Farm & Ranch
El Nino to return in October
By Rayford Pullen
The word from those in the know is that the El Nino should return in October. Now if you’re anything like me, I have not been
able to keep the El’s straight, or whether the El Nino or the El Nina was what we wanted or needed. Now I think I have it figured
out since El Nino ends with an O, to me it now means “O Boy, it’s going to rain.” If it ends in an A, I guess that means it “ain’t going
to rain.” (Wouldn’t my English teacher be proud of me.) Hope this helps you as much as it will hopefully help me keep
all this weather terminology straight and know when to get excited and when to get worried. Class dismissed.
Now, let’s get back to talking about cattle topics. Fall is when cattlemen who calve in the spring will be getting
their payday for the year and, as always seems to be the case, the market has gone through a correction the past few months. That
sounds better than “going down,” so I thought I would borrow that wording from the stock market reporters who are quick to report
that the stock market is going up but that it never goes down; it just makes a correction. To read more pickup the October 2015 issue of NTFR.
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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