Students complete Master Beef course
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I?ve spent the past 12 Tuesday nights with 49 beef producers from Warren, Coffee and Cannon counties who gathered for a weekly three-hour session of the Tennessee Master Beef Producer Course.
I really enjoyed working with this group, as we went through the individual class sessions. These folks are serious about improving their beef operations, and their knowledge of beef cattle and the beef cattle industry. There were weekly tests on the subject matter covered and all the participants were expected to participate in all sessions. The course covered everything from business planning and records, herd health, genetics, reproduction, forage production, animal handling, carcass quality and other topics.
Perhaps the best part of the course was the opportunity to interact with the speakers and other producers in the class. Congratulations to all who participated and I?ll look forward to hearing of their progress as they make changes to their beef cattle programs.
The course was held at the Bridgestone Learning Center, and it was great! All the producers really liked the facility and its location and I want to give Keith Hamilton at Bridgestone a big ?thank you.? We?re already talking about having the course again next year, so if you think you might be interested give me a call for more information.
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FEEDER CALF SALE RESULTS
Prices are listed below for the regular state graded, feeder calf sale that was held at the McMinnville barn last Wednesday night.
Tennessee Department of Agriculture figures show that more than eighty-five per cent of the calves that are sold in Tennessee each year are sold one at a time. Lot?s of folks like to go to the auction sale. Calves need to get loaded on the truck and get on down the road. Warren County producers are lucky to have the regular feeder calf sales available to market their calves through.
Load lots, graded and sorted attract buyers. The prices quoted below are for blacks, black white faced calves and Charolais cross. steers and heifers. There were just over 1,700 calves sold Wednesday night. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture has a toll free number (1-800-342-8206) where you can get the latest price on Tennessee markets for grain and livestock.
Med and Lg 1
Steers Heifers
400-450 lbs 125.75-135.00 114.50-117.00
450-500 lbs 123.75-128.00 112.75-117.50
500-550 lbs 122.50-133.35 109.50-112.25
550-600 lbs 117.50-118.75 104.75-108.50
600-700 lbs 101.25-108.75 99.00-103.00
700-800 lbs 86.50-87.85 82.00-96.25
Med & Lg 2
Steers Heifers
300-350 lbs 127.75-141.00 ‘
350-400 lbs 129.50-138.00 125.00-128.00
400-450 lbs 127.75-133.00 118.00-122.50
450-500 lbs 126.50-129.00 114.00-120.00
500-600 lbs 116.75-122.00 103.50-105.00
600-700 lbs 101.00-102.50 89.00-96.75
700-800 lbs 83.50-85.85 80.00-93.00
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MASTER GARDENERS GRADUATE
Another group of local folks have completed the Master Gardener Course here in McMinnville and will have a graduation celebration at the county administrative building next Thursday evening at 6:30.
In addition to the graduates, all the folks who have completed the Master Gardener Course in previous years are welcome to attend. That?s about 180 folks here in Warren County. The new graduates will be recognized at the meeting and previous graduates of the course who have competed their 36 hours of volunteer service will also be recognized. We?ll have a plant swap and a good meal. Make your reservations by calling the Extension office at 473-8484. We?ll be looking for you on the 20th.
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TODAY?S HAY DECISIONS EFFECT CATTLE LATER
Most beef producers will admit that the cost of feeding hay to cows throughout the winter is the most significant cost that they incur throughout the year.
Most will say that nutrition is a major factor in cattle production. Hay harvest will be starting up in just a few weeks and this is your opportunity to cut hay like you believe what the cow eats is important. A lot of folks don?t have any hay left on the farm after feeding since late summer in many cases.
If you wait until mid-June to begin hay harvest, tall fescue and orchard grass are of low quality and wont 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.
The most important thing 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 probably need a protein and energy supplement to meet the needs of the animals. This costs money.
What about rain? 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 wont 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 spring-calving cows.
Many of these cows calve in February and March, before grass pastures are producing much forage. High-quality hay can meet their needs, allowing them to produce adequate milk for their calves and stay in good condition.
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. 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. Grass hay fields really look good this year and we can keep those valuable feed nutrients by being ready to harvest hay early.
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 haymaking job is not over when you?re through baling. 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. When its stored properly we will have a good source of nutrients for the cows later in the year.