Agricultural News
Cattle and Pasture Management is Crucial to Prepare for Next Spring
Thu, 01 Sep 2011 16:00:17 CDT
Hugh Aljoe of the Noble Foundation spoke this week at the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Drought Summit meeting on how the extreme drought this year is making cattle producers across the state reconsider everything they do in the cattle market. Aljoe says many producers in the cattle industry fail to think about what is going to happen in the future.
Aljoe says the most pressing thing producers need to do to get from here to fall is to set their pastures up to stock cattle next spring. The management between now and next spring is crucial if producers plan on stocking cattle and there are a few short-term goals that producers should manage to prepare for next spring.
Aljoe says producers need to take stock of their pastures, figure out how much hay or any type of reserve forage they have, and figure out how much water they have. After these have been determined, Aljoe suggests that the producer manages towards those goals, which may mean early weaning calves.
The drought is loooking like it will continue into the fall and possibly into next spring and Aljoe says if the drought does stay around much longer, it will have the potential to change the structure of the Oklahoma cattle industry. Aljoe says for producers to be prepared for changes, they need to not only manage their cattle, but also manage their pastures as well.
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation will also be hosting a Fall Cattle Management Workshop to assist livestock producers in answering many of the questions associated with the drought. The workshop will be held on Thursday, Sept. 8, from 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Noble Foundation in Ardmore. The cost for the workshop is $10 and includes dinner. For more information on this workshop, call Tracy Cumbie at 580-224-6411.
Also, for more information and drought tips from Hugh Aljoe, click here to visit the Noble Foundation website.
Click on the LISTEN bar below to hear the rest of our conversation with Hugh Aljoe at the recent Drought Summit meeting on the drought, what producers need to do now to prepare for spring, and how the outlook for cattle producers should the drought continue.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the listen bar below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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