* When supplemental hay must be fed, as much as possible of what went into the bale at harvest must be actually consumed by the cow. If storing hay under roof was cost effective back when hay was only worth $40/ton, how valuable is sheltered storage today? By the way, the new Farm Bill will allow for low interest "grain bin style" loans from FSA on storage structures for hay.

The economics of utilizing beef cattle as a profit center on Ohio farms has changed dramatically in just the past two years. Or, as Nevil Speer, animal science professor at Western Kentucky University, recently suggested, "Bottom-line: what we're really discussing here is change management. It's the hardest thing in the world to do!"

How are pastures growing? - Jeff McCutcheon, OSU Extension Educator, Knox County

With the current feed prices many producers are looking for ways to reduce their feed cost. One area producers are looking as a possibility to reduce feed cost is with their pasture. So how are pastures growing this year?

Currently there are 16 graziers across the state of Ohio who measure the same field, weekly, using a rising plate meter, and report the results. This is called the Ohio Pasture Measurement Project. The summary of those measurements is posted weekly on the Forage Team's blog, http://ohioforages.blogspot.com

The weekly reports for May and the first four weeks in June, (Table 1) show the average growth looks like a typical spring flush. This is reported in pounds of dry matter (DM) grown per acre per day. Looking at the minimum or maximum columns you can also see that not every field grows the same.

Table 1. Growth Reported by Week in Pounds of DM per Acre per Day

So how could you use this information? Evaluating, measuring and observing pasture growth can give valuable information during a grazing season to help producers make management decisions. You know how much your animals eat on a daily basis. Using pasture growth measurements can help you evaluate the rotation in your grazing system, if a change in stocking density is needed, if planting alternative forages would help or even if fertilizer would be beneficial before the need for more forage and when there is adequate soil moisture to still grow more forage.

Opportunity Cost - Stan Smith, OSU Extension PA, Fairfield County

According to Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia, Opportunity Cost is defined as "the cost (sacrifice) forgone by choosing one option over an alternative one that may be equally desired. Thus, opportunity cost is the cost of pursuing one choice instead of another. Every action has an opportunity cost."

Opportunity Cost has always been a factor in agriculture budgeting, and one that has been frequently cussed and discussed over the years at feed mills, grain elevators and anywhere else that farmers gather. With accurately accessing costs during the process of budgeting for cow/calf and feedlot cattle enterprises now at the top of many discussions, Opportunity Costs have once again surfaced as a confusing and somewhat controversial issue.

The primary point of discussion (argument) seems to revolve around how one might value feeder calves which were home raised with the expectation of finishing them on the farm. Also, the value of home grown corn, hay or other feedstuffs frequently comes into question.

There are those who prefer to use the cost of production of the calves or feedstuff as the basis for budgeting, even though the opportunity exists to market those commodities for more than the cost of production. Simply put, if one is to accurately account for the real value of the inputs that were home raised, the value at which the commodity could be sold for on the open market, minus transportation and marketing costs must be the value used for the enterprise budget.

In the case of feeding corn or other feed which was home grown to cattle, even though one might have raised corn on the farm at a cost of production of $3.50 per bushel, if it can be transported to the local elevator at a cost of 10 cents a bushel and then receive $7.00 cash for it, the value, or Opportunity Cost, of the corn entered into the fed cattle budget must be $6.90/bushel ($7 minus the 10 cent transportation cost).

It's much the same when valuing home raised feeder calves as one considers the pros and cons of retaining ownership and finishing them out. Regardless the cost to produce them, their value for budgeting purposes is simply what they would bring in the market place, minus transportation and marketing cost.

Don't be fooled by your neighbor when he suggests, " . . . I'll make more because . . . I've already got them in the pasture, or in the barn, or in the hay mow, or in the bin!"

Use Pregnancy Diagnosis to Cull Replacement Heifers Early - Dr. Les Anderson, Beef Extension Specialist, University of Kentucky

Many ranchers choose to breed the replacement heifers about a month ahead of the mature cows in the herd. In addition, they like to use a shortened 45 to 60-day breeding season for the replacement heifers. The next logical step is to determine which of these heifers failed to conceive in their first breeding season. This is more important today than ever before.

As the bulls are being removed from the replacement heifers, this would be an ideal time to call and make arrangements with your local veterinarian to have those heifers evaluated for pregnancy in about 60 days. In two months, experienced technicians should have no difficulty identifying which heifers are pregnant and which heifers are not pregnant (open). Those heifers that are determined to be "open" after this breeding season should be strong candidates for culling. Culling these heifers immediately after pregnancy checking serves three very economically valuable purposes.

1) Identifying and culling open heifers early will remove sub-fertile females from the herd. Lifetime cow studies from Montana indicated that properly developed heifers that were exposed to fertile bulls, but DID NOT become pregnant were often sub-fertile compared to the heifers that did conceive. In fact, when the heifers that failed to breed in the first breeding season were followed throughout their lifetimes, they averaged a 55% yearly calf crop. Despite the fact that reproduction is not a highly heritable trait, it also makes sense to remove this genetic material from the herd so as to not proliferate females that are difficult to get bred.

2) Culling open heifers early will reduce summer forage and winter costs. If the rancher waits until next spring to find out which heifers do not calve, the pasture use and winter feed expense will still be lost and there will be no calf to help eventually help pay the bills. This is money that can better be spent in properly feeding cows that are pregnant and will be producing a salable product the following fall.

3) Identifying the open heifers shortly after (60 days) the breeding season is over will allow for marketing the heifers while still young enough to go to a feedlot and be fed for the choice beef market. The grading change of several years ago has a great impact on the merchandising of culled replacement heifers. "B" maturity carcasses (those estimated to be 30 months of age or older) are very unlikely to be graded Choice and cannot be graded Select. As a result, the heifers that are close to two years of age will suffer a price discount. Currently non-pregnant, yearling 875 pound heifers (shortly after a breeding season) are selling for about $94 per cwt. Therefore an 875 pound, culled replacement heifer is worth about $822. Non-pregnant two-year old cows are selling for about $65 to $70 per cwt. Open two-year old cows (those that could have been identified shortly after the breeding season) that weigh 1000 pounds would only sell for about $700 next spring.

The average expense for owning the cow is about $1 per day. So the total loss of keeping the open heifer would be about $200 in feed and forage and another $122 in lost value. The grand total expense for not culling open replacement heifers in today's market is about $322 per head. Therefore, it is imperative to send heifers to the feedlot while they are young enough to be fed for 4 to 5 months and not be near the "B" maturity age group.

Certainly the percentage of open heifers will vary from ranch to ranch. Do not be concerned, if after a good heifer development program and adequate breeding season, that you find that 10% of the heifers still are not bred. These are the very heifers that you want to identify early and remove from the herd. It just makes good economic business sense to identify and cull non-pregnant replacement heifers as soon as possible.

EDITOR's NOTE: The cost effectiveness of timely pregnancy detection is one of the benefits of the Ohio Heifer Development Program which will be explored during the remaining OHD Field Days & Open Houses. Find details in the May 21 issue of the Ohio BEEF Cattle letter.

Manure Handling Expo, July 09 at Molly Caren Agricultural Center

Plan to attend the 2008 Great Lakes Manure Handling Expo on July 9th near London, Ohio. This year's Expo features more than 50 commercial exhibitors, numerous field demonstrations (weather permitting), and educational sessions focused on the economics of recycling animal manure nutrients.

Highlights include: Field Educational Demonstrations including: Solid Manure Application; Liquid Manure Application; Stockpiling Manure BMPs; Slurry Seeding; Soil Compaction; and Equipment Safety.

Learn Best Management Practices of manure handling by attending the education sessions which includes: Manure 101; Records: What? Why? How?; Growing a Management Team; and Safety Concerns.

Hear first hand producer experiences by attending the case studies which include: Using Liquid Manure on Crops; Brokering and Custom Application of Poultry Manure; Moving toward an Environmental Manager; and Extending the Application Window.

Check out the latest equipment during commercial demonstrations located on the Molly Caren Agricultural Center, 135 SR 38 NE, London, Ohio. More information about the Expo including lodging information can be found at http://oema.osu.edu/Expo08_home.htm or by calling (614) 292-4504.

Fed Cattle Supply Fundamentals Supportive - Derrell S. Peel, OSU Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist (June 20, 2008)

U.S. feedlots moved a lot of cattle through the system in April and May setting up tighter fed cattle supply fundamentals for the second half of the year. The latest USDA Cattle on Feed report indicated that fed cattle marketings in May were up nearly three percent from last year. There was one less business day in May this year so the increase on a daily average basis is about 7.5 percent above last year.

Moreover, placements of feeder cattle in May were sharply lower, down 12 percent from last year. This reflects, among other things, the anticipated lack of wheat graze-out cattle in the southern Plains. With larger than expected marketings and smaller than expected placements, the June 1 on-feed inventory was lower than expected at 10.8 million head, down 4 percent from one year ago. Fewer cattle on feed, combined with carcass weights lower than past year, is pulling down total beef production.

Federally inspected beef production was down 2.6 percent in the first three weeks of June compared to the same period in 2007. This will offset increased beef in April and May to moderate second quarter total beef production. Beef production is expected to be close to last year's levels in the third quarter and decrease 1 to 2 percent in the fourth quarter of the year. These supply fundamental should help support boxed beef and fed cattle prices in the second half of the year but just how much depends on demand factors including the levels of pork and poultry production, general macroeconomic conditions and international market factors.

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