Farm & Ranch
The Dr. McDonald Column – Mesquite, Coyotes and Cockroaches
By Steve McDonald, DVM
My life has been enshrouded by brush. I grew up in Holliday, Texas, in a sea of mesquite thickets. Thorns made barefootin’ and short pants outside the city limits (Only about five blocks from the water tower at the center of town) unthinkable.
Mesquite dominated the environment. Except for cultivated fields and some prairie dog towns, the mostly flat to rolling plains were, and still are, literally covered with it. The prairie dog towns are gone now, and farmers are becoming less inclined to try to eke out a living when up against fuel costs and a land where it sometimes rains, and sometimes doesn’t. The mesquite will be here to offer shade to the last coyote and the last cockroach that are left.
Mesquite tough? They wrote the book. While we can admire their survival mechanisms, it’s kind of hard to say anything good about them. Mesquite beans are readily consumed by horses and cattle, but they get deposited in a pat of fertilizer, facilitating the spread of the plant.
To read more pick up a copy of the November 2016 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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