A Publication of:

831 College Ave., Suite D, Lancaster, OH 43130

and the

OSU Extension BEEF Team

BEEF Cattle questions may be directed to the OSU Extension BEEF Team through Stephen Boyles or Stan Smith, Editor

You may subscribe to this weekly BEEF Cattle letter by sending a request to smith.263@ag.osu.edu

Previous issues of the BEEF Cattle letter

Issue # 498

August 2, 2006

Forage Focus: Late Summer and Extended Winter Grazing Forage Options - Stan Smith, OSU Extension PA, Fairfield County

With many harvested small grain fields that weren't double cropped to soybeans now sitting idle, cattlemen still have an excellent opportunity to be creating high quality forages that may be grazed well into winter, and even next spring. With four years of experience with summer planted oats under our belts, preceded by several years of experience with cereal rye, we know there's still plenty of time to 'create' anywhere from two to five tons of forages in wheat stubble or otherwise vacant fields. Better yet, if you are fortunate enough to be in a Conservation Security Program (CSP) watershed and are accepted into the program, the "extended grazing" options that are discussed below may be eligible for an additional "enhancement" payment.

For the balance of this summer we are continuing to demonstrate and experiment with a number of variations on the August seeded oats you've heard about previously. Based on what we've learned so far, we believe the alternatives mentioned below deserve consideration by anyone needing additional high quality forages to extend the grazing season.

If your primary needs are a forage for grazing, hay, or silage later this summer and fall, oats appear to be the most productive, least cost option at this time. Alternatives include:

* No-til 60-90 pounds into harvested wheat or oat fields, or harvested corn silage fields anytime up until early September. It appears that late July or early August may be the optimum time to plant oats when high quality forage is the goal. "Spring" oats seldom make seed when planted after the days begin to shorten in July, but will continue to grow leaf until Thanksgiving or after in Ohio. Consider applying ~ 50 pounds of nitrogen about 60 days before you plan to harvest them, regardless of the harvest method.

* Fly 100 to 120 pounds of oats into standing corn in August. Pay attention to the herbicide program you've used on the corn to be certain it doesn't conflict with oat establishment or grazing/harvest restrictions. Our experiences with this alternative have been variable - some fields produced very well, while others achieved a less than perfect stand. It appears that the best stands come in fields that are totally weed free, and the earlier the corn is harvested, the more abundant the oats become. In nearly every case, the value of the forage produced has exceeded the costs of aerial seeding (~$10/acre) plus the seed costs. In addition, the high quality oat forage that results will allow for better utilization of the grazed corn stalks.

* Fly 100 to120 pounds of oats into standing soybeans in early September as the soybean leaves first begin to turn. Again, pay attention to the herbicide program you've used on the soybeans to be certain it doesn't conflict with oat establishment or grazing/harvest restrictions. Results with this alternative have been a little more consistent than what we experienced in the standing corn, but less productive than the best corn stalk fields due to the later seeding date.

This web link has photos and data of a few of past year's attempts at the alternatives described above: http://beef.osu.edu/beef/graze/wntrgraz.htm

If your primary needs are forage for grazing, hay, or silage next spring, cereal rye appears to be the best alternative. The opportunity exists to graze it in the late summer and fall, however, the most abundant tonnage will come in the spring. In addition to planting it with the options mentioned above for oats, you may also no-til it after row crop harvest - particularly soybeans and silage corn - this fall. See the OSU Extension Agronomy Fact Sheet AGF-0026-00, entitled Winter Rye for Extending the Grazing Season for more details on growing cereal rye. This publication may be found in OSU Extension offices or on-line at: http://ohioline.osu.edu/agf-fact/0026.html

If your primary needs are a grazeable forage as soon as possible, consider turnips or a combination of oats and turnips. Previous summers we've seen good results locally when planting a 'grazing turnip' such as Appin in combination with oats. If some precipitation is received shortly after planting, this combination could be strip grazed as early as 5-6 weeks after planting. The oats will provide some additional fiber in this grazing mix, and the Appin turnips will continue to regrow after being topped off with an early grazing. These web links will show you what this combination looks like after only 5 weeks of spring growth: http://beef.osu.edu/beef/OatsTrnp.JPG and also after 6.5 weeks of growth: http://beef.osu.edu/beef/OatsTrnp2.JPG

As you review your options, realize that at times seed oats are difficult to purchase this time of year. Contact the Ohio Seed Improvement Association (ph: 614.889.1136 or visit http://www.ohseed.org) for a list of growers who may have seed oats available. If you take the opportunity to try any of these extended grazing or forage production alternatives, please keep us updated on your progress and success.

Fall seeding grasses - Dr. Dan Undersander, Forage Agronomist, University of Wisconsin Extension

Late-summer/fall establishment of grass is often desired in the Midwest. Most farmers do not realize how much fall seeding date affects the yield of the grasses the next year. We seeded six forage grasses at several late summer dates at three sites in Wisconsin (River Falls, Arlington, and Lancaster) over three years. Seeding dates were spaced approximately every 2 to 3 weeks from late about August 1 to late November 1. Species included orchardgrass, smooth bromegrass, timothy, reed canarygrass, perennial ryegrass, and tall fescue.

All of the grasses seeded by mid- to late-September produced stands with visible plants by killing frost most years and that usually survived the winter. Later seedings did not produce visible plants until spring, if at all. Slow establishing species, particularly reed canarygrass, produced better stands when seeded by early September. Timothy tended to be the most variable with regard to seeding date and next year yield. In only one trial out of nine did a November seeding, where the seed lay dormant over winter, produce a stand the next spring.

The most important finding is that earlier seeding dates (early through mid August) usually had more tillers per square foot, more tillers per plant, and higher dry matter yield the following season. As shown, in the figure, average first cutting yields of grasses the spring after late summer seeding, when harvested at the boot stage, ranged from 1.5 t/a for some grasses down to less than 0.5 t/a on first cutting depending on when they were sown the previous fall. By later cuttings the stands had recovered and all yielded well. However, delaying late summer seeding from mid August to mid September generally resulted in 1 ton/acre less yield the next year.

This study clearly shows that delaying grass seeding in the late summer or early fall not only increases the risk of establishment failure but reduces yield of the stand the next year. Therefore we recommend seeding grasses as early as possible during the month of August.

The Impact of Hot Weather on Bull Fertility - Dr. Glenn Selk, Extension Cattle Specialist, Oklahoma State University

Several research trials have been conducted throughout the years looking at the effect of high temperatures on bull fertility. Certainly that research has importance to many Oklahoma and Southern Plains cattlemen in the summer of 2006. As far back as 1963, researchers exposed bulls to temperatures of 104 degrees F. and 54% humidity for an 8 period and then allowed the temperature to drop to 82 degrees F with 72% humidity for the remainder of the 24 hour period. This temperature regimen was continued for 7 days and was designed to resemble natural conditions in the subtropics. They found the high temperatures resulted in major detrimental effects on initial sperm motility, sperm concentration and total numbers of sperm per ejaculate.

More recently (1978), Oklahoma scientists (Meyerhoeffer, et al.) placed bulls in controlled environments of 95 degrees F. for 8 hours and 87 degrees for the remaining 16 hours while similar bulls were placed in environments of 73 degrees constantly. These treatments were applied to the bulls for 8 weeks and then all bulls were allowed to be in the 73 degree environment for another 8 weeks. During the treatment, the heat stressed bulls had rectal temperatures of 101.7 degrees F and non-stressed bulls had rectal temperatures of 100.8 degrees F. The percentage of motile sperm cells decreased significantly in the stressed bulls by 2 weeks of heat stress. Sperm motility continued to decrease until the heat stress was removed. However, sperm motility did NOT return to normal values until 8 weeks after the end of the heat stress. This explains some of the reduction in fertility that is often associated with summer and early fall breedings. One cannot escape the conclusion that high ambient temperatures can result in detrimental effects on fertility by effects on both the cow and the bull.

Ohio Cattlemen Plan Roundup for September 9 in Eastern Ohio

The Ohio Cattlemen's Association (OCA) will be hosting a Fall Roundup on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2006, in conjunction with Shugert Farms near St. Clairsville. This new one-day event will give producers a chance to learn about the latest information and technologies in the beef industry and tour one of the country's largest cow-calf operations. Ohio Soybean Council and Pioneer are the event sponsors for the Roundup and OCA extends a warm invitation to all who have an interest in Ohio's cattle industry to attend.

Registration for the program will start at 9 a.m. with refreshments at the Union Local High School in Belmont, Ohio. Morning information sessions include Mike Miller, Cattle-Fax Director of Research and Development, and John Butler, Beef Marketing Group (BMG) Chief Executive Officer. Miller will discuss the transition the industry is currently moving through from historically high prices and profitability to a period of rapid herd expansion, increasing supplies and ultimately a change in the cattle cycle. Miller will further discuss the challenges and opportunities that beef producers are currently facing. Butler will talk about BMG, a cooperative consisting of 14 cattle feeding and growing operations located in the states of Kansas and Nebraska that harvests 600,000 cattle annually. This session will focus on the growing demand for all-natural programs that may provide additional profit opportunities for some Ohio feeder calf producers.

Prior to lunch, Francis Fluharty and Bill Doig, Ohio State University Extension, will provide an update on new programs including a heifer development program and OCA's newest Seedstock Improvement Sale.

After lunch, the Roundup will tour Shugert Farm, a 1,600 cow seedstock operation located across several counties in eastern Ohio. The tour will allow for viewing of the farm's cow calf pairs and will feature their A.I. facilities and innovative breeding box. Shugert Farms is a cooperator for Leachman Cattle of Colorado (LCoC) and Lee Leachman, General Manager, will be the tour's wrap-up speaker. LCoC uses many different tools to guarantee that their cattle are optimized for profit including their innovative $Profit EPD that combines all EPDs into one bottom line number to simplify bull comparisons. Leachman will discuss this and other Leachman programs.

The day will wrap up with a dinner featuring beef tenderloin at Union Local High School where the Ohio State Fair Commercial Cattle Carcass Contest Awards will be presented and a PAC fundraiser will be held for NCBA.

Registration deadline for this event is Aug. 25, 2006, and the cost is $20 for OCA members and $30 for non-OCA members. All registrations at the door will be $35. For more information about the Roundup or to register and purchase tickets contact the Ohio Cattlemen's Association at (614) 873-6736 or visit the Web site at www.ohiocattle.org.

Weekly Roberts Agricultural Commodity Market Report - Mike Roberts, Commodity Marketing Agent, Virginia Tech

LIVE CATTLE in Chicago (CME) closed mostly up amid mixed volume on Monday, support from a firmer-than-expected cash beef market, and end-of-the-month position squaring by the funds. The AUG’06LC contract finished at $83.725/cwt, up $0.375/cwt. Going above moving averages, the OCT’06LC contract rallied $0.55/cwt to close at $88.700/cwt. Fund-buying added to gains in the OCT’06LC contract. Cash beef prices were up by midday despite an expected cut in demand by rising temperatures. Cash cattle traded steady on Friday at $79/cwt-$79/50/cwt but Monday’s cash markets were somewhat subdued as there weren’t many takers for $82/cwt cattle. Heat is stressful to cattle and is usually a bearish market influencer. However, the market was supported by expectations that packers still needed cattle to replenish thin inventories because of the third week in a row of lighter-than-normal cattle sales. USDA put the choice beef cutout at $140.28/cwt, up $1.06/cwt from last Thursday. This, however, was down $1.81/head from a week ago. According to HedgersEdge.com, the average beef plant margin for Monday was placed at a negative $18.25/head, down $4.50/head from Friday’s report of a negative $13.90/head. The last report stated that if the 20-day moving average turns downward look for a break away gap in the next few days, especially if the heat continues. What happened? The 4-day, the 20-day, and the volume all turned up signaling that a break-away gap was not ready to occur and that it was too early to pull the trigger on a short trade disintegrating the need to increase short positions. Cash sellers should continue to watch the market selling live cattle as soon and as heavy as they can be sold. Corn users should consider pricing more corn needs at this time as ethanol and the weather continue to influence the market.

FEEDER CATTLE at the CME ended with the AUG’06FC closing at $114.325/cwt, up $0.175/cwt and the SEPT’06FC contract closing up $0.60/cwt at $114.775/cwt. SEPT’06FC futures climbed to one-week highs rising above moving averages. Higher CBOT corn futures pressured feeders early on Monday but gains there caused feeders to cut losses. Feeders followed live cattle in the rally as end-of-the-month position squaring took effect. Stops also added to gains in the back months. Feeder supplies are still tight outside feedlots. Heat is presently limiting demand. Cattle showlists are expected to be larger this week as many cattle unsold from last week are carried over into this week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index for July 27 was placed at $114.37/cwt, up $0.02/cwt. Cattle feeders should still be aggressively pushing cattle out the sales door and hedging incoming cattle. Forward pricing of feed inputs either by buying call options or limited cash forward pricing may be considered at this time.

Visit the OSU Beef Team calendar of meetings and upcoming events

BEEF Cattle is a weekly publication of Ohio State University Extension in Fairfield County and the OSU Beef Team. Contributors include members of the Beef Team and other beef cattle specialists and economists from across the U.S.

All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status. Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Admin. and Director, OSU Extension. TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868

Fairfield County Agriculture and Natural Resources