug 7 Mountain Cattle Alliance Cattle Sale, WNC Regional Livestock Center, Canton Aug 17 Beef Quality Assurance Training, 1:00-4:30 pm, WNC Regional Livestock Center, Canton Sept 5 Feeder Calf Sale - Check-in: 7:00 am-5:00 pm/sale: 7:00 pm, WNC Regional Livestock Center, Canton