News Update
August 5, 2016
Fescue Exacerbates Heat Stress
The summer slump in cool-season grass growth got a knockout punch from heavy rains in July across much of Missouri. Good growth for most grasses won’t be good for toxic tall fescue pastures, says Craig Roberts, University of Missouri Extension forage specialist.
“Keep your eyes open,” Roberts tells cow herd owners. “The rapid grass growth makes more toxin in fescue leaves.”
Toxic tall fescue adds heat stress in cattle. That comes at a time of high-temperature forecasts. “Stress becomes a double whammy. Toxin in the grass adds to ambient temperatures,” Roberts says. “Hot weather arrives when cattle can’t deal with it.”
Most years, grass pastures are heading into a low-growth phase by mid-July. Seasonal growth patterns and dry weather team up to slow growth — and grazing. Not this year.
Continue reading in the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
Ingalls’ Centennial Angus Ranch
Ingalls is a surname well-known in South Dakota. Author Laura Ingalls shared stories of her family’s homesteading experiences near De Smet, S.D., through the renowned Little House on the Prairie book series.
In the Angus industry, another Ingalls family — a shirttail relative of the famous author — has also built a historic reputation in South Dakota. Hugh and Eleanor Ingalls have the distinction of operating what’s said to be the state’s oldest existing Angus herd. Located in the rolling native prairie southwest of Faith, S.D., the couple, who are now in their mid-80s, are still active in the ranch that goes back four generations.
The Ingalls’ Angus story begins with James Ingalls — Hugh’s great-grandfather — who was also a first cousin to Charles Ingalls, Laura’s father.
Read more in the Angus Media news article online.
106 and Counting
More than 106 years ago, Simpson Angus Ranch planted its roots deep in the Oklahoma soil. As one of last year’s Century Award recipients, Charlie Simpson knows beating the odds for a century is no small feat.
The legacy started in early 1910 when Simpson’s great uncle, J.C. Simpson, brought some of the first registered-Angus cows on record to Oklahoma from the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show.
A rancher from Odessa, Texas, was experiencing drought, so he loaded up a few bred heifers and four bulls and shipped them to the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show, asking $120 per cow and $250 per bull.
“My great uncle put in what he thought was a low bid of $100 per cow and $200 for each bull, and just went back to his hotel to eat supper,” Simpson recalls. “They came in and said, ‘Paging Mr. Simpson; where do you want these delivered?’ ”
Continue reading in the Angus Media news article online.
Association Perspective
As you look through your current Angus bull inventory, the Fall 2016 Sire Evaluation Report, or possibly a bull sale book later this fall, you may notice a subtle shift downward in the dollar value indexes ($Values) vs. what you have become accustomed to seeing the last several years.
The use of multi-trait selection indexes as tools for commercial cow-calf operators and seedstock breeders has rapidly evolved in the beef industry. Selection indexes are a tool to select for several traits at once. An index approach takes into account genetic and economic values to select for economic merit.
A multi-trait index approach can be contrasted to single-trait selection or independent culling levels. An index is challenging to develop, but the end result is easy to use, adding simplicity and convenience to a multi-trait approach.
The expected progeny differences (EPDs) currently available through the American Angus Association, along with numerous individual performance measures, can become overwhelming. Weaned calf value ($W), feedlot value ($F), grid value ($G) and beef value ($B) are bioeconomic values, expressed in dollars per head, to assist commercial beef producers by adding simplicity to genetic selection decisions.
For more information, access the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
To Return or Not to Return
It’s not as dramatic as the Shakespearean language makes it sound, but as a young person trying to get their footing, the road back to the cattle business is anything but a straight one.
In college, there were those who were returning home to a waiting position; those who wanted to return home, but no room was available; and, finally, those whose family wished they would return, but the son or daughter had other ideas.
Oh, and then there were those who set out with a plan and realized plans can change — a lot.
If only there were an acre for every time someone asked, “What are you going to do? You going to go back or what?”
To return, or not to return … Farming and ranching aside, it’s a question any person who comes from any sort of family business must face, and popular enough to be the focal point of a session at this year’s Cattle Industry Convention in San Diego, Calif.
To read more, access the Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA article online.
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