Farm & Ranch
Meanwhile back at the ranch…
By Rayford Pullen, [email protected]
Hopefully, your spring calving is completed. If not, you will be dealing with the problems those late calvers bring to the table for many years to come. While we all deal with this problem to some degree, late calving cows will be raising calves that do not fit into our program for not only working calves and shipping calves, but they will be less apt to breed back due to the fact that when the weather gets really hot, bull fertility drops significantly, which may be nature’s way of preventing summer calves which never perform as well as the earlier born calves due in part to the fact that forage quality deteriorates almost as proportionately as the temperature rises and milk production declines due to the same factors.
Although I am writing this article with over a week left in the month of March, 90 percent of our first calf heifers have already calved and 96 percent of them are raising a calf.
One calf died during the calving process and one calf appeared to have been born premature while two calves died within two weeks of being born for reasons we are not sure about.
We pulled three percent of all the calves born, one with a calf puller and two by hand just to be on the safe side. The mild winter we had this year reduced our mortality greatly which means our live calves are running around 97 percent for all cows that calved. To read more pick up a copy of the May 2016 issue.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH
With the prolonged drought, most pastures in Oklahoma end up in poor condition. With the lack of available forage, animals may go in search of alternative foods.
If oak trees are in the pastures, acorns may be a favorite meal for some livestock in the fall. This may result in oak poisoning.
Oak leaves, twigs, buds, and acorns may be toxic to some animals when consumed.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By: Tony Dean
There are a handful of grasses on North Texas grazing lands ranchers need to know, not because they are highly desirable, but rather because they are not of much value. I call them “decom” plants, which is am acronym for “Don’t Ever Count On Me.” Silver bluestem is a “decom” grass.
Silver bluestem is a perennial which grows in all areas of Texas. It can survive in almost all soil types, and in full sun conditions or in semi shade. It grows up to three feet tall and is easily recognized with the presence of the white fuzzy seed head. Also, one of the identifying characteristics of Silver bluestem is a bend in the stems at each node, causing the plants to take on a rounded shape as they mature.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By: Rayford Pullen
Fall is here which means winter is closing in on us and before we officially get into winter, we need to make sure our factories are either producing or will be producing in a few months.
We have been pregnancy testing our cows this fall and if they are not bred or nursing a calf, we are bidding them adios. With annual costs somewhere between $900.00 and $1,000.00 per cow, those cows not producing a live weaned calf are costing us quite a bit.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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