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Source: Texas NRCS
No one knew when Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas on August 25 as a Category 4 hurricane that it would be one of the most devastating hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S. Texans along the Gulf Coast saw cities demolished, peak wind gusts as high as 130 mph, unprecedented rainfall of more than 50 inches that caused catastrophic flooding in areas, the death of 88 Texans, displacement of thousands of residents and more than $200 million dollars in agricultural losses.
In the days after, a hand-painted sign summed up Texans’ resilience – “Harvey was strong, Texas is stronger.” And strong is what farmers and ranchers have to be in their daily lives faced with the challenges of working in agriculture, especially when dealing with Mother Nature. Read more about how one Texas ranch family worked to recover after the storm.
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Source: Progressive Forage
The recipe for successful grazing of stockpiled forages starts months before you turn in the livestock. It’s important to understand stockpiled forage isn’t simply forcing livestock to eat forages they’ve passed over earlier in the grazing season. Rather, stockpiled forages are deliberately accumulated new growth late in the growing season that will be grazed in a managed system during fall and winter.
A good rule of thumb is to think one grazing season out so there is a plan well in advance of actually needing the forage. Some ways to extend the grazing season and fill gaps in available forage include: incorporating cool-season annuals, clovers and other legumes; and grazing stockpiled forages. Get tips on stockpiling here.
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Source: Greg Halich, University of Kentucky
Will grazing more and feeding less hay always increase profitability? There are many cases where cattle farmers could graze more days profitably. But the statement is not universally correct, and we need to evaluate the specific situation to determine if increasing grazing days will pay off on a particular farm.
The most effective way I have found to help folks understand this dynamic is with the following analogy: Think about picking apples out of a large tree during a banner year when it is loaded with apples. Where do you start picking? You get all the fruit you can easily reach from the ground, correct? Pretty easy – what do you do next? Well, you might get on your toes and go around the tree and get a few more. Were you as efficient, in terms of apples picked per minute, as you were when your feet were firmly planted on the ground? No, not quite.
Then what? Read more to learn what message this analogy holds for grazing? And, read a second article by Halich that poses the question: How far can we extend the grazing season profitably?
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Reminders on Range Mineral Nutrition
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Source: Range Beef Cow Symposium
While it is widely believed that cattle possess a certain amount of “nutritional wisdom,” producers must realize that cattle do not intuitively know when they need specific nutrients necessary for optimum performance. University of Nebraska Beef Systems Specialist Mary Drewnoski offered that warning to cattlemen attending Range Beef Cow Symposium XXV recently in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Read more of her mineral tips here.
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