Farm & Ranch
Meanwhile back at the ranch…
By Rayford Pullen
I certainly hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends and hopefully December will bring a time when we can pause and be thankful for all the blessings we have in our life that make our daily tasks rewarding. Being successful is not rewarding in itself unless we can share it with someone.
For all the prayer warriors out there praying for rain, you did a great job, and I understand this October was the wettest in recorded history, and the army worms, all I can say is wow!
What a show of destruction they were able to pull off over night with complete fields destroyed in the blink of an eye. When I read that each moth could lay 2,000 eggs, I knew we were in trouble just from the sheer numbers we saw in our pastures and in the Friday night lights.
Hopefully we have those critters behind us since their voracious appetites for our winter and summer pastures came at a time when we were recovering from the summer drought and looking at high-priced hay.
Meanwhile, back on the ranch, we got our fall calves fence lined weaned with little or no sickness despite the ever changing weather and continued rain.
They then received vaccinations for the virus complex, blackleg and dewormed. The vaccinations were repeated two weeks later since one vaccination is not 100 percent effective and the second hopefully gets those covered.
Doing what we can to minimize calf morbidity is not only beneficial to our business, but the industry as well since calves that do not get sick because they were vaccinated will hopefully not require antibiotics in the future, and that is something our customers are concerned about.
To read more pick up a copy of the December 2018 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM
Having backyard poultry is a popular agriculture enterprise. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 0.8 percent of all households in the United States have chickens. People keep chickens for a variety of reasons with table eggs being one of the more common reasons.
Unfortunately, some of these poultry producers are not aware of the hazards that come with keeping poultry because many times they carry pathogens but appear healthy.
Chickens are carriers of several zoonotic diseases. These are diseases that can be passed from animals to humans. According to a recent survey in Pennsylvania, a majority of backyard poultry producers were aware of the dangers of avian influenza. However, this study also revealed that far fewer producers were aware of the risk of possible exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter.
The lack of knowledge about the hazards of raising poultry likely contributes to the continued issues of Salmonella outbreaks associated with backyard poultry. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,072 illnesses of Salmonella linked to backyard poultry, and 272 of those patients required hospitalization. Oklahoma reported 43 individuals with the disease.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Tressa Lawrence
Babies are tucked away in every nook and cranny. Many ranchers across Wyoming have baby animals popping up all over this time of year.
By Lindsey Monk
Another load of grain in to keep feeding the calves until the green grass can really start popping.
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