Volume XIV Number 3 • May/June 2006
Table of Contents

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Editor's Desk
Two of the most basic principals (although they are not always realized) in the Beef Industry are 1) A cow weans a calf every year and, 2) Every animal that enters the feedlot, finishes with the desired grade and yield.One disease which has very significant bearing on each of these is Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV). It is possible that it can be eliminated, and it is necessary that it be eliminated. BVDV costs the industry a great deal of money in a variety of ways. There are reproductive effects on breeding females such as failure to conceive, abortion, fetal infections leading to early embryonic death, birth defects, stunting, the birth of persistently infected calves (PI calf). ...Read the Story...

Preparing for Pinkeye Season: Are You Seeing Clearly?
Pinkeye may appear to be nothing more than an annoyance to cattle. But in fact, it is a costly infection that results in losses of an estimated $150 million annually. Although cattle can suffer from pinkeye during any time of the year, it is most prevalent during mid to late summer. ....Read the Story...

Summer Feeding Suggestions
Ideas relating to water, fat and oils replacing starch, salt and mineral levels, Low roughage rations for dust control, protein levels, time of day feeding, working and treating cattle, controling flies and more....Read the Story...

New Website Offers Guidance on Manure Management
The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), has launched a new website for manure and nutrient management planning information. . ...Read the Story...

Beef Scientist Tackles Feedlot Odor
John Jaeger knows one down side to working in or near cattle feedlots: sometimes, they don’t smell very good. It goes with the territory. But Jaeger and other researchers across the country also know that science can help put a lid on odor.. ...Read the Story...

How To Present New Ideas -- Employee Management
A new employee has an idea for how to speed up some daily procedures, and wants their Supervisor to seriously consider it. A Foreman has an idea for a way to save money on repairs and needs to communicate it to the operation’s Manager. The Manager has an idea to improve the organizational structure of the operation to improve efficiency and accountability, and needs to “sell” the idea to the owners. The Owner of the company has an idea to restructure the finances in a better way for the future, and needs to get acceptance from the lender. . ...Read the Story...

Persistent Infection of BVD
BVD and persistent infection (PI) continues to receive a great deal of attention from veterinarians, researchers and producers. BVD is a very complex disease and has been the focus of many studies for the past 60 years. Cattle that are persistently infected help to constantly spread the disease to other cattle and create more persistently infected cattle. . ...Read the Story...

Research Shows Time of Year Affects Quality Grades
With the escalating number of cattle sold in the value-based pricing system, quality grade and marbling become increasingly important in obtaining carcass premiums for beef producers. We are now producing less Choice and Prime than in the past. “Consumers were willing to pay 50 percent more for USDA Prime steaks than for lesser-marbled select-grade steaks ($3.66 per lb vs. $2.44 per lb). Demand for highly marbled beef for upscale restaurants and stores may account for 30 percent of the U.S. beef market,” according to the January 2006, Angus Beef Bulletin, ‘Strategies for Attaining Marbling,’ by Harlan Ritchie.. Seasonal quality grade variation is considered small, near eight to 10 percent; however, even slight changes in beef supply can have a dramatic effect on fed-cattle prices and grid-market spreads....Read the Story...

Early Weaned Calves in the Feedlot
University of Illinois studies 10 years ago showed early weaned steers had higher gains and better feedlot conversions than traditionally weaned steers, along with higher marbling scores and a greater percentage grading average choice or higher. Camp Cooley Ranch in Texas has been early weaning calves off recipient cows (for their ET program) since 2002. Data from early weaned calves was an eye-opener, says manager Bill Pendergrass. Many of the calves were only 50 days old. . ...Read the Story...

Kansas Team to Study Electronic ID Technology
In a perfect world, cattle line up voluntarily to be loaded onto trucks destined for the packing plant. The weather is mild with sunshine and no mud, dust or wind. The conditions make it easy for electronic readers to identify each animal sporting a radio frequency tag so that producers, shippers, auction houses and meat packers can track each animal. In the world of livestock production, however, conditions and animals typically fall short of perfect, said Kansas State University animal scientist Dale Blasi. ...Read the Story...

Market Notes
Cattle price has plummeted over the last two months. It always seems like that about the time we become comfortable, the market has a different plan in store for us. Bulging feedyard inventories is probably the culprit behind the gigantic drop of 15 to 20 percent in futures price (basis the June contract). Technically speaking, the charts have a “V” formation in place which, if it holds, would indicate a rebound into the $80 to $82 area (basis the June contract). The flip side is “What happens after the rebound, if it occurs?”...Read the Story...

Mandatory Cattle Price Reporting: What Have We Learned
Price discovery is the process by which buyers and sellers use available information to discern where they believe demand and supply intersect to arrive at an agreed upon price for a particular transaction. Public reporting of prices provides information to buyers and sellers that helps speed the discovery process for prices that equate demand and supply. Publicly reported prices also help provide important economic signals to producers regarding what buyers want which can, in turn, help guide future production decisions. For these reasons livestock price information has been publicly reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since shortly after the end of World War II, relying on authority provided by the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946. ....Read the Story...

Summer Feeding...Heat and Humidity Stress
Heat wave early warning signals that affect feedlot cattle were highlighted at the 2005 Husker Beef Conference by Dr. Terry Mader, University of Nebraska scientist. He has made observations over several years and studied weather patterns proceeding death loss events in feedlots.Prior to the heat stress event, he outlined these danger signals:
•Hot-dry wind or an extended cool period
•Single rain event (less than 0.5 inch) two to four days prior to the stress event
•Feed intake constant or rising. Daily weather temperature begins to rise
•A frontal weather boundary – slow moving or stalls, winds begin to diminish, radiation heat increases from surface evaporation, absence of cloud cover, and three days of stress with death loss expected day one and day two.. ...Read the Story...

Groups Request Help for Fire, Drought Ravaged Country
As a tornado of fire devoured the Texas Panhandle March 15, leaders of the state’s livestock groups sent a desperate plea for government help. A previous plea on Jan. 24 brought nominal assistance from disaster programs overwhelmed by victims of hurricanes and other natural disasters.. ...Read the Story...

Horn Flies Affect a Rancher's Bottom Line
Horn flies are found in all 50 states, but are probably more of a problem in the South. In some warmer climates (south Florida and southernmost Texas), horn flies reproduce actively throughout the year. Horn flies are mainly in pastures, but will move to feedlots or dairy cattle in search of a blood meal. They may even infest horses, but they do not establish a breeding population there. When cattle are available in pastures, horn flies move to them. A new product is available for horn fly control at the larval stage. Altosid 1 percent IGR (Insect Growth Regulator) from Wellmark International is the first IGR in liquid form. It can be applied as a top dress or incorporated into free-choice liquid feeds using custom formulation levels. . ...Read the Story...

Spring & Summer Calving Tips
The money you don’t spend is the money you make, advised Twig Marston, cow-calf production specialist at Kansas State University. With spring here and summer just around the corner, many cow-calf producers are right in the thick of calving season. And while they may find little time to think about anything else, producers should also be gearing up for the breeding season, Marston said.. ...Read the Story...

Cattle Learning Center Series Now Available Online
Thanks to an educational grant from Pfizer Animal Health, the Cattle Learning Center is ready to launch a valuable, Web-based educational series on cattle reproduction. The Web site features a self-paced, interactive learning module that allows users to move step by step through the course. The site includes illustrations, quizzes, video clips and interactive calculators.. . ...Read the Story...

Ranchers Get Help Making Decisions to Feed or Depopulate Cattle
Patsy Duncan could see the fire racing toward her land so she opened the gate where her cows were pastured. This probably saved the ranch, she said. Duncan is one of many ranchers across the burned stretches of the Texas Panhandle listening to a series of “After the Wildfires: Livestock and Range Recovery” meetings for advice on what steps to take next. Approximately 50 people attended the first meeting in Borger, representing ranches in five different counties, Hutchinson, Roberts, Gray, Wheeler and Carson. . ...Read the Story...