In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am talking with professor and Extension Beef Cattle Specialist at Oklahoma State University, Dr. David Lalman, about the quality of today’s beef cow.

“If you just look at the amount of beef we produce today in cow numbers compared to what we were doing thirty years ago, the progress is incredible,” Lalman said. “We produce a whole lot more beef with a whole lot fewer cows today than we used to.”

Lalman said the cattle industry has also done a great job of reducing calving ease issues.

“All you have to go do is select the genetics that fit your cow herd, your heifers, or whatever, and we can find those cattle with calving ease and tremendous growth potential afterward,” Lalman said.

Out of all of the traits that have been improved on, Lalman said, reproductive efficiency/fertility is at the bottom of the list when it comes to progression.

“I think there are opportunities there going forward,” Lalman said. “Cow size in terms of weight continues to increase along with yearling weight growth. The industry is aggressively selecting for yearling weight growth. There is a strong genetic correlation between yearling weight growth and mature cow size.”



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Producer Profitability Initiative Seeks to Spark Conversation, Unite Industry

Livestock Marketing Association members have a front-row seat to a disturbing trend: the continued loss of livestock producers across the U.S. They see this as a critical threat, not only to the livestock industry, but to the nation’s food supply. That’s why they’re launching an initiative to strengthen producers’ bottom lines and incentivize the next generation of farmers and ranchers.

Joe Goggins, owner of Public Auction Yards, Billings, Montana, said despite recent record-high livestock prices, it’s tougher than ever to be a producer. Lack of access to land and labor, over-regulation and input costs are causing more people to exit the business, while preventing new producers from getting started.

“We continue to disperse cow herds,” he said. “We continue to disperse flocks of sheep. We continue to lose thousands and thousands of acres out of protein production. And we really feel that we better push back, we better unify this industry somehow, some way, to try to encourage and incentivize people to be in this business.”

Goggins said by working together all industry segments can accomplish so much more than they can individually, and every voice matters.

“I’d encourage producers of all types, sizes and locations to reach out to people in their network and to the organizations they are a part of to have conversations about the biggest barriers to profitability,” he said.

OSU Ag Research shares research to find new cotton variety

By Alisa Boswell-Gore

Oklahoma State University Ag Research wants to share its cotton research and seeds to find a cotton variety resistant to bacterial blight.

The B5 cotton gene for bacterial blight resistance was discovered in Egyptian cotton in the 1950s. In the 1970s, Lloyd Brinkerhoff, former OSU professor of plant pathology, studied the effects of placing the gene into the blight-susceptible upland cotton variety Acala 44.

Margaret Essenberg, former OSU Regents professor in the OSU Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, advanced Brinkerhoff’s resesarch. Her student, Kenneth McNally, now a scientist in genomics at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, worked to isolate the gene and characterize it. Melanie Bayles, another member of Essenberg’s research team, then made hybrids to study how the B5 gene is inherited. The results from one of those hybrids were puzzling.

“If B5 were a well-behaved single resistance gene, one-fourth of those plants would have two copies of the resistance gene, one-half would have one copy, and one-fourth would have no resistance gene and be blight-susceptible,” Bayles said. “That was not what I saw. I saw only a tiny number of susceptible plants. That’s when we knew we had to look for an explanation for what caused this.”

Some parts of the state saw some sporadic thunderstorms along the front last night. State Climatologist Gary McManus says it wasn’t a lot, but some folks did see some rain.

While yesterday was much cooler, McManus said don’t get too excited, as we are back to the "frying pan" on Thursday and Friday. However, This weekend brings slightly cooler temps, and maybe even some much-needed rainfall next week.

McManus says there will be a lot of wheat planted this week in anticipation of a cooler wetter weather forecast for next week.

“If you are in this group, then a decision must be made due to high soil temperatures," McManus said. "This 4-inch 3-day average soil temperature is well above the optimal range for wheat. If germination occurs at these temps (if moisture is present), then coleoptile damage may occur if planted deeper than 1 inch. On the other hand, shallow planting can be dangerous if light rains occur and then the heat and dry conditions return. It might be wise to wait and see what next week brings.”

AFBF Offers Testimony on Cheese and Butter Pricing at FMMO Hearing

American Farm Bureau Federation Chief Economist Roger Cryan presented the testimony below on behalf of AFBF and its membership at the ongoing Federal Milk Marketing Order Pricing Formula hearing. This is the second time Cryan has testified before the hearing, and he is expected to testify several additional times.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has nearly 6 million members in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, including many thousands of cooperative and independent dairy farmers. All of these dairy farmers are indirectly or (mostly) directly affected by the pricing provisions of the Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs).

These dairy farmers play a crucial role in the development of AFBF dairy policy. Every Farm Bureau position and proposal is based explicitly on that policy, developed through a grassroots process in which farmers make the decisions at every step of the way.

AFBF submitted 9 proposals for consideration in this hearing, and appreciates the opportunity to address the four that were accepted by USDA for consideration in this hearing, as well as the clear direction on what may be needed to advance the rest.

OSU’s Mark Johnson: Measure, Quantify, Document

Mark Johnson, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Breeding Specialist, offers herd health advice as part of the weekly series known as the “Cow Calf Corner” published electronically by Dr. Peel, Mark Johnson, and Paul Beck. Today, Johnson talks about utilizing resources to yield the most success on an operation.

I frequently remind students that Animal Science is a math based degree. By that same token, production agriculture in general, and specifically beef production is a math based enterprise. Why? Because the only way to make sound management decisions which will impact future profit potential is based on facts arrived at by mathematical analysis. Management decisions based on emotions and/or tradition seldom lead to the financial outcome we desire. 

Efficiency can be defined as the ability to achieve an end goal with little or no waste of effort or inputs. Being efficient means achieving results by utilizing the resources you have in the best possible way. Bottomline: something is efficient when we produce more from less and all processes are optimized. This includes the use of money, human capital, production equipment, land and energy.

The definition leads to several questions which cow-calf operations should answer:

What is my goal? If your goal is living on a ranch as a way of life or ownership of cattle is a family tradition that you enjoy regardless of profitability, this article may not pertain to your operation. If your goal is maximizing profit potential, consider the following. You need to define your goal and identify the purpose of your operation in order to determine the most efficient way to achieve it.