Latest Updates from beef.unl.edu

Hay production has been reported to be 50% of average or less in many areas of Nebraska. The U.S. hay supply is at a 50-year low (Table 1). Couple this information with rising costs (Figure 1) and it becomes prudent to plan fall, winter, and next spring’s hay needs sooner rather than later. Inventory your feed and hay resources now to know what you need. Checking prices and availability now will go a long way to reducing the anxiety of what we will feed our cows this fall and winter.

The Nebraska Women in Agriculture program, along with the Nebraska Beef Quality Assurance Program, are excited to announce the second annual Herd That! Conference on Sept. 21, 2022, in Broken Bow, Nebraska with a pre-conference Sept. 20. The cattle handling demonstration will be one of the highlights of the program, along with the keynote speakers Courtenay Dehoff, #fancyladycowgirl, and ShayLe Stewart, DTN Livestock Analyst.

The long, hot days of summer are a stark contrast from the cold nights of calving season.  However, now is the time to start preparing for the arrival of the 2023 calf crop.  August or September is a prime month for ultrasound pregnancy diagnosis of your cow herd.

Drought conditions influenced forage and grain production for nearly two years.  Forage and grain yields are expected to be somewhere between 1/3 and ½ of normal.  Pasture yield is also low or already out.  Feeding and managing cows while coping with these conditions is a challenge complicated further by costs associated with feed delivery.   Cow-calf producers must incorporate three considerations that greatly affect cow feeding costs under current economic conditions:  feeding group size, energy density of feed and fuel cost. 

Southeast Nebraska farmers can sharpen their management strategies for the third and fourth most grown crops at the second annual Southeast Nebraska Alfalfa and Wheat Expo. Hosts and southeast Nebraska Water & Integrating Cropping Systems Extension Educator, Nathan Mueller, and southeast Nebraska Beef Systems Extension Educators, Wayde Pickinpaugh and Connor Biehler advocate for more diverse crop rotations that are both underutilized and undervalued.

As the drought that has plagued the western U.S. since 2020 hangs on, much of Nebraska is currently experiencing moderate to severe drought. July tends to be a busy time for production cows, resulting in high nutrient demands, which further exacerbates the limitations of drought-stricken grass.

May marked the beginning that pasture and range conditions are released by USDA-AMS in their weekly crop progress reports by state. This gives the industry its first barometer of how bad the drought could be this year across the United States to the overall industry and to specific geographic areas. The USDA-AMS reports pasture and range conditions in five categories: very poor, poor, fair, good, and excellent.

With silage harvest coming up quickly, manure application will soon follow. Because silage is often the first crop to come off the field, it allows for earlier manure application and thus an earlier cleanout of pens before winter. As that manure application plan develops, include best stewardship practices for optimum rates and preferred application methods in final decisions. But, wait, what do those things mean?

Many areas of Nebraska and surrounding states are experiencing drought and lack of water for irrigation. What are the alternatives and considerations when grain harvest won’t be a viable option?

When harvesting drought-stressed corn to feed, consider: 

The current map from the U.S. drought monitor (Current Map | U.S. Drought Monitor (unl.edu)) has all but a small corner of Nebraska listed as abnormally dry to extreme drought. This ongoing drought has been affecting parts of the state since 2020, forcing beef cattle producers to make drought related management decisions. One of the options often proposed to help reduce pressure on drought stricken pastures is early weaning.

Many of us that work with farm families hear stories like this: the son is home from college to start his career on the farm. He visits with his parents on a change during action or management. The son identifies a field to be converted to “no-till,” and while he goes into town for parts, his father starts disking the field. In cases like this, the son will feel like he has not been trusted to make decisions. Lack of trust among family members can be a huge issue for any family moving forward, especially if they are working on farm/ranch succession plans.

The US drought monitor is indicating that drought conditions for central states, including Nebraska, remain in 2022.  Seasonal outlook for the remainder of summer in Nebraska and western states is characterized as drought tendent.  Persistent drought pressured forage and grain prices and deteriorated pasture conditions.  Concurrently, the January US beef cow inventory declined from a peak in 2017 of 31.2 million cows to 30.1 million cows in January of this year.  Implications of lower beef cow inventory on supply of feeder calves are already evident in the marketplace: f

Late August and September usually signal pasture fly season should be ending. However, over the last few years our fall seasons have remained warm, sometimes well into early November and flies persist at problematic levels longer than typical. This upcoming fall season may be no different based on several meteorology forecasts. If these predictions hold true, pasture fly control efforts may be required through late fall.

The United States produced 1.65 billion bushels of wheat in 2020, with wheat ranking as the third largest produced grain after corn and soybeans. As grain prices increase, dependent on availability, utilizing wheat may be an option for producers to implement in their feeding program.

The 2022 Nebraska Grazing Conference will be held August 9 and 10 at the Younes Conference Center in Kearney, NE with a program bridging grazing lands conservation and management.

In recent years, a modern technology, “virtual fencing,” has emerged into the market and has been gaining growing interest from the livestock producers, particularly in the cattle sector. Virtual fencing technology has been studied in some European countries and Australia where grazing beef and dairy cows are predominant. More research is currently being conducted in the USA to better understand how virtual fencing might fit within cow-calf and yearling operations as a tool for grazing management.

Feedlot managers understand that heat stress reduces intake.  This effect is more marked in cattle that are closer to their finishing weight, and during the first heat event of the season as cattle are not acclimated to heat yet. 

This planting season, early dry conditions followed by late wet conditions in some areas have caused some fields to be designated prevented planting acres. To go along with this, high feed and forage prices and less than ideal pasture conditions due to previous years’ drought are allowing the opportunity for producers to think outside the box. After all, an influx of prevented plant acres provides freedom to produce annual cover crops to counter-balance current forage prices.

When a beef animal is harvested, the value of the carcass and the resulting cuts are determined based on the grades of the carcass. Quality grading and yield grading is monitored by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS). Unlike inspection, which monitors food safety and is mandatory for meat products being sold in the United States, grading is a voluntary program and is used to determine the marketability of the product.