Farm and Ranch News October 2016

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1 Farm and Ranch News October 2016 In This Month's Issue Fall Cattle Conference Cleveland County Cattlemen's Banquet - November 10th New Dove Management Fact Sheet Upcoming Events Meat Goat Boot Camp - three day camp that uses the combination of classroom exercises and handson instructions - October 17-19, Pontotoc County Agri-Plex, Ada, OK - Click Here for more details. -Click Here for the registration form Rural Economic Outlook Conference OSU Alumni Center - Click Family Hall Stillwater, OK 7:30 am Breakfast and Registration To register call / $70 Goat Artificial Insemination Course - Langston University October 8, 2016 Click Here for for more details. FREE Hunter Safety Class Saturday, October 8 Cleveland Co. Extension Classroom 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Call for New State Question 777 Fact Sheet Langston University Goat Newsletter - Summer 2016 Round Bale Pitfalls Part 2 Preparing Heifers for the Fall Breeding Season Protecting Poultry from Predators Fall Cattle Conference When: Tues, October 11, :30 a.m. - 2:15 p.m. Where: Mid-America Technology Center - Health Services Bldg State Hwy 59, Wayne, OK Click Here for the Program RSVP by: October 7 at Cleveland County Cattlemen's Banquet and Membership Drive It's time again for membership and directory advertising renewals. All cattle producers in Cleveland County are welcome and encouraged to join the Cleveland County Cattlemen's Improvement Association. Other supporters of the cattle industry are also welcome to join as associate members. The Cattlemen's Association promotes fellowship and communication among cattle producers in the county and provides opportunities to enhance their operation's efficiency and profitability through educational meetings with Oklahoma State University Extension and private sector specialists. Membership also includes dinner at the annual Cattlemen's Fall Banquet. Event details are below. When: Thurs, November 10, :30 p.m. Where: Frye Auditorium, Cleveland County Fairgrounds, Norman Membership/Banquet/Advertising Letter Membership Form

2 more details Poultry Litter Application Education - Anyone interested in land applying poultry litter must attend 9 hours the first year and 2 hours per year thereafter - Additional Details Canadian Valley Poultry Club Show - Saturday, Oct 8 - Cleveland County Fairgrounds, Norman - APA/ABA Sanctioned Show - Details Newcastle Poultry Show - Saturday, Oct 22 - Newcastle Fair Barn, Newcastle, OK - Details Pesticide Applicator Test Help Sessions for 2016 click Here October 27th at the OSU-OKC Agriculture Resource Center (ARC) 400 N Portland October 20th at the Tulsa County Extension Office at 4116 E. 15th. RSVP by: November 4th at New Fact Sheets and Links Dove Field Management - This fact sheet discusses crop, field, and habitat management for attracting dove State Question 777: A Proposed Constitutional Amendment - This fact sheet discusses but does not take a stance on State Question 777 Langston University - Goat Newsletter - Summer Goat related research, activities, and news. Managing beef cow margins: Round bale pitfalls, part 2 Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist Cow-calf production is best viewed as the business of producing and marketing grass. The most successful and profitable cow-calf operations are generally those that most efficiently use grazed forage. However, seasonally limited quantity and/or quality of grazed forage means that producers often need additional nutrition in the form of harvested forages or purchased supplemental feed. Most beef cow-calf operations in Oklahoma and surrounding areas rely on grass hay to help meet cow nutritional needs. A variety of grasses are harvested as hay to provide supplemental protein and energy for cattle. The quality of grass hay varies widely depending on the type of forage; the management/condition of the forage; baling conditions; and quality degradation during storage. For example, well-fertilized Bermuda grass, harvested early will have percent crude protein and total digestible nutrients (TDN) over 55 percent. Crude protein in under-fertilized, mature Bermuda will drop below 6 percent with TDN less than 50 percent. Prairie and meadow hay typically has crude protein values between 6 and 9 percent and TDN of percent. If harvested late and very mature these values may drop to 4 or 5 percent for crude protein with TDN below 50 percent. Whether purchased or produced, it is critical for producers to know the quality of hay. Round bales of unknown quality and bale weight, subject to significant storage and feeding losses is wasteful, expensive and make it very difficult to manage cow herd nutrition. Round bale technology is convenient and saves labor. Unfortunately, the convenience of round bales has also

3 frequently encouraged production of low quality hay and poor storage and feeding management. Often hay production is a residual to poor pasture management where mature, rank grass that was not grazed effectively is baled. Good pasture management and good hay management are two sides of the same coin. The labor saving and convenience of round bales has, in many cases, fostered poor pasture management that results in increased hay needs and production of poor quality hay. Perhaps rounds bales are too convenient. In days of old, producers feeding small square bales were typically more aware of the quality of the hay, how much they were feeding, how much was being wasted and, as a result, often did a better job of managing cow herd nutrition and feed cost. It takes some additional management to capture the advantages of round bales without wasting hay and incurring additional cost. Hay production per beef cow has more than doubled in the past 40 years in Oklahoma. It appears that now significantly more hay is wasted and that poor pasture management has increased the number of days that cows are fed hay. Round bales very probably have contributed to this trend. Considerations for round bale use: Manage the quantity and quality of pastures to extend grazing and minimize hay needs. Consider stockpiling pasture for fall and winter grazing. Feeding hay costs 2.5 to 5 times as much as grazing. Every day that cows graze instead of receiving hay will save $0.50 to $1.50 per head in feed costs. Know the quantity and quality of purchased or produced hay. Buy tons of hay... not bales. Weigh it and test it. Know how much hay cows are actually eating. Measure storage and feeding losses in order to know actual consumption and the true cost of hay. Calculate the cost of hay nutrients compared to other supplemental feed sources. Projected record grain crops mean that energy and protein from other feed sources will likely be cheaper this winter. Supplements using grain and/or by-product feeds may actually be less expensive than poor quality hay. Are the replacement heifers ready for the fall breeding season? Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University

4 Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist Fall-calving herds will be breeding replacement heifers in late November. Now is the time to make certain that those heifers are ready for the upcoming breeding season. Immunize the heifers. Ask your large animal veterinarian about proper immunizations for yearling replacement heifers. Replacement heifers should be immunized for respiratory diseases such as IBR and BVD. Consider giving the heifers a modified live vaccine for longer lasting protection against these viruses. The heifers should receive this vaccination at least one month before the start of the breeding season. This would also be a good time to include other reproductive disease protection that may be recommended by your veterinarian. Examples of other immunizations that should be considered include leptospirosis and campylobacter (sometimes called vibriosis). If a set of scales is available, weigh the heifers. There is time to make adjustments to the supplementation being fed to the heifers to insure that they meet the target weight at the start of the breeding season. To be certain that a high percentage of heifers are cycling at the start of the breeding season, they must weigh a minimum of 60% of their mature weight (Davis and Wettemann). See OSU Research Report If these heifers will eventually grow into 1200 pound cows, then they must weigh 720 at the beginning of the estrous synchronization and artificial insemination (or bull turn-out if natural breeding is used). Calculate the weight gain needed between now and the start of the breeding season to see if additional energy is required to achieve the desired weight gain. Many small cow calf operations will not have scales available to monitor weight gain. The next best evaluation tool is to monitor body condition of the heifers. If all of the heifers are in a body condition score of 6 (based on the 1 to 9 BCS system) then they should meet the desired target weight. Protecting Poultry from Predators For many people with backyard poultry, predators can be one of the most difficult and frustrating problems they deal with. Everyone dreads waking up to the sound of birds in distress or finding that a large portion of their flock or their most prized show bird had been killed overnight. Predators have an uncanny ability to find a

5 way into seemingly predator-proof houses and yards. Even the experience poultry keeper can experience losses. The fact sheet titled Protect Backyard Birds from Predators from Mississippi State University Extension is an excellent primer on things to keep in mind when building and predator proofing housing for your poultry. It includes types of predators to consider in your area as well as fencing and housing tips to improve security. Additionally, if you do suffer a loss, the fact sheet includes a list of predators and the signs they can leave behind.