Corn and soybean crops planted on “prevented acres” not planted last spring may provide corn and soybean forage for cattle this fall. With a wet spring, many farmers failed to make quality hay for cow herds. Now, cover crops needed on bare crop ground may produce quality forage. Earlier regulations on unplanted cropland restricted using […]
Twenty-five years ago, Brian Pemberton bought acreage filled with thorn trees, scrub brush and multiflora roses. The only water source was a frog pond. The land needed four things: a road, buildings, fences, and water. Thanks to hard work and cost-share programs, those goals were met. Grazing Acres Farm is now complete with a solid […]
Early breeding allows lactating cows to be put on grass at peak quality and quantity when the nutritional need of cows is highest. Researchers at the University of Missouri’s Foremost Dairy Research Center near Columbia are the first to use the Double Ovsynch timed artificial insemination (AI) protocol with a grazing dairy herd. This year […]
Spring sales of Show-Me-Select replacement heifers are set in four auction barns across the state in April, May, and June. Spring sales offer bred replacement heifers for fall-calving herds, says Dave Patterson, University of Missouri Extension livestock specialist. All heifers sold meet strict standards taught in MU Extension’s Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program. Only owners enrolled […]
Thompson Farm, Spickard, makes a home for beef reproduction research from the University of Missouri. That doesn’t protect it from harsh weather of hot droughts and frigid calving season faced by all beef farms recently. Weather cut beef herd size and boosted costs for labor and feed, farm manager Jon Schreffler told a meeting of […]
A Clinton, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for a $4.7 million investment fraud scheme in which he defrauded 92 investors who believed they were purchasing cattle for resale at a profit. Cameron J. Hager, 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner on Tuesday, March 5, 2019, to eight years […]
Winter feeding of forage to beef herds doesn’t rank high as a favored job for herd owners. But there’s a bright side to feeding fescue, whether in hay or grass. Fescue toxins are down. “This is the best fescue will be, now until pastures green up again,” says Craig Roberts, University of Missouri Extension forage […]
Area dairy farmers can investigate ways to improve the bottom line of their farms and their profits during an educational training session near Linneus. North Missouri Dairy Day will be held at the University of Missouri Forage Systems Research Center east of Linneus on the morning of February 18th at 10 o’clock. Extension Dairy Field […]
Do the math on temperatures and rainfall for all of 2018. On average, you get “near normal,” says Pat Guinan, University of Missouri Extension climatologist. “Weather was anything but that,” Guinan adds. Record-setting numbers hide in an average. For starters, look at the “non-spring” of 2018. April was the second coldest on record going back […]
What a sale!” said sale coordinator Erin Larimore about the $2,099 average price for replacement heifers at the Show-Me-Select sale in Fruitland, Mo., December 1. The fourth of six fall sales kept the upward trend in prices. Two sales remain for heifers raised with protocols from the University of Missouri Extension animal scientists. Larimore, a […]
With a strong start on bidding, the first lot of heifers averaged $2,250 at the Kingsville Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer sale, November 24. Big bidding set the stage for higher prices early in the sale of 237 head of bred heifers. Final average was $1,832. The sale at the Kingsville Livestock Auction topped the two previous […]
Missouri beef herd owners learn profits and risks of sending their calves to a feedlot. They’ve entered 50 Missouri Steer Feedouts run by the University of Missouri Extension. To cut risks in learning, they enter samples of five to 20 head, said Eldon Cole, MU Extension livestock specialist. The Missouri Steer Feedout for winter-spring born […]
