Winter Annual Grazing Plots

Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County, OSU Extension Food plot with purple top turnips that are suitable for wildlife, or livestock! Photo by Clif Little, Ohio State University Extension. Some people take great pride in providing superior forage for grazing animals in the late fall utilizing combinations of annual, biennial, and perennial forages. In areas like ours, it seems like the most popular animal this smorgasbord of delightful feed is…

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KDA Confirms Vesicular Stomatitis in Horses in Sherman County

The Kansas Department of Agriculture has announced that vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) was confirmed in horses in Sherman County on October 23, 2019. Kansas becomes the eighth state in the U.S. to have confirmed cases of VSV this year. The infected horses all reside on the same premises, which is a private residence, and no animal movement has occurred on or off that premises for more than three weeks. KDA has quarantined the…

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Consider By-product Feeds in Rations This Winter

Erika Lyon, OSU Extension Educator, Jefferson & Harrison Counties (originally published in The Ohio Farmer) By-products such as distillers grains, gluten or soyhulls can serve as lower cost feed alternatives. The last two years made it challenging for many producers to find good quality, let alone a good quantity of, feed for livestock. Spoilage and high costs for subpar hay and grain can be discouraging. Health issues associated with poor quality feed may…

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USDA Announces Early Release of Select Commodity Tables for USDA’s Agricultural Projections to 2029

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2019 — On November 1, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. EST, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will release selected tables prepared for the upcoming USDA Agricultural Projections to 2029 report. USDA will post online tables containing long-term supply, use, and price projections to 2029 for major U.S. crops and livestock products, and will include supporting U.S. and international macroeconomic assumptions. The short-term projections from the October 11, 2019 World Agricultural…

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ShowMe Genetic Services LLC Purchases Genex Facility in Strafford, Missouri

ShowMe Genetic Services LLC announces its purchase of the Genex Custom Collection facility, Strafford, Mo., from Genex Cooperative. The agreement was finalized Oct. 18, 2019. Locally owned and operated by the Steven and Jamie Rogers family, ShowMe Genetic Services LLC will focus on custom semen collection, freezing, semen and embryo storage, shipping, liquid nitrogen tank refills, and retail sales of artificial insemination breeding supplies. ShowMe Genetic Services is accredited through Certified Semen Services,…

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K-State, KDA offer produce safety training

Growers can attend at one of three sites MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State Research and Extension and the Kansas Department of Agriculture have set dates for three upcoming workshops focused on food safety training for fresh produce growers. The training is designed to familiarize commercial fruit, vegetable and herb growers with compliance parameters under the Food Safety Modernization Act, signed into law in 2011. The workshops are Nov. 8 in Parsons, Kansas; Nov. 15…

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Not All Rainfall Is Effective

By Hugh AljoeDirector of Producer Relations The old adage, “We are never more than three weeks away from a drought,” is commonly used by producers here in the southern Great Plains. However, depending on the management of the property, drought may be closer than some think and considerably further out for others. A 3-inch rain may result in different outcomes for different producers even if the pastures and soils are similar. The observable…

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Prussic Acid Poisoning in Grazing Livestock

By Kiran Mysore, Ph.D.Professor Plants in the sorghum family can grow in dry climatic conditions, where summer temperatures are above 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsious), and on somewhat marginal lands. Sorghums are C4 crops in the grass family and are characterized by their high photosynthetic efficiency. Sorghum-sudan grass hybrids are well suited as forage crops since they can produce more biomass than forage or grain sorghums. With these characteristics, sorghum-sudan grasses could…

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Grazing Native Grass Pastures Is More Economical Than Feeding Hay to Cows in Winter

Robert Wells, Ph.D.Livestock Consultant It is typically reported that cow winter supplementation accounts for 40 to 60% of the total annual cost of maintaining a cow, but that cost depends greatly on whether hay is being supplemented in lieu of dormant standing forage for the cow. When you can supply standing forage in the form of native grass pasture instead of a bale of hay, the total winter feed cost will be dramatically…

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Low-stress cattle handling workshop set Oct. 25 in Canyon

A “Low-Stress Cattle Handling Workshop” will be hosted Oct. 25 in Canyon by the Veterinary Education, Research and Outreach, or VERO, West Texas A&M University, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas Cattle Feeders Association. Ron Gill, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service beef cattle specialist, College Station, will discuss low-stress cattle handling. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Kay Ledbetter) The free program will be from 9-11 a.m. in the Bain Event Center,…

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