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Previous issues of the BEEF Cattle letter
Issue # 603
Cattle Handling Pointers (excerpted) - Ron Gill, Ph.D., Livestock Specialist, Texas AgriLife Extension Service; Rick Machen, Livestock Specialist, Texas AgriLife Extension Service; Curt Pate, Rancher, Stockman and Horseman from South Dakota
Safe and effective cattle handling has always been important. In the last few years there has been a move toward what has been called low-stress handling or as we prefer to call it a return to sound stockmanship. Recent events involving a harvest facility in California and auction markets in several states, have served to heighten awareness of the importance of handling cattle appropriately. Although the facilities received all of the bad press the real culprits in the weak cow issue are the producers bringing them to the facilities.
The role of a stockman is to create movement in cattle and then use position to control and manage that movement to the desired result. When cattle lose movement they become reluctant to work for you and excessive pressure and driving aids are more likely to be used to force movement within the cattle. Creating and managing movement is the key to Low-Stress cattle handling.
There are four basic principles of cattle behavior that when used properly can improve the ease and speed of working cattle while reducing stress and increasing efficiency. Those principles are:
The days of "whoop & holler" cattle handling need to pass - quickly. Numerous others will handle your cattle after they have left your care. Bad habits and unruly behavior are learned. Make sure your cattle (calves) are started correctly. First impressions are critical - as Will Rogers once said "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."
Safety and wholesomeness of our food supply have long been important. Our preservation techniques have progressed from smoking, drying and salting, to canning, to refrigeration and freezing, to vacuum packaging and most recently to irradiation. The US food supply is the safest and most wholesome on the planet.
Beef consumers remain interested in safety and wholesomeness, but are more concerned than ever before about where and how their food is produced. When working slow and correct, shouting, whistling, poking and prodding cattle is unnecessary. In fact, they are counterproductive and distract cattle from what you really want them to do.
EDITOR's NOTE: You may find the unedited version of this publication at: http://beef.osu.edu/library/CattleHandlingPointers0818.pdf. Better yet, learn in a hands-on and in person session with Ron Gill and Curt Pate how to employ the four basic principles of cattle handling to your benefit and safety. Plan to attend the Low Stress Cattle Handling Workshop conducted by Gill and Pate in Jackson Ohio on September 20. Find more details in the August 27, issue number 601 of the Ohio BEEF Cattle letter.
Does Temperament Effect Carcass Quality? - Heather Smith Thomas, CATTLE TODAY
Many cattlemen have suspected that disposition -- the mental and emotional attitude of cattle -- has an effect on how well they do in the feedlot, having an impact on gain. The nervous, flighty animal doesn't spend as much time at the feed bunk. This suspicion has been confirmed, thanks to several studies focusing on the effects of disposition on cattle performance. Results of these studies have also shown a very measurable effect on carcass quality.
Dr. Rhonda Vann, animal scientist at Mississippi State University, has been studying cattle behavior for three years, in collaboration with Texas A&M University. Her research has shown that temperament has a direct effect on weight gain or loss and that wild cattle have very little chance to acheive top carcass quality. For instance, docile calves go through weaning with very little setback, compared to nervous individuals that are more stressed. Flighty calves don't eat as well, losing weight for a longer period instead of gaining, and are also more susceptible to illness since stress hinders the immune system.
Her three year study showed that docile cattle were more efficient on feed, and more profitable. Even at pasture, the data collected on stocker steers after a 168 day grazing period showed that calm cattle had better growth performance and body composition. Flighty individuals not only gained less weight in both the pasture and feedlot, but also had poor ultrasound data, tougher meat and were often dark cutters, with carcasses that were severely discounted by packers. "Bad tempered animals have less fat and less marbling. There wasn't a noticeable difference in ribeye size, but their ability to mobilize fat was significantly reduced," says Vann. The end result was $60 less profit than for docile animals.
Research at Iowa State University reached similar conclusions, showing that wild and unmanageable cattle gain about half a pound per day less than easily managed cattle, and returned $61 less profit. Another study involved more than 13,000 calves from 12 states, fed at eight Iowa feedlots and consigned to the Iowa Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity. This 3 year study looked at feedlot gain, death and sickness loss, quality and yield grade and other performance factors, using the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) disposition scoring system to measure performance and profitability of cattle with varying temperament. A purpose of the study was to help producers assess feedlot profitabily in terms of temperament.
During the study each group of cattle was scored three times during their feeding period. Based on their scores (using the BIF scoring system) they were sorted into three categories--docile, restless and aggressive. The docile cattle gained better and there were more Prime and Choice grades iin this group, along with more acceptability for the Certified Angus Beef program. They also had lower mortality rates than cattle in the aggressive category.
Looking at feedlot gain, death loss, costs of treatment, quality, yield grade and other performance criteria, the docile group averaged $62.15 more profit per head than aggressive cattle and $49.09 more profit per head than the restless cattle. The aggressive cattle averaged a net loss of $7.26.
Temperament is a combination of genetics and handling, and begins on the farm. Selection for easy-going disposition when purchasing a bull or keeping a heifer, along with careful handling when cattle are young (and each time the cows are handled for vaccinating, sorting and any other management processing) can make a big difference in future profitability. There are wild and calm animals in every breed, and it is up to the producer to select the more docile animals as seedstock. The Limousin association was the first breed organization to develop a docility EPD at the request of their membership, and this is a measurement needed in other breeds as well.
Docility versus wild, aggressive nature is not difficult to measure. Individuals with undesirable temperament are difficult to get close to, upset when confined (fence and gate crashers) and more difficult to process. Several researchers use excitability and movement when measuring temperament, such as how much the animal fights while in the holding chute (some producers call this the "rattle index") and how fast the animal leaves the chute. Cattle with a high exit speed tend to be more temperamental. Dr. Rhonda Vann, at Mississippi State University, uses an infrared timer to measure each animal's exit speed when leaving the chute. Her research showed that the animals that were fastest coming out of the chute had poorer carcass quality and were less tender after their 120 days in the feedlot, compared with docile cattle.
Ohio Line Fence Law will change September 30 - Peggy Kirk Hall, Director, OSU Agricultural & Resource Law Program
Ohio lawmakers made a major revision to Ohio's line fence law this summer. Governor Strickland signed the line fence law-H.B. 323-on June 27, 2008 and the new law will be effective beginning September 30, 2008.
Here's a quick summary of the bill's major provisions. For further details of the new law, visit our website at: http://aede.osu.edu/programs/aglaw/
* New rules of apportionment will apply to most "new" line fences-those fences built after the law's effective date of September 30, 2008. For new line fences, the landowner seeking to build the fence will have the sole burden of constructing and maintaining the fence.
* There is a reimbursement process a landowner can follow for recouping construction and maintenance costs on a new line fence if an adjacent landowner uses the line fence to contain livestock within thirty years of the fence's construction date.
* "Old" line fences will still be subject to the old law's rule of equal shares. Old line fences include fences in existence on the law's effective date, fences that previously existed, and fences that have been removed. A landowner must follow certain actions to establish a previously existing or removed line fence. If either of these types of fence is reconstructed, the old law of equal shares applies to the replacement fence.
* Landowners will have two options for resolving line fence disputes-filing an action directly in the court of common pleas or filing a complaint with the board of township trustees. A landowner dissatisfied with the decision of the township trustees may use binding arbitration rather than appealing the decision.
* The court or the board of township trustees must consider certain factors in resolving line fence disputes. These include topography, streams and other waters, trees, vines and vegetation, trespasser risk, importance of marking the property line and number and type of livestock contained.
* New fences built after September 30 that will be used to contain livestock must be one of three types, unless the landowners agree otherwise in writing. The accepted types are: woven wire of standard or high tensile with one or two strands of barbed wire at least 48 inches from the ground, nonelectric high tensile with at least seven strands constructed in accordance with NRCS standards, or barbed wire, electric or live fence agreeable to both landowners.
* Governmental neighbors must contribute 50% of the cost of a line fence that is used for grazing livestock.
* A landowner or contractor will have rights of access to neighboring properties for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a fence.
* A landowner must follow a notification procedure before removing a line fence; failure to provide notice waives the equal shares rule, and the landowner would be entirely responsible for replacing an improperly removed fence.
* There are criminal penalties for obstruction or interference with a person who is lawfully engaged in building or maintaining a line fence.
Forage Focus: Low Cutting Height Can Result In Loss of Orchardgrass Stands - Les Vough, University of Maryland Forage Specialist Emeritus
Cutting height may be the cause of loss of orchardgrass stands as much as insect and disease problems. Insects such as grubs and billbugs and leaf diseases are certainly contributors to loss of stands but the advent and popularity of disc mower-conditioners somewhat coincides with the shorter stand life and slower recovery of orchardgrass fields after cutting. There is a tendency to set disc mower/conditioners to cut closer to the ground than with sickle bar mower/conditioners. I see much more scalping of the ground where disc mower-conditioners are used than where sickle bar are used. With disc mower-conditioners, some farmers are cutting as close as an inch or inch-and-a-half, sometimes even lower. This is analogous to overgrazing of pastures and if done repeatedly the outcome can be the same - loss of stands.
In contrast to alfalfa which has large taproots and stores its reserves primarily in the roots, orchardgrass stores its reserves principally in the lower 3 to 4 inches of the stem bases or tillers. When growth begins in late winter or after cutting or grazing, leaf area for photosynthesis is low and stored carbohydrates are used to support new growth. In the case of alfalfa, depletion of carbohydrates in the roots continues until the topgrowth is about 6 to 8 inches tall, at which point there is usually enough leaf area to meet growth and respiration needs. If orchardgrass is cut low and most of the leaves removed, depletion of carbohydrates in the stem bases will continue until there is enough leaf area once again to meet growth and respiration needs.
Grasses store relatively little carbohydrates in the roots. The highest concentration of carbohydrates in grasses is in the leaf sheaths and stem bases in the vegetative stages of growth and in the lower stem in the reproductive stages of growth. Therefore it is critical in cutting or grazing management to leave enough stubble to retain sufficient stored carbohydrate and basal leaf area to support regrowth. Production of the first 1 to 3 leaves requires a substantial amount of stored energy (carbohydrates). If mowing or grazing removes too much of the lower stems and sheath area of tillers, too much of the stored carbohydrates can be removed, not leaving enough to support root maintenance and shoot regrowth. In addition, with summer regrowth cuttings, higher temperatures usually increase respiration rates, so less storage often occurs in midsummer.
If mowing or grazing removes too much leaf area and too much of the stem bases, growth rate is slowed substantially. Because there is not much leaf area for photosynthesis and manufacture of carbohydrates, additional reserves may be required for regrowth until there is sufficient leaf area and photosynthesis to meet growth needs. If much of those reserves have been removed by cutting too low, ultimately the point may be reached where reserves are totally depleted and the plant dies.
Root growth is also affected by heavy defoliation (either mowing or grazing), which makes the plant less competitive and more vulnerable to heat, drought, insect and disease stresses. Orchardgrass plants that are repeatedly cut at 1 to 1½ inches will have shallower and less extensive root systems, thus less able to obtain moisture from the soil than plants cut at 3 to 4 inches.
Grasses can withstand greater defoliation during early and rapid growth stages in the spring and early summer than they can later in the growing season when less opportunity for growth exists. Forage researchers and farmers in Missouri have observed less damage to plants from summer heat and drought when the first harvest is made early and plants have time to regrow before the stress occurs. Some farmers in southern Missouri have reported almost 100 percent loss of stands when harvest was delayed to the late bloom stage. When little opportunity for regrowth exists during midsummer or drought, sufficient leaf material should be left after cutting or grazing to maintain carbohydrate levels within the plant.
A number of farmers have commented to me over the last several years that their orchardgrass not only doesn't last as long as it used to but it also doesn't come back as fast as it used to. They wonder what has happened to orchardgrass varieties today. Well, we are still using some of the same varieties that we used 20 or more years ago and today's newer varieties are better than they have ever been, so these comments are a signal that something else, like the management practices, has changed, not the varieties. One of the most likely reasons that the orchardgrass is not coming back as quickly is that the cutting height is too low.
If you are presently having problems with slow regrowth and loss of stands and want to see if increasing the cutting height will improve regrowth and stand longevity, try several different cutting heights in the same field next year. Do it within the same field, not different fields due to differences between fields and stand conditions. Use a relatively new stand, preferably one only a year or so old. Make several rounds around the field cutting at your usual height. If your usual cutting height is 1½ inches, after several rounds readjust the cutting height to 2½ or 3 inches. After several more rounds readjust the cutting height again to 3½ or 4 inches. Record the number of rounds made at each cutting height so that the same heights can be used in the same areas of the field for subsequent cuttings the rest of this year and next year. This will show you what impact cutting height has on performance and persistence.
I think you will find that cutting at a height of 3 to 4 inches will help maintain strong root reserves, leading to faster recovery of regrowth and better stand persistence. While we will still face problems from insects and diseases, more healthy and vigorous plants that are not stressed from low cutting heights will be better able to withstand the impacts of the insects and diseases and should help improve yield and stand persistence.
Weekly Roberts Agricultural Commodity Market Report - Mike Roberts, Commodity Marketing Agent, Virginia Tech
LIVE CATTLE futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) were up on Monday. OCT'08LC futures were up $0.100/cwt at $103.050/cwt; $2.750/cwt lower than week before last. The DEC'08LC contract closed at $104.950/cwt, even with Monday before last. Short covering and October/December spreading was noted after bear spreads came apart. The U.S. stock market was encouraged with new buying confidence as the U.S. government announced it was buying out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This provided buying dollars for large index funds that hold mortgage portfolios. They bought futures today as a result. Beef exports were supportive. USDA placed the 5-area priced for Monday, September 08, 2008 at $98.54-$98.78/cwt. This was about even with cash prices two weeks ago. According to HedgersEdge.com, the estimated average packer margin was off $0.85/head from two weeks ago placed at a positive $3.95/head based on the average buy of $98.38/cwt vs. a breakeven of $98.68/cwt. Sliding corn prices were supportive and it looks like feed costs will continue to experience downward pressure. Soybeans remain very volatile because the crop is not far enough along to weather an early frost. It is a good idea to price short term feed needs on weakness developing in the corn market. However, don't get too much priced as I believe corn has more downside potential as we approach harvest.
FEEDER CATTLE at the CME closed up on Monday with the exception of the March '09 contract. That contract was near even. The SEPT'08 contract finished the day at $111.300/cwt, up $0.175/cwt from Friday's close but $1.600/cwt lower than Monday-before-last. Follow-through buying from Friday and discounts to the CME Feeder Cattle index were supportive. The latest CME Feeder Cattle index was placed at $111.98/cwt, up $0.33/cwt. The feed markets are still volatile and I expect corn prices to continue lower unless there is some kind of fundamental shift e.g. an early frost or a flooding hurricane.
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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.
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Fairfield County Agriculture and Natural Resources
