Cattlemens? meeting set for May 7
We scheduled a Beef Quality Assurance meeting for beef producers Monday night May 7. The meeting will be held at the Warren County Administrative Building on Locust Street and will start at 6:30 p.m.
The purpose of the meeting is to certify area beef producers as Beef Quality Assurance producers. You must have this certification to participate in the TN Department of Agriculture?s grant program which starts July 1.
Besides a BQA certification you must have a Premise identification number to qualify for the cattle grants. This is issued through the local Farm Service Agency. Applications for the premise identification number will be available at the meeting Monday night.
Beef Quality Assurance is a voluntary program for producers to declare to consumers that they are following recommended health practices.
The program is driven both by producers and consumers. Already we have many buyers in the meat industry that want to have source identified cattle and health histories before they will buy the meat from the packer. The purpose of the TCA-BQA Program is to protect consumer confidence in beef safety and quality.
Beef Quality Assurance is a voluntary program for producers to declare to consumers that they are following recommended health practices. The program is driven both by producers and consumers. Give us a call here at the Extension office (473-8484) so that I can have the paperwork ready for you Monday night.
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FARMER?S MARKET STARTING STRONG
The Farmer?s Market is off to a strong start this spring despite the record freeze and a few cold market days.
Mary Cantrell, market manager, tells me that they?ve had over twenty vendors the past two weeks and that many of them have lettuce, onions and other spring crops and that Carol Clarke had some local strawberries this past Saturday.
This week the market starts opening on Wednesdays as well as Saturdays. This will give folks the opportunity to check out market offering twice a week. This past Saturday many of the vendors had a good variety of bedding plants, flowers and vegetables and spring vegetables. Be sure to get by the market this week and take advantage of local grown produce sold by the folks who grow it.
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HAY TIME FAST APPROACHING
I?ve been hoping like a lot of farmers that the weather would allow us a chance to get some hay cut early this year.
The freeze back in April has cut back the amount of hay that producers will harvest in most fields this spring. However, judging by the emerging seed heads its not going to effect the maturity dates for the hay crop. Most beef producers will say that nutrition is a major factor in beef or dairy production. But their words and actions don?t agree when it comes to hay production.
Many producers wait until mid-June to begin hay harvest. By that time, tall fescue and orchard grass are of low quality and won?t meet the nutrient needs of a lactating cow during the winter. If nutrition is important, then a major goal of your farm should be to produce high-quality hay this spring. This could mean purchasing less supplement to feed to the cow herd this winter.
The most important factor influencing hay quality is the stage of maturity at harvest. This is where most livestock producers can make the easiest and greatest improvements in hay quality. As legumes and grasses advance in maturity, they drop in crude protein and digestibility.
The proper stage to cut grass pastures is the boot to early-head stage for the first cut, then every four to six weeks afterwards.
Tall fescue or orchard grass hay cut early will be high quality and can meet the nutritional needs of a lactating cow and calf. If you cut the hay too late, there will be more tonnage, but quality will be low. You?ll need a protein and energy supplement to meet the needs of the animals. This costs money.
What about rain? Well it sure can delay hay cutting. This is the reason most people give for cutting hay too late. And granted, rain causes problems with hay harvest. But set your goal to cut hay early.
You won?t be able to get all of the hay cut early, but get at least a portion of the hay cut when its still of high quality. This is the hay to feed to the fresh cows and heifers. They are trying to regain weight lost at calving, milk for their calf and also need to re-breed within 90 days of calving.
When the rain looks like it will break to allow hay cutting, be prepared. Don?t wait to check the hay equipment until the night before cutting. Have the machinery checked out well in advance of cutting time. I had a producer tell me last week that he had cut a few acres just to seek if the machinery was working. If all beef producers would just get a small portion of their hay cut early here in Warren County it would make a real difference on the pocket book and for the cow come winter feeding time.
Our pastures are producing large amounts of high-quality forage. Lets make sure that we harvest the excess forage while its of high quality. The jobs not done when the bale is made. We can cut the amount of hay that we waste with a few simple storage efforts. First get the hay off the ground. Tires, poles, gravel, whatever works for you. Then cover the bale. We may be losing up to 30 percent of the hay we bale due to storage losses. Many producers will submit a grant application to build a new hay barn or add a shed to an existing barn. Applications will be accepted starting in July.
We will discuss the new grant program Monday night at the cattlemen?s meeting. When its stored properly we will have a good source of nutrients for the cows later in the year. If you have questions or want more information about improving hay production on your farm give me a call here at the Extension office (473-8484).