Farm & Ranch
Meanwhile back at the ranch…
By Rayford Pullen
This spring calving in the middle of the winter is for the penguins. While I have mostly been an advocate of spring calving, calving in the fall when the temperatures are a lot milder is looking better and better all the time, but there’s just one catch, and that is you basically have to give up half a year’s calf crop to get it done, and it doesn’t make really good financial sense from that perspective to move calving from spring to fall.
I’ve been thinking a little about what’s going on in this cattle market, and I guess I’ll just keep on thinking about it because I have not come up with any answers. We now have a new president, and we are anxious to see what impact that will have on commodity markets as well as the stock market. There is one thing for sure and that is it will be different, good for some, bad for some, and neutral for others, about the way it has always been. We will just continue to do business as usual, looking for opportunities along the way and hoping we recognize them when they show.
Calving in the winter is certainly stressful from a temperature standpoint where temperatures can range from 10 to 75 degrees, and while we don’t expect any calving issues, we do try to keep a closer watch over our first calf heifers with the first check around 8 a.m. and the last check about 11 p.m. We try to keep them in traps near our routine high traffic routes so we can observe them several times per day.
To read more pick up a copy of the February 2017 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Tressa Lawrence
Babies are tucked away in every nook and cranny. Many ranchers across Wyoming have baby animals popping up all over this time of year.
By Lindsey Monk
Another load of grain in to keep feeding the calves until the green grass can really start popping.
By Rayford Pullen | [email protected]
Spring has sprung and hopefully the rains will continue where our country will heal from the previous droughts and our grasses will thrive. We are especially hopeful for the Panhandle of Texas where our neighbors and friends have been dealt a deadly blow to homes, ranges, livestock, and people. Keep them in your prayers as they will not be able to return to normal for many years if at all. Having lost their ability to benefit from this great cattle market is a double whammy for all of them.
Now is the time of year when we need to take care of business as it relates to our new calves that have been hitting the ground this spring. First and foremost is vaccinating for Blackleg followed by deworming with a white wormer and the IBR complex. Blackleg is a soil-born disease and with pastures extremely short this spring our calves have been grazing the green grass as soon as it shows itself, making them even more vulnerable to picking contaminates from the soil.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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