Farm Help

It's hard to keep nitrogen levels elevated in a pasture or hay field, but a good grazing management plan can help. That's according to Dr. John Jennings, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service animal science professor and forage specialist. Nitrogen, he explained to Ozarks Farm & Neighbor, is among the most transient nutrients in the field because, “it can leach; it can be used by microbes, weeds, plants and other things. So it is difficult to maintain a high level of nitrogen in pastures at any one time.”

The amount of data available from Estimated Progeny Differences (EPDs) continues to increase – but you can make interpreting it as simple, or as complex, as you want.

You can win at cattle breeding – if you know the score.

Rotational grazing is done for a variety of reasons. One reason, according to Brie Menjoulet, agronomy specialist for University of Missouri Extension, is to more evenly distribute manure and urine excretions by livestock. Menjoulet also mentions that, “By not overgrazing, there are green parts of the grass that are able to start photosynthesizing to reproduce leaf and stem material. Overgrazing forces the plant to use carbohydrate reserves in the root system to start regrowth. Also, a root system doesn’t start growing until ample green material on the surface is photosynthesizing. So overgrazing also produces plants with weaker root systems because they (the plant) are focused on replenishing and re-growing the top versus what’s below the surface.”

Knowing how to deal with a carcass after the death of livestock animals is crucial for the cleanliness, sanitation and environmental health of the region.

Branding of cattle has been around for centuries. Some think that it originally started to establish ownership of animals during the rise of Egyptian society. According to Eldon Cole, University of Missouri Extension Specialist in Lawrence County, in the United States it became widespread in the early 1800s on large ranches in the west and was practiced to maintain owner identity of cattle that grazed on open range and government land.

According to Dr. Rob Kallenbach, as damaging as the drought of 2012 was, it also represents an opportunity.

A good fertilization program is necessary to produce high yields of quality forage and to maintain healthy stands of grasses and legumes. Coming out of winter, many producers want to give their pastures a boost, but what is the optimal time or most economical way to do that?

There are many appropriate rations for a single dairy. “Animals at different life stages and different levels of production require a different balance of nutrients, and usually, the more specific you can get (i.e. the more groups you have) the better, within reason of course,” said Andy Fidler, instructor in the department of animal science at the University of Arkansas. “Having more groups is not necessarily advantageous with a small herd size though.”

Water is an essential part of cattle production and pasture management. Under the recent drought conditions, the game of getting your cattle to water was completely changed. No longer could cattle simply be moved between pastures and paddocks where various sources of water were, because ponds had dried up, and streams were low, often at levels never seen before.