Farm & Ranch
The Dr. McDonald Column – The Funny Farm
By Steve McDonald, DVM
As a veterinarian, I take it as a mission to help livestock producers improve their herd’s productivity. I advise them to take steps to insure each cow has a calf every year.
We constantly address genetic improvement, herd health is closely monitored, and I attempt to relate financial consequences, both positive and negative, to managerial decisions. I feel that our goal as food animal veterinarians should be nothing less than to save the American livestock producer (If they show symptoms of wanting to be saved). That said, I never show my producers the herd that my wife and I have assembled over the years. They are usually kept in better than average body condition, and therefore, calve every year. Alas, they have names. And, other than the bull, we didn’t buy any of them.
That is, unless you count the six Holstein/ Angus crosses that a poverty-stricken dairyman gave us to offset his long-delinquent bill. Polly credited him at $125 each, and within a few weeks their market value plummeted to $35—just another of our obvious examples of unfavorable financial decision making. My wife, clinic employees, or I named our menagerie.
To read more pick up a copy of the March 2017 NTFR 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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