In Minnesota we start drivers ed early!

Veterinarians say shortage could pose human health risk
South Dakota has 17 counties where there are least 25,000 ranch animals and no large-animal vets.
Click for full Rapid City Journal story

Yesterday almost 6,000 visited our websites.

Starter Flock Program Launched In ND

The North Dakota Lamb and Wool Producers Association has launched the perpetual
starter flock program to help youth get into the sheep and wool industries.

The program, created with assistance from the North Dakota State University
Extension Service, is open to youth ages 10 to 18.

Each youth selected for the program will receive 10 ewes from the association.
The animals will be purchased at the association-sponsored ewe sale at the
Bowman (N.D.) Livestock Market in September.

Also, the association will provide program participants with a list of producers
who have volunteered to supply an RR ram. The participants will be responsible
for arranging with the producer to obtain the ram.

"We hope this will encourage young people to become involved in an industry that
is growing in numbers," says Lyle Warner, NDLWPA president. "The growth and
survival of the sheep industry, as any industry, is dependent on getting new
people involved in the business."

The association will recognize program participants at its annual convention in
mid-November.

"The perpetual starter flock program is an excellent example of how the North
Dakota Lamb and Wool Producers Association and NDSU Extension Service are
working together to revitalize the state's sheep industry," says Justin Luther,
NDSU Extension sheep specialist.

To be eligible for the program, youth must have a strong desire to become
involved in the sheep industry. Active involvement in 4-H or FFA is beneficial,
but not necessary.

Youth also must:

Be between age 10 and 18 as of Jan. 1 of the year they apply for the program

Accept mentoring from a designated association member, who can assist with
production questions and issues

Attend the association's convention the year they receive the sheep

Attend the convention the following year to give a progress report

Become a junior or senior member of the association

Return 20 percent of the cost of the ewes to the association in September of
the second, third and fourth years after receiving the sheep to perpetuate the
program's efforts

Youth interested in participating should send an application to Luther at 100D
Hultz Hall, NDSU, Fargo, ND 58105. The application must be postmarked by Aug. 1.
Applicants also must submit a letter of support and endorsement from a parent or
legal guardian and two letters of recommendation from people other than family
members.

Last Saturday I drove out to River Falls, WI with my grandson, Thrain, to attend the St. Croix Valley Bull Test Sale and test run a small booth.

I was surprised to see in the sale catelog that Bob Walton, the retired President of ABS, had a Simmental bull there. I found Bob and had a chance to greet an old acquaintance from my years of selling advertising in ag publications in the 70's and 80's. ABS was one of my best clients in one of the publications I sold space in, Dairy Herd Management.

Bob entered a bull in this test for the first time and won the test with the top indexing bull. Bob told me that he has been topping the Platteville, WI test for 7 or 8 years running.

Vaccination Key to Preventing Bovine Respiratory Disease
NDSU Agriculture Communication

Extension Service veterinarians in North and South Dakota are urging cattle
producers to include prevention in their branding and turnout calf vaccination
programs.

Drought conditions prevail in parts of both states, so short supplies of grass
and water are of major concern to producers. Sick calves only make the situation
worse.

Producers often refer to these calves as having dust pneumonia.

"Dust pneumonia really doesn't exist," says North Dakota State University
Extension Service veterinarian Charlie Stoltenow. "Dust does not cause
pneumonia, but it does add to the total stress suffered by an animal during
drought conditions. If a calf died due to 'dust pneumonia,' it actually died
from bovine respiratory disease, or BRD complex."

Each year BRD complex costs U.S. producers about $500 million. Most cases of BRD
occur during the fall months, when calves come off range and pasture, and are
weaned and put into feedlots. However, during years of intense stress early in a
calf's life, pneumonia can occur when it is on pasture.

"This year is shaping up to be one of those years where calves on pasture are
going to be under increased stress and will be at greater risk for BRD," says
South Dakota State University Extension Service veterinarian Russ Daly.
"Producers need to start thinking now about vaccinating calves for respiratory
pathogens before they are turned out onto pasture because having to treat calves
out on pasture is not an ideal situation."

While postweaning BRD has been well-defined through the years, its occurrence in
calves on summer pasture is not as well-understood. Possible factors that may
play a role are infections with viruses such as infectious bovine
rhinotracheitis (IBR), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) and bovine
virus diarrhea (BVD); stressful events, such as long-distance movements or
weather events; mineral deficiencies; and dusty conditions, all of which affect
the calf's ability to fight off BRD.

This summer, researchers from SDSU and several cattle producers are teaming up
with the goal of better understanding the various risk factors that contribute
to summer pneumonia.

Stoltenow and Daly recommend producers work with their veterinarian to plan a
calf health program for this year's pasture season. This may include vaccines
that protect against viruses such as IBR, BRSV and BVD or, in some cases,
against bacterial pathogens such as Mannheimia or Pasteurella.

"If we are treating BRD out on pasture, we are too late in the game for
economical intervention," says Stoltenow. "Every time we have to treat an animal
for a respiratory condition, we are lowering the performance and value of that
animal. Prevention is the key to profitability."

Stan Smith of the Ohio Extension Service and other members of the Ohio Beef Team put together a weekly email newsletter for cattlemen. It's always filled with practical info for cowmen.
This week's newsletter deals with the new economics, forage and mineral.

Click to read newsletter

CBC News

Financially beleaguered cattle producers in Manitoba are selling off their herds and switching to wheat, capitalizing on soaring grain prices.

Martin Unrau, president of the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association, is just one of hundreds of ranchers expected to sell off their animals this year and put their fields to work raising grain.

"Here we are growing grain for sale again, which is kind of hard to believe, I guess. But we're doing it," said Unrau, who has made his living raising cattle for more than 40 years.

"We've torn up some hay land and we're going to put in about 400 acres of salable grain this year, something we haven't done for about 10 or 11 years," he told CBC News.

Unrau's operation near MacGregor, Man., has been losing money — a common affliction in the industry, which has been struggling with soaring feed costs, low livestock prices and a high Canadian dollar.

He expects the switch to earn him about $80,000 in profits this year.

Read the full article

Lawmakers hope to remedy rural vet shortage
Associated Press - April 8, 2008

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A shortage of veterinarians in rural counties has persuaded state lawmakers to take action.

The Legislature gave first-round approval to a bill (LB1172) on Tuesday that could lure food animal veterinarians to areas of the state with vet shortages by giving them $80,000 each over four years.

Senator Cap Dierks, a veterinarian from Ewing who introduced the measure, says there are 13 counties in the state with no food animal vets. He argued vets are needed to safeguard the food supply, and pointed out that Nebraska is a leader in meat production.

Senator Ron Raikes of Lincoln said the bill isn't needed because many of the services traditionally provided by vets are now done by farmers and ranchers.

This afternoon I will drive to the Jackson Sale Barn in Jackson, MN to attend the Minnesota Bull Test Sale. The test and sale are conducted by the Minnesota Beef Cattle Improvement Association. This bull test and sale are the longest running bull test in the nation. I'm sure they will have another good sale this year.

Last year, the bulls were excellent. There were some very powerful bulls in both angus and red angus breeds. Any buyer at the sale got his money's worth.

Viewing the bulls starts at 4:00 PM and the sale starts at 6:00 PM.

We have just finished rebuilding our general rural website, RuralAds.com. This has been a big project. It now works the same as our three livestock sites.

Making one login for all of our websites makes it easier for our users.

Including the state page of our other websites on each state page of RuralAds.com is a feature you'll like.

Click here and look it over

Make Pasture Fertilizing Pay
Bruce Anderson, Extension Forage Specialist , Nebraska Ag Extension

Spring is approaching and cool-season grass pastures soon will green-up. As with other crops, grass growth is stimulated by fertilizer. With nitrogen fertilizer costing over 60 cents per pound this spring, though, producers may be asking whether it pays to fertilize pasture.

Our Nebraska research shows that you get one pound of additional calf or yearling gain for every pound of nitrogen fertilizer applied. However, this fertilization rule-of-thumb assumes that the amount applied is within our general recommendations, which are based on the potential amount of extra grass growth expected. This is affected mostly by moisture. It also assumes that your grazing management will efficiently harvest this extra growth.

If you fertilize pasture in spring and then let animals graze continuously on one pasture throughout the season, much of the extra growth is wasted. They trample, manure and foul, bed down on, and simply refuse to eat much of the grass. Eventually, less than one-third of the extra grass ends up inside your livestock.

To make fertilizer pay, manage grazing so more of what you grow actually gets eaten. Subdivide pastures with some cross-fences and control when and where your animals graze. Give animals access to no more than one-fourth of your pasture at a time, and preferably less. Then graze off about one-half of the growth before moving to another subdivision. If your pastures aren't already subdivided into at least four paddocks, your fertilizer dollar might be better spent on developing more cross-fences and watering sites.

Follow these suggestions and more of your pasture growth will be eaten and you're likely to get more profits from your efforts.

Forage Focus: Oats, Teff and Other Stuff
Stan Smith, PA, Fairfield County OSU Extension

As Vince Gill explained in the lyrics of one of his hits a few years ago, "Everybody's ready for the next big thing!" Unfortunately, in the world of agriculture and Mother Nature, the next big thing is seldom what it seems at first glance. Depending on how quickly, how blindly, and how completely early adopters jump into that "next big thing" we've all been seeking, with regard to forage production this year, it'll likely be either feast or famine. That being said, it brings me to the subject of oats, teff and other stuff!

With forage inventories in the Midwest depleted, and acres being attracted into more profitable row crops this spring, I'm hearing the next big thing in forages is oats, teff or even potentially a variety of other alternatives. This is where common sense, some basic practical management, and a logical look at our most immediate needs may result in a more profitable solution than simply accepting some of the sales pitches I'm hearing.

First, if you need forage ASAP, find a way to get some nitrogen on a few of your pasture acres. And, for the most total annual production of your pastures, DON'T start grazing them before their time!

If you need baled forages, simply make the first cutting in a timely fashion . . . that likely means beginning around early to mid May.

I'm hearing some producers talking about planting oats as soon as soil conditions permit in an effort to bale them for "early hay." First keep in mind this likely means mid June before they are in late boot stage and harvest ready. More importantly, considering today's grain prices, there's no way we can harvest enough forage from spring planted oats to cover the lost profit opportunity when taking a field out of a full season corn crop worth $5 +/- per bushel just to grow some oats to bale in early summer. Spring planted oats do not yield nearly the tonnage, or quality of the oats you've heard us talk about being planted into wheat stubble.

The next "big thing" I've heard is that teff will solve all our forage issues. Indeed it has it's place, but don't be fooled . . . find it's place on your farm before you buy your teff seed. Teff should not be planted before warm weather arrives once and for all, and any threat of frost has passed. This means it's not planted in Ohio until ~June 1 (how many times have you worn long sleeves at your Memorial Day picnic?) and it's production will curtail quickly as cooler weather arrives in Fall.

To begin with, if you take a field away from corn or soybean production and leave it idle until it's fit to plant teff on June 1, you've lost 6 weeks of production on that ground. Perhaps the best fit for teff in Ohio - and perhaps the only fit - is in a situation where a hay stand is failing, and needs to be rotated out of hay for a season. Harvest the first cutting of hay in late May using glyphosate prior to mowing it, and then plant the field into teff immediately.

I've heard it suggested teff will work nicely as a double crop after wheat. Considering that first harvest of teff will likely not be until 45 days after planting, and the plant shuts down as cooler weather approaches, I can't imagine teff can compete in total dry matter production, or cost of production with oats in this double crop after wheat scenario. In fact, oats have been so forgiving from a planting date standpoint that we have seen our best yields and highest quality when they're planted the first of August. This allows time to bale a valuable straw crop, haul manure over the wheat stubble and then plant oats. Cost of seeding will likely be a little less than planting teff, and the fertility demands are lower. Find more information on teff under this link: http://fairfield.osu.edu/ag/beef/beefJune6.html#linkdd.

Perhaps turnips or annual ryegrass find their niche on your operation as a quick forage fix on areas where bale ring waste and trampling have destroyed portions of a pasture.

The bottom line is that most of the forages we are hearing about this winter have their place in the forage management mix. But, used out of place, they may quickly become a liability during these times of high land and feed values.

When you have completed your contact information and placed your ad, do this.

Go to your ad on lastest ads and test the link to your website if you have included one and test your email address entered.

We have found that many of you have made a mistake when you entered them.

(Paul's note - this is about cattle, but applies to all production animals)

Public Perception and the Beef Industry
K. Scott Jensen
University of Idaho - Owyhee County Extension

We live in an interesting world today. Modern technology makes
information available with a few keystrokes or clicks of the mouse on
the computer. Many activist groups are willing to use every available
resource to promote their causes.

Consider the video images released from the Hallmark Meat Packing plant
in California. Extreme effort was made to obtain the video footage. This
footage was then released to the media and on the internet with the
purpose of damaging the beef industry. Effective? I think so.

While I don't agree with the methods or the purpose of those who did the
videotaping, I think there are some important things each beef cattle
producer, feedlot operator, sale yard owner/manager, and meat packer
should understand. Properly treating, handling, and caring for your
livestock is important. Consumers and the public in general care that
animals are treated humanely.

Fortunately for the beef industry, the vast majority of producers do
just that. Unfortunately for the industry, there are a few who don't. It
is amazing how quickly those few producers can give the industry a black
eye.

What can you do about it? My suggestion is that you review practices on
your own operation. How are cattle handled when worked. Can a cow make
it down the alleyway to the squeeze chute without receiving three pokes
with the sorting stick and a couple of zaps with the hot shot? I am not
suggesting that these tools be discarded...just that you review the
frequency and method of use. Make adjustments as necessary to reduce
their need.

Sometimes these tools see use out of habit rather than out of need. I
was at a sale yard not long ago and noticed that every animal entering
the ring received two whacks on the rump and one jab in the ribs with
the sorting stick no matter what it did. While I did not consider this
to be abuse, I thought it to be in excess. Imagine how someone from the
general public or worse, an activist might perceive or portray this use
of a sorting stick.

The take home message is simply this. How animals are treated from
calving until harvest is important. Are your handling and management
practices above reproach? Let's continue to produce a product that
consumers can purchase and enjoy with confidence...confidence that it is
safe and wholesome and that those animals were treated properly
throughout the production process.