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Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
By Rayford Pullen | [email protected]
Seems like yesterday we were hoping spring would arrive as soon as possible and now, we are turning the page and heading into winter this month. If you have been keeping up with me the last few months, I have been doing a few exercises to see what it is going to cost us to get our cattle through the winter. The last one I used had hay costing 10 cents per pound and our cows consuming 20 pounds per day. I have also assumed a 30 percent loss of hay when fed in round bale feeders, which now makes our daily cost per cow for hay at $2.60 per day.
Now for those of us feeding a protein supplement, it appears our daily cost will be 85 cents to one dollar per day plus the cost associated with putting all this out. We now have approximate cost of $3.50 to four dollars per day. If winter is 120 days long, we are now looking at $450 per cow. If we figure in our pasture lease, equipment necessary to feed and labor, $500 may be closer. If you figure you wean a 90 percent calf crop, you then jump to $550 per weaned calf sold. I just had to get this off my chest because the drought along with feed and hay prices has put many of us in a bind to the point of throwing up our hands. The good news is that cattle prices are supposed to be great in the not-so-distant future but they need to be if we are going to survive our current predicament.
To read more, pick up a copy of the December issue of NTFR Magazine. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
One of my professors out at Texas Tech University always told us that we aren’t just raising cattle, we’re raising grass, because without grass there is no cattle business. The same applies to most livestock species and crops we seek to raise- without good land management, no good yield can grow.
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 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.
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