Late Winter Cow Management
Much of the country has been blessed with a mild, dry winter, avoiding many of the problems severe winter storms can bring to the cow herd. With this good weather, we can become side tracked and forget about some very important nutritional needs from Spring calving cows.
North Dakota Beef Specialist, Carl Dahlen, recently shared some important cattle management tips for late winter.
1. Cattle requirements are increasing and herds have calves being born; be sure to match diets with requirements.
2. Review feed inventories and re-evaluate your plan for allocating feed to cattle in light of current winter conditions.
3. If cows are in great condition, save better-quality hay for feeding after calving; consider which hay to carry over for next year.
4. Increase feed deliveries in cold weather (yes, we actually may have cold weather this year!) and consider feeding in the afternoon; this keeps cattle warmer at night and can shift calving to daylight hours.
5. Prepare for calving (everything from pre-calving vaccinations to getting all supplies ready) if your cows are getting close.
6. Review health, feeding and implant strategies for newly purchased backgrounded calves to optimize performance unless Natural premium outweighs opportunity cost.
7. Secure seed and fertilizer purchases for planting in spring of 2012.
8. Familiarize yourself with expected progeny differences (EPDs) and current breed-average EPDs and how you can use these numbers in your breeding program.
9. Review existing bull inventory, reflect on the 2011 calf crop, determine needs for the 2012 breeding season, and purchase accordingly.
10. Take time to set goals for your operation in 2012; this gives everyone on your operation something to strive for.
Read more on Beef Cattle Nutrition this winter and the rest of the story from Beef Magazine.
What advantages/disadvantages have you experienced with mild winter weather? Do you think we’ll pay for this weather down the road?
National Ag Day – Celebrate Agriculture Diversity
Yeah I think it’s THAT big of an event and I want to get everyone involved.
March 8th is National Ag Day in America. A day set aside to celebrate the contributions and abundance of the agriculture community around us. This also begins the 3rd year behind my Agriculture Proud efforts. In 2010, I wrote a simple blog post describing why I am Proud to be a part of Agriculture. Due to the response to that post and need to share this story with others I have been blogging under the “Agriculture Proud” name ever since.
Learn more about AgDay and their goals on the website. Their core values stick out to me and I thought them worth a share. 1) Understand how food and fiber products are produced. 2) Appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products. 3) Value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy. 4) Acknowledge and consider career opportunities in the agriculture, food and fiber industry.
This year I want to invite the agriculture community to join me during the month of March in sharing this message by telling why you are proud to be a part of agriculture. I will host 30 guest posts on my blog from members of the community in different parts of agriculture. I hope to share with my audience the diversity of agriculture and emphasize how agriculture surrounds our daily lives. My intentions are not to be derogatory toward any sector of agriculture during this series; but rather inclusive.
I am asking you to share why you are proud to be a part of your portion of agriculture. Whether you are a cattle rancher, hog farmer, researcher, educator, consumer, organic/natural producer, service/support provider, or retailer, I want to hear why you are proud to do your part in producing a safe, abundant, diverse food supply.
I ask that your guest post include these parts:
- Please shoot for close to 300 words describing why you are proud to be a part of agriculture. Focus on your specific sector. If a crop farmer, talk about producing soybeans or corn. If a promoter/service provider, talk about your work with the agriculture community. If a cattle farmer, describe your breed of cattle, how production in your region is unique. If a consumer, talk about how you learn about food production and how you make your purchasing choices.
- Include at least 2 photos of you, your family or operation
- Include any links to your farm/business website, blog, or social media contacts
- Email posts and files to agricultureproud@hotmail.com with the subject-line “AgProud Series”
Feel free to share your post on your personal blog, I just ask that you link to my blog series. Blogs will be posted in the order of submission.
I reserve the right to edit submissions for grammatical errors or demeaning statements toward other parts of agriculture.
The series will run from March 1-30, and if more guest posts are submitted, they will be included in summary posts. I do appreciate your sharing my blog posts with your friends and followers throughout the month.
This is a large effort and I need the contributions of the agriculture community to make it successful. Please return your contributions in a timely manner and forward this to anyone you think can make a great contribution. I am looking to include many sectors of agriculture.
Thank you for your time and effort. If you cannot contribute to this series, please forward onto someone who you think might.
Don’t forget to enter your photos in the AgProud Photo Contest. The top 5 photos will be shown next Monday and you can vote on your favorite. The winning photo will be used to highlight the series during the entire month of March!
Photo Contest – Agriculture Proud
March 8th in National Agriculture Day, which also begins the 3rd year of my blogging efforts for Agriculture Proud. To celebrate I have some things in the works, but I need your help.
The first thing I need a hand with is photos. What makes you think of the diversity of Agriculture?
Modern agriculture covers a huge swath of operations. Everything from large farms and ranchers, to local providers of natural/organic products. We can’t forget our educators, researchers, service providers, and even consumers that make modern Agriculture possible. It’s impossible to depict in one little post (which is a hint on what I’m working on for March!).
So if ya’ll follow my blog you’ve seen many of my favorite photos from the ranches, but that’s just one sample. So what photos come to mind when you try to describe what makes your Agriculture Proud???
This photo is from my friend Katy-Jane in Wyoming. Coming down from the mountains over looking the Basin. On a clear day you can see the mountains that are 100 miles across the Basin.
Here’s sort of a competition. I’m just a college student these days, so I have no big prizes to win. But I promise I’ll use the winning photo for the entire month of March in my project.
Here’s the rules…
- Select a photo that describes why you are proud to be a part of your role in agriculture
- Include a caption explaining as much
- Post the photo on the I am Agriculture Proud Facebook Fan Page
- OR email the photo to agricultureproud@hotmail.com with subjectline of “AgProud Photos”
- I’ll share the top 5 photos next Monday and allow you to vote on your favorites
So get to digging out those photos and sharing why you are proud to be a part of Agriculture. Remember this is building up to National Ag Day on March 8th, where we’ll be telling everyone why we’re Proud to be a part of Agriculture!
National Farm Machinery Show
This weekend I had a wonderful opportunity to travel to Louisville, Kentucky as part of the HayTalk team for the 47th annual National Farm Machinery Show. To sum it all up: lots of equipment. Entirely TOO MANY people. Tired feet. But it was a lot of fun and there were lots of things to see. And nearly everyone I talked to seem to be from Illinois.
NFMS happens to be one of the largest farm shows in the country, showcasing everything from row crop equipment and efficiency tools to livestock handling equipment. Heck, there was even some new designs for milking parlor equipment for my dairy friends out there. The general outlook for folks was positive for Agriculture in 2012. Strong prices in most commodities, combined with strong and growing global demands, have everyone in bright spirits. However, many were discussing the growing drought in the Mid Western states this winter as soil moisture levels remain low with the lack of snowfall.
There were many youth groups in attendance, and being a Saturday, many families were there. It was good to see a strong youth presence at the show. One thing I definitely noticed was the emphasis on efficiency and precision. Most of this was focused on the use of technology and equipment. Farmers are producing more with less and we’re utilizing technology to do this.
It was also great to catch up with the HayTalk crew all in one place. We’re working on great things for the bi-weekly Twitter chat and online forum for the coming year. Keep an eye out!
Who else was able to make it to Louisville for the show? What were your general observations?
Here’s some photos from the show. Jesse Bussard also has more posted.
