News Update
December 5, 2013
Market Cattle Through
the NWSS Heifer Mart
Angus cattle producers can now participate in a new marketing opportunity for purebred cattle during the National Western Stock Show (NWSS) in Denver, Colo., Jan. 11-26, 2014. Cattlemen can enter groups of three to 10 head of either heifer calves or bred yearlings into the NWSS Heifer Mart.
Entries are due by Jan. 3, 2014. Fees are $100 per head and are due at the time of entry. Pedigree, breeding and other pertinent information will also be due at the time of entry.
These females are on display with the intention of selling them by private treaty or for breeders to have an opportunity to display their breeding program as part of their overall marketing program. The Heifer Mart provides the forum for displaying a breeders program, as well as the opportunity for buyers to view and purchase groups of cattle from breeders they may not have had the chance to personally visit in the past. There will not be a show associated with these cattle.
Similar to the NWSS Herd Sire displays, reservations for a spot in the Heifer Mart will be on a first-come first-serve basis. The Heifer Mart will accommodate cattle by breed during the same time periods that each respective breed arrives and is released from the Yards. These schedules can either be found in the Premium Book or online at www.nationalwestern.com in the Livestock section of the webpage.
Exhibitors will be responsible for their own bedding, and it must be purchased through the NWSS Feed and Bedding Supply office in the Yards.
For more information, please contact the NWSS livestock office at 303-299-5559.
Hay Baled Late Needs Supplements,
but Test First, Says MU Beef Nutritionist
Temperatures drop, sunshine dims and pastures stop growing. That’s when cow nutrition becomes critical, says Justin Sexten, University of Missouri (MU) Extension beef nutritionist.
More hay was baled in 2013 than in the drought of 2012. But quantity doesn’t equal quality. Much of the hay may not contain enough nutrients.
Looking at hay-test reports, Sexten sees that lots of mediocre to bad hay was made this year. Spring rains at haying time delayed baling. Overmature hay has lower feed value.
There are options. Stockpiled pasture is first choice for quality winter feed, but that required action in August when cattle were removed from pastures and nitrogen fertilizer was applied. Fall growth is left ungrazed until winter.
Another feed source is cornfield residue. Ear corn dropped at harvest and leaves and upper stalks provide nutrients for the herd. This may require added supplement for best usage.
“In Missouri, cornfields offer our most underused cattle feed,” Sexten says. “Grazing stover requires fences and water. But where land was taken out of pasture to plant corn, there may be fences and water available.”
Using a hot wire to allocate fresh feed every few days improves efficiency. However, Sexten says it’s important at this point to just get cattle into the cornfields. Cornstalks deteriorate quickly.
“Later, when producers learn the feed value of stover, they’ll improve grazing,” he says. “For now, try it.”
With increased use of herbicide-resistant corn, farmers learn the value of cattle picking up dropped corn. Next spring, that seed becomes a volunteer corn plant, a hard-to-kill weed.
The third feeding option is hay. This year, it may be bad hay.
It’s not too late to test hay to see how much supplement will be needed to produce the next calf crop.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Increased Global Grain Production Means
Lower Grain Prices for U.S. Growers
Thanks to increased global grain production and lower domestic demand for grain for ethanol, crop producers will find 2014 to be tougher than the past few years and should prepare now for lower prices, an expert from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences said.
“Prices reflect that we have moved from an era of scarcity to one of adequate inventories and prices have responded by moving lower,” said Matt Roberts, an Ohio State University (OSU) Extension economist. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the college. “We are already seeing lower prices come into the market, and unless U.S. or South American acreage declines, those prices are likely to continue to move lower,” he added.
“The prices we had earlier in the year aren’t guaranteed to return.”
Roberts spoke Nov. 25 during the kickoff of the college’s 2013-2014 Agricultural Policy and Outlook series. The event initiated a series of local meetings to be hosted statewide through the end of the year. Dates and times for the meetings can be found at http://go.osu.edu/2014outlook.
The event featured presentations by experts from the college’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics (AEDE), who discussed issues the food and agricultural community should expect in 2014, including policy changes and market behavior with respect to farm, food and energy resources, and the environment.
Thanks to several factors, including no growth in ethanol demand and expanded global crop acreage, markets are moving back toward matching supply and demand, Roberts said.
For more information, please view the full release here.
Rabo AgriFinance Adds New Member to Missouri Team
To better serve its Missouri clients, Rabo AgriFinance announces an addition to its team. Doug Meyer has been hired as a relationship manager based in the newly opened Kansas City office.
“Rabo AgriFinance has experienced tremendous growth in the U.S. over the past decade. Adding Doug to the team enhances our services in western Missouri as we seek to become the premier ag lender in the U.S.,” says Mike Martin, Rabo AgriFinance regional vice president.
Meyer, who lives in Harrisonville, Mo., has nearly 30 years of experience in the agricultural lending field, working with crop and livestock producers in eastern Kansas and western Missouri.
AgriLife Extension Offers Six New Apps
for Pond Owners, Managers
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service now has six new iPhone apps available for pond aficionados, said agency experts.
Todd Sink, AgriLife Extension fisheries specialist at College Station, provided the leadership to develop the new tools geared toward pond owners and managers.
“Sink has already communicated with AgriLife Extension agents about the apps and we now want to let the public know of their availability,” said Jim Cathey, AgriLife Extension associate department head and program leader in the wildlife and fisheries sciences unit at Texas A&M University.
Apps include AquaCide, AmmoniaCalc, AquaPlant, AquaRef, PondCalc and the Texas Farm Pond Management Calendar.
The six apps are available in the iTunes store for iPhone, iPad, iPad Mini, iPad Touch, Apple Macintosh and Windows platforms.
Cathey said to look for more apps coming soon, including upcoming wildlife releases for Texas deer management, feral hogs, and a rangeland stocking rate calculator for grazing livestock.
For more information contact Cathey at 979-845-0916, or jccathey@ag.tamu.edu.
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