Latest Updates from beef.unl.edu

This article was first published in "Nebraska Cattleman" magazine's February 2022 issue.

Several enhancements and improvements to the Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) insurance program over the last couple of years have made it much more user-friendly for cow-calf producers to purchase price protection for the fall calf crop earlier in the year. These changes include:

As cattle producers, some of our modern challenges have been a shrinking labor force and aging cattlemen. These hurdles can reduce our capacity for care. The term “capacity for care” is used to describe the maximum population of animals that a given workforce with a given set of skills, equipment, and facilities can care for at a certain stage in the animal production cycle (e.g., calving season).

A main economic driver of a cow-calf operation is the number of calves weaned per cow exposed. Two subsequent drivers are weight and phenotype. For these reasons, outstanding calf health is a directly correlated variable to calf growth and performance. This article will review management strategies that have been shown to be helpful for improving newborn calf health.

In 2017 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began implementing the Guidance for the Industry #213 otherwise known as the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD). Implementation of the VFD focused on veterinary oversight of medically important antibiotics delivered to livestock via feed and/or water, leaving a significant loophole for those products that were available over-the-counter (OTC) by other dosage forms.

This article is a summary of the 2022 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report “Comparison of Partially Confined and Traditional Cow-Calf Systems”. Zac E Carlson, Levi J. McPhillips, Galen E. Erickson, Mary E. Drewnoski, and Jim C. MacDonald were collaborators on this research study and report.  The report is summarized by Aaron Berger, Nebraska Extension Beef Educator.

Crop Residue Availability in Comparison to Perennial Pasture

Ranchers interested in learning about the latest cutting-edge research in range livestock production from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln are encouraged to register for the 2022 Nebraska Ranch Practicum offered by Nebraska Extension.

For most producers the spring breeding season is still a ways off, but now is a good time to review the most current estrus synchronization protocols and develop a plan for this year.  There are several Extension resources that can be helpful in preparing for the upcoming breeding season.

The number of calves in North America that fail to receive adequate colostrum ranges from 11%-31%.  This article will review key points on colostrum management to ensure calves are set up for success from the beginning of life.

The next session of “Know Your Numbers, Know Your Options,” Nebraska Extension’s four-part record-keeping course, will be held virtually from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. central time on March 15, 17, 22 and 24.

Participants should plan on attending each of the four workshop dates. The course requires participants to have an internet connection. 

What is a respectable beef replacement heifer value for the coming 2022 production season? 

While we are still early in the new year, it is time to start planning and thinking about any spring annual forages that we might plant.  Part of the process may be anticipating a need for extra feed or booking seed early for possible discounts. 

Beef feedlot managers, owners, employees and allied industries will learn new information related to feedlot price reporting, health, labor and sustainability at Nebraska Extension’s 2022 Beef Feedlot Roundtables Feb. 22-24 in Bridgeport, North Platte and West Point.

This article was originally featured in Progressive Cattle.

This time of year, many producers are feeding cows hay.  Have you ever stopped to think about what the dollar value of the nutrients in the hay are worth as fertilizer once they have been processed by the cow?

Mature cows at maintenance should excrete 100% of the nutrients they consume in terms of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. 

This article was first published by In the Cattle Markets on Jan. 18, 2022.

Attend in-person or online to learn how to reduce costs and improve feed quality of small grain silages.

Nebraska Extension, Lallemand Animal Nutrition and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach are hosting the fourth Silage for Beef Cattle Conference on March 17, 2022. This year the focus is on how to get the most out of small grain silages.  Registration is free and producers have the option to either stream the conference online or attend in-person at the Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center in Ithaca, Neb.

Practices, conditions, and prices change. Therefore, enterprise budgets must be updated at least annually. Several of the geographically representative Nebraska cow herd budgets produced by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln were updated over the past several months. Primarily, feed and cattle prices were updated, with three additional budgets completed.

This article was first published by In the Cattle Markets on Dec. 7, 2021

The following is a summary of the webinar “The Impact of Price and Management on Culling Decisions” given on November 4, 2021, as part of the Center for Agriculture Profitability weekly webinar series housed in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. This webinar can be viewed here, with an accompanying podcast above.

This article was first published in the November 2021 edition of RightRisk News